Friday, January 31, 2014
Cotechino Happy New Year All Over Again!
Cotechino is a large, Italian pork sausage traditionally served to celebrate the New Year. Indigenous to Modena (yes, that Modena – home to the great balsamic vinegar), its thick casing is pierced all over with a knife, after which its gently braised in a pot of lentils until done. Sound good, right? But wait, theres more.After the sausage is cooked, its sliced into round "coins," which are then fried crisp in a pan, and used to garnish the lentils. Everything about this recipe sounds great, so when Michele and I happened upon a nice, fat cotechino in Chris Cosentinos Boccalone, in the San Francisco Ferry Building, I knew the cranberry bean and Swiss chard soup I was making that day was going to have a guest star.
As youll hear me whine about in the video, a huge rainstorm hit the city right in the middle of the recipe, and I didn’t make the correct adjustments to the camera. I tried to lighten the film, but it still looked horrible, so most of the soup making part of this is not shown. Heres what you missed: I made bean soup, and wilted some Swiss chard in it.
That said, this post is not about the soup, its about how to use the cotechino. The exact same procedure shown here in all its dimly lit glory, can be used for almost any vegetable or bean soup/stew. I loved it with this simple cranberry bean ragout, but will try it with the traditional lentils next time…even if I have to wait another year. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 cotechino
1 pot of simmering lentils or beans
My soup contained:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped onion
1 pound cranberry beans
1 quart chicken broth
water as needed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
small sprig rosemary and thyme
1 bunch Swiss chard, trimmed and torn
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
View the complete recipe
Pasta Weesie
Carrabbas Italian Grill Pasta Weesie
Copycat Recipe
Serves 1
8 jumbo shrimp
1/4 cup sauteed mushrooms
pinch minced garlic
1 tablespoon sliced green onions
1/4 cup lemon butter
1/2 cup Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
heavy hand of fettuccine
Saute the shrimp until nearly done. Add garlic, green onions and mushrooms. Finish with lemon butter.
In a separate pan, warm Alfredo to simmer. Add cooked fettuccine and Romano cheese. Plate pasta and top with shrimp mixture.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Soya Nuggets Nutrela Tomato curry
Soya chuncks contain 50gms of protein per 100grms of soya chuncks. It has very low amounts of fat. Here is the nutritional information
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 100g
Calories 336
Total Fat 0g
Saturated Fat 0g
- Cholesterol 0mg
- Sodium 0mg
- Total Carbohydrate 28.9g
- Dietary Fiber 0g
- Sugars 0g
- Protein 54.2g
- Ingredients:
Soya nuggets(Nutrela)/Soya chuncks - 1 cup
Onion - 1
Tomato puree-1cup
Mustard seeds and Urad dal - 1/2 tspn
Curry leaves - a sprig
Bay leaf - a small leaf
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cloves - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tspn
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
Chili powder - 1/2 tspn
Coriander powder - 1 tspn
Salt - to taste
OilTo grind:
Coconut(grated) - 3 tspns
Fennel seeds(Menthulu) - 1/2 tspn
Coriander leaves - 3 to 4 sprigs
Recipe:Add Soya chunks to boiling water for 5 minutes. Then remove and drop it into the cold water. Squeeze out the water from Soya nuggets and tear it with your hands to small pieces.
Grind grated Coconut, Fennel seeds and Coriander leaves with little water in a mixe.
Heat 1 or 2 tspns of oil in a pan. Add Bay leaf, Cinnamon, Cloves, Mustard seeds and Urad dal one by one. Once it starts spluttering, add Curry leaves and Onion, fry till onion turns into golden brown. Add Ginger Garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes. Add Soya nuggets and fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add Turmeric powder, Chili powder, Coriander powder and fry till the smell of masala goes. Add Tomato puree and fry till it becomes soft. Then add the ground ingredients(prepared in step 2), 1 or 2 cups water and Salt to it. Cover and cook till the masala blended with the curry and it becomes thick. This may take 15 - 20 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with rice or roti. I love to have it with biryani.
Fruit Leather
Is anyone else out there swimming in fruit these days? We went peach picking last weekend and went a little overboard. Weve been eating peaches, freezing peaches, baking peaches, and canning peaches, so we decided to also make some fruit leather! It was really easy, it just took a long time to fully dry. Of course if you have a dehydrator, this is faster, but you can just as easily do it in the oven, as we did. Just set it as low as it can go, and give it a good 6-8 hrs to do its thing. You can do it overnight, or even do a few hours at a time if you need to run an errand and dont want to leave the oven on. Just keep the door closed in between.
Be sure to spread it evenly or youll end up with half not done and half peach crisps - not that Id know or anything. :) We made two kinds - peach and peach raspberry, but you can experiment with all sorts of other fruits and combinations. Were excited to eat these in the winter when fresh fruit isnt so abundant.
Fruit Leather
For the peach-raspberry, I did about a cup of raspberries and the rest peaches. In all batches, I only added about a teaspoon or two of honey, not much at all. If doing peaches, peel them before you chop them. The easiest way to do this is to stick them in boiling water for 40-60 seconds, then into ice water, and then the peels just slip off (assuming the peaches are ripe).
3 1/2 c. chopped fruit
honey, to taste
Preheat oven as low as it will go - mine was 170. Line an 11x17 baking sheet with a silicon baking mat if you have one, or parchment paper if you dont. The silicon mats worked perfectly! The parchment worked as well, but it wasnt quite as easy to get it off.
Puree fruit in a blender or food processor until smooth. Pour fruit mixture onto prepared baking sheet and spread to about 1/8" thick.
(I did several batches at once - the glass pan did not work well, stick to the cookie sheet/jelly roll pan!)
Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake 6-8 hours, until pan is set and the center is not tacky. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Gently peel off the mat and slice into rectangles or long strips for fruit roll-ups. If doing roll-ups, roll them in parchment paper to prevent sticking. Store in an air-tight container for a month or so, or the freezer for longer. I froze most of mine and plan on taking them out in a few months.
Caramel Choc Pots
Caramel Choc Pots
Ingredients:
- Brown sugar 1 cup
- Condensed Milk 1 cup
- Chocolate (chopped)250 gm
- Cream 250gm
- Wafers 3-4
Method:
- Beat together condensed milk and brown sugar. Once they are beaten properly pour them into glasses half way and refrigerate it to set. Melt 250gm chocolate and keep some of the melted chocolate aside. Beat the remaining chocolate with the cream and pour them in the glasses. Again refrigerate it again. At the time serving dip the wafers from either side in the left over melted chocolate. Sprinkle some grated chocolate on the serving glasses and place the dipped chocolate wafers over it. Serve chilled.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Hello from Washington D C !
 |
| “The Awakening” by J. Seward Johnson |
Just a quick note to let you know that Michele and I are in Washington D.C. this weekend for my niece Brittany’s wedding. Her and her fiancé, Casey, are getting married at the gorgeous National Harbor in Maryland.
We’ll be back in San Francisco on Monday. Hope you all have a great weekend, and we’ll see you soon!
We’ll be back in San Francisco on Monday. Hope you all have a great weekend, and we’ll see you soon!
Chicken Corn Soup
Chicken corn soup
Ingredients
- Chicken breast 1 cut into tiny cubes
- Chicken stock 8 cups
- Cream of corn 1 tin
- Salt ¾ tsp
- White pepper ½ tsp
- Egg 1 beaten
- Corn flour ½ cup heaped
Method
- Heat stock in a wok add chicken cubes with salt, pepper, cook till boiling add cream corn lastly mix corn flour with little water into a paste, add to the soups stirring well till soup thick, lastly add beaten eggs, cook for 2 minutes and remove.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Apricot Biscuits
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup apricot preserves
1/2 cup milk
1 - 2 teaspoon milk
2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
1. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center.
2. Snip any large pieces of preserves. Combine 1/2 cup milk and the preserves in a small bowl. Add all at once to dry ingredients. Stir just until dough clings together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Quickly knead by gently folding and pressing dough 10 to 12 strokes or until nearly smooth.
3. Lightly roll or pat until 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter, dipping cutter into flour between cuts. Place biscuits 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops with milk. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle over biscuits.
4. Bake in a 450 degree F oven for 7 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 10 biscuits.
Make-Ahead Tip: Cool completely and place biscuits in freezer container or bags. To reheat for serving, wrap frozen biscuits in foil; heat in a 325 degree F oven about 20 minutes or until hot.
Read More..
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup apricot preserves
1/2 cup milk
1 - 2 teaspoon milk
2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
1. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center.
2. Snip any large pieces of preserves. Combine 1/2 cup milk and the preserves in a small bowl. Add all at once to dry ingredients. Stir just until dough clings together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Quickly knead by gently folding and pressing dough 10 to 12 strokes or until nearly smooth.
3. Lightly roll or pat until 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter, dipping cutter into flour between cuts. Place biscuits 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops with milk. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle over biscuits.
4. Bake in a 450 degree F oven for 7 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 10 biscuits.
Make-Ahead Tip: Cool completely and place biscuits in freezer container or bags. To reheat for serving, wrap frozen biscuits in foil; heat in a 325 degree F oven about 20 minutes or until hot.
Salame di Cioccolata Mozaik Pasta
I am not sure where this absolutely delicious and extremely-easy-to-make mosaic cake recipe comes from; I guess its originally Italian, but yet I dont have any source to support my idea. (After reading Ilvas comment, I did a research and became sure that Mosaic Cake is Italian; I even changed the post title to original Italian name.) Mosaic cake was very popular in Turkey 10 to 15 years ago. Since then, it has been forgotten, though its still my #1 cake (#2: plain cheesecake, #3: carrot cake). My mom never made this cake, because the recipe requires raw eggs; she thought it wasnt healthy. I had to search for this recipe and I found it from my friend Özgür. Since hes a food engineer, I assume were all safe!
1 pack of le petit beurre. [Le petit beurre is a thin, small, rectangle biscuit first made in France by the founder of LU company. Theyre great with tea: you have to dip it very fast, though! You can find them in the international food sections of big stores or in international markets.]
8-10 tbsp butter (1 stick) or if you feel generous, you can make it
1 1/2 sticks.
3 tbsp unsweetened coco
2 eggs
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup crushed walnuts or almonds or pistachios or all
-Melt butter and let it cool down. In a bowl mix well sugar, eggs, butter, and coco.
-Crumble biscuits into this mixture. Mix all and pour this mixture on a plastic wrap. Roll it as a big candy as in the picture above. Put it in freezer for an hour. Cake will be firmer in an hour so you can give it whatever shape you want: round, triangle, or square.
-Mosaic cake is served cold so keep it in the freezer.
-Serve it on its own or with ice cream.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Instant Tomato ki Chutney
INGREDIENTS: Tomatoes 5 (cut into small) Garlic Flakes 4 Cumin(Zeera)1Tspn Dried Red Chilles 4 Green Chilles 4 Coriander Leaves 1 Oil for Frying METHOD: Heat 3Tbspns of oil in a kadai and add garlic flakes,Cumin,Dried red chilles,Green chilles and fry them 2 mins, then put them in a grinder,in the same oil add the cut tomatoes and corinader leaves and fry them for 3-4 mins.put them in the grinder.Grind all these to a smooth paste,do not add water to it while grinding.The consistency of the chutney should be medium thick. RECOMMENDED COMBINATION: Fried Mutton,Fried Eggs,this Chutney can also be used for Dosas,Idly,Khichdi.
PIZZA PUFFS
In these rocky financial times, Ive been trying to save on the grocery budget by staying away from pre-prepared foods. Not only has it saved us some money, but we really enjoy knowing what ingredients are going into our favorite (junk) comfort foods.
3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
4 ounces pepperoni, cut into small cubes (about 1 cup)
1 cup favorite pizza sauce for dipping (warmed up)
Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, microwave your favorite pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.
Read More..
PEPPERONI PIZZA PUFFS
PIZZA PUFFS
3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
4 ounces pepperoni, cut into small cubes (about 1 cup)
1 cup favorite pizza sauce for dipping (warmed up)
Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.
Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, microwave your favorite pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.
Clean Out the Fridge Bean Soup
Friday night is usually pizza night at our house. I picked that up from my Mom who cooked 6 nights out of the week when we were kids. No matter how much we like to cook, we still need a break every once and a while. However, this week I thought it would be nice to use up all the random items I had left in my fridge, which is how "Clean out the Fridge Bean Soup" got its name. This is not a rigid recipe. You can add practically anything into this soup. I will let you know where things can be switched out or changed up in the directions.
Ingredients I used (this time!)
1 package of diced pancetta
2 links of Italian sausage
4 slices bacon
2 fresh tomatoes
cooked broccoli (from dinner a few nights ago)
2 potatoes
2 stalks celery plus leaves
2 carrots
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 bag Roman beans, soaked for a few hours or overnight (you can use canned to speed this up)
chicken bouillon
extra virgin olive oil
small shaped pasta such as elbows or ditilini
Directions:
Saute pancetta, and bacon in oil in a large pot, when it starts to crips up add sausage. While pork browns chop carrots, celery, onion, garlic, potatoes and tomatoes. Remove pork, and set aside. Add chopped veggies to the pot and finely mince garlic. Add garlic to the top of veggies so they dont burn. Add beans and water. I filled up my big pot because I wanted it to make a lot of soup so I would have leftover. You can add less if you want less juice. Also, you can add more potatoes if you want it to be thicker. Add the bay leaves and let water come to a boil. Once soup reaches a rolling boil, add bouillon and turn the flame down low and simmer and add cooked broccoli if you are using it (If you ware using frozen or fresh put it in with the other veggies). This will take about an hour to cook or more depending on how long you soaked your beans. I only soaked mine for an hour or two so it took about 2 hours from when it came to a boil. Of course, if you used canned beans (and they dont have to be roman you can use cannelini or whatever you prefer) this will only need to cook until the beans warm through and all flavors combine.
I made my pasta in a separate pot because I wanted to freeze the soup (but dont want to freeze the pasta). If I was going to finish this up in the first day or two I would have cooked the pasta right in the pot. The starch in the pasta would thicken the soup which I tend to like better. This way is also perfectly fine and deliciousm, its a matter of preferance. Hey, you dont even need the pasta if you dont want it but Im Italian, Im not turning down pasta!
Serve into deep bowls and top with grated cheese.
Other possible add ins to this soup:
the rind of a chunk of a hard Italian cheese
peas instead of broccoli
pieces of stale bread
couple of tablespoons of leftover tomato sauce or paste
swap out the roman beans for lentils
chopped prosciutto
swap out the pork and add some mini meatballs
The list goes on and on. This dish can be made anyway and anytime. Its simple, easy and delicious.
Enjoy!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
NEW WINNER
We have a new WINNER for the Petti skirt giveaway.. Since our 1st winner never responded we are now picking our 2nd Winner......................
Lynnette please contact us in 24 hours...... Or we will have to pick a 3rd WINNER
Read More..
Lynnette please contact us in 24 hours...... Or we will have to pick a 3rd WINNER
SANDRAS HOMEMADE ROASTED RED PEPPER SAUCE
 |
| A fantastically versatile sauce that is great with most any seafood, shellfish, meat, or poultry entree... |
Prep: 10 mins.
Posted by Sandra
INGREDIENTS:
4 whole jarred roasted red bell peppers
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspon lemon juice
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon honey
--(For the homemade recipe click here: Alaska Fireweed-Clover Honey)
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, grated
1 teaspoon onion, grated
Kosher and ground pepper, to taste
METHOD
Puree the all the ingredients in the blender, taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper as desired. - Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tip: Can be refrigerated up to 2 days. This sauce is wonderful with seafood, or as a dip for jalapeno poppers, chicken tenders, etc. It is also great as a sandwich spread, or a salad dressing, or toss with prepared pasta.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
The Obvious Benefits of a Very High Carb Diet
This weekends filler video stars my lovely and talented niece Alexandra, performing a perfect 10 routine at a recent gymnastics meet.The secrets to her success? Extremely dedicated parents and grandmother who nurture her talents; thousands of hours of grueling practice; and most importantly, a diet very high in carbs. Speaking of high carb diets, after Alis video Ive posted a fun little pasta making/Olympic tribute video I did last year.
By the way, shes in the foreground and her routine doesnt start immediately, but be patient, its worth the wait! After she becomes a famous Olympian, you can say, "I remember watching her on her uncles food blog a few years ago." Enjoy!
Nawabi andy ki biryani
Nawabi andy ki biryani
Ingredients
- Boiled eggs 6
- Potatoes 2 cut in small cubes
- Peas ½ cup boiled
- Onion brown ½ cup
- Ginger garlic 1 tbsp
- Turmeric ½ tsp
- Chili powder 2 tsp heaped
- Coriander and mint chopped 2 tbsp each
- Yogurt 1 cup
- Green chilies chopped 4
- Allspice ½ tsp
- Whole spices 1 tbsp mixed
- Saffron ¼ tsp
- Milk ¼ cup
- Rice ½ kg boiled with 2tbsp salt
- Kewra water 1 tsp
- Oil ½ cup
Method
- Heat oil add whole spices add brown onion, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, chili powder, fry well add potatoes and peas and ½ cup water, cover and cook till potatoes tender add yogurt, boiled eggs, in a pan spread ½ boiled rice, cooked egg mixture, topped with chopped hara masala, remaining rice, sprinkle Kewra, saffron and milk mixture, leave it on dum for 15 minutes.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Instant Khaman Dhokla Steamed gram flour cake
Pic updated on 6 March, 2008
Instant Khaman Dhokla
Time taken - 40 minutes including standing and steaming time
Serves - 2
Type - Healthy snack, steamed food, Low Glycaemic index, Diabetic friendly
Khaman Dhokla is a steamed savoury cake made from gram flour. It is a traditional Gujarati snack, typically a tea time treat. Typically, chana dal (split Bengal gram) is soaked, ground with spices and fermented. The fermented batter is then steamed, cut into bite sized pieces and garnished with tempered mustard seeds and coriander.
Though I do indulge in the long version at times, to suit my last minute cooking - this instant version comes very handy.
Chana dal or gram flour is a food with a low glycaemic index and therefore extremely good for diabetics and those on a GI diet. Besides, it has all the goodness of lentils - protein and fibre. Lentils are the food of the week on my column at Chennai Online.
Heres the recipe for Instant Khaman Dhokla. I found it at this very resourceful site called Gels Kitchen.
Ingredients:
1 cup gram flour
Pinch of turmeric powder
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp citric acid crystals or juice of one whole lemon
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 tsp soda bicarb
Oil for greasing and tempering
For tadka:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
Few curry leaves
For garnish:
Finely chopped coriander
Method:
1. Mix the flour, turmeric, salt, sugar and citric acid crystals in a bowl with a cup of water. With a whisk mix them together into a smooth paste.
2.
Let this stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile set up the steamer. You can use a large pot. Place an empty bowl in it as a stand on which to keep the plate. Grease a deep thali that will fit into the pot easily leaving some space around. You need a lid to cover the pot tightly. You can tie the lid in a kitchen towel so that it will absorb the steam and not let water droplets fall into the batter while steaming.
3. After letting the batter stand for 10 minutes, add the soda bicarb into it. Mix it in by pulling at the batter with your fingers. The batter will get fluffy and soft, expanding in volume by almost 3 times [like beaten egg whites]
4. Pour this batter into the greased thali. You can sprinkle sesame seeds on the batter. (Optional)
5. Keep the thali into the pot, cover with towel covered lid and steam for 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Remove the thali from the pot and let cool for 5 minutes before cutting it into diamond / square pieces.
7. For tadka, heat one tsp of oil, put in the mustard seeds, sesame seeds and curry leaves. Once they splutter, turn it over the dhoklas.
Serve hot with tea.
Tags:
Indian snack, Gujarati snack, Steamed snack, low fat, low GI, savoury cake, gram flour, instant dhokla, khaman
Heading West
Ill be flying from New York to San Francisco today, so my apologies for any delays in answering comments or emails. I will be back at it on Wednesday with what hopefully will be a fabulous new video recipe (possibly pictured below, but youll have to wait to see for sure). Stay tuned!
Chef Martin Yans 18 Second Chicken
Chef Martin Yan is famous for being able to cut up a chicken in 18 seconds. I captured this at the SF Chefs. Food. Wine. event (they really need to do something about those periods). I used my little Flip cam, and couldn’t get too close, but its still kind of fun to watch. If you look up at the mirror above the stage, you can sort of see what he is doing. Enjoy!
Read More..
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Beetroot with Chorizo Feta and Mint
This recipe has been inspired by a recipe from BBC Good Food July 2012. However, I made some changes in the method to suit my own purposes!
Beetroot with chorizo, feta and mint (serves 2)
1 pack cooked beetroot
½ regular cooking chorizo, cubed
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
100g feta, crumbled
Handful of mint, roughly chopped
Drizzle olive oil
Salad leaves
1. Lay the salad leaves on the place
2. Slice the beetroot and lay out on the leaves
3. Add the chorizo to a hot frying pan, be careful it doesn’t burn
4. When cooked add the balsamic vinegar and cook for 1 minute
5. Tip the chorizo and vinegar onto the beetroot
6. Crumble the feta over the salad and sprinkle with chopped mint
7. Drizzle a little olive oil over the salad and serve immediately
I enjoyed this salad, with its combination of sweet, sour, salty, earthy flavours and even more because we managed to eat it outside! Back to rain and wind today, but for one brief day, we had a little bit of summer.
Im entering this into Herbs on Saturday run by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and, this month, hosted by Vanesther at Bangers and Mash
Ravva dosa with carrot and onions
Ravva dosa is one of my hubbys favorite breakfast. For me it is favorite fir two reasons, first is it is an instant delicious breakfast and the other reason is that it is easy to prepare. If you are craving for dosa this is perfect for you. Kids will love it too!! Here is the recipe( you can make capsicum dosa in the similar way and you can find its recipe right here)
Ingredients
Ravva( fine souji/ bombay ravva) 1 cup
Maida/ all purpose flour 1/4cup
Rice flour 1 cup
Cilantro/ coriander chopped 20 springs
Ginger grated 2 tbsp
Carrot finely grated 1/4 cup
Onions finely chopped 1 cup
Oil for roasting
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder 1/2 tbsp
Green chili finely grated 1/2 tbsp
Method
Mix all the ingredients except onions with water. The consistency of the batter should be very thin just like buttermilk. Check taste for salt. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a flat pan. Sprinkle hand full of chopped onions on Pan. Now take hand full of batter in hand and sprinkle on a pan to make dosa. Add some oil on to the sides of the dosa and cook till it turns light brown. Flip it and cook other side till it is completely cooked by adding some oil from sides of the dosa. Take out from the pan and serve hot with tomato or palli chutney. Hope you like my recipe.
Tips: use thin spatula for flipping dosa. If you are trying for the first time do not worry practice. If your pan is sticky take and onion and cut it to half and rub it on the pan. This way onion juice creates a non sticky layer on the top of the pan. hope you find these tips useful.
Finally be prepared to clean your stove when you make this dosa...look at mine how awful it became :(
Ravva( fine souji/ bombay ravva) 1 cup
Maida/ all purpose flour 1/4cup
Rice flour 1 cup
Cilantro/ coriander chopped 20 springs
Ginger grated 2 tbsp
Carrot finely grated 1/4 cup
Onions finely chopped 1 cup
Oil for roasting
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder 1/2 tbsp
Green chili finely grated 1/2 tbsp
Method
Mix all the ingredients except onions with water. The consistency of the batter should be very thin just like buttermilk. Check taste for salt. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a flat pan. Sprinkle hand full of chopped onions on Pan. Now take hand full of batter in hand and sprinkle on a pan to make dosa. Add some oil on to the sides of the dosa and cook till it turns light brown. Flip it and cook other side till it is completely cooked by adding some oil from sides of the dosa. Take out from the pan and serve hot with tomato or palli chutney. Hope you like my recipe.
Tips: use thin spatula for flipping dosa. If you are trying for the first time do not worry practice. If your pan is sticky take and onion and cut it to half and rub it on the pan. This way onion juice creates a non sticky layer on the top of the pan. hope you find these tips useful.
Finally be prepared to clean your stove when you make this dosa...look at mine how awful it became :(
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Homemade Granola Bars
Ingredients:
1. 2 1/2 cups oats
2. 1 cup coarsely chopped dried fruits and nuts
3. 1/3 cup butter or oil in room temperature
4. 1/3 cup honey
5. 1/4 cup brown sugar/ white sugar
6. 1/2 cup grated coconut fresh or dry
7. 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
Method:
1. Roast the oats and coconut flakes on medium heat for about 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Roast the almond cashew and melon seeds.
3. I added almond, fig, raisins, cranberries, dates, walnut, cashew, melon seeds, chocolate chips, dry mango and kiwi.
4. Preheat the oven to 180º C and line a flat baking tray with parchment paper overlapping the sides.
5. In bowl combine oats, coconut, sugar and other ingredients and mix well.
6. Spread into the prepared pan.
7. Use a small piece of parchment paper, press mixture evenly in pan very well.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown.
9. Let it cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before removing pan.
10. Cut into rectangles, Store in airtight container.
Note:
1. To make firm rectangles shape bars mixture should be press tightly while baking it.
2. You can make bars with muesli mixture also.
3. You can include or exclude any dried fruits and nuts of your choice or according to your kitchen pantry.
4. Replace brown sugar with palm or white sugar.
5. I have sweet tooth so I use 1/4 cup sugar u can reduce and use 1 to 2 tablespoon.
You may also like:
Stracciatella Soup
Nanny was great at using leftovers to make an entirely new meal. She was a big fan of adding an egg to soups or pasta for extra flavor and as she always said "to give you strength". I used some of the leftover ingredients from the bakespace challenge to make an incredibly hearty soup that Nanny would be proud of. This recipe just came to me in a dream. Im not kidding. I woke up several times throughout the night because I was so excited about the soup. I dont have an exact recipe with measurements since I used leftovers but feel free to change this up however you like. In my mind this is a kicked up stracciatella soup (roman egg drop soup).
I sauteed onions, celery and carrots in extra virgin olive oil until they were tender. Then I added water and chicken bouillon and the rind from a hunk of parmigiano reggiano cheese. When that came to a boil I added the spinach, some shredded rotisserie chicken and a couple of tablespoons of tomato sauce. Thats a trick my mom always does to add some color to soups and stews. We usually use very small cans of Del Monte tomato sauce but this time I had some in my fridge that I already made myself. In a seperate bowl I beat two eggs with some grated locatelli romano cheese. I lowered the heat and beat in the egg and cheese mixture in a slow stream to create little egg "rags". This is similar to the look of chinese egg drop soup but without the thickness you get from the cornstarch. I then cooked some tortellini right in the pot with the soup and veggies.
Hearty and delicious!
EASY BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING
It seems that I have been on a never-ending search for good pudding recipes...we like pudding!! Picky-picky husbands favorite is butterscotch and I found one, last year, that had a fantastic flavor, but it was a little thick and paste-y for our tastes.
Because it had such a rich butterscotch taste, Ive been tinkering with the thickening agents and the final results have produced a real keeper of a recipe.It is light, creamy, very butterscotch-y and super quick and easy to make... no tempering of eggs or anything complicated, just mix, bring to a boil then add butter and extracts...it is done in a snap!!
3 egg YOLKS
2 cups half and half
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
In a saucepan that has a heavy bottom, mix the brown sugar and cornstarch. Once mixed well, stir in the half and half and the egg yolks; whisk until well mixed (run a spatula over the bottom of the pan to make sure you have everything out of the corners).
Cook on medium high until it just starts to boil (stirring the whole time). When it starts to bubble, the pudding should already be nice and thick; remove from heat.
Whisk in the butter and extracts; mix well. Pour into dessert dishes and put some plastic wrap or wax paper directly onto the surface of the hot pudding. This will stop any pudding skin from forming.
NOTE: You get the best flavor if you use a combination of vanilla and rum extracts. If you dont have rum extracts, just use all vanilla.
Read More..
Because it had such a rich butterscotch taste, Ive been tinkering with the thickening agents and the final results have produced a real keeper of a recipe.It is light, creamy, very butterscotch-y and super quick and easy to make... no tempering of eggs or anything complicated, just mix, bring to a boil then add butter and extracts...it is done in a snap!!
1 cup brown sugar
3 level tablespoons corn starch3 egg YOLKS
2 cups half and half
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
In a saucepan that has a heavy bottom, mix the brown sugar and cornstarch. Once mixed well, stir in the half and half and the egg yolks; whisk until well mixed (run a spatula over the bottom of the pan to make sure you have everything out of the corners).
Cook on medium high until it just starts to boil (stirring the whole time). When it starts to bubble, the pudding should already be nice and thick; remove from heat.
Whisk in the butter and extracts; mix well. Pour into dessert dishes and put some plastic wrap or wax paper directly onto the surface of the hot pudding. This will stop any pudding skin from forming.
Put in the fridge until well chilled.
NOTE: You get the best flavor if you use a combination of vanilla and rum extracts. If you dont have rum extracts, just use all vanilla.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Kashmiri boti kabab
Kashmiri boti kabab
Ingredients
- Undercut boneless ½ kg cut into 2 inch cubes
- Yogurt ½ cup
- Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp
- Lemon juice 2 tbsp
- Kashmiri red chilies 4 soaked and grinded
- All spice 1 tsp
- Poppy seeds 1 tsp grinded
- Cashew nuts 6 grinded
- Salt 1 tsp
Method
- In a bowl marinate mutton with Yogurt ½ cup, Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp, Lemon juice 2 tbsp, Kashmiri red chilies 4 soaked and grinded, All spice 1 tsp, Poppy seeds 1 tsp grinded, Cashew nuts 6 grinded, Salt 1 tsp, put on skewers pan fry on a grill in 2 tbsp oil until done. Serve garnish with onion rings, lemon slices and mint leaves.
How create and cook Asian food recipes using the right tools
As Americans love Chinese food oh! This is everywhere proven restaurants by the vast Chinese food although not all are the same. Each offers its own kind of food. While others have some a few different types of Asian cuisine in their menu options, but offers a very authentic Asian dishes, the addition is Americanized or are Asian. Depending on what you prefer, it can be possible s make your own Asian food recipe in the comfort of your own home. All she need is just a little know how together with the right tools.
1. Making Asian food recipe s use a wok at home. A frying pan may be the thing that you use for everything you make but there cases that it can serve non functional as you wish. For one thing, it can not food served well in cooking evenly, especially, if you are required in this endeavor, to make every ingredient of Asian crispy.Their broccoli has for example crispy while cooking and this may require that you buy a wok to erreichen.Obwohl, you some time to learn from it, to use it right can take constant practice but you will be satisfied with the results after you have mastered wok.
2. Use a steamer to make your rice.Most types of Asian dishes have rice in you in any Form.deshalb a steamer rice must boil and keep you warm and fresh, while you work on the rest of your Asian food recipe see apart from this end employs are, can also use your steamer in other dishes to make at home. This makes it a great investment in your kitchen.
3. Learn how to Asian sauces to machen.vielleicht already in mind have able, to get the sauce right 90% is to take s each Asian food recipe to taste the way, as you want you to taste. There are actually a lot of common ingredients in many Asian sauces with soy is an and some spices such as fresh herbs and ginger. It is best that you get everything you need in one place for your Asian food recipe s Cook a wide range of special know elements in order for you a particular store offering.
You may find what youve got your favorite Asian food restaurant a hard time getting the rebuild process.This can be for a few reasons for accountable.One is that some of these restaurants have ready-made sauces, you dont even know how they reproduce.Another reason is that Asian food recipe s takes you for some time now, that you it prepare have cooked without even nachzudenken.Als for you really already quite a while to master what you are doing.In addition have restaurant quality tools that you may access haben.Alle links to practice is to do and do to the best after all, be sure to come up with some great Asian dishes which enjoy and even your family or guests will love go.
Are you looking for the best place to dine and enjoy the lush courts Chinese food? if you have seen around the corners of Southern California, this video I just posted and learn more about the best Chinese food Resaurant in Riverside fine dining at an affordable price offers you.
Monday, January 20, 2014
JAP0NAISE CAKES ALMOND MERINGUE TORTE
Japonaise cakes are often mistakenly called Japanese cakes. Surprisingly, the Japonaise Cake did not originate in Japan but is actually a classic French Pastry, also known as Almond Meringue Torte. These small wonderful cakes are made of almond meringue discs sandwiched together with a rich coffee-flavored butter cream.
Nilgiris, Sweet Chariot, All Saints, Fatima’s and Thom’s Bakeries in Bangalore made the best Japonaise cakes and we loved them as children.
Ingredients for the Almond Discs
6 Egg Whites150 grams sugar
250 grams ground almonds
100 grams powdered sugar
25 grams corn flour
½ cup milk
Ingredients For Coffee Butter Cream
200 grams fine sugar 1 tablespoon instant coffee (Nescafe / Bru)
6 egg yolks, beaten lightly
200 grams butter
To make the Almond Discs
Mix the powdered sugar, ground almonds and corn flour together in a bowl. Beat the egg whites till stiff with a pinch of salt. Then add 150 grams sugar and continue beating till they form soft peaks. Gradually fold in the almond mixture to get a fairly thick meringue like batter. Grease and flour 3 baking trays. Draw circles measuring 2 inches in diameter leaving some space between each circle. Using a tablespoon, spread the batter in each circle so as to make about 20 small pancakes on the baking trays. Bake each try for 25 minutes or until the meringue discs are crisp and a pale golden colour. Allow to cool completely.
To make the coffee butter cream,
Beat the egg yolks, butter, instant coffee and sugar together till creamy. Leave in the refrigerator to cool until it reaches spreading consistency.
To assemble the Japonaise cakes,
Spread about 2 tablespoon coffee butter cream on 10 of the meringue discs, then gently cover with the remaining discs taking care not to flatten the butter cream. Dust well with powdered sugar and almond flakes on top and on the sides of each torte. Keep in the fridge until 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Cooking Grass Fed Beef Episode 2 – New York Strip Steak with Warm Caramelized Mushroom Salad
This video recipe for New York Strip Steak with Warm Caramelized Mushroom Salad is the second in a series of videos Im doing that focus on cooking various cuts of grass-fed beef.The New York Strip is a very popular, easy-to-prepare cut, and the most popular steak in America (with the higher-fat Rib Eye coming in a close second and gaining fast).
While I prefer to grill Rib Eye steaks, with the New York Strip, I think a simple pan searing is best. These grass-fed steaks come from Normanton Farms, and were about 8-oz each. This is sort of a standard size for this cut, unless youre talking about a steakhouse portion, which are usually 12 to 16-oz. Since its a fairly thin piece of meat, it will cook pretty quickly when seared in a hot pan, but especially so if its from grass-fed cattle.
To recap some grass-fed facts from Episode 1 – Top Round "London Broil," grass-fed beef is much lower in fat, so it cooks faster, and can dry out faster if over-cooked. As youll hear me say in the video recipe, I only cooked mine for a couple minutes per side to a fairly rare temperature. This ensured a juicy, tender, and flavorful steak.Speaking of flavorful, I LOVE this warm caramelized mushroom salad as a topping for steaks, especially these steaks. The earthy mushrooms really amplify the beefy flavors of the steak -- and the sherry vinaigrette and fresh tarragon are perfect conduits. I hope you grab yourself some grass-fed beef and give this recipe a try. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
For the mushroom salad:
8 large mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
salt to taste
1 whole garlic clove, peeled and bruised
1 tbsp fresh chopped tarragon
For the rest
1 tbsp olive oil
2 (8-oz) New York strip steaks
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp butter to finish sauce
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Pani puri
Pani puri
Ingredients:
- Semolina (sooji) 1/2 cup
- Flour 1/2 cup
Ingredients For filling:
- Boiled potato 1
- Boiled chickpea 1 cup
Ingredients For water:
- Peppermint fresh 1/2 bunch
- Coriander 2 tbspGreen chili 1
- Lemon juice 2 tbsp
- Black salt 1 tsp
- Salt 1/2 tsp
- Crushed cumin seeds 1 tsp
- Crushed black pepper 1/2 tsp
- Fennel (Soonf) 1/2 tsp
- Water 4 cups (chilled)
- Ginger 1/2 tsp
Ingredients For imli ki meethi chatni:
- Tamarind pulp 2 cup
- Jagri 1 cup
- Red chili powder 1 tsp
- Ginger 1 tsp
- Cumin powder 1 tsp
- Salt 1/2 tsp
Ingredients For hari chatni:
- Coriander leaves 1 bunch
- Peppermint leaves 1/2 bunch
- Green chilies 4
- Garlic 1 tsp
- Cumin seeds 1 tsp
- Lemon juice 2 tbsp
- Salt 1/2 tsp
- Sugar 1 tbsp
- Water 1/4 cup
Ingredients For Pani puris water:
- Peppermint fresh 1/2 bunch
- Green Coriander 2 tbsp
- Green chili 1
- Lemon juice 2-3 tbsp
- Black salt 1 tsp
- Salt 1/2 tsp
- Crushed cumin seeds 1 tsp
- Crushed black pepper 1/2 tsp
- Fennel (Soonf) 1/2 tsp
- Water 4 cups (chilled)
Cooking Directions
- To make dough of puri, mix flour and semolina with water.Dough should be hard. Leave for an hour.Roll the dough to make puri, use a round cutter and cut into circles and deep fry themFill Puri with boiled chickpea and potatoes.For hari chutni: Blend Peppermint fresh, Green Coriander, Green chili, Lemon juice, Black salt, Salt, Crushed cumin seeds, Crushed black pepper and Fennel (Soonf) in the blender.Mix in with chilled Water.Serve filled Purri with its water.
- For Meethi puri: Take a flat serving plate and place stuffed puri with potatoes and chickpeas on it.Pour some yogurt and meethi chatni over it and serve.
- For sayo puri: place flat puris in a serving plate.Place boiled potatoes on them.Sprinkle some chat Masala over it.Pour some meethi chutni, hari chutni and sprinkle sayo on them and serve.
Pheasant Coq au Vin
I like dishes like these because they utilize the whole bird, or most of it. Out of laziness, I am sometimes guilty of just breasting out birds as well, but it always makes me feel bad afterwards because there is still quite a bit of meat on the legs, as you can see in the photo above. Learn how to braise and youll feel more likely to save the whole bird. Thats how it should always be.
Servings: 4
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cooking Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
- 3 slices of thick cut bacon, chopped
- 1 whole pheasant
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbs. of flour
- 1/2 lb. of carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1/4 cup of cognac or brandy
- 1/2 bottle of dry red wine, like Burgundy or Syrah(Shiraz)
- 1 cup of chicken stock
- 10 fresh springs of thyme
- 2 tbs. of unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
- 1/2 lb. of pearl onions
- 2 tbs. of olive oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 tsp. of sugar
- 1/2 lb. of baby bella mushrooms, quartered
Clean and wash pheasant thoroughly. Remove any yellow fat on meat. Separate into 6 pieces: legs, breasts and back cut into 2 pieces. Slice breasts into smaller pieces. Sprinkle salt and pepper on all sides. Set aside.
Cover with a tight fitting lid and place in a 250 degree F oven for 1.5 hours.
To thicken up the stew, mash together 1 tbs. of flour and 1 tbs. of softened butter, then mix into the stew. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve hot with mashed potatoes and/or French bread.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)