Fun with Fruit

Hi all. We all know the benefits of eating our 5 a day. Now I am  lucky to have  a 7 year  old (sorry 8 year old; he just turned 8 and I keep forgetting it :-)) ) who adores most fruit  but  we all love a bit of variety and I know there are  mums out there who are all the time trying to find different ways to make this 5 a day more interesting for the kids. Well here is one sure shot way to have your kids eat more fruit. Cut out the fruit of your choice into big cubes and let the kids thread the skewers as they like them. Believe me they will be gobbling it all up and asking for more.

Mango Bread-n-Butter Pudding

Although one day late , here I am as promised with the recipe for Mango Bread and Butter Pudding.The Mango flavour is just a twist on the classic Bread and Butter Pud which is a favourite in the UK. It's quick to prepare and delicious to taste. I made mine with Brioche rather than ordinary bread because I had some leftover Brioche, but ordinary white bread is fine too. Butter both sides of the bread slice if using plain bread. For Brioche you do not need to butter it as it already has a  lot of butter in it. As a variety Croissants can be used too .


Ingredients:
8 slices of Brioche/ or plain white bread
2 cups whole milk
3 eggs
handful of raisins
1 cup and a little more mango pulp (use canned or fresh) .If using fresh just blend the pulp to a smooth consistency  before using
2/3 tspns sugar (more if using plain bread)
2 tspns vanilla essense
Ground nutmeg to sprinkle on top (optional)


Method:
Preheat oven to 175deg C
Mix well together the milk ,eggs, sugar, vanilla, and mango pulp
Grease a baking dish and lay out the first layer of brioche slices. Sprinkle the raisins over the brioche.
Now lay out the second layer of brioche, and make sure all the raisins are covered under this layer, so they don't burn when you bake the pudding.
Pour the custard mixture over  the top now making sure to cover all the bread slices thoroughly.
Press down gently so the lower layer also soaks up the custard.
Bake for 25 to 30 mins or until the pudding is golden and puffed up.
Serve with fresh mango slices, warm custard, or  cream

ENJOY!!

P.S. For those of you who haven't yet read the round-up of Mango Moods just scroll down to the next post.

Mango Bread and Butter Pudding and Round-Up : Mango Moods

OK People ! Thanks a ton for being ever so patient while I was roudning -up all the gorgeous and lip-smacking  that were sent by you all to make Mango Moods a super duper success. We have 28 entries from 17 blogs and they are all just mind-blowing. So without much further delay here's presenting the Grand Mosaic of Mango Moods

I have lined up all the recipes below . Follow the pics row by row from left to right and you will find the corresponding recipe in the list below. My contribution to the event is at the very end of this post. Hope you like it. Thanks once again for your very enthusiastic response. Enjoy the Round up.

1.Eggless Mango Custard by Pavithra of Binge On Veg

2.Mango Mousse by Jayashree of Spice and Curry

3.Mango and Banana Bake from Guyana by Bala of  A Life Journey Together

4.Mango Puree Coconut Cream Panacotta by Lakshmi of Palate Desires

5.Mango Swiss Roll also by Lakshmi of Palate Desires

6.Paneer Burrito again by Lakshmi of Palate Desires

7.Coconut and Mango Agar Agar by Lakshmi again !! Yes from Palate Desires!!

8.Mango Chutney from Nayna of Simply. Food

9.Mango Bread by Rachana of Sizzle N Spice

10.Mambhazha Kuzhambu by Nithu of Nithu's Kitchen

11.Nuts and Fruits Dessert another yummy creation by Nithu from Nithu's Kitchen

12.Mango Dessert : A third delicious recipe by ...yes  Nithu again from her kitchen

13.Ripe Mango Chutney : The fourth fantastic dish by Nithu.... Looks like all the mangoes in the market are going to Nithu's Kitchen

14.And to top all that we have a Spicy Fruit Salad yet again from Nithu's Kitchen

15.A beautiful Mango Trifle by Cooking Foodie  from 365 Days of Eating

16.A spicy hot entry from Pranis Kitchen is her Kadu Mango Pickle

 

17.A very exotic Prawn with Mango Curry comes from Sudha of Malaysian Delicacies

18.Beat the heat with Lalaine's cool Chamango

19.Priya of Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes very proudly sends Aam ki Launji  

20.Sisters Harini and  Jaya of Tamalapaku have teamed up to send not one but three great
recipes : First one is Bisipinakaya (Rasa Gaya)

21.Next from them  is Mango Palak Carrot Chapati

 

22.Priya  from Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes sends her Mango and Chocolate Chips Bread


23.The delectable Mango Muffins are from Neeta of Chatak Matak

24.And the third tasty dish from Harini and Jaya is Raw Mango Rice

25.Ayeesha sends her fabulous Mango and Cardammom Gateau from Taste of Pearl City


26.Divya of Divya's Kitchen has made a beautiful looking Mango Sesame Curry

27.The Mango Sesame Chutney is another creation again from Divya


28.Priya from Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes has sent us Multi-grain Mango Scones which look and sound just absolutely gorgeous.

And now for my entry to the event. This must be the quickest pud I have ever made. And surprise surprise it turned out great. But recipe will be posted tomorrow. Promise!!  So keep watching this space.

If I have missed any entries do let me know as I am quite a scatter-brain about things like this and absolutely unorganised. 


Leaving you all for now. Will be back tomorrow.

Mango Mastani (It's seriously addictive)

My memories of enjoying a Mango Mastani go back a long long way, right to the time when I was about 10 years old. I mean today Pune has some fabulous Mastani places where the Mastani is sold in many different flavours but back then my dad used to take us to a small place , a stall actually, located at Saras Baug (readers from Pune will know the location ) . It was called Vasant Cold Drink House . It belonged to a friend of my dad's and he and sold the most awesome Mango Mastani made from fresh Alphonso mangoes and made in a hand turned ice cream maker. Eating this Mastani was a luxury and at a price as low as Rs.10.00 per glass it was practically free considering today's prices. A Mastani today costs around Rs.60.00 to 70.00 at Sujata Mastani in Pune .

So every time I think of Mastani I always remember that small place which gave me my first taste of this beautiful beautiful dessert. No wonder it's also got this royal name . Mastani was a danseuse and wife to Bajirao Peshwa . She was a stunning combination of beauty and bravery that history recollects and it is said that her skin was as smooth and delicate as porcelain. Well our Mastani is just as beautiful, don't you think?

So here's my version of the Mango Mastani:
As it the Mango season I used fresh mangoes but otherwise just go ahead and use canned mango pulp, but preferably Alphonso mango.

To make 2 tall glasses of Mastani you need:
Pulp of 1 large Alphonso Mango or 2 medium ones (or of course the equivalent in canned pulp)
1.5 glasses of cold whole milk,
4 tpns sugar
lots of ice cubes
And good quality mango icecream or mango kulfi (I used kulfi)

Method:
Whizz up the milk ,mango , sugar and ice in a blender until thick and frothy. Pour out into tall glasses upto three quarters. Then put in 2 scoops of mango icecream on the top and decorate with cubed mango and some whipped cream . Put in a straw and a long spoon and serve chilled. Or drink it and go straight to heaven.

Other good variations are :
Rose milkshake and mango icecream,
Rose milkshake and pistacchio icecream,
Strawberry milkshake and vanilla icecream
But of course nothing comes close to the total mango version.

Blushing Pink Raspberry Smoothie

Hey ! Here I am back again so soon . I said I was going to break the bad habit of taking long breaks and I have kept my promise. So what do I have today? Well it's this deliciously refreshing raspberry smoothie that is my son's favourite . And mine too actually although given a choice I really prefer to eat the raspberries just like that . They are so delicious and have sucha heady aroma that I can never have enough. It's very funny actually because believe it or not there was a time when I was not particularly fond of this fruit, but that was because I had yet to taste really great tasting raspberries. I now buy mine from M& S and they are perfect everytime. They are sweet and deliciously tart and I just want to buy them by the kilo. My son and I actually fight over who has eaten more raspberries from the box and who gets the last one. Very often it is I who get to eat more because of course I am snacking on them when the poor guy is in school but then I compensate him by making this yummy smoothie which definitely goes down a treat with him.

Surprisingly he doesn't mind that it is pink in colour, because otherwise he will run miles from anything that even closely resembles the colour pink. He has all these typical (for a 7 year old) ideas of pink is only for girls but this he doesn't mind hmmm!!!!

So we made this yesterday.
This is how:
Ingredients:
Approx 1 cup fresh raspberries (I froze them for an hour before using them)
1/2 cup plain yogurt,
1 cup chilled whole milk,
2 to 3 tspns sugar
5 to 6 ice cubes

Method:
In the blender first put in the milk and yogurt and then put in the frozen raspberries and sugar and ice. Putting the liquids first prevents the raspberries from jamming your blender mechanism.
Give it all a good blitz until nice and frothy and serve.
Raspberries also combine well in taste with mangoes in a smoothie. Try that once too.

Anjeer (Dry Fig) Milkshake

Whenever we go to the foodstore we have to stop at Whole Foods section. Hubby being a great fan of pumpkin and sunflower seeds ,it is neccessary to top up the supply of seeds in the pantry every 2 weeks at least. I am not much of a seed eater (read: I can't stand them) but I do occassionally like to eat dried berries and nuts in a combo. So while buying those a few weeks back I don't know why I picked up a packet of organic dry figs. I really don't know why I bought them because I never ever liked the stuff . I enjoy fresh figs but dried figs are a completely different story. It is as if it's a totally different fruit. But they were beautifully packed and the word "Organic" probably lured me into buying them.

Well after that they just lay in the pantry cupboard being moved this way and that way whenever I wanted to get something else from the cupboard. I put some in my son's lunch box but they came back half nibbled. I guess he takes after me where dry figs are concerned. Every few days I would just open the pack to see whether they were still in good condition or ready to be thrown away but surprisingly nothing happened to them. I kept saying to myself "You bought them , now do something with them." Than I remembered my mom saying that fig icecream and fig milkshake had to be made from dry figs as the fresh ones tasted bitter when blended.

So I soaked the figs in cold milk for 3 to 4 hrs. They absorbed a little of the milk and got quite plump and soft. I knew I was on the right track now and the milkshake turned out really well. A bit thick but really yum. And I was happy that I had put the figs to good use.

Here's what all I used:
6/7 figs soaked in 1 glass of cold milk for 4 hrs,
2 glasses whole milk,
2/3 tspns sugar (can be omitted)
some crushed ice or simply 3 to 4 icecubes.

Method:
Just blend the figs, milk, sugar and ice till creamy and frothy. Pour out into glasses and enjoy .

Next time I am going to try out making fig icecream. If it turns out well You know you will see it here on Food-n-More .

Black Grape Lassi (Delights of blogging)

Although England is still in the grips of cold spring weather people back home in India are probably already in the depths of a hot summer. Pune my hometown used to be a city with moderate summers till about 10 to 12 years back but no more. Summers of Pune are something to reckon with these days . The sun starts blazing down on you practically from eight in the morning and relief in the form of a cool breeze can be experienced only late in evening after sunset. So how to do you make your summer tolerable ?

Easy! Concentrate on the delicious produce that summer has to offer.

The item that is and always will be at the top of the list is Haapus Aamba or Alphonso Mango, then comes Neera which is my favourite drink which I used to drink in gallons when I was in Pune. Have you tried it? Do give it a try. It's awesome! Then of course is Usacha Ras or Sugarcane juice . I love it so much that I can never ever walk past a sugarcane juice stall or Gurhaal (as we call it in marathi) without having atleast 1/2 a glass of the delicious stuff. Other delicious thirst quenching options to be enjoyed are watermelons, grapes, pineapples,coconut water. Just writing about all these is making me wish I was in Pune.

Well what I have for all of you today is also a very delicious fruity summery concoction that looks awesome and tastes divine. I read this recipe a very long time back on Vaishali's blog Happyburp and was completely zapped by the colour that the lassi had taken because of the black grapes . Purple is such a rare colour where food is concerned and I just loved it. Secondly it's so quick to make .

So here's what you need for 1 glass of black grape lassi:

10 black grapes,
1/2 cup yoghurt,
1/4 cup water,
1/4 cup milk (or cream if you are in an indulgent mood),
1 tspn sugar (more if you prefer),
a pinch of salt,
couple of ice-cubes.

Procedure:
Blend all the ingredients in a blender until nice and frothy.
Strain the lassi to remove all the grape skin bits .
Serve chilled .

That's it ! Enjoy this cold treat on a hot afternoon and enjoy summer!!

More summer drink recipes coming up on Food-n-More