Daring Bakers: Chocolate-Coconut icebox crackers

Another very quick and flavorful one from me wen to the July event at The Daring Kitchen.

Icebox is a method of rolling up the dough of the cracker in a cling film and placing it in the fridge to chill for 4 hours or preferably overnight.

DH is very fond of Bounty aka the coconut center chocolate covered candy bar. I thought of taking the same ingredients and turning it into a cracker.

You shall need:

1 cup… All Purpose Flour

2 tbsp..butter

1.5 Tbsp… Cocoa powder

1/2 cup.. Light brown sugar

1/2 tsp.. Vanilla essence

a pinch of salt

1/4 tsp… Baking powder

a pinch of instant coffee in about 3 tbsp warm water

3 tbsp…milk

1/3 cup… grated coconut [I used the dry coconut and grated it at home…the benefit of doing that is it has a wonderful oil in it too which adds to the coconut-y flavor]

Method:

• Mix the baking powder in the flour thoroughly.
• Add other ingredients and make a dough [it should not be a sticky one…add milk one tbsp at a time and add only the amount needed]
• Drop the mix in a cling film and roll it to form a sausage.
• Freeze it for a couple of hours/overnight.
• Cut thin slices out of it and bake on a parchment covered tray for 12-15 min.
• Let them cool and store in an airtight container.

Serving suggestions:

Sandwich ice cream between them.
Goes to:

Bake fest brain child of Vardhini hosted by The pumpkin farm

 

Daring Bakers: Twice baked Mozzarella Cracker

This was my first attempt at savory crackers. Something in me always nudged me to not try them as I am anyway not too fond of eating them.

This is also my first entry at The Daring Kitchen.

However it is super simple recipe I whipped up using all the blog knowledge I had after months of reading.

You shall need:

1/4 Cup… All Purpose Flour

1/2 Cup… Whole wheat flour

1/4 cup…rolled oats

1/2 tsp… Paprika

1 Tsp… Salt

1/2 tsp.. Pepper

1/2 Cup… Mozzarella [grated]

1 Tbsp…Rosemary [Slightly crushed]

4 Tbsp… Butter [Cut in cubes]

5-6 Tbsp… water

1/2 tsp… Chilly flakes [optional]

Butter for greasing

Method:

• Rub the butter in the flours in a bowl until it resembles breadcrumb like.
• Mix the salt, paprika, rosemary, cheese, pepper and water.

• On a baking tray put some foil and drop the mixture on it

• Press it with fingers as thin as possible and put it in a pre heated 180 degree oven for 20 min.

• After 20 min, take them out and once a little cool to handle, cut in 1/2-1 inch logs and put to bake again for 15 min or until nice and golden brown.

• Serve with soup, dips or add to salads

Goes to:

Bake fest brain child of Vardhini hosted by The pumpkin farm

Aalu Baingan

Another of the quick fix for the morning is my all time fav, Aalu Baingan.

My mom makes it with Kasuri methi and amchoor [Dry mango powder] delectable is the word.

You shall need: [Makes enough to feed 2 hungry people at lunch]

3… Medium size brinjals [Cut length wise in batons]

2… Medium Size Potatoes [Cut length wise in batons]

1..Tbsp Oil

1 Tsp.. Jeers

a scant pinch of hing

1/2 tsp.. Turmeric

1 Tsp… Red Chilly powder

Salt

1/2 Tbsp…Dhaniya powder

1/2 Tbsp… Amchoor powder

Water

Method:

• Put oil in a wok and let it heat.
• Add the jeera and hing to it.
• Once jeera is brown, add haldi, salt and chilly powder.
• Put the veggies in the wok and add enough water to soak them half.
• Cover with a lid and cook on medium flame until the veggies are soft.
•  heat the kasuri methi briefly on the tava and and keep aside.
• Remove the lid, once they are soft.
• Let the water evaporate.
• Add the amchoor, methi and Dhaniya powder. Stir.
• Turn off the gas and cover it.
• Pack it for lunch with bhakri/chapati/paratha.

What did you make for lunch today?

30 Min Brownie

Phew…with the world around me moving at such a fast pace, I needed a quick paring gift fro he bestie who was in town for a couple of days.

I whipped this brownie in 30 min on a Friday afternoon while working from home.

You shall need: [Makes about 12 pieces]

1/2 cup… Butter

1 cup… Sugar

2… eggs

1 Tsp… Vanilla essence

1/3 cup… cocoa

1/2 cup… Flour

1/4 tsp… Salt

1/4 tsp… Baking powder

1/4 cup…. chopped walnuts

1/3 cup… chopped chocolate [ I used milk and bitter]

3 Tbsp… Milk

Method:

• Beat butter and sugar till its light and fluffy.
• Sift the flour, cocoa, salt, b powder and salt.
• To the butter and sugar, add flour and egg alternatively and beat.
• Add the milk and walnuts.
• Pour the batter in a buter paper lined tin and scatter the chopped chocolate on top.
• bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees C for 25-30 min.

• Insert a skewer in the center to check. If a few crumbs stick to it, pull the tin out and let it cook in the residue heat.
• Once cooled, cut in squares and serve with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Cheers

Eggless Strawberry and chocolate chip cupcake

Sorry dear blog…I have been terribly busy at work and it is literally breaking my back too.

So here I am with a fantastic and simple recipe.

You shall need : [makes 6 cup cakes]

1 Cup… All Purpose Flour

3/4 cup..Strawberry puree

50 gms…castor sugar [only to make it sweet right, never add all together..taste and add]

1/2 cup… vegetable oil

1/4 tsp… Baking Soda

1/4 tsp… baking soda

2 Tbsp+ 1 tbsp… Chocolate chips

method:

• Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder.
• Add the puree, sugar, oil and chocolate chips.
• Mix mix mix…
• pour in cup cake liners.
• Bake in a pre heated 180 degree over for 15-18 min

Tadaaaaaa

Dominos 5 Pepper Pizza – Review

Well this one is pepper overload [In a good way if you love peppers like I do].

The website reads this:

“Dominos introduces “5 Peppers” an exotic new Pizza. Topped with Red Bell pepper , Yellow bell pepper, Capsicum, Red paprika, Jalapeno & Sprinked with Exotic Herb”

I doubt the secret herb but there was something tantalizing about the taste. I normally always order the thin crust pizza and the day before, when I ordered, was no exception.

Key facts about the pizza:

• Mild Jalapeno flavor.
• Slightly burnt/smoked flavor of the more delicate red and yellow peppers.
• paprika noticeably missing
• Beautiful base sauce.
• Perfect qty of cheese, does not take away the peppery-ness that is expected out of the pizza.
• Might not look too inviting but certainly deserves a try once. [When it is delivered it certainly does not match the picture on the pamphlet/on the website]

Apologies for not clicking a pic of the pizza I got 😦

Pepper fans – you shall love it. Period 🙂

Cheers

Nachos with Salsa and Sour Cream

This was the finger food for my last weekend’s Sunday Brunch. They turned out perfect. This is the 3rd time that I have made nachos at home and this recipe worked really well.

Salsa was made from Peppers, cucumber, tomato, chilly and onion. Stunning.

Sour cream was made with Hung Curd and cream.

Here we go!

For Nachos: [Makes enough to feed 6 people]

1.5 Cup… Wheat Flour

1 Cup… Maize flour

3/4 Cup… Maida/All Purpose flour.

1/2 Tsp… Salt

3 Tbsp…Oil

Method:

• Mix all the above ingredients,  and make a little tough dough out of it [Almost paratha like dough]

• Let it rest for 15 min.
• Make a small ball out of the dough and roll it using a pin.
• You might need to oil the board and pin so that the dough does not stick.
• Use a fork and poke the dough disc repeatedly.
• Use a pizza cutter and cut out 8 sectors out of it.

• Heat oil in a wok and deep fry them few at a time so that they dont fold.
• Once they are golden brown, take them out.
• You can store them for a couple of days in an airtight box.

For Sour Cream:

500 gms… Curd [Tie in a muslin cloth for 1/2 an hour]

Salt

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/2 cup…cream

Method:

• Mix hung curd and cream and whip it until smooth.
• Add salt and lemon juice.
• Taste to adjust the salt.
• Chill in the fridge

For Salsa:

3…Tomatoes [Chopped finely]

1…Onion [Chopped Finely]

1…Small thin cucumber [De-seed and chop finely]

2…Tomatoes [Pureed]

1 cup… Mixed peppers [Finely chopped]

2 …Green chillies [Finely chopped]

2 Tbsp… Coriander [chopped]

1/2 Tbsp…oil

Method:

• In a bowl mix all the ingredients except the puree and coriander.
• Put oil in a pan and add the tomato puree.
• Cook it for about 2-3 min.
• Add the other ingredients and cook for 2 min.
• Sprinkle coriander, Cover with a lid and turn off the gas.
• Life the lid after 5-7 min.
• Transfer in a box and keep aside till you need to use it.

For serving:

Grated cheese [I used a mix of Cheddar, processed and mozzarella.]

Method:

• In a baking tray spread some nachos.
• Put the cheese on top.
• Bake for 5-7 min in a 200 degree oven.
• Once done transfer in the serving dish.
• Serve with Sour cream and salsa.

Pav Bhaji under 20 min

Pav Bhaji is almost like a staple for DH. He likes it for breakfast, brunch, lunch, snack, dinner or even midnight snack. Hence he never complains when he gets Pav Bhaji for Lunch.

For this version I dont toil with the masala, veggies and butter. I pressure cook most of the left over vegetables and voila.

For today I used:

For the Bhaji- [Serves 2]

4-5 …. florets of cauliflower [Chopped roughly]

1… Medium Onion [Chopped roughly]

1…Medium Size Potato [Chopped roughly]

1… Small brinjal [Chopped roughly]

1/2… capsicum [Chopped roughly]

1…Medium Size carrot [Chopped roughly]

1 Tbsp…Pav Bhaji Masala

Salt

1 tsp…Turmeric

1 Tsp…Red Chilly Powder

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 Tbsp… Vegetable Oil

1 Tsp…Jeera

For the Pav:

1 Tbsp Ghee

Method:

• Heat Oil in a cooker add the jeera.
• Once it is nice and brown add the onion.
• Cook them until they are pale.
• Add the chopped veggies and enough water to just cover them.

• Let it come to a boil
• Add the turmeric and salt
• Put the lid and let it cook for about 3 whistles.
• Turn off the gas and let the steam come to rest.
• Open the cooker once it is all nice and quiet 🙂
• The veggies are completely boiled and mash worthy.

• Use a hand blender to semi churn the bhaji. We like a little rustic texture hence it is not all pasty. [In case you dont have a hand blender, just chuck 3/4 of the bhaji in a blender and churn very briefly]
• Add the pav bhaji masala and red chilly powder.
• Taste to adjust the flavour.

• Turn off the gas and add the lemon juice.

• Just to keep the pati away from frowning I add a dollop of butter on his pav bhaji.
• Heat a tava and put a few drops of ghee/butter on it.
• Cut the pav in half and place them on the tava.

• Let them be until they are nice and brown.
• Pack it for lunch with love.

Cheers

This goes to Serve it Blended at Oh Taste and See

“Serve It” Series – Serve It :Blended

Whats cooking Honey?

Lunch box is always a worry-some area for me. I cant repeat things, I cant make things that one of us does not like, I cant make 2 different things for the two of us, I cant make lunch the previous night…Hmmppfff.

Yeah its kinda annoying. Over past couple of months, I have got into a routine where I am able to pull together a good lunch for us. Most of the times all the 4 boxes of the tupperware tiffin are occupied. *pat on the back*

Presenting to you. “Whats cooking honey?”

Dals to veggies to pastas to left over cooking to tricks to bring it all together. Plus ALL Vegetarian. [well most of it] First of the Veggie coming up very soon.

Cheers

Sunday Brunch at Home

I am infamous for spoiling my guests with choice. One of our friend Sumit had come back after his wedding. We decided to give him and the wife a welcome party. Venue was my place 😀

I was tired of not experimenting international food when I was hosting a group of 5 or above. So this time I had the perfect strength to sample on. 8 people.

Here was what I decided to make:

Nachos- with Sour cream and Salsa

Cocktail Pizza

Mexican Rice Burrito

Rolled Lasagna

Apple cake with Fudge and ice cream.

Out of the above only the following were from the bazaar:

Pizza base and Ice cream.

I was indeed proud of me. P was very very helpful as always. He cleaned the house and made it welcome worthy, took me shopping for the stuff and even volunteered to go back for second round. he is always a darling at time like this.

Anyway, I need to improve on the tortilla rest everything worked damn well. Here are a couple of pics.

Rice for the Burritos

Apple cake, fudge and Ice Cream

Substitute for Mini Pizza

Nachos, Sour Cream and Salsa

The menu card on the fridge 😀 [Missed mentioning Pizza 😦 ]

All tried and tested recipes coming up soon.

Cheers!