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.

Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant Parmesan is one of my favorite vegetarian Italian dish. A couple of months back I had this in an Italian restaurant and form that time it became my favorite dish.





Once my friend's family came for dinner and I was thinking about some nice vegetarian dish, many were running in my mind and finally I ended up with EGGPLANT PARMESAN. That was the first time I made this dish and GUESS WAT?....It hit the spot....It tasted amazing...Every one enjoyed it. From that time it became one of the party time food.

I dredge the eggplant slices in Italian style bread crumbs and then pan fry it until cooked. In the meanwhile I simmer the marinara sauce until it becomes thick as a paste. Then I slather the thickened sauce over each fried eggplant and top it with mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese and bake it until the cheeses melts.

So this is my way of cooking eggplant Parmesan. This is my contribution to JFI for Eggplant. Sangeeta from Ghar Ka Khana
is the host for this months event.....All the best Sangeeta!...

Ingredients :

Large Eggplant - 1
Italian style bread crumbs - 1/2 cup
Red pepper flakes - 1 teaspoon
Onion - 1
Garlic pods - 3
Salt and Pepper
Marinara sauce - 2 cups(Recipe follows)
Shredded mozzarella cheese - 1/4 cup
Parmesan cheese - 1/4 cup
Extra virgin Olive Oil

Procedure :

1. Slice the eggplant horizontally or vertically. (This time I did length wise).

2. Mix the bread crumbs and red pepper flakes together.


3. Season the eggplant with salt and pepper on both the sides and dredge them in the bread crumb mixture.






4. Drizzle oil on a frying pan add the eggplant and roast it until golden brown or well cooked.



5. Remove it to a sheet pan.

6. In the mean while heat oil in a sauce pan and add garlic and onion and saute it for 2 mins and then add the marinara sauce and simmer it until the sauce becomes thick paste.



7. Now slather the sauce on the roasted eggplant and top them with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

8. Now preheat the oven to 350 and bake the prepared eggplant for 15 mins or until the cheese is melt.

9. I serve them with garlic flavored roasted vegetables.

Marinara sauce

Ingredients :

Extra-virgin olive oil - 1/2 cup
Onions finely chopped - 2 small
Garlic cloves, finely chopped - 4
Celery, finely chopped - 2 stalks
Carrots, peeled and finely chopped - 2
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Pepper powder - 1 teaspoon
Crushed can tomatoes – 2 (32 ounce)
Dried bay leaves – 2

Procedure :

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.

2. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour.

4. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)

Orange Pound Cake With Orange Cheese

Traditional Pound cake is made with one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, one pound of eggs, one pound of flour........ But now there are many variation in the recipe. I have tried many recipes for pound cake and I landed up with this recipe.... This is one of the best pound cake recipe.

I have made a orange version of it. Commonly in pound cake lemon is used but I have made it with orange. And to make it more orangeeee I serve it with orange cheese. When ever I bake pound cake I will make some extra because many desserts can be made form pound cake.

This is my contribution to AFAM - Orange... Sharmi of Neivedyam.... is hosting this month's event....All the best Sharmi

Ingredients :

Orange Pound Cake:
Butter - 1/2 cup(1 stick)
All-purpose flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Granulated sugar - 1 cup
Large eggs - 3
Fresh orange juice - 1 tablespoon
Orange zest - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon

Orange Cream Cheese:
Cream cheese - 1/4 cup
Butter - 1 tablespoon
Orange zest - 1 teaspoon
Orange juice - 1 teaspoon
Powder sugar - 1/4 cup

Procedure :

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

1. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 3-inch loaf pan.

2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl, and set aside.

3. Combine butter and the sugar in the bowl of a mixer and mix it on high speed. Now add the eggs 1 at a time and mix well. 

4. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl, beating on low speed, and scraping the sides of the bowl.

5. Add the orange juice, zest, and vanilla, and beat until just incorporated.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake has risen, is golden brown on top, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

7. For orange cheese: Mix the cream cheese, butter, Orange zest, orange juice and the powder sugar. Beat it until smooth.

Lemon Cookies with Lemon Glaze

I love eating cookies all time a day.....So I always make a cookies very often...I never leave my cookie box empty....

Each time I used to bake different type of cookie..I love baking cookies.....But after I started my blog, I am spending most of my free time in blogging and now a days my cookie tins are empty..... They were calling me for a refill since a long time.....Its time now!....




Marta of An Italian in the US is conducting a food blog event 'Fresh produce of the month' and this month's fruit is LEMON..... so I have decided to fill in my cookie tin with lemon cookies...

This Lemon Cookies with Lemon Glaze is a simple sugar cookie with lemon rind in it and then to make them more lemony they get a coating of lemon glaze. And then I make a simple decoration with some colored sugar....... For more of my decorated cookie click HERE....
.......

Ingredients :

Cookies:

All purpose flour - 3 cups
Butter - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Baking powder - 2 teaspoon
Egg - 1
Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
Lemon Zest - 2 tablespoon

Lemon Glaze:

Powder sugar - 1 cup
Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
Light corn syrup - 1 tablespoon
Lemon yellow color - Few drops

Procedure :

Preheat oven to 350°F.

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with a electric mixer.

2. Beat in egg, vanilla and lemon zest.

3. Sift baking powder with flour.

4. Add flour mixture, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.

5. The dough will be very stiff, Blend in the last cup of the flour by hand.

6. Now roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut it into desired shape using a cookie cutter.

7. Place it on a cookie sheet and bake it for 20 mins to until light golden brown colour.



8. Cool the cookie completely and then glaze the cookie.

9. For the glaze: Stir all the ingredients together until smooth and then slather it on the top of cookie.

Spicy Carrot Cupcakes

Basically cupcake is a small size cake baked in a muffin pan.... Usually the muffin pans are lined with cupcake papers which make the cupcake to come out easily and also helps the cupcake to say moist.

Once I had a slice of carrot cake in a restaurant for breakfast, from that time it became my favorite one.....That was the inspiration for this "Spicy Carrot Cupcakes". I bake carrot cake often, not only for breakfast..... any time in a day. This carrot cake can be made a whole big cake or as a individual cupcakes.


I shred carrots and mix with a lot of spices....I mix and match all type of spices as i feel like....because all type of spice combination go very well with carrot cake.......I have mixed cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg some time i also mix allspice and aniseed with this.....And finally to add some crunch I also add some chopped almonds.

I frost it with a cream cheese icing just to make it more festive and certainly to make it more rich and flavorful....It is a very simple icing with cream cheese, powder sugar, orange juice and to brighten the flavor of all and also to add some zing, I mix it with some orange zest.

So this is my contribution to Weekend Breakfast Blogging event started by Nandita of Saffron Trail......This month event is hosted by Trupti of The Spice Who Loved Me for the theme Spice it up!.........

Ingredients :

Cupcakes:

All-purpose flour - 1 cups
Granulated sugar - 1 cups
Ground cinnamon - 1 teaspoons
Ground cloves - 1 teaspoons
Ground nutmeg - 1 teaspoons
Baking soda - 1 teaspoons
Eggs - 2
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Freshly shredded carrots - 2 cups
Chopped almonds - 1/4 cup

Icing:
Cream cheese, softened - 1 packages (8 oz)
Orange juice - 1 teaspoon
Finely grated orange zest - 1 teaspoon
Powder sugar - 2 cups sifted (can be adjusted according to the thickness of the icing)

Procedure :

Preheat oven to 350°F.
1. Line standard muffin pan with baking cups.

2. In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and baking soda; mix well.

3. In large bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer until foamy; add oil in a thin stream and beat well.

4. Add flour mixture to egg mixture; mix well.

5. Fold in carrots and nuts.


6. Spoon into baking cups.






7. Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.



8. Cool cupcakes in pan on cooling rack for 5-8 minutes.

9. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely.

10. For icing: In large bowl, beat cream cheese, orange juice and zest with electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add confectioners' sugar. Continue beating until icing is smooth and creamy.


11. Frost generously the cupcake with icing and decorate it as desired.

Tapioca Puttu

Tapioca is a root vegetable......It is a thick, fibrous roots.....It has a dark brown skin and white flesh inside....

I have made puttu out of it...This is one of my favorite sweet...I learned this recipe from my grandma...She makes this for me every time I visit her house... I thought i am going to miss this puttu after coming to US...But luckily now days i am able to find this Tapioca in the shops and i started to make this puttu.

I grate the Tapioca and coconut..Then steam the Tapioca until it is cooked and then mix in the coconut, sugar and cardamon powder...

I made this puttu last weekend and I thought it will be the best recipe for Nupar's A to Z of Indian Vegetables event for "T". So Topioca Puttu

is my contribution for the letter "T" ..

Ingredients :

Tapioca - 1 lb
Coconut - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup or according to taste
Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Procedure :

1. Peal the skin and grate the tapioca.

2. Tie the grated tapioca in wet cloth and steam until it is cooked (About 10 to 15 mins)

3. Once it is cooked remove from the cloth and bring to a large bowl and mix the sugar while it is still worm.

4. Now mix the grated coconut and cardamom powder.

5. It can be served hot or at room temperature.

Fried Okra With Scallion Dip

Fried Okra With Scallion Dip is my special contribution for two food blog events ...... Deep Freeze Summer Challenge and Weekend Cookbook Challenge - cornmeal.

Chris of Mele Cotte....…. is conducting an event with a theme "Deep Freeze Summer Challenge", I have used my frozen okra to make this dish.

In the same way....Sara of Weekend Cookbook Challenge....…. is having a event which has the theme cornmeal. I have used cornmeal fro frying okra...

Basically fried okra is a crunchy deep fried dish... It's one of the best way to eat okra.......This is one of my families favorite dish too.....

I dip the cut okra into buttermilk and then dredge them in a cornmeal mixture and then deep fry them in vegetable oil. I serve always serve this some dipping sauce, some time i make a creamy marinara sauce or red pepper sauce. But this time i have made scallion dip sauce. It is tasting really YUMMY!. I grind the scallion and Serrano green pepper into a smooth paste and mix mayonnaise with it.

Ingredients :

Fried Okra:

Okra Sliced in 1/2-inch thick - 2 Pounds
All-purpose flour - 1 cup
Cornmeal - 1/2 cup
Garlic powder - 1 teaspoon
Dried Oregano - 1/2 teaspoon
Red chilly powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt and pepper as required
Buttermilk - 1/2 cup
Vegetable Oil, for deep frying

Scallion Dip:

Scallions - few sprigs
Mayonnaise - 1 cup
Green Serrano pepper - 1
Salt and pepper as required

Procedure :

1. Thaw the okra and pad it dry with paper towels.

2. Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet about medium low.

3. In the meanwhile, combine cornmeal, flour, Garlic powder, Dried Oregano, Red chilly powder Salt and pepper in a medium bowl. And buttermilk in another bowl.

4. Dip okra in buttermilk and then dredge in cornmeal mixture to coat well.

5. Carefully add okra to the hot oil, in batches as needed, and cook until golden brown.



6. Remove from oil, drain on paper towels, and then serve it with a dipping sauce.



7. For the scallion dip, grind the scallions and Serrano pepper in a food processor and then mix it with Mayonnaise and season it with salt and pepper.