food is my nish

I love corn on the cob, but I can't stand the concept of slabbing butter on vegetables. The only reason I keep butter in my fridge is for the occasional loaf of sourdough and baking. My anti-butter stance and affection for Indian street foods influence this simple, savory take on a classic! If you've tried my cooking at Stir It 28, you know that I am a big fan of using lime, ginger, and Indian masalas (spices). This is another such recipe that will make your taste buds tingle. For those of you who did attend the successful charity event thrown by Chrystal of The Duo Dishes and Greg from SippitySup, I will be posting my signature limey guacamole and my dad's chicken kebab recipe in the coming week!



Ingredients:
-1/8 teaspoon paprika
-1/4 teaspoon chat masala*
-1 or 2 limes, depending on the juicyliciousness of the lime
-2 cobs of corn

*chat masala, a blend of spices, is commonly found at Indian supermarkets. For approximately $2 or less, you can purchase a large quantity from a good brand (MDH or Roopak's)

Directions:

There are two different methods I use to prepare the corn: boiling or charring. I prefer boiling, but charring does add smokiness and texture. Charring the corn over a gas stove also allows for the corn to soak up the lime and spices.

1. Squeeze your lime in a small bowl. Save the used lime wedge for step four.
2. Mix the chat masala and paprika into the bowl of lime juice. Set the mixture aside.


For boiled corn:
3. Fill a pot with water deep and wide enough to submerse the corn. Wait for the water to boil and slide in your corn on the cob. Cover the pot for 10-15 minutes, until the corn is cooked to your preferred softness.

For charred corn:
4. Use tongs and hold the corn over a gas stove or charcoal grill. Rotate often and evenly until charred.

5. Take the squeezed lime wedge and use it as a brush to spread the mixture onto your cooked corn.



This recipe makes for a healthier snack and an unique, "ethnic" addition at a Summer BBQ. If you're too lazy (or a college student, like me) I often use the frozen, roasted corn from Trader Joe's.



Happy flossing,
Anisha

I was scrolling through blogs and tweets when I came across The Duo Dishes' latest post on Aunt Else's aebleskiver! What are aebleskivers? Well, according to Solvangians and Wikipedia, aebleskivers are Danish treats served around Christmas. Aebleskiver means "apple slices," because the more traditional version incorporates apple slices into the batter. They are similar in appearance to takoyaki, a Japanese "dumpling" filled with octopus. Of course, the latter is a savory version of the aebleskiver. The aebleskivers I ate in Solvang from the Solvang Restaurant (how very original) were topped with a raspberry jam and powdered sugar, as pictured above.

Needless to say, I was jealous of Ms. Chrystal of The Duo Dishes. When I went to Solvang last with my boyfriend and roommate, I was urged to purchase a $15 aebleskiver pan. I didn't and I knew I'd beat myself up over it. Guess that means I'll have to make a trip out of it again, huh?

My bestie Stephanie came over to bake at my house and we were determined to make something that isn't too labor intensive. Why weren't we daring bakers? Well, three months prior, we attempted to make our first collaborative rainbow cake shaped like Mickey Mouse for our third bestie's birthday. After that failure (and a very messy kitchen), we decided to KISS -- as in keep it simple, stupid!


Let's just say, we took our friend to SusieCakes for birthday cupcakes instead! In an attempt to legitimize my talents as a baker, the white cake did taste really good as we did eat all of the cake scraps.

After much Googling, we came across a funnel cake recipe by kitchen god, Mr. Alton Brown. He
pretty much has a "legit" recipe for everything, so we stuck by it.

You can find the recipe here.


I used my automatic Cuisinart frosting/cookie press to pump out the funnel cake batter. The batter dispensed pretty fast, so we stuck with a round funnel cake. If you want to be uber creative, I recommend making funnel cakes using inexpensive aluminum cookie cutters. Place the cookie cutter in your shallow, oil-filled frying pan and dispense a small layer of dough in your pan. Using tongs, shake out dough from your cookie cutter and let it fry!

We tried using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, but I put too much dough and it ended up not cooking evenly. Stephanie and I decided not to waste our precious batter, so no more #fail pictures.

If you're feeling funnelicious, they're truly delicious. Changing Fergie's lyrics never tasted so good!

It's only appropriate that this chocolate bar is branded by the name Theo, or "gift of the Gods." Quite often, I refer to milk chocolate as the cacao bean's bastard child, but I was pleasantly surprised by this milk chocolate bar with pink peppercorns and cherries by Theo Chocolate.

This is my first, but definitely not the last review on chocolate. I'm always stocked with a bar or two of dark chocolate goodness, but when I forget to check my inventory you will always know about it via Twitter:

My verbiage was much more obscene off of Twitter. Gotta fulfill my chocolate fix!


When the chocolate arrived, I was floored by the packaging. A large (recycled) cardboard box was filled with (biodegradable corn starch) packaging peanuts and somewhere within that parcel was my chocolate bar! I was impatient -- uhm hello, we're dabbling in chocolate matters -- and I ended up emptying the entire box on my carpeted floor for a soft landing. Inside, was this beautiful pink 3.5 oz bar of organic 45% milk chocolate:


I love the pink packaging for Valentine's Day, cupids and all! I opened the bar upside down and was amused by the pink peppercorns. Everything is just cuter in pink!


The bar was segmented into six equal blocks, which was definitely a plus. I tend to get annoyed at Hershey's chocolate bars, because they are cut into twelve tiny blocks, when I know I'm going to eat at least half a bar in one sitting.


As I mentioned earlier, I never go out of my way to buy a milk chocolate bar; however, the 45% milk chocolate combined with the pink peppercorns and dried cherry bits went really well together. The milk chocolate itself was very creamy, while the peppercorns added a "crunch" and the cherries created a great "chew" factor.

The aftertaste was unique, as the pink peppercorns overpowered the palate and left a long-lasting impression. I never expected to the enjoy the peppery taste coupled with the sweet cherry and chocolate. It was a revelation for a chocoholic like me! As I was researching the bar on the Theo website, I also found an equally interesting chocolate combination -- dark chocolate with ginger and rose!

$3.50 a pop is most reasonable when it comes to this chocolate bar. I love the playfulness of the ingredients and the high quality of the chocolate! The only downside to this bar is that it is high in saturated fats, 16g in all. Just avoid looking at the nutrition facts and you're good to go indulge!

Ingredients: sugar*+, cocoa beans*+, milk powder*, cocoa butter*+, dried cherries*, pink peppercorns*, vanilla bean*, rice flour*

* organic, + Fair Trade



Theo Chocolate clearly strives to be eco-friendly and socially responsible, as perceived from their accompanying pamphlets on Fair Trade chocolate policies, packaging, and overall mission statement. Testimonials on their website praise their practices as a company, something that the business major in me truly appreciates, as it is a struggle for organizations to achieve a perfect balance between ethics and profitability. It reinforced my ideals that more businesses ought to give back to the community in any which way they can. Theo Chocolate, headquartered in Seattle, also offers both public and private factory tours every day of the week! When I road trip up to Seattle, which I've been meaning to get around to for five-odd years now, this factory tour will be near the top of the list of my itinerary!

I was so graciously sent this bar from Lee, The Chocolate Review, a blog that's always up to date about European chocolates, chocolate news, and what not. It's a very comprehensive site that all chocoholics should Bookmark! Ctrl + D that site kids, it's drool-worthy! Thanks again Lee!

If you're interested in purchasing Theo Chocolate bars, I would recommend doings so via their website: http://www.theochocolate.com/

You can also follow them on Twitter here.

Susina Bakery's chocolate bar collection near their register features quite a few varieties of Theo Chocolate, but it's not reasonable at $8/bar versus the $3.50 price tag online! Here's another review on Theo Chocolate's Bread and Dark Chocolate by Miss Diana from Diana Takes a Bite!

I was truly blessed by the Gods to be sent such a delicious hunk of chocolate.. and I don't mean the boyfriend! Happy Valentine's day everyone!