television; ikea anga; backsplash

I’ll start off with a non-kitchen picture.  Finally. 

What’s new here? 

-We decided to paint the fireplace white.  We stripped the layers of old paint and varnish, picked, scraped, sanded, primed and painted.  The inside of the fireplace was also painted black. 

-We mounted the television.  The wire situation is yet to be addressed.  There are a few issues.  One, we need longer cables so that everything can comfortably run from the TV to the shelf with the components.  Also, cord management is yet to be resolved.  It’s looking like running everything through flat, paintable tracks is going to be our option.  We considered cutting a channel through the drywall and plaster deep enough to completely submerge the tracks, then re-refinishing the wall.  This just seems like a big job for a minor detail.  (Side Note: Wii Tennis is even more fun.  yeah - I'm pro.)

-The shelf is Ikea’s Anga series.  It fit the space, offered lots of storage and the glass shelves keep the brick in view.

-The base moulding is going in. 

Now something about the kitchen.  We decided on the Marrakesh tile blend from Modwalls – these pictures are from their site.  

Almond Cheese Tart

I've been using this recipe for many years. The combination of lemony cheese and the rich shortcrust pastry really boost up my appetite.

This tart keep very well in the fridge. I kept the leftover in the fridge and reheat in the oven at 100'C for 5 minute, it's still very yummy.

For the shortcrust pastry: 8" tart pan
1 egg yolks + 1 tbsp cold water
110g plain flour
55g unsalted cold butter, diced
10g sugar powder
pinch of salt

For the Cheese filling:

160g cream cheese

30g sugar

30g butter

2 egg yolks

1 lemon zest

2 tbsp lemon juice

40g egg whites

2 tsp sugar

40g almond flakes

1. Mix the eggs yolks with cold water stir with a fork until well combine.
2. Place the flour, sugar powder into the bowl of a food processor, followed by the cold butter and the salt. Turn the processor on and pulse several times until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add the egg yolk/water mixture and pulse again. Be careful not to overwork the pastry. Stop pulsing when the mixture has the consistency of chunky breadcrumbs.
4. Turn the pastry out onto a clean, floured work surface and, with floured hands, bring together to make a dough, but don't knead.
5. Shape into a flattened ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. You can keep the pastry at this stage for 2-3 days if not using it immediately.
6. Remove the pastry from the fridge. On a clean, floured work surface, roll it out with a floured rolling pin until it's slightly larger than the flan ring. Using the rolling pin, lift the pastry and lay it over the flan ring.
7. With your fingers, lightly press the pastry into the sides of the ring. Run a rolling pin over the top of the ring and pull away the excess pastry at the edges. Using your fingers, gently press the pastry up to slightly build up the height of the pastry at the edges. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork.
8. Make a cartouche (a circle of greaseproof paper) slightly larger than the base of the flan tin and line the pastry case with it. Place some ceramic baking beans inside to weigh the pastry down. Place in the fridge to relax for about 20 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the pastry in the oven and bake blind for about 20 minutes. Let it cool on a wire rack and make the cheese filling.
10. Beat the cream cheese with sugar until well combine. Add the egg yolks one at a time and mix well. Gradually mix in the lemon juice and zest.
11. In other the clean bowl, beat the egg whites and two tablespoon of sugar until peak forms.
12. Fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture and fold in half of the toasted almond flakes.
13. Pour the mixture into the tart and sprinkle over some almond flakes on top. Bake at 180'C preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Bread peas masala

Peas Masala(or kurma) goes well with bread and rotis. It makes an ideal tiffin on days when you have some left over gravy and a few pieces of bread. I used dried peas in this recipe.

Ingredients:
Dried peas-1 cup
Jeera-1 tsp
Onion chopped-1(small)
Tomatoes chopped-2(small)
Salt
Bread slices-3
Lime juice from 1 small lime
Oil-2 tbsp

Spice powders(measurements can be adjusted according to your taste):
Chilli powder
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Garam masala powder-1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves-to garnish

To grind to a smooth paste with 1/4 cup of water:
Coconut-1/2 cup
Cashews-12
Green chilli
Garlic pods-3
Ginger-1 inch piece
Cloves-4
Cinnamon-2 inch stick
Cardamom-2
Dhaniya-1/2 tsp

Method:
Soak peas overnight in water and pressure cook for 3 whistles or until soft.
Grind the above mentioned ingredients with water and set aside.
Heat oil in a pan. Tamper jeera. Add chopped onion and fry till golden brown.
Add tomatoes, salt and spice powders. Fry till tomatoes turn soft. Now add the ground paste and some water to desired consistency and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer and cook till oil starts to float on top(15 minutes). Add cooked peas and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
Garnish with coriander leaves. Add lime juice and mix well.
Serve with rotis.

Use some left over gravy to make bread peas masala for afternoon tiffin/snack.
Cut each bread into 2-3 pieces and lightly toast with butter.
Top it off with peas masala.

Note:You may omit cashews if you want the gravy to be light.
Instead of grinding cashews along with coconut, you can dry grind cashews coarsely and sprinkle the powder in the end.