Pear & Walnut Loaf

I made some Poached Pears with orange and spices some 2 weeks back when we had guests over and there were about 5 pears i had completely forgotten about and while Ro was looking for something under a shelf, he came across the pears in a plastic cover. The green pears had become super ripe and i was shouted at saying i always buy so much of everything and then it gets spoilt and needs to be thrown out....which is not always true. C'mon cut me some slack..i buy them with great enthusiasm saying id make this and that, and i do too....but sometimes I forget or most of the time laziness gets the better of me and i ignore.

So these pears were transferred from the shelf to the refrigerator where it hatched for about 4 or 5 days and then again i got shouted at by Ro saying i don't have any intention of doing anything with it, might as well throw it out and save some space. I had just gotten back from the gym after a really "vigorous" work out and this happened just as i plopped on the sofa. I was so pissed off and decided to prove him wrong. Did some super fast research online and decided on a Pear Loaf by Smitten Kitchen. I halved her recipe because it was my first attempt at making a fruit based bread. I am glad i tried it out because it was super easy and one of the moistest, yummiest and exotic recipes i have ever tried. It is definitely gonna make its way back into my kitchen and then it would hopefully not be with pears waiting to be rescued:)

Ro ate quite a few slices with some left over cream cheese frosting dabbed on top..and oh i also made him say I'm so awesome and a whole lotta things like that :)

Plain flour- 1 1/2 cups

Baking soda- 1/2 tsp

Baking powder- 1/4 tsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon powder- 1/2 tsp

Chopped walnuts- 1/2 cup

Oil- 1/2 cup

Eggs- 2

Sugar- 1 cup

Conference Pears or dessert pears- 4 or 5, cored, peeled and pureed. I got about 2 cups of puree.

Vanilla extract- 1 tsp

Combine the first five ingredients together in a bowl.

Transfer a bit of this mix into another bowl, add the walnuts and toss it around so they are all evenly coated.

Beat the eggs using a whisk in a mixing bowl and add the oil, sugar, pureed pear, vanilla extract and the coated walnuts and stir to combine well.

Add this to the flour mix and stir till combined well and no flour is seen.

Transfer the batter into a 9 inch greased and lined bread tin or a square pan and bake in a pre heated oven (175C) for about 50 to 60 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Take it out of the oven and about 5 minutes later, place it on a wire rack till it is completely cooled.

Cut it into slices and store in an air tight container.

Notes/ Changes I made: I pureed the pear instead of grating it and that's why the colour is a deeper brown I guess.

I reduced the quantity of cinnamon down to a half tsp since we are both not too fond of the strong taste and in spite of that it still had a nice tang of cinnamon, not too strong but you knew it was there.

I chose to use oil instead of butter and also added walnuts.

Sending this to the Green Gourmet event hosted by Preeti of Relishing Recipes and to the Blog Bites event hosted by Nupur of One Hot Stove, where this months theme is Adaptation.

I would also like to thank Nitha of Amateur Perceptions and S S of Treat your Tongue for passing on the lovely awards. I have waaaay too many pics i like and over 1000's of pics to choose from. These two were on the recent albums and so here you go:

This was at about 4pm in the quaint town of Salisbury near Stonehenge. The sky was just brilliant. Ro and myself are doing a photography series on skies and this is one of my personal favourites.

This is again on the way to Stonehenge where we stopped to take in all of the English countryside and the road was covered in these colourful leaves....autumn at its best. I had to take a self pic and then i started this whole 'shoe series' of my own :)

Foil Baked Fish with Indian Spices (..and spicy would be an understatement)

Weekend went by in such a whiz that i still haven't recovered from it. It was a Bank Holiday and hence 3 day weekend. Had some college friends from up north staying with us and on Sun, hadRo's college mates over for a BBQ session which was washed out and so had to have it inside. In between late nights, partying, drinking and chatting I had to squeeze in the BBQ cooking and the odd lunch, dinner and snacks we were grabbing at home. Fell sick...bad cold, cough, throat pain and fever after they all left and its just today that i have gotten out of bed. Ro has been working from home since Friday and had everything under control..including taking care and fussing over the 'sick' me. I am completely taking advantage of it staying in bed and ordering things around. I think i am done with cooking. An overdose of it always is a buzz kill for me. All i want to do is not do anything which i have managed to. Ro has meetings all day today and has a drinks and dinner session after work which means no cooking or doing anything today also. Friday, i can make do with some leftovers and weekend, I'm hoping Ro would still be his enthusiastic best and spare me. So till I get back on my feet, I am gonna post stuff that was in my drafts and when that's over, I'll just wait till i get my mojo back :)

As i have mentioned quite a few times about how 'not' a fan i am of seafood, this dish totally caught me off guard and i loved every bit if it. It was the first time i tried out something like this and i did so only because I vaguely promised Ro some time back i would give it a shot after seeing Gordon Ramsay on a Houseboat in Kumarakom where a Kottayam kochamma (aunty) was teaching him how to do the authentic meen pollicha (baked fish in banana leaves) technique. Ro is from Kottayam and he couldn't stop bragging about it and i as usual with my contradicted views said, 'oh no big deal, that doesn't even look that great..its such an over rated thing.' ..karimeen (pearl spot) to be precise...I know, I know! A whole lot of you would love to disagree, but what to do, like Ro says I'm a disgrace to the mallu's ;)

Although mine is not the authentic preparation and didn't look anything like what GR had on the houseboat, it sure was delicious (if i may say so myself). Thanks to Collaborative Curry for providing me with a base recipe and procedure. Here you go:

White fish fillets- 2 x 200gms (Cod, Snapper, Halibut, Monkfish etc. We used River Cobbler)

To marinate:

Kashmiri Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

Yoghurt- 1 tsp

Lime juice- 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder- 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder- 1/2 tsp

Salt- to taste

Onions- 1 large, roughly chopped

Tomato -1 large, thinly sliced

Ginger- 1 tbsp

Garlic- 1 tbsp

Fenugreek powder- 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp

Kokum- 2 small pieces soaked in 1/2 cup warm water

Vinegar- 1 tsp

Coconut milk- 1/4 cup

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

Curry leaves- a few sprigs

Salt- to taste

Oil- 1 tbsp (I used coconut oil)

Kitchen foil

Baking tray

Wash and clean the fish fillets and marinate with all the ingredients in the 'to marinate' section. Keep aside for about 15 to 20 minutes.

In a frying pan, heat some oil and add the mustard seeds. Once they start to splutter, add the curry leaves and onions and sauté on low heat, till transparent.

Add the chopped ginger and garlic and sauté for a few more minutes to get the raw smell off.

Add the turmeric, pepper and fenugreek powder and mix well till the oil starts separating. At this point add the tomatoes and the vinegar and saute further, till the tomatoes are well mashed and the oil separates.

In goes the kokum and the water. Increase the heat to high and when the gravy starts to simmer, and its somewhat thick in consistency, reduce the heat and add the coconut milk. Check for salt, add more if required. Mix well, take it off the heat and transfer to a bowl.

Place the same frying pan back on fire. Increase the heat to high and if there is not enough oil lining the pan, pour some more oil. Slide in the fish fillets one by one and sear on both sides (1 minute each side max.) flipping carefully.

Assembling:

Pre-heat oven to 175C

Place the kitchen foil in the baking tray with enough left over to wrap it up. Add half of the gravy at the bottom, place the fish fillets on top and cover with the rest of the gravy. Cover it with the foil, fold the edges so it resembles a parcel and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve hot with rice or on its own. We picked up a wine case from Laithwaites Wines with a mix of Spanish, French, Australian and South African wines and now we are in the process of learning how to pair it, what goes with what etc. We marvelled this spicy fish with a glass of Pinot Noir and it was brilliant with the rich flavours the fish brought out.

Notes: This was extremely spicy and so do reduce the chilli powder, pepper powder measurements accordingly.

If you bake it wrapped in a banana leaf, this would taste even better, I'm told.

Make sure you don't over cook the fish, and then it starts falling apart

The Yummy Team passed on some beautiful awards..thanks girls.

Kerala Beef Fry (Beef ularthiyathu)

I still haven't gotten over my pressure cooker phobia after this episode and so prefer to use it only when Ro or someones around. In spite of that, each time the whistle sounds, i jump out of my skin and everyone has a good laugh except my husband who thinks its high time i grew out of it. Easy for him to say hmpffff!

One of the first blogs i started following on a regular basis was that of Sig's and if at all there was a wee bit of inspiration, it was because of her. The first recipe i tried of hers was the Kerala Beef fry and it was alright, not perfect like hers. I just couldn't get the colour right and I'm sure taste-wise it wasn't anywhere near hers as well. I went on and learned how to make it my mom-in-law way and have stuck to that always. But then, I came across the Blog Bites event hosted by One Hot Stove and noticed that the first edition was on Cookers. Also, one of the rules mentioned I should try a recipe from another food blog and I thought I should give Sig's recipe another go. And this time it was way better than my first trial. I almost managed the colour and taste was also brilliant.

Here are some of the details:

I followed Sig's recipe to the dot and used my Hawkins Contura Anodized Pressure Cooker which we got as a wedding gift..about 4 years old now:). One thing i added were the curry leaves which as Sig mentioned is not really an option but since there was a ban on curry leaves in the US at that time, she had to do without it. I added tonnes of it like she mentioned and it sure did make a difference. Thanks to Sig for all those mouth watering dishes that have inspired me to lift a finger.

Some of the other pressure cooker recipes i have tried are:

Spinach Dal, Beef Curry inspired by mariasmenu, Dal Fry and the Chicken Curry from yours truly :)

I almost forgot, I would love to thank the duo of Adukala Vishesham for passing on this award. I must add, that my husband gets way more excited than me when he sees awards on my blog and i really didn't know he subscribed to my blog till a few days back..i was incredibly touched :)

I think i have already been scandalous and mentioned things about me. You can read it here. And I would like to pass this award to two of my good friends Miri of In Vogue at Home and Swar of Whats Cooking Today in particular..all others, like i have mentioned before, are awesome cooks and are incredibly creative, so feel free to grab the award, brag about it, display it on you blog and link it back to whoever awarded it, share 10 things about yourself and pass on the award to anyone you like.