News for You

On 27th May 2009, LG sponsored a Microwave Cooking Contest at The Calcutta Swimming Club. Around 8 contestants were selected for the final round. And yes, your Vaishali was one of them.

My recipe was Peach Bake. It is a hot dessert. Normally, dessert should be served chilled, but I thought why not make this dish in a microwave oven. Just wanted to be a bit different... but never though that this recipe would end up being the winner.

Some other recipes in the fray were Navratan Korma, Baigan-e-Bahar, Boondi Kheer and Potato Mango Curry to name a few.

The contest was judged by Mrs. Sharmistha De, a celebrity cook whose cooking programs are regularly being aired on a Bengali Channel, Aakash Bangla.

Peach Bake - The Recipe

Preparation Time : 30 minutes Serves : 6-8 Ingredients :	Calories Protein Fat Carbohydrate : : : : 1413.5 36.1 53.5 451.5
For Main Dish : Peach Slices in Juice - 400g can Corn Flakes - ½ cup Vanilla Sponge Cake - 200g Golden Raisins - 3 tbsp Low-Fat Spread - ½ tbsp Sesame Seeds - ½ tsp Cinnamon – 1 stick	For Egg-less Sponge Cake : Refined Flour - 1 cup Powdered Sugar - ½ cup Baking Powder - 1 tsp Baking Soda - 1 tsp Melted Butter - 3 tbsp Curd - ½ cup Milk - ¼ cup Vanilla Essence - 8 drops
Method :
Method for the Cake: Sieve all the dry ingredients together, except sugar, 3-4 times. Grease and dust a deep oven proof bowl. Melt the butter, add powdered sugar, curd, essence and a pinch of salt, and then gradually add the flour mixture and milk. Make a smooth batter to a dropping consistency. Pour the mixture in the prepared mould and bake in the BAKE OR CRISP mode for 4-5 minutes or till the skewer comes out clean. Take it out and let it cool on a wire rack. Cut into fingers and keep it aside. Method for Assembling the Dish: Drain the peaches, reserving the juice in a small pan. Add the sultanas, cinnamon stick and orange rind to the reserved fruit juice and boil it in a pan on HIGH mode. Lower the temperature and simmer for 1-2 minutes, to reduce the liquid by half. Remove the cinnamon stick and rind and keep it aside. Melt the low-fat spread in a small oven proof shallow dish, cook the  cornflakes and sesame seeds in CRISP mode for 2-3 minutes. In a glass bowl arrange a layer of peach slices evenly. Pour a few teaspoons of the syrup over the peach slices. Sprinkle a few choco chips. Then arrange the sponge fingers evenly. Again layer the peach slices. Pour a few teaspoons of the syrup. Again sprinkle a few choco chips. Now spread the cornflake mixture on the top. Garnish with peach slices. Bake for 5-7 minutes, or until the top layer is golden brown. Place a strawberry in the centre to add a dash of color to the dish. Sprinkle a few choco chips. Serve hot. Variations : Try experimenting with the breakfast cereal for the topping. The lowest-calorie breakfast cereals are usually those that are highest in fibre, so it is worth checking the labels for comparisons. Bran cereals are a good choice. You could use chopped nuts instead of the sesame seeds, but remember that this will increase the fat content. Any canned fruit can be used in place of the peaches. Apricots would be delicious, as would pineapple chunks. Make sure they are in their own natural juice.

  Click on the images for larger view