My Kitchen Treasures

Strawberry Feast Round up

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:00:00 +0000

I am really sorry for the delay in the roundup. But I always say better late than never :-)
If I have missed a entry just tell me , I will add.

Irene of Confession of a Tart from Los Angles,
has send this delicious Strawberry Cream Cake she made this beautiful cake for Sammy, you should go there and read her post, it is such a touching post.

Parita of Parita's World from Basil - Switzeland
Send this Delicious Strawberry Swis roll she says this is the best roll she has made in her life and looking to the pic i have to totally agree with her.

Ivy of Kopiaste from Greece
Send this delicous Strawberry Mousse It looks so pretty pink and creamy.

Ivy also send this super beautiful delicous looking White Chocolate and Strawberry cream cake which she made for her son'd 24 th birthday. Next time for my Birthday I am going to ask her for making this cake for me :-)

Angie of Angie's Recipe from German
Send this delicous jam, I would love to have this on my toast in the morning.
With such a bright colour it will brighten up any mornings..

Maria of Kali Orexi from Newyork

send this Strawberry Walnut Loaf and she says the kiddie can eat and enitre quart in a blink of an eye, well who can blame them as they look so moist and yummy.

Novia of It all strated with his birthday blog from Indonesia
Send this beautiful and delcious and so elegant looking cake. It looks so so good that i am sure it taste super yummy too.

Vrinda Mahesh of Sankeerthanam from USA
Send these delicous Strawberry Muffins doesn't look delicous how the strawpery pieces are popping up

Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes from the romantic city Paris

Send this strawberry custard and they are not shop bought custard powder they are the true creamy home made ones.

Rosie of Baking Cakes Galore from England , she is one of my favourite baking blog ( i do have few favourite baking blogs) send this Strawberry Cream Sponge Cake she has a wonderful memory of her Mom and in her words Strawberries awaken fond memories of red stained hands, balmy sunny days, playing carefree with friends and my mother watching Wimbledon tennis on the television.

Priya of Priya's Easy'n Tasty Recipes from Paris
Send one of my favourite dessert Strawberry pannacotta she say's We just loved this flavourful strawberry pannacotta and really relished each and every spoon...Well I would do the same priya.

Lena Rashmin of Lemon n Spice from Pune, India
Send this Semiya Kesari with strawberry syrup doesn't look so yumm with the nuts sprinkled on top. Really creative, I would have never thought of making something like this with semiya.

Lissie of Salt and Spice from Bangalore
Send this Strawberry delight pudding I would happily eat the whole bowl as lissie made them especially for the event , even thought the season is over there

Lena Rashmin Raj of Lemon n Spice from Pune, India
Send this strawberry jelly delight

I can imagine sitting on the sofa and eating thise creamy jelly spoon by spoon till the whole bowl is finished.

Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen from Goa India
Even as the strawberry season is well over there send these Strawberry-Almond Shortcake Hearts , she made these for her daughtger , to whome Aparna had promised to make lots of cookies during her school summer holidays .

Ivy of Kopiaste from Athens - Greece

Send these Strawberry Cheese Cake with greek youghurt these creamy cheese cake looks so beautifully decorated and delicous, who would be able to resist

Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes from Paris
Send this Strawberry Kulfi , I would check out this recipe as it is guilt free , she made form youghurt so one can have double portions.

Muskaan Shah of A 2 Z Vegetarian Cuisine from New Jersey
Send this Sparkling Strawberry Cider it is a wonderful refreshing summer drink and looks bautifull and if you check out the recipe you will see there is some ginger in the them too.

Muskaan Shah of A 2 Z Vegetarian Cuisine from New Jersey
Send these Spinach,Strawberry& peach salade just reading the title itself you know howdelicous,healthy they are.

Divya of Easy Cooking from Chennai,India
Send these vibrant looking Strawberry Granita she decided to make this , when the temperature soared to 42°C and Chennaites were left to the mercy of the SunGod!!

Muskaan Shah of A 2 Z Vegetarian Cuisine from New Jersey

Send Vegan Four Grain Strawberry Muffin. she saye she is trying to substitute all purpose flour with whole grain flours. For sugar with apple sauce and fruit juice, in this recipe so that it is healthy and still enjoys baking withou guilt.

Meera of Enjoy Indian Cooking from United States
Send this delcious beautiful Strawberry ice cream, doesn't it looks so creamy and yummy.

This is yet another delicous dessert from Enjoy Indian food, she doen't like anything made with strawberrry except for the ice cream, but still she made this for her sister in law. Don't we all wish we had Meera as a SIL.

laws of the Kitichen from Australia
Send this super yummy looking Vacherin, if you pop over to her place you will see how delicous the inside of this vacherin looks.

This is yet another delicous dessert from Priya of Priya's Easey 'n Tasty recipes from Paris

She send this delicous healthy Strawberry youghurt Delight and she says

indeed it is a delight you can have them for lunch or dinner or any time of the da y

Mushkan Shaah of A2Z vegetarian cusine from New jersey

Send this super healthy and delcious Oats-Almond Meal Cookies with Strawberry Filling

Vrinda Mahesh of Sakeerthanam from USA

Send this super beautiful looking Strawberry cream cake, I would say it is too beautiful to cut that cake.

Ramya Kiran of The Cook's Collection from Stuttgart, Germany

Send this yummy Strawberry Mousse it is a very simple yet delicious dessert. Egg less but no less flavorful and rich. Its made out of just few ingredients and the result is outstanding. Well you can see that in the picture how delcious it is.

Aarthi from Aarthi's Kitchen from Durham,NC
Send this Strawberry Galettes these galettes look so moist , that you won't be able to stop with one slice, you will have to have another one

This is yet another delicous creation from Aarathi, she send this yummy Strawberry crumble

I can imagine myself pouring a bit of thick cream when it come out from the oven and enjoying them. Divine.

TBC of The budding Cook from USA
Send these gorgeous looking Strawberry Crisp if you see her place you woudn't believe she is a budding cook, she is more than that as you can see from these delcious crisp.

Yasmeen from Health Nut send this Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice pops

The all-natural fruit Ice Pop with no artificial colors is the best thirst-quenching treat for sizzling summers. I fully agree to her and seeing this, i even went and bought moulds to make :-)

Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi

Send this creamy healthy delcious Strawberry-Rose Lassi , it is made from low fat youghurt, rose essence and there is jam too inside this drink. Healthy but realy delicous.

Mona of Zaiqa from Canada

Send this Srawberry fool , she was craving for some mood uplifting, indulging dessert. Rich and decadent fool is what she thought of.

Jude of Apple Pie, Patis, and Pâté from Chicago, IL

Send this Vanilla-Rhubarb Soup with Strawberries this Scandinavian-inspired dessert soup. The sweet and sour vanilla-rhubarb base (rabarbersoppa) is done in about 20 minutes,

Preeti Singh ShailPlace from Tokyo , Japan

Send this Stuffed Dal Paratha and Strawberry Kheer. She says Stuffed Dal paratha and strawberry kheer was our sunday breakfast and I really wish I was there on that sunday to enjoy them too.

Jessica Voloudakis of Fearless Kitchen from Braintree, MA, USA
Send this Peach and Strawberry tart made this for a recent Sunday open house. Some people have already commented on her recent predilection for fruity desserts. "Jess," they say, "you keep saying that dessert doesn't count unless it's made from chocolate, but you keep feeding us sweet treats that have never even seen a cocoa bean. What is the deal?" If you want to know more you will just have to hopp over to her place :-)

Rekha of Plantain Leaf from Abudhabi

Send this delicous refreshing Strawberry and Mango punch doesn't iut look beautiful and there is no alchol in them.

Gloria of Canela Kitchen Recipes all the way from Chilie

Send this Strawberry Pie this strawberry Pie or others similar were the typical treats of many evenings, Tea and parties, that she call Strawberries Küchen.

Renu Roy of Renus Kitchen from

Send this Oatmeal Porridge with Strawberries according to her this is a very easy breezy breakfast with goodness of oats

Vineela of Vineelas Cusine from california,usa

Send this Strawberry Ice cream it is eglees and delcious. And love the colour.

Muskaan Shah of A 2 Z Vegetarian Cuisine from New Jersey

Send this Super Nutritious Berry Smoothie it is healthy delcious and Low Carb, what more can one ask ......

Muneeba of An Edible Symphony from Long Island, NY

Send this Strawberry Crumble Here's a wonderful recipe for using up your fabulous in-season strawberries and woudn't we all agree with it

Muneeba of An Edible Symphony from Long Island, NY

Send this Roasted Strawberry Sauce she says if roasting your strawberries has never occurred to you, give it a shot sometime and you'll be blown away.

Priya from Priya's EasyN Tasty from Paris
Send yet another delicous dessert Strawberry Short Cake her version of strawberry shortcake is really quite easiy and need very less time to prepare..

Dhanggit of Dhanggit Kitchen fromaix en provence france

Send this strawberry mozzarella salad , ofcourse she made this to getting all her vitamins as her lovely daughter has been giving her sleepless nights.

DK of Chef In You from US

Send this Strawberry Pancakes and When she say Strawberry Pancake, she imagine biting into some berries inside her pancakes, well I can live with that, if she makes these delcious pancakes for breakfast

Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes from paris

Send this Crepes Stuffed with strawberries she dont think nothing will beat when compared to this delicious dessert also fulfilling snacks for school returning kids

Poornima of Tasty Treats from Santa Clara, California
Send this Strawbery Chocolate Triffle she saves up this delcious dessert to share with us for celebrating her century post

Marie of A Year From Oak Cottage from Kent, United Kingdom

send this Strawbery Shortcakes When she was growing up this was the ultimate summertime feast! They all loved it when her mother made this Strawberry Shortcake for dessert! Her Mom always used baking powder biscuits and put vanilla ice cream in the middle of hers.
Well I think that sounds really yumm. Don't you all think so.

Rahin of Lazzat... from Boston USA

Send this Quick Strawberry Cheese cake according ther her This is one of those quick , no - fuss, simple recipes that never lets you down. Each spoonful of this is sheer pleasure.

Alisa of One Frugal Foodie from Las Vegas

Send this Rewarding Strawberry “Julius” days into the new fitness program and it is definitelly kicking her butts. According to her , this is a versatile, easy little recipe that you can use as a recovery drink, for added protein (say for those little ones), or as a dessert …

Cinzia of Cindystar from Lake of Garda,
Send this Strawbery Sangria there is wine, brandy, oranges ,strawberries etc.........and it looks so so delicious, I woudn't mind to have few glasses of them in a hot warm evenings.

James of The Cotswold Food Year, fromCotswolds, UK3

Send this Strawberry and Corriander suhi he has written Strawberries and coriander - who would ever think of putting those two ingredients together?
And i am glad he did it as it looks unusual and delcious.

TBC of The budding Cook from USA
Send this Strawberry and Apricot shake the title itself is bursting with flavours not to mention healthy but delicious.

TBC of The Budding Cook from USA

Send this dark thick Strawberry jam
she dis something we all do if we are lucky to gofro strawberry picking, make jam. I would love to have this jam slthered on my toast.....

Sumi of Sumi's Kitchen from Belgium
Send this Strawberry Muffin, It was raining strawberries in her place as her husband got loads of them, he didnt know that strawberries doesnt have a longer life even if its refrigerated. So she made two different bakes.

Sumi of Sumi's Kitchen from Belgium
Send this Strawberry Cake. I am so glad her hubby bought so much strawberries.

Natasha of 5 Star Foodie2. from Fairfax, Virginia
Send this Strawberry Oat Basil Smoothie with Duo of Foams
which was Inspired by this month's Royal Foodie Joust ingredients, she created this new breakfast smoothie. The foams add an extra layer of flavor with refreshing hints of basil and a decadent touch of chocolate.

Rekha of Plantain leaf from Abudhabi

Send this Strawberry and almond muffin she made this for her favourite fruit event :-) but she was lazy to post them and had to hurry up before the deadline. I am glad she did otherwise we we all would have missed this delicous muffin.

Sudha of Malaysian Delicacies from
Send this Mini Strawberry Cheese Tart Strawberries are not cheap in Malaysia, still she coudn't resisit to make these cutie tarts.

Priya of Priya's Easy'N Tasty Recipes from Paris
Send this Strawberry and Chocolate Sorbet
two of my favourite things and she combined them. If you want to know more aobut Sorbet check out her place.

Priya of Priya's Easy N' Tasty recipes from paris
Send this Strawberry and maple salade

According to priya it is one of the tasties fruit salade with the secret ingridient maple syrup and way she explains how the maple syrup is almost soked into the strawberries , well i am droling :-)

Madhuram of the famous blog Egg less Cooking from Canada

Send this Fat Free Mango Strawberry Bread she is someone who used to live on mangoes during the summer time in India ( we all know how it feels) I wound't mind to have one of those moist looking mini loafs.

Sowmya of Creative Saga from Singapore
Send this Strawberry jam her son loves to have them with his rotis, well the thought makes me drool, so i know why her son love the combo.

Kavya Naimish Kavya's Kitchen from Simivalley,CA
Send this Strawberry and Chocolate

she too went for strawberry picking and the way she says the atmosphere in the farm makes me want to go to a strawberry farm. Doesn't those chocolate dipped strawberries look so cheerfull with those colourfull flowers on top.

Parita of Parita's World from Bazel Switzerland

Send this Strawberry Sorbet doesn't that colour just call to you to grab that glass,heaped up with those sorbet balls.

Zlamushka of Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen from Copenhagen
Send this delcious Strawberry butter milk pie
She mde this for her co workers for her 27 th b'day. Happy Birthday to you from all of us in the blog world.

Soma of e curr from Texas,
Send this moist Fruit and berry spoon cake
Soma says ,Not a crumble, not a pound cake - but something of both is this delicious, fruity, nutty berrylicious , I am sure we all agree to her view about this delcious spoon cake.

The rest are my entries to the event.
I coudn't send just one, after saying Strawberries are my favourite fruit.
So did few of them.
First is Rhubarb Soup with Strawberry Ice cream which is really unusual but we all loved the refreshing taste of this dessert which is a soup made with rhubarb .......

Then there is my daughter's favourite Chocolate dipped strawberries

Which was just out of the world, I made them few time and this is how i explained these strawberries to my MIL. You just bite into the strawberries and you get this crunch from the chocoltate and then you get the juicy delcious strawberry :-)

Then there is this grilie Pink Strawberry Cupcakes my daughter and her friend thought they tasted as the ice cream Strawberry and cheese ,they eat in ben and jerry .

As you all know I don't do that much healthy desserts but thenthis Strawberry bruleé was a exeption. If you look to the pic you woudn't say that these beauties are made wit youghurt.

My pride and joy, my first ever Strawberry macarons and the were almost perfect that i jumped up and down with pure joy.

The last one which is a tribute to the summer, Pavaloa with Strawberry and Cherries if you look to them it is like summer on your dessert plate. Light and delcious.

Strawberry Feast Round up delayed

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:34:00 +0000

I am sorry to write that Round up of is delayed.
Have been having for the last few days really pain on my right arm and been taking tablets for the pain, hubby says it is because i have been busy in computer for the last month too much , three quaters of the round up is done, i just have to do the rest.
I will try to post the round up next week.

Pavlova with Strawberries and Cherries

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:57:00 +0000

I am so so pleased how this dessert has turned out.
My family wsa really thrilled to see this on the coffee table as it looked so beautiful and it was really delcious.
This is one of the best Meringue I have made, got to recipe from one of the cooking shows from Channel 4 , I think it is called come and Dine with me or something like that.
Ofcourse you can uuse any fruits you want, I used strawberry and Cheries as they are in season now and ofcourse then i could send this for my .

Ingridients:
4 egg white
225 castor sugar
1 1/2 tblsp vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp corn flour

For the filling.
1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
4 tsp. cold water
1 c. heavy whipping cream (at least 24 hours old and very cold)
Few tablspoon icing sugar
1/2 tsp. clear vanilla extract
Combine gelatin and cold water in small saucepan. Let stand until thick. Place over low heat, stirring constantly just until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Whip cream, sugar and vanilla until slightly thickened. While beating slowly, gradually add gelatin to whipped cream mixture. Whip at high speed until stiff.

I use this method so that the cream doesn't go soft after a while.
You can also just whipp up the cream with sugar and vanilla and spread them too.
Line a baking trey with baking paper . Preheat the oven to 15°c.

Beat egg whites with untill foamy.
This is important , you should add the sugar spoon by spoon and then whipp the whites again .
Mix the vinegar with the corn flour and add to the eggwhite mixture together with the last spoon of sugar. Whipp till everthing is mixed well.

Draw a circle on the baking paper and spread the meringue . you should make a small pit in the middle with a spoon so that you can later fill them with the whipped cream.

Bake in the oven for 150°c for a hour.
After a hour off the oven, but leave the meringu to cool in the oven.
It should be fully cooled before you fill it up with the cream and the fruits.

Spread the whipped cream in the midlle , lavishly and decorats with strawberried and cherries or any fruit of your choice.
Keep in the fridge for a hour before you serve.
Tip I always make the meringue a day before and after they bake in the oven for a hour, I off the oven and just leave them in the oven till next day, when i use them.

I am going for a break till September . Tommorow is my daughter's Last exams and then it is 2 months of holidays.

So I am also taking a break from blog hopping as I know I woudn't have that much time to be near the computer.

I will post the Strawberry Feast Round up on Jully 1 st.

I have sheduled some 6 posts, but on the sheduled posts I will close the comment section.
Wishing you all a wonderful summer holidays and see you all in SEPTEMBER.

My first ever macarons

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:00:00 +0000

I am sure if you know Tartlette's blog, then for sure you will know about macarons.
She makes them like I make coffee everyday, with such ease , variety of tastes , colours and filling you will see in her place.

I on the other hand only got to know about Macroons really good from her place, have seen them here in the bakers, but have never bought them.
So every time she post a Macaron in her place, I was like I do wish I could make them too.
But I never dared to try them as I have read so much horror story from lots of other bloggers ,that I was like I am sure not trying them.

Few days back when i was in a shop I bought a silcone mat saying now i will have to make them.
I don't think you need one, i used both, baking paper and silcon mat.
Both of them worked very well, except I might say in the silcon mat they came out much easier.

So in the end I gathered all my courage and ddecided to make them.

You should have seen my delight when i saw them baking in the oven and they were looking really nice, I with pure joy , really I did this, jumped up and down and clapped my hands.

Can you imagine a 40 year old doing ( well I hit 40 this May) and that just because her macarons were looking really good while they were baking.

I was glad hubby and daughter were not home otherwise hubby would have thought his wife was getting nuts and daughter, who really think as her mom who just got 40 and is on the way to old home, have in the end cracke up.
She really thinks 40 is old, for her mom, her father is much older than me but she thinks he is young and cool. I think daughters always sides with their dad.
I don't mind, i Love that fahter and daughter is having such a wonderful relation. For my daughter her dad is like god.
I guess i drifted for a moment from my Macarons :-)

Tartlette filled them with butter cream, but I was lazy to make them and did whipped cream with strawberry sauce.
Which was really light and yumm, but i woudn't do that next time, as you keep them for few hours they will get soggy.
So next time I am listening to Tartlette and make butter cream.
Must admitt I am really proud of my first macroons which I have made. It can get better in more practise, which I am sure going to do.

This is my entry for , you want to join in click away

This was the happy stage when i was acting like a happy mad woman ;-)

Makes between 30 to 40 macarons

For the macarons shells:
90 gr egg whites (about 3)
30 gr granulated
sugar200 gr powdered sugar
110 gr ground almonds
2 tablespoons red colour

For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry.
Combine the almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground.
Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like lava or a thick ribbon. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down.
The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes.
Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip ,with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets.
Sprinkle with the crushed sugar or violet petals. Preheat the oven to 280F.
Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.

If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don't let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy.
Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer.

To fill: pipe or spoon about 1 big tablespoon of butterceam in the center of one shell and top with another one.

Double Braided Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:00:00 +0000

The final exams started last friday for my daughter and it will be finished by next week thursday.
So morning she is gone to school and afternoon she is learning in her room for the nexdays exams.

And what do I do as I am just hanging around here at home as I don't want to go here and there when she is learning, not that she would stop learning when I am gone, just that I feel guilty if I go here and there ( means window shopping, cycling etc...) thinking to myself how can I have fun when she is stitting home and learning, when it is such beautiful weather.

So what do I do bake.
According to my daughter I fatten up her druing her exams as I bake and make desserts,

So the moment I saw this delicous bread in DK's place Chef in You i knew I will be making them.
As it was looking so beautiful.
She has this wonderful step by stpe pictures there so go and check it out and I am sure you will also run to the kitchen and make this delcious bread like I did.

I didnt know what to call this bread, she calles it Zopf swiss bread.
But as i added raisins to the dough I didn't know if i could give the same name.
I thought i will just give Double Braided Bread.

Normally I take step by step pictures when I make something, but now she has that in her place I thougth why should I do that work again :-)

I did almost every thing as her, except I added 50 gm of sugar extra and 200 gm of mixed raisins to the dough.
She made one braid and then made smaller knots.
I did double braid.
I am sure going to use this recipe again and again.

Sending this to Yeast Spotting at Wild Yeast.

Chicken Strips in Capsicum Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:00:00 +0000

This is one easy super fast dish to make.
I think you spend more time in cutting the veg and the chicken. The dish is made in 10 minutes .
The recipe is from a book,which I have for long.

It is not my cookbook ,( now it is) my MIL bought them and then she went to her place and was looking through and she remarked holly ..... if I have to make a dish from this book I will need a whol new bunch of ingridients........... so as I am the one who loves cooking in the family, she told me take the book with you, at least you can use them.

And I must admit I have used this book a lot , you should see on some pages there is so much stains.......
Talking about my MIL giving me the book, I have lots of things from her whcih she buys and then for one or another reason I end up in my home with it.

Like my Le Cruset Pot ( which belonged to her and I was once mentioning to her that I should buy one ( this was atleast 17 yrs back) and she told me well I have two take one :-)

then there is the sandwitch maker, the vacuum sealing thing, the knive sharpner .........oh the list will go on and on......oh then the dusting tissues, she buys something new and then she tell, you should try this, it cleans the dust very well and I, ok will take home and try.

I have to admit she is the best MIL one can have, not because she gives me all these things, just because she is a really wonderful person.

This is my entry for Priyas details here

So now lets go to the recipe.

500 gm chicken cut in strips ( I used breast)
3 tbsp oil
2 garlic cloves choppes fine
1 medium onion thinky cut
1 big capsicum thinly cut
3 chillies my addition
1 tsp rice vinegar /white vinegar
3 to 4 tbsp of sweet kejap ( you can buy this in the chinese store mainly in the indonesian section)
1 tbsp soya sauce optional
1 tsp honey
200 ml water or more if you want more gravy
1 to 2 tbsp of corn flour mixed with a bit of water to make the sauce think.
Peper and salt to taste ( take care of the salt as there is a lot of salt in these chinese bottle sauces.
2 tbsp of chilie oil

Heat the oil in a wol and add the onions , capsicum,chillies and the garlic, when they are lightly coloured add the chicken pieces and fry for few minutes, then add the soysauce, ketjap vinegar, honey and mix it all really weell.
Then add the water and cook the chicken till it is done. Few minutes as the chicken is cut thinly.
Add the cornflour and thicken the gravy according to you.
Just before serving drizzle he chillie oil on top of the dish.
Serve with rice/noodles etc.....

Black Forest Cupcake

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:53:00 +0000

This months I was paired with Cup Cake Project , I was so so pleased with this months pairing as who woudn't want to be paired with some one who's blog is 99% cupcake recipes.
There was plenty of choices, and while looking to her place I was like , it is true they say it is not good to be spoiled with choices, as then it is really difficult to make one.
So in the end I decided to go for the Black forest cupcake as I love them in cakes and I thought this would be fun and cute too , to make.
I am so glad I choosed this as we all loved it. And much more easier to make in a cup cake than making a huge cake.
Want to make this delicous yummy black Forest cake then you will find the recipe here

She did write make you own cherri filling from scratch, which I didn't, as i was too lazy, ( not lazy, just didn't had time) bought a bottle of cherries and I added few tabsp of Kirsh and 2 tbsp of icing sugar and mixes them before i filled the cupcakes.
Next time I am going to make my own cherry filling.
I topped with a marchino cherry.

Strawberry Brulée

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:00:00 +0000

I am sure you all know by now, at least the regular readers, that I don't do healthy desserts. If a recipe ask for butter i add butter won't go for margarine etc... and if they ask cream here it is full fat cream all the way, which also can be noticed lately on my waist and hipps too...........

Few dayw ago I was claeaning up all the winter clothes and taking out the summer clothes and each time I looked to a top , i was like this won't fit, it will be too tight or this skirts last button won't close etc.................I even had to go to the shops and buy few tops etc.

There is no use in moaning about it, I know i have to do something aobut it.
I think it is a start atleast you all got to see a dessert which is made with youghur, which is really unusual.
I do sometimes wish I was like some of the people I know who can eat anything they want and don't put on weight.
Now I will stop moaning and go to my kind of healthy dessert

This is my entry for which I am hosting here. You can find the details for the event here

300 to 400 gm Strawberies hulled and sliced

2 tsp icing sugar
2 to 3 tbsp of Monin strawberry syrup (optional, using the syrup gave my youghurt a beautiful pink colour )

If you are not using the syrup you should add vanilla essence to the youghurt for taste.
400 gm Greek youghurt
100 gm of golden castor sugar. ( I used less amonut)

1. Divide the strawberries among four ramekins and sprinkle with icing sugar.

2. Add the strawberry syrup to the youghurt ( if you don't have this, then add the vanilla essence) and mix it till evreything is combined. Spread the mixture evenly over the fruit.

3. Preaheat the grill to high. Sprinkle the caster sugar evenly over the youghurt until it is well covered.

4. Put the ramekins on a baking sheet or into the grill pan and grill untill the sugar turns dark brown and caramises.
Leave for 15 minutes or untill the caramel is cool enough to eat, or chill for upto 2 hours before serving.

I used my blow torch for caramelising the suagr.

Tagliatelle con pesto trapanese

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Doesn't it sounds so exqusite, well I woudn't know what it means if it was not written in plain English in my Taste Italia Magazine and that is one Magazine which I look forward to receive every month in my snail post box.

The title just means ( according to the magazine) Taglitelle with pesto trapanese.
This is one really super easy pasta dish one can make and if you serve them to guest they will think you have been slaving in the kitchen for long.
We loved them here a thome and it was one delicous refreshing pasta dish.

I used thinner pasta , i guess you can use any shap you like, but as i thought the pesto looks so yumm in the book , i thought i will put a bit extra cost and buy fresh pasta than the usual dry ones i mostly use. Which i thought was really worth the cent.....

Tip in the magazine:
This makes quite a lot of pesto, so if you have too much for the pasta, then pop the excess in a container and keep in the fridge for up three dsays.

Serve :2
200 gm tageliatelle

large handfull of basil
60 gm skinned almonds, finley ground
1 garlic cloves peeled
50 ml extra vigin olive oil
6 plum tomatoes, peeled and seeds removed
40 gm parmesan or Grana padano grated
salt and peper to taste.

1. Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil, add thepasta and cook according to the packet instructions.

2. Meanwhile pound the garlic, basil leaves and some salt together in a pestle and motor.
You can also use a food processor. I use my hand mixer.
Add the almonds , tomatoes, and paremasan cheese to the basil , then pour enough oil to reach the desire consistency.
Add peper and salt to taste.

3. Drain the pasta , but sacve a lit bit of water.
Return the pasta to the pan and stir in the pesto. Add a little of the pasta water to loosen the sauce.
Serve and enjoy the delicous pasta.
Sending this to details here and is hosted by Katie of Thyme for Cooking

Chicken Kofta Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:47:00 +0000

I want to tell you something happend years ago, i think my daughter was 7 or 8 that time. Hubby was gone for more than a week don't know which country anymore.

I taking advantage of hubby not beeing home, didn't cook any kind of special food, most of the lunch it was very normal really super easy food and I guess my daughter was fed up of me feeding the same dishes everyday or same simple dishes, anyway the week was almost over and then we were having our lunch and suddenly my daughter asked me Mamma why are you not making any special food when we are alone, why do you only make when papa is here.
I think my jaw just dropped hearing the question.

I felt so guilty about my daughter's question and when hubby came home I told him the whole story and he was like yeah you must have been really feeding her the same food then.

And from that time onwards I made sure when hubby is out of the country that I don't get lazy as I didn't want her to have the feeling I only make special food when her father is there.

So as hubby had gone to UK this weekend , I made these super delicous Chicken Kofta balls which I saw few days back in Bong Mom's CookBook if you would like to try the recipe you can find in her place here

I didn't make that much changes, I did my own chicken mince so i could use breast and legs. I added really less corriander powder as I am not that wild abou the corriander powder taste.
I would take care of the amount of dry chillies as they are really spicy.
As i found out in my chicken balls ( even though Sandeepa had written use chillies accordinly to your taste which i didn't listen, i used as much as she told , which almost blew my daughter's brain which she needs for preparing for her exams ).

Also i just fried the ball in few tablespoon of oil just to seal them aorund.
I also added a bit cream too. ( Coudn't resist )
This is one yummy delicous Kofta balls which I am going to make.
As it was daughter and I we had a lot of left overs, so i put in a tupperware in the freezer for a day when I am lazy to cook :-)

Now I will have to Share with you few of the things ,what my dear hubby brought from UK.

Isn't he so sweet. He bought loads and loads of mangoes. One box was alphonsa.
When i saw the heap of mangoes I asked him was he in a mango mood to buy so much. And he was like you don't get them here so I thought I will buy a lot.

Then the surprise of the bunch was the Dosa Podi. Each time I went to the Kitchen today i had to smile thinking about the sweetness of hubby buying them especially because it was written in malayalam.
We all like Dosa just that I don't like to make the dosa mix from scratch.
And the drumsticks well that is something hubby and daughter loves.

When we go back home my sister make sambar for them with dosa. I There will be so much drumsticks in them and my daughter and hubby will be sitting and eating them atleast for a hour.
When my sis goes to the shop next to her house to buy the drumsticks , and when she is back home she will tell me, the shop fellow must have thought there is a huge party going on here as she bought so muchy drumsticks, and she will remark does the poor fellow knows that it is just for two people.

My mango bonanza :-)

Drumsticks

:-)))))))))))

Last look for the super yummy Kofta curry.

Strawberry Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:00:00 +0000

I don't have anything special to write in this post as I guess nothing special happened after I wrote my last post other than I was baking and cooking etc... it has been a very uneventfull days.

So I wil go straight to the recipe.

I got the idea of making this cupcake whe I saw these cupcakes in The Life nad Love of Grumby's Honeybunch , i went through the post and then read that as the cup cake was a bit densed she would tweak on flour etc next time when she makes.
And i coudn't wait till she did that so i searched in my cup cake book and found another recipe using strawberries.
Recipe from the book by Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman
So as you all guessed this goes for my which I am hosting here. You can find the details for the event here
Sending this also to FIC June which is hosted by Kamalinka at Dedicated to Janaki patti

You can make 15 cupcakes, I got 12 as i fully filled them up as I didn't want to use another tray ( lazy)

Ingridients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar ( I added only half of this sugar as i didn't want the cake to be tto sweet)

2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking Soda

1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter milk
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 tsp or less red food colouring ( optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh strawberries, cleaned and cut into small pieces

For the frosting.
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
Few tbsp of strawberry syrup from Monin.

Moist and bursting with flavours

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar baking powder, baking soda, salt and set aside.

2. In a another bowl, mix , buttermilk, melted butter,eggs and vanilla essence.
Add liguid ingridients to dry indridients and beat well with a wooden spoon.
Fold in the strawberries.

3. Spoon batter into cupcake paper, filling cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or untill a tester inserted and it come out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool them before you frost.

For the frosting:
1 With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
2 Add the strawberry syrup and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness.
3 Either spread on with a blunt knife or spatula, or spoon into a piping bag to decorate your cake or cupcake.

Yakitori Chicken Meat Balls

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:59:00 +0000

I am sure I have mentioned that on friday evening I make some special snacks, when my daughter and hubby comes home after 21:30 pm after their rehersals in the local youth orchestra, were my daughter plays violin and hubby conducts the orchestra.

So this is what i made last week .

I had seen this in Rasamalaysia, I am a regular visitor to her place for the recipes and the beautiful pictures she takes from the food she prepares.
These Yakitories were so delicious that my hubby asked me if I would make it for his b'day dinner as a starter which is by the end of the month. And he was in such a praise for the sauce it was shocking.
It could be also normally when i make some asian snack i just sreve with ketchup or sweet and sour sauce and this sauce was totally different.
I would say the sauce did make a huge impact on the balls iteself.

If you want to make these super yumm Grilled Chicken meat balls, you can find the recipe here.
I have to say I did indianized a bit by adding 3 spring onions, few chilles, giner and garlic. And i bought a small chicken and used the legs, thighs, and the breast to make the meat balls.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:41:00 +0000

The moment I saw this in Irene's place Confession of a Tart, and I love that name and if you go there you will see why she gave her wonderful delicous blog that name.

Irene made it for one of hergood friends b'day. Now don't you all wish you all had a friend like Irene who would make this and pack themù in a box beautifully and give them.
Ofcourse if you go over to her place, you will see a much more nicer picture as I don' thave a steady hand for pipping the white chocolate.

I wanted to surprise my daughter with these chocolate strawberries, as while looking to Iren's blog, I had shown her and for one thing my daughter is like me, that is we both love chocolate.
And she was so happy when she saw these chocolate strawvberries .
Now she goes on asking me when am I going to make them again.

Original recipe Confession of a Tart

24 ripe strawberries
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (she used Lindt, i used callebaut)
1 oz white chocolate,
choppedRinse strawberries and gently pat dry.
Set on a rack to dry completely. Melt bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler.Dip strawberries in chocolate and shake off excess.
Set to dry on a rack (on the tops as shown in the photos) or on parchment (on the bottoms which will give you a foot of chocolate) in a cool, dry location
[Irene's note: I let mine dry in the kitchen for a half hour and then got impatient and put them in the refrigerator].

That is exactly i did too.

When chocolate has dried, melt the white chocolate and drizzle over the strawberries

This is for my event and waiting to get all you delicous strawberry creations.

Spaghetti con Salmone e Gamberi

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Thu, 28 May 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Doesn't that sounds so yummy :-) well it just means Spaghetti with salmon and Scampis. (Just copied the title from my book The pasta bible as it sounded so nice)
First time I had pasta was when I came here to Belgium. I am sure my generation kids in India ( oh did I says kids, my god that was indeed few decades back) well at least me then, didn't had any pasta dishes.

Ofcourse now things have changed, back in India we get pasta in all the shops.

And now to say that we have pasta dishes at least once a week. If i don't make something with pasta my daughter will ask how come you didn't make any pasta this week.
Mostly it is pastaRagu or some kind of tomatos pasta.
But now that my daughter loves salmon , I am overjoyed that I can even make pasta dishes with salmon than thinking to myself what will i make for her if i make this for us.
Ofcourse she don't eat Scampis, but no trouble she picks them out and give it to her dad.

This is what we had last sunday for lunch.
This creamy delcious rich pasta. I am sure if you make this you will fall in love with the dish as we did here at home.

Normally when some dishes ask for wine I dodn't add them often, but I have to tell you if you make this you should add the wine as the wine gives a wonderful taste to the whole pasta dish.
My tip is if you open up a bottle specially for this and you dodn't want to drink wine, then freeze them in a freezer bag and use them when a another recipe ask for wine.

Ingridients:
300 gm Salmon fillet
250 ml dry white wine
Few basil leaves ( I didn't have so i used a tbsp of dried basil)
6 ripe fat tomatoes , do use fresh ones as the tomatoes are really good in this time of the year.( skins and seeds removed and chopped)
2 tbsp tomato puree
200 ml cream + 50 ml water ( mix them together)
300 gm Spagjetti
115 gm scampis/Shrimps
Peper and salt to taste

Method:

Poach the salmon in the wine together with a bit of salt , peper and the basil leaves for 5 minutes, add the scampis just before you finish poaching the fish so that they dodn't over cook.
Don't forget when you mix the sauce with the pasta the fish will cook more and you dodn't want them to be over cooked.
Reomove the fish and the scampi using a slotted spoon.
Flake the salmon and keep it aside.

Turn up the fire high and add the tomatoe paste, boil the wine for few minutes so they are bit reduced.
Add the cream, salt and peper and the tomatoes, cook in a soft fire for 10 minutes. Add the flakes salmon and the scampis.
In the mean time cook the pasta according to the packet.
Drain and mix them to the sauce and serve them and enjoy the delicous creamy pasta.
If you have fresh basil leaves you can use them as garnish.

I am sending this to detail here and is hosted by Sara I'm a Food Blog.

Apricot and Nut Cookies for Click

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:57:00 +0000

It is time for this months and you can see loads of Cookie post popping up every were in the blogsphere.

Want to join up, in one of the famous monthly event in the blogsphere then click here
I must admit I don't make cookies that often, unless if I have my daughers friends comming to our place and she has been having so much school work and going for her violin lessons and concerts etc....... that she hardly have had time to ask her friends to our place.

One of her best friend who come every Tuesday after school for a hour of chit chat has not been here for few weeks, as Shyama had to go for her violin lessons, to play with the piano teacher in the music academy as she also have exams for that.
Her friend has been missing her visit here so much she asked Shyama if she can come on Thursday.
I coudn't wait till thursday for baking cookies then i would miss the deadline. As if I know If i make something It will few days for me o load the pictures to the computer.

So last sunday I made these cookies and while I finished icing them, my daughter came to the kitchen and and asked if she can decorate them. ( I wasnot planning to decorate them)

So the decoration are done by her. I left her to the decorating them and when i came back and saw the designs I told hubby i think love is in the Air after seeing her heart shaped cookies :-)

The original recipe you can get from here

This is my variation with thethings i had home.

Cookies.
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pure almond essence
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup almonds chopped
2 tablespoons walnuts chopped

Icing:
1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
5 to 7 tablespoons almond flavored liqueur (recommended: Amaretto)

Directions
For the Cookies: In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg. Stir in the flour until just blended. Mix in the apricots, almonds, and pine nuts.

Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a log, about 12-inches long and 1 1/2-inches in diameter. Wrap the dough in the plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 heavy baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cut the dough log crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2 inch-thick slices. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, spacing evenly apart. Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges, about 15 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
For the Icing: Place the confectioners' sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Gradually whisk in the almond flavored liqueur, until the mixture is of drizzling consistency.

Place the wire rack over a baking sheet. Using a spoon or fork, drizzle the cookies with the icing, allowing any excess icing to drip onto the baking sheet. Allow the icing to set before serving, about 30 minutes.

Announcing Strawberry Feast

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Mon, 25 May 2009 11:04:00 +0000

Strawberry is one of the fruits I love and it is available in abundence in most of the parts of the world as it is the season ( I know in Indian they are finished , which is a real pity)
But you can make something with strawberry Jam then :-) remember the jam rolls............

I have not seen any event for strawberry ( unless I missed them) so I thought I will start a Strawberry event, What you lovely bloggers have to do is, make something with strawberry and send it over to my place.

Multiple entries are grabed here with open arms.
If you like you can use the logo.

1. Your name :

2. Where you live :

3. Your blog’s name and URL

4. The URL of your entry :

5. A picture 200X200 pixel, it doesn't matter if it is not the exact size, i have noticed I can never have them in the exact size when ever I try to resize them.

6. Name of your Dish.

7. Link to this post so others can also find about them through your post.

8. Email me your entry to mykitchen_treasures(at)yahoo(dot)com

You all have till June 25 th for sending your delicous entries and I will do the round up few days later.
So Start Cooking :-)

Sesame Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:41:00 +0000

This is one of those chicken dish you will love it, from kids to adults.
First time I had this was in a chinese place, but have to say after making this at home I am not going to take this at any chinese as I thingk this home made seasame chicken is far better in taste, thanks to Bog Chef there is so much delicous dishes there, you won't be disapointed.

Want to have the recipe , check it out here
I did Indianized a bit by adding few chillies, ginger and garlic.
Didn' thad time to take realy picture, so the above pic is the dish in the wok.

Sending this to Ruth's

Fruits au sabayon

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:00:00 +0000

For this months I was paired with Le Recette du jour , I am so pleased beeing paired with her as I made something which I have never made.

I always thought Sabayon was something which only real good chefs can make as it is with eggs and I always heard you had to be carefull so that the eggs don't curdle etc.............. all these disaster stories had put me off making them untill I saw them in Le recettes place, it sounded so easy to make I thought to myself I should give it a try.

And I am so glad I tried them, they are shockingly so easy to make andtaste is just so so delicous.
Just like a 5 star place dessert.

She has this wonderful array of delicous desserts in her place.
If you ant to have the original recipe check out her place here she used a variety ofother fruits than me.
I used berries as now it is really berry season here and I thought why not make use of sesonal fruits.
Before I go to the recipe I must say a huge thankyou to Teresa Cordero Cordell of Mexican American Border Cooking.

She had this wonderful competition and I won the book
I am new to Mexican Cusine but I am really looking forward for trying them as I looked through the book which I received last week and there is lots of dishes I want to try from the book.
So watch out the space here, thee is going to be a fiesta here soon :-)
Want to buy Glorias book , you will find the information here

I also received a copy of ebook, of Teressa which is called Mi Chita's Mexican Chocolate Recipes. Whick is absloutley my things as it is with lots of chocolate desserts.

1 small box of raspberries.
1 small box of black berries.
15 to 20 strawberries. Slice them
2 tbsp of grenadine ( optional)
Mix all the fruits with the grenadine ( if you are using) and divide them into 4 glasses.

Sabayon:
100 ml sweetwine, I used Banyuls
3 egg yolks
40 gm sugar

To make the sabayon you need a double boiler or a heatproof bowl over simmering water, and either a strong wrist or a handheld electric whisk. I used a electric whisk.

I don't have a double broiler so i fill up a pan with hot water and use another bowl to fit on to the pan.

Put the pan in a small heat and add the sweet wine in a glass or steel bowl and add the eggs and starts whisking. While bush whisking add the sugar and keep on whisking untill it turns white and frothy, it will take almost 8 to 10 minutes.
Pour over the fruits and serve it immidietly.
Enjoy this super delicous dessert.

Here it is a long weekend from tommorow onwards as there is some kind of religious holiday here, so I will see you all on Monday.

Chitrannam (Lemon Rice)

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Back at home we had rice twice a day, for lunch and then for dinner too. So you can imagine the shock I had when I came here and saw here, everybody ate bread twice a day than warm lunch and dinner oh and the breakfast too was a hot meal back at home.
Ofcourse I adjusted to the habbit here of having bread in the morning and evening here.
Hi hi no work here just slice the bread and that is it for breakfast and evening.

When my sis visited me last year she was saying I have no cooking here..............
I am sure Chitranam is not new to you all as you all have made this, but for me it is the first time I make them.
And it was super spicy, lemony delicious.

Recipe is from Indira's blog Mahanadi , it is the first blog I came across few years back. and I am so glad I discovered the blog world.
You want to have the real authentic recipe chekc her place.Mahanadi blog .

Rice:4 cups of basmati rice cooked.
2 to 3 juicy limes - cut and juice to a cup
6 to 8 green chillies, Indian or Thai variety - slit vertically ( or acccording to your taste)
¼ cup - Chana dal pre-soaked in water at least half an hour before.
2 tablespoons - urad dal
1 teaspoon each - salt and turmeric
2 tablespoons oil.
1/2 tsp each - mustard seeds, cumin, and red dry chilli pieces.
12- 15 fresh curry leaves.
1/4 cup peanuts
1/4 cup cashew nuts.

Method:
In a skillet, heat one tablespoon of oil.
First add peanuts, fry them until they turn light brown. Remove. Add and fry cashews next. Remove from the pan to a plate, keep them aside.

Now in the same skillet, add another tablespoon of oil.
Add and fry the curry leaves first. Then cumin and mustard seeds. When seeds start to splutter, add the split green chillies, channa dal and urad dal.
Saute them till golden and crisp. In the end, sprinkle half teaspoon turmeric for that golden yellow color.
Mix and then saute for another one to two minutes.

Now add the toasted peanuts and cashews to the cooked rice.
Stir in salt and sprinkle the limejuice. Combine thoroughly and delicately.
Have a taste, it should zing or shock your taste buds like sucking on a fresh lime wedge. If not, add some more limejuice and salt. Mix again. And keep in mind that rice absorbs the limejuice, and the tanginess you feel during the preparation reduces in intensity after sometime.

Sending this to Nags for her , which is a event started by Meeta of What' s for Lunch Hooney.
Sending this also to Easy Crafts

European Peasant Bread and 2 Violin songs

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:34:00 +0000

One thing I love about Artisian Bread in Five Minutes a Day book is that, it is so easy to make the bread, there is no kneading at all. Just mix evrything and keep in the fridge, take them out when you want to mbake them, just roll into their shapes and you end up with beautiful and delicous breads.

The charming music of Rabindranath Tagore, named Jharo Jharo on violin....performed by hubby

Jhumna performes in violin by my daughter, now you all know from were she gets her Talent, not from me but from hubby dear :-)

Makes four 1 pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved.
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tbsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
5 1/2 cups unleached whole purpose flour ( I used splet)
Cornnmeal for the pizza peel '( used normal flour)

1. Mixing and storing the dough : Mix the yeast and salt with watr in a 5 guater, or a lidded ( not airtight) food container.

2. Mix the remianing dry indriedients without kneading, usinf a spoon, a 14 - cup capacity food processor ( with dough attachment), or a heavy duty stand mixer ( with dough hook).
If you are not using a machine, you may nee to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

3. Cover ( not airtight) I used plastic foil to coer the bowl . and allow to rest at room temperatire untill the dough risses and collapse ( or flattens on top), approximatley 2 hours.

4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Regrigerate in a lidded ( not air tight ) container ( iused huge glass bowl and covered with plastic foil, and use over the next 14 days.

5 On the baking day, dust the surface of the regrigerated dough with flour and cutt off a 1 pound piece.
Dust with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quater tuen as you go.
Allow to rest and rise on a cornmeal covered peel for 40 minutes.

6. Twenty minutes before baking time, prehaet the oven to 450°F, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won't inter frere with the rising bread.

I didn't do the step 6 as i don't have a stone, I preheated the oven and just baked the bread in oven.

7. Sprinkle the loaf liberally with flour and shash a cross, or tic tac toe patter onto the top, using a serated knife.

8. Slide the loaf directly onto the hot ston. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the brolier tray and quicly close the oven door.
Bake for about 35 minutes or untill the top crust is deeply browned and very firm.

Agian I didn't do the step 8 as i wrote above just baked the bread in a preheated oven.

9. Allow to cool before slicing and enjoying them.

I halved the ingridient list and made 1 big bread than small ones. And baked them for 50 minutes in 200°c

My Devilishly smiling and Winking bread ;-)

Sending to which is hosted this month at Tangerine's Kitchen a event founded by Zorra , for passionate and to-be bread bakers.

Delicious Slices of bread.

Chicken Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Wed, 13 May 2009 09:00:00 +0000

The moment I saw this in Ranji's Kitchen Corner , I knew I will be trying it out as it wa slooking so so yummy delicous. And I was not wrong it was indeed spicy and delicous. Well all her recipes are really yummy in her place. Especially she has delicious Non-Veg dishes.

She served them with neer Dosa, I would have loved to have the dosa too, but I am not that good in making dosa like that si i didn't even try them . SO i served with plain rice.
If you love spices and coconut and chicken and want to make them, hopp to her place for the recipe.

Vikki at Vikki's Kitchen is hosting a so if you are making something with cluck cluck chicken send it to her place for her event.
Sending it also to which is hosted at Dil se... this week so make all your bookmarked recipes which is hanging around there and send it to her

Rhubarb Soup with Strawberry Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:00:00 +0000

I had a wonderful Mother' day yesterday.
My daughter surprised me with two wonderful gifts and a home made card. Yeah she will be 17 yrs in this jully, still she makes a card for me instead of buying one which I think so so sweet of her. And I have all the cars in a special box which she has made for me .

If you scroll down you will se the gifts she came me , I don't know who was more pleased by the choice of gift she or I, as you should have seen her face while I was opening up the gift.
And then after a while she came with a proud smile and asked me again what I thought about her gift :-)

Aparently she knows her mom well as she bought for me food related things and hubby bought abhuge bocquet of flower for me for the special day too.

Now to the recipe, Last week when i went to the market i saw this wonderfully fresh Rhubarb that I coudn't help myself , I had to buy them.
So I tried something chich I have not made with Rubarb and that is this soup, it was really refreshing and delicous.

Home Made card which she made for me, first page is for the noises and shoutings which comes from my kitchen when i am busy as i have this habbit of dropping utensils, cups etc and breaking them :-)

Apero sticks

Egg whisker

Flowers from hubby dear

Ingridients:
500 gm Rhubarb cut in thick blocks.
250 ml sweet white wine
125 gm sugar
250 gm strawberris in pieces
4 ball of strawberry ice cream here is my home made recipe

1. Bring to boil the 2/3 rhubarb with wine and sugar. Lower the fire and cook it for 20 minutes.

2. Sieve the mixture and then add the rest of the rhubarb ( cut this a bit finer) and set aside for 5 minutes.

3. Divide the strawberries in 4 soup plate pour the rhubar soup mixture and top with a ball of strawberry ice cream.
Enjoy this summery delicous sweet soup for a dessert.

Sending this to which is hosted at Lisa's Kitchen, detals here

alos this to which is hosted at An Italian in the US

Strawberry Roulade/Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:04:00 +0000

I don't think I am exagerating when I say this is one of the best strawberry roll cake I have ever ate.
The cake itself was so soft ,moist and yummy not to mention the filling.
I am soon going to make this again and again as you can play with what fruit you want to use for the filling. So you all will be seeing variety of bakes from the basic recipe :-)

The recipe is from Michel Roux book Eggs I would say the book is full with recipe with eggs ( ofcourse).
The basic dough is sponge cake which he calls in his book Génoise, want more info click wiki

Ingridients:
For the Génoise
20 gm soft butter for the cake pan
126 gm flour plus extra for the cake tin
4 medium eggs, room temperature
125 gm fine castor sugar
30 gm butter melted and luke warm

For the filling.
400 ml full cream plus powder sugar ( 2 tbsp or more of you like it sweeter)
400 gm strawberries slices ( i mixed 2 tbsp of strawberry syrup, it is optional)
Powder sugar to dust.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190° c.
Lay a piece of baking paper from 40x30 cm on a baking plate, butter the paper and dust with the extra flour.
Add the eggs and sugar into a big bowl and beat it til they are really fluffy. It will take some 8 to 10 minutes with a mixture as it should turn into a pale white colour.
Add the sieved flour and fold in carfully and then add the melted butter also carfully. Don't stir as you will remove the air bubbles in the mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and with a palate knife smooth the top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes.
When it is baked cover it immidietly with a tea towel and remove from the baking tray to a rack.
Remove the baking paper carefully and cool for 5 minutes.

( In one of theother book it is written use wet tea towel or sprinkle with sugar, this one it is not written like that so i have no idea which meathod is the correct one, i just followed the recipe in the book)

In this book it is written roll the cake before it is cooles , otherwise it will be difficult to roll.

In the mean time whipp the cream with a bit of sugar .
And then spread the cream evenly on to thecake and the scatter thestrawberries on top of the cream.
Roll the cake with the help of the tea towlel from the long side.
Keep in the fridge for a hour and before serving sprinkle with powder sugar.
Enjoy one of themost soft rolls i have ever had or made.

Sending this to Meeta's

One of the best rolls I have ever made :-)

This Sunday May 10th it is Mother days so wishing all the moms out there a wonderful day.

Mojito

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:55:00 +0000

When I was in India we never had any alcholic drinks, I guess back at home it was not something one did, have anykind of alchool drinks atleast females ( well I am talking about when I was a teenager which is more than 2 decades ago) or should i say 3, that would be a bit too long :-)
Well if my hubby reads this ( he never reads my blog so no probs :-) he will say yeah now see the indian talking she should drink Nimboo pani than this :-), that is what he tell me always as a joke.
Can't help it as you know I blame my drinking habbits to my MIL as she is the one who taught me to learn wine etc............. now a days she don't have to ask F do you want a glass of wine , before she can say wine i am yeah yeah i want ................
Not that we have drinks everyday, when ever there is a party then drinks are just pouring be it in my place or in my inlaws place.
So this is one of those drinks which we made when we had a party.

I love this drink as it is such a refreshing drink with all the ice and mint leaves in them.
So girls Enjoy ......

For 1 person.

50 ml white rum.
1 tbsp of sugar syrup / Powder sugar
20 ml lime juice
Few strips of mint leaves
Loads of crushed ice cubes
Sodawater for filling up the glass

Add the sugar syrup and lime juice in a glss, stir, add the mint leaves and crush them with the end of a spoon. Add a fat slice of lims, then the crushed ice, add the rum and fill the glass with soda water.
Garnish with mint leaves and a slice of lime.

Orange Walnut and Chocolate Chip Muffin

noreply@blogger.com (Happy cook) — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:00:00 +0000

The moment I saw this delicious Orange walnut muffin in Susan's place, Food Blogga, I knew I was going to make them soon and on top of it, she wrote in her place it is addictive, well that word itself will want someone to rush to the kitchen and make them. And that is what i did made these delicous muffins.

And she also wrote her mom is not a chocolate lover, but she loved these ones and she coudn't keep her hands off these delicoius muffins and her mom made them few times, so I was like my then it has to be yummy.
Well must say her mom was totally correct, when I mad them we at home coudn't keep our hands off these delicious Orange Walnut and Chocolate chip muffins.
If you don't believe me girls, just make them you will sure woudn't be able to resist them.
I followed the recipe just like it was in susan's place. Just one the top I dis some other chocolate chip that is all. Also instead of chocolate chip I used my onw chunky chocolates.

If you would like to have the recipe, just hopp over to her place and make them.