Knowing a food critic is dining in the restaurant, 'everthing improves: the seating, the service, the size of the portions.' Therefore, the one thing a food critic really needs - in addition to a healthy appetite and a willingness to sample different foods - is anonymity.


As a seasoned restaurant critic, Ruth Reichl is very aware of this. But she also learns, much to her dismay, that even before she has occupied her desk as food critic for The New York Times, the restaurants in New York have been gathering all information on her. Reportedly, they even have her picture posted in the kitchen with cash rewards offered for adavance intimation of her visit.


Under such circumstances, how does she ensure that she gives her readers an objective and unbiased view of the restaurants she's eating in?



The book club pick for June, Garlic and Sapphires: The secret life of a food critic in disguise, tells just how Ruth Reichl manages to hoodwink the restaurateurs - with the help of one of her mother's friends, she disguises herself - thereby giving the masses an honest insight into what they could really expect from the total experience of dining out.


"You shouldn't be writing reviews for the people who dine in fancy restaurants, but for all the ones who wish they could."

In keeping with that line of thought, the disguises she dons are very representative of the ordinary diner: she starts off as Molly, a meek, former school teacher, then, she is Miriam, inspired by her own cantankerous and opinionated mother. There is also Chloe, a sexy, divorced blond, Betty, an old spinster who no one pays much attention to; her favourite is Brenda a warm -hearted and friendly red-head, and she is most horrified by the brusque and unkind Emily. The disguises are more than just outward appearances - each has a personality of her own and with every disguise she dons, she learns something about herself.

She eats in fancy schmancy restaurants and smaller, lesser known ones with equal enthusiasm and derives as much satisfaction nibbling on foie gras as she does slurping on soba noodles, much to the chagrin of some colleagues and readers.

The city was filled with people who did not think that Shanghai dumpling parlors, Korean barbeque places, and sushi bars merited serious consideration. They did not want these restaurants taking up the space that properly belonged to the French, Italian and Continental establishments they were accustomed to seeing reviewed in their Friday morning paper. But I was determined to give Asian, Indian and Latino restaurants the respect they deserved.

Garlic and Sapphires is an extremely entertaining and insightful read into the world of a restaurant critic. The one thing I particularly liked was that Reichl minces no words when she talks about the restaurants she reviewed, her colleagues or even herself. What makes the book particularly appealing is the way the stories about her various disguises are interspersed with actual restaurant reviews and some recipes. Now, if only she'd included pictures of herself in all those disguises!

With so much food on almost every page, coupled with some very interesting recipes, deciding what to make wasn't very easy. In the end, I zeroed in on the risotto simply because I hadn't made any in a long time!


Ingredients:

Arborio rice: 3/4 cup

Onion: 1 medium sized, finely chopped
Garlic: 1 clove, finely minced

Mushrooms: 10-12, chopped
Green Peas: 3/4 cup
Asparagus spears: 10-12

White wine: 1/2 cup (at room temperature)
Mushroom stock: 2 - 3 cups
Olive oil: 2 tbsps
Butter: 1 tbsp
Parmesan cheese: 2 tbsps (optional)


Method:

Heat the oil and add the garlic and onions, cook till the onions turn pink. Add the mushrooms and saute for a couple of minutes - I had some bacon bits that were fast approaching the expiry date and threw those in with the mushrooms.

Next, add the rice and stir till the grains are evenly coated with oil. Then, add the dry white wine and simmer over low heat until all the wine has been absorbed.

Now add the stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly till all the stock has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock, 1/2 cup each time, allowing each addition to be completely absorbed before adding in the next.

When three quarters of the stock has been absorbed, stir in the asparagus and the green peas.


Add the remaining and cook another 7-10 minutes till the rice is completely cooked; once cooked, stir in the parmesan cheese and the butter, adjust the seasonings and serve.



Making the mushroom stock:

Very often, when I made risotto, I would use ready - made stock cubes. After all, risotto is something that I cook more as a 'on the spur of the moment' meal; often times, I'd have no patience to spend extra time in the kitchen to make the stock.

It all changed when I experimented and came up this way of making 'instant' noodles. It has been a hit at home and that gave me the confidence to also make and freeze some basic mushroom and vegetable stock. Not only is it convenient, it tastes way better than the readymade stock cubes.





To make the basic mushroom stock, slice about 12-15 large mushrooms, toss in one sliced onion and a chopped carrot. Add these to 2 lts of water. Season with salt, pepper and some fresh herbs ( I used rosemary and parsley) and bring to boil. Reduce to a low heat and simmer till the water has reduced to half.

I normally freeze my stock in ice trays and once set, transfer the ice cubes into re-sealable bags. I use these when when cooking pasta, for making risottos and for making soups and stews.

Frozen mushroom stock is my entry to Jaya's event, Back to Basics.

A google search led me here and I fell instantly in love with what I saw. Come D-day and I ran out of steam - or maybe had too much of it in the kitchen given the soaring temperatures in our neck of woods - and abandoned all plans of making the chariot and the wand and so the end result is different from the one I saw on Cake Central, but the birthday girl was thrilled with what she saw and that is all that mattered!

To make this cake, I put two 10" square cakes alongside each other and sliced off about 2.5" at an angle to get the book shape. The cake is covered with fondant icing . The flowers used are store-bought, my only contribution to the flower vine are the stalks and the leaves. I used gold dust powder mixed with a few drops of water to get the yellowing pages effect - this is the only bit that I was a tad unhappy about as I failed to get a uniform look - for whatever reason, the 'paint' didn't adhere to the fondant resulting in a patchy look.

If anyone reading this has any suggestions on what I should've done, please do leave me a comment.

This, I know, is a very sketchy post, but do check out these 2 posts - Decorating a birthday cake: step by step tutorial and Cake decoration with fondant icing: a step by step guide - to know more about cake decoration.

If you have any specific questions on making this cake, do drop me a line on aquadaze{@}rediffmail{dot}com

Love them or hate them, there is no denying that instant noodles are perfect for those times when you are very, very hungry , and/or pressed for time and need something quick to satiate your hunger. Just boil water, toss in the flavouring and the noodle cake, simmer for a bit and you have a hot, steaming bowl of noodles!

The very essence of instant noodles is the flavouring. That small sachet, the contents of which when poured into water, morphs into a delicious broth. However, if you look at the ingredients that make up the flavouring, you'd be right in thinking that you should take the sachet straight to a chemistry lab than into your kitchen.

And while having instant noodles is completely ok occasionally, falling back on them regularly? Umm, not quite. Well, at least that is my humble opinion. But this is EXACTLY what I was guilty of, especially in the last quarter of 2009. Being pressed for time, I'd resort very often to instant noodles for the husband's breakfast and my own lunch.

But everytime I'd reach out for a packet of noodles, I'd feel I felt terrible about making them so often and I started to wonder if there was some way of making my own flavouring.

A few disastrous experiments with mixing different spices in varying proportions followed. Till I hit upon a rather simple solution: make the broth in bulk, freeze it in small packets and use when required.

What follows is not a recipe per se; if the idea appeals to you, just play around with different veggies and spices to suit your own taste.



This is what I do:

In a large vessel, add about 12 mushrooms (I use shitake mushrooms) and 2 tomatoes.

This is an excellent way of using up the stalks of certain veggies; I add cauliflower, brocolli and spinach stalks to mine, whenever I have them on hand. Else, add whatever veggies you have. This time, I also had some chicken bones and I used them as well.

Add about 2.5 litres of water and bring to a boil and then continue to simmer for about 15 mins.



Then, add in the spices and seasonings. I used curry powder, dried minced onions, paprika, stir fry seasoning (containing dried garlic, ginger and red pepper), salt, pepper and a dash of sugar. Simmer for 5 more minutes.




Strain the stock and let it cool completely.




Once the broth is completely cooled, transfer to re-sealable bags; I pour about 300 ml in each bag and freeze them.





So, how do you use the broth to make noodles?

You will need about 100 gms of dried noodles - rice noodles, soba noodles, egg noodles - just take your pick.

Take the frozen broth out of the bag and transfer it to a microwave proof bowl; nuke it till it melts. Transfer to a vessel, add the dried noodles and cook till the noodles are done.

That is it....healthy instant noodles in just 10 minutes!

Healthy instant noodles are my entry to Presto Pasta Nights - 155, brainchild of Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and hosted by yours truly this time.

I personally think fondant is too cloyingly sweet, but there are 2 things that must be said in its defense - one, that kids seem to absolutely love it and two, it is the easiest way to decorate a cake, especially for those just venturing into cake decoration.

Being very pliable, you can roll it, mould it and shape it any which way you want to. But what exactly is fondant? It is essentially a mixture of water, sugar and gelatin. I always buy ready-to-roll fondant, but you can even make it yourself.

So, roll your sleeves and lets get decorating with fondant. Follow the first 7 steps from my previous post and then proceed as follows:





Knead a ball of the fondant with your hands till it feels soft and pliable, much like moulding clay/play doh. Use corn starch if needed. Line your work space with some parchment paper. Roll it with a rolling pin, using some corn flour for dusting should it get too sticky.








Invert the parchment paper over the cake and then slowly peel it off. Careful here, as the fondant does tend to tear easily.

BTW, do ensure that your parchment paper is free of any creases, for they will get transferred onto the icing. I learnt it the hard way!






Smooth the fondant with your hands, starting at the centre and moving outwards and on to the sides of the cake. Should any air bubbles form, use a toothpick to remove them. Trim off the excess fondant hanging from the sides of the cake. Don't worry about the creases, smooth them over with your fingertips (do dab them with corn starch as and how required).

Oh, and if you must know, I missed my blog's first anniversary which was in November but fortunately, the Snowman comes just in time for my 100th post!

After I posted my cake pictures here, I had quite a few mails with questions on decorating cakes. So, this is my attempt at answering all your questions - by outlining the things I do when I decorate birthday cakes. I am no expert and though I have tried my best to explain the process, do take the time to take a look at the links - those are phenomenal sources of information! Please bear with me if some steps appear too basic and do feel free to ask me for clarifications, if any.



There is great pleasure and satisfaction in being able to decorate your child's birthday cake. Every single year, when I am decorating my daughter's birthday cake, I tell everyone willing to listen to remind me never to do it again - it is quite tiring and very messy. But when the cake is all done, I have this stupid grin on my face and I make several trips to the fridge to stare at the decorated cake and vow to do it all over again!


So where do you begin?

1. Decide on the theme: believe me, once the theme is is decided, everything else falls into place quite easily. I always refer to these sites for inspiration. Depending on my daughter's preference, we zero-in on the theme.


2. Get an estimate of the number of children. I don't understand cake estimates in terms of "how many kilos". It never works for me. So what I do is eye-ball the no. of cake slices based on the size of the cake pan. For eg: an 10" square cake pan is good to feed about 18-20 kids. Do remember, we are talking of kids here who never hesitate to ask for second helpings, so you want to be generous in your estimate.


3. Now, based on the theme and the size of the cake, decide on the final design of the cake. If you want to cut the cake into any particular shape (as in this particular cake), then based on the size of your pan(s), cut the shape out on a newspaper a couple of times - till the time you are satisfied with the look of the design.


4. Pre-preparation: Before you've even baked the cake, get the basic material ready. To be able to comfortably decorate a cake, you need a good cake board. Most of the times, I buy my cake board from some bake store, but it is very easy to make your own as well. Just get a sturdy cardboard, cut it to the requisite size and cover it with foil. Ideally, your cake board should be an inch wider than the cake on all sides (mine wasn't, in this case)


Also buy all the supplies you would need to ice the cake. To me, an undecorated cake is like a canvas - before I have even baked the cake, I have a pretty good idea of what design elements I am going to have on the cake (like flowers or boulders or trees in this case), based on which I make sure that I have all the requisite things like piping tips, piping bags, icing colours and other cake toppers before I start decorating the cake. There is nothing more irritating than realising at the last minute that you don't have something ready at hand.


A word on piping tips: I think the following tips should be more than sufficient for starters: round tips in at least 2 sizes, the star tip, the basketweave tip and a drop flower tip. You can find further details here; my first ever set of piping tips came not from any speciality store but from a supermarket - and it did the job very well.


Piping bags: I prefer to use the plastic disposable ones - there is less washing up to do once you've finished decorating the cake; you can make your own with parchment paper. My friend saves the plastic milk bags to make hers. Watch this video to know more.


5. Prepare the Frosting: I normally use buttercream for my cakes and I use butter, not shortening, for making my icing. True, butter is a lot difficult to work with, especially in humid/hot places but somehow, I prefer the taste of butter over shortening and I cannot bring myself to use eggs in preparing the frosting. Take a peek here and find which one suits you the most.


6. Preparing your cake:
a. Leveling: Cakes tend to dome or crack during the baking process and before you start icing your cake, you need to level your cake. First, take your cake off the pan and allow it to cool completely - I allow the cake to cool for at least 3 hours. Then, level the cake by slicing the dome with a knife or with a cake leveler. Though I have never tried it, dental floss apparently is excellent for this.


The easiest way? First, slice the dome with a knife - don't fret if it is not perfect. Just like a coin, a cake too has two sides - just flip the cake over - now, you have that perfect straight surface to work on!

b. Filling: Take the height and the taste of your cake up a few notches by sandwiching two layers of cake with some jam or mousse or fruit or some buttercream. Again, slice your cake with a serrated knife or a cake leveler or dental floss, add the filling of your choice and then sandwich with the leveled side on top. Leave the cake in the fridge for an hour before proceeding to the next step.

c. Patterning: Secure the desired pattern with toothpicks or quilting pins (do remember how many you've used!) and cut along the edges. Then arrange the patterns on the cake board for the desired shape. I used an 8" square cake for the straight lines of the cake and an 9" round cake for the curved part. (I used my butter cake recipe for the cake, it is perfect for an 8" cake, for the 9" one, I increased the quantities a bit).





7. Crumb coat your cake: Think painting the walls of a house: you need to level the surface, fill in any holes and then apply a base coat. That is exactly what a crumb coat does - fills in any gaps, especially when you sandwich the cake layers and most importantly, keeps those loose crumbs together. And it comes in particularly handy to "glue" the cake blocks in a a patterned cake like this one.



To crumb coat your cake, apply a thin layer of icing all over the cake and put it in the fridge for about an hour.


You will not believe me, but you are now 70% done. The back breaking part is now nearly done, what follows now is the fun part!

8. Decorate your cake: Apply a generous layer of the frosting all over your cake and smooth it with your spatula. If you are using butter, getting a smooth flawless surface is going to be a little challenging.




Here are 3 things you could do: cool the cake in the fridge for about 15 mins, then place some parchment paper on top and quickly smooth over with the back of a flat plate. Or dip your spatula in hot water and quickly run over the cake.

Or ignore it. I do. Ignore it, that is. For, as you unleash your creativity, the uneveness that you see at this stage will disappear. Trust me on this!

Here's what I did to decorate the cake (sorry no step by step pictures here as I was really engrossed in putting everything together!):

Actually dragged a Thomas engine along the cake to give me the track lines.



Then, I piped the train tracks using tip#4 and tip#47. Put honey stars (crushed) to complete the look of the train track.

Piped grass on the edges (obviously, to hide the imperfections there!) using tip#233. Added flowers using a flower press to add colour to the cake.

Added boulders here n there. To get the marbled effect, take a piece of white fondant, and add some dots of brown colour. Then knead it for a few minutes, you will see the marbling as you knead.

Cut the tunnel out using the remaining bit of the round cake and secured it on the cake using toothpicks.

This is the final look:

Yes, I know that this is a rather long post. And thank you for reading through, I do hope this helps you in decorating your cakes!!

I remember as a kid when my mom would buy condensed milk, my sis and I would sneak into the kitchen and eat it by the spoonful. It seemed, at that time, that nothing could be better than sweetened condensed milk.

Of course, I had yet to discover dulce de leche. (pronounced dulchay the laychay)

When I first discovered dulce de leche, I was no longer a child and yet, its rich caramel - toffee taste transformed me into one. I found myself heading to the kitchen over and over again to eat it by the spoonful!

So what is dulce de leche? Nothing but sweetened condensed milk that has been cooked till it thickens and gets a deep caramel colour. But that doesn't still describe the phenomenon that is dulce de leche. If you ask me, it is decadence in a tin. You can't just stop at a spoonful!

You can use it to make ice creams; I've made kulfi using dulce de leche (replaced pista with almonds), I've also made a flan (recipe coming soon) and it is excellent as a topping on ice creams, cakes and fried bananas.

Over the last 4 years, I have made dulce de leche several times in different ways. I have described them in the order of my least favourite to most favourite way of making it.

All you need to make it is a tin of sweetened condensed milk. I have made it with both full fat and low fat condensed milk; there is just a marginal difference in the two, so go ahead use the low fat version.

1. In the tin:


Take the label off the condensed milk tin and place it in a pot. Pour water till the tin is completely immersed in the water - the water should be at least 2 inches above the tin. Place the pot on the stove on medium high heat, when the water starts to simmer, reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer for 3 hours.


Caution: Add hot water if the water level starts to fall, never let the water drop below the tin - this is very very important, so again, NEVER let the water level fall below the tin or you risk the tin bursting.


Then drain the water and let the tin cool completely before opening it. I let my can cool down for at least 4-6 hours before opening it.


Pros: Since the dulce de leche is made in the closed tin, you can make it ahead of time and use whenever needed.

Cons: Simmer for 3 hours. Carbon footprint, anyone? Also, you cannot use it right away as you have to let the tin cool before opening it.


2. In the oven:

Pre-heat the oven to 220 deg C.
Pour a tin of condensed milk into a shallow baking dish (preferably use a glass dish so that you can check the progress of the dulce de leche). Cover with aluminium foil. Set this baking dish into a larger baking dish or roasting pan. Pour hot water into the larger pan till it reaches halfway up the baking dish containing the condensed milk.

Bake for about 1 - 1 1/4 hour*. Keep checking the water level at 20 minute intervals and top up the water as and how required.

Cool in the oven with the oven door ajar for about an hour.


*oven temperatures vary, mine got done in an hour.


Pros: A comparitively quicker way of making the dulce de leche.

Cons: If you don't have a glass dish, it means in order to check if the dulce de leche is done, you have to remove both pans from the oven to check it and run the risk of the hot water spilling out.
(been there, done that!)



3. In the microwave:


Pour the contents of a condensed milk can into a deep microwave proof bowl. Microwave on medium power for 2 minutes. Stir.


Continue to microwave and stir till the condensed milk becomes thick and caramel coloured.


Pros: This is the quickest way of making dulce de leche; it took me all of 16 mins to make the dulce de leche in my microwave. Also, it allows you better control over how thick and caramel coloured you want your dulce de leche to be.

Cons: The constant attention required. You have to maintain a near constant vigil next to the microwave.


4. In the pressure cooker


Take the label off the condensed milk tin and place it in the pressure cooker. Cover completely with water; again the water should be at least 2 inches above the tin. Close the pressure cooker (remember, DONT use the weight).

Once it begins to steam, drop the heat to medium - slow and let it steam away for another 60 minutes.

(I let mine steam for about 45 minutes, but I would have liked a more deeper colour - the picture above is of the one I made in the pressure cooker - and a more caramelised taste and hence, the next time, I plan to steam it for an hour).


Turn off the heat and let the pressure cooker cool before you open the lid. Then drain away the water and let the tin cool completely for about 4-6 hours before you open it.


Pros: This is my favourite method of making dulce de leche. It is quick and "hands-free". Also, if you have a large pressure cooker, you can make several tins in one go and store them for future use. I made 2 tins and stored them in the fridge for over 3 months.

Cons: The time taken to cool the tin before you can open and use it.

So, tell me, how do you make your dulce de leche?

(I have referred here for the different ways of making dulce de leche; however, I do not recollect th website I referred to for the first method listed above).