Happy New Year Everyone

I will be changing my focus in this blog. I will still be blogging on a number of things that I love to do, including food, tennis, my mom's garden, my collector's stuff and others that arise. I have deleted all my tennis posts but I will still blog on tennis sometimes but I will mainly refer my readers to the official WTA website for results.

Hi Everyone

It's been awhile since I have posted in my blog but from now on I will be posting on a regular basis. I'm still busy writing but I have some wonderful recipes to post. And I'm also happy that Serena Williams has started practicing again since her injury. Saw it on Yahoo's homepage. Good to be here again.

luv
jannishal

Happy 2010

I would like to greet all my viewers a blessed 2010. I have a few recipes to post and some pics.


Luv jannishal

Dear Readers

I've decided to delete some of my Family recipes and place them in a recipe book that I am writing, so three recipes are no longer there. I have not been blogging alot because I'm spending time writing a novel and cookbook. Hopefully I'll be able to blog again. If I have time. I'm also watching tennis but really sorry it rained yesterday. That's all for now.

Much Luv
Jannishal

Dear Readers

I'm sorry for not blogging for a long time. Presently I'm working on a Fantasy novel series and other career goals. Therefore, I would not be able to blog all the time. I will be posting more recipes very soon and will definitely blog during the US Open. I'm also writing a recipe book. I must say I 'm really happy Kim Clijsters is back.

Much Luv
Jannishal

Banana and Sultana Tea Bread

All Recipe Photos are the Property of Serve and Eat Blog

This is delicious tea bread recipe that my family absolutely enjoyed. It's from the 500 baking recipe book that I own. I substituted ginger with sultanas just to give it a slight variation. My family absolutely love bananas and there is a bountiful supply of this sweet fruit throughout the year. We even have a banana trees in our yard.

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups of self raising flour
1 tsp of baking powder
3 tbsp soft butter
1/4 cup of soft light brown sugar
1/3 cup of sultanas
4 tbsp skimmed milk
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees/350 degrees F/Gas 4. Line a grease a loaf tin about 450g/1 LB.

2. Sift flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl.

3. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in sugar.

4. Add the sultanas, milk and mashed bananas and mix to a soft dough.

5. Spoon into prepared tin and bake for 40-45 mins. Run palette knife around the edges to loosen them, turn the tea bread onto a wire rack and leave to cool.

Serve with a cup of tea and any type of cheese that you love. You can also add chopped almonds to this recipe if you so desire, I did.

Happy Eating
Jannishal

Apologies - Internet Problems

My Internet was down for two full days so I was unable to post the results of the French Open. It is up again so I'm really glad and finally I can get back to blogging so I do apologize to all my readers, viewers and members. I just saw clips of Venus and Serena's doubles match. It was suspended on Tuesday and Wednesday due to darkness so they are completing the match today.

Jannishal.

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

I was in the mood for chocolate and cream cheese so I visited my favorite food site, Food Network. I then noticed a link to another food site Crisco.com so I decided to take a look. I found this absolutely delicious cupcake recipe and guess what, it comprised the two ingredients that I wanted. This is a Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcake Recipe and it's absolutely divine. I topped this desert with a vanilla frosting and chopped cherries. For this entire recipe visit Crisco.com HERE.

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

It looks good and taste good. A MUST TRY!

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

My Frosted Cupcake

Bon Appetite
Jannishal

Tomatoes In My Garden

Photos are the Property of http://serveandteat.blogspot.com

These are the second pictures of Cherry Tomatoes growing in my garden. The first can be seen below. Gosh, they grow up so fast. I planted these seeds this year and look at them now. I can't wait to harvest the first fruits. Actually you're looking at them now.

Photos are the Property of http://serveandteat.blogspot.com

Those cherry tomatoes are small, Enjoy the pics.

Courtesy
Jannishal

Spinach/Callaloo and Bacon Bread

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

This is a very delicious and tasty Bread recipe which I highly recommend for everyone to try. I absolutely love it. I altered some of the ingredients because I'm really into eating brown foods so instead of using white flour alone, I also used whole wheat flour in this recipe. This recipe is also LOW FAT and I totally enjoyed making it. It's completely Italian and as I mentioned in previous posts I absolutely love Italian food, including Chinese which I will also be posting in the coming months. This was taken from one of my cookbooks 500 Fabulous Cakes and Bakes.

Spinach/Callaloo And Bacon Bread (adapted from the above cookbook)

I altered the recipe in order to incorporate some of the ingredients that my family loves. Instead of using green onion I used red onions. I find that red onions are extremely sweet and delightful when eaten raw. I always incorporate them in my salad recipes. I also added dried oregano my favorite herb, basil and parsley. You can also use fresh herbs if you prefer. Instead of the spinach I use dasheen leaves (here in Trinidad and Tobago we call it callaloo bush). The taste of sauteed callaloo is gentle and I prefer it to spinach.

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
4 oz lean bacon back or rindless smoked bacon rashers, chopped (you can also use Italian pancetta bacon)
4 cups presifted all purpose flour (you can use bread flour instead)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp dried or fresh basil
1 tsp dried or fresh parsley
1 sachet easy blend dried yeast
2 cups hand-hot water (lukewarm)
8 oz chopped callaloo or spinach
1/4 cup grated reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Lightly oil two 9 inch cake tins. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and bacon for 10 minutes until golden brown. Do not burn onion.

2. Put flours, salt, herbs and nutmeg in a mixing bowl, add yeast and blend ingredients. Make a well in the centre. Add the water.Tip in the fried bacon and onion, with the oil, and then add the well-drained spinach. Gradually incorporate the flour and mix to a soft dough.

3. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for five minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide the mixture in half. Shape each half into a ball, flatten slightly and place in tin, pressing the dough so that it extends to the edges.

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

4. Mark each dough into six wedges and sprinkle with the cheese. Cover loosely with a plastic wrap or bag and leave in a warm place until each loaf has doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/ 400 degrees F/ Gas 6.

5. Bake the loaves for 25-30 minutes or until they sound hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

The recipe did state that it is a good idea to make double the quantity and freeze one of the loaves. Another good tip is to refrigerate the bread after 4 hours of cooling. You can serve this bread with turkey ham, a salad, cheese or any filling of your choosing.

Happy Eating
Jannishal

Dear Viewers

I completely apologize for not blogging for a while. I've been a little busy over the weekend and coming this week I've many things to sought out in my personal life in terms of career wise and studies. Next month my classes being but I'll still be on top of my blog. Interesting things happened in the tennis world over the weekend and my Italian Bread Recipe is up next.

Corn Bread

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

As promised here is my latest recipe Corn Bread. I have made a lot of Corn Bread recipes before and this is one of the best. I don't know what it is but I love the gentle taste of this corn bread and I highly recommend this recipe. It's from the cookbook 500 Fabulous Cakes and Bakes and yes I own this book. This can be eaten with cheese, accompany a meal, dipped in soup or taken on a family out door trip. So here's the recipe and it's absolutely divine.

This is a very quick, easy and simple recipe. It took no time at all and everyone loved it completely so I'll be making this recipe again. Probably as a stuffing for turkey or for breakfast.

Corn Bread ( adapted from the above mentioned cookbook. I made a few substitutions)

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar ( I used this but the recipe said castor sugar)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 and 1/2 cups Primosa cornmeal (You can use type of cornmeal or polenta)
1 and 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
6 tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil ( I used this ingredient but the recipe stated 1/2 cup melted margarine)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/ 400 degrees F/ Gas 6. Then line a 23 by 13cm/ 9 by 5 inch loaf tin with greaseproof paper and grease the paper.

2. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar, cornmeal or polenta and stir to blend. Make a well in the centre. Whisk together the milk, eggs, melted butter and oil. Pour the mixture into the well. Stir until just blended; do not overmix.

3. Pour into the tin and bake until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Bon Appetite
Jannishal

Whole Wheat Bread

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

This is an adapted recipe from the Multigrain recipe found in 500 Fabulous Cakes and Bakes, page 68. I bought this cookbook from THE LOGOS: a mobile bookstore that travels around the world via boat/ship. They paid a visit to my beautiful country and they were loaded with so many books. There were so many to choose from comprising different genres and disciplines. What I like about this recipe is the health benefits. It contains fibre and the oats reduces cholesterol. This is a very flexible recipe. It states that you can try different flours, such as rye, cornmeal, buckwheat or barley to replace the wheatgerm and the soya flour. I did not use soya flour instead I added whole wheat flour.

Whole Wheat Bread

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp active dried yeast
1/4 cup luke warm water
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 cups milk
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 oz wheatgerm
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour ( You can used a different flour, in the recipe they used soya flour)
scant 2 and 1/2 cups of wholemeal flour
4 cups of strong flour or bread flour

Note: Scant means Falling short of a specific measure ex. a scant cup of sugar.

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

DIRECTIONS

Combine the yeast and water, stir, and leave for about 15 minutes to dissolve. Place the oats in a large bowl.. Scald the milk, then pour over the rolled oats. Stir in the salt, oil, sugar and honey. Leave until lukewarm. At this point I used an ice bath to cool the mixture quickly.

Stir in the yeast mixture, eggs, wheat germ, soya and whole meal flours. Gradually stir in enough strong flour to obtain a rough dough.Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead, adding flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic. At this point i felt my dough was a little stiff but when it started to rise I didn't worry about it too much. Return to a clean bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about two and half hours.

Grease two 22 by 11cm/8 1/2 by 4 1/2 loaf tins. Punch down the risen dough and knead briefly. then divide the dough into quarters. Roll each quarter into a cylinder 4cm/1 1/2 inch thick. Twist together two cylinders and place in tin; repeat for the remaining cylinders. At this stage I did not go through this process instead I just divided my dough in three, rolled each into logs and place in the pans to rise. Cover and leave to rise until doubled in volume again, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190 degrees C/ 375 degrees F/ Gas 5.

Bake until the bases sound hollow when tapped lightly, about 45-50 minutes. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.

Bon Appetite
Jannishal

Barefoot Contessa's Cranberry Orange Scones

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

I am a big Food Network fan and the Barefoot Contessa Show is one of my favorite shows to watch. When I saw her make this recipe I decided to give it a try. I made some substitutions, instead of the 4 cups of all purpose flour, I used three cups and one cup of whole wheat flour. I used 3/4 cup of oil instead of butter and one cup of low fat milk instead of heavy cream. I love the taste and flavour of these scones and I will definitely make them again. For the entire recipe go to Food Network.com.

Enjoy!
Jannishal

Light Fruit Cake Served w/ Whipped Cream

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

I wanted to make a fruit cake but not the Black Christmas Fruit Cake that Trinidad is known for, instead I opted for a Light Fruit Cake. I began rummaging through all the cookbooks that I own and came across a Light Fruit Cake Recipe from the Cookbook 500 Fabulous Cakes and Bakes. I think it was written in 2005. I'm not sure but I decided to make this recipe. I did not have a few of the ingredients so I definitely substituted.

The cake turned out extremely well but the only thing I would add is a cup of Cherry Brandy after the Cake has been made. This is an American based Light Fruit Cake, but here in Trinidad we like our fruit cakes more moist and that's one thing I felt this recipe lacked. So next time I'll do like my mom does her Fruit Cake and throw a cup of Cherry Brandy on the cake as soon as it 's out of the oven. The directions can be seen below but while making this cake , I creamed my butter and sugar first, then added the eggs one at a time, mixing after each egg. Then I added all the other ingredients.

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

Light Fruit Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 cup soft butter
1 cup castor sugar ( I used 1 cup granulated sugar)
grated rind of one orange
5 eggs, beaten
2 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour ( I used Cake Flour instead)
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
3/4 cup currants
1 cup raisins
1 cup sultanas
1/3 cup dried, ready-to-eat apricots
2/3 cup mixed peel

Instead of the last two ingredients, the apricots and mixed peel, I used 1 cup of my Mom's Black Cake Christmas Fruit Filling and added a few mixed peel in the cup.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius/300 degrees F/Gas 2. Grease a deep 8 inch round pan or 7 inch square cake pan. Line the base and sides with a double thickness of greaseproof paper and grease the paper.

Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, snipping in the apricots in strips, using kitchen scissors. Beat thoroughly with a wooden spoon for 3-4 minutes, until thoroughly mixed.

Spoon the mixture into the cake tin. Make a slight depression in the centre. Bake in the centre of the oven for 2 ½ – 3 ¼ hours. Test the cake after two and half hours. If it is ready it will feel firm and a skewer inserted in the centre will come out clean. Test at intervals if necessary. Cover the top loosely with foil if it starts to brown too quickly.

Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin. Then turn out. The lining paper can be left on to help keep the cake moist. I recommend frosting this cake or throw a 1/2 cup of Cherry Brandy, fruity Wine or rum over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Bon Appetite
Jannishal

World Earth Day

As you know today is World Earth Day. People everywhere are celebrating this day by turning off lights, keeping the environment clean, going green, turn off taps(don't leave water flowing unnecessarily), planting trees or doing their small part to appreciate this planet we call home.

Today my sister informed me that Disney and Nickelodeon channels are all broadcasting earth friendly programs to bring an awareness to World Earth Day. Yesterday night I watched the entire episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 going green. It was an hour long on TLC and they installed thermal and solar panels and other environmentally friendly, energy conserving devices. It's important than we conserve and preserve our planet because we only have one earth.

Trinidad recently held The Summit of The Americas and my sister worked at that Summit. This week she gave me a recycled book and pen. It was really neat. I'm doing my part by starting a home garden. I'll post a few pictures in the coming weeks. You can support Earth Day by buying Earth Day T-Shirts and Posters for Earth Day's Website.

For information on Earth Day and what it entails visit Earth Day Network.

Tea Time!

I always enjoy a warm cup of tea almost every morning and I consider it to one of my breakfast items. I usually drink a glass of water and a cup of tea every morning before I eat anything. I know some people love their tea with milk or sugar but I drink it plain without anything. For me it's just refreshing.

The cup in the picture is very special. As you can see my mom's name is on it and yes her name is Joy. I am very into Asian Teas especially Green Tea which is my favorite and a 'MUST HAVE ' for me every morning.

The two teas that I love to drink can be seen to your right. I use all Natural Green Tea and it is completely organic. It has no caffeine and no preservatives. The best ever., completely 100% green tea leaves. My mom found this tea in a Chinese Supermarket here in Trinidad. I also love their Jasmine - Slim Tea. It's natural and has Hawthorn berry, Germinated barley, Tangerine peel, Radish seed, Phaseol Calcaratus, Pogostermon Cablin and Jasmine Tea on the ingredients list.

All Food Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com/

Note: Always look at the ingredients listed on products before purchasing them.

Good Morning Everyone
Jannishal

Carrot Cake with Tia Maria Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

I'm really excited about this recipe because I love this cake so much. The cake is extremely moist because it's an oil based cake not butter. This recipe was taken from The Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago & The Caribbean Cookbook, which I own. Naparima Girls' High School is a top and prestigious high school in Trinidad and Tobago and my sister attented this school for seven years, which is one of the reason why I also love this cookbook. The CookBook is also named after the school. This book has been in my keep since 2004, and it was given to me by my Father on Christmas, Day, so there are many wonderful memories attached to this cookbook.

The last time I made a carrot cake was at University, almost 4 years ago, and this was a completely new recipe since the one I made at University was totally different. One mishap that occurred while baking this cake was the Oven. Every baker's nightmare, the oven we have is an electric and gas oven. The stove can use both electricity and gas independently but the oven is dependent on electricity to run the gas and the gas does finish at times. And that's exactly what happened. I had just placed my cake in the preheated oven and while it was baking the gas finished and I wasn't even aware.

When I did realise it was 45 minutes later when the cake was suppose to come out of the oven, which means my cake just sat uncooked in a nearly cooled oven. Gosh! I was in panic mode. Well I said to myself the cake is going to be completely spoiled. I got the gas tank changed and then baked it for the next 45 minutes according to the recipe. Well, here it is and it tasted mighty darn good too. My mom and sis absolutely loved it. I guess it came out good after all. The Recipe is below:

Carrot Cake with Tia Maria Cream Cheese Frosting

(adapted from Naparima Girls' High School CookBook)

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

Now I adapted the recipe to suit my family's taste. Instead of using all purpose flour, I used cake flour and in place of the 1/2 cup of walnuts, I used 1/4 cup of glazed fruits and 1/4 cup of almond nuts. I also used two cups of brown sugar instead of granulated sugar. You can also use castor sugar.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups Cake Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups grated carrots
8 oz. crushed pineapple, drained
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup glazed fruits

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.
2. Grease and flour one 9 inch round cake pan. Put aside and begin to make the cake.
3. Sift Flour; add baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.
4. Add sugar and oil and beat until fluffy and creamy.
5. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between additions. I found that after this stage then my mixture looked creamy and well blended.
6. Add carrots, pineapple, nuts and glazed fruits.
7. Pour into the cake pan.

8. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes until tester comes out clean. Cool completely.

Recipe Photos are the Property of http://serveandeat.blogspot.com

Tia Maria Cream Cheese Frosting

My family is not into frostings that much especially my mom who likes all her cakes plain. So I made a few adjustments to the frosting. Instead of using 3 and 1/2 cups of icing sugar, I used 2 cups and I added Tia Maria liquer to my frosting. I also reduced the amount of butter in my frosting, instead of 4 oz. I used 2 oz. I did not split my cake in half, I just frost some of the cream cheese on top.

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. cream cheese
2 oz butter
2 cups of icing sugar
2 tbsp Tia Maria Liquer
2 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and vanilla and mix well.
2. Split cake in half; fill and frost.

I'm definitely going to make this cake again to see how the texture will turn out without the mishap. Please do enjoy, it's a lovely cake, moist and light.

Bon Appetite
Jannishal

Food Deprived

My blog is so food deprived. It seems as though tennis is completely taking over but there's nothing to fear. Let me tell you the truth. I'm really waiting on the pictures from my sister before I post any recipes, so this week for sure I'll be posting alot of pics. In the meantime, please do enjoy my tennis talks, and the current recipes I have posted.

Much Luv.

Jannishal

Happy Easter Monday

I did a whole lot of baking yesterday and today and I'll be posting them in the coming weeks but I just wanted to wish everyone a blessed Easter. Easter is an important season for Christians all over the World.

In Trinidad and Tobago Christians go to church on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Other groups in Trinidad, travel to the La Divina Pastora Roman Catholic Church in Siparia for Holy Thursday and Good Friday Mass and festivities.

Fish is eaten around the Lenten season leading up to Good Friday and many locals also carry on the global tradition of having hot cross buns. Hot cross buns are sweet, soft buns that have a cross on the top symbolizing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Other activites in Trinidad and Tobago around Easter time include Easter Bonnet Competitions, Goat Racing, Kite Flying, Horse Racing, and Beach Lime.

Click Easter in Trinidad and Tobago for more detailed information.