Break N Cake

Hi friends.....
I am going to India on Sep 16 for a long vacation (more than 4 months)..... Ya........I am going to finish my MBA which I discontinued becoz of my marriage......

I am very eager to spend time with my family and friends.....And I am going to miss u friends a lot and Ur recipes........But I am sure will update my blog form India when ever I find time.........

Since I have little packing work .....I am taking a break know itself......

Talking about this cake, this was my first try making a tired cake...... This was my final cake which I made in my class.... That is a chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream icing...For more of my decorated cakes click here

Enjoy blogging and have fun with food.....

Miss u all.......
Byeeeeee.........

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone is a thick soup of Italian origin containing assorted vegetables, beans, pasta, and herbs in a vegetable broth.....

It is a very healthy soup....This is my family's favorite soup and great for all parties and occasions....I have made it fully vegetarian by adding vegetable broth....I serve this with some store bought garlic biscuit.....

I saute all the vegetable and simmer it in the tomato juice with vegetable broth.....And flavor it with the some herbs.....I also add Parmesan cheese for some silkiness.....To add some body to the soup I add canned beans which is the traditional ingredient in minestrone soup......One of the special feature in this soup is that the pasta is cooked in the soup and the pasta absorbs all the flavor in the soup.....

Ingredients :

Diced tomatoes - 2 (15 ounce) cans
Red kidney beans, drained - 1 can (15 ounce)
Small white beans, drained - 1 can (15 ounce)
Vegetable broth - 4 cups (recipe follows)
White onions - 1 cup minced
Zucchini - 1/2 cup chopped
Italian green beans - 1/2 cup
Celery - 1/4 cup minced
Garlic - 4 teaspoons minced
Carrots, julienned or shredded - 1/2 cup
Minced fresh parsley - 2 tablespoons
Dried oregano - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Ground black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon
Dried basil - 1/2 teaspoon
Dried thyme - 1/4 teaspoon
Hot water - 3 cups
Fresh baby spinach - 4 cups
Small shell pasta - 1/2 cup
Salt 1 1/2 teaspoons
Olive oil - 3 tablespoons
Parmesan cheese - 1/4 cup

Procedure :

1. Heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.

2. Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.

3. Add vegetable broth to pot, plus tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water, and spices.

4. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency. Finally stir in the Parmesan cheese. (I go light with the cheese, more can be added when served)

Vegetable broth:
Carrots - 2
Potatoes - 1 big
Onions - 2 big
Garlic - 2 cloves
Celery - 3 stalks
Water - 10 cups
Dried thyme - 1 teaspoon
Bay leaf - 1
Whole pepper corns - 10
Olive oil - 1 tablespoon

In a large stalk pot add oil and add all the chopped (chucked into large pieces) vegetables with garlic and saute it for 5 minutes and add 10 cups of water.
Then add whole pepper corns, dried thyme, bay leaf and bring up to boil and then simmer the liquid for 30 to 45 minutes partially covered.
Then let it cool and drain the liquid and store it in the air tight container in refrigerator. It can be stored in the freezer for 2 months.

Strawberry Latte

My strawberry Latte is a smooth and rich hot drink..... This luscious drink is perfect for any time a day....




Basically latte is a type of coffee drink made with hot steamed milk....Some time it is made out of fruit also.........Latte is topped with the froth of steamed milk....

I love to drink fresh ice cold strawberry milkshake, That's my all time favorite... But my husband is not a big fan to cold drinks... So I invented this strawberry latte just for him...

The main rocking feature in latte is the milk froth on the top.......I use blender to create this froth.....I want the latte to be nice smooth and silky, for that heavenly texture I use strawberry syrup..... Sometime I also use fresh strawberry puree, but they slightly break the texture for the latte........

So Strawberry Latte is my contribution for this months Monthly Mingle hosted by Meeta of What's For Lunch, Honey?…. for the theme of this month --------"Liquid Dreams"

Ingredients :

Whole Milk - 3 cups
Strawberry Syrup(store bought one - Nisqick) - 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
Few fresh strawberry for garnish

Procedure :

1. Boil the milk until it is reduced to 2 cups. (I did it in the microwave)

2. In a blender mix the hot milk, strawberry syrup and vanilla and whip it for 2 mins. (be careful when blending hot liquid) .

3. Pour it into a glass with the froth formed when it was whipped and garnish it with some fresh strawberry and serve it hot.

Awards:

Archana of Tried and tested

Kribha of En samayal pakkam

Pravs of Simply spicy



have given me The Rocking Girl Award.............I am very happy to get them form my dear friends...... I am double happy to tell this in this post as this is my 50Th post...... It was because of the inspiration of u people and Ur kind and sweet comments I was able to come up to this 50Th recipe.......Once again thanks to Archana, Kribha, Pravs for the awards......

Now I would like to pass over this award to some of my friends.........and also to Archana, Kribha and Pravs.......Extremely sorry if I have missed someone...

Richa of As dear as salt
Tbc of The budding cook
Sra of When my soup came alive
Viji of Vcusine
Asha of Foodie's Hope and Aroma
Cynthia of Tastes like home
Sreelu of Sreelu tasty travels
Sharmi of Neivedyam
Roopa of My chow chow bhath
Seena of Simple and delicious
Bharathy of Spicy chilly
Sia of Spice corner
Coffee of The spice cafe
Indosungod of Daily musing
Rachna of Soul food

These are some of my friends those I can remember this time(i have a very poor memory power)..........sure I am missing many more who really deserves it...... Sorry..........

Lycheey Heaven On Meringue Shells

Lycheey Heaven On Meringue Shells is my own invention.... This is a very light dessert suitable for all occasion...




This is my contribution to AFAM - Lychee... Sig of Live To Eat.... is hosting this month's event....All the best Sig.......

My Lycheey Heaven On Meringue Shells is something similar to Pavlova (an meringue dessert).....It is a very simple dessert.....The crunchiness form the meringue and the fluffiness form the whipped cream make it taste like heaven.....

Basically, I make meringue shell and fill them with lychee flavored whipped cream........How does it sounds????????...

Ingredients :

For Leach whipped cream:

Lychee cut into small bits with its own juice - 1/4 cup (I used fresh Lychees)
Heavy whipping cream - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Vanilla - 1/2 teaspoon

For Meringue Shells:

Egg Whites - 3
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cream Of Tartar - 1/4 teaspoon
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
Food Colour - few drops

Maraschino Cherries - few for garnish

Procedure :

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F

1. Line a large baking sheet with ungreased parchment paper or aluminum foil .

2. Combine egg whites, food colour, vanilla and cream of tartar. Beat until frothy.

3. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat until glossy and stiff peaks is formed.

4. Fill this mixture into a large star tipped piping bag and pipe it out on the prepared baking sheet. (try to form a well shape)



5. Bake it for 1 hour 30 mins. Turn off oven, leave meringue in oven with door closed 2 hour for crisper meringue.

6. In the meanwhile freeze a large bowl and the beaters of the hand mixer for 1 hour. Now add cold heavy whipping cream to the cold bowl and start whipping with the cold beaters.

7. When it starts to form little bit, Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, add vanilla and beat until a stiff peak is formed.




8. Next fold in the lyechee bits with it's juices into the whipped cream. (do not over mix it) .

9. Fill this mixture into a large star tipped piping bag and pipe it out on the dried meringue shells. The well shape must me filled with whipped cream. Finally I garnish it with some maraschino cherries.

Tips:

Whipped cream can be added 30 mins before serving, as meringue will become soft with the whipped cream.

Meringue shells can be stored in an air tight container by lining parchment paper in between each layer for 2 weeks.

Appam With Mutton Korma

Appam With Mutton Korma is my contribution to JFI for Rice. Sharmi from Neivedyam.... is the host for this months event.....All the best Sharmi!...




Appam is a very healthy dish....Basically it is a steamed dish, so not much oil is involved in this cooking...This is my family's favorite breakfast or dinner(yes we have it for both).....

Appam is a dish made mostly out of rice....They have very less Dal in them...So I thought of contributing it for JFI - Rice.....

Traditionally appam is served with coconut milk....But I like to spice it up by serving appam with mutton korma....They both pair amazing...

Ingredients :

For Appam

Parboiled Rice - 1 cup
Raw Rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - 2 tablespoon
Fenugreek - 1 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - As required

Procedure :

1. Soak both the rice, urad dal along with fenugreek for 3 hours or more.

2. Now add enough water and grind the mixture into a fine liquid. It should be little watery than regular dosa batter.

3. Now add salt and ferment it for over night.

4. Add baking soda and mix well, now the batter is ready for making appams.




5. Appam can be made in appam pan or in a small size skillet.

6. Pour a ladle of appam batter and swirl it around the skillet and cover it with a lid and wait for 2 mins and remove form pan.

Ingredients :

For Mutton Korma:

Mutton(goat) pieces - 1 lb
Onions - 2 big
Tomatoes - 1 big
Green chillies - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tablespoon
Garam masala powder - 2 teaspoon
Red chili powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Cinnamon - 2" piece
Cardamom - 4
Clove - 3
Anistar - 1
Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Oil - 2 tablespoon
Salt - As per taste

Procedure :

1. In a pressure cooker heat the oil add cinnamon, cardamom, clove, anistar, fennel seeds.

2. When the fennel seeds start to change the colour add the chopped onions and green chills and fry for 2 mins.

3. Then add cut tomato and saute for 1 min, Then add the mutton pieces, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, chili powder and mix well.

4. Add enough water and cook the mutton until done.

5. Then add garam masala and coconut milk and cook not more than 5 mins. Sprinkle with some chopped coriander leaves.

Butter Chicken

Any non-veg lovers will like my version of butter chicken as they are more creamy than the usual one....




Butter chicken is an favorite side dish in my family.....It pairs well with both fried rice and chapati.....

I temper the oil and cook onions and tomato puree with some flavoring and then add the chicken pieces and cook then in the gravy. And for some richness and thickness of the gravy I also add ground almond and cashew paste. Then for a special creamy texture....I add Sour Cream.....Usually plain yogurt is used in the butter chicken to make it creamy....But I add sour cream to make it really..really..creamy.... finally to give more flavour I also add some Kastoori Methi.

Ingredients :

Chicken - 1 lb (boneless) Cut into small cubes
Onion - one chopped
Tomato puree - 1/2 cup
Cashew & almond paste - 1/4 cup
Ginger & garlic paste - 2 tablespoon
Chilly powder - 2 teaspoon
Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon
Sour cream - 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Cinnamon- 2" pcs
Clove - 4-5
Cardamon - 3
Bay leaf - 1
Salt - to taste
Orange colour - 1/4 teaspoon
Kastoori Methi - 2 tablespoon
Butter - 3 tablespoon
Oil - 2 tablespoon

Procedure :

1. Heat oil in a pan and add Cinnamon, Clove, Cardamon, Bay leaf. Let it turn light brown.

2. Now add finely chopped onions and fry in oil till transparent.

3. Then add ginger & garlic paste and fry till u get nice aroma out of it.

4. Then add turmeric, chilly, coriander powder with salt and colour powder....mix well.

5. Pour in tomato puree, cashew & almond paste - mix well with water.

6. When it starts to boil add the chicken and add sufficient water for the chicken to boil.

7. When the chicken is cooked, Stir in the butter and sour cream. Little bit of water can be added if needed.

8. Before removing the gravy form heat, Crush the Kastoori Methi leaves and add to the gravy.

Chiku Milk Shake

Chiku milk shake is my all time favorite......Thought it is high calorie fruit...no compromise for it right?




Chiku is a very sweet fruit....Though it can be taken as a fruit...I love to make it as milkshake.....They taste great with milk.....

Chiku milk shake is very simple to make......I just blend in all the ingredients in the blender and top it with whipping cream and cinnamon powder.

Ingredients :

Chiku - 2 pealed and seeded
Whole milk - 2 cups
Sugar - as per taste
Ice cubes - 1 cup
Whipped cream - 1/4 cup
Cinnamon powder for decoration.

Procedure :

Blend in chiku, milk and sugar in a blender until smooth....Then add ice cubes and crush them. Then pour into glasses and top it with whipping cream and cinnamon powder...

Tandoori Fish

This is a very simple fish fry dish.....I make this very similar to tandoori chicken...




I mix all the ingredients and marinate the fish with it for few hours and shallow fry it........Basically all tandoori food are cooked in oven....But I like to shallow fry my tandoori fish....

Another simple way of making to tandoori fish is......I buy tandoori chicken masala from store and use it for fish and cook as directed in the box....This make work little bit easy.....But making our own masala tastes great right?....

Ingredients :

Fish slice -7 pieces
Red chili powder – 2 teaspoon
Garam masala powder – 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice - 2 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste – 2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – 1/4teaspoon
Food colour – 1 pinch
Salt as required
Oil for shallow frying

Procedure :

1. Mix all the ingredients and make a thick paste.

2. Apply the paste on the fish slices and marinate for 2 hours.

3. Pour 1/2 inch oil on a skillet and shallow fry all the fish slices.

Spinach Alfredo Gnocchi With Vegetable Patties

My Spinach Alfredo Gnocchi With Vegetable Patties is an Indo Italian dish. Yes, gnocchi is an Italian dish and vegetable patties is Indian dish. They both match very nicely.....

Ingredients :

Gnocchi - 1 lb(I used store bought one)
Onions - 1 large
Spinach - 1 cup(cut into Julian)
Garlic - 3 cloves
Green Chillies - 2
Alfredo sauce - 1 1/2 cup (recipe follows)
Dried Oregano - 1 teaspoon
Salt for taste
Extra virgin olive oil - 2 tablespoon

Procedure :

1. In a heavy bottom skillet add olive oil and add chopped onions and garlic and saute for 5 mins.

2. Now add the dried oregano. Cut the green chillies into fine pieces and add it along with the spinach.

3. In the mean while bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the gnocchi as directed in the box.

4. After the spinach is wilted add the Alfredo sauce and bring it to boil and add the cooked gnocchi, salt and pepper. Finally sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese.

Alfredo sauce:

Ingredients :

Butter - 1/2 cup
Heavy cream - 2/3 cup
Grated Parmesan cheese - 1 1/4 cup
Nutmeg - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt
Pepper

Procedure :

1. Heat butter and cream in saucepan until butter is melted. Remove from heat.
2. Add 1 cup Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
3. Stir until sauce is blended and fairly smooth.

Vegetable patties:

These are also called as vegetable cutlet.

Ingredients :

Potatoes - 2 big (boiled and mashed)
Carrot - 1
Green beans - 4 to 5
Green peas - 1/4 cup
Red Bell pepper - 1
Green Bell pepper - 1
Green onions - 2
Fresh white bread - 4 slice
Ginger garlic paste - 1 teaspoon
Red chilly powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - 1/2 bunch
Garam masala powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Bread crumbs - 1 cup
Salt

Procedure :

1. Cut all the vegetables into small cubes and cook them and set it aside.

2. In a large bowl mash the potatoes and add all the cooked vegetables and all the seasoning, ginger garlic, chopped green onions, salt.

3. Soak the bread in water and squeeze it immediately and put it in the bowl and repeat it with the remaining bread.

4. Mix the mixture nicely and form it in the shape of patties. Then roll the patties on bread crumbs and set it aside.

5. These patties can be baked in the oven or they can be shallow fried in the skillet.

Linzer Cookies

Linzer cookies are sandwich cookies.....They buttery and delicious. This is my favorite cookies.....




Ground almond make these cookies more richer. Raspberry preserves can be substituted by any other preservers......I some times use apricot preserves, they are equally delicious.

Ingredients :

Almonds - 1/2 cup
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Unsalted butter - 1 cup(2 sticks)
Granulated sugar - 2/3 cup
Egg - 2
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Vanilla extract - 2 teaspoon
Zest of 1 lemon
Icing or Powdered Sugar for dusting
Raspberry preserves - 1/2 cup

Procedure :

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

1. Toast almonds in a baking pan until skins begin to loosen, about 6 minutes. Rub the nuts with a kitchen towel to remove skins as much as possible. Then cool to room temperature.

2. Now grind the almonds as fine as possible. (1 or 2 teaspoon sugar can be added to make the mixture grind Finlay and easily)

3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt in a small bowl.

4. Cream together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy.

5. Add nut mixture and beat until combined well.

6. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Now add flour Little by Little and from a dough.


7. With floured hands, form dough into a ball and flatten it into a 5-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap, chill it until firm, at least 2 hours.



Preheat the oven to 350°F.


8. Roll out the disk of dough into 1/8 inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter, cut as many rounds as possible.





9. Now using a small shape cutter( I used heart shape cutter) cut the center of the already cut out round cookies. Half of the round cookies must be left plain.




10. Transfer all the cookies to a ungreased cookie sheet. Bake the cookies for 10 to 15 mins or until edges are golden. Remove and cool them completely.

11. Now spread the raspberry preserves on the round side of the baked cookies. Dust the powder sugar on the other half of the cookies(Which has the heart shape cuts on them) and top it with the cookie which has the raspberry preserves(like a sandwich)

Carrot Halwa

Carrot halwa is one of the traditional sweet in Punjab cuisine....Popularly known as "gajar halwa"... They are simple and Delicious....
Carrots are most healthiest vegetable....



Carrot halwa is one of my favorite dessert.....This can be made in both stove top and as well as in the microwave.....The only difference is it cooks fast in microwave... So I love making it....If I have any unexpected guest to my house.....The only dessert I make is carrot halwa, as all the ingredients are available in my pantry and refrigerator.....



I cook the carrots with milk in the microwave with some flavoring and then add milkmaid to it. How simple is this............Can't go wrong with it..... The same thing can be done in stove top also......




Well this is my contribution to RCI - PUNJAB.... Richa of As Dear As Salt .... is hosting this month's event....All the best Richa.......

Ingredients :

Carrot - 2 cups grated
Milk - 1/2 cup
Condensed Milk - 1 cup
Cardamom - 1 tablespoon
Saffron - Few pinches
Ghee - 2 tablespoon
Toasted nuts - few for garnish( I used almonds)

Procedure :

1. Place the grated carrots and ghee in a heavy microwavable dish and keep it in high for few mins.

2. Now add milk, saffron and cardamom powder to the bowl and cook(in microwave) the carrots until done and all the milk is absorbed (if needed more milk can be added until the carrot is cooked).

3. Now add the condensed milk and cook(in microwave) until the mixture is thickened.

4. Now garnish with toasted almonds.

Watermelon Skewers

One of the most easy and fruity appetizer is my watermelon skewers. I love this because they are so cool and of course they are very easy to make. Perfect for summer parties.

Watermelon is a very cool fruit perfect for summer. They are popular for there crunchy texture and for there coolness, so i dint want to make something which is going to change the crunchiness and the coolness of it.....So i thought of making something special to go along with it......And came up with this dip.

I mix cream cheese and tangy sour cream and lime juicy for some freshness. I also add some honey for sweetness. For more freshness and brightness i also add mint and chill it for some time. And serve with watermelon.

This is a very refreshing dip for summer fruits.......especially for watermelon because the crunch from the watermelon and the creaminess from the dip marry together greatly...And become a perfect appetizer or a evening snacks for summer... Coooooolllllllll.....

This is my contribution to AFAM - Watermelon... Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi.... is hosting this month's event....All the best Jai and Bee.......

Ingredients :

For Skewers:
Watermelon Cubes - 2 cups
Lemon cubes - 1/2 cup
Mint Leaves chopped - 1 tablespoon
Honey - For Drizzling
Lemon Zest - For decoration

For Dip:
Cream cheese - 4 Ounce
Sour Cream - 1/4 cup
Honey - 1 tablespoon
Mint Leaves - Finely Chopped
Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon

Procedure :

For the Dip: Mix all the Indigents to a smooth mixture and store it in the refrigerator until served.

For the Skewers: Cut the watermelon and lemons into cubes and skewer as desires and place it on a plate. Now for some decoration drizzle it with some honey and then sprinkle them with some lemon zest and mint.

Ice Cream Sandwich

Cookies are one of my favorite baked goodies. There are many types and variates of cookies. In the same way ice cream ......mmmmmmm they also come in many variates and for me cookies and ice cream......Like heaven in my mouth......I love them so much. So I combined the both in one dessert.

Ice cream sandwich is the best dessert for all parties, no matter for a big crowd or for a romantic dinner for two......It is the best.




Many flavors combination can be used to form a ice cream sandwich. I have made a chocolate and strawberry combination. I Love both the flavors a lot individually and both combined together.



I mix two types of chocolate chip and for some crunch, I also add some toasted almonds to my cookies and bake them. And then I scope strawberry ice cream in small ball and sandwich them in between the cookies. For some extra strawberry flavor I drizzle the sandwich with some store bought strawberry syrup.

So Ice Cream Sandwich is my contribution for this months Monthly Mingle hosted by Meeta of What's For Lunch, Honey?…. for her very cool theme of this month "Scream For Ice Cream"

Ingredients :

Strawberry ice cream - 1 cup
Chocolate chip cookie - 10 (recipe follows)
Strawberry syrup - 1 cup(I used store bought one)

For chocolate chip cookie:

Unsalted butter - 1 cup (2 sticks)
Granulated white sugar - 3/4 cup
Firmly packed light brown sugar - 3/4 cup
All-purpose flour - 3 cups
Large eggs - 2
Vanilla extract - 1 tablespoon
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Chocolate chips - 1 cup (I have used semi sweet and butterscotch)
Toasted Almonds chopped - 1 cup
Old Fashioned Oats - 1 cup

Procedure :

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

1. In the bowl cream the butter.

2. Add the white and brown sugars and beat until fluffy (about 2 minutes).

3. Beat in eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat.

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat until incorporated.

6. Add the chocolate chips and nuts and mix.

7. If you find the dough very soft, cover and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).

8. For large cookies, use about a 2 tablespoon ice cream scoop or with two spoons, drop about 2 tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake about 12 - 14 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.

9. Cool completely on wire rack.

10. For the sandwich: Scope small ball for ice cream and place them in between 2 cookies and press slightly and return then into the freezer

11. While serving drizzle them with strawberry syrup.