tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13411926014700686202024-02-07T06:18:01.186+00:00Gourmet LabChandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-37617294666779628232012-04-09T15:15:00.002+01:002012-04-09T19:04:53.255+01:00A Quick Dinner - Spicy Salmon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I was feeling a little lazy and tired the other day. I had had a long day and to make matters worse had skipped lunch. So when it came time for dinner, I needed something satisfying but quick and easy to make.<br />
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I settled on grilled salmon, sautéed spinach and oven roasted potato. It's delicious, healthy and can be easily made in less than 30 mins - what's not to like!<br />
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<b>Recipe (serves 2)</b></div>
2 Salmon fillets<br />
1 tbsp spice mixture prepared before hand<br />
<i>(Take equal parts of whole cumin, coriander and cloves and dry roast them together. After it cools down grind them using a coffee grinder. If you store in a air tight container it can last up to 6 months).</i><br />
1/2 tsp turmeric<br />
Salt and black pepper<br />
1 tsp tamarind paste<br />
<i>(If you don't have tamarind paste use 2 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tsp lemon zest)</i><br />
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Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Make the rub by mixing the spice mixture with the rest of the ingredients. Rub the spice on both sides of salmon. Heat the grill (stove top or indoor grill) and put the salmon skin side down on the grill once it's hot. Flip the salmon after 3-4 minutes and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes. Quick, isn't it?<br />
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Cut the potatoes into small cubes and put them in a roasting pan with some onions, cherry tomatoes and garlic cloves. Dress the vegetables with salt, pepper and olive oil and roast in a 450 F preheated oven for about half an hour or till the potatoes go soft. While the potatoes are being roasted sauté the baby spinach with crushed garlic and some chili flakes. Add olive oil to finish it up.<br />
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Serve the salmon with sauteed spinach and roasted potatoes.<br />
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Bon appetite!</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-34518940303936760422012-01-08T21:52:00.000+00:002012-04-09T14:44:19.621+01:00Breakfast In Rome - Savory French Toast with Tomato Sauce<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Last September we visited Rome - the magical city of magnificent piazzas and mouthwatering trattorias. It was the first leg of a two week trip to Italy which also took us to Tuscany and Venice. Rome is full of history, every building, every stone has some story behind it. We soaked in as much history we could through our guided tours. But the high point of my stay in Rome was the little farmers market below our rented apartment in Pigneto.<br />
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I am absolutely crazy about farmers markets. I always feel like I have to go there, no matter which city we are in - NY, London, Paris or Rome. I love to get inspired by the fresh, lovely ingredients these local stalls have to offer and let my imagination run wild to create something flavorful to do justice to these beautiful ingredients. So as you can see in my mind the biggest attraction in Rome was the market below our apartment.<br />
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I didn't have much time to visit the farmers market everyday, as we were busy with history and cultural tours. On the last day of our stay, I visited the market. Brunch in mind - I bought bread, eggs and fresh mozzarella cheese. Though it was not in my plans the produce was so fresh and smelt so good that I couldn't resist buying basil, fresh cherry tomato, zucchini and white button mushrooms.<br />
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Now I had to decide how to incorporate these additional ingredients into brunch. We were leaving Rome that evening <b>- </b>so all of it had to go! With the mozzarella, bread and eggs I was planning to make cheese stuffed french toast. With the rest I decided to make a tomato sauce with garlic, basil and vegetables. It could go on the toast where the tangy tomato sauce would cut some of the richness of the cheese stuffed french toast.<br />
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Glad to report that the experiment succeeded :) We devoured the brunch and suitably fueled set out to wander the streets of Rome for one last time.
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<b>Recipe (serves 2)</b></div>
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4 slices of bread<br />
3 eggs<br />
1/4 cup milk<br />
2 slices of mozzarella cheese<br />
2 sun-dried tomato<br />
250 gm cherry tomato<br />
1 zucchini<br />
4 large button mushroom<br />
2 cloves of garlic (minced)<br />
1 bunch of basil leaves<br />
Olive oil<br />
Salt<br />
Pepper<br />
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Heat a non-stick pan and put olive oil when the pan is hot. Mix the eggs and milk in a wide bowl, add salt and pepper to the mixture. Take two slices of bread, put cheese and sun-dried tomato on it. Put the remaining two slices of bread on the top. Then take the sandwich and dip it in the egg mixture and put it on the pan. Lower the heat, so that the egg cooks slowly and the cheese inside melts and makes the toast all gooey. When one side of the toast is done flip it carefully and let the other side cook for a couple of minutes.<br />
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In the mean time, cut the vegetables in the same size as of the cherry tomato. Put oil in a pan, wait till it gets hot, put garlic and cook it till it gets fragrant. Add all the vegetables except tomatoes. Add salt and pepper. Cook the vegetables for a few minutes till it gets soft. Then add tomatoes and cook it till it has a sauce like consistency. This should take a few minutes. Finish it off by adding basil to the sauce.<br />
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Finally, cut the toast in half and serve the toast with the sauce!</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-40736801923064277782010-09-11T20:47:00.000+01:002012-04-09T15:16:18.984+01:00Yogurt, Fruit and Nut Tart - Fancy Srikhand<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After a period of silence Gourmet Lab returns with a 'easy on your love-handles' dessert which has all the comforting flavours of a breakfast. The title of this post sounds like a healthy breakfast, doesn't it?<br />
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I took a scrumptious classic Indian dessert 'Srikhand' and made a fancy and a eye-catching dessert. After all we all eat with our eyes first, don't we? Srikhand is basically a thick yogurt sweetened with sugar, favoured with saffron and cardamom. For little more richness and texture pistachio and almond are added to the sweetened yogurt.<br />
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I kept almost all the flavours of Srikhand intact and added few more ingredients to complement the existing flavours.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Yogurt, Fruit And Nut Tart - Fancy Srikhand</span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">There are 3 components of the tart - tart shell, yogurt filling and the fruit topping.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Tart Shell</span></span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1 cup of whole wheat almond cracker crumbs (If you can't find almond cracker, use gram cracker instead)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup almond flour</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">5 TBS unsalted brown butter</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">I didn't use any sugar, because crackers were pretty sweet. If you are using gram cracker, you can add 1/4 cup sugar or according to your taste.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">To make the brown butter, heat the butter in a pan on medium heat till the milk solid in the butter turns light brown. At this point butter should have a nutty aroma. Don't over cook the butter, or the milk solid will be burnt. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">To make the cracker crumb, put the cracker in a food processor and pulse it till you have a fine crumb.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Mix all the ingredients and press the crumb in a pie or tart pan. Use the bottom of a bowl to press and smooth out the crumb in the pan. Bake the tart shell in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes or till the crust gets brown.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Yogurt filling</span></span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">4 cup thick Greek yogurt</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1 cup sugar</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup honey</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1 teaspoon lime zest</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup chopped pistachio</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1 teaspoon cardamom</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Saffron strands soaked in warm milk</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Put the yogurt on cheese cloth and hang it over night to take the excess water off the yogurt. Add rest of the ingredients to the yogurt in a bowl and mix them well using a rubber spatula.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Fruit Topping</span></span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1 cup </span></span>raspberry<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1 cup diced mango</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1 TBS honey</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1 TBS lemon juice</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">1 teaspoon lemon zest</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Mix all the ingredients in bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes till all the flavours mix well with each other.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">To finally assemble the tart, take the baked shell and add the yogurt filling in the centre and smooth it out starting from centre toward the edges of the shell using a rubber spatula. Add the macerated fruit to decorate the tart.</span></span></div>
</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-16345666309390049172010-06-13T22:32:00.002+01:002012-04-09T15:16:31.105+01:00Mixed Berry and Ricotta Tart<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It has been a while since I posted anything. With the move from New York to London, I have hardly cooked for the past few days. My temporary kitchen still lacks basic things to make any meal. But the food in London has been wonderful so far. The portions are small compared to USA but taste wise I am not missing much. There are lot of restaurants of various cuisines from all over the world. But the food is little pricey here even by Manhattan standards.<br />
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Bakeries, pastry shops and cafes are in abundance around central London which we have been exploring over the weekend. They have lots of French desserts - they all look yummy! Inspired by the dessert shops around here, I thought of posting the recipe for a fruit tart I made when I was in New York.<br />
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<b style="background-color: white;">Mixed Berry and Ricotta Tart</b></div>
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<b><i style="background-color: white;">Ingredients for tart dough</i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup all purpose flour</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup cold butter</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/8th teaspoon salt</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 egg mixed with little cold water</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">It's very easy to make tart dough. The flour to butter ratio is 2:1. The only important thing to keep in mind is that the butter should be really cold. That helps to keep the tart flaky.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In a bowl mix flour and salt. Cut the butter into the flour with a fork and mix it well. The flour and butter mixture should end up with a sandy texture. Add the egg to the mixture. Bring the flour together to make a dough ball. Don't over knead the dough, otherwise it will make the tart tough. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes. If you have extra dough then at this point you can freeze it. It freezes really well up to a month.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">If you want you can use food processor to make the dough. Food processor makes the task easier and less messy.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Roll out the chilled dough into a 1/8 inch thick round sheet on a floured surface. It should be larger than the tart mould. Carefully transfer the sheet to the tart mould. Trim the excess dough off the tart mould by rolling the rolling pin across the mould rim. Chill it for 30 more minutes. The idea is to keep the butter solid. So when heat hits the dough, butter melts and creates air pockets which keep the tart flaky.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">This dough can make a 8 inch tart. But I made a 6 inch tart and froze rest of the dough. Once you have the tart dough handy you can whip up any sweet and savory tart within no time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">First partially bake the dough without any filling. Line the dough with parchment paper and add pie-weight or dried bean on the parchment paper and bake it for 10 minutes. The weights ensure that the dough doesn't puff up. Then remove the pie-weight and bake the tart dough for another 5-6 minutes till it starts looking a little brown.</span></div>
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<b><i style="background-color: white;">Tart filling</i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">4 oz ricotta cheese</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 egg</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Zest of one orange</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Fruits (Berries, mango or whichever fruit you like)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Mix all the above ingredients except the fruit well.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Fill the half baked tart shell with the filling and bake it for another 20 minutes or till the filling settles.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Take the tart out of the mould and let it cool completely, ideally on a cooling rack. Fill the tart shell with your favourite fruits. I used raspberry, blueberry, mango strips and blackberry sauce (blackberry and sugar ground together and passed though a sieve to discard the seed).</span></div>
</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-35311299534170383502010-05-28T02:51:00.001+01:002012-04-09T15:18:02.474+01:00Lettuce Cups<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Get ready for something wonderful and flavorful. It is like a party in the mouth. It arouses all your taste-buds - a combination of salty, sweet, crunchy, cool and warm. Yeah, it is the lettuce cup with pan fried breaded fish and mango-avocado salsa. What is not to like there. Got to try it to believe it!<br />
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<b style="background-color: white;">Lettuce cup with fish and salsa</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">I made 20 lettuce cups. I wanted to make it bite sized, but it turned out to be really big bites - we ended up using fork to eat them :) You can make it actual bite size and you will probably end up with 40 cups using this recipe.</span></div>
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<b><i style="background-color: white;">Ingredients for pan fried fish</i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">2 white fish fillets ( Cod, Bass, Tilapia or Catfish will work. I used Tilapia.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup all purpose flour</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Salt, Pepper</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Cayenne powder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup yogurt</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Breadcrumbs (I used store bought Italian seasoned bread crumb. You can make yours)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Sage leaves chopped</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Heat a pan on a medium high flame. Add couple of TBS of olive oil to the pan. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Pat dry the fish using a paper towel. Cut the fish fillet into bite size cubes and season the cubes with salt, pepper and cayenne.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Set up the breading station by following the steps below.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In a bowl beat the yogurt and season it with salt, pepper and cayenne.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In a wide baking dish or a plate take 2 TBS of flour and season it with salt, pepper and cayenne.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Put the bread crumbs in a plate or wide baking dish.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">To bread the fish - add all the fish cubes in the yogurt mixture. Let it hang out there for couple of minutes. After few minutes, take the fish out of the yogurt mixture and dredge the fish cube in flour. Shake off the excess flour. After that, coat the fish with yogurt again. Then coat the fish with bread crumbs. Shake off the excess bread crumb.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Pan fry the fish, on each side for 2 to 3 minutes or till it gets golden brown on each side. Season the fried fish with salt, pepper, cayenne and chopped sage. Season them when they are still hot. It helps the seasonings to stick to the fish. Every time add 3 to 4 fishes to the pan. Repeat this process till you finish frying all the fish cubes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>Ingredients for </i></b><b><i>Avocado-Mango Slasa</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Olive oil <b><i></i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">1 corn</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 mango</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 avocado</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup red onion</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">2 TBS lime juice</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Salt, Pepper</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Cayenne powder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Cumin powder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup chopped cilantro </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Take the husk off the corn, rub it with little olive oil, slat, pepper and cayenne. Roast it over the gas burner. Let it cool for a couple of minutes and then take the corn kernel off the cob by using a knife. Chop the mango and avocado into small cubes. Combine roasted corn, mango, avocado and diced onions in a bowl and toss them with salt, pepper, cayenne, cumin powder, lime juice and olive oil. Add 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro to the salsa. Keep aside.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>Ingredients for </i></b><b><i>Roasted Tomato and Chipotle salsa</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 roasted plum tomato</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup chopped cilanto</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 clove garlic</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Olive oil</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">salt, pepper</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Mix all the ingredients in a food processor till you get a smooth salsa.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>Ingredients for </i></b><b><i>Lettuce cups</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 iceberg lettuce head</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Pan fried fish cubes</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Avocado-mango salsa</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Roasted tomato-chipotle salsa</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Carefully separate the lettuce leaves. Then tear them into small cups - large enough to hold the fish cubes. On each cup add a fish cube, 1 full spoon of avocado-mango salsa and a little drizzle of roasted tomato-chipotle salsa. Here is the party I was telling you about! You can use room temperature or slightly warm fish for this. I think it tastes good either way.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">You can use this pan fried fish and roasted tomato-chipotle slasa for dinner as well. I served red cabbage salad and some arugula leaves with the fish. I used a very simple light dressing (olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, little honey) for the reg cabbage salad.</span><br />
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</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-27388007668587734102010-05-23T18:30:00.002+01:002012-04-09T15:23:20.490+01:00Walnuts and Chocolate Chip Biscotti<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I don't like sugar in my coffee, but I like to dip something little sweet and little firm - something like biscotti, the double baked cookies. I fell in love with them while watching a cooking show on television. The slender and sexy look did the trick for me. Then when I ate them for the first time it was like heaven in my mouth. After finishing my Masters, when I was looking for a job, I made a batch of biscotti and they accompanied my morning and evening coffee everyday during my job search process. Luckily I found the job soon, otherwise I would have needed to go on the serious dieting schedule. I just can't resist these baked goodness.<br />
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<b style="background-color: white;">Walnuts and Chocolate Chip Biscotti Recipe</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">2 cups all purpose flour</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 1/2 tsp baking powder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">3/4 cup sugar</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Pinch of salt</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup or 1 stick of unsalted butter</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">2 eggs</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 tsp of orange zest</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp of coarsely ground fennel seed</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup dark chocolate chips</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">3/4 cup chopped walnut</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Cream the butter and sugar using a wooden spoon or a electric mixer. Add one egg at a time to the mixture. Add orange zest to the mixture. Keep aside this wet ingredient mixture.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Combine flour, salt, baking powder and fennel seed together in a bowl. Then incorporate the dry ingredient slowly into the wet ingredient mixture. Fold in the chocolate and walnuts in the mixture. At this point the batter should feel like a soft dough. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper. Make two (2 inch thick and 5 inch long) logs out of the dough and put them on the parchment paper. Bake them for 35 minutes in the preheated oven.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Take them out of the oven and then cool for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degree F.Then cut those logs at an angle using serrated knife. If you try to cut the logs when they are still hot, you won't get a clean cut of the biscotti. Since the dough is still soft, it will break while cutting.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Bake the biscottis for 20-25 minutes or till they get golden brown in a 300 degree oven. Transfer the biscottis to a cooling rack and hold them there till they have completely cooled down. </span></div>
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</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-8489131017245186362010-05-17T00:48:00.002+01:002012-04-09T15:23:45.468+01:00Tortilla Espanola - Snack and Sandwich<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Tortilla Espanola is a thick omelet with potato and onions. It can be served hot or at room temperature. It tastes good irrespective of the temperature, it is very versatile. I made this for a dinner party I had a couple of weeks back. I served it as an appetizer on a slice of baguette at room temperature. I also used it for my open faced sandwich and this time served it warm. Both ways it was delicious.<br />
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To make Tortilla Espanola, instead of frying potato and onion, I pan fried the vegetables. I made sauce out of pumpkin seed, cilantro and parsley to pair with the tortilla espanola wedges. <br />
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<b style="background-color: white;">Tortilla Espanola - Snack and Sandwich Recipe</b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;">Tortilla Espanola </b><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">1 big russet potato</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 of a white onion ( about 1 cup)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 TBS olive oil</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">salt and pepper</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">3/4 cup sweet peas </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 tsp cumin powder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 tsp cayenne </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">chopped parsley</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">6 eggs </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Peel the potatoes and cut it into small cubes. Do a rough chop on the onion. Then add oil to a pan, when oil gets medium hot add potato,onion, salt and pepper to it. Stir fry it till the potato gets soft. Add frozen sweet peas. Stir it till it takes chill off from the frozen peas. Then add cumin powder and parsley to the potato and onion mixture. Let the mixture cool down, otherwise it will scramble the eggs when you add it to the egg mixture.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Lightly beat the 6 eggs in a bowl. Add salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne to the egg mixture. Combine the eggs and potato-onion mixture.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Add oil to a non-stick skillet. When the oil gets moderately hot, add the egg mixture. Cover it with a lid and turn the stove to medium-low heat. Let it sit for few minutes till the edge starts to settle. Then flip the omelet using a fish spatula. Fish spatula really helps in keeping the omelet intact. If the omelet breaks a little that is not a big deal! Then after flipping the omelet cover it with a lid and cook it on a low flame for five more minutes till the omelet gets floppy and eggs cook through. By that time the omelet will have a nice brown color on it too.</span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;">Pumpkin seed green sauce </b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup of toasted pumpkin seed</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup of fresh cilantro</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup fresh mint</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp chopped jalapeno</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 garlic clove</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp lemon zest</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Juice of 1 lemon</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Salt and Pepper</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup olive oil</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup home made chicken stock or water</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Combine all the ingredients except oil and chicken stock in the food processor. Process until the mixture gets smooth. While the food processor is running, add in the olive oil. You can thin out the sauce using water. I had home made chicken stock at hand, so for more flavor I used it to thin out the sauce.</span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;">Tortilla Espanola wedge on baguette </b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Cut the baguette into 1/2 inch slices. Put a small tortilla espanola wedge on the baguette slice and top it with the pumpkin seed green sauce</span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white;">Tortilla Espanola sandwich</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Take a whole grain bread slice, spread the pumpkin seed green sauce on it. Add a large warm tortilla espanola wedge and arugula on the bread slice. This makes a really good, tasty sandwich.</span></div>
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</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-20155841910767908142010-05-07T23:55:00.001+01:002012-04-09T15:24:38.638+01:00Non-traditional English Trifle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We had some friends over for dinner last weekend. For dessert I made a non-traditional English trifle. Instead of lady-fingers, I used home-made lemon yogurt cake - which was very light and it didn't have butter for a change :) I layered cake and mango-yogurt sauce and topped it with chopped mango and black berry sauce.<br />
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Someone in my house thought that the pattern I made on the dessert looked like Chinese armor and named it a 'Ming Mango Cake'. I won't mention the name of that person - who couldn't stop laughing for at least half an hour.<br />
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The yogurt cake had cardamom and saffron in it. I had some Swedish cardamom rolls couple of weeks back which was made by a student in my class.<b> </b>The cardamom flavor in the roll was enticing as well as surprising. In many Indian desserts cardamon is used as a flavoring agent, but I had never had cardamom in a baked good before. Since the non-traditional English trifle is English with Indian flavor, I used cardamom and saffron instead of vanilla. Actually, I used saffron because I have always liked the 'kesar pista' flavored Indian ice cream. Kesar is the Indian name of saffron and pista is pistachio - which I have used in the mango-yogurt sauce. <br />
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The mango sauce is inspired by lassi - mango-yogurt based Indian drink. The black berry sauce added one more level of complex tanginess to the dessert along with piquant taste from mango-yogurt and sharpness from the lemon-yogurt cake.<br />
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<b style="background-color: white;">Non-traditional English Trifle Recipe</b><br />
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<b><i style="background-color: white;">Lemon-yogurt cake</i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">11/2 cup flour</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">11/2 tsp baking powder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 tsp salt</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp cardamom powder </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup whole milk yogurt</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 1/2 cup sugar</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">3 eggs</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Few saffron strands </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp lemon zest</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup vegetable oil</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Preheat the oven to 350 degree.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Stir all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. In another mixing bowl combine yogurt, sugar, eggs and mix them well. Add oil to the wet mixture. Slowly add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients and mix them well. Add lemon zest and cardamom to the batter. Soak a few saffron strands in a little bit of warm water and add it to the batter. The warm water helps to bring out the flavor and color in saffron. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. I used a disposable 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 1/2 inch loaf pan. Pour the batter in the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or till a fork comes out clean of the center of the cake. After the cake is done, let it completely cool on a cooling rack.</span></div>
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<b><i style="background-color: white;">Mango-Yogurt sauce</i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 quart whole milk yogurt (try to use Greek yogurt which is much thicker)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 30 oz canned mango pulp </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup chopped pistachio</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">If you are not using Greek yogurt then put the yogurt on a cheese cloth and squeeze out the water from the yogurt. Then add mango pulp and chopped pistachio to the yogurt. I added the entire can of mango pulp to the thick yogurt. Since the pulp is sweet it doesn't need any extra sugar. But if you don't like the strong mango flavor, you can go easy on mango pulp.</span></div>
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<b><i style="background-color: white;">Blackberry sauce</i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">12 oz black berry</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup simple syrup - which is made of 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Simple syrup - add sugar and water in a pan and bring it to a boil.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Let the sugar cool down a little and then blend the simple syrup and black berry together. Pass the sauce through a sieve to get rid of the seed.</span></div>
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<b><i style="background-color: white;">Layering of the Trifle</i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 lemon yogurt cake</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Mango yogurt sauce</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Blackberry sauce </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup freshly chopped mango </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">I used a pyrex 8-inch baking dish to layer the trifle. Layer the bottom of the dish with slices of lemon cake, then add half of the mango-yogurt sauce and half of the freshly chopped mango. Add another layer of cake followed by rest of the mango-yogurt sauce. Then make the 'ming' pattern using the blackberry sauce :) Take a look at the picture - the black lines are the black berry sauce. Then garnish the square made out of blackberry sauce with chopped mango. Let it chill in the fridge at least for a day. The longer you keep it, the better it tastes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The two sauces are very versatile. You can make instant dessert if you have some left over sauce. Top any sweet cookie or wafer with a dollop of mango-yogurt sauce and a little blackberry sauce. It looks sensational and even tastes amazing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">I made this mini dessert by topping Nilla vanilla wafer with both of these sauces.</span></div>
</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-40604973139692416962010-05-05T04:00:00.002+01:002012-04-09T15:25:00.776+01:00Egg Salad Sandwich<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Egg salad sandwich is the perfect cold sandwich for lunch. But if you prepare it in advance it will be really soggy by lunch time. The other day, I made a egg salad sandwich for lunch and to avoid the sogginess I replaced mayo with baked potato which helped in binding the whole sandwich together without making it soggy. In addition to that I toasted the bread which also prevented the sandwich from getting mushy. I also added leek and chipotle and tomatillo chutney to give it a nice smokey, sweet and sour flavor. <br />
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<b style="background-color: white;">Egg Salad Sandwich Recipe</b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;">Ingredients</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">2 slices of whole grain bread</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 hard boiled egg</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 of a yukon gold potato boiled</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 medium chopped leek</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">2 tsp of tomatilo, chipotle chutney (recipe follows)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Chopped cilantro or parsley</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Salt and pepper</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>Ingredients for Tomatillo Chipotle chutney</b> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">2 tomatillo</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">2 cloves of garlic</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup cilantro</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Roasted cumin seed</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Salt and Pepper</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 tsp olive oil </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/4 tsp honey</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">To make the chutney, roast the tomatillo in a 450 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or till it gets a nice char on it. Then add the roasted tomatillo, chipotle chili and garlic cloves to a food processor and chop it fine. You can leave it a little chunky or make a fine saucy chutney out of it. I made the smooth chutney for the sandwich. Then stir in salt, pepper, cumin powder, little drizzle of honey and chopped cilantro.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Clean and slice the leek and saute it in a medium hot pan till it gets little color.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">Take the egg and cold water in a pan. The water should cover the egg. Bring it to a boil over medium flame. Then switch off the stove and cover the pan with a lid. After 12 minutes put the egg in ice cold water till it cools down. Peel off the shell and you will have the perfect hard boiled egg. Twelve minutes is not very exact, you can leave the eggs there for a few more minutes, the yolk color will still be bright yellow without any greenish ring around it. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In a bowl, mix half of a yukon gold potato, hard boiled egg, sauteed leek, chutney, salt and pepper. Mix them well with a fork, don't over-mix it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Toast the bread using a hot pan on a stove top. Then to assemble the sandwich, put the mixture on the toasted bread and add another piece of bread on top of it.</span></div>
</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-64250812925485977962010-04-20T15:46:00.002+01:002012-04-09T19:18:02.613+01:00Besan (Chickpea flour) crackers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCLjxWoQv2_7FjqgIc6gQ0PDBRUoqehGCokvtPDWrPlv6SGl5S2BwhriIb5QL_CgqdPAWEKY6ooCJjifoVYJg9aOdREWnKuMgab5KANPt0zDi8jQFlb9PY5ul7RteJg44EVSDCnrU51oY/s1600/DSC00133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="563" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCLjxWoQv2_7FjqgIc6gQ0PDBRUoqehGCokvtPDWrPlv6SGl5S2BwhriIb5QL_CgqdPAWEKY6ooCJjifoVYJg9aOdREWnKuMgab5KANPt0zDi8jQFlb9PY5ul7RteJg44EVSDCnrU51oY/s640/DSC00133.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Besan (chickpea flour) is the main ingredient in many Indian deep fried snacks. Like tempura batter, besan batter consists of besan, water, baking soda, salt. Some flavoring spices, little bit of onion and green chilies can also be added to the batter. Then vegetables, chicken or fish are dipped into the batter and the mixture is deep fried. <br />
<br />
Though chickpea flour is very healthy by itself, the deep frying makes it anything but healthy. The deep fried snacks are yummy though! So I always have besan in hand for those cool rainy days when you crave something hot. <br />
<br />
Since I am moving to London in a couple of months, I am trying to use all my flour, grains and lentils before we make the move. So the other day it was the besan's turn and the challenge was to make something healthy and tasty out of it. I decided to make besan crackers with ajwain (carom seed). Ajwain has a strong bitter taste with a hint of freshness. It tastes somewhat similar to thyme and looks like celery seed.<br />
<br />
To make the crackers, along with besan I used little semolina to give it some texture. I loved the crispiness of the crackers and the freshness from the ajwain. But it was a little heavy, one can't eat lot of them in one serving. It makes you feel very full after eating ten of them which might be a good thing. Snacks portions shouldn't be like full meals! But if you want to make it little lighter, instead of using besan flour only, you can do 3/4th besan and 1/4th all purpose flour.<br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="background-color: white;">Chick Pea Crackers Recipe</b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><br />
</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup besan (chickpea) flour</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/4 cup semolina</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 TBS sugar</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp backing powder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">2 tsp salt</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp garlic powder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp dry parsley </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">2 tsp ajwain</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp cayenne</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">black pepper</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 TBS of olive oil</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">water</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Mix all the dry ingredients. Then add oil to the mixture and mix it well to give it a sand texture. Add a small amount of water to it and knead it like dough. Don't put too much water, but put enough to make a soft dough out of it. Then let the dough sit on the kitchen counter for 5 minutes. Cover the dough with a wet paper towel. It will keep the dough from drying out.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Then put some besan flour on the surface and roll out the dough into a 1/8th inch thick circle. Then with a fork gently mark the circle which will give a nice look to the crackers. Then using a knife draw lines which are 1/2 inch apart from each other, from top to bottom and from left to right. It will result in small square crackers.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Then bake the crackers in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or till they get a little brown.</span></div>
</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-39054973208227149982010-04-10T17:55:00.007+01:002012-04-09T19:17:47.089+01:00My Comfort Food - Chicken Curry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNG4MrTWPHd7qm93x0TavUm5XQsqHi-uSJuKJiO4pajj9eWn0yLZJv7LEEjWktsRnvf8bhPJJuce3U7-GxR8jRfDDKv6iFdENHJDkMH7nu9fNh6-zUCKqfGIuIG9AtCQtP-0esoK8C0W4/s1600/DSC00137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNG4MrTWPHd7qm93x0TavUm5XQsqHi-uSJuKJiO4pajj9eWn0yLZJv7LEEjWktsRnvf8bhPJJuce3U7-GxR8jRfDDKv6iFdENHJDkMH7nu9fNh6-zUCKqfGIuIG9AtCQtP-0esoK8C0W4/s640/DSC00137.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
We may explore and experiment in our kitchen with food from different regions, but sometimes we crave for the comfort food that we ate while growing up and the food that our mom made for us for years. What spaghetti with tomato sauce is to an Italian, what a juicy burger is to an American, chicken curry is to me - its the ultimate Indian comfort food. But my version of chicken curry is a simpler version of what my mom used to make. Instead of making ginger/garlic paste I put chopped ginger-garlic. I don't even bother to caramelize onion before adding ginger-garlic paste. Caramelizing a big onion just takes too much time.<br />
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This chicken curry calls for a lot of ground spices. But all these spices are very common in Indian cooking. Once you have these ready, you can pull off almost any curry you want. All these spices are available off the shelf in Indian groceries and now a days in many super markets. But just in case you want to make them from scratch, you can easily do so by buying the seeds and using that magic tool - the coffee grinder. If you have leftover seeds then don't despair you can always use them directly in Indian curries.<br />
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<i><b>Turmeric powder</b></i> - its difficult to buy whole turmeric so you are better of buying this from a store.<br />
<i><b>Cumin powder</b></i> - dry roast the cumin seeds and make the powder using a coffee grinder. If you are not scared of chili, you can roast a couple of red chilis with the cumin seed. Red chili adds little spiciness to the smoked cumin powder.<br />
<i><b>Coriander powder</b></i> - dry roast the coriander seeds and let them cool for a while. Then grind them using coffee grinder.<br />
<i><b>Garam masala</b></i> - this is a combination of cardamom, cinnamon, clove. Dry roast all of them and grind them to make a coarse powder.<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: white;">Indian Chicken Curry Recipe</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 TBS oil (I use olive oil)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/4 tsp sugar </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 bay leaf</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Whole garam masala (cardamoms, cinnamon stick, cloves)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 TBS finely chopped ginger and garlic</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 medium size onion</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 lb of boneless chicken thigh</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 tsp turmeric powder </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup chopped tomato</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup red or green bell pepper</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 tsp coriander powder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 tsp cumin powder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp pepper powder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 tsp garam masala </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp maggi tomato chili sauce (available in Indian stores, or you can substitute it with chili garlic paste)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp low sodium soy sauce</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup of water</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Salt </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/2 cup chopped cilanto</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In a heavy bottom pan, add oil. When oil gets a little hot, add sugar. Wait till the sugar gets caramelized. Be careful at this point, don't let the sugar burn. Otherwise, it will give a bitter taste to the curry. The caramelized sugar gives a nice color to the curry. You can omit this step if you want. Then add the bay leaf and whole garam masala to the pan. Then add onion, chopped ginger garlic and chicken and salt to the pan. Cover the pan with a lid. Salt will bring out water from the chicken and onion. Covering the pan with a lid will help the chicken to cook and get tender.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">When the chicken gets a little tender or after 10 minutes remove the lid and cook it for another 10-15 minutes by stirring it once in couple of minutes till the onion and ginger-garlic get cooked and have a thick curry consistency. All the water that came out of the chicken should have been evaporated at this point.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Then add tomatoes, bell pepper, all the remaining spices and sauces to the chicken. Cook it for 5 minutes till the raw smells of the spices are gone and the vegetable becomes tender. Then add a cup of water and cook it on a medium flame for another 5-10 minutes. Cooking time varies depending on how thick/thin you want your curry. Stir it a couple of times so that the thick sauce won't stick to the pan. After the curry is done, stir in 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro. If you don't like cilantro, you can substitute cilantro with parsley.</span></div>
</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-36033552990924205782010-03-31T18:09:00.000+01:002012-04-09T19:17:24.495+01:00Sunday Brunch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSh2u4y47HL1FK2TYyLICRSffppc_f4Co2CJJkzo-5FXjXBJLC02NVNmZ5UsiVNW17pGzMhkEG47_3v3x_1EsoZQ_-oUleghBqd1p7jU-uIO16jm5GD8I2N3Ff-BU8KgQGPtFTAGbVBlo/s1600/sunday+brunch1.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="480" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454954539606042546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSh2u4y47HL1FK2TYyLICRSffppc_f4Co2CJJkzo-5FXjXBJLC02NVNmZ5UsiVNW17pGzMhkEG47_3v3x_1EsoZQ_-oUleghBqd1p7jU-uIO16jm5GD8I2N3Ff-BU8KgQGPtFTAGbVBlo/s640/sunday+brunch1.JPG" style="display: block; height: 300px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" width="640" /></a><br />
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Last week, I had a class on eggs in my cooking school. I made tonnes of 'proper' french omelets (Omelette roulee); which is french for rolled omelet. The entire class was very informative and also enjoyable. I found many of the Spanish omelets to be very similar to the omelets I used to eat growing up in India.<br />
<br />
Omelette Basquaise is basically a thick omelet made with a mixture of eggs, onion, green pepper and tomato. It starts on the stove top, then moves to the oven and gets finished on the stove top. While my mom made similar omelets with mixed vegetables, those were cooked entirely on the stove top. To achieve the thickness of the omelet she used to cover the pan with a lid and cook the omelet on low heat.<br />
<br />
After this exciting class on egg, I decided to make my version of individual baked omelet for Sunday brunch. I also made a brie and pear sandwich to go with the eggs<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="background-color: white;">Oven Baked Omelet Recipe</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 portabella mushroom</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 egg</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">10 milliliter (splash of milk)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">40 milligram onion chopped</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">40 milligram green pepper chopped</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Half of a plum tomato (chopped and seed removed)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Salt, Black pepper</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp parsley</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Pre-heat the oven to 350F.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Clean the portabella mushroom with a clean damp cloth. In a heavy bottom pan add oil. When oil gets hot, add the mushroom cap, top side down. Wait for the mushroom to get a nice brown color on the top side. Then flip the mushroom. Wait till the mushroom gets slightly cooked. The rest of the cooking continues in the oven.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Mix rest of the ingredients. Brush the ramekin with olive oil. Put the portabella mushroom in the ramekin and pour the egg mixture into the ramekin. In the preheated 350F oven, bake it for 20 minutes. You can add a little cheese after removing the ramekin from the oven. The cheese will melt from the residual heat in the egg and ramekin. I didn't add cheese though.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9DQaXqcSUDJMOFkiSnipSAXJ9nf35Frvwv9Jbt8FScCh_IsUsPD5TS6MbjeRAqooP7WqUb5c0sqdSchT9VSMPHaK2oaLRVft2xJPydgEdjSsXZeqhPqmi1YNeSjZwgO8am8luM2NFeE/s1600/sunday+brunch2.JPG" style="background-color: white;"><img alt="" border="0" height="480" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454954641949419730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9DQaXqcSUDJMOFkiSnipSAXJ9nf35Frvwv9Jbt8FScCh_IsUsPD5TS6MbjeRAqooP7WqUb5c0sqdSchT9VSMPHaK2oaLRVft2xJPydgEdjSsXZeqhPqmi1YNeSjZwgO8am8luM2NFeE/s640/sunday+brunch2.JPG" style="display: block; height: 300px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="background-color: white;">Pear and Brie Sandwich</b></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">2 slices of whole grain bread (I bought mine from a local Italian store, It was really flavorful and nutty)</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">2 oz of brie</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1/4 of a pear sliced</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp of honey</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 tsp butter</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">Butter one side of each slice. Then keep the buttered side of the bread slice on a medium hot pan. Add cheese slices, pear and honey on top of the bread. Add the other slice of bread on top of the fruit and cheese, keeping the buttered side to the top. Let it stay for one minute and then flip it and wait for another couple of minutes or till the cheese starts melting. But keep an eye on the heat as the bread can get burnt very quickly.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">I should have cut the sandwich in the picture to show the inside, But I was very hungry...just managed to take the picture of my plate.</span></div>
</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-4573784856196235302010-03-29T19:50:00.012+01:002012-04-09T19:17:04.750+01:00Broccoli and Egg Salad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-VP414HqwhE98kKjebEQHC3CrsgtQMpA5uZdHRDmkfsMMltfPnLu3puFf8-65bbJGQw2iTIsc50PUKeTEG8sUJJmBHhdBY7eyfvNwDR6D04PoPeFqNZtTqirbOlwEVfFKkWFGp3nGmk/s1600/broccoli+salad.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="480" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454949306726352626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-VP414HqwhE98kKjebEQHC3CrsgtQMpA5uZdHRDmkfsMMltfPnLu3puFf8-65bbJGQw2iTIsc50PUKeTEG8sUJJmBHhdBY7eyfvNwDR6D04PoPeFqNZtTqirbOlwEVfFKkWFGp3nGmk/s640/broccoli+salad.JPG" style="display: block; height: 300px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" width="640" /></a><br />
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Today, I was thinking about making a salad for lunch. But there were no salad greens in the fridge. It was raining and I was in no mood for shopping. Luckily I found a broccoli head and made this crunchy broccoli and hard boiled egg salad. And I added chewiness to the salad by adding a leftover baguette piece that was hanging around in the freezer.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold;">Broccoli and Egg Salad Recipe</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">2 cups broccoli florets</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">2 eggs</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">1 cup baguette cubes</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">1 garlic clove finely chopped</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">2 tsp of olive oil</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">salt, pepper, cayenne</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">Toss the broccoli florets and baguette cubes in salt, pepper, minced garlic and olive oil and bake it in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or till the rawness of the broccoli is gone.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">To achieve the perfect hard boiled egg, in a pot take cold water and egg. Bring the water gently to a boil over medium heat. Then switch off the stove and cover the pot with a lid. Let it sit for 12 minutes and then put the eggs in ice bath/cold tap water. Let the eggs cool down a little. Then peel them under cold running water.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In a salad bowl, put the broccoli, baguette cubes and top them with the hard boiled sliced eggs . Sprinkle little cayenne and black pepper on the top.</span></div>
</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-8313238835863450402010-03-28T02:45:00.007+01:002012-04-09T19:16:45.892+01:00Lemon Pudding<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxG1k6SxJyIc0E0v34FbrHYBvir_VktRzytbbdQQ-mCAVX-0KOFB0fAVQsnXSR3cdX0kYQyfv52YNx5uJDHM3Dh2HjN-gFBCnW3xnIJTlFeQY14wPnydE7qNdvSVLksM26e-aVvblFTU/s1600/DSC00125.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="524" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454148047945913714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxG1k6SxJyIc0E0v34FbrHYBvir_VktRzytbbdQQ-mCAVX-0KOFB0fAVQsnXSR3cdX0kYQyfv52YNx5uJDHM3Dh2HjN-gFBCnW3xnIJTlFeQY14wPnydE7qNdvSVLksM26e-aVvblFTU/s640/DSC00125.JPG" style="display: block; height: 262px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="640" /></a><br />
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<br />
The most deliciously decadent dessert I have ever made. I didn't post the recipe because it was not mine. But I can provide the recipe on request.</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-6837530124563584682010-03-28T00:25:00.001+00:002012-04-09T19:16:24.083+01:00Linguine with Acorn squash<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
Here is one more recipe with roasted acorn squash.<br />
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<b>Ingredients</b><br />
1 cup linguine<br />
8 medium sized shrimp<br />
1/2 cup roasted acorn squash<br />
4 cloves of chopped garlic <br />
1/2 cup chopped onion<br />
1 medium leek<br />
1 teaspoon capers<br />
1 TBS lemon juice<br />
1 tsp lemon zest<b><br /></b><br />
2 TBS olive oil<br />
Salt and crushed black pepper<br />
Red pepper flakes<br />
<br />
In a large pot, boil 6 cups of water over high heat and salt the water generously. Then add pasta and cook the pasta, stirring occasionally for about 8-9 minutes or according to the package direction. Then drain the pasta.<br />
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Leek is a member of onion family and the taste is sweet and subtle. Only white and pale green are used in cooking and dark green part is good for soup. Cut off the dark green part, leaving the white and pale green part. Then cut the leek lengthwise into half. Then clean it under running water by removing sand that might be in-between the leaves. Then slice both halves of the leek like you slice onion<b>.</b> In a pan saute the leek with little olive oil and butter till it gets soft. Set aside.<br />
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Add 1TBS of olive oil to the pan. Add red pepper flakes to the oil. When oil gets medium hot, add onion and salt and saute till it gets translucent. Add garlic and the roasted acorn squash. Then add the shrimp. Shrimp will take 5-6 minutes to get cooked. Then add the cooked pasta and sauteed leek . Adjust the seasoning, add capers, lemon juice, lemon zest and crushed black pepper. Garnish with copped parsley.</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-25055170994538394082010-03-20T15:05:00.003+00:002012-04-09T19:16:05.522+01:00Chana Dal with Acorn Squash<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZLqJfapgoRhpo4c2KyB2c-yqn1-9lyVO1Gyw9bxtsbrqPwCtxMqqErmXvBseeFRDlETLjcFVbiz2zqWCcWEeHJ_uEMw0aZa99YJQ-AL0aDJSOnmbZygik3lf7_Xvcbtffd-RlCgz9rE/s1600-h/DSC00077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZLqJfapgoRhpo4c2KyB2c-yqn1-9lyVO1Gyw9bxtsbrqPwCtxMqqErmXvBseeFRDlETLjcFVbiz2zqWCcWEeHJ_uEMw0aZa99YJQ-AL0aDJSOnmbZygik3lf7_Xvcbtffd-RlCgz9rE/s640/DSC00077.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Couple of days back, I had roasted acorn squash for the first time in my life. It was so delicious - the sweet, earthy flavor just melted in my mouth. People generally eat the fleshy part and discard the skin. But the roasted skin is as delicious as the flesh. I ended up eating the skin, flesh everything. I was so impressed by the vegetable, it has topped my produce list for this week.<br />
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Based on requests from some of my vegetarian friends, I was trying to post a couple of vegetarian recipes for this week. So I thought of combining acorn squash and lentil. This recipe is also a spin off of my mom's mixed vegetable curry with chana dal.<br />
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Chana dal is a variety of yellow dal. It is basically, split skinned off black chickpea. You can find this in any Indian grocery store or you can use the yellow lentil found in any regular grocery store. Chana dal holds the shape better than the regular yellow dal even after cooking. But you can always substitute with yellow dal.<br />
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<b>Ingredients </b><br />
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1 cup chana dal (yellow lentil) <br />
3 cups water<br />
1/2 acorn squash<br />
1 inch ginger minced <br />
1/2 yellow spanish onion chopped<br />
1 plum tomato<br />
1 TBS cup sweet peas <br />
Cilantro<br />
Juice of half a lemon<br />
<br />
1 TBS of oil ( I used olive oil)<br />
1/2 tsp cumin seed<br />
1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder<br />
1/2 tsp turmeric powder<br />
4 clove<br />
1 cinnamon stick<br />
2 cardamom pod<br />
Salt<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBAZY4lRC04QCuZdGGvPD2Q_fbN8OjaenKr0GGfsRtetVNiYdnaD4J3EDUc1-rh39DU5qgdYSiDN5jRdw_B5CH6LS5ItjLFU_RyNIjtdm3DQWpHnMguDSso9gEwBqTPPKCAcpo2olx1A/s1600-h/DSC00076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBAZY4lRC04QCuZdGGvPD2Q_fbN8OjaenKr0GGfsRtetVNiYdnaD4J3EDUc1-rh39DU5qgdYSiDN5jRdw_B5CH6LS5ItjLFU_RyNIjtdm3DQWpHnMguDSso9gEwBqTPPKCAcpo2olx1A/s640/DSC00076.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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In large pot put chana dal, tomato, whole spices (clove, cinnamon stick, cardamom) and water. Bring it to a boil and then simmer it for 45 minutes or till the dal gets tender with no resistance. If you are using a pressure cooker it will take 10 minutes. I don't have a pressure cooker, so I used a large pot. After the dal is done fish out the whole spices.<br />
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Add oil in a pan. When oil gets hot, temper the oil with cumin seed. Then add ginger and cook it till it gets fragrant. Then add the onion, little salt and saute the onion till it gets light brown. The salt helps to bring out all the moisture from the onion and helps the cooking process. Then add roasted acorn squash (recipe follows) and saute for a 2/3 minutes till the squash gets little color.<br />
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Take the tomato out of the boiled dal mixture and put in the pan and mash it with spoon. Then cook till tomato gets cooked and all the vegetables get nicely coated with it. It will take 3/4 minutes. Then add all the dal and water to the pan. Cook it for a couple of minutes and mix the dal well with the rest of the vegetable on the pan. Season it with salt. Then finish it by adding the cumin powder, lemon juice and chopped cilantro. <br />
<br />
Serve it with steamed rice or whole wheat tortilla or Indian roti.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Roasted Acorn squash </b><br />
Cut the acorn squash into half. Then brush the inside with olive oil. Roast the squash in a 400 degree F oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. <br />
<br />
<i>Time saving tip</i> - you can boil the dal and squash at the same time and you don't even have to be in the kitchen. After boiling and roasting is done, you can come back and finish the dish, which all together takes 10-15 minutes.</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-33973036522289708872010-03-14T04:36:00.006+00:002012-04-09T19:15:42.759+01:00Chicken Wings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Chicken wings with salad is one of my favorite dinners on a cold or rainy night. It is easy to make and also delicious – tickles all the taste buds. I pan fry the chicken wings instead of deep-frying it, I guess it makes it a little healthier.<br />
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Ingredients</div>
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10 chicken wings</div>
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1 ½ teaspoon of all-purpose flour</div>
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Salt, pepper and paprika</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Sauce<br />
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¼ cup of hot sauce</div>
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2 TBS soy sauce</div>
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½ teaspoon tomato paste</div>
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½ teaspoon sugar</div>
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½ lemon</div>
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6 crush cloves (give the whole clove a coarse grind in the coffee grinder)</div>
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Parsley for garnish</div>
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Mix the flour with salt, pepper and paprika. Coat the chicken wings with the flour mixture. Put 1 TBS of canola oil on the pan, and then pan-fry the coated chicken wings. Fry till the chicken wings look brown on both sides. I started with 1 TBS of oil because lot of fat gets generated from the wings. So the frying process is somewhere between pan-frying and shallow frying. Mix rest of ingredients in a bowl for the sauce. Add the sauce to the pan and shallow fry it till the sauce thickens and the chicken gets coated with the sauce and oil (generated from the wings) mixtures. Then sprinkle some clove powder on the wings – this gives them a nice spicy kick. Garnish the wings with parsley. </div>
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Serve the wings with a homemade dipping sauce. The recipe for the dipping sauce follows below.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Dipping Sauce</span><br />
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1 teaspoon mayo</div>
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1 TBS non-fat yogurt</div>
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chopped scallion (can be substituted with chives)</div>
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½ teaspoon lemon juice</div>
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½ teaspoon chopped capers</div>
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Salt, pepper</div>
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Put all the ingredients for dipping sauce in a bowl and mix all of them well.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvwI9SIkjLAwbF7P5LGIVrmZXaW0OHFRrW05eAZMlU6IIYefqAYBQadlO3xgIUbzFvs3agFndxk_zoXcmE98Ug8IRIMTgsgPTWQ4AGIds1cMTjUwzgVUT5CyHxf2EfJkg8WZjWCDoEKdo/s1600-h/DSC00062.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="452" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448347446219179810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvwI9SIkjLAwbF7P5LGIVrmZXaW0OHFRrW05eAZMlU6IIYefqAYBQadlO3xgIUbzFvs3agFndxk_zoXcmE98Ug8IRIMTgsgPTWQ4AGIds1cMTjUwzgVUT5CyHxf2EfJkg8WZjWCDoEKdo/s640/DSC00062.JPG" style="display: block; height: 226px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="640" /></a></div>
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</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-76878076061815442622010-03-14T04:28:00.005+00:002012-04-09T19:15:25.800+01:00Banana Bread wih Nutella<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Banana bread is one of my ‘rescue banana’ recipes. Banana is not only rich in vitamin, but it also acts as an anti-acid. After dinner, banana is a easy and healthy dessert with a little nutella or peanut butter on top. But sometime it just sits on the counter top unnoticed and turns black and mushy. That’s when my banana bread recipe comes into play, one recipe that demands for ripe, mushy banana that is not very appetizing on its own.<br />
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Ingredients</div>
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4 ripe bananas</div>
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1 cup all purpose flour</div>
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1/3 cup unsalted butter</div>
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1 egg</div>
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½ cup honey</div>
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2 TBS granulated sugar</div>
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pinch of salt</div>
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½ teaspoon cinnamon</div>
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¼ cup chopped pecans</div>
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¼ cup raisin </div>
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¼ cup chocolate chips</div>
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nutella (Chocolate hazel nut spread)</div>
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Preheat the oven to 400 Degrees F.</div>
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Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mass all the bananas in a separate bowl using a fork, then add melted cold butter and egg to the bowl. Mix them well. Then mix all the dry and wet ingredients. Butter the pan and add the mixture and bake it for 30-35 minutes. The house smells good, cinnamon, and banana, just like home.</div>
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I am addicted to nutella. I can spread it on any baked goods, fruits or any sweet thing. Nutella tastes even yummier with this chocolate banana cake, got to try this to believe it. After the bread cools down, spread a generous amount of nutella, sprinkle some chopped hazel nut, pecan or whatever else you have at hand.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcK8537brmu3DxSNBmC41BAyr_msb7EKV9ErMv3AjhbghyRsl1ukvlV_n5nWYZdfCZr2ulR86Q-nnwDLQW_OHJhxFt48TpSkeR7tg2Fg7I97zkQm3I3YNcdiSVXuNkGnVNItxMBOc6U0/s1600-h/DSC00058.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="444" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448343018654405346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcK8537brmu3DxSNBmC41BAyr_msb7EKV9ErMv3AjhbghyRsl1ukvlV_n5nWYZdfCZr2ulR86Q-nnwDLQW_OHJhxFt48TpSkeR7tg2Fg7I97zkQm3I3YNcdiSVXuNkGnVNItxMBOc6U0/s640/DSC00058.JPG" style="display: block; height: 222px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-44367845269248711562010-03-14T03:59:00.002+00:002012-04-09T19:15:09.225+01:00Chicken liver with Leek<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After a leisurely stroll in central park, coming back home I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some onions. Even when I go to the grocery store to pick up one thing, it never stops at one. I got some beautiful chicken liver and my latest favorite vegetable, leek and bunch of other things.<br />
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Since I got my favorite vegetable, I decided to use it with chicken liver. I cleaned and finely chopped the leek and then sweated it with little bit of olive oil and salt. Sweating with butter will make it even more flavorful, but olive oil is a much healthier option. Then I sautéed chicken liver in a mixture of butter and olive oil and seasoned it with salt, pepper, cayenne, and cumin powder. I served the chicken liver on the bed of leek and with a chipotle-mayo slathered ciabatta bread.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7C4fxVMXxbSroFPODoh8EwcYgbf8cSGAR5cwr8uEFIG-JWFePT9wCliCCG5TblFLDxjeo-knMNZarpBmdX7QN0oiVOhXho3BoaZhKQb30fsLkG6KuPCWXhWBLFuXrqyAKXh84ERKHowA/s1600-h/DSC00061.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="460" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448340949573971458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7C4fxVMXxbSroFPODoh8EwcYgbf8cSGAR5cwr8uEFIG-JWFePT9wCliCCG5TblFLDxjeo-knMNZarpBmdX7QN0oiVOhXho3BoaZhKQb30fsLkG6KuPCWXhWBLFuXrqyAKXh84ERKHowA/s640/DSC00061.JPG" style="display: block; height: 230px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="640" /></a></div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-4724450348439868352010-03-12T17:26:00.002+00:002012-04-09T19:14:52.732+01:00Sweet and Savory Weekend Brunch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Weekend brunch is one of my favorite meals. Last Saturday was a gorgeous day in NYC. I was craving for something savory followed by something sweet. Eggs, some baked items and fruits are the must haves of my weekend brunch. I decided to do something simple with the egg other than making omelet or frittata. I also wanted Heini’s yogurt cultured semi-soft cheese that I bought from Gourmet Garage to be the star of the show. The cheese is very creamy and spiced with jalapeno. It is just delicious. To satisfy my craving, I finally settled on a open faced ciabatta sandwich with poached egg and lots of melted cheese.<br />
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Ingredients for the open-faced Ciabatta sandwich<br />
2 Eggs<br />
½ Avocado<br />
10-15 Cherry Tomatoes<br />
Olive oil<br />
Ciabatta bread<br />
Salt, pepper, cumin powder<br />
Heini’s yogurt cultured cow’s milk cheese with Jalapeno<br />
Juice of half a lemon<br />
<br />
I poached two eggs according to steps listed in the simply recipes blog and I had perfect poached eggs. Thanks Elise for sharing the recipe.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_poached_eggs/">http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_poached_eggs/</a><br />
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I lightly toasted the ciabatta bread with olive oil and a little salt. Melted the cheese on the bread on the stove top. Added the poached egg, sweet cherry tomato, avocado, lemon juice and drizzled olive oil on the top. Then I seasoned the sandwich with salt, pepper and a little cumin powder. The recipe serves 2 people. And here is the sandwich…<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizsaCI-4gN4YdmAAxiy9YalAJDVz2qCORykuZTKPZsw3GrQZirC0fB7cKos963z2VLnp4HqCWvvDNtTr051A8dezKRqwFgmzTliTPLkqey-NRA77-99CH36g1nQmWWmM2mqVxHdfqjIGM/s1600-h/DSC00051.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="480" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447811567678313410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizsaCI-4gN4YdmAAxiy9YalAJDVz2qCORykuZTKPZsw3GrQZirC0fB7cKos963z2VLnp4HqCWvvDNtTr051A8dezKRqwFgmzTliTPLkqey-NRA77-99CH36g1nQmWWmM2mqVxHdfqjIGM/s640/DSC00051.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="640" /></a><br />
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The sandwich was accompanied by pear and blue berry crisp, which I baked in individual ramekin. Here is the recipe<br />
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Fruit mixture<br />
1 pear<br />
1 cup blue berry<br />
½ teaspoon of cinnamon<br />
½ teaspoon honey<br />
½ teaspoon mixed berry jam<br />
Freshly squeezed and zest of half orange <br />
½ teaspoon of all-purpose flour<br />
<br />
Topping <br />
¼ cup all-purpose flour<br />
¼ cup chopped roasted pecan<br />
Pinch of salt <br />
½ teaspoon of granulated sugar<br />
¼ teaspoon cinnamon<br />
2 TBS of unsalted butter<br />
<br />
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mix all the ingredients for the fruit mixture. Divide fruit mixture into two ramekins. <br />
<br />
Put all the ingredients of the topping except the roasted pecans in a bowl. Add butter to the dry ingredients and rub the butter till texture of the mixture gets crumbly. Add the chopped pecan to the mixture.<br />
<br />
Sprinkle the topping on top of the fruit filling. And bake it for 40-45 minutes till the fruit gets bubbly and the top gets crispy.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUp-S75FRCVbT_5kUHwE-opfGzqAopHa_jadiyqjTDliaRoNdZCBVPUMdAVPe_6PLgbsl2P4e5BYkVBMnPChl7sFY6ahR-j6FdX9i5imLDopMDP6OIm6Lv8Oz0U2eVjWladfHJ6ajaJJo/s1600-h/DSC00043.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="480" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447812137965577874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUp-S75FRCVbT_5kUHwE-opfGzqAopHa_jadiyqjTDliaRoNdZCBVPUMdAVPe_6PLgbsl2P4e5BYkVBMnPChl7sFY6ahR-j6FdX9i5imLDopMDP6OIm6Lv8Oz0U2eVjWladfHJ6ajaJJo/s640/DSC00043.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
And the brunch served.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7dLqbl8s_UPSbtbXTmnuvHo_0b_8etbHHwkJykgv_rTLcUnMvuk1I1Q_xuKvsReYo8ZF_aLE0OOvHk2xhi0TFrUAJWoNM7DkI45Uci02tilF6zjMWXaOzogfYE4hLvW1Vnh02B3PCBa8/s1600-h/DSC00056.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="480" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447812558711738050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7dLqbl8s_UPSbtbXTmnuvHo_0b_8etbHHwkJykgv_rTLcUnMvuk1I1Q_xuKvsReYo8ZF_aLE0OOvHk2xhi0TFrUAJWoNM7DkI45Uci02tilF6zjMWXaOzogfYE4hLvW1Vnh02B3PCBa8/s640/DSC00056.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="640" /></a></div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341192601470068620.post-10159769394160090062010-03-04T03:43:00.000+00:002012-04-09T19:14:15.387+01:00Home coming dinner<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9sSsv44nesOYG9OE7aJhNhMkd3jc9at-kIaO2LBmhPWHUMPX4gcaQn7Wkg5LBX0VeSPlwKmZd95WCe-o1mur5qYPcd0waCpWopNJXX6ZPLSki0zO5WkGEYTwcviEnP0NPzD8iNMqDh_k/s1600-h/IMG_3045.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="358" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444621122954099042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9sSsv44nesOYG9OE7aJhNhMkd3jc9at-kIaO2LBmhPWHUMPX4gcaQn7Wkg5LBX0VeSPlwKmZd95WCe-o1mur5qYPcd0waCpWopNJXX6ZPLSki0zO5WkGEYTwcviEnP0NPzD8iNMqDh_k/s640/IMG_3045.JPG" style="display: block; height: 179px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiINXlR4F3fSwHa_PMd-seSs3RAh4M7obNst0uIc0-6MOEKqq5Cg2LbemTbRq_8e05WofjDFuhotJy1vhBOCFNgs1u_9TKdd_0WLO5J433pDNJ2k1W6IMwOlH63vVCfO99Nf6whLQRvG8/s1600-h/IMG_3055.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" height="223" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444621120737721122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiINXlR4F3fSwHa_PMd-seSs3RAh4M7obNst0uIc0-6MOEKqq5Cg2LbemTbRq_8e05WofjDFuhotJy1vhBOCFNgs1u_9TKdd_0WLO5J433pDNJ2k1W6IMwOlH63vVCfO99Nf6whLQRvG8/s400/IMG_3055.JPG" style="display: block; height: 179px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="400" /></a>
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After me and my husband did a long distance relationship for 2.5 years, I decided to quit my job and just come home and start living together. Quitting my job was not an easy decision but sometimes you have to do things because you have to do it. So here I reached home. A delicious, comforting dinner was waiting for me prepared by my husband, who is really challenged in the kitchen, believe me, I am not kidding. It made my heart filled with awe…so sweet. The chicken soba noodle soup and the garlic bread were delicious. The yellow cake with pink frosting from Amy’s bread was delectable…yummy! I felt welcomed. There couldn’t have been a better dinner than this, the best meal I have ever had. </div>
</div>Chandrikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11157254682787747446noreply@blogger.com0