Friday, January 20, 2012
Healthy, Low Fat Cake with Hung Yougurt Icing and Fresh Fruits
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Mushroom and Vegetable Pie
Knead together 2 cups of flour with 50 grms of salted butter (butter should be soft but not melted). Add a little water as required. Knead for 10 minutes. Rest the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Take it out. Make two balls out of the dough. one slightly larger that the other
Roll the larger ball into a round, 1/2 inch thick and large enough to cover the base of your pie dish. I made this one at my mom's place and she din't have a pie dish. So i used the upturned cover of a microwave dish. Grease and dust the dish.
fill up the pie base with raw rice/rajma/any dal and bake for 10 minutes in a 180 dregree oven.
To prepare filling:
Heat a tbsp of butter on low flame. Add a clove of garlic, a bayleaf, two cloves (laung). Add 1 tbsp of flour and whisk well till no lumps are there. Cook for 2 minutes. Add a cup of milk and whisk again till no lumps are there. keep stirring till you get a sauce like consistency. Add salt and pepper.
Seperately, fry 1 cup of mushrooms sliced in quarters, thinly sliced carrots and beans in butter for 5 minutes or till the water evaporates. Add salt and pepper. Add 1/3 cup of sweet corn. Switch off the gas.
Add the mushroom mixture into the sauce. Take the bayleaf, cloves out of the sauce.
Once the pie crust is baked and ready, take the rice/rajma/ dal out of it. It is perfectly good to be used again.
Pour the filling in the pie base. Roll out the other ball of dough into a 1/2 inch thickness. Cover the top of the pie. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 180 degrees, till top in browned.
Cut in kische slices and serve.
Mushroom and Potato Rosti
Gnocchi with Mushrooms
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Doughnuts! Cinnamon glazed, Dark chocolate, White chocolate
Anyway, I am not a doughnut junkie but I do like one, once in a while. And its exciting to think of the possibilities you can cover your doughnut with! I adore the cute round shapes too . I have made doughnuts in the past with average results. But this time they turned out really well. The dough rose beautifully. The doughnuts fluffed up dutifully. I was so happy just looking at them! :-)
BEATS STORE BROUGHT ONES HANDS DOWN!! My husband agrees :-)
I think what I did right this time was keeping the dough slightly sticky. Not as much as a bread dough. Maybe sticky ain't the right word. More like a loose, really soft dough.
Roll out the dough atleast 1/2 inch thick. I used a big bowl to cut the outer egde and a small bottle cap for the inner edge.
Heat vegetable oil. Carefully place the doughnuts in it. I fried the small roundels that were left behind after removing the big circles to get small hole-less dougnuts. And using my little finger poked holes in some of them to get miniature doughnuts!
Glazing:
Dark Chocolate covered Doughnuts: Melt Chocolate, dip doughnut in chocolate, let cool (if you have the patience), eat doughnut dipped in chocolate. Yummm... As you can probably spot in the picture below, I couldn't even wait for the entire chocolate to melt. There are some chocolate pices still left. How can that be a bad thing right? Yummm
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Emmental Cheese
This cheese melts easily and is great for sauces or just to be had with some fruits and wine. Chop some dried apricots, fresh or dries figs, fresh berries and serve with small slices of the cheese.
Simply grate over mini pizzas and grill till the cheese melts.
Melt emmental, gruyere, parmesan in white wine with garlic for delicious cheese fondue. Serve with pieces of bread and fruits. And appetizer's done.
I added emmental and parmesan along with a little garlic, pepper, salt and butter to hot mashed potatoes. The heat of the recently boiled potatoes melted the cheese. It was delicious.
Another divine recipe goes as follows:
Toast 2 slices of bread. Apply some mustard sauce on one slice.
Lay slices of good bacon on one slice. Vegetarians may use thinly sliced button mushrooms (don't add mustard for veggie version)
Grate emmental cheese on top.
Place the 2nd slice over the cheese.
Drizzle Be`chamel sauce on top.
To make be`chamel sauce melt 2 tbsp butter in a pan. Add 2 tbsp flour and whisk for 2 min. Take off heat. Heat 1 cup of milk along with a bay leaf, 3-4 cloves, half an onion, pinch of nutmeg, pepper and salt.
Remove onion, cloves and bayleaf and add the milk mixture to the flour-butter mixture. Whisk and heat till sauce thickens. Add emmental cheese and mix.
Pour over the sandwich and bake for 5 mins. Heavenly.
Extra Rich Caramel Custard
Heat 3/4 cup of sugar and a few drops of water till sugar dissolves. Swirl around the pan to ensure even heating. Once the sugar caramelises to a golden color take off heat and pour in the baking dish you will be making custard in. Swirl to cover the entire surface of the pan. Once the caramel sets pour the custard mixture in the baking dish.
Bake in a Bain Marie- Fill a larger dish with water till the level reaches half way up the baking dish. Cover the baking dish with foil. Bake for 45 minutes at 180 degrees or till done.
Variations you can have by adding one of these to the custard mixture:
lemon zest
Ginger powder
Coffee
Cinnamon
All Spice and dark rum
orange zest
Fresh Sweet Cherry Crumble
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Heat this mixture till sugar dissolves and mixture becomes slightly thick. When I am using fresh pineapple I simmer the slices in this mixture for 5 minutes before using.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Spiced Strawberry- Banana Jam
350 grams of castor sugar
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
Boil the jam jar for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Turn the heat up to medium-high and boil the mixture rapidly for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the spices (powder the cloves)
Place a tsp of jam in the fridge and after 20 minutes wrinkle the surface using your fingers .If the jam doesn't wrinkle the first time but sticks to your finger like a thick liquid rather than jam, keep boiling it for another 5 to 10 minutes and then test again. If jam is ready then remove the saucepan from heat and let it sit for 10 minutes or until the edges of the jam sets slightly. Pour jam into a warm jam jar till the brim (warming will ensure moisture is not present) and then let it cool completely before sealing.
Strawberry Shortcakes
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 stick butter, chilled
2/3 to 3/4 cup half and half, milk, or cream
Gently pat the dough into a rectangle about 3/4-inch thick and cut into biscuits with a floured round cutter. Transfer to a greased baking sheet. Brush on a little milk or cream and arrange some strawberries in the center. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees, until risen and golden brown.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Rich but Subtly flavoured Grilled Prawns- marinated in white wine, cashew and cream
For 16 prawns
a pinch of ajwain+ 1 tbsp hung yogurt+ 1 tsp green chilly paste + 1 tbsp cashew powder+ salt+ 1 tbsp white wine + 1 tsp oil+ grated cheese + 1 tbsp cream. Mix the Marinade and rub all over prwans. Leave for 15 minutes. If you wish you add some chopped coriander leaves. But thats optional.
Pista Kulfi
So for 6 people boil 1/2 litre of milk
Add 200 grams of crumbled Khoya to this and continue cooking till Khoya dissolves in the milk.
Add 3 tb sp of Bandam- Pista powder (Thandai mix works great or use the flavoured Milk shake mix powder)
Chop Pistachio finely and add to mixture
Add a pich of Cardamom powder
Taste once (the readymade podwer has sugar in it) and add sugar as per taste.
Take it off heat and beat the mixture with a ladle like mad. Or you could run in a food processor (in which case add the chopped pista after done beating). Well beaten Kulfis are lighter. Let cool completely.
Pour into air tight moulds. Freeze for 6-8 hours. Serve
Monday, March 22, 2010
Thai Prawns with Lemon Grass
Friday, March 12, 2010
Penne in Gorgonzola and Mushroom Sauce
I have been afraid of trying out recipes that involve any cheese other than the 'regular' ones. 'Exotic' has been limited to mascarpone and ricotta to make cheesecakes. But recently I had a chance to sample a divine salad with blue cheese dressing at a restaurant called 'Ambrosia'. A new light dawned and enlightenment occurred that I do like 'stinky' cheeses. if it is used right, of course.
Gorgonzola is similar to Blue Cheese and imparts a delicious creamy flavour. Try it in this simple recipe and it won't go wrong.
You will need enough pasta for two. Use pasta of your choice. I prefer penne for heavy sauces such as this.
1/2 cup mushrooms
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup grated
Gorgonzola, 1/2 cup crumbled
3/4 cup Cream
1/3 cup milk
2 tb sp butter
Pinch of nutmeg
2-3 cloves of garlic
Heat butter and add crushed garlic. Cook for just a minute. Add sliced mushrooms. Cook till mushrooms are done about 6 minutes. Add cream salt, pepper, milk and gorgonzola. Cook while stirring occasionally. Add half the parmesan. Grate a pinch of nutmeg in the sauce.
In the meanwhile, boil 1 litre of water. Add salt and 1 tb sp of olive oil or vegetable oil. When the water the boiling, add pasta. Follow directions on the packet for cooking time. I used Delmonte Gourmet Penne Rigate and it was done in 10 minutes.
Strain out the pasta from water and gently mix it with the sauce. Serve with more parmesan grated on top.
Storing Gorgonzola:
I have half the gorgonzola left and have just dicovered a beautiful shrimp recipe with gorgonzola. Hope to try it this weekend.
BTW ideally you should use up gorgonzola within 2 weeks of opening the packet. If you need to store it longer, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then aluminium foil. Don't freeze it. It will last 2 months. Freezing will change its soft, crumbly texture but it does still taste good and last uptill 6 months...If you see black moulds on the cheese throw it away.
Peetha- Dal Stuffed Rice Bites
Heat water till just under boiling point. Use the hot water to make a soft dough with rice flour, salt. Use a ladle to make the dough as the water is hot.
To prepare filling soak chana dal for 2 hours. Make a paste of the dal along with ginger, garlic, green chillies, salt and fresh coriander.
The dough is very soft so u can shape it using just your fingers and palm. Flatten out balls of the dough and place some filling center. Shape them like gujias or empanadas.
Boil some water. Place the peethas in the boling water. Cover and cook. They will be cooked in 10-15 minutes.
The peethas in this boiled state taste great too and are traditionally had as a main course.
To prepare a delicious snack though, slice them into cross sections and deep fry till slightly golden and crispy. Serve with coriander chutney.
Chocolate and Walnut Cookies
1.5 cups flour
1 cup Castor sugar(fine sugar)
1/3 cup cocoa
1 egg
1.3 cup broken walnuts
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven at 250 degrees. Soften the butter. Sieve the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder.
Work the butter and sugar into the flour mixture using your finger tips. Once the butter and sugar is mixed well with the flour mixture make a center and pour a beaten egg. Mix everything into a soft dough. Stop working the dough once it comes together.
Make desired shapes. the cookies and press in some walnut pieces. Bake at 150 degrees for 12 minutes. Cool before removing from baking sheet.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Strawberry and Cream Sponge Cake
Monday, December 28, 2009
Fish En Papillote
You will need:
Fillets of any skinless firm fleshed fish. Salmon, Seer Fish, King Fish, Tuna are good choices. You can also do this with prawns or lobsters.
Vegetables like zucchini, bok choy, spring onions, thinly sliced carrots, bell peppers- red, yellow.
Garlic, a clove each for fillets
Lemon Juice and lemon zest OR Orange Juice and orange zest
Parsley, salt, pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
Olive Oil
Bake at 170 degrees for about 15 minutes for an inch thick fillet. Serve the parcels placed on a plate and the guest open their own parcels. Enjoy this healthy, different, delicious dinner with some herbed rice or bread.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Cognac Fruits Flambe`
Anyway this is how you get back at them. Make them a dessert that will make them forget their favorite dessert destinations. The recipe I am about to share will make you look like a pro (with the flambe`ing and all) and will take you 15 minutes or less to prepare and serve.
Chop 1/2 cup Strawberries, 1/4 cup pineapples, 1/4 cup apples, 1/4 cup grapes(keep whole), and 1/2 cup bananas.
Heat 2tbsp butter in pan, Add the fruits and sweat for 4 minutes on high heat. Add 1 cup brown sugar and a drop of vanilla essence. Cook for another 3 minutest till sugar melts and fruits have released juices.
Now take about 1/4 cup cognac (use dark rum as alternative if cognac not available) and heat it. Do not boil just warm.
Light a matchstick or cigarette lighter. Pour the warm brandy over fruits touching the flame. the alcohol will catch fire and flambe`the fruits. Make sure to turn heat off otherwise the steam of the fruits will keep extinguishing the flame of the matchstick.
I served this on top of some roughly crumbled brownie. I am thinkin on serving this over a slice of plum cake with some icecream on the side..Yummm.. Cant wait...
Honey- Mustard and Ginger Roast Chicken
Lets Go:
You'll need a whole chicken (this one was about 1.2 kilos) with skin on of course.
Wash chicken well, specially the cavity.
Rub the chicken with 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. You may replace red wine vinegar with 1/2 tbsp Soy sauce. They taste different but both work.
Keep in refrigerator for atleast 1 hour.
Take chicken out and dunk the following in the cavity: a whole pod of garlic, 4- cloves, one onion skin on.
Now grate some ginger all over the chicken. Rub enough butter to thinly cover the chicken. Tie chicken legs and wings to keep the whole chicken together. Use normal thread soaked in water.
Place chicken in an Oven at 170 degrees and rost for 30 minutes with the bottom (tummy) side up. After 30 minutes turn it over so that the chicken's back is on the exposed side. Roast for another 15 minutes at 170 degrees. Nor mix 1 tbsp of honey , 1/2 tbsp of mustard, 1/2 tbsp melted butter and mixed herbs. Rub all over chicken. Roast again for an0ther 15 minutes. The chicken is done when a knife is easily inserted in the thickest part of chicken and juices run clear.
Your Honey-Mustard and Ginger Roast Chicken is ready. Collect all the liquids that collect in the pan. Put heat on and reduce the liquids a little. Gravy is ready. Serve it along side with Roast chicken.
Friday, December 18, 2009
MOMOS!
Momos- Perhaps among the most popular street foods in India. A long lane in a Delhi marketplace seems incomplete unless it is dotted with a Momowalla selling these delicacies...at astonishingly low prices I might add, probably another reason why they got this popular.
Filling: