Almond Fudge Brownies

Brownies are sinful delicious everything-will-be-alright food. The ingredients send out so many positive impulses to our brain that there is only one thing for it to do... Tell us we are feeling good.

They were invented some when in the end of the 19^th century for a ladies pick nick and evolved from there to the varieties you find today. The original was still well baked and had an apricot glaze on it. I couldn't find any info how the fudge like moister got into it. But I guess like most great inventions by pure accident when someone removed the baking tin too early from the oven and the result was a hit with the bakeries clients.

I like them with lots of very dark chocolate and an extra portion of cocoa. It means pure happiness! They should be baked on the outside but gooey on the inside. At the centre the batter should be just set. And they should be low on sugar. Well, if that is possible. But they should not taste too sweet.

Have a glass of cold milk or hot coffee with it to balance out the intense flavours of the brownie.

I started replacing the traditional walnuts with almonds as a lot of my friends are allergic to walnuts and pecan nuts are very difficult to get here in India. Oh, and I love them plain, meaning without any topping. This is again a very personal choice. If you like it you can top them off with a nice frosting or a ganache. For me that is too much chocolate.

This recipe is for a 22x22cm square tin or a 24cm round tin. I use chocolate with a minimum of 70% cocoa in it and good unsweetened cocoa.

For brownies the oven should not be too hot. If you have any doubt put a baking thermometer in the oven while pre-heating it and check the temperature before you put the brownies in. The ideal temperature is 175°C. If your oven is hotter than 180°C reduce the heat setting and leave the oven door open for 2-3 minutes before you put the brownies in the oven.

These brownies are a feast of chocolate. The 1^st step to brownie bliss is to melt 200g dark chocolate in a bowl set over a pot of boiling water. Make sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Once the chocolate is melted set it aside to let it slightly cool down.

In a bowl I beat 100g soft unsalted butter with 170-220g vanilla sugar until it is light and fluffy and most of the sugar is dissolved. The amount of sugar you use depends on how sweet you like the brownies to be.

Most people use muscovado sugar for brownies. I prefer vanilla sugar for which I simply place a few lengthwise cut vanilla beans with lots of sugar in an airtight container and let it stand for a few days. For the vanilla sugar you can use regular white or brown sugar.

Constantly beating the mixture I add 240g egg, one egg at the time, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Then I add the melted chocolate to it and make sure everything is well combined.

In a separate bowl I mix 60g plain flour with 60g cocoa. This mixture I sift onto the chocolate mix and stir it well. Now I add 100g coarsely chopped almonds, give it a quick stir and pour the batter into the greased baking tin.

I bake it at 175°C for 25-30 minutes. When you touch the centre it should be soft. Take the brownies out of the oven and let them cool down. They taste best when they are still a little warm. I like to serve them with either plain or with a mild sour cream on the side.

Fresh out of the oven

I made these last weekend and there were some very happy smiling faces at dance class. As I said, brownies are a mood enhancer.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Mutton Curry a la Carola

The Indian kitchen is like a big mystery to me. For the simple reason that I do not have a feeling for the spices used in it. I do not know how the flavour of a dish changes if I add more mustard seeds, turmeric or cumin to it. When it comes to herbs I know that, I know exactly how the flavour changes when I add more juniper berries, oregano or celery leaves to a dish.

Herbs are something I grew up with. So are spices like bay leaves, cinnamon, nutmeg or all spice because they are also used in European dishes. But how to mix a proper Masai is a mystery for me as I never learned it. Maybe I should start taking cooking lessons in it.

On the other hand I love Indian food. May it be North or South Indian, I love it. So I had to find a way to work around my lack of knowledge. And this is when I started experimenting with ready made masala mixes. In the beginning I wondered why my food tasted powdery until I learned that you need to temper the spices to bring out their flavour and to get rid of this powdery raw flavour. That was many years ago shortly after I moved to India. Over the years and lots of trials later I know that I do not like chat masala or anything made with it. I never liked fresh coriander but use it sometimes in cooking. I just make sure I remove all of it before I serve the food.

Besides this, a vast collection of masalas is meanwhile a stable in my kitchen. I just don't use them the traditional way. I happily mix them together and create my own personal interpretation of Indian food. For example madras curry powder with chilli, mango, onion, orange juice and raisins as a marinade for grilled chicken.

This is how I ended up with what I call Curry a la Carola. Here the mutton curry version. The routine is always the same.

In a big pot I heat 4-5 table spoons oil. I like to take sesame oil as it adds a nice flavour. I cut 1 large peeled onion into quarters and than into fine stripes. Once the oil is hot I add the onions, 1 teaspoon each garlic paste and ginger paste. Over reduced heat I let it fry for 2-3 minutes. Now comes the masala. I just take 1 teaspoon of each packet I have in my masala box so that I end up with 6 teaspoons of masala. Most times I blend a variety of graham masala, fish fry, mutton, tandoori, chicken and egg masala together. But let your creativity run wild.

Important is that you stir constantly while you temper the spices. They must not get burned as it will ruin the flavour. After tempering the spices I add 500g boneless mutton or lamb meat and stir-fry it a few minutes that it can absorb the masala flavour.

Now I add 2-3 dry red chilli cut into stripes, 300g tomatoes cut into small dices and 400g yoghurt to it. Give it a good stir and cover it with a lid.

Cook it over low head for about 30 minutes until the meat is very tender and the oil has separated from the rest of the gravy.

If you like to you can add the vegetables to it. In the same method you can also make a chicken or pure vegetable curry. Sometimes, especially if I add prawns or fish I add 400ml coconut milk to the masala base instead of the yoghurt. If I make prawn or fish curry I cook the gravy separately and add the prawns and fish only for the last few minutes to avoid over cooking them.

Every time I cook this it tastes a little bit different and I like it this way. I most times serve the curry with brown rice. This time I made dosa. I am honest with you, I bought the dosa batter. Another thing on my to-learn-list is how to make dosa.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Farfalle with seafood and wine sauce

There are days when you need just that little extra treat. For me today was such a day. There were just too many things that went wrong today....

Most times when I have such a day I skip dinner and replace it with a big portion of ice cream. My friends always tease me for it. Honestly I think ice cream just cools down your temper when you are upset. But today I didn't feel like ice cream. I wanted some nice food for the soul.

For me that definitely means some variety of pasta or some food from my childhood. Today I decided on pasta. Farfalle to be specific as there will be lots of sauce. Penne would also be a good choice. But I don't recommend pasta like Spaghetti of Tagliatelle for such a liquid sauce. I don't call it Italian food because for that there is way too much sauce in this recipe. I call it a Frida special.

The wine I use in this recipe is a Shiraz Rosé. If you don't get it or don't like it you can any dry rosé or white wine.

For the Farfalle I put a big pot of salted water on the stove and bring it to boil. Once it boils I add 250g Farfalle and cook them al dente.

In a small pot I cook 100g peas together with 100g broccoli and 3 medium carrots, both cut into pieces in little plain water.

In the meantime I finely chop 1 medium onion and 2 cloves garlic. In a deep pan I melt 30g butter and fry the onion and garlic in it until they start turning brown. I cut 100g mushrooms into halves or quarters and add them to the onions. I fry them for about 5 minutes. I keep the mushrooms and onions in a small bowl aside.

Now I pour 200ml wine into the pan an bring it slowly to a simmer. In the meantime I drain the boiled vegetables. Make sure you collect the liquid from the vegetables. I measure 200ml of the vegetable water and add each 100ml sour cream and 100ml fresh cream to it. Into this mixture I stir 2 tablespoons cornstarch. I add the mixture to the wine and heat it slowly stirring constantly. I add salt, white pepper and nutmeg to the sauce.

I reduce the heat to the minimum and add 300g bekti steak, cut into 2cm dices, along with 8 peeled and cleaned jumbo prawns to the sauce. I let it sit for 5 minutes for the fish and prawns to be cooked. Now I carefully stir in the mushrooms, onions and other vegetables. I taste it and add if necessary a little bit more pepper, salt and nutmeg.

I drain the pasta and place it in 4 deep plates. I pour a generous helping of the fish sauce on top of it. Along with the Farfalle I serve the rest of the wine.... or a bit more...

This recipe is for four portions. Experience showed me that in reality it ends up to be for 2-3 portions.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen.

Love

Carola