The next Saturday arrives with another guest post. This time, it is the very talented Priya Elias who blogs at "
". I came upon her blog at the early stages of starting my blog and I really loved what I saw. First of all, I love the way she writes. There is a hint of humor in each line that she jots out that you can't but help laughing. She calls herself a lazy bone but the pictures on her blog states otherwise. At least she takes the effort to take such beautiful pictures and arrange her food in a lovely way. That is definitely not the sign of a lazyhead but an extremely talented food blogger. This is the fifth in the series of guest posts on my blog. To see those that have been featured till now, you can refer
.
First. let's get to know a bit about her, before we move on to the recipe. Don't these pies in the pot look amazing? I'm sure I would never be able to stop at one. While she was working on this post, she emailed me asking if it would be appropriate to include gelatine into the recipe. I was quite impressed about her presence of mind. Yes, gelatine, being a meat based product, has to be Halal for Muslims to use. Being in the UAE, we are lucky to get Halal gelatine produced under Gelita brand and we also receive quite a bit of sweet and jelly products based on gelatine. I've in fact used gelatine in a few of my previous experiments. I responded back to her that it is OK, and she could go ahead with her initial plans.
Hi, I’m Priya Elias and I blog at The
Humpty Dumpty Kitchen. There was a time when I
thought I was going to be a (Shudder!) Physicist. But then I saw the light of
the day and realized the absolute folly of that grand idea ;) (Not that I have
anything against Physicists – Rather, it has something to do with someone’s
lethargy in general.) So, I’m now happily tucked away in the comfort of our
little home with The Techie Man, my husband. Occasionally I indulge my
experimental streak in my Humpty Dumpty Kitchen.
2. When
did you start your page and why?
It’s the same old story of a bored, newly married, stay at home girl
suddenly getting a bright idea that she won’t have to rummage through the
entire house in search of recipe notes if she keeps them all in one place. The
‘sharing and making friends’ part came much later as when I kick started my
rumblings in around October 2010, I talked mostly to myself (It was a private
blog ;)). I stashed that blogger account and started putting the bricks on The
Humpty Dumpty Kitchen last April. It has not been that many months since I
crawled out of my secluded hole and began getting around in BlogVille.
3. Who
was your major inspiration in cooking?
My mother and my grandmother – I seriously don’t think anyone can cook
like them. (But that’s what most people think about their near ones –
naturally.)
4. What
do you like to cook the most?
When I’m cooking for others, the answer will be Desserts I guess :) If
I’m cooking for myself, then my Potato Pie and I have a way of getting
together. Not to mention, some real quick Veg Pasta Treats.
5. Your
advice for new and aspiring cooks
I’m someone who never ventured in to my Mom’s or Grandmother’s kitchens
except to grab things from the counters and shelves. I simply couldn’t
understand why I had to learn to cook when I had the chance. In other words,
I’m the last person on earth whom you should ask for advice if you are a new
and aspiring cook ;)
Jokes apart, I guess it always take some time to know how things work
out. Once you stumble, fall, break a leg and stand up again, you will gain a
fairly good idea of what you like and what you don’t. You will also know what
to change in a recipe when you are cooking it. To stress a point, treat recipes
as guidelines and not as unshakable laws. (Except in the case of baking - If
you are new to baking, by all means stick to the recipe.)
Over to
the recipe now.
I love pies in jars – they usually impress the guests without me having
to sweat it out in the kitchen. This one here is simple and can be tweaked
around a lot. Also, I divide this into six portions usually - But those are
rather small portions. Divide into four in larger jars, if you want a generous
serving in each.
What You
Will Need:
For The
Oreo Base:
1.
Oreos – 8
2.
Salted Butter, melted – 1
tbsp.
For the
Pudding Layer:
1.
Light Cream – 3/4 cup
2.
Condensed Milk – 1/3 cup
3.
Milk – 1/4 cup
4.
Vanilla Essence/Any other
flavouring like Mint Syrup/Extract – To taste
5.
Gelatine – 1 and a 1/2 tsp.
For the Pomegranate
Syrup:
The syrup
is optional. Also, berry syrups (like strawberry syrups) work really well with
this.
1.
Pomegranate Arils – 2 cups
2.
Sugar – 1 and a 1/2 tbsp.
3.
Lime Juice – 1 to 2 tsp.
(Taste and adjust.)
4.
Mint Syrup – 1 to 2 tsp.
(Or to taste. Optional.)
On To the
Cauldron:
The Oreo
Base:
Powder the Oreos in the grinder finely. You can use your wooden rolling
pin for this – But the grinder works faster and more perfectly.
Divide the mixture equally between the jars – It would be around a
tablespoon and a half for each jar if you are going to make six servings. Press
the base with a flat bottomed wooden spoon or something similar. (I used a
broken, bladeless peeler with a flat round bottom which did the job just fine.)
Allow it to set in fridge for half an hour.
The Pudding
Layer:
Take the milk in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatine over it. Allow it to
bloom over a fifteen minute period.
Heat up the cream and condensed milk together in a sauce pan. When the
mixture is about to boil, switch off and add the gelatine mixture. Stir well
and then add the flavouring. Stir again and allow the mixture to cool
completely.
Once cold, pour it on top of the base in equal portions and allow setting
for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight. (You will notice the pudding will
appear to be set long before that. But it does make a difference if you wait it
out a bit.)
The
Syrup:
The syrup can be prepared beforehand and kept in the fridge.
For the syrup, start by pulsing pomegranate arils in a grinder and
extracting their juice. Combine this with sugar and allow the mixture to boil
gently over a low flame till it gets reduced to a syrupy consistency.
Take off the heat and once it has cooled down a bit, add the lime juice and
mint syrup (if using) and stir well.
Allow it to cool completely and refrigerate.
Once the pie has set, pour the syrup on top and serve immediately.
Hope you all enjoyed this post as much as I did. Thank you so much Priya for being a darling and obliging to my request for a guest post. Hope you guys are all having a great weekend... :)