Sandwich French toast

I was going through Meeta's food blog and saw a very nice recipe for breakfast. As i finished reading it i knew Aditya will love it as he is a big fan of Eggs. I didn't make the exact recipe but i added some personal touch to it by adding different ingredients. But i would deeply thank Meeta for inspiring me :)

Weekend mornings are always the lazy ones in my family. We all start our day by 10am in the morning... my lil one will also co-operate on getting up late on weekends ... thank god !!! So i generally try to make something heavy for breakfast (well i should rather call it Brunch) so i can take a break from making lunch :D
So here it goes Sandwich french toast....

Ingredients:
4 - slices of bread
2 - Eggs
Any Bread spread ( i had my Cranberry marmalade and Nutella)
a pinch of salt or sugar
1 tbspn butter

Method:
1] Apply your fav spread on the bread and make sandwich. Cut them diagonally so you get 4 triangles.
2] Beat the eggs. Add sugar if your spread is sweet or Add salt if your spread is not-sweet. Beat the eggs nicely.
3] Take a shallow dish and keep 4 triangles on them. Pour the egg mixture so the bread is thinly covered with egg mixture. Keep them for half an hour.
4] Later, take a pan and add roll the butter evenly onto it. Place the triangle and let it cook. Turn the triangle and let the other side cook properly. Repeat this for all the 4 triangles and your breakfast is ready.

This is a very very simple dish and can be made as per your creativity. So go ahead add whatever you want in between the bread and make french toast. Aditya (my hubby) just loved them.....It is a heavy breakfast so your family won't bother you for 2-3 hrs :) :)
try it out!!!

Jam filled chocolate cookies

When i was a kid me and my brother use to love Jim-Jam cookies .. i think all kids love those cookies.... Recently i had made Cranberry marmalade and i thought of trying my hands on Jim-Jam cookies using it. For the recipe of Cranberry marmalade click here


Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup - All purpose flour / Wheat flour ( i used wheat flour to give healthy touch)
1/2 cup - melted butter ( you can use more butter instead of milk)
1/2 cup - Sugar
2 tbspn - cocoa powder
2-3 tbspn - Cranberry marmalade (check the link for recipe above)
2 tbspn - cold milk
a pinch of salt
2 - Egg yolks beaten
1 tspn - baking powder
1 tbspn - powdered sugar

Method:
1] Separate the egg yolks, add sugar and butter. Beat and Keep aside.
2] Mix All-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt in a container. Add egg mixture to this and start kneading. Add milk as required to make a soft dough.
3] Knead till dough becomes soft and make small balls from it.
4] Make a well in each ball with your finger and add Cranberry marmalade in that with a small spoon.
5] Arrange the cookies at a distance of 1-2 inch on a cookie sheet or any flat baking pan.
6] Pre-heat the oven at 375 degree F and bake the cookies for 10-12 mins. Cookies are done if the botton becomes brown.
7] Once out of the oven, sprinkle powdered sugar on them. They look lovely !

Enjoy these cookies with a Jam in it :)
We are enjoying these cookies with Tea/Coffee or just like that....

Cranberry Sauce / chutney / marmalade

I always had this urge of buying fresh cranberries from market and i did it last week without knowing how they taste. First thing i did after dinner was to wash cranberries and taste them... and i had this big sour face :D i never thought they would be so sour. I realised i have always had sun-dried cranberries and they are sweet so that means it has loads and loads of sugar and that's against my eating habits.... I'm a person who hates sweet / extra sweet... i can only eat light sweet else everything is a poison for me ... i lack that sweet touth but that's just me... my hubby is exactly opposite - he loves anything which is sweet.. anyways back to cranberries... so once i tasted them i decided no one in the family will eat this sour...not even me..they exceeded my tolerance of eating sour too... so decided to make a Cranberry sauce /Chutney / marmalade and it came out pretty well... so here it goes... you can enjoy it with Bread as a "Spread" or with Chips as a "dip" or with a roti as a "jam"... try your own way of eating this... and enjoy the sweet n sour taste of it :)

Ingredients:
Fresh Cranberries - 1 small packet ( generally its a 1lb packet)
Apple - 1 - peeled, cored and chopped
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 1 cup
Cinnamom - 1 stick
Cloves - 1 or 2

Method:
1] In a pan, add water, sugar, cloves and cinnamom. bring it to boil.
2] Add Cranberries and apple and cover the pan with lid.
3] Let it boil for 10-15 mins and check if its cooked. If not, boil for some more time. The mixture should look like a paste, if it doesn't then try to mash apple cubes and cranberries with a spoon and let it cook for 5 mins.
4] Cool the mixture and pour in a jar / container. Refrigerate it once its cooled.

That's it - its simple... just assemble all the ingredients, mix them and boil them and u get a nice sweet n sour sauce which can be used in multiple ways. Well i have used it in various ways but will post about them here later... Till then Enjoy !!!!

Hara Bhara Chana

Since the time i landed in USA(its been 6 months now) i was craving for Methi (Fenugreek leaves) and recently saw them in one of the Indian stores.... I grabbed more than my hands could hold as if there is no tomorrow.....

Later i cleaned, washed and packed them in Ziploc and stored them in freezer so they stay fresh for longer period. Last 1-2 days i was bored of making a typical Indian Maharashtrian dinner and thought of trying something in my Laboratory (my kitchen). As i was going through my refrigerator and thinking what all i have and what can i cook which will add some variety to that monotonous dinner... there in freezer i saw my very fav Methi... i thought for a sec what should i add to this to make it special....Chhole (or Chana) came to my mind....Ok Richa time to give it a try.... So here it goes my very own, very very simple, healthy Hara Bhara Chana (its a Fancy name) if you want a simple one then "Methi-Chana" would work but i'm happy with Hara Bhara Chana (gives me a feeling that i cooked something which you can eat in restaurants :P ).... but that's me !!!

Well, this time i tried a different mode of my camera to capture the right shot but alas I'm bad at it and that's my new year resolution - to learn Food Photography....
till then try making this recipe and enjoy it with whatever you like...


Ingredients:
Chhole (Kabuli chana) - soaked overnight and boiled - 1 cup
Methi (Fenugreek leaves) - a bunch
Onions - finely chopped - 1/2 cup
Mustard seeds - pinch
Kokum - 1 or 2
Turmeric powder - 1 tspn
Red Chilli powder - as per taste
Garam Masala - as per taste
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1 or 2 tspn

Method:
1] Add oil to the heated pan, add mustard seeds once oil is hot. Let them pop.
2] Add chopped onions and saute for 2 mins.
3] Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala and salt to this. Saute it.
4] Add boiled Chhole (Kabuli Chana) and saute for 2-3 mins. Add Kokum and saute.
5] Add Methi (Fenugreek leaves) to this, saute and let it cook for 5 mins without putting the lid on the pan.

Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy this with roti / paratha.
It is a very light sabji which can be made in 5 mins and is healthy too. It has green veggies, less oil and less spices. We loved it and ended up eating it like a snack.

Enjoy !

Marble Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch round pan.

Place flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, butter or margarine, eggs, vanilla, and milk into mixing bowl. Beat slowly to moisten, then beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for about 2 minutes until smooth. Reserve 3/4 cup batter; pour the remainder into pan.

Stir cocoa into the 3/4 cup reserved batter. Drop by spoonfuls over top of white batter. Using a knife, swirl the cocoa batter into the white batter to incorporate it in a marble effect.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean.

Enjoy this cake with Tea/Coffee or as a light dessert :)

I had baked this cake for New year party so used the Christmas tree cake pan and decorated it with few M&M's

Have fun and Happy New Year

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 c whole-wheat flour OR All-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c unsalted butter , at room temperature
1 c sugar
1 c mashed ripe banana (2 large bananas)
2 eggs
Few Chocolate chips
1/2 c chopped Almonds (optional)
1 Tbs cinnamon (optional)

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 1/2” loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl stir and toss together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until blended. Beat in the banana, then beat in the eggs until completely mixed; don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled — this is only because of the moisture in the mixture, and is not a flaw.
4. Stir in the nuts. Add the combined dry ingredients and stir just until blended.
5. Spread evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top.
6. Bake until a thin wooden skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!!!

Chocolate Cake with roses on top

Cake just out of Oven

Icing Rosettes made by me

White Icing Rosettes made by me

Creamy Frosting/icing

Cake in the making

The Final Touch - The Borders

Final Product ~ Cake for my lil one's 1st Birthday

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:

• 200g plain flour
• 200g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 40g best-quality cocoa
• 175g soft unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
• 150ml sour cream

FOR THE ICING:

• 75g unsalted butter
• 175g best quality dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
• 300g icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• 125ml sour cream
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
• Rosettes made from Frosting, optional

Method

1. Take everything out of the fridge so that all the ingredients can come to room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C and line and butter two 20cm sandwich tins with removable bases.
3. Now all you have to do is put all the cake ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarb, cocoa, butter, eggs, vanilla and sour cream - into a food processor and process until you have a smooth, thick batter. If you want to go the long way around, just mix the flour, sugar and leavening agents in a large bowl and beat in the soft butter until you have a combined and creamy mixture. Now whisk together the cocoa, sour cream, vanilla and eggs and beat this into your bowl of mixture.
4. Divide this batter, using a rubber spatula to help you scrape and spread, into the prepared tins and bake until a cake tester, or a thin skewer, comes out clean, which should be about 35 minutes, but it is wise to start checking at 25. Also, it might make sense to switch the two cakes around in the oven halfway through cooking time.
5. Remove the cakes, in their tins, to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before turning out of their tins. Don't worry about any cracks as they will easily be covered by the icing later.
6. To make this icing, melt the butter and chocolate in a good-sized bowl either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Go slowly either way: you don't want any burning or seizing.
7. While the chocolate and butter are cooling a little, sieve the icing sugar into another bowl. Or, easier still, put the icing sugar into the food processor and blitz. This is by far and away the least tedious way of removing lumps.
8. Add the golden syrup to the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla and then when all this is combined whisk in the sieved icing sugar. Or just pour this mixture down the funnel of the food processor on to the icing sugar, with the motor running.
9. When you've done, you may need to add a little boiling water - say a teaspoon or so - or indeed some more icing sugar: it depends on whether you need the icing to be runnier or thicker; or indeed it may be right as it is. It should be liquid enough to coat easily, but thick enough not to drip off.
10. Choose your cake stand or plate and cut out four strips of baking parchment to form a square outline on it (this stops the icing running on to the plate). Then sit one of the cakes, uppermost (ie slightly domed) side down.
11. Spoon about a third of the icing on to the centre of the cake half and spread with a knife or spatula until you cover the top of it evenly. Sit the other cake on top, normal way up, pressing gently to sandwich the two together.
12. Spoon another third of the icing on to the top of the cake and spread it in a swirly, textured way (though you can go for a smooth finish if you prefer, and have the patience). Spread the sides of the cake with the remaining icing and leave a few minutes till set, then carefully pull away the paper strips.
13. Top this with Rosettes and border the cake if you like.

Enjoy!!!

I got this recipe over internet by Nigella Lawson and thought of giving it a try and it was a hit :) I changed few things like adding 1/2 cup of Cocoa powder to the Icing as i thought it was slightly sweeter and also gave it personal touch in decoration as i wanted it to be special for my lil ones 1st Birthday.