Hot N Steamy Food

Let The Summer Grilling Begins!

2013-05-18T20:30:00.000-04:00

Veggies are ready to take the heat!

On the grill

Looks like Summer has arrived a bit too early! We were in Spring weather, wearing light jackets and boom, we are into shorts and sleeveless clothing! Especially last 2 weekends were a huge surprise. And to take full advantage of the warm weather, almost all in the neighbourhood has lit up their BBQs! Once again, that smoky aroma has filled the air, reminding us to not take this season for granted and to make the most of it.

Me as well, as a big fan of bbqing, didn’t stay back. Cleaned up my BBQ once again and fired it up to grill all the Spring veggies I can lay my hands on. I love the taste of smoke on my veggies. Simply, I love the barbecued food. So this time around, my first 2013 barbecue was no different than other years. Lots of veggies, chicken and lamb. Yes, those who know me well can tell that I have barbecued enough for the entire week’s worth of lunch! Now that’s the way to enjoy warm weather and stay cool inside of the house and of course, enjoy the good time with family.

I grilled vegetables with just enough oil, salt and pepper. Then grilled the flat breads with those veggies on top and lots of goat cheese. We had it cut up like pizza for dinner but for the lunch, I had them all rolled up as a wrap. Then I simply marinated chicken breasts and lamb in bbq sauce and grilled them. Potatoes were same, microwaved until tender and then tossed into oil, salt and pepper and Italian seasoning blends and grilled. Dip was a plain mix of sour cream, mayonnaise, salt and Cayenne pepper. And in a jiffy, we had a fabulous, low fat dinner plus the lunch. I am definitely looking forward to grilling more in this summer. Hope you all have a fantastic and safe summer. I will see you all when I see you!

Enjoy!

Bite-size Apple Pie & Pops

2013-05-12T06:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom, sister and all my friends who are mothers and aunts out there! Found a great prayer for all the mothers that I would like to share:

A blessing and prayer tribute to all mothers

Blessed be all mothers
Who have come into our lives
Whose kindness, care and loving
Remain with us to guide.

Your inspiration in us
Made us strive in every way
Especially to remember
Helping others makes our day.

Mom, this little tribute
Flows directly from my heart
You are so loved and cherished
Invaluable, one and all, you are.

I actually made these over last Christmas. Was going through my pictures and found these two pictures. Thought well, let’s post it! So here it is.

This was one of the easiest desserts I’ve ever made. To make my life convenient, I used store-bought pastry sheets. You can by all means make your own and use it! I seriously have no time or intention to do so. I can use the premade sheets but when it comes to make one on my own, it scares me to death, the use of loads of butter! Pre made sheets, you don’t see it, you don’t think about it!

So back to my Apple Pie which were perfectly bite sized for the 3 of us,and then I just inserted the lolly pop sticks just for the fun. It was more fun to eat on the stick than to eat them with the fork for sure. And we didn’t even care about Apple Pie à la Mode, that is with Vanilla ice cream.

Here is how I did it.

Bite Sized Apple Pie & Pops

Ingredients

1 pastry sheet, thawed

2-3 medium apples, cored, cubed

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup regular sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp nutmeg powder

¼ cup butter, room temperature

¼ cup milk

How to:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Melt butter on medium heat in a skillet.

Add all the ingredients except milk, and cook till apple cubes are softened.

Roll the pie sheet on a parchment paper to about 13x9 inch wide rectangle.

Cut with cookie cutters or any shape you desire into 24 pieces.

Fill 12 pieces with about 1 tbsp each of the apple filling.

Brush the edges of all 24 pieces with milk.

Cover the filled pieces with remaining 12 pieces.

Arrange them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Brush the tops with milk again.

Bake in the hot oven till the tops are nice golden brown.

Serve warm Pie bites or insert the lolly sticks and present to your loved ones.

Aloo Gobi(Cauliflower Potato Masala)

2013-05-04T12:10:00.000-04:00

This is not your everyday Aloo-gobi! Why, you would ask. My answer is: it’s my mom’s recipe when she makes vegetable biryani. So obviously it takes more efforts, more spices, and yes more oil to make this dish than our regular, every day aloo gobi dish. It is complex yet simple stir fry of potatoes, cauliflower and all the add-ins with aromatic spices that we normally don’t use in our daily cooking. It is complex because the flavour combination is complex. I know every Indian household has its own Aloo gobi recipe that uses anywhere from 2-3 spice mix to 8-10 spice mix! I always encourage my co-workers who by large love Indian food to go to the Indian grocery stores and pick up a pack of garam masala powder, a pack of kasoori methi and a pack of amchur powder. Again Why? Because I believe they add the much needed ‘oomph’ to any Indian dish they are added to.

Now that Spring is already here, the food on our table has changed as well. There is still some nip in the air here and there but mainly it is nice and sunny. No more dark, gloomy, cloudy days. On one such cold day this past week, when the air was so chilly, I made this dish. The aroma of whole spices roasting in oil and ghee filled the air in my kitchen. The warmth of those spices warmed up our souls! While the pot of these veggies was simmering on the stove, you only need to wait until it is done and you can put it on your roti, roll it up and gobble it up. This is kind of foods from our roots that we’ve gotta have it if we have gone for Italian, Mexican or any other cuisine!

Cauliflower Potato Masala

Ingredients

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 large onions, sliced

1-2 whole cinnamon sticks

3-4 cloves

1 tbsp whole black peppers

2 bay leaves

1-2 black, large cardamom

3-4 green cardamom

2-3 whole red chilies

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

2 large tomatoes, cubed

¼ cup ginger-garlic paste

2-3 green chillies, chopped

Red chili powder, turmeric powder as per taste

Salt per taste

¼ cup oil

1 cup cauliflower, separated into florets

½ cup potatoes, cubed

¼ cup peas(I used frozen)

½ cup eggplants, cubed

How to:

Heat oil in a large pot.

Add cumin seeds, whole spices and onions.

Cook till onion is golden brown.

Now add tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, green chilies, powdered spices and saute till oil floats on the top.

Now add all the vegetables and salt.

At this point, add little bit of water if the spices are sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Lower the heat, cover the pot and simmer till veggies are cooked and the spices have coated the veggies.

Enjoy with hot naan or rotis.

Cranberry Orange Apricot Muffins

2013-04-24T08:32:00.002-04:00

I still can’t believe I have been to India! Time just flew by there. I had so much fun I can’t believe it’s just over! All good things have to end and so did my trip. All I have now is fond memories of all the people I met, the places I visited, the food I had. And I guess it is good enough to keep me going for another 16 years! I am kidding. I believe I might visit India earlier than that and yes, God willing, that time it will be all 3 of us, visiting places all over the country.

So glad to be back to the routine as well. Get up early in the morning, get ready to come to work, go home after a long, tiring day and prepare dinner, clean up and get ready for next day! Love it! I kinda missed that in India. I was on vacation so obviously I had no routine. This is why I am really happy that I am back so that I can cook in my kitchen because back home, mom didn’t let me lift a finger! Everything was ready for me. It was a bit hard to fall back into routine and do things on my own as my parents really spoiled me over there. But then again, it is good to have been back to cooking and baking. And this is exactly what I did this past Sunday. I baked these delish muffins. It had always been on back of my mind to bake muffins with cranberries. Never got materialized until now. They came out so good, they were so healthy, looks like it has become a new family favourite. Try it sometimes. I bet you won’t be disappointed. on the contrary, your family would love to waking up to the aroma of these mouth watering muffins!

I call them my Morning Glory Muffins!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups 100% bran cereal

1 1/4 cups low fat plain yogurt
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp orange rind, grated
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup liquid honey
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

½ cup dried cranberries, chopped
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 salt

How to:

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Grease or line 12-cup muffin tin with paper lines or oil spray.

Combine cereal and yogurt; let stand 5 minutes

Stir in eggs, orange rind, orange juice, honey, oil and dried fruits and combined.

Mix remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.

Spoon the mixture into prepared muffin cups, filling each to the top.

Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or the tops are golden brown.

Cool on wire rack.

You can freeze these muffins if desired.

Enjoy with a steaming cup of your favorite latte!

Chicken Samosas And Off to India!

2013-03-17T13:37:00.000-04:00

Yes, after 16+ long years, I have finally made plans to visit India! Awesome, isn't it?! I am really very very very excited and looking forward to it. So, until my return, Ciao and keep well!

And that's why I got so busy in these past few weeks, I really had no time to see my blog or comments. I am just posting this one and that's it. will come back from my vacation and check out all your lovely blogs friends.
Vegetable samosa is a hot item here everywhere you go. People just love samosas. Indian food to them, is samosas and butter chicken. I, on the other hand, can’t stand the samosas we get at the restaurants here in the USA or Canada. They are not the samosas I grew up eating. In Gujarat, we get samosas with mashed peas and potatoes filling or for non vegetarians, it’s spicy, ground chicken/beef filling. So this is my take on the spicy meat samosas. To get that authentic touch, next time when I made this, I used spring roll wrappers instead of hand rolled sheets. Sometime, before I take the pictures of the end product, I get nothing on the platter! That’s exactly what happened when I made the samosas with spring rolls wrappers. So no pictures for that. The taste was just near authentic and it did transport us back home.

Chicken Samosas
Ingredients
6 spring roll wrappers, cut in half(lengh wise)
1 lb. ground chicken
1 large onion
1 head of garlic
1 cup loosely packed mint leaves
5-6 green chillies
Salt
Oil for frying
1 tbsp corn starch
1 cup water

How to:
Place onion, garlic, mint leaves, chillies in the food processor and process till nicely chopped.
Heat a sauce pot, add ground chicken and ground onion mix and salt.
Cook till all the water/fat evaporates and you end up with dry filling.
Make slurry of corn starch with water.
Take half the wrapper, fold in samosa shape(don’t have the pictures of that, sorry!)
Fill with about a tbsp of chicken mixture.
With corn starch slurry, wet your fingers and close the wrappers, pinching them tightly.
Heat oil to 375° F.
Fry all the samosas till golden.
Enjoy.

Potato Cups

2013-03-03T14:31:00.000-05:00

These are just the extension of my recipe, Potato Cakes. As you know, I am a self proclaimed queen of potatoes. I absolutely love potatoes. I can have potatoes 365 days a year! And I know they are so versatile, so forgiving, you can make whatever you want with them, you can mix them with anything or leave them alone(by this I mean, cook just THEM!), you would end up with a great tasting dish. I wonder how some races on the face of the earth don’t cook and eat potatoes!

Well, so I just prepared the potatoes the way I did in my Potato Cakes recipe. And instead of frying them, I baked them in preoiled muffin pan in the hot hot hot oven. And got these potato cups. I served them two ways. First one as the picture shows, as a breakfast accompaniment with cheese omelet and chocolate chip pancakes. Second, I don’t have the pictures but I served them topped with hot sauce, sour cream and chopped tomatoes and avocados.

Magas - Gujarati Besan Fudge

2013-02-26T06:30:00.000-05:00

Today marks the third anniversary of my wee blog. What a fun filled and exciting journey it has been. With over 200 blog posts and about 700 encouraging comments in these years, I am amazed, humbled and overwhelmed. I am delighted to be able to get in touch virtually with foodies around the world who have provided me with invaluable tips and support. Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart. Even though it has been very difficult to keep up with my busy, busy,busy schedule at work and at home, I look forward to many more years of sharing my love of food with you all.

This time around, I have taken a journey back home with my post. Magas is a first cousin(!) of Mohanthaal, a very dear and forgotten dessert of Gujarat and Maharashtra. I fondly remember mom making this ghee filled mithai before Christmas and I was the first one to taste it because I always wanted it sweeter and I would ask mom to add more and more and more sugar! She would ask dad(who is even bigger sugar fan than I am) and he would want more sugar! Finally, it would be her or my sister and then, of course, the sugar was enough or more. But at the end, it always turned out just perfect. While making pieces, mom always used to scrap the bottom of the plate and make sure to gather all the bits and pieces of Magas and make small balls for me and my sister. I like the simplicity of making it and the texture of course flour in it. So friends, enjoy my childhood favourite mithai!

Magas
Ingredients

2 cups coarsely ground chick pea flour
1 to 1.5 cups + 3 tbsp ghee
¼ cup milk
1.5 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp cardamom powder
Charoli (chirongi) seeds as required for garnish

How to:

Mix milk and 3 tbsp ghee and rub the chick pea flour(besan) thoroughly.
Keep covered and set aside for about 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes or so, just pulse the flour in the food processor till big lumps are broken and you get coarse texture.
Heat a non stick pot on a medium high heat.
Add the flour to the pot, and 1.5 cups of ghee. Make sure the flour is covered with ghee.
Roast the flour till nice pink, for about 20 minutes.
Let it cool down completely before you add powdered sugar to it.
Add as much sugar as you need for the sweetness and then beat the mixture thoroughly.
Pour in a greased dish, garnish with charoli seeds.
Cut in to pieces once cool down.
Enjoy.

Pizza Bites

2013-02-20T12:28:00.000-05:00

I am always looking for the tricks that will satiate my hungry family pre-dinner. Everyday we get home from work, even before I start dinner, both father and son ask for snacks. I do have some pre-packaged snacks in my pantry all the time. But we do get bored of eating all that store bought junk, don’t we? Last week, don’t remember the day but they both were screaming for snacks and I happened to have pepperoni and wonton wrappers in my fridge. Thought let me just try to make small snack size bites of them. So I just oiled to mini muffin tray, placed the wonton wrappers in them and pushed the tray in the toaster oven. They were baked in like 3 minutes. Then I just spooned the marinara sauce in the cups, placed some already cut up mushroom slices on top, sprinkled cheese over it, stuck one pepperoni in each and put the tray back in the toaster oven. In 5 minutes, the hot and tasty snack was ready for my family. It only took about 10 minutes from the oven to their mouths and guess what, the request was made by both of them to make it again on Saturday as an appetizer!

Looks like I just gave out the ingredients and recipe! Do I need to post it again, really? Don’t think so. And again, sky is the limit with these babies. Stuff them with anything, make them as simple and fast as you can or as elaborate and elegant as you wish.

Enjoy!

Murukku

2013-02-17T12:34:00.000-05:00

Another Christmas creation that I remember fondly from my childhood. I absolutely loved this snack. The only thing I didn’t like about it growing up was how time consuming it was to prepare. Mom used to mix a few dals and rice and then clean them up, grind them and make the dough for murukku. Well, I found the easiest ever method and tell you what, this snack doesn’t last for more than 2 days in my house! I made about 30 spirals and poof, they vanished into thin air so fast!(purely hypothetical!).

Murukku

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups rice flour

½ cup besan

Salt as required

¼ cup oil and more for frying

¼ cup sesame seeds

2-3 tbsp Indian red chili powder

Water as required

How to:

Make dough by mixing all the ingredients.

Dough should be a bit harder than Chapati dough.

Heat up the oil to 350° F in a deep sauce pot.

Make murukku using the special murukku press on parchment paper while the oil heats up.

Deep fry till golden.

Enjoy!

Homemade Wonton Soup

2013-02-13T13:45:00.000-05:00

I always, always, always have wonton wrappers in my fridge. They are so versatile, come in handy whenever I am in a rush to make something very quick. This soup was just another one of those I Want Something Hot N Steamy To Warm My Soul kind of dishes. We were buried in snow last week. What a blizzar it was. We had an unexpected long weekend. It was Friday and I need to make room in the fridge to put the groceries after Saturday grocery shopping. I found mushrooms and tofu and the wonton wrappers. I thought, hmmm, now what to do with these wrappers? And someone knocked on the door of my brain, asking me to make dumplings. Which I did. And then, boom, from dumplings, I took a U-turn and made this soup.

It is so easy, so satisfying, so comforting. Make it tonight friends!

Homemade Wonton Soup

Ingredients:

For Wontons:

12 wonton wrappers

½ cup shredded cabbage

¼ cup shredded carrots

1 tbsp soy sauce

Ginger and garlic paste as per taste

1 tbsp oil

How to:

Cook the veggies in hot oil with ginger,garlic and soy sauce until the water evaporates.

Keep it aside to cool down.

Once cooled down, fill the wonton wrapper with about a tsp of the mixture, dip your fingers in the cold water and seal the wonton wrappers.

Make all the dumplings.

For Soup

Ingredients

1 litre chicken broth

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup sliced tofu

Soy sauce per taste

Chili sauce per taste

Rice noodles as required

How to:

Boil the chicken broth.

Add mushrooms, tofu and wontons.

Cook for about 5 minutes or until wontons float on the top of the broth.

Remove from heat.

Add rice noodles, soy sauce and chili sauce.

Serve hot soup with garnishes of your choice, like cilantro, Thai Basil or sliced spring onions.

Enjoy!

Nutella Stuffed Pancakes

2013-02-10T13:26:00.000-05:00

Spreading a little love as V day is fast appraching! Since Valentine's day falls on Thursday this year, it will be difficult for me to make special breakfast, lunch and dinner for the special day. So I decided to spread it over the entire week. This is the V day breakfast that we just had this morning. I will be making a special dinner next Saturday and in between, we will have a lunch planned on the 10th! I think this is the great way to celebrate a day in a week.

Back to the post, well, as the name suggests, these are stuffed pancakes. Stuffed with the goodness of Nutella. Just like all of you, my family is crazy about this chocolatey hazelnut spread. Sometimes for a quick chocolate or sugar fix, I take it in a spoon and devour it just like that. It's that good, this stuff! I've made Nutella Stuffed French Toasts which was a big hit in my household. So this time around, I've come up with another Nutella recipe which was equally delish. The only problem was, we can't stuff Nutella all over the pancakes as they cook so fast. So I had to be content with spreading the Nutella in the middle of the pancake and then wait till I get to the middle while enjoying the pancake. I did try spreading it all around by thinning out Nutella a bit, it gave me nice swirls which was ok, but not exactly what I wanted. Maybe next time, I will place dollops of Nutella all over the pancakes instead of just putting it in the middle. That way I can have a better tasting stuffed pancakes. But in the meantime, I am happy with these babies.

Nutella Stuffed Pancakes
ingredients
1 cup AP flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp oil
a pinch of salt
Nutella and oil(or butter) as required

How to:
Mix AP flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.
Crack an egg in a small bowl, whisk it with milk.
Now add egg mixture to flour mix.
Add baking powder and oil to it.
Pre heat the griddle to the temperature so that when you sprinkle water on it, the drops dance and disappear!
This is the correct temperature of the griddle.
Smear with oil or butter.
Now pour about 1/4 cup of pancake batter to the griddle.
Right away, top with a tbsp of Nutella, quickly cover it with 1 tbsp of pancake batter.
Cook till edges are dry, flip and cook for about 40 seconds.
Make all the pancakes and enjoy!

de Chèvre Pizza

2013-02-01T09:11:00.000-05:00

This is by far, the best de Chèvre pizza we have ever tasted! I am not kidding. This is our favourite pizza to enjoy on the cruises. This was my first time making it and it came out just perfect. All I had was the picture from one of the cruises that my son took of this pizza slice. I knew it has mushrooms and goat cheese in it. Wasn't sure about the sauce or mozzarella cheese to top it off with.

I kind of knew there is no red sauce so I need some kind of white sauce. First I thought of making Béchamel sauce and then being pressed for time as ever, I opted for bottled Alfredo sauce!

Some sautéed Portobello mushrooms with garlic and I was ready to assemble my first de Chèvre pizza.

de Chèvre(goat cheese) pizza

ingredients

1 cup crumbled Goat cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

3 large Portobello mushrooms

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 tsp oil

½ cup prepared Alfredo sauce

1-1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

For Pizza dough:

1 pkg. dry yeast

3/4 c. warm water
1/4 tsp. salt
1 T. oil
1 tsp. sugar
3 c. flour

Mix ingredients together, adding flour last. Cover and let rise 1 hr.

How to:

Pre heat the oven to 450° F.

In the mean time, cook sliced Portobello with garlic, salt and pepper in oil.

Keep aside.

Stretch the dough on oiled pizza pan.

Spread some Alfredo sauce on it.

Next, spread mushroom mix, followed by both cheeses.

Stick in the oven till cheeses melt and the crust is cooked.

Enjoy.

Chocolate Chip Waffles

2013-01-26T22:00:00.000-05:00

For so long, I'd been looking for a waffle iron. Finally, my wish came true when I saw the waffle iron I wanted, went on sale. I didn't wait for a bit. Same day, I went to that store and picked one up for my self and the following weekend, my family woke up to the sweet and delish aroma of crunchy and golden waffles being baked for them. I was so happy at finally being able to give my family the perfectly baked fresh waffles for breakfast. That was an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. I made these waffles in smaller batches and froze them for later use. And I, a big fan of waffle as a dessert, ended up with one big waffle, with lots of fresh berries and a big dollop of whipped cream.

Chocolate Chip Waffles

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
6 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup mini chocolate chips

How To:

Heat the oven to 200°F and heat the waffle iron.

Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl.

Measure the buttermilk, milk, and vegetable oil in a measuring cup; mix in the egg and set aside.

Beat in the vanilla and sugar.

Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until just mixed.

Stir 1/2 cup coarsely chopped chocolate chips (or 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips) into the batter.

Pour the batter onto the hot waffle iron (mine takes about 2/3 cup) and cook until the waffle is crisp and nutty brown (follow the manufacturer's instructions for timing at first and then adjust to your liking).

Set the waffle directly on the oven rack to keep it warm and crisp.

Repeat with the remaining batter, holding the waffles in the oven (don't stack them).

When all the waffles are cooked, serve immediately.

Jalapeños in a blanket!

2013-01-19T06:30:00.000-05:00

Keeping up with the theme of hearty fall dishes, this is the appetizer that can warm us up from inside out. It is sweet, cheesy and spicy. Exactly what you need in the cold weather. This is very easy and simple to put to gather and is greatly loved in my family. I had whined a bit in my last post so not this time! I’ve just got on with life. Even though it is very difficult to wake up early in the morning, depressing to look outside of the window, life still goes on. Regardless of it’s hibernation. Cooler days inspire us to make warm, cosy foods that is adored by our families and that is the most comforting way to accept winter.

Wait a minute. What did I just do? I said no whining and I still did some whining! Any ways, here is the recipe. Enjoy.

Wrapped jalapeños OR jalapeños in a blanket(call it however you want!)

Ingredients
1 can Pillsbury Cresents
12 jalapeño, seeded and cored
1 cup cream cheese,softened
2-3 garlic cloves, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

How to:

Pre heat the oven to 400°F.

Unroll the crescent dough.
Pinch the perforations to seal
Cut into 12 equal squares.
Mix cream cheese, salt, pepper and garlic.
Fill the jalapeños with cheese mixture.
Arrange the wrappers in a baking tray and bake till nicely golden brown.
Serve with your choice of hot or sweet sauce.

Everything But Kitchen Sink Salad!

2013-01-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

And this salad is really what I call: everything but Kitchen sink. The great way to use up all the leftover veggies lying in the fridge. All those small heads of broccoli, cauliflower, a couple of tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce. Spinach, mushrooms—whatever you have on hand. Throw in the bowl, toss together with your favorite dressing or lemon juice, EVOO, salt and pepper and done. Don’t you think this is one of the healthiest way to eat your veggies?

3 Cheese Manicotti

2013-01-05T21:50:00.000-05:00

Stuffed pasta. Another comfort food. I make stuffed shells and manicotti pastas all the time. Sometimes I remember to take pictures and sometimes, we just get to eating. I don’t mind as I know I will be making it again so there is always another time for me. Mostly I use sauteed spinach and garlic in stuffed pastas. This time around, for some reason, I wanted to make it a pure joy(if you can call it minus the veggies) for my family! They are very picky when it comes to veggies and that’s why I have no choice but to sneak in veggies in pastas, sauces and soups. I thought why not make them eat the veggies on its own this time? Just serve the cheesy pasta with the vegetable side dish, nothing fancy. Steamed or roasted vegetable side. That’s it. And to my surprise, they devoured the steamed broccoli gladly before they even hit the manicotti. I still added some chopped parsley to the cheese mixture. And yes, I am proud of my family because they do eat steamed broccoli and green beans if they know more good things are coming.

3-Cheese Manicotti

Ingredients
8 Manicotti pasta
1 cup ricotta cheese
1-1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of parsley, chopped, optional
1 jar marinara sauce

How to:

Cook pasta for about 5 minutes in boiling water, or until just tender. Don’t cook it per package directions.
Drain the pasta, spread on a baking tray, coated with oil.
Mix all the cheeses(less ½ cup mozzarella), egg, salt and pepper and parsley if using.
Pour half the bottle of marinara sauce in 13X9 baking tray.
Heat oven to 400° F.
Fill the manicotti with cheese mixture.
Arrange on the baking tray, pour remaining sauce over them.
Sprinkle leftover mozzarella on the top, bake covered for about 30 minutes, uncovered for 10 more minutes or until the cheese melts and golden brown top forms.
Enjoy with garlic loaf.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2012-12-31T01:00:00.000-05:00

HOPE AND PRAY THAT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ENJOY HEALTH AND HAPPINESS IN ALL POSSIBLE WAYS THIS NEW YEAR AND ALWAYS.

Merry and Blessed Christmas!

2012-12-24T00:30:00.000-05:00

GREETINGS OF CHRISTMAS, CHEERS OF MERRY SEASON TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS..

Christmas Fudge

2012-12-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

I would like to wish my dear Mom a very Happy, Healthy and Blessed birthday! Yes, it's my mom's birthday today and this is for her.

These cuties are my Christmastime favourite for the give aways. I always prepare them to take to work or to pack them in cute,little packages and give as edible gifts. Trust me, I’ve got my co workers asking for more. All of men co workers I mean! Female co workers want the recipe and when I give them the recipe, they can’t believe it’s this easy! See for your self!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb (680 g) white chocolate chips
1 can (300 mL) Regular sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped mixed candied fruit
1 cup sliced almonds(optional)

How to:
Melt white choco chips with condensed milk in the microwave for about 45 seconds, stir till all the chips are melted.
Based on the power of the individual microwave, this might take longer.
Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and candied fruit and nuts.
Spread evenly onto parchment paper-lined 8 or 9" (2 L) square pan.
Chill 2 hours or until firm.
Peel off paper and cut into squares. Store tightly covered at room temperature.
Enjoy!

Scottish Shortbread Cookies

2012-12-12T09:27:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I am this busy at work in this festive month of December, a month which has been full of sinfully good treats! All the female co-workers are baking and baking and baking! And the end products end up on their desks, emails going out to come and grab the goodies before they disappeared! I refrain myself from baking and bringing the treats to work as so many of them are coming in! We are almost up to our neck with all the buttery, sugary and floury stuff!

Well, one in particular has caught my attention. I've made shortbread cookies before, I've had shortbread cookies before. But nothing was like this. These shortbread cookies were divine, melt-in-your-mouth wonders! I had to get the recipe I thought. I asked my co-worker and kindly, she obliged. Now, this is such a simple recipe, I thought. I've got all the ingredients it requires right in my fridge and pantry, so gotta make it!

Yes, I made these cookies and my family fell in love with it. The buttery taste is just amazing. It is something you need to brighten up your spirit before, during or after holidays. I am seeing myself making this over every Christmas for sure!

See how easy it is!

Scottish Shortbreads
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups butter
¾ cups sugar
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup corn starch
1 tsp.vanilla essence

How to:

Preheat oven to 300.

Cream butter and sugar together for about 10 minutes.

Add flour and corn starch.
Mix well. Put into a 8 or 9 inch glass pan. (Anything other than a metal pan)

Bake for 1 hour (and 15 min – depends on oven).

Let cool slightly, cut into small squares.
Keep them in air tight container.
Enjoy!

Easy Breezy December Mousse!

2012-12-01T11:28:00.000-05:00

Let's welcome December! The month to forget all about the diets and indulge in food! All the food that otherwise makes us feel guilty. Not this month. Let's just place our worries aside and get our midriffs bigger! It's ok to have a muffin top this month. Come New Year and make another resolution to lose whatever you gain(or just make a resolution not to gain any more in the new year!) in December. This is definitely not a Salad and Soup month! And I will prove it by my posts this month.

Ready, Set, Go for this mousse!

This is yet another easy mousse to prepare. just microwave 2 cups of white chocolate chips and 1/4 cup Carnation evaporated milk. Fold in 2 cups of Cool Whip. Mousse is done after chilling. Now it's time to add some Christmas colors to it. I've used some cranberry jam that I had on hand from our Thanksgiving and some roasted, unsalted pistachios.

Pardon the sticker on the side of the glass!

Fried Peppers

2012-11-17T11:47:00.000-05:00

We were talking about peppers at work, right after the farmer’s market day. I mentioned something about fried peppers. Someone asked me, seriously, fried peppers?! I said why not. We have had raw, roasted, grilled peppers so why not fried peppers! And then I realize I might have made a mistake when I said fried peppers. I should have said shallow fried peppers. Either way, they are fried! I really love the crunchy sweet taste of the fried peppers. And don’t judge me as I always make every one believe I am a health nut and then talk about fried peppers. These babies are not deep fried as we would fritters. They are just shallow fried, until that light char achieved, that’s it. This is a very quick and easy side dish, enjoyable by any pepper fan!

There is no recipe for this. You want less or more oil, go for it. Your choice. Just heat up the oil on high heat, toss the pepper slices, cook for about 2-3 minutes, salt and pepper them. If you like it, hit them with a touch of balsamic vinegar and honey or leave them alone and enjoy. They are really good as wrapped sandwiches also.

Chili Paneer

2012-11-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

Now this is not the traditionally made Hakka style chili paneer. It's made Pakistani style. This one Pakistani restaurant near my home, we go there often. I mean every other week! My son loves their food. They have really good butter chicken, chicken karahi, tikka masala etc dishes that are truly lip smacking. We tried their chili chicken once, and absolutely loved it. At first we thought that it might be Chinese style chili chicken. But to our surprise, it wasn't. It was red dry curry and OMG, it tasted simply delish! It was kind of spicy with lots of green chilies and right away I knew I've got to make this dish at home! Mark loves chicken but not paneer. I've got the chance when he went for a sleep over at a friend's. For the two of us, I made this chili paneer for supper and it warmed up the soul! Everything came together so quickly, I couldn't even believe my eyes when I checked the time! I was done under 30 minutes with parathas to go with my chili paneer.

Chili Paneer

Ingredients
1 lb. paneer, cut into cubes
1 tbsp oil + 2 tbsp for coating
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green pepper, diced
3-4 green hot chillies(adjust per your taste)
1 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder
1 tbsp each coriander and cumin powder
2 tbsp freshly grated garlic
1/2 tomato, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Chat masala to taste
A few slivers of ginger for garnish

How to:

Coat the paneer pieces with oil, chat masala and bake at 400° F oven for about 10 minutes or till golden brown.
You need to flip them once the bottom is golden.
In a sauce pot, heat up the oil. Add onion and cook till translucent.
Now add the spices, hot green chili, tomato and green pepper cubes and saute on medium high heat till the pepper is tender.
Now add paneer pieces, salt and adjust the seasoning.
Toss everything and cover and cook for 5 more minutes till the spices get incorporated with paneer.
Serve hot.

Shrimp Crostini

2012-11-03T12:05:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favorite lunch items. It’s very versatile, you can alter the veggies and meat per your need and it requires no time to assemble. This is an open faced sandwich with all the veggie and protein fixings you need for the day to keep you going. And I need it. I just got promoted. And every new job brings new responsibilities. I have no time at work unlike before. I used to write my posts at work before. Now I can only do it in my short lunch which is mainly eating at desk, working! At home, same old same old. Busy busy busy. So this is exactly what I need. Very less chopping and prepping and voila, a perfectly balanced lunch/snack is ready.

Shrimp Crostini
Ingredients
1 slice multi grain bread, toasted lightly
Slices of cucumber, avocado, bell pepper
Cooked shrimps(or cooked chicken)
Green onions, for garnish
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzle

How to:

Easy.
Build the layers of veggies and meat on top of the toasted slice.
Make sure you drizzle each layer with EVOO and salt and pepper each layer.
Enjoy.

Carrot Muffins

2012-10-28T21:58:00.000-04:00

Carrot muffins have the look and flavor of a carrot cake only they are in muffin form. These 'Morning Glory Muffins' are cinnamon scented muffins,loaded with flavorful ingredients; things like toasted nuts, sweetened coconut, grated apple, and grated carrots. Although these muffins need no adornment, sometimes I can't resist smearing them with a little cream cheese icing. Not this time though.

The pitfall with all muffin batters is in over mixing the batter and ending up with a tough muffin. So make sure you only mix the batter until the ingredients are combined and moistened. A few flecks of flour are fine. To make the job easier, plus to give the baked muffins a nice domed shape, use an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin cups. Of course, if you do not have one, two spoons will do the job. As always, if you want standard sized muffins, only fill the muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. However, if you like your muffins with a crown, fill the cups almost to the top. Just make sure to grease the top of the muffin pan so that as the batter overflows it does not stick to the top of the pan. And don't forget to fill any unfilled muffin cups with a little water to ensure even baking as well as preventing the pan from warping.

My family enjoyed these nutrition packed, delicious treats on Sunday mornings. I hope yours does too!

Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
2 cups grated raw carrot (about 2-3 peeled carrots)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups granulated white sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
3 large eggs
3/4 cup canola oil

How to:

Preheat oven to 350° F and place rack in center of oven.
Place paper liners in 18 muffin cups.
Toast the walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant.
Let cool and then chop coarsely.
Peel and finely grate the carrots.
Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground powders.
Stir in the nuts.
Set aside.
In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs and oil.
Fold the wet ingredients, along with the grated carrot, into the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
After about 10 minutes remove the muffins from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.