Thursday, September 30, 2010

Mango Ice cream

This is my hubby's most favorite ice cream. He always grabs a pack of this flavor whenever we visit a nearby Asian grocery shop. On seeing that, I wanted to make it at home to get the true Indian flavored Mango ice cream. while browsing, I got this recipe from the video, hosted by Hetal and Anuja. Thanks dearies. You have given me a very handy recipe admired by all our friends and family.
From then on, our Fridays can't be complete without this yummy bowl of ice cream on hand:)

There are only three ingredients here, which makes our job easy. We may need just 5 minutes to prepare this one by using readymade pulp. But the ice cream made from fresh mangoes are worth trying too, during the mango season.
Last summer I tried it using fresh mangoes and it was successful. But I would like to recommend mango pulp in can, as we cannot be sure of the quality of fresh mangoes in some places. Sour mangoes won't give the expected taste or color. So its safer to use the canned ones.

Alphonso mango varieties are the best. Here is the picture of another variety (don't know the name) of mangoes I used.
The mangoes I got from an Indian grocery store.
Those three ingredients.....

Very natural mango ice cream garnished with blueberry, mango slice and mint leaf.


When the mango season was over,  I started using canned mango pulp.
Mango ice cream before freezing. Look at the gorgeous color I got by the canned version.
Inviting cup of Home made mango ice cream served.

Ingredients:
Mango Pulp - 30 oz can (4 cups of puree)
(or) 1 kg of fresh mango
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 14 oz can (400 gm)
Whipped Topping - 8 oz  (225 gm)
Fresh Mango - cubed (optional)

Method:
Take a mixing bowl and add the mango Pulp (or freshly pureed mangoes) and Condensed milk . Mix well.
Then add the finely chopped mango pieces .(optional).
Now put the whipped topping and mix gently.
Transfer them to a freezer-safe container.
Cover and freeze for 3-4 hours.

Creamy rich mango ice cream is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as dessert.
Serves nearly 15 people.
Before scooping, keep the ice cream in room temperature for 2 minutes to facilitate smooth handling.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A book sale and Dijon chicken

Book sale:
We cherish some sales as remarkable and incredibly fantastic. One among them is the book exhibition. I am not a great fan of novels, but love to read on various culture, cuisines , arts etc. I have a good collection of folk tales and comics in our house in India but never thought of experiencing one here till I saw a pamphlet on the side-walk.

Various books we bought from the sale. That is the brown bag I mentioned here.
Some months ago, we went to a book sale conducted by the public library of Piscataway, NJ. They called it as the 'brown bag sale'. I hope this is common in many parts of the country. The sale was on some marked books aimed at removing the clutter, it seems. They sold big brown paper bag for $5 and people were allowed to fill the bag with the books they wish. It was much beneficial for both the ends and I could see happy faces all over the hall. That was like cherry picking for the book worms and thrillers were sold the best. I was surprised at their cook book collection as well as the arts side. While hubby was browsing the mystery novels, I gathered some nice books on cooking, quilting etc. Look at the treasure I got:)
Wow! what a catch for $5.
Dijon Chicken:
Then I tried a simple recipe, Dijon chicken from the book 'Hooray for chicken', by Family Living magazine. All the ingredients are very common except the dijon mustard. So I bought it from Shoprite and prepared this dish along with pasta. It was a big hit.
If you cannot get dijon mustard, please see the guidelines to make one. I prefer wine-less dijon mustard, so look for the ingredients before buying, if you have any preference. (Vinegar is substituted for wine in  my pack).

Dijon chicken served with pasta.
Ingredients:
chicken boneless / breast - 1 lb
Dijon mustard - 3 tbsp
(its a sauce available in supermarkets)
butter - 5 tbsp
garlic powder - 1 tbsp
onion - 1 (crushed)
salt - to taste
black / white pepper powder - 2 tbsp

Method:
wash and clean the chicken breasts (approximately 4).
I cut it into 3 inch size pieces. But the original version calls for using the whole big pieces.
Mix Dijon mustard sauce, butter, salt, pepper, onion, garlic.
Add to chicken and marinate for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 deg.
Grease a baking pan.
Place the chicken pieces separately in a baking pan and bake for 1 hour.
Broil to get the red color.
Garnish with parsley. (I didn't have parsley, so I left it).

Serving suggestions:
Generally they use big pieces of chicken for this recipe, but I chopped mine for more marinated effect.
Makes a good side dish for pasta.

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