Daily Archives: December 2, 2014

Strawberry rose cream cheese pudding

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 25 minutes + 3 hours or more of refrigeration or pudding to set

Serving : 4-6 members

Description

Any occasion to celebrate or guests at home to my kids coming home , the first to do on my list will be desserts . I make sure to serve two or more desserts always as I love to surprise and spoil people of choice . This is not intentional but happens so always when I start and finish with one dessert . I have left overs of some things like whipped cream , chocolate ganache etc .. That I make sure to use it in another form and create a dessert out of it . Like wise once when I made gulab jamun cheese cake , I was left with some cream cheese + whipped cream mix . If it was a lazy day , I should have just set it as it is and had it for my mid night craving enjoying my moment of adding more calories by sneaking to the refrigerator like nigella lawson dose . This time having two packets of strawberries in hand that I had kept aside to make another dessert came in handy along with a new silicon rose mould that I got . So just combined the left over cream cheese + whipped cream mix , strawberries and the rose mould to come up with this dessert . I myself was awe stuck with this Beauty that I created with perfect harmony and goodness of taste . ( I could not stop drooling over these ) Took a bite and temptation took over my sense . Taste wise the tanginess of the strawberries balanced with the cream cheese and sweetness giving way to indulge a symphony treat … Intense and irresistible . It was pure music in the tongue . I force fully had to self – impose a “BIG BAN ” on these for me :-(( as I ate so many servings that I had to health police myself .

Ingredients for the rose

Ingredients	Quantity
Fresh strawberries	250 grams chopped
Sugar	1/4 cup or to taste
Water	5 to 8 tablespoons
Fresh cream	1/4 cup Vanilla essence
Gelatine	2 1/ 2 tablespoons soaked in 4 tablespoons of water

Method for rose

Boil strawberries with sugar and water to cook for ten minutes until the strawberries are cooked and mushy .
Cool completely . Add vanilla essence and fresh cream to the cooled strawberries .
Blitz it in a food processor to get a thick pulp .microwave the soaked gelatine for 30 seconds to dissolve .
Bring it down to room temperature . Mix it with the strawberry mixture . Mix well and pour 1/4 way ( up to the rose petals are in the mould ) into greased rose silicon moulds .
Place in the freezer to set for an hour or more .

Ingredients for base

Ingredients	Quantity
fresh cream	250 gm whipped with 75 gm powdered sugar
Gelatine	5 tablespoons soaked in 1/4 cup water
Cream cheese	1/2 cup
Strawberry essence	1 teaspoon

Method for cream cheese pudding

Beat cream cheese with an electric egg beater to soften . Add whipped cream with sugar and mix well .
Top with strawberry essence . Mix well and keep aside . Microwave the soaked gelatine for 30 seconds to dissolve .
Cool it down to room temperature . Mix into the cream cheese mix .
Pour over the set strawberry roses about to one inch thick . Place in the freezer to set for one hour or more .
Once set place it in the refrigerator . Remove from refrigerator 10 minutes before needed to be served .
Push the set strawberry rose cheese pudding out of the silicon mould over to a serving plate and serve chilled .

Sasam / pineapple relish

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : nil

Serving : 4 members

Description

Rasam is one dish that is on the table every day for lunch at home . Wanting a change with it’s own in another form . Remembered seeing a pineapple rasam recipe in a foodie magazine . Searched for the recipe and to my surprise the recipe was not a rasam but a Sasam . Went through the recipe and found it to be so very easy and immediately knew this recipe is for keeps and to be added into my regular veggie menu at home . I put aside the idea of pineapple rasam to be done for another day and grabbed this super simple recipe to be tried out first . This is some thing like a chutney or a salsa that’s apt for beginners to start with making cooking more pleasurable and impress loved ones . Served it for lunch along side a typical Tamil vegetarian menu . The Sasam ( pineapple relish ) did go and fro from my side to hubby dears side more than a couple of times . I licked the entire Sasam with no shame . Hubby dear made sure I make another batch of the Sasam to be taken for his vegetarian friends family that night . I had no issue at all doing it all again as it’s so easy with nil cooking to done . Next day I get a call from Neetha ( hubby dears , friends wife ) saying the dish was so yum but I just got a tiny bit as my hubby gobbled up the entire lot and told his mother about this dish a lot . Now she wants the recipe . I did pass over the recipe and she was like that’s it . Really ? I know , even I had the same reaction in mind when I made this dish . This is an authentic recipe from the Konkani speaking Hindu Brahmins addressed as saraswat . These sort of dishes that are rare to be sampled outside other than homes is what really amazes me . We still have so many scrumptious cuisines that need to be found in our country that’s beyond the means of common flock . Each community in our country is rich in layers of history , context , legend and trivia to it . Oops , coming back to the dish .happy cooking to all with this rustic , homely knock out flavour profile relish .

Sasam / Pineapple relish

Ingredients	Quantity
Pineapple	1/2 medium sized chopped
Jaggery	1 tablespoon crushed
Salt	to taste
Sultanas / raisins	25 grams
Coconut grated	30 grams
Dry red chillies	3 or more to taste
Mustard seeds	a pinch
Tamarind	1 teaspoon
Yellow mustard powder	1/2 teaspoon

Method

Mix pineapple chopped with jaggery and salt . Keep aside .
Grind the remaining ingredients together to a paste . Taste and adjust the paste .
Combine the ground paste and pineapple mix .
Mix well and place in the refrigerator until needed to be served .

Notes

You can do the same with madras cucumbers and green grapes

Hot and sweet barbecue chicken with veggies

Preparation Time : 20 minutes + one hour for marination

Cooking Time : 40 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

One best book is equal to hundred good friends but one good friend is equal to a whole library … This is what our former president of India dr. A.P.J . Abdul kalam quoted . Here I am blessed with two good friends Sindhu and sulu which means it’s equal to a whole encyclopaedia . I know all of you might be thinking why on earth is she ( that’s me ) writing about her friends here for a recipe description ??? Wait a little while more until I relieve the connection . We were in our own world of sweet nothings , happy and merry always . I still remember we never ever walked but would dance our way every where we went . Bully the junior boys and the senior ones at times if that did try to act smart with us . We would kill the boys by just looking at them and giggle our way out until we drop down and roll in the floor that lead to the guys getting so nervous . we three were the most hated by all the girls ( not sure why ). Sindhu was the most rebellious , very beautiful and a very very very good classical dancer .sulu the talented gem of our school , you name any competition ( with in the school or inter – school ) she is there in it and comes back with a prize for sure . The most popular one among us for good things of course and have to mention the fan following she had in other schools as well . Me the great was the quietest , lost and confused in my own world figuring out what I am but the funniest . I just have to open my mouth and there these two are laughing non – stop . I haven’t lost this craziness in me a bit , it sparks up when ever I am with them . We did part our ways and got busy with our lives and today Sindhu is busy attending film parties and is always into the world of lime light and glamour as she has two movie stars at home . Sulu is a home baker who creates magic with her cakes and baked goodies and me just keeping myself busy with all you people sharing my thoughts and recipes . Never in my dreams did I think sulu and myself would end up in some thing related to food as we were busy with other things as little ones . Sindhu thinks we are talking in Greek or Spanish when sulu and myself discuss food but she loves to be treated with what we cook . ( enough of you and your friends , please come to the point . Ok, ok . I always keep going on and on about the dish so for a change just wanted to take you all into a nostalgic roller coster ride with me ) Now this recipe was shared to me by sulu and was a block buster super hit on the table when served but the veggies below was not fancied much like all the girls in school hated the three of us for no reason :-)))

Ingredients for marinate

Ingredients	Quantity
Chicken breasts	3 ( cut each into two vertically )
Dried basil , oregano , thyme , rose Mary , dill	1/2 teaspoon each
Salt + pepper	to taste
Onion	1 big chopped

Ingredients for the barbecue sauce

Ingredients	Quantity
Vinegar	1 tablespoon
Tomato purée	3 tablespoon ( blitz one big tomato to a purée in a food processor )
Worcestershire sauce	1 teaspoon
Brown sugar	2 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste	2 teaspoon
Mustard paste	2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder	to taste
Salt	to taste

Other ingredients

ingredients	Quantity
Olive oil	1 tablespoon + 1 tablespoon
Boiled carrot	1 big cubed
Boiled Mushrooms	5 cut into 2
Boiled potato	1 big cut into cubes
Red , yellow and green capsicum	Red , yellow and green capsicum
Dried herbs	oregano , basil , thyme
rose Mary , dill	1/4 teaspoon each
Garlic	1 clove crushed
Salt + pepper	to taste
Lettuce leaves	6 to 8

Method

Beat the vertically cut chicken breasts with a meat hammer lightly . Add the dried herbs , salt , pepper and chopped onion together and toss over the hammered chicken breasts . Set aside to marinate for one hour .
Mix all the ingredients mentioned for the barbecue sauce . Taste and adjust . Set aside .
Preheat oven to 200 degree Celsius for ten minutes .Heat one tablespoon olive oil . Add crushed garlic .
When brown add all the vegetables , salt , pepper and dried herbs . Toss well for a minute . Remove from heat and set aside .
Place the marinated chicken breasts over a lined baking tray . Drizzle one tablespoon oil over the chicken breasts and bake for 30 minutes .
Every five minutes once baste the barbecue sauce over the chicken breasts side to side . Once cooked through .make sure to finish of the barbecue sauce by basting well .
Turn the oven mode to grill and cook further for another 5 minutes . Remove from oven . Lay a bed of lettuce leaves on the bottom of a serving plate .
Top with the sautéed vegetables . Place the hot and sweet barbecued chicken breasts on top and serve immediately.

Home made pesto sauce tossed with spaghetti

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 25 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

The new craze in me for Italian cuisine just makes me want to try every single Italian recipe I come across that interests me . When ever I get to see some thing in the shelves of gourmet stores that’s Italian I just grab it even if I don’t know what it is used for . Like wise I did the same with a bottle of pesto that was a pale green in colour , with the above floating with olive oil . Back home it was just in the store room shelf as it was in the shelves of the gourmet store . I happened to attend a cooking work shop of master chef India season 3 winner rippu dhaman handa in Coimbatore where he made a herby pesto from scratch . I was like ” OMG it’s dead easy and why did I have to get it from the shelves of a gourmet store for a whooping prise . ” later that bottle was used to make pesto bread pinwheels . Now , I make home made pesto and add it to salads , spread it over sandwich’s and katti rolls , serve it as a dip … I can go on and on . Wanting to impress and show off my new learnt Italian dishes made up my mind to serve an Italian spread for a family dinner at home . Spaghetti was one among the dishes I had in mind but wanted a change from the regular tomato – cheese based sauce I make usually . The bulb moment happened when I remembered Italian chef David rocca using pesto and tossing up a spaghetti . Went ahead with the same idea in mind but following my intuitions of the recipe . Tasted and it was spot on with a new welcoming colour that was herby and fragrant in taste . I did have a little left over which I tossed over equal amounts of cornflour + flour and deep fried to crisp and served it along a warm bowl of soup on a rainy cold night . These small inventions I come up with left overs putting as much love and effort into what I cook gives me a reason to smile when the deliciousness of the dish travels across the table .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
spaghetti	250 grams boiled in a pinch of salt and some olive oil ( reserve the boiled water )
olive oil	1 tablespoon
mint leaves	few to garnish
cherry tomatoes	2
garlic	1clove peeled

Ingredients For the Pesto Sauce

Ingredients	Quantity
basil	2 cups ( at times I substitute with 1 cup mint + 1 cup coriander leaves or equal amounts of all the three )
Parmesan cheese	1/2 cup grated
toasted walnuts or pine nuts	1/2 cup ( I used pine nuts )
Salt	to taste
garlic	4 cloves
olive oil	3 tablespoons

Method For the Pesto Sauce

In a blender add all the ingredients and mix till a semi-fine paste is achieved.

For the Pasta

In a pan heat the olive oil , add the garlic clove. Add the cherry tomatoes .
Remove the whole garlic clove.Add the pesto sauce. Cook for 1 minute.
Add the boiled spaghetti.Toss well , making sure the pesto sauce has coated the spaghetti all over .
Add about 4 tablespoons of spaghetti boiled water to get the right consistency and moister .
Garnish with a mint sprig and serve hot.