Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet

This sherbet is wonderfully tangy and refreshing. The buttermilk gives a wonderful taste and texture to this lemony sherbet. The sugar is just right, it is not too sweet, and the flavour of the lemon combine with the slightly tangy buttermilk really makes a refreshing dessert.

I'm sharing this with
Cookbook Sunday over at Mom's Sunday Cafe
Full Plate Thursday over at Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet
(adapted from "The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz)
1/3 cup (80m) water
2/3 cup (130gm) sugar
1 lemon, preferably unsprayed
2 cups (500ml) buttermilk (I use 600ml)
1/4 cup (60ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)

In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, mix the water and sugar. Grate the zest of the lemons directly into the saucepan. Heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let stand until the syrup reaches room temperature, then chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Whisk the buttermilk into the syrup, then whisk in the lemon juice. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Penne with Indian Spiced Lamb and Roasted Butternut Squash from Kirsten

Much as we love rice and have it everyday, pasta is always a welcome meal in my house. My kids love pasta and I cooked pasta at least twice a month. Ever since I saw this pasta meal over at Kirsten from My Kitchen In The Rockies, I have been thinking of making this for our next pasta meal. This is perfect when my kids requested for a pasta dinner. It is delicious and my family loves it, there's even a request to cook this again. 

Kirsten uses ground lamb, and since I have ground pork, I use that instead. I could not find any butternut squash, so I replaced it with pumpkin. Couldn't help myself from popping a few in my mouth as soon as they are out of the oven, so sweet and  yummy! The next time when I cook this again, I will have to add more gravy, as my family loves lots of gravy with pasta. And they always ask for leftover gravy the next day if there are any left, to eat with bread!

Please stop by My Kitchen In The Rockies for the gorgeous photo of  this pasta meal, mine is just uncomparable to Kirsten's. You will drool over her photo!

Thank you, Kirsten, for sharing this delicious recipe.

Penne with Indian Spiced Lamb and Roasted Butternut Squash
(source from : My Kitchen In The Rockies)
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (4 to 5 cups) (I replaced with pumpkin)
2-1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
8 ounces (450gm) ground lamb (I replace with ground pork)
2-1/2 cups (625ml) chopped onions
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup (250ml) canned crushed tomatoes with added puree (from 28-ounce can)
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
8 ounces (450gm) penne pasta
1/2 cup (125ml) chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1/2 cup grated mild (125ml) parmesan or pecorino (original recipe calls for kasseri)

Directions :

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss squash with 1-1/2 tablespoons oil in large bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Transfer squash to large rimmed baking sheet. Roast until tender and brown around edges, using metal spatula to turn occasionally, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add lamb and onions; saute until lamb browns and onions soften, 7 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and next 3 ingredients; stir 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, then broth and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Reduce heat; simmer until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Stir in squash. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot. Add lamb mixture, half of cilantro, and half of cheese; toss. Add reserved cooking liquid by 1/3 cupfuls to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer pasta to bowl. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and cheese.

Goan Pork with Hot Spices

Today, I'm posting the recipe for Goan Pork with Hot Spices which I served with Aromatic Indian Rice with Peas and a vegetable curry, Cauliflower, Pea and Potates Curry, recipes which can be found at my previous post. This dish is popular in Goa, which is situated on the west coast of India. Goa is influenced by three religions, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. So beef and pork cuisines are quite common in this part of India.

This dish is tasty and really good eaten with the Aromatic Indian Rice. It is not overly spicy and has the sweet aroma of the cinnamon. I think that replacing the pork with beef should be great too.

This recipe is taken from "Curries 500" by Mridula Baljekar, which is my current obsession for Indian food! 

Much as I like this cookbook, I found that she has a totally different approach in writing out the instructions. Unlike my other cookbook by Raghaven Iyer which is more precise in letting us know at the beginning of the recipe on when to prepare the spices that are either needed to be milled to fine powder or pounded coarsely, and keep that aside until needed, Mridula Baljekar has a different approach. You would find that the instructions for grinding the spices needed to a fine powder comes somewhere in the middle of the cooking instructions, as you can see from the recipe below. So careful reading of the instructions is needed to prepare all the necessary before you start cooking. 

For this recipe, my advice is to prepare step no 2 and no 5 first before you start cooking, and keep them aside until needed. 

Goan Pork with Hot Spices
(adapted from "Curry 500" by Mridula Baljekar)
Serves 4
60ml / 4 tbsp vegetable oil
15ml / 1 tbsp grated fresh root ginger
15ml / 1 tbsp crushed garlic
2.5cm / 1 in piece cinnamon stick, broken up
2-4 dried red chillies, chopped or torn
4 cloves
10ml / 2 tsp cumin seeds
10 black peppercorns
675gm /1-1/2lb cubed leg of pork, crackling and fat removed
5ml / 1 tsp ground turmeric
200ml / 7fl oz/scant 1 cup warm water
25ml / 1-1/2 tbsp tomato puree (paste)
2.5ml / 1/2 tsp chilli powder (optional)
1 large onion, finely sliced
5ml  / 1 tsp salt
5ml / 1 tsp sugar
10ml / 2 tsp cider vinegar

1. Heat 30ml/2 tbsp of the oil in a wok, karahi or large pan, and add the ginger and garlic. Fry for 30 seconds.
2. Grind the next five ingredients to a fine powder, using a spice or coffee grinder. Add the spice mix to the pan and fry for a further 30 seconds, stirring.  (I pan fry in a dry pan over low heat all the 5 ingredients until aromatic and crisp, let cool on a plate, then mill to a fine powder, it is easier to mill if spices are crisp and brittle)
3. Add the pork and turmeric to the pan and increase the heat slightly. Fry for about 5-6 minutes or until the meat starts to release its juices, stirring regularly.
4. Add the water, tomato puree and chilli powder; if using, to the pan and bring to the boil. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer gently for 35-40 minutes. (You may add a little water at a time, as it will evaporate during cooking)
5. Heat the remaining oil and fry the onion for 8-9 minutes until browned, stirring regularly.
6. Add the fried onion to the pork along with the salt, sugar and vinegar. Stir, cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until the pork is tender. Remove from the heat and serve.