Watalappan: Spiced Coconut Custard

You know how sometimes people say "we should have you over for dinner," but it never happens. This was not one of those times. Less than a week after said small-talk we were officially invited to have a homemade Sri Lankan dinner at a friend's house. Yay! and then Argh! What should we bring? I wanted to bring Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Pineapple is tropical and should go well with the Southeast Asian food, yes? But the idea was tossed around that I make an authentic Lankan dessert. I'm a good girl and I did my research. Watalappan was the answer. Many sites describe it as "the King of Custards" and how can you go wrong with that!

Watalappan recipes online are pretty much the same. The ingredient quantities differ and some people use more or less spice but generally Watalappan is a coconut/jaggery/cardamom custard. Some recipes call for creamed coconut (not the same and coconut cream) but I chose the version(s) that used coconut milk. Chao Koh brand coconut milk and coconut cream have a good flavor and consistency and are not too expensive. Lately the coconut cream has seemed a tad watery, hopefully this is not a permanent problem. I was more concerned about finding jaggery. The Cook's Thesaurus describes jaggery

Pronunciation: JAG-uh-ree, Notes: This is a tan, unrefined sugar that is common in India. It's made from the sap of palm trees or sugar cane and is much more flavorful than granulated sugar. It's often sold in solid cakes, but it should crumble when you squeeze it. Look for it in Indian markets. Substitutes: Mix 1 C dark brown sugar + 2 teaspoons molasses OR palm sugar OR piloncillo OR brown sugar OR maple sugar OR date sugar

I found palm sugar at the local international market (the small round cakes in front) and was satisfied that this was the best I would find in our small town, but no! The shop keeper pointed out a entire box of jaggery (the cone shape on the left). Woot! The recipe has so few ingredients that the difference in flavor of jaggery versus brown sugar is noticeable.

Dissolve the jaggery in water over low heat. A fork works well for crumbling. To me, the jaggery tasted like pumpkin and brown sugar, but nobody agreed with that assessment. It's good; that's all you need to know.

 

It turns out that custard requires eggs! Who knew? And a darn lot of them too! This one uses ten - I've never used ten eggs at one time. Look at them. They are sooooo yellllooowww.

After adding the coconut milk and the spices to the dissolved jaggery, mix it slowly into the beaten eggs. Make sure the sugar mix has cooled down so it doesn't cook the eggs. It's not very pretty at this point (in fact it never looks that great, but it tastes great).

At this point I was unsure how to steam the custards. Evey recipe said STEAM but I don't have a steamer. I tried two methods; one of which worked and that's the one I will describe. It's the oven method (in case you were wondering the stove top method tasted okay but the texture was way off). I buttered the ramekins, filled them not quite to the top and secured two layers of wax paper over the top with a strong rubber band. Luckily the ramekins fit snugly in the oven safe pot. I filled the pot with water until it was halfway up the side of the ramekins and then covered the pot with a lid. I put this heavywobblyliquidy bit of fun in the oven and let it steam for an hour. Ta da!

 

The large bowl on the left was the less-than-success stove top method. I know it rattled around too much on stove and I think some liquid got in under the rubber lid making it spongy and not creamy. The ramekin oven version looks odd but tastes creamy and rich, some might say royal. As it turns out, this custard is so awesome that the friends who made the dinner had made the exact same dessert!

ready to travel

Sultana raisins and coconut cream - ready to eat! 

Recipe Time: Watalappan (Spiced Coconut Custard)
serves 12

10 Eggs
2 Cups thick Coconut milk
1 lb Jaggery
½ cup water
Pinch of Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Salt
1 tsp Cardamom

butter
rubberbands
wax paper
ramekins

1. Add the jaggery to the water and boil until the jaggery has melted.
2. Lightly beat the eggs.
3. Allow the sugar mixture to cool. Add the coconut milk and the spices to the sugar mixture.
4. Add melted jaggery and coconut milk a little at a time to the eggs and continue to beat.
5. Pour about 4 oz into each greased ramekin
6. Cover with wax paper and place in a ovensafe dish with a lid.
7. Add water to the baking dish until it reaches halfway up the side of a ramekin.
8. Steam in a 350 F oven for 1 hour.
9. Sprinkly with golden raisins before serving.

Smoked Paprika and Potato Soup

The last day of the farmers' market is a crazy day. Do we really need more produce if we never can or freeze? But there won't be good tomatoes until next year! It's rainy and cold, no one will be there. My life is a barren wasteland without fresh fruit! But every time I buy onions I get a bad batch. And so on ...but you can never go wrong with potatoes. Unless of course you have too many spuds and not enough space.

I wasn't going to post this recipe since it doesn't "come from somewhere," unless you count my desperate state as a destination, but once I tasted the spicy soup I don't regret only taking pictures at the halfway mark. This is a quick recipe and most of the time takes place in the microwave. The soup is also fairly hands-off except for watching the onions in the beginning and watching the knife when you cut the microwave softened potatoes into large chunks.

The flavor comes from a rough-chopped yellow onion cooked in a few teaspoons of olive oil with smoked paprika, dried parsley, dried thyme, salt and black pepper. Just throw it all in the bottom of your soup pot while you microwave eight medium potatoes (or whatever you've got on hand).

When the potatoes are fork tender carefully remove them from the microwave - those little devilspuds are HOT! The eight potatoes magically equals eight cups. How convenient. After the onions become translucent add four cups of chicken stock and the potato chunks. Let it simmer, check your Facebook, stir it around, get a drink, think about serving it, then decided to blend it with an immersion blender.

less creamy

more creamy

I'm always looking for a reason to use the immersion blender, mainly because it is the one kitchen gadget we own. For creamy but not overly smooth texture I removed roughly a cup of the soup before blending and then added that back to the blended portion. You do whatever makes you happy.

Recipe Time: Smoked Paprika and Potato Soup

serves 8

4 cups organic fat free or low-fat chicken broth
1 cup onions
8 cups potato
1 Tbsp parsley
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp paprika
2 tsp table salt
2 tsp black pepper

1. Microwave the potatoes until they are fork tender.
2. While the potatoes are cooking roughly chop the onion.
3. Cook/sweat the onion in a stock pot with the oil and the seasonings until the onion turns translucent.
4. Add the chicken stock and simmer.
5. Cut the cooked potatoes into large chunks.
6. Add the potatoes to the soup and simmer about 10 minutes.
7. Eat or blend the soup with an immersion blender for a creamy texture.

1-2-3-4 Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe can be found on the back of the Swans Down Cake Flour box. In fact, as I look at the box I realize this cake and frosting recipe is probably the one featured on the box front. Our cake does not look as pretty, but it tastes just as good; because butter and sugar have never failed to make a cake rock.*

Before you begin, you might want some kitchen items we did not have: flour sifter, icing spatula, cake stand and cover, hand or stand mixer, blah blah blah. Don't worry about it. Your cake might look nicer and it might take less effort, but without these tools you will build arm strength and learn patience. That's priceless. Did I mention the cake still tastes great?

I think buttering and flouring your pans works more effectively when baking cakes than using the spray and I'm not a spray hater in general. The bonus is getting flour all over the counters. Yay! If you have a mixer use it now! A nice alternative for butter creaming is a fork and a potato masher. Creamed butter and sugar is hard to resist sampling. I dare you to try and resist.

Mix thoroughly after each egg. (Don't eat after adding eggs but before cooking!)

A flour sifter is appropriate, but a metal colander works in a pinch. I've learned that baking is not at all like cooking, it's very strict and science-y. If you don't pay close attention you will be punished (don't pay attention to me, do read and follow the recipe though).

Always add dry to wet when baking. Or add wet to wet. Here we do both. Alternate adding the flour mix and the milk mix to the delicious butter mix.

We split the mix into three pans like the box recommended, but The Art of Baking web site has time suggestions if you want to try cupcakes or two larger pans.

Overall, the cake is buttery, moist and yummy. There was not enough frosting to cover the whole cake, but that's probably because we were not successful with the milk/flour roux the Swans box had in their cream cheese frosting recipe. Meh, what can you do?

Recipe Time: 1-2-3-4 Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting
(adapted from the Swans Down Cake Flour box and The Art of Baking web site)
serves 12

1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 cups sifted Swans Down Cake Flour
3 tsps baking powder
½ tsp salt
4 eggs
1 cup skim milk
1 and ½ tsp vanilla

1. Cream butter. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs one at a time to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
   
3. Sift flour with baking powder and salt. 
4. Add flour mixture alternately with milk and flavorings, beating after each addition until smooth. 
5. Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9-inch layer pans, using about 2-1/3 cups batter in each pan. 
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes. 
7. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans and finish cooling on racks.

Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Combine all ingredients at room temperature.
2. Blend well.
3. Spread on cooled cake.

*The red stuff in the first photo is pureed frozen strawberries with a wee bit of confectioners' sugar. A good frosting alternative or addition.

Homemade Apple Pie Oatmeal

Last week I said the Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal was very customizable, but had I really customized it yet? No. I'd adapted it to make it slightly healthier, but that's not the same, and deep in my heart I knew it. So here for you today is a totally customized version of Pie Oatmeal, this time of the Apple persuasion. Yum!

 

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3. Apples chop themselves into tiny pieces, then jump into a bowl of dry ingredients saying "howdy" to the wet folks on the way, and finally out of the oven pops warm chewy apple goodness. Really, just like that.

Recipe Time: Apple Pie Oatmeal
serves 5

1 cup uncooked old fashioned oats
2 cups apple pieces
1  tsp ground cinnamon
¼  tsp ground allspice
2 ½ Tbsp packed brown sugar
½  tsp lemon zest or lemon juice (I used the juice to keep the apple pieces from browning)
¼  tsp table salt

½  tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp Butter
¾  cup(s) no sugar added applesauce
¾  cup(s) fat-free skim milk

¼  cup(s) golden raisins
1 Tbsp packed brown sugar

   1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 5 ramekins.
   2. Combine the first 7 ingredients (oats through salt) in a medium sized bowl. Stir well.
   3. In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, butter, applesauce, and milk. Whisk thoroughly.
   4. Pour the milk mixture into the oats. Stir until combined.
   5. Divide mixture evenly between 5 individual sized ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet (this makes it easier to move in and out of the oven.). Bake for 12 minutes.
   6. Combine the ingredients for the topping: raisins and brown sugar. After the oatmeal has baked for 12 minutes, remove and divide topping mixture evenly between the ramekins. Bake an additional 8 minutes.
   7. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Chewy (not a Star Wars reference) Pumpkin Pie Oats

We wanted something dessert-like and warm because the weather has taken a turn towards fall. Suddenly the stars aligned. All the ingredients to make Pumpkin Pie Oats were in the house! The outside was chilly! I could stand to have the oven on! What more could I ask!?! This version was adapted and lightened up slightly to make it a wee bit healthier (skim milk instead of whole milk and raisins instead of nuts for example) but it is very customizable.

If you're not used to steel cut oats they have a chewy texture and more nutty flavor compared to rolled oats. That helps give this breakfast/snack/dessert more tummy filling power. At first I thought I'd undercooked the oats but that was the power of the chewy and it won me over.

To help incorporate the butter with the other liquids I let it soften on the burner while the stove pre-heated.

Dry and wet all mixed up. And what's the deal with canned pumpkin? It tricks me every time. Even though I KNOW, I really do, that pumpkin tastes bleh and not at all like canned pumpkin pie mix, I taste it every time. My mind says nooooo, but my zombie hand reaches out and yells Brraaaiiiiins.

I learned about oats and the Fiestaware/oven safeness during this recipe. Plus colors are pretty. That makes this recipe a success.

And it tastes awesome. Look at the warm raisin and brown sugar crust. The cookies in the top photo are Anna's Orange (a Swedish favorite according to the package).


Recipe Time: Chewy (not a Star Wars reference) Pumpkin Pie Oats
(adapted from the goodLife {eats} site)
serves 5


1 cup(s) uncooked old fashioned oats
½  tsp ground cinnamon
¼  tsp ground allspice
2 ½ Tbsp packed brown sugar
½  tsp lemon zest
¼  tsp table salt

½  tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp Butter
¾  cup(s) canned pumpkin
¾  cup(s) fat-free skim milk

¼  cup(s) golden raisins
1 Tbsp packed brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 5 ramekins.
2. Combine the first 6 ingredients (oats through salt) in a medium sized bowl. Stir well. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, butter, pumpkin, and milk. Whisk thoroughly. 
4. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the oats. Stir until combined.
5. Divide mixture evenly between 5 individual sized ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet (this makes it easier to move in and out of the oven.). Bake for 10 minutes.
6. Combine the ingredients for the topping: raisins and brown sugar. After the oatmeal has baked for 10 minutes, remove and divide topping mixture evenly between the ramekins. Bake an additional 7 minutes. 
7. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.
   

This dessert paired well with our dinner of Moroccan Spiced Pork Chops (yes, I know) and Fruity Couscous

Boulangère Pommes de Terre (Baker Potatoes)

My two years of French has made me somewhat capable of pronunciation en Français, but my middle-schoolesque humor negates those capabilities. While cooking this adaptable, easy potato recipe my lips said boulangère potatoes but my mind thought Lingerie Potatoes, ha ha! Panty Potatoes!!

I'm not used to weighing ingredients, otherwise I might not have been so amused by my tower of potatoes. That's 1kg placed jenga style on my tiny kitchen scale. Although the recipe ended up requiring two baking dishes and then more sliced potatoes, and then more salt and pepper, and then . . . (vicious cycle). Originally weighed out 1kg.

Before the pan/potato quantity issue I ran into the too lazy to make/buy chicken stock so will use beef stock issue. Because beef stock has a deeper bolder richer pimpier flavor I felt justified in adding 2 oz of water to make the required 500ml of stock. Ultimately, if you have to spread this dish out over multiple pans you might need more stock to cover the potato and onion slices.

So pretty. So tear-inducing. I wish I had a mandoline. The first and prettiest layer in the baking dish. Each subsequent layer seemed to hump up more in the middle. Might be due to my uneven slices.

For one of the baking dishes I remembered to put the dabs of butter on top after pouring the stock, that is not this dish. It doesn't really matter. It's hard to mess up this recipe. We ate this with roasted chicken* and a fresh tomato salad.


Recipe Time
(adapted from the Almost Bourdain site, also an adaptation, so this might be some freaky hybrid)
Serves 8ish

2.5 lbs potatoes
1 large onion
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley (I used dried parsley which can be stronger than fresh but not in a bad way)
14 oz hot beef stock
2 oz water
2 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Thinly slice the potatoes and onion. Alternate layers of potato and onion in a 8"x8" baking dish (or whatever baking dish you think you can fit multiple layers in), sprinkle parsley, salt and black pepper between each layer. Finish with a layer of potatoes.
3. Pour the hot stock over the top and add dabs of butter.
4. Bake, covered with foil, on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil. Bake for another 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the top golden brown.

*And by "roasted chicken" I mean impulse buy chicken that we ate over the kitchen sink to save on plate washing.

 

Spicy Anchovies and Fried Plantains

Spicy anchovies (or sprats as they are called by the coworker who provided this recipe) with a mix of wild and jasmine rice and a side of fried plantains. Because the Little Apple "bleeds purple" the rice magically turned a light violet hue in the rice cooker (though I suspect it was the wild and jasmine rice getting a little too familiar with each other). Anchovies are umami.

All of the fishy ingredients, in no particular order: various types of cherry-size homegrown tomatoes, vegetable oil, red onion, jalapeno, dried and frozen anchovies (with heads removed), garlic, rampe, curry leaves, red pepper flakes, turmeric, and cinnamon.

Dried rampe and curry leaves were provided by aforementioned coworker, but check your local international market or spice seller. The rampe are like bay leaves in that you should remove them after cooking. Rampe is also called pandan, it is nice in sweet dishes too. Turmeric and cinnamon add more sweetness. The recipe called for 2 Tbs of crushed dried chili (which I assumed was red pepper flakes because that's what I had available) but you can see that there is only 1 Tbs on the plate.

Just about time to plate. On a side note, I regret not wearing gloves to cut the jalapeno. And I had to tie a towel around my face to retain some semblance of breathing after putting the spices and veggies in the hot oil.

Plantains!! Not your old bananas that you refuse to make me banana bread with. This stage of ripeness worked well for shallow pan frying slices.

Mmmm. Can we just take moment to look longingly at these plantains. I just ate them and yet....mmmmm


Recipe Time: Spicy Anchovies
this is pretty much the recipe as given, with some clarification

250grams Sprat (anchovies)
1 red onion, diced fine
3 cloves of garlic chopped
4 tablespoons oil
Turmeric ¼  tsp
Cinnamon ¼  tsp
Rampe (unknown amount, gaahhh)
Curry leaves (again, unknown!)
1 small jalapeno, diced fine
2 Tbs of crushed dried chili
Salt to taste

1. Add 4-5 Tbs of vegetable oil and fry the sprats until they turn slightly brown and crispy. (If the oil dries out add more oil). If the sprats are fried too much they will taste bitter.
2. Then add rest of the incredients and stir until the onions are cooked. Don’t over cook the onion. If you like, add a small sliced tomato at the end.
3. These are all rough measurements. So you may need to add more chili.

A special treat for you. Anchovies before cooking and before I ripped their heads off. Arghbraaiins!