Tomato, Spinach and Cheese Swirl Bread

I got this recipe from The family Circle Cook book which I borrowed from my cousin/friend/neighbor. This book has been with me for almost a year now and I earlier posted a cake and a salad that I tried…. This swirl bread always fascinated me and finally I tried it out and I am really happy with the result…. This tricolor bread is perfect for a party to impress your guests…this is really good to make sandwiches or you can serve this with fish pie, meat loaf, finnish pie, fish molee or simply with hot soup….. I halved the recipe and made 2 small loaves which was more than enough for two meals for my small family…. Try this low fat healthy bread in your kitchen…… you can even replace all purpose flour to wheat flour/ Atta for a healthier version….the method may appear lengthy or difficult… but believe me it is really easy to make :)...

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Whole Wheat Almond Eggless Cookies

This month’s Sweet Punch challenge was to make Whole Wheat Almond Eggless Cookies from Manjula’s Ktchen. These are absolutely easy to make cookies. You can give this recipe to kids who are interested in baking as their first experiment. I am sure they will be happy to make such tasty cookies by their own :) :)… I have already made these cookies twice in a month! I am trying to cut down the butter intake as far as possible, so first time I only added 1/3 cup of butter and the cookies were just fine and second time I reduced it to ¼ cup and increased milk to 2 table spoons more….second time also cookies tasted good but was not as crumbly and melt in mouth type… Do try these easy cookies with the actual amount of butter or by reducing it, the end result will be really delicious cookies to munch :)...

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Rum Baba / Baba Au Rhum

My cousin/friend/neighbor Saira recently told me to try making Rum Baba. It was the first time I was hearing that name. So did a search on the net and found out that: A Rum Baba or Baba au rhum is a yeast-risen cake studded with dried fruit and soaked in hot rum syrup and served with whipped cream or pastry cream. It is most typically made in individual servings (about a 2" tall slightly tapered cylinder). This recipe features the delicate flavor of citrus, imparted by just a hint of orange and lemon zest. Likewise, a small amount of warm vanilla has been added to the soaking syrup to cut down on the rum’s boldness. The result is a baba rum full of complex layers of flavor, while still holding to the traditional French recipe. You can find more about the history and origin about Rum Baba here in Wiki.

Since I didn’t have a rum baba mould, I used my muffin pan to make this. I just followed the recipe from About.com, but only made half the amount. Got 12 rum babas in a small muffin pan. We enjoyed these rum filled babas. Thank you S for introducing this dessert to me J

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Chicken Fatayer

Fatayer is an Arabic Pie stuffed with spinach, cheese, chicken, lamb or za'atar and like Shawarma it is a commonly available street food across the Arab world. Here at a walking distance from our flat there is an Arabic restaurant from where we regularly buy fatayer and shawarma. Chicken and cheese fatayer are our favorite filling. I actually do not know what paste they mix with the boiled and shredded chicken, if it is feta cheese or labneh or white sauce….. I usually use white sauce but mixing the chicken with lebneh is equally good. My little one loves fatayer so I sometimes make these at home. Here’s how...

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Broccoli Mappas / Broccoli in Creamy Coconut Sauce

Mappas is a popular side dish in Kerala. You can make vegetarian or non vegetarian mappas like chicken, beef, mutton, fish, eggs, vendakka (ladies finger), kadachakka (bread fruit)potato, cauliflower or even mixed vegetables. I make broccoli mappas often as this is the only broccoli dish I like. Try this broccoli side dish in creamy coconut milk and serve with chapathi, appam, Idyappam, bread or boiled rice.

Broccoli Mappas / Broccoli in Creamy Coconut Sauce

Ingredients:
Broccoli - 1 small (1/12 cups sliced florets.)

Onion - 1, thinly sliced

Garlic, chopped - ½ tsp
Ginger chopped - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 2, sliced
Homemade Curry Powder/ Erachi podi (meat masala)-2 to 3 tbsp (can substitute with chili powder - 1 tsp, Coriander powder - 2 tsp, Garam masala - 1/2 tsp)
Turmeric powder - 1/4tsp

Tomato - 1 small

Curry Leaves - few

Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp (optional)

Vinegar - 1tsp

Thin coconut milk - 1 1/2 cups

Thick coconut milk - 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

Mustard seeds

Oil-2 tbsp

Method:

• Split broccoli into small florets, wash and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and when it splutters add sliced onion, chopped ginger, garlic, green chillies and curry leaves and sauté until golden brown.
• Add curry powder and salt, stir well and add broccoli florets and chopped tomato pieces and sauté for 3 minutes.
• Now add thin coconut milk and boil for 5 minutes or until broccoli is cooked.
• Add the thick coconut milk, vinegar and coriander leaves, simmer for a minute and remove from heat.
• Serve hot with chapathi, palappam, Idiyappam, bread or boiled rice.

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Varutha Meen Podichathu ~ A side dish made out of Leftover Kerala Fried Fish seasoned with coconut and spices

What would you do if you have some left over meen varuthathu (Kerala fish fry)? Some reheat in the MW or fry for a minute again in hot oil or some throw it away; right? I personally don’t like reheated fish fry especially Mathi / Sardine and Ayala / Mackerel fish fries. On my recent conversation with my mom’s sister she told me instead of throwing it away, make a side dish by crushing the deboned fried fish with some coconut, green chillies and shallots and sauté in a little oil. I tried it with the left over mathi/ sardine fry and it was superb!!! It is a great dish with boiled rice and yogurt or with Kanji (rice gruel). Now it is up to you whether you want to make it with the left over fish fry or fry some fish to make this dish :) :) :)

Varutha Meen Podichathu ~ A side dish made out of Leftover Kerala Fried Fish seasoned with coconut and spices :)

So here is how I made this dish:

I had 2 left over mathi/sardine fry, and I removed most of the bones and coarsely crushed the fish with 3 shallots, ½ cup grated coconut, 1 green chilly (adjust according to taste). Heat a teaspoon of oil and splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves and sauté the ground mixture stirring well, add salt if necessary. Enjoy this simple Kerala side dish with boiled rice or Kanji(rice gruel) :) :)

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Chocolate Orange Mascarpone Gateau

By now you all must have understood that I love baking cakes and frosting them for birthdays and other special occasions. It was hubby’s birthday last week and this time I opted to make a Chocolate Orange Gateau adapted from Deeba’s blog with slight changes. I always wanted to try out the chocolate lace pattern she uses in most of her cakes. Making chocolate lace was a breeze, but I need to pipe the melted chocolate a little more thicker as mine was too thin and was breaking while sticking to the cake.  We loved the cake and it tastes better the next day J

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Passion Fruit Brownies

A lot of brownies, chocolates and cakes recipes around the blog sphere these days made me crave for some brownies… well to be honest I am not a big brownie fan, but last week I really wanted to have a chocolate and Passion fruit combo…. but was not in a mood to make our favorite Passion Fruit Truffles, wanted to make something quick and easy and brownie came to my mind… did a search on the net for Passion Fruit Brownies and I found this recipe @ Scandilicious… all the ingredients were with me and I baked these awesome brownies in less than one hour! Did little changes in the recipe… I didn’t add the extra egg yolk and also I only added Passion fruit pulp not its seeds as mentioned in the original recipe… These brownies taste best the next day and it was delicious with vanilla ice cream! So if you love dark chocolate and passion fruit you will surely like these brownies J…

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Homemade Pizza with Beef

I usually make pizza at home at least once a month, and I have tried several recipes for my pizza base. I was never fully satisfied with the results until I tried out this recipe from Annie’s Eats…. Never tried any other base after this one… it worked very well for me and please do check out her step by step instructions… I don’t have a stand mixer, so I knead the dough in my food processer… you can even knead with your hands too J…  also I don’t have a pizza stone with me… I use my pizza pan pre heated in the oven….. use any topping of your choice as desired…

Basic Pizza Dough
Recipe Source~ Annie’s Eats

Yield: enough dough for 2 medium pizzas or 4 calzones

Ingredients:
½ cup warm water
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1½ tsp. salt
1¼ cup water, at room temperature
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Method:

• Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle the yeast over the top.In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the bread flour and salt, mixing briefly to blend. Measure the room temperature water into the measuring cup with the yeast-water mixture. With the mixer on low speed, pour in the yeast-water mixture as well as the olive oil. Mix until a cohesive dough is formed. Switch to the dough hook. Knead on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1½-2 hours.
• Press down the dough to deflate it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball. (If freezing the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze at this point.) Cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no longer than 30 minutes.
• To bake, preheat the oven and pizza stone to 500˚ F / 260˚C   for at least 30 minutes. Transfer the dough to your shaping surface, lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Shape the dough with lightly floured hands. Brush the outer edge lightly with olive oil. Top as desired. Bake until the crust is golden brown, and cheese is bubbling, 8-12 minutes.

Beef Topping
Yield~ enough topping for 2 medium pizza bases

Ingredients:
2 medium Pizza Bases
1 tin (400gm) peeled tomatoes (I used fresh tomatoes)
350gm lean, mined beef
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
25gm butter
¾ tsp mild paprika (can use Kashmeri red chilly powder)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper
200 gm grated cheese ( I used low fat Mozzarella cheese)
3/4 tsp mild paprika to sprinkle on top
¼ each of dried Oregano, basil and thyme to sprinkle on top

Method:

• Cut the tomatoes in small pieces and drain them.
• Fry the chopped onion and garlic in butter until golden and add minced beef and fry until it crumbles and the meat has changed colour.
• Fold in tomato pieces, paprika, sugar, salt and pepper.
• Spread the mince on the two bases and top with cheese.
• Sprinkle with paprika, oregano, basil and thyme.
• Bake until the crust is golden brown, and cheese is bubbling,

• This Pizza is YeastSpotted

 

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♥ White Chocolate Mousse ♥

When I saw this White Chocolate Mousse at Notecook.com, I knew we would love it. I served these in small wine glasses with Pomegranate sauce. We loved every spoon of these decadent thick rich and creamy white chocolate mousse. Do try it, I am sure kids and grownups will enjoy it very much J

♥ White Chocolate Mousse ♥
~ A perfect dessert to celebrate Valentine’s Day!

Ingredients:

2 cups white chocolate chips
1/3 cup of sugar
2 cups of low fat whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
Lemon zest-1 tsp
Rum-1tbsp (optional)

Method:

• Melt white chocolate in pan over boiling water.Remove from the fire and wait for the temperature of the melted chocolate to drop a bit, it must be warm.
• Beat cream, sugar (you can skip sugar if you like) and vanilla until stiff peaks form.
• Fold into cold chocolate mixture.
• Then stir carefully with a plastic spoon, the chocolate, the low fat whipped cream, lemon zest and rum, until the mixture becomes smooth.
• Pour into wine glasses or bowls and let it freeze for 1 hour. 
• You can either serve them with pomegranate sauce sprinkled with some pomegranate seeds or simply decorate with strawberry, blueberries or raspberries.

For Pomegranate sauce:
In a food processor or blender, puree the pomegranate seeds with little water. Transfer to a fine sieve set over a bowl; strain through sieve, pressing with back of spoon to remove seeds. Add sugar to taste and a teaspoon of cornstarch and bring to boil, until mixture is bubbly and slightly thickened. Cool and serve with White chocolate Mousse.


 

 

Sending this to Meeta’s Monthly Mingle, This month’s theme is Small Bites – Soul Food for your Loved Ones, hosted by Astrid of Paulchen’s Food Blog.

Also sending this to Ally's event Delicious Desserts!

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