Honey Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

V had  to go to the airport to pick up a relative, late one night  and since I wasn't sleepy I decided to make these yummy cookies :)
Sometimes I'm an owl and sleep doesn't come very easily when I have something on my mind.. Hence i decided to make a batch of these at 11 pm...
Oh, how wonderful the house smelt after these babies came out of the oven... Here is my recipe of this classic recipe.. ( everyone has their own recipe, so you can adjust/add/minus, any ingredient you wish to, without altering the basic recipe )

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1/2 cup - butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup - granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup - honey
• 1 large - egg
• 1 teaspoon - vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups - quick cooking rolled oats
• 1 cup - whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon - salt
• 1 teaspoon - ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon - baking soda
• 1 cup - raisins, chocolate or butterscotch chips

• 
  DIRECTIONS : 

  In medium bowl, beat butter with sugar until thoroughly blended. Blend in honey. Blend in egg and vanilla, mixing until smooth. In separate bowl, mix together oats, flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda; blend into honey mixture. Blend in raisins or chips. Drop dough by rounded Tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 180°C for 12 to 14 minutes until cookies are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool 2 to 3 minutes before removing from baking sheet. Cool completely then store in an airtight container.

  TIP

  High altitude adjustment: Increase oats to 2 cups and decrease whole wheat flour to 3/4 cup.

• 
  

Garlic Pull Apart Rolls

I think I have been looking longingly at this recipe for more than a year now, tempted to make it but somehow put off by the process and basically worried about how I would handle the yeast.

Yesterday I thought to myself that no more procrastinating, and unless I tried my hand at it how would I ever know, right? So I set off rightaway, armed with my ingredients! Firstly, it was much easier than I imagined. The dough behaved and even tastewise I was happy with the result :)

I will mention at the outset that I have referred to many recipes but ended up adapting it to my taste and preferences. So the below recipe, is really mine :D

Ingredients for the dough:

1.5 cups of flour (I used normal chapati atta, whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1.5 tbsp of yeast (active dry yeast)
1 cup warm water (not hot, just warm)
1 tsp of baking powder ( this is only just in case you are worried the flour won't behave, as it's not self raising i.e maida)
Olive oil, as needed
4 tbsp of milk

Ingredients for the garlic filling:

4 cloves of garlic - finely crushed
Butter or mayo - as per preference
Finely chopped coriander leaves

Method:

Mix all dry ingredients together (yes, including the yeast). Now add warm water and knead into a soft dough. Add a touch of olive oil as and when needed but make sure the dough isn't too oily. Now cover with clingfilm and set aside in a warm environment for around 45 minutes so that the yeast can work its wonder and the dough will double in size.

Meanwhile, combine well all ingredients for the garlic filling together and set aside. Grease a small loaf pan and set aside too

After 45 minutes to an hour, take the dough and punch the air from inside by knocking it. Divide into two parts. Take one part and spread it on a floured surface and roll into a semi-thick rectangle. Now spread half the quantity of the garlic mixture thoroughly to cover the rectangle. Roll it from one end to another (via the length) and cut into four parts. Preheat your oven to 180C (Mine is a convection so I heated it to 200C).

Place the rolls with the cut size up, into a loaf pan. Brush the rolls lightly with milk. Repeat this procedure with the other half of the dough (rolling out, applying filling and rolling in again to cut up into parts).

Bake for around 35 minutes, until the top part of the rolls appear to brown and the rolls feel like bread. Serve with your choice of a side, I just sauteed some potatoes to add to the flavour ;) Enjoy!

Trifle Pudding (Part two)

Part one of the Trifle Pudding was shared here by me

http://m-n-mcook.blogspot.ae/2011/06/trifle-pudding.html

This time around, I added a few ingredients and that really altered the taste. Let me now share the new recipe with you guys :)

Ingredients:

Sponge cake and a few teaspoons of fruit juice to moisten it.
Milk chocolate bar (any brand - I used Cadbury)
Sliced bananas
Half a tin of Nestle condensed milk (1 tin is usually 390g)
Half a cup of vanilla custard
A few tablespoons of nutella
A small tin of nestle cream
Peach slices (fresh or canned) - I used the canned ones and they were really yum

Method:

I used a deep dish glass casserole dish to create the pudding in, because it is just perfect. So first, start off by slicing the sponge cake in 3 medium-thick layers. Moisten the layers of sponge with a few teaspoons of fruit juice.  On the bottom layer, melt small pieces of the milk chocolate and place gently at the bottom of your deep dish glass casserole. Now pour condensed milk thinly over this and arrange the banana slices over the condensed milk. Now spread Nutella on the other 2 layers of sponge cake. Place one layer over the banana slices and cover with vanilla custard. Place the other layer of nutella sponge (prepared in the step before) and cover with Nestle cream. Now arrange the peach slices over it to garnish the dessert.

                   

The most important part is this dessert needs to be prepared at least 24 hours in advance so that the layers can set together and that's what makes it really tasty :)

Butterless Eggless Chocolate Muffins

My first attempt at baking muffins and wow they do look yum..don't they?  Actually Samarth has been asking for chocolate muffins for the longest time ever. I have been promising him and procrastinating at the same time. Finally today I had some extra time in the kitchen so I thought I will get set and bake...only to realize that I have run out of butter. 

Here is a quick recipe for butterless and eggless muffins that are made from wholewheat chapati flour (which makes them healthier as compared to those made with all purpose flour).

You will need:

1.5 cups of flour (chapati aatta)

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of choc powder (I had nesquik lying around)

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp vanilla powder

1 cup milk

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

A few pieces of milk chocolate

Get baking:

Sift the dry ingredients together and make a well in the middle and add the wet ingredients. Make sure you don't mix it too much. Add the pieces of chocolate and combine together.

Preheat the oven to 230C. Pour tthe mixture to only half of the silicon mould and bake for around 20 minutes. I have a small tray and only 7 moulds could  go in at a time. Plus mine is a convection oven so I had to adjust the baking time accordingly.

If you are a newbie like me...keep checking the muffins as they swell and settle. Poke with a skewer and if it comes out clean then the muffins are done.

Edited to add :  Tastewise.... very very moist and just the right degree of sweet!!! Am motivated to try more recipes now

Upside down mango cake

Ingredients
Sliced ripe mango- 2cups
Lemon juice- 1tbsp
Butter- 1tbsp
Brown sugar- ⅓ cup

For the cake:
Milk- 1 cup or 250ml
Granulated sugar- ¾ cup
All purpose flour- 1-1/2 cup
Custard powder- ½ cup
Baking powder- 2tsp
Baking soda- ¼tsp
Vanilla extract- 1tsp
Butter- ½ cup

Instructions:
Pour lemon juice over the mango slices and let them stand for 15min. Melt butter in an 8″ cake pan and add the brown sugar. Cover with mango slices and set aside.

For the cake, Sift the flour along with the baking powder and baking soda and keep aside. Heat milk in a pan and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and set aside to cool. Once the milk has reached room temperature, add the custard powder and vanilla extract and mix. Stir in the butter and mix again. Pour the prepared milk mixture to the flour mixture and mix well until there are no lumps. Pour the batter over the mangoes and bake in a pre heated oven at 180C for 45min or till an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 5min. Remove and turn it upside down on a plate. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

The simplest ever Eggless pancakes!

Samarth had been asking for some pancakes for the longest time ever! I decided to google for an easy recipe that would also be eggless (so in case I don't have eggs at home on a particular day, I could still make them). In fact I am always on the lookout for eggless recipes for the same reason. 

So here you go, easy peasy way to make yummy tasty, McDonald's style pancakes! 

You'll need:

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 cup of milk

1.5 tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1 tablespoon of oil

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Sift dry ingredients together and make a well. Add wet ingredients and whisk well. Set it aside for 10 minutes.

Grease a griddle pan with a little butter and pour a ladle of batter. Don't spread it. Bubbles will start to form on the surface. 

Flip it over after a bit, make sure it is a gentle brown colour.

Drizzle honey over it, fold and serve!

Microwave Oreo Nutella cake

I am the queen of microwave baking simply because it is so easy and most importantly economizes on time! I tried this easy and super yummy cake last month when my inlaws were here and everyone polished it off in no time. My parents also visited us and mom specifically requested me to bake it again so that she could take it back to India with her!!

Here are the ingredients you need to keep ready:

Cake flour - 1.5 cups (all purpose flour) + 1 tsp baking powder, sift together

1 cup of Sugar, powdered well

2 tbsps of Nutella

12 Oreos

200 gm of butter plus a little that is melted to make the base

1 Egg

Get started!

Melt a little butter, crush 4 Oreos into a coarse powder and mix together. Press firmly into the bottom of your pre-greased baking dish and set it in the fridge for about 10 minutes to chill well.

Melt the butter in a microwave safe dish and add the powdered sugar, mix well. Now break the egg into this and whisk well for at least 15 minutes by hand or using the electric beater. 

Add the flour-baking powder to this mixture and whisk well. Divide the mix into half. Spread the first half over the Oreo base you have prepared. Separate 3 oreo biscuits and arrange in the way as below, keeping one full oreo biscuit in the middle. 

In the second half of the mixture, add 2 tablespoons of nutella and mix well. Now spread it over the first layer which was prepared. Cover well.

Here's my cake all set to go into the oven. Upturn a tea saucer on the turntable in the microwave (This is to ensure the cake bakes evenly) before you set the dish over it. Bake on High for 6-7 minutes and keep an eye on it constantly. 

...There it's done!!

Veggie and Bean Burger - a very healthy option!

It's been a quiet spell here. I got busy with my newborn son and Sandy's been busy with Mpops :) But we're back!

Samarth has been asking for veggie burgers for a long time and I thought I'll try my hand at it. I didn't use too many veggies and I made a small quantity as it was the first attempt.

Here is the recipe,  it's my own version - extremely healthy with virtually no fat.

Ingredients:

Rajma, a fistful, soaked for 3-4 hours, and pressure cooked to couple of whistles
2 Carrots, chopped roughly
Peas, as per your preference, cooked but not mushy.
Bread crumbs and corn flour - to use for binding the dough.

The above ingredients will make 6 patties as in the photograph

Method:

Cook the rajma and set aside. Cook the carrots and peas together but they should not be mushy. Mince roughly along with the rajma. Add salt and condiments as per your preference. Using appropriate quantities of breadcrumbs, mix this into a dough and shape into patties. Set it into the refrigerator for around half an hour so that it stiffens.

Remove and shallow fry on a tava. Alternately you could grill it or bake it. 

Samarth said it was absolutely delicious and tasted perfect :-D

Try it and tell me how you liked it!

Eggless Chocochip cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Teaspoon of No Egg - Natural Egg Replacer ( can be purchased by clicking on the link) 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

No Bake Oreo Cheesecake

 For the base:
Marie biscuit - 1 packets (24 nos)
Chocolate biscuit - 1 pkt 
Melted butter - 3 tblspn


For the cake:
Oreo Biscuits : 1 Big packet ( broken into chunks) 
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Hung curd - 1 cup
Fresh cream - 1 cup (used Amul cream 200ml)
Agar agar/China grass - 1 pkt (10 gm)
Water - 4 tblspn

1.I used a combination of marie biscuit and chocolate biscuits. You could use marie biscuit alone. Pulse the biscuit coarsely in the mixer along with the melted butter. Or take the biscuits in a zip lock cover and powder it coarsely with the chappathi roller. 


2.Take a round spring tin. Spread the biscuit mix on the base of the tin. The base should be firm. So press it down tight. Freeze the base for half an hour. Meanwhile prepare the cake mix.


3.Mix hung curd and cream in a bowl. To get hung curd, take almost 4 cups of fresh curd and tie it in a muslin cloth and hang it. The whey will be drained and you will be left with creamy curd.


4. Break the Oreo biscuits in big chunks. Mix in the biscuits to the curd+cream mix. Mix well so that its uniformly blended in.


5.The China grass I used were strands. I put them in warm water for 10 minutes. Then put that bowl in a pan of boiling water for the china grass to fully dissolve. Add the liquefied agar agar to the mix. Mix it well with a spatula Leave in the refrigerator for overnight, to set.


6.Once set, Open the spring tin and serve the cheesecake. You could garnish with some Oreo Biscuits, though I served it plain. 

Banana, walnut, cinnamon loaf

Ingredients :

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon pwder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter - softened

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 bananas - mashed 

1/2 cup walnuts - chopped

Method :

1.Cream the butter with the sugar till it becomes nice and pale. 

2.Mix flour, salt, baking soda,baking powder and cinnamon pwd in another dry bowl. Add this to the butter mixture,   alternating with a little milk at a time and beat until nicely blended. Add the flour and milk alternately as you   keep whipping the batter so it gets nice and fluffy. 

3.You can even use a food-processor for this. Keep scraping the sides as you blend or beat the mixture. Add a little   more milk(half cup more) if the batter looks too thick.

4.Add the mashed bananas and vanilla essence. Finally add in the chopped walnuts, folding in just to mix it well.

5.Grease a Loaf shape tin, or use muffin molds for individual cakes. I used a Loaf pan. Fill them only 2/3rd full as this needs more room to rise. Even if you use a cake pan, do not fill more than half of it. Sprinkle some chopped walnuts on top as well.

Preheat oven at 175 deg celcius and bake for 20 to 25 minutes (muffin size) or 30 - 40 mins ( loaf tin) until cake springs back when lightly touched near center, and the sides pull away from the pan.

Put a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean, your cake is ready to come out of the oven. 

 If you are using a cake pan, it may take a little longer, but keep checking if its done after 20 mins. Allow the cake to cool a little on the wire rack,Dust with Icing sugar then serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

 

Hazelnut-Banana Microwave Cake

The softest, yummiest cake ever, and yes, made in a microwave in about 10 minutes baking time! Don't believe it? Try it yourself today! :)

Ingredients:

Hazelnut-chocolate paste : 2 tsp ( You can use Nutella, or any other)

Milk: 1 cup

Eggs: 1

Maida or all purpose flour: 1 and a half cups

Pureed banana: thick puree of 1 banana

Powdered sugar: half a cup

Melted butter : 50 gms

Sift the dry ingredients together and mix. Add the egg and beat the mixture really well. Add the milk, hazelnut paste, banana puree and melted butter. Beat it either by hand or use an electric mixer, until the mixture is really smooth and well combined.

Grease a microwave safe deep dish and pour this mix into that. Invert a saucer upside down on the microwave turn table and place the deep dish over it. Microwave on high for 15 minutes, and keep checking at 5 and 7 minute intervals and do prick a fork into it as an indicator if it has baked well and is done. 

Vada Paav - Mumbai Ishtyle!

Tried my hand at making authentic Vada paav last night for a snack and it turned out awesome! It is such a popular street food in Mumbai that it also has a wiki entry honouring it, read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vada_pav

The best part about making this lip-smacking snack is how easy the ingredients are to find in your own pantry/fridge and how simple the entire process is. You can take my word for it, as I am a person who hasn't ventured much into the world of fried snacks [i.e pakoras/vadas etc].

Ingredients:
2 whole boiled potatoes - you can pressure cook them in a bit of turmeric and then mash them either by hand or with a masher.
1 tsp mustard seeds [rai]
a few curry leaves and coriander leaves, finely chopped
Asafoetida [Hing] - a pinch
1 or 2 green chillies finely chopped as per your taste.

For the batter:
3/4 cup of gram flour [besan]
1/2 tsp of tamarind paste
1/2 tsp / as per your taste, of red chilli powder
A hint of salt and asafoetida

1. Heat a bit of oil in a kadhai and add mustard seeds in it. When it finishes sputtering, add green chillies, coriander leaves and curry leaves. Mix together and then add the mashed potatoes, and salt as per taste. Mix well and fry for a bit of time. Remove off the flame and allow to cool.

2. In a bowl, add besan, and the other ingredients mentioned for the batter, with as less water as possible, just to make a thick paste. Remember, if the paste is too thin, it will not coat the potato mix.

3. Make medium sized balls of the potato mix, dip in the besan batter and deep fry. Serve hot with Indian paav and you can also make a coriander chutney and garlic chutney to go with it. I made neither as this was just a last minute effort. I did serve it with sliced onion though.

                       

Gobhi ke Parathey

Gobi Ke Parathey !! They were quite yummy, a successful attempt :)

Ingredients :

Whole wheat dough made as you would make usually for parathas. 

For the filling:

1 medium sized Gobhi [cauliflower] - into florets and minced finely

Instead of onions, I used shallots - so, 7-8 shallots, minced finely

Garlic cloves - 2 or 3, as per your preference, finely crushed.

Usual spice mix - dhaniya powder, haldi [turmeric], garam masala [a teaspoon each]

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Make the dough for the parathey and let it stay for about 30 minutes, covered with a moist cloth.

2. Mince the cauliflower and shallots together and saute well with the crushed garlic in a little bit of oil with the spices. It should look like this when it is done. This is your filling. Top with coriander.

3. Stuff and roll out. Fry each paratha lightly, drizzling the pan with a bit of oil when required. 

4. Enjoy the delicious treat - I served it with some black gram curry [kaale channey] and a bit of curd by the side. 

Scrumptious Italian Pasta Salad

Yes I know we've been away from this blog for so long - but not without reason :D Here is a super easy recipe for a yummy dish I assembled up today! :)

Veggies chopped up and waiting

Homemade Italian dressing

Veggies you need:

Capsicum - 1 medium, finely chopped

Red onion - 1 medium, finely chopped

Cherry tomatoes [optional]

Olives 

Garlic [finely chopped or crushed] - 2 cloves

Cucumbers - 2 medium, finely chopped

For the dressing:

1/4th cup olive oil

3 tbsp vinegar

Salt

Mixed dried herbs or Oregano

Method:

Cook the penne pasta until tender and run it under cold water mixing with your fingers to make sure the starch is washed off. If any starch remains, then the pasta is sure to get sticky. 

Combine ingredients for the dressing and set aside. 

Toss the veggies with the pasta and pour dressing over it, coating it fully. Add a dollop of cream cheese or reduced-fat mayonnaise to get a creamy consistency.

The yummiest Pasta Salad ever ! :)