Crave Bits

Tag: milkshake

  • The Love For Cherry

    The Love For Cherry

    If life is a bowl full of cherries, then we are all in for a treat…!!!

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    This bite size stone fruit in its vivid red hue is a summertime favorite- and each little sweet cherry packs a powerful punch of nutrients. Sweet or sour, cherries are bursting with nutrition.

    Cherries have a very short fruiting season. In Australia, they are usually at their peak around Christmas time. In many parts of North America, cherry fruit trees are among the first fruit trees that ripen. In addition, to being a delicious fruit, they have attractive  flowers and are commonly planted for their flower display in spring.

    A handful of fresh cherries in the summertime are a natural gourmet natural. Cherries, along with other berries, are a rich source of anti-oxidants. Queritrin – a flavinoid is rich in cherries, and has been found by researchers to be one of the most potent anti-cancer agents.

    More than just a delicious fruit, cherries are low in calories. Eating cherries can help u lose weight and stay trim. A cup of cherries is less than 100 calories and packs only in 3 gm of fiber, which helps you in keeping full for a longer time.

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    Also, these little beauties contains vitamin B such as- thiamine, riboflavin and vitamin B 6, these vitamins are crucial for the body and help in conversion of nutrients to energy.

    Cherries are not only healthy and delicious, but versatile also. They can be added to anything to everything from dairy, to pork, eaten raw or cooked down to make a sauce or a shake.

    They are a power-pack remedy to a large number of disorders-

    1. Lowers down blood pressure-

    Cherries are an excellent source of potassium, which helps in lowering of blood pressure by helping the body to get rid out of  excess blood pressure. Eating cherries can help you maintain the balance between sodium and potassium.

    2. Cherries get good sleep-

    Tart cherries contain melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy. Two tablespoons of little tart juice is used as a tasty bedtime sleep aid.

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     3. Cherries help fight cancer-

    The distinctive red hue of the cherry is due to the flavinoid called cynaidin, which in combination with anti-oxidants of cherry can help fight the free radicals of the body. Also cynaidin, helps to keep cancerous cells in control.

    4. Cherries help ease arthritis pain-

    For those who suffer from arthritis and gout, eating 2 cup of binge cherries can give a lot of relief. Cherries can also reduce painful inflammation by decreasing the amount of the reactive protein produced.

    5. Helps cure migraine-

    Cherries help in curing migraine problem, by reducing the inflammation in the body. The cynaidin flavinoid of the cherry can aid  in reducing the migraine headaches.

    6. prevents premature ageing-

    cherries are rich in two important flavinoids- queritrin and isoqueritrin, which act as antioxidants and work by removing the by-products of oxidative stress, thereby slowing down the process of pre-mature ageing.

     

    Some easy cherry recipes:

    1. Cherry beer cake-

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    A. 3/4 cup cherries

    B. 2 cup all- purpose flour

    C. 2 tbsp baking powder

    D. 1/4 tbsp salt

    E. 4 eggs

    F. 2 cup granulated sugar

    G. 2 tbsp vanilla extract

    H. 2 tbsp melted butter

    I. 1 cup cherry wheat beer

    J. 1 tbsp baking soda

    K. 1 pack cream cheese

    L. 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

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    In a large bowl, add butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, flour, baking soda, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt. Add walnuts and cherries to the mixture.

    Transfer the mixture to a battered pan, which is greased with oil. Bake the cake in the preheated oven kept at 350` C for 25-30 minutes. Cool it for 10 minutes.

    For frosting in a large bowl, beat cream cheese till fluffy. Then add sugar and water, to achieve consistency. Add food coloring, if required. Spread the frosting over and between the cake layers.

    Spread walnuts over the top layer.

    2. Cherry milkshake-

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    1.  Vanilla ice-cream
    2.  2 tbsp milk
    3.  Fresh cherries
    4.  Marshmallows for garnishing

    Chop the cherries, into small dices by removing the stalk and the seeds. Blend ice-cream, milk and the chopped cherries until smooth. Do not over blend it. Pour the shake into glasses and garnish with stalked cherries and marshmallows.

    3. Vegan cherry pie-

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    A. 1 1/4 cup dark cherries

    B. 1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

    C. 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

    D. 1 tbsp baking soda

    E. 1/2 tbsp salt

    F. 1 cup sugar

    G. 1/2 cup oil

    H. 1 tsp vanilla extract

    I. 1 cup coffee powder

    J. 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

    Preheat the oven to 375` C and in a medium bowl mix together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and whisk them. In another bowl, add coffee powder with cold water, oil and vanilla extract. Now mix both of them together. Now, add the apple cider vinegar and mix till it is evenly distributed in mixture. Add cherries to the mixture, and do not whisk now. Bake for 35 minutes and then let it cool.

    Garnish with chocolate chip and stalked cherries.

  • For Impatient Souls- Food you can cook within 20 MINUTES!!

    For Impatient Souls- Food you can cook within 20 MINUTES!!

     soylent-future-of-food-3

    Food. Food. Food.

    Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

    I grew up watching my grand moms and my mom cook food with a glint in their eye, a smile on their face. And along with the dose of MasterChef that imbedded itself in my brain (you can almost visualize an obese teenager sitting in front of the TV gawking at the delicacies being cooked, half mouth open, dazed eyes, with a hopeful future culinary dream), I gradually (not-so-gradual) fell in love with food. From Tandoori Chicken to Sweet Corn and Mushroom Pasta, from Mutton Biriyani to Risotto Primavera, from Misti Doi to Rhubard and Lemon Curd Cake, from Sweetened Kesari Lassi to Double Berry Smoothie, from Spicy Samosas to Cheese Scones – I opened my arms to all. Or, should I say stomach?

    I learned to cook, as most children do at one point or the other.

    I make the best Gajar ka Halwa(a Carrot sweet dish) in my family. No kidding. But that ‘hopeful future culinary dream’? Well, that’s taken a standstill.

    Because, there’s a small glitch.

    I don’t have much patience. I love food. I really do. But after the first half hour of cooking time, all my patience is lost. This usually ends in two ways: either I’ll leave the kitchen(an utter mess by now) heart wretched and defeated, be awfully thankful for my SuperMom who’ll clean up and finish cooking the meal in a jiffy, OR I’ll be irritated as hell, yet seize the damned crockery and continue cooking- the end result being a half burnt cake or inedible chicken curry or under seasoned fish or… oh, you get the drift.

     

    And as usual, SuperMom to the rescue – a couple of weeks later, a couple of recipes (short ones) down, I was ready to take on the world.

    WOO-HOO!

    So, for similar souls like me, here are a couple of under-20-minutes recipes to try out and impress your family, friends and more.

     

     

    (My YUM-shake)

    Chocolaty Banana Milkshake

    Time: 3 minutes

    Ingredients: 2 ripe bananas, 2 tbsp honey, half a bar of good quality chocolate (I used one whole DairyMilk. I love that chocolaty gooiness), 450 ml of milk, vanilla ice cream

    Directions: Put bananas, honey, chocolate, milk and 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream in a blender. Blend until smooth and frothy. Pour it in a glass. Put 2 more scoops of vanilla ice cream on top. Serve chilled.

     

    (A sick-day savior)

    Cauliflower Soup

    Time: 15 minutes

    Ingredients: 1 chopped onion, ½ thinly sliced leek, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 roughly chopped cauliflower, 750 ml of milk, 50g grated Parmesan, chives, butter to cook

    Directions: Cook onion, leek and crushed garlic cloves in a knob of butter until soft. Add chopped cauliflower and the milk. Cover and simmer until the cauliflower is tender.

    Place everything into a blender and blitz until smooth. Stir in grated Parmesan, ladle into bowls and finish with a few snipped chives scattered on top.

     

    (A filling snack)

    Egg and Raisin Sandwiches

    Time: 5 minutes

    Ingredients: 3 eggs, 1-2 tbsp mayonnaise, 2 tbsp raisin, white bread, butter

    Directions: Hard boil the eggs. Let cool before peeling and finely chopping. Mix with mayonnaise, raisin and some seasoning. Spread 2-3 slices of white bread with 2 tbsp softened butter, top with the egg mix and sandwich with 2-3 more slices of bread. Cut into mini triangles and Serve.

     

    (Something I can eat a dozen of)

    Apple Muffins

    Time: 25 minutes

    Ingredients: 200 ml buttermilk, 1 large egg, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 200 g flour, 100g caster sugar,1 tspn baking powder, 1 tspn bicarbonate of soda, 2 small apples

    Directions: Heat oven to 170C and line 8 holes of a muffin tin with muffin cases. Whisk together the buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla extract. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. Peel, core and roughly chop the apples. Quickly fold the wet ingredients and apple into the dry ingredients. Spoon the batter into the muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes. Cool for a couple of minutes in the tin before moving to a cooling rack. Serve warm or cold.

     

    (A twist to the ever-popular omelette)

    Omelette

    Time: 15 minutes

    Ingredients: ½ chopped onion, 1 diced red pepper, 1 diced tomato, 50 g chopped mushrooms, 1 finely diced potato, 4 eggs, a pinch of oregano, oil and butter to cook

    Directions: Heat 1 tsp vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add potato, mushrooms, onion, tomato and red pepper. Cook for 8-10 minutes to soften, and then tip out the veg. Lightly beat the eggs. Sizzle a small knob of butter in the pan, add the eggs, allow to set and then spoon the vegetables over the egg. Cover with lid. After 2 minutes, open the lid and sprinkle a pinch of oregano. Serve hot.

     

    (And my personal all-time favourite)

    Pancakes

    Time: 20 minutes

    Ingredients: 300g flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp caster sugar, 2 eggs, maple syrup, 300 ml of milk, butter to cook and a pinch of salt to taste

    Directions: Mix flour, baking powder, caster sugar and salt in a large bowl. Crack in the eggs and whisk until smooth. Add 1 tbsp maple syrup and the milk while whisking. Heat a splash of oil and a small knob of butter in a non-stick frying pan until sizzling, Add spoonfuls of batter to make the pancakes. Cook until bubbles start to form on the surface, then flip and cook the other side. Keep the pancakes warm in a low oven while you cook another batch. Serve them drizzled with extra maple syrup.

     

    Image Courtesy-www,gizmag.com