MEC:Puddings ~ Round up

When Srivalli called for guest hosting her Microwave Easy Cooking Event, I did not give it a thought at all. But when she personally mailed me asking if I would be interested to host, I did not want to say 'No' and agreed for the first available month. And got my chance to host for Feb. Thanks Srivalli for making me take up and I enjoyed hosting. Now on to the presentation. I am listing the entries in the order I received them. Enjoy these delicious puddings and kheer...

Pudding is always associated with sweetness, at least for me. And Asha of Aromahope kick started the event entries with a savory pudding and she has made it egg less too.

Shoba of Anubhavati-Tastes from my Kitchen brings in a bowl of chilled apple kheer, prepared in 10 minutes.

Ramya of Pennin(g) my cooking has send in Aval paysam. She says its her first attempt in making payasam in microwave and the bowl of creamy payasam tells about the successful attempt.

Next is a bowl of Vermicelli payasam with a deep golden color, using the fine variety vermicelli, sent in by Raks of Rak’s Kitchen. Hop over to her place to catch the step-by-step pics of the preparation.

You have heard of pasta used in soups and salads. How about some in a kheer. Yes, Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes have come up with a mini shell pasta kheer. Priya didnot stop with one but sent two more delicious fruity kheer for the event

Priya combines mango and rolled oats to make a delicious and healthy Oats mango kheer

Another yummy combo of jackfruit and almonds in a kheer from Priya.

EC of Easy Cooking brings in Rice kheer, made the prepration of pal payasam sound simple by cooking in MW.

KC of Kits Chow comes up with a delcious sticky rice pudding flavored with osmanthus syrup. KC has gone out of the way to participate in the event by cooking in her office MW. Check out her space to find out the other suggested flavors for the pudding.

Cham of Spice-Club comes with a recipe for delicious badam kheer with tips for making blanching almonds easier too. In 10 minutes, you have delicious kheer and she says this is one of the highest cooking time, among the microwave recipes she has done.

Simran of Bombay foodie comes with a chocolate pecan pudding which can be made in flat 4 minutes. A very quick dessert.

Swapna of Cooking with Swapna sends a creamy smooth chocolate pudding. Swapna adds that it is so fast and easy, even a child can make it. A perfect treat for chocoholics.

Next we have a vegan Dalmatian eye-catchy pudding from Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen . And she calls it as Polka dot pudding, which seems apt for the coconut milk pudding.

You have heard of chocolate pudding and rice pudding. How about a combo of them. That’s what comes from Sweatha of Tasty Curry Leaf’s kitchen.

And finally my entry to the event is Chocolate pudding

I hope I have linked all entries correctly. In case of any errors or omissions, please leave a comment and I shall correct it.

Chocolate Tofu Mousse

Chocolate mousse, the dessert that I hardly resist and my weakness! Everytime I feel guilty after I eat it as most of the traditional chocolate mousse recipes would contain lots of cream and egg yolks. Somehow, there was a genius who used tofu to replace the cream and egg yolks for the chocolate mousse and that really cheer me up. Tofu! yes it's tofu which I never think that can be used to replace cream for making desserts. There are plenty of tofu chocolate mousse recipes and here I followed my favorite nutritionist Ellie's recipe.

The chocolate mousse took no time to prepare, just ignore the pictures shown with the shortcrust pastry cases and the cake base. The chocolate mousse could actually simply serve in cups or any serving dish but I just made a little bit extra for weekend. Simply blitz all the chocolate mousse ingredients in a food processor and pour into a serving dish and set in the fridge for couple of hours, job done!

I like the sourly of raspberries in the chocolate mousse as I think they go very well. So, I used raspberry puree to replace the water from the recipe as well as using the puree for the toppings. For the cake base, I was quite lazy to make the sponge cake so I simply blend together 60g egg whites, 25g ground almond, 50g sugar powder and 30g melted butter in the food processor then bake in a 180'C preheated oven for 20 minutes, simple! I find the cake is slightly thick which suppose to be in very thin layer.

As for the shortcrust pastry, I used some left over pastry in the fridge to roll it into a few chef rings and bake blind until golden brown. Here I've got a broken one and it's such a waste.

The pastry and almond cake go very well with the chocolate mousse whereas the mousse is really smooth, soft, light and my other half hardly taste the tofu until I told him. Other than using tofu for the chocolate mousse, a good quality at least 70% chocolate and cocoa powder is needed. It would definitely gives you a scrumptious dessert.

Recipe for the chocolate mousse:

10 oz silken tofu

3 oz 70% dark chocolate

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup water (I used raspberry puree, drained & seeded)

1 tbsp brandy (optional)

1/2 cup sugar (I reduced 2 tbsp for 1/2 cup)

1. In a blender or food processor, puree the tofu until it is smooth.
2. Put the chopped chocolate, cocoa powder, sugar, water and brandy (this is quite optional) in a saucepan or heat-proof bowl fitted over a pot containing 1-inch barely simmering water. Stir frequently, until melted and smooth.
3. Add the chocolate mixture to the tofu and puree until smooth and well blended. Spoon the mousse into serving dishes, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or 2.

Crispy Bread Cups with vegetable filling

There are enormous ways to serve bread. Here the bread is converted into a crisp snack with little effort. Bread slice is shaped into a cup and baked till crisp and golden. It is filled with cooked vegetables. This make an ideal snack/starter for any party. This is a very versatile recipe. With the bread cups as base, you can try out different filling, both sweet and savory. For making it more healthier, use whole wheat bread. When using whole wheat bread you might need to steam the slice before placing in the muffin. Else it might be difficult to get the shape.

You need

For cups

Bread slices - 8 nos

Butter - 3 teaspoons

For Filling

There is no specific recipe for the filling. I am listing the ingredients with approximation.

Finely chopped vegetables - 2 cups (I used potato,carrot and cabbage)

Onion -1

Crumbled paneer - 2 tblspn

Green chily - 2nos

salt

1 tspn of mixed herbs

tomato sauce - 2

chilli sauce -1 tspn

oil - 1 tblspn

Trim the crust from the bread. Flatten the bread with a rolling pin. This makes it easier to place in the muffin tray. Spread little butter on the slice. Place the bread in the greased cavities of muffin tray with the buttered side up. When you place adjust the slice so as to resemble a cup.
Bake at 180 C for 10 minutes or till the cups are crisp.

Meanwhile, you can prepare the filling. Heat oil in a pan. Saute onions till pink. Add the vegetables and saute till it is half cooked. Add salt, chilly sauce and tomato sauce. Mix well. Continue cooking till veggies are cooked and firm. Finally stir in crumbled paneer.

Spoon the filling into the bread cups. You can top it with grated cheese if you wish. Bake for 5-10 minutes. Serve with ketchup or any dip of your choice. The bread cups and the filling can be prepared before and assembling can be done prior to serve. It tasted good when served warm.

Being a perfect starter for any party, this goes to Rachana's Healthy Bites.