Walnut Cupcakes

Walnut Cupcakes

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. 

Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

My friend requested me to make some cupcakes with hardly any time to do anything fancy. She did not want icing as it was a gathering of older women and she did not want chocolate as many older people do not like chocolate so much. Plus she wanted something nice and not very ordinary. I was thinking of some fruit but did not have any on hand. Luckily I had walnuts and so I thought of making Walnut Cupcakes with coffee flavour. Flavours that adults would like and fill al my friend's criteria for her request. 

So here is a simple and quick fool proof recipe for good cupcakes. 

Ingredients:

150 gms butter

1 1/2 cup flour

1  cup sugar

2 tblsp instant coffee powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup milk 

1 tblsp lemon juice

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

some walnuts halves to decorate

Melt and cool butter. Add lemon juice to the milk and stir. Add warm water to the coffee and stir to dissolve. Add sugar to the melted and cooled butter and stir to dissolve. Add half the milk and dissolved coffee and mix well. Add the flour and baking powder and baking soda and mix well. Add rest of the milk and beat well for 2 to 4 minutes. 

Drop a spoonful of the cake batter into greased cupcake moulds and tap the mould to spread the batter evenly. Press one half walnut in each cupcake. I got 17 cupcakes. If you fill a little carefully you should get 18. 

Bake in hot oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes or till done.

The delicious Walnut Coffee cupcakes are ready to serve. 

This is my 5th recipe in baked category.

Logo by Preeti.

Roasted vegetables with Pasta

Roasted Vegetables with Pasta

 

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. 

Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

I had planned to do my Ratali Crisps (Sweet Potato Crisp) recipe which is a big hit with whoever eats it. It is a very simple recipe and has minimum preparation time and once in the oven you set the timer and forget it. It is golden goodness of rich taste and filling dish that you can eat as side or as main or as a snack. From the day I had decided to do this I was looking for Sweet Potatoes in the market. Everyday my trip to our vegetable market was yielding no results.  Finally today by evening I had to change my plans. If I did not cook and post it how could I be ready for R on  21/9/2013. I was looking for either a baked or an international/fusion recipe. Since at present I am in love with Italian food I decided to make something Italian. Rissoto, Roasted veggies, Rustic Focaccia, Rustic Walnut Bread. Too many choices and too little time. I went in for Roasted Veggies with Pasta. This would also take care of my dinner and my post for alphabet R. So here is my take on Roasted Veggies with Pasta.

Ingredients:

1 long brinjal/eggplant/aubgerine 

1 zuccini (I used sponge gourd/turai/ghosale)

1 small carrot

1 green capsicum (use only half)

1 red capcicum (I did not use it as it is not available here)

1 yellow capsicum (I did not use it as it is not available here)

1 big onion
1 big tomato

10 -12 garlic + 4 more

2 green chillies

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp each of dried herbs of your choice(I used oregano, basil and rosemary)
1/2 tsp paprika or red chilli powder

Oil to grease the Roasting Tray

1 tblsp oil to cook the garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese 
1/2 cup cheddar or regular cheese (I used Amul cubes)

1 cup uncooked Pasta of your choice (I used multicoloured rotini or corkscrew pasta)

Method: 

Cook the pasta in plenty of water to which 1 tblsp oil and 1 tblsp salt is added. Drain when cooked al dente. Keep warm.

 Drained cooked pasta

Cut the brinjal, carrots and zucini into 1/2 inch slices. Cut tomato into half and then into thick slices. Dice capcicum and onions into big pieces. Chop green chillies fine. smash the garlic with the flat of your knife once. 

Grease a baking tray and put the vegetables in it and add the smashed garlic, salt and herbs. Toss well and spread evenly. Roast in hot oven for 30 to 40 minutes or till the vegetables are brown and done well.

 Roasted veggies

In a pan heat 1 tblsp oil and add 4 pieces of garlic and let them brown. Add the pasta and paprika and toss well. Check for salt. Now add the roasted vegetables and toss again to mix well.  Remove in a serving bowl and sprinkle both the cheese. Your tasty roasted veggies with pasta is ready to eat. Serve hot or cold. 

 

 This is my 5th recipe in International/fusion category.

logo by Preeti.

Food Bloggin Marathon # 32 organised by:

http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.in/

Quiche

Quiche

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. 

Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

This is one recipe i wanted to make for a long time but somehow I did not even attempt it. When I joined A to Z FBM I knew what I would be doing for Q. This recipe for quiche was inspired from the book 'Great Vegetarian Dishes' by Kurma Dasa. I had watched this programme on Star TV somewhere in 1990 when there was only one English TV channel. There was a cooking show everyday at one particular time and I would watch it regularly. This chef Kurma Dasa is Australian but is from the ISKCON family and cooks great vegetarian food. He does not use onions and garlic too. I was hooked to his shows. At the end of the show they would show an address from where you could get his books. The address was Australian and the main office was in Varanasi (Benaras). I sent a letter asking for the price and how I could order it. To my utter surprise and delight, I got the book by paid parcel. I did not have to pay a single rupee for it. I have done many recipes from it and it is like the book for international vegetarian recipes. 

Half the things necessary to make such recipes are not available to me in my town so I adept and use what is available or then make do without if it is possible. 

For this Quiche you will need the following or rather I used the following ingredients and this is how I made it. It came out very well and was delicious warm or cold.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

1/2 cup refined vegetable oil

1 1/2 cup wheat atta/wholemeal flour

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp roasted cumin/jeera powder

salt to taste

water as needed

Mix all the ingredients for the pastry  except water and rub well to make it look like bread crumbs. Add a little cold water, about 2 tblsp and make a firm pastry. 



 Press evenly into one 9 inch flan dish or pan with loose bottom. 












 Bake in hot oven till light brown. 

 Let cool completely.






For the filling you will need:

  
 1 big onion chopped fine

1 big green capsicum chopped fine
1/2 cup sweet corn kernels
1 tsp chopped green chillies
1 tblsp chopped garlic





Some dry herbs like thyme, basil, oregano, rosemary (choose 2 or 3 that you prefer)

salt to taste

 


1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tblsp tomato ketchup
2 tblsp corn flour
                                                                                                                                                       

1 cup grated cheese. I grated 6 cubes of cheese

For topping:  
1 big tomato cut in thin round slices

How to proceed:
Beat the cream cheese till it is soft and fluffy. Add sour cream and beat well. Add tomato ketchup, herbs and all the other filling ingredients. Mix well but lightly . It will look like this



  

Now spread the filling in the baked pastry shell and smoothen it. Arrange  tomato slices over it.

Bake in hot oven till the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden like this. for about 20 to 30 minutes

 

 



Remove from the tin and serve.  

 



You can serve it hot or cold. 

Some notes:
I used hung curds instead of cream cheese as it is not available in my town. I put just set curd/yougurt/dahi in a big strainer lined with a clean handkerchief and kept it in fridge to drain overnight. You can use hung curds but it should not be sour.

For sour cream I used regular cream with a little hung curd mixed in it. 

Many thanks to Kurma Dasa for his original recipe in Great Vegetarian Dishes. 

This is my 4th international/fusion recipe

logo by Preeti.

Food Bloggin Marathon # 32 organised by:

http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.in/

Peppy Peppers

Peppy Peppers

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. 

Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

Chillies are also known as peppers in some parts of the world so I have named these stuffed chillies Peppy Peppers for the alphabet P

I make these very often as everyone in our family like them. They are great with rice or with chapatis or even to eat as a side. I use to  shallow fry them till the cheese melted and the chillies were spotted with brown spots. The big fat chillies that are not hot or the Bhavnagri chillies  are very good for these. Of course if you like to eat very hot chillies go ahead and make with any kind of fat chillies. I normally use the long fat chillies that are used to make mirchi bhajis in the south. You could make a slit and stuff or even just remove the stalk and and remove the seeds from that hole and stuff. Normally I make a slit and stuff after removing the seeds but my maid cut them in two vertically so that is how I made it this time.

Ingredients:

 10 big fat green chillies of your choice

2 medium size potatoes, cooked and mashed

100 gms paneer, grated

4 cheese cubes, grated

1 tsp black pepper powder

1 tblsp finely chopped garlic

any fresh or dried  herbs of your choice

salt to taste + some more

juice of 1/2 a big lemon/lime

1 tsp green chilly, finely chopped (optional)

oil to coat the pan

Method:

Mix mashed potatoes, grated paneer and grated cheese lightly. Add the herbs, chopped garlic, black pepper powder and salt. Squeeze the lime juice, add the finely chopped green chillies, if using and mix again with a light hand. Keep aside for 10 minutes.

Now wash and dry the chillies. Remove the stalk and cut into two vertically. Remove seeds and any white part inside. Sprinkle very little salt in each half of the chilly. 
Put about a tblsp of the potato mixture and stuff carefully. Do this with all the chilly halves.

Grease a baking tray and arrange the stuffed chillies and bake in hot oven for 12 to 15 minutes till cheese melts and the stuffing is golden brown.

 The Peppy Peppers are ready to eat. Crunchy and mildly spicy.

Serve as starters or with soup or as a side with curd rice or pulao.

If you are using the long and fat chillies then you can wrap the stuffed chilly in a chapati to make an awesome chilly frankie.

I was surfing one day and came across these wonderful baked chillies. http://www.thekitchenismyplayground.com/2012/06/baked-jalapeno-poppers-eating-alphabet.html

So instead of pan frying I baked mine too.
Enjoy.


This is my 3rd recipe in International / fusion category

logo by Preeti.

Food Bloggin Marathon # 32 organised by:

http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.in/