Food Fun on Kitchen3N

Lion King Cake

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Guys, I haven’t been creating or sharing recipes with you guys recently. So I thought I would check in with some cake decorating how to’s. I’ve been learning a lot as I’ve been creating more and more custom cakes for folks. So I’ll share some of my insights in case it’s helpful for someone out there who may be tasked with a similar project.

Chocolate Candy Cupcakes

Mon, 16 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

After a startling reading on the weight scale towards the end of December, I swore off sugar. Just two years prior I worked so hard to lose my baby weight. Inspired by beach body coaches in my network, I vastly cut down sweets, decreased portion sizes, drank tons more water, swapped quinoa for rice in many of my meals, and began to regularly exercise using Fitnessblender, the only exercise I’ve been able to stick to thanks to the fact that I can choose from workouts of different durations and can do it from the convenience of my home. So I lost the 9 pounds of lingering weight, and 8 pounds on top of that.

Royal Icing

Thu, 29 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

I just started decorating with royal icing after all these years. Why have I been torturing myself all these years with confectioner's sugar/milk concoctions that thin too easily, and pipe too painfully?! Since royal icing is made with egg whites (I use meringue powder so I don't have to deal with leftover egg yolks), it has a lot of structure from the protein. Pipes wonderfully for borders and outlines and thins easily for flooding. I have been a fan of Sana Sodawalla of SugarBase_ for a while now. Her gorgeous marbled cookies, whimsical cakes, and informative videos are something to aspire to. Since I've started baking and cake decorating more, I've been creating more content tailored to Instagram. I like how the platforms caters to creatives, offering a very visual space to share our content, with lots of real estate for pictures, and just enough for explanatory text. I've created these cookies after watching her technique on marbling sugar cookies. I got the idea for gold splatter after taking a wonderful mommy and me art class I took with a talented local artist on paper collages. I don't know if I've done justice to Sana's beautiful cookies, but I hope you try your own version at home. My go to recipe for royal frosting below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L8vlUdQg34

Cutout Sugar Cookies

Fri, 09 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

I've learned a lot of things the hard way. Like how filling in eyebrows is not for everyone/every situation. Or that low-rise jeans are super impractical for pretty much every situation, especially picking up your backpack from the ground. Or that frosting should not go on a cake you JUST TOOK OUT OF THE OVEN. This extends to cut out sugar cookies. So many ill formed, mutilated cookies from the process of transferring from the rolling out surface to the cookie sheet. WHY OH WHY didn't someone tell me earlier to just roll them out on a parchment paper and then just remove the scraps from around the shapes?! Would've saved so much grief.

So even if you have a great cutout sugar cookie recipe. Even if you already knew to chill the dough before rolling it out. if you take away nothing else from this post, I hope this tip will save you some heartache during this holiday cookie baking season. Happy holidays!!

Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup

Mon, 21 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000

I wrote up so many drafts of my post election reflections but couldn’t get myself to publish any of them. I’ve just been obsessively consuming news and commentary from my Facebook feed, calling my local representatives for the first time, trying out this thing called civic engagement after getting over all the stages of grief. So many of my peers and associates are disillusioned with our country men. Could not perceive so many would vote for someone with such horrible character. Fearful of the spike in hate crimes. Frustrated that a majority vote in the Popular Vote is not enough to win office.

American Buttercream vs. Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Wed, 19 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000

American Buttercream: butter, powdered sugar, milk, flavoring Swiss Meringue Buttercream: egg whites, granulated sugar, butter, flavoring

When I first start baking and cake decorating seriously, there were so many, “I’d never do that.”

I'd never compromise on taste. That means no swiss meringue buttercream. No fondant.
I'd never waste time on tacky fondant figurines (somewhat holds - I'll make figurines but only tasteful ones).
I'd never make a bad cake (I once made a chocolate cake and forgot to add the sugar).

But I've come around on a lot of things. Example: expanding my frosting repertoire to include Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Hailed for being the King of Stability and frowned upon by many for lack of taste. It is not as sweet as the American Buttercream (AB) we are used to, and gets most of its structure from whipped egg whites rather than beaten butter/sugar, so that it's airy rather than creamy. But man, it is a cake decorator's dream. Just look at the picture above: the AB is so much more porous. Honestly, when I first thought up the idea for this post, I thought the difference would be much more pronounced. But I guess after frosting and smoothing dozens of cakes, I got the hang of it with both types!

Left: American Buttercream Right: Swiss Meringue Buttercream

To make Swiss Meringue Buttercream, you start with heating egg whites and sugar in a double boiler until the sugar dissolves. You then remove it from the heat and whip it in your stand mixer with the whisk attachment until the mixture cools to room temperature and has the consistency of a soft-peak meringue. You then add the butter, a little bit at a time, until it looks like a curdled slosh. Keep beating until it congeals (see picture). The result is a super smooth buttercream that spreads like a dream. And because it has the protein from the egg whites as a base, it won’t just melt in a warm room like butter would. As long as it’s done right. And boy have I done it wrong:

Ramadan Round Up

Tue, 21 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000

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Ramadan is halfway over, but there’s still time to make some of my favorite recipes for this time of year! Going clockwise from the top left:

Citrus Quinoa Salad with Dates, Almonds and Mint - we consume a lot of dates during Ramadan. This recipe uses up any extra dates you may have in a salad you can feel good about eating at the end of a long fast!

My Go-To Suhoor (Sehri)

Wed, 08 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000

When you were a kid did you have curry for suhoor?

Let me take a few steps back here. Ramadan Kareem everyone! The blessed time of year when Muslims around the world abstain from food & drink (yes, even water) from dawn til dusk. Not just a physical fast, Muslims (healthy, adult) are to abstain from sex, violence and cursing. Particularly trying for those at northern latitudes where the days are long (16+ hours for us in NY), we need to make the most of our pre-dawn and fast-breaking meals. That means nutritious food that will keep our bodies busy breaking down complex carbs and proteins. Just as important: staying hydrated!

Cake Design at ICE

Mon, 09 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I took a class in trends in cake decorating today. The chef instructor was kind of mean. Not like my fourth grade teacher, Ms Steiner kind of mean. No, Ms. Steiner made a point of making everyone in our class cry at some point in time. I succumbed one day when she called me stupid for messing some grammar up. This from a lady who took in a stray cat (whom she named Junior), invited him to sleep with her on her bed, and proceeded to give her rabies. No, our Chef Instructor was just a bit eccentric. I think Gordon Ramsey has set the bar pretty high for kitchen totalitarianism. I think most people go into a culinary course half expecting their instructor to fall closer to the Gordon Ramsey part of the eccentric teacher spectrum (Julia Childs being on the far end). It was time well spent! I’ve seen all the tutorials online for rosettes, ribbons, ombre, etc. but not very many opportunities to practice them hands on. I have to practice the ombre as the gradient wasn’t quite what I wanted. But ombre cakes just have such a spectacular wow factor. Definitely worth the time to get it right! Now might be a good time to mention the new section of my page: Custom Cakes! After supplying friends and family with custom cakes over the past year and I half, I want to open it up to anyone in the NYC metro area who is looking for delicious, beautiful cakes custom designed for their event!I still love cooking and food and will continue that portion of the blog. But unless I start a full on catering company, I need hone in a little bit! So let me make your next event even more special by sharing one of my custom creations with you! Shoot me an e-mail at kitchen3n@gmail.com or use the form in the link.

5 Things I've Learned About Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been baking chocolate chip cookies since I was 10 years old. It was my first culinary endeavor. What does that mean for you? That means I’ve messed them up every which way so here I am to share with you some of my learnings.1. Make sure your leaveners are still potent. For years I thought baking powder was just a more potent form of baking soda, just because the first batch of chocolate chip cookies I made came out flat as disks (and I blamed it on the baking soda! Rightfully so, just for the wrong reasons). If your baking soda and/or baking powder has been in your pantry for more than 6 months, toss them. If you’re baking cookies just for yourself or your family, you could take the risk if you fill guilty about tossing them. But if you’re planning to serve them to company or take as a hostess gift, do not take the chance! Use fresh leavener! 2. Use a cookie scoop! Gone are the days of using two teaspoons to artfully mold the perfect cookie mound. Using a cookie scoop is the only way to ensure each cookie is uniformly sized and shaped. I know it sucks to buy additional kitchen gadgets, but if you love cookies as much as I do, or when you realize how great it is to have frozen cookie dough stocked in your freezer to bake off when the occasion arises, you’ll be glad you have one in your arsenal!3. Use parchment paper or silicon baking mat. This might be old news for many of you, but I just cringe thinking of the days I greased cookie sheets and had to deal with the aftermath of scrubbing encrusted cookie dough off of them. They slide off parchment so easily that I’ve never looked back. I always keep my pantry stocked with parchment paper, chocolate chips, and butter so I can make these if I need a last minute hostess gift (or for a sudden attack of PMS). 4. Refrigerate your cookie dough. There’s an unmistakeable difference in texture when you bake off cookies that have had time to chill. The flavors blend, the dough rests, and the center attains a heavenly chewiness that’s consistent among the best cookie recipes. Bake times will vary depending on the temperature the recipe dictates and the size of the cookie scoop you use. I like to bake mine until the tops have the slightest blush. It may look underdone, but it will continue cooking once out of the oven and resting on the baking sheet. Be mindful not to remove it from the baking sheet right away, as it will mostly likely bend and break while in the process of transferring. 5. There is no single greatest chocolate chip cookie recipe. Your palette changes as you get older. Different recipes highlight different characteristics of a marvelous chocolate chip cookie: the nuttiness, the chewiness, the contrasting flavors. Lately I’ve been using Leit’s Consummate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I like the combination of cake flour and bread flour to give it the ultimate texture - chewy while delicate. For years before switching over, I’ve used Alton Brown’s The Chewy recipe with great results. However, chocolate chip cookie recipes, like shampoo, should be switched periodically.

Lessons in Spatchcocking

Thu, 12 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Don’t double check your calendar. It is in fact, March. I cooked a whole turkey in March.

What else are you going to do when your buddies over at Honest Chops send you a 17 pound bird? Since we didn’t do the whole turkey day shebang last year, I got to try out the spatchcocking technique I read about over at Serious Eats. So you see, it isn’t a word I made up for my kids. It’s a cooking technique that requires removal of the backbone (seriously, this turkey has seen better days), then pushing the bird down flat to encourage even cooking. People go all kinds of crazy to ensure breast meat doesn’t dry out. In past years I’ve tried brining in a brining bag (thanksgifiasco 2011 - brining bag broke and peppercorns were still being found in corners of my apt six months later). I’ve flipped the bird half way through the cooking process - starting breast down, the finishing breast up.

On Pomegranate

Wed, 05 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

It’s pomegranate season, y’all! Just kidding. I’ve been watching too much Pioneer Woman.

But seriously, it’s pomegranate season (somewhere in California). Have you noticed them stacked by the entrance at your local grocery store? Have you picked one (or a couple) up and taken them home and painstakingly popped out each seed, only to watch the beautiful mound get depleted in seconds? If you haven’t, then you must. Right now. And don’t give me the excuse that your store doesn’t have them. I would find them at my local Hannaford when I used to live in Nowheresville, NY (aka Poughkeepsie). They seem to come in late September and lasted through the fall. It’s such a refreshing change up in the fall fruit line up from the usual suspects: apples, pears and pumpkins.

Food finds in San Juan, PR

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

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After three and a half years, I made it out of the continental US!! My last trip was our babymoon to Istanbul when I was six months pregnant with my daughter. After having two kids back to back, managing getting them through infancy, we finally made it! Now, Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the US (and the influence is apparent in any supermarket, shopping mall or any commercial area dotted with American chains). There are a lot of shared services (US Customs, highways, currency) so you can definitely take a breather if you’re traveling with small kids. One less thing to worry about, you know? But the flip side to that is that everything is imported! When we drove through the rainforest and some of the mountainous regions near the center of the island, there is no denying the lush, fertile environment. Banana, papaya and tomato just growing randomly here and there. The land is just wringing with potential for agriculture. But as a sector, it is practically non existent (apart from some coffee and rum). It is probably due to its function as a trading post for hundreds of years. But far from indulging in some gorgeous tropical fruits like I anticipated, I was greeted with bananas from Ecuador! Driscoll berries! Pineapples from who knows where!

Rocket Cake

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Photo credit: my dear sister in law, Sabika Mustafa. Ethics Bowl Champ of NJ!!

My daughter wants to be an astronaut…for now. For the sole purpose of being able to board a rocket and go to the mysterious presence in the night sky. I remember wanting to as well. Then I learned you have to pass a swim test. And psych testing. And you need a PhD in math/science/engineering (the bachelors did me in).

Fishkill Farms

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

My little guy munching on a cucumber, enjoyin' da ambiance.

seriously, could it get more perfect than this?

I read somewhere once about a 5th grader who didn’t know what a tomato was. This bit of disturbing news consistently motivates me to educate my kids about where their food comes from. I regularly point out fruit and vegetable plants in my neighborhood, show them around my in laws’ garden, and go some sort of fruit picking at least once or twice a year. This past weekend, we headed upstate to our favorite pick your own fruit farm. Now, I’ve been to a lot of farms in the tri state area, but nothing beats the picturesque beauty of Fishkill Farms, nestled in the heart of Hudson Valley, overlooking verdant rolling hills (cheesy? oh, I know). Located just south of Poughkeepsie, this place is really a throwback to my newlywed days. My husband and I started out apple picking there, about 4 years ago. But since then their offerings have grown: strawberries and blackberries in June, cherries in July, delicious stone fruit in August, and of course apples and pumpkins in the fall. They have a CSA and even sell at some farmers markets around the city. They are all about sustainability and minimizing the use of chemical pesticides, though they aren’t certified organic.

Mango Time

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

For most people, this time of year means cherry blossoms, longer days, warmer weather, or taxes. For me, it’s mango season. They hold a permanent place in my fruit bowl during the warmer months. There has been a steady trickle of the fruit with each and every visit from nana or nanu, since the first day my daughter uttered the word “am” (bengali for mango). And when the season’s first real ones came in, that trickle became a waterfall, with literally boxes of the golden treats coming through the door every week. Not complaining here. In fact, I feel kind of guilty. We have access to an exceptional source: Jackson Heights. Not sure why, even at the specialty grocery store here in Forest Hills, I haven’t found the quality or quantity available in my old hood.

On Butter

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I didn’t grow up eating butter. My eggs were fried in vegetable oil. We spread country crock vegetable spread on our toast. The only time I saw butter were in big blocks in the freezer that my mother eventually cooked down to make ghee, which was reserved for bengali mashed potatoes (like yours except with raw onions and green chilis but definitely no milk) and biryani (morog palau in bengali, rice and meat pilaf in english). Why the discrimination against butter? As my sister explained, butter does not do so well in tropical climates. So, by removing the milk solids from it, they are able to preserve it for longer. Which makes sense given what a commodity it is over there.

Elmo Cake

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

For all you novice cake bakers/decorators: know that this cake is within your reach. For I am a terrible decorator. Crumb layer - I never bother. Fondant - what’s that? But for my daughter’s birthday, I wanted to make something special. And the cake part of this at least is pretty foolproof. You can just buy an elmo face shaped cake pan from your local Michael’s or Party City. Then use your favorite two layer cake recipe and bake for the recommended amount of time (maybe a few minutes longer since all the batter goes into a single pan). I used Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. The best. Chocolate. Cake. Recipe. Ever. I do enjoy Gourmet’s and Smitten Kitchen’s chocolate cake recipe, but there’s just a bit too much coffee for my liking. This is one is just perfect every time, as evidenced by the 1,000+ positive reviews, and is easier (only one type of chocolate, not two).

Turkey Tacos

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This meal starts on Thanksgiving. All our usual get togethers were canceled or deferred to a different host’s house. Neither set of parents were up for hosting anything. And my husband doesn’t like turkey. So, that’s that.

Or is it? I bought some turkey thighs on my last halal meat run. I’ve never cooked turkey apart from the usual brine and roast so I thought it would make for an interesting meal. After my initial research (the usual run through of allrecipes and foodnetwork) I found this very casually written, though pretty thorough recipe for turkey tacos on chowhound. I almost didn’t follow the rules…I thought, everything good in life always starts with sautéed onions and garlic AND THEN the rest of the ingredients. Alas, I was a good girl and made the stock (with the addition of salt) and was rewarded handsomely.

Hasan's Aqiqah

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This past Sunday was my son’s (Hasan’s) aqiqah, an Islamic tradition wherein a family celebrates the arrival of new progeny with the sacrifice of an animal (one goat for a daughter, two for a son). Unlike birthdays or weddings, there aren’t a ton of customs to follow. The feast following the sacrifice isn’t widely observed, at least not in the Muslim community I grew up in. In fact the first aqiqah that I’d been to was my own daughter’s. This poses the thoroughly enjoyable challenge of creating one’s owns customs.