Friday, June 24, 2011

Recipe: Easy Mango Kulfi (Indian style ice cream)


Here in NYC mangoes are in the markets and the fragrant fruit is quite often on sale now that it is Summer. In the supermarkets here, the Indian green mango is often sold. Sometimes it has a reddish pink blush to it. You can also find smaller yellow mangoes at fruit stands and in Asian markets. These tend to be sweeter.

I decided to pull out the ice cream machine to celebrate the first weekend of Summer and make mango kulfi, an Indian style ice cream that is rather simple to make. I was inspired by watching an Indian cooking show and wanted to try making the dessert. I've seen kulfi sold in Little India here in NYC and it can be pretty pricey for a small container so really, you save money making a batch yourself. Scouring the internet came of with quite a few recipes but I spied one that used frozen yogurt.

Yogurt tends to go on sale at 32 oz. (907 g) for about $2 or so and I always stock up on a couple containers to make smoothies (you can find a recipe for that here too). I decided to use the yogurt in place of the frozen yogurt (it's going to be frozen anyway) and add honey to sweeten and further enhance the mango taste. The base mixture can be considered mango lassi and you can enjoy it as a refreshing drink as well.

You'll need a food processor and an ice cream machine to make this.

Here is my version on the classic Indian dessert. Recipe makes about 1 1/2 quarts.

Ingredients

  • 3 ripe yellow mangoes
  • 2 cups mango nectar (you can find this in the Latin aisle of your supermarket)
  • 2 cups low fat vanilla yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon honey (or more to taste depending on the sweetness of the mango)

Directions

  1. Follow the instructions on pre chilling your ice cream maker's tub.
  2. Stand the mango up on it's stem end. There is a large pit that run down the middle of the fruit. Carefully cut the mango down both sides of the pit with a Chef's Knife. The meat that surrounds the pit you can nibble on and see how sweet it is.
  3. With the knife, score the mango meat and using a spoon, scoop out the meat from the skin and put into a food processor fitted with the blade.
  4. Add the mango nectar and process until smooth.
  5. Add the yogurt and honey. Process again until fully mixed.
  6. Pour the ice cream mixture into your ice cream machine and follow manufacturer's instruction.
  7. About 20-25 minutes it should be ready. With a rubber spatula, transfer the kulfi into a plastic container (it will be soft serve at this point) and allow to set up in the freezer for a few hours.
Kulfi is pretty dense since it has low fat content and this recipe is no exception. You may want to allow the container to thaw a bit to make serving the kulfi easier or pour the mixture into disposable paper cups and then freeze to make individual servings. To unmold from the cups, dip them in warm water then slide out onto a serving plate.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Recipe: 7 Bean and Barley Soup


Here in the big city we have Whole Foods that are starting to spring up around town to give competition to the other large supermarket chains already established here.

I recently visited one and liked how they sell their dried grains and beans in bulk which often times is cheaper than pre-packaged name brands. There is a scale in the department so you can weigh and print out the price tag for your purchase. I bought their 7 Bean and Barley mix for $2.69/lb.

The soup mix bin has a miniscule little blip of a recipe stating that you need 1 chopped onion, 1 pound of soup mix, and 8 cups of water but that sounded too bland. Searching the internet came up with a couple of recipes but they utilized bacon, smoked ham hock, or smoked turkey and I wanted to make it simple, healthier (after all it's a bean soup) and not needing expensive ingredients.
That being said, I created this simple, economically friendly recipe.
You can also use vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock if you wish to make it purely vegetarian.
Makes about 4 hearty servings.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound 7 Bean and Barley soup mix
  • 1 large onion (chopped)
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 2 tablespoons oil (corn, canola, olive oil... it's your choice)
  • 2 cans low sodium chicken stock (14.5 oz cans)
  • water (2 cans worth)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Rinse the bean mix and soak in a large bowl of water for 8 hours or overnight to plump the dried beans back up again.
  2. Drain the bean mix and set aside.
  3. In a large 4 quart pot, saute the garlic and onion in the oil for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
  4. Add the drained bean mix
  5. Add the 2 cans of chicken stock
  6. Add 2 cans worth of water (great way to rinse out the chicken stock cans for recycling!)
  7. Cover pot and bring to a boil.
  8. Once it starts to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours.
  9. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

$1 Off Pine-Sol Coupon


Just read in the NY Times today that the scent of Pine or Citrus will deter you mice problem. Here in the big city, we occasionally have little visitors especially if you live above a restaurant or in an old pre-war building.

Having read that article, I instantly though about Pine-Sol since it comes in those fragrances (and it's perfect for cleaning the kitchen too!) and lo and behold, the website's coupon is for $1 off!

Turn on your printer and click on the pink flower in the upper right hand corner of the website (www.pinesol.com) or you can print out one here.

The coupon appears to expire 30 days from date you first print.