Cheddar biscuits:

AP Flour - 1 1/2 cups, plus extra for dusting
Sugar - 1 1/4 tbspn
Baking powder - 3/4 tbspn
Salt - 1/2 tspn
Cold unsalted butter - 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) - diced
Buttermilk - 1/3 cup
Low-fat or whole milk - 1/4 cup, plus extra for brushing

Makes 6 to 7 biscuits

Preheat the oven to 425 degree F

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. Cut the butter into the flour until it forms pea-sized pieces.

Add the buttermilk and the milk. Mix well to combine.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 1 inch thickness, and fold in half, turn and repeat 3 or 4 times for a final thickness of 1 inch.

Cut the dough into rounds using a 3 inch cutter. Re-roll the remaining dough and cut it again.
If you don't have a cookie cutter, use a drinking glass (just dip the edge in flour) to cut it.

Place the biscuits on a ungreased baking sheet. Brush the tops with little milk amd bake till for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Recipe Source: Baking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America

Strawberry jam:


Our favorite jam ever. But I don't like it too sweet. All the recipes I read, called for lots of sugar. So, I came up with my own measurements and the result - delicious.

Strawberries - 3 cups - chopped
Sugar - 2.5 cups
Butter - 1 tspn
Pectin - 1/2 packet

Keep a small metal plate in the freezer.

Heat a deep bottomed pan and add butter and strawberries and stir for few minutes.

Slowly add pectin and continue to stir.

Slowly add sugar and stir well.

Cook till the jam comes to a boil.

To check the consistency of the jam, take the cold metal plate from the freezer and spoon a little jam onto it and check the consistency of the jam. If you are satisfied with the consistency, take it off the heat and spoon into sterilized jars. If not, add little more pectin and bring it to a boil for 1 minute.

This makes about 2 - 16 ounce jars.

Spinach Pulav:


From the time I heard about this month JFI, I wanted to do something new and different. After much research, I found my recipe. I'm not a great fan of greens, unlike my husband. But this dish has made me want for more. It is delicious.
Recipe Source: Madhur Jaffrey's Step-by-Step cooking. But I made few changes to suit my family.

Long-grain rice or basmati rice - 1 cup
Fresh Spinach - 3/4 lb (cleaned, washed)
Onions - 2 (medium)
Garam masala - 1 tspn
Cloves - 3
Salt

Wash the rice well and soak it in cold water with 1 tspn of salt. Let it soak for 2 hours.

Bring little water to a boil in a pan , blanch spinach just until wilted. Drain and let it cool a bit and press down to remove excess moisture. Save the liquid. Chop the spinach finely.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Chop onions into thin long slices. Heat a pan, add oil, cloves and fry. Add onions and fry till light golden brown. Add the chopped spinach and garam masala and cook for 5 minutes.

Drain the rice and add it to the spinach mixture and add 1 1/2 cups water (use the reserved liquid). Add salt and bring it to aboil. Lower the heat and simmer it for 15 minutes stiring occasionally. By now, all the liquid would have evaporated.

Transfer the rice into an oven proof dish and cover it with foil and cut an 1/2 inch hole in the center so as to let th steam to escape. Place it in the middle of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot!

Note: If you have a a flameproof and oven proof casserole, you could cook and bake in the same.

This is my entry for JFI - Going Green with Green Leafy Vegetables hosted by Indira.

Onion chutney:

Onions - 2 medium
Tomato - 1
Red chillies - 4 to 5
Tamarind paste - 1 teaspoon
Salt

Chop onions, tomatoes into big chunks. Heat a kadai, add 1 tbspn oil and add red chillies and fry for 2 minutes. Add onions and fry for 6 to 7 minutes. Add tomatoes and fry for another 5 to 6 minutes. Remove
from heat and let it cool. Put this mixture in a mixie or blender, add salt, tamarind paste and grind it coarsely. If you prefer finer chutney, grind it further. Do tadka with oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and serve with Idli or Dosa.

Mysore Pak:

Krishna sweets in Chennai is my favourite. Their "Mysore Pa" is unbelievable. I miss it very much. I happened to come across this recipe in the book "Curried Favors" by Maya Kaimal. It is a bit tiring, but well worth the efforts.
You don't have to feel guilty of eating this ghee-rich sweet, because you would have burned enough calories while making it. So, sit back and enjoy!!!

1 cup - Besan (chickpea) flour, sifted
2 cups - Sugar
3/4 cup - Water
Ghee - prepared from 12 ounces of unsalted butter and kept warm

I divided the ingredients into half and made the recipe and ended up with 25 pieces.

Butter a 9 inch square baking pan.

In a frying pan, Stir the sifted flour over medium heat until it turns light golden brown and keep it aside.

In a heavy pot, combine sugar and water and let it come to a boil until candy thermometer registers 220 degree F (104 degree Celius). When you sample the syrup it should feel quite gummy.

Add half of warm ghee and keep stirring as mixture starts to bubble. Gradually add beasn, stirring constantly with a wire whisk to break up lumps and to prevent burning.
Turn down the heat to medium and continue to stir until the mixture thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining ghee and keep stirring.

Continue stirring as the mixture gets thicker and airier. As you stir, the mixture will start to pull away from the sides of the pan until one point it foams up, expanding to twice its original volume.

Now quickly pour the mixture into the baking pan. It should fall out as a mass without sticking to the pot. Gently jiggle the baking pan to spread the mixture around. After 15 minutes, cut into squares or diamonds and then allow it to cool completely before removing from the pan.

The author has given a Note:
"Timing of removal of mixture from the pan is critical, so watch carefully for signs. If frothing and expansion have not started in the earnets, finished product will have a dense consistency like fudge. If the frothing has passed its peak, product will be too crumbly. It should harden to consistency of shortbread."

Garam Samosa:

Sweet Potato wedges:


Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Peel,wash and cut sweet potato into 1/2 inch wedges. Cover a baking sheet with alumium foil and spray non-stick cooking spray and transfer the wedges to the sheet.
Add turmeric, chilli powder, salt, cumin powder, oregano (optional) and mix well. Spray little oil and mix well. Bake the wedges for 20 minutes. Stir once or twice.

Pistachio Tuiles:

Before baking:



After:




Tuiles (pronounced Tweel) are crisp, thin cookies and are a perfect accompaniment to icecream, sorbet or can be just eaten. They are pretty easy and fun to make. You can have your kids help you too. You can make any shape you want to. The best part is when they come out of oven and are still warm, they are pliable and you can shape them as you wish.

This recipe makes about 25 to 30 cookies:

AP Flour - 1/3 cup
Confectioners sugar - 3/4 cup
Egg whites - 2 (room temperature)
Unsalted butter - 3 tbspns (melted)
Pistachio nuts - 2 tbspns - chopped
Grated zest of 1 Lemon

Using an electric mixer or a hand mixer, combine flour, sugar, lemon zest and beat at low speed to mix. add egg whites and mix just until smooth (about 30 seconds).
Add melted butter and mix until blended. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spoon a small amount of batter onto a non-stick baking sheet and with the back of the spoon spread it into a thin oval shape (or round or any shape you wish). Form 4 or 5 ovals like this and sprinkle some chopped pistachios. Bake the tuiles for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and using a wooden or metal spatula immediately drape each tuile over a rolling pin, pressing down gently so that it curves, just until set.

Completely cool the tuiles on a wire rack. If you prefer straight tuiles, just remove them from the baking sheet onto the wire rack directly. Repeat the procedure with the remaining batter.
Be sure to cool the baking sheet between batches. Use only non-stick baking sheet, or else it will stick (I tried making few tuiles on an ordinary baking sheet and they never came out!).

Recipe Source: Simply Sensational Desserts by Francois Payard

Chicken masala:

Chicken recipes are one of my favorites. The best thing about cooking chicken is we don't need to grind any fancy masala or need any special ingredient. Just throw in a few spices or as many spices and the end result is always mouth-watering. I don't think anyone could go wrong with it.
I have made this dish quite spicy and you may want to adjust accordingly.



Chicken - 1 lb (cut into pieces)
Cumin seeds - 1 tspn
Onions - 1 - chopped
Tomatoes - 1 - chopped
Green chilli - 1 - chopped
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbspns
Coriander powder - 1 tbspn
Chilli powder - 1 tspn
Pepper powder - 1 tspn
Garam masala powder - 1 tspn
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tspn
Salt
Cilantro - for garnish


Heat a pan and add 2 tbspn of oil. Whe it is hot, add cumin seeds and allow them to splutter. Then add onions, ginger garlic paste, green chilli and fry for 5 minutes. In goes coriander powder, chilli powder, turmeric, salt, tomatoes. Fry till tomato is cooked, then add chicken, pepper powder, garam masala and add 1/2 cup water, close the pan with a lid and let it cook. Stir once in a while.
Once the chicken in cooked, add cinnamon powder and fry for 3 or 4 minutes. Remove it from the heat, garish with cilantro and serve hot with roti, pulav or plain hot rice!

I like this curry with a little gravy. But if you prefer it to be dry, just fry it for few more additional minutes, until all the wet gravy is absorbed. Either way, it is easy and tasty.

Clam Chowder

Clams are very good source of Iron and a bowl of this soup is a hearty meal on its own. If you like crab, then give it a try.



Ingredients:

Clams - 1 can - minced (I used baby clams)
Potato -1 big - peeled and cubed
Onion - 1 -cut
AP flour - 3 tbspns
Milk - 1/2 cup
Heavy cream - 1/4 cup
Salt
Pepper

• Open the can, drain all the liquid into a seperate bowl and reserve and wash the clams and keep aside.
• Heat a deep bottomed pan. Add 1 tbspn butter, 1 tspn oil and saute the onion and potato for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the reserved liquid, salt and pepper and keep a lid and cook until potatoes are tender.
• Mix the flour with milk and make sure there are no lumps.
• Once potatoes are cooked, add the milk, heavy cream and the clams.
• Let the chowder thicken and start to boil - it should take about 4 to 5 minutes. Done.
• Serve piping hot with some warm garlic bread or french bread.

Go ahead and substitute half and half for heavy cream. You can use whole milk or 1 % or 2% milk.

Basic 1-2-3-4 Cake:

After extensive research, I found this simple, light, tasty vanilla layer cake from a book called "The Perfect Cake", by Susan G.Purdy. It is called 1-2-3-4 cake because of the ingredients used - 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour, 4 eggs.
The cake tastes heavenly when it is warm. Though I did icing (that was quite an event! I did see many cake decorating vidoes on the internet and also on TV, did read a lot about them, and I thought maybe I was ready atleast to do the basic decorating, but ...I realised that I have a very very long way to go as far as icing goes!!!), but the cake as such was delicious.


Pan preparation:
Two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. Spread solid shortening or butter all over the bottom and sides f the pan, then dust evenly with flour and tap out excess flour.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 3 cups
Baking powder - 1 tbspn
Salt - 1/2 tspn
Unsalted butter - 1 cup (at room temperature)
Granulated sugar - 2 cups
Large eggs - 4 (separated)
Milk - 1 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tspn

Method:

• Prepare the pan. Position the shelf in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degree F (175 degree celcius)
• Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
• In a large bowl, with a hand mixer or an electric mixer, beat butter till soft and smooth. Add sugar and neat till light and smooth. Add egg yols one at a time and beat after each addition.
• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with flour. Add vanilla extract..
• In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Stir about 1/2 cup of whites into the batter, then fold in remaining whites in several additions.
• Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Smooth the batter level and spread it lightly from the center toward the edges of the pan so that it will rise evenly.
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 mins. Then invert them onto the wire racks and cool them completely before frosting.

Kadai Shrimp Masala:


Ingredients:

Shrimp - (I used frozen cooked)
Onions - 1 - chopped
Tomatoes - 1 - chopped
Tomato sauce - 1/2 cup
Ginger - 1/2 inch grated
Garlic - 5 to 6 pods - grated
Chilli powder - 1 tbspn
Coriander powder - 1 tbspn
Turmeric - 1 tspn
Salt
Cilantro leaves - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves - few

Method:

Heat a kadai and add 1 tbspn of oil and add onions, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and fry till raw smell disappears. Add turmeric, cilantro leaves, tomatoes and let the tomatoes cook for a while.
Add tomato sauce, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt. Let the whole masala cook till oil comes out. Now add shrimp and cook exactly for 4 minutes or maximum of 5 minutes.
If the shrimp is cooked any longer, it will become hard. If using raw shrimp, cook till shrimp turns pink and remove it from the stove. Serve piping hot!

Masala boiled peanuts:

We all love to eat boiled peanuts just out of their shell. This is just another fun way to eat 'em.

Boil peanuts in thier shell along with salt. After they are cool to handle, remove them from shells. Add finely chopped onions, tomatoes and green chillies. Add a pinch of salt(optional), squeeze half a lemon and finally add chopped cilantro.

Tomato Pulav:


You will need the following ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1 cup
Onions - 1 ( cut into thin long slices)
Tomatoes - big - 3 or 4 - you would need about - 1 1/2 cups of puree
(Or you could use Tomato sauce - 1 1/4 cups - just add 1/4 cup water)
Green chilli - 1 (cut into long strips)
Cilantro and Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbspn
Peas - 1/4 cup
Turmeric - a pinch
Chilli powder - 1 tspn
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tspn
Cloves - 5
Cinnamom - 1 stick
Bay leaf - 1
Cumin seeds - 1 tspn
Cashews - 10 (fried to golden brown)
Scallions, Cilantro - for garnish


Procedure:

• Wash and soak basmati rice for 10 minutes. Heat a pressure cooker, add 1 tbspn butter/ghee, 3 tbspns oil. When the oil gets hot, add, bayleaf, cinnamon stick, cloves, cumin seeds and fry.
• Add ginger garlic paste and fry for 1 minute. Add onions, green chilli and fry well for 4 mins.
  
• Now add cilantro and mint leaves and fry for a minute.
• Add turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, peas. Mix well and let it cook for about a minute. Now add tomato puree and salt and mix well and lightly close the lid and let the whole mixture start to boil.
• Check for spiciness and salt and add if necessary. Now add the soaked rice and mix gently. Close the lid and pressure cook for 10 minutes on medium flame and for 5 minutes on low flame.
• Garnish with scallions, fried cashews, cilantro. Serve with raita of your choice. Enjoy!

This is my entry for Jihva for Tomatoes hosted by RP of MyWorkshop

Fillo dough Appetisers:

I read about small baklava cups filled with nuts and honey in some magazine and they looked very cute. So, I came up with an idea and made these appetisers. I made the cups with The Fillo Factory Organic Fillo dough.

For the cups:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Thaw the Fillo dough according to the package instructions. Once thawed, take 3 layers of dough and cut them into small circles - so that they fit into the muffin tray cups.
So, cut any number of circles as per your need and brush the top layer with some butter keep them in the muffin tray. Bake them for 15 minutes or light golden brown and crisp.
Remove from the oven and take the cups out of the tray and let them cool on a plate.

Filling:

Carrot - Julienned
Capsicum - cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Cabbage - shredded
Green chillies - 1 or 2 finely cut
Green onions or Scallions - 2 - finely chopped
Red pepper Flakes
Soy sauce
Salt - 2 tspns
Cilantro

They should retain little bit of crunch in them. Add cabbage, red pepper flakes, salt and mix well. Heat a pan, add oil and add carrots, capsicum, green chillies and fry them for 3 or 4 minutes. Add soy sauce and fry for 2 minutes. Finally add scallions and finely chopped cilantro and remove from stove. Spoon some filling onto each fillo cup and serve!

Cake:

I used the recipe from the blog Samayal by SudhaV. I made whipped cream and decorated the cake with whipped cream, raspberries and chocolate shavings.

Whipped Cream:

Heavy Whipping cream: 1 cup
Confectioners Sugar - 2 Tbsp
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp

Pour the cream into a well chilled mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer at medium speed. After the cream begins to thicken, increase the speed to next level.

Add Vanilla extract and whip until siff peaks are formed. Add Sugar and beat for 1 minute. Decorate.

Creme Caramel:

I got the recipe from this cool website: www.videojug.com
I divided the ingredients into half and made only 4 individual ramekins.

Celebrating Tomatoes. JFI hosted by RP of
My Workshop.

Drumstick Sambar:

My most favorite dish of all times. The thought of it lifts my mood. Whenever my mom made sambar, I used to drink it in a small bowl, even before lunchtime. Her sambar is a lengthy procedure, so I ended up with my own sambar recipe and I love it. Hope you all will like it too.




Ingredients:
Toor dal - 1 cup (pressure cooked with little turmeric and mashed)
Onion - 1 medium (chopped)
Tomato - 1 (chopped)
Drumstick - chopped (You may use brinjal, radish, okra, carrot or add a few of everything - it's totally upto you)
Chilli powder - 1 tbpn (use it as per your level of spiciness)
Sambar powder - 2 tbspn
Tamarind paste - 1 tbspn
Salt
Curry leaves

Heat a vessel, add 1 tbspn oil, and add onions and fry for 3 minutes. Then add tomatoes and fry for 5 minutes. Now add the drumstick pieces (or any vegetable you are using).
Immediately add chilli powder, sambar powder and 1/2 cup water and mix well and close the lid 3/4th so that there is little gap for the steam to escape.
Take the lid and mix once in a while and when the drumstick is almost cooked, add the dal, tamarind paste, salt and 1/2 cup water. Mix well and let it come to a boil. Check for salt and take it off the stove. Heat a small pan, do tadka and add curry leaves and add this to the sambar. Serve piping hot with rice. Enjoy!

Vermicelli kheer / Semiya payasam:

The ultimate and the easiest sweet on the face of this earth! At any day, I would choose this for any other dessert. This is the first sweet I ever learned to make. I make it whenever I feel like having it.
One thing though - I'm not sure of the exact measurements of milk and sugar or condensed milk. I just add it accordingly - as per my taste.


Required Ingredients:

Vermicelli (I use the thin one) - 1 cup (broken into 1 inch pieces)
Whole Milk - 1 cup
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 2 or 3 tbspn (as per your wish)
Or
Sugar - 3 or 4 tbspn (add as per your preference)
Cashews
Elaichi - skin removed and powdered

• Heat a thick bottomed vessel, add little butter or ghee and add vermicelli and fry till light brown.
• Remove and keep it aside on a plate. To the same vessel, add milk and let it come to a boil.
• Then add the fried vermicelli and reduce the flame to medium low and let the vermicelli cook. Meanwhile, powder some elaichi. Keep mixing the milk and vermicelli now and then. If it becomes thick, add milk accordingly.
  
• Once vermicelli is soft and cooked, add the condensed milk or sugar and mix well and let it boil for another 4 or 5 minutes Add elaichi powder and mix and remove from stove.
• In a small pan, add some ghee or butter, add cashews and fry till golden brown and add it to the kheer. Serve warm or cold.

I always like to add some fresh elaichi powder just before serving it warm.