Carrot Pudding

 Is there a more versatile vegetable than Carrots?    

From sweet to savory recipes, they work and work hard.  At least I made them do the work.   

I've used carrots in Spaghetti Sauce and also make an amazing Carrot Cake.   I made some Carrot Mousse a while back, as well as one of my favorite salads, which also doubles as a great vegetarian main dish.  White Bean, Carrot, and Celery Salad.  I've used them in Curried Carrot Hummus, and I even made a Candied Carrot Coffeecake once.   They're great in soups, stews, and as pickles in some Carrot Escabeche .  I could go on and on and on, but you get my drift.  I hope.  Carrots are good food.   Treat them well, and they'll work for you.   And work hard.  

And this time round for our Sunday Funday, I'm using them in a Carrot Pudding.  Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories is our hostess this week, and she enjoined us to use Carrots in a dish, with carrots being featured.    So after some thought, I decided to make a Carrot Pudding, and came up with this recipe.   An old-fashioned, steamed pudding, usually made around Christmas, but I decided, why wait for Christmas? I'm going to enjoy it now.   And it is good.  The Whiskey Lemon sauce is very sharp but goes really well with the highly spiced Carrot Pudding.   Did I mention it's also gluten-free?   Cause it is.  I elected to use some gluten-free flour I had on hand, and it worked, and worked really well.  I ate two wedges for my dinner that night and have the rest of the pudding in the freezer for pudding emergencies.    I'm out of Jameson whiskey, but I bet I can use some regular whiskey or even bourbon to make up some more sauce.   

Sometimes, it's fun to play with food.  😏

 I have some stainless steel mixing bowls I bought a while back, and decided one of them would be perfect for this.

  I cooked my pudding in my small crockpot, and the bowl rested on the lip of the crockpot with an inch or so of water underneath.  Perfection...

And as you can see, it came out of the bowl, really nicely.  

Take a look at what my fellow Sunday Funday Bloggers came up with:  

• Carrot Cake Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Carrot Pudding from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Carrot Fries from Mildly Indian
• Carrot Roulade from Sneha's Recipe
• Grilled Carrots from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Nomato Soup - a Faux Tomato Soup with Carrots from A Messy Kitchen
• Roasted Carrots with Burrata from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Spicy Carrot Ginger Dressing from Food Lust People Love

Carrot Pudding

Yield: 4-6

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking - Adapted from many recipes

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 4 H & 30 MTotal time: 5 Hour

This would be a perfect pudding to make for a celebratory meal. 15 minutes or so of prep and 4+ hours of unsupervised cooking time.

Ingredients

Carrot Pudding

• 1 cup carrots - grated
• 1 unpeeled apple, grated
• 1/2 cup craisins
• 1/2 cup pecans - chopped
• 1 cup gluten-free flour
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar - either white or brown
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Instructions

1. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg and spices, mix thoroughly.
3. Then add the flour, nuts, and craisins, and mix together well.
4. Press into a greased heat-proof bowl and place into a crockpot that has an inch or so of water in the base. Let it cook on high for 3 hours and an additional hour or so on low until it is cooked through. (You can also put the mixture into mason jars, well-washed cans that can have a lid put on. I was able to nestle a small bowl inside my crockpot and just used the crockpot lid. Cook to an internal temp of 210 degrees. Or just wing it.

Lemon Whiskey Sauce

1. 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
2. 1/4 cup sugar
3. 1/4 cup whiskey (I used Jameson, your choice as to which one you like)
4. 1/8 tsp. Lemon extract
5. 1/2 tsp. Lemon zest
6. 2 tablespoons butter
7. 1 lightly beaten egg yolk
8. Whisk the first five ingredients together, until the sugar has dissolved, over medium-high heat, taste for sweetness, and add more sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until it's to your taste. Whisk in the butter, temper the egg yolk with some of the hot lemon juice, then whisk in the tempered egg yolk, and cook until thickened, stirring continuously. If you don't temper the egg yolk, you will end up with scrambled egg yolk.  (This is pretty much like a lemon curd but with whiskey, 😉 Pour over the carrot pudding while still warm or serve on the side.  The Lemon sauce is very sharp, but it goes really well with the pudding.  

 

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Margarita Cake, my way

 I love making and baking cakes, but rarely eat more than a small slice; however, I've just started going to Bingo and found out that they love it when someone bakes a cake and donates it.  The cake is raffled off, and usually the winner shares it, so it's a win-win.  Not only do I get to bake a cake, but I get to taste it as well.

I signed up to make a cake this week, and since it's the day after Cinco de Mayo, I thought it would be fun to make a Margarita Cake.  Well, once I started looking for a recipe, I went down a rabbit hole, but I managed to find a side tunnel and came out with this.  

If you know me, you may know I do not like using cake mixes.  I much prefer baking from scratch, and I have to say 90% of the time, it works well.  

After glazing the cake, I let the excess glaze run onto some paper towels (less mess and cleanup) 

Then I had fun.   I added the third glaze, which was a lot thicker, zested some more lime over it and added some candied lime slices. 

Put it onto a pretty platter and brought it with me to Bingo.

BTW, I made the candied lime slices just like I used to make Candied Orange Slices.

Margarita Cake

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking - Adapted from many recipes

A fun cake to make to celebrate Cinco de Mayo or anytime you want a celebratory cake, this one is perfect for many occasions.

Ingredients

Cake

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan; set aside while mixing the cake.
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks) softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups AP flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch (mix in with flour to make cake flour)
• 3 large eggs
• 4 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Zest from 2 limes
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup Tequila ( good stuff, you can taste the difference
• 1/16th cup Grand Marnier or a good orange liqueur
• Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the softened cream cheese, and continue to cream together.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well.
• Add the zest, lime juice, tequila, and orange liqueur, mix.
• Add the flour and baking powder mixture alternating with the milk, one-third at a time. Being careful to not overmix.
• Spoon the batter into a prepared bundt pan and bake in 325 deg oven for 45 minutes. Checking for doneness at 45 minutes, and baking an additional 10 minutes if needed, and a toothpick or cake tester shows that the cake has not cooked fully.
• Take out of the oven when baked and place on a cooling rack, upside down. Let cool for 30 minutes before applying the first glaze.

Instructions

Glazes to top baked Bundt.

1. 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
2. 1/8 cup tequila
3. 1/8 cup fresh lime juice
4. Zest of a half lemon
5. Mix well, and drizzle half over the baked cake in an even fashion. Let it sit for an hour and then apply the second glaze
6. Make the second glaze by adding more confectioners' sugar, enough to make a drizzle glaze. Drizzle half of it on the cake in a pleasing design. Set aside.
7. Add enough more confectioner's sugar to make a stiff glaze and spoon or spread across the top of the bundt cake. Decorate with candied lime slices and a sprinkle of lime zest if desired.
8. The first two glazes will set nicely, as will the third. If the glazes get too stiff, add more lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon at a time.
9. It's very easy to make the glazes too loose, but if you do, you can correct it by adding confectioners' sugar to compensate.

Estimate only

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Blini with Smoked Salmon

 I love Smoked Salmon.  

That was a complete sentence. 

 I've been known to pick up pieces and just shovel them into my mouth, ok, so I was a little more delicate than that.    I've made quite a few dishes/recipes with smoked salmon over the years, but this is one of my favorite ways to use it, for now.  I may change my mind in the future.  As I experiment try new recipes. 

I've used both cold-smoked and hot-smoked salmon in my recipes.  I think it elevates just about every recipe you make.   I've made Salmon Mousse, Smoked Salmon Tarts, Salmon Cakes, topped Deviled Eggs with a curl of smoked salmon, and I've even made my own Gravad Laks.  And I made this amazing Smoked Salmon Cheesecake once as well.   And a few years back, I made this Chunky Shrimp and Smoked Salmon spread, and people still ask me about it.  It is good, I will say that.   It also looks pretty on a plate. 

Get the idea, I like Smoked Salmon?  Well, I do.   I actually have way more Smoked and regular Salmon recipes on my blog.  Go ahead and take a look.  I would detail them here, but this post is all about Elegant Appetizers for Mother's Day for our Sunday Funday Bunch.

And I just had to participate, with, you guessed it, Smoked Salmon.  Our hostess this week is Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Even though I'm the only mother I'm celebrating this year, I can make it special for me.  So I did, make it special, that is.    And I blame it all on The Great British Bake Off.   They had their contestants make Blini with Hot Smoked Salmon once, and I kinda glommed onto that idea and came up with these little bites of deliciousness. 

Too much hyperbole? Nah.   

I made some buckwheat blini (I had some buckwheat flour on hand to make buckwheat Pancakes).  And then I played, a lot.  

I raided my dill plant, minced up some red onion and some capers, and decorated. 

 Then I consumed.

But before I finished consuming, I decorated with some fresh Dill Fronds, cause I could. 

 I even topped them off with some Caviar.  I had way too much fun, and now I have a jar of Caviar in the fridge to use on something. I'm sure I'll come up with an idea or two to use it.   I'll share my attempts on here as well.  

Take a look at what our other fabulous cooks came up with: 

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Wendy Klik Blini with Caviar 
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Crackers with Salami & Pepperoni Rosettes 
• Sneha's Recipe: Crumb Coated Cheesy Veg Crepes 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Fresh Artichoke and Spinach Dip 
• Culinary Cam : Roasted Carrot Tarte Tatin 
• Sid's Sea Palm Cooking : Smoked Salmon Blini 
  
• Mayuri's JikoniMayuri's Jikoni: Sweet Potato Brie Bites

 

Buckwheat Blini with Smoked Salmon

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking - Adapted from many recipes

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 3 MinInactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 43 Min

Make this Mother's Day extra special with these bites of deliciousness. Be aware, this recipe makes a lot of blini. 

Ingredients

Blini

• 1/2  cup Buckwheat Flour
• 1/2 cup AP Flour
• 1 egg separated - room temperature
• 3/4 cup warm milk
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Toppings

• 1/2 cup Crème Fraîche
• 1 tsp. Creamed Horseradish
• 2 + oz. Cold Smoked Salmon, sliced thinly
• 1-2 Tablespoons finely minced Red Onion
• 1-2 Tablespoons, finely chopped Capers
• 2 + teaspoons Caviar
• 2 + teaspoons finely chopped Fresh Dill, plus more for decorations
• Mix the Crème fraîche and horseradish together and set aside

Instructions

1. Heat the milk to about 110 degrees, add egg yolk, yeast, and sugar, set aside until frothy.
2. Sift the dry ingredients together, then add the milk-yeast mixture and combine.
3. Cover with some plastic wrap and set aside for about an hour or until the batter has doubled in size.
4. Beat the egg white until stiff. Fold into the risen batter.  
   
   
   
5. Place a non-stick frying pan on the stove and heat to medium-high. Or spray some cooking spray in a frying pan and heat.
6. Dollop about a tablespoon of the batter into the heated pan, doing about 4 at a time, cook until  bubbly, turn over and cook an additional 45 seconds or so. Remove to a warmed platter.

Assembly

1. Now for the fun part, assembly:
2. Dollop about a half teaspoon of the Crème fraîche-horseradish sauce on each blini.
3. Form a 'rose' out of each piece of salmon, and place carefully on top of the creme fraiche mixture. Top with a sprinkle of the finely minced onion, capers, and chopped dill. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of caviar on top if you wish. Use some dill fronds to decorate further if desired.
4. Serve immediately.

 

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Recipes that use Paneer

 As you may have surmised, I have fun in the kitchen.   And one of my fun activities (mainly because I don't know any better) is to play with new recipe ideas.   I'm part of a group called Sunday Funday, and every week we have a theme we can make food for.  You can participate or not, but a week or so in advance, you tell the organizers what you're making and schedule the recipe to go 'live' at the same time. 

Mayuri Patel of Mayuri Jikoni is our hostess this month and said to create a dish using either cottage cheese, paneer, or tofu.  It should be the star ingredient and could be either sweet or savory.   Personally, I love cottage cheese and paneer, but I cannot stand the texture of tofu.  So I went exploring on the net.

I hope you're not bored yet, cause this week I decided to go ahead and play again. I've missed a couple of weeks, but I'm back and ready to have fun again.

A few years back, I was a member of the Secret Recipe Club, where we posted a recipe once a month that we'd found on our assigned blog and wrote about it. 

My assignment for one month was Camille's blog , and I found a recipe for Palak Paneer on there.    At the time, I wasn't aware of any place in the big city where I could find ready-made Paneer (Indian Cheese), so I made my own.   I've since found it there and keep a block of it in my freezer, ready to use when I'm in the mood to use Paneer in a recipe.   I still make my own, though, cause this stuff is good and is so darn easy to make as well.  

And since it's so easy to make your own Paneer, I decided to make some this week and share some ideas for how to use it.   

I love most of the Indian food I've tried, and decided to make some Paneer Makhani (aka Butter Chicken, if using chicken).    That was until I forgot to buy some tomato paste, so I pivoted.   I made some Paneer Pakora instead.    

But first, I had to make some paneer; well, I didn't have to, but I wanted to.  

I processed a half-gallon of milk into two batches of Paneer. I even borrowed an idea from one of my sisters: rather than using a pot to boil the milk and the risk of scorching it, I put it in a microwave-safe 4-cup measure and zapped it until the milk boiled.     When you have modern conveniences, you should use them.   I had a couple of lemons I juiced up and added to the milk to make the Paneer.   I also decided to fill the bowls with water to press the paneer out.   A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds, so it made sense to do it that way.  

And just cause I could, I also made some Naan to go with the Palak Paneer.   

I borrowed a dictum from Red Green (Canadian) and used my Tortilla press for the Naan.  As Red Green used to say, any tool can be the right tool, and it worked beautifully for the Naan.    Although true confessions time, I used a real shortcut to make the Naan, and they were not as good as my original recipe.   

And now to the Paneer Pakora.  I did a bit of a swivel on here as well.    I had some Chutney in the fridge and decided to use it.  And I'm not sorry I did.  I just had the best meal.  And totally understand why these are a great snack, but I made them into a meal.    In India, these are also sold as street snacks, and are made as after-school snacks as well.    All I know is, I'll be making them again.  

Paneer Pakora

Yield: 2-4

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking - Adapted from many recipes

A fun little appetizer that's a touch different.

Ingredients

Batter for Paneer

• 1 cup Besan Flour (aka Chickpea Flour)
• 2 tablespoon gluten free flour
• 3/4 tsp. Turmeric
• 3/4 tsp. Garam Masala
• 3/4 tsp. chili/paprika spice mixture
• 1/4 tsp. cumin powder
• 1/2 cup water +1 tablespoon + add more if needed by the teaspoonful
• salt if desired, to taste
• Oil for frying, to a depth of around 2 inches
• 8 oz. Paneer, cut into cubes
• Mango Chutney or your favorite chutney.

Instructions

1. Mix the batter ingredients together, adding more water as needed, until it envelops the paneer cubes.
2. Heat the oil to around 335 degrees.
3. Dip the cubes in the batter and add to the oil; cook for a couple of minutes, turning over if needed to ensure they are cooked on all sides. Drain on a paper towel, and serve with some chutney.

 

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Check out what my fellow Sunday Funday Bloggers came up with: 

• Corn Paneer Parathas from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Cottage Cheese Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cottage Cheese Wraps from Making Miracles
• Cheese Paneer Tikka Open Sandwich in Air Fryer from Cook with Renu
• Firecracker Tofu Broccolini Stir-Fry from Food Lust People Love
• Homemade Paneer Recipe Ideas from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Paneer Tomato Rice With Leftover Rice For One from Sneha's Recipe
• Pasta with Green Beans and Ricotta from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Potato, Cottage Cheese, & Caramelized Onion Pierogi from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Retro Cottage Cheese Jello Salad from A Messy Kitchen

Shrimp and Cucumber Salad

 Have you ever made something that's so good, you have trouble not finishing off the entire recipe by yourself?  

I was introduced to this salad by a friend, and could not stop eating it.  In fact, I made a bit of a pig of myself; I went for seconds and may have gone for thirds, but memory fails me on that one.   All I know is that it was so good and I had to make some for myself.   And then, me being me, I decided to add in some Sweet peppers I had on hand, and well, it was good before, but this added a certain little extra.     

This is a great low-carb meal, and yes, it does have mayonnaise in it. You could probably sub in either low-fat mayo or even Greek yogurt, but why?  

I will also add a bit of caution here, because of the vinegar in the sauce/marinade, it can make the shrimp go a bit 'mealy', but honestly, it doesn't matter, cause the overall taste is wonderful    And while it tasted amazing, I had to take more pictures of it. 

I kinda loaded up on shrimp, and that was not a problem.   The only thing that might have added to the meal, a nice warm piece of my homemade No-Knead bread.   Slathered with butter, of course.    And I have to admit to eating the rest of it for breakfast and lunch the next day.    And life was good.   I'm planning this for dinner again next week.  

It's that good.  

Shrimp Cucumber Salad

Yield: 2-3

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking - Adapted from many recipes

This salad is brilliant on its own or with a nice slab of homemade bread. Quick and easy to put together, as well as totally delicious.

Ingredients

sauce

• 2 Tbsp. Cider or Rice Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. Sugar
• 4 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard or Whole Grain mustard
• 4 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
• 3 Tbsp. Chopped fresh Dill
• Whisk together and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients

Instructions

Salad

1. 4 pickling cucumbers or small seedless ones, or a single English Hothouse cucumber cut into cubes.
2. 1-2 large ripe mangoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3. 1 lb. Cooked shrimp cut into either halves or thirds
4. 1-2 small sweet red, yellow or orange peppers, cut into 1/2 inch slices
5. Combine all the cut-up ingredients in a bowl, then pour the sauce/marinade over them. Toss to combine and place in the fridge for an hour or so before serving. Season with salt and hot pepper sauce if desired. Serve and enjoy.

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