Roasted Almond And Broccoli Soup

                

Broccoli and almond soup is a very rich and creamy soup.. And yeahh.. healthy too.. It doesnot need any cornflour / maida / arrowroot to thicken the soup.. The cooked broccoli when pureed itself lends a thick creamy taste to the soup.. And the almonds add a distinguished nutty taste and richness to the soup..

                Ok.. How did i arrive at making this soup.. I had a broccoli in my pantry with very little florets and lots of stem.. I didnt want to waste the stem, as the stem also had a lot of nutritional value attached to it..  So on researching online, i came across lots of broccoli and almond soup which used stem in it apart from the florets.. I knew the florets that i had in comparison to the stem was too less.. But still i wanted to give it a try.. And so, the making of this soup started.. And trust me,, it was a very pleasant tasting soup.. Till the time you reveal it, no one would be able to make that you have made this soup with broccoli stem..

                Now while making the soup, I was bit apprehensive of the quantity of almonds to be used.. As all the recipes online had different measurement with respect to almonds used.. At first i just roasted 2tbsp of almonds.. But then I found that to be very less for the quantity of soup that I was making.. And also there had to be a supposedly equal (though mild) taste of almonds along with the broccoli.. And so i ended up roasting another 3tbsp of almonds.. It was a good desicion that I made.. The taste of almonds was prominent in the soup along with broccoli.. You gotta try it to believe it!!!

Ingredients:

1 cup broccoli stem chopped

1/2 cup broccoli florets

1 onion chopped

2-3 cloves garlic chopped

1/3 cup almonds silvered

4 cups water

1 cup milk

Salt

Pepper

Method: Heat 1tsp oil in a pan.. Add in garlic and onion and saute 2mins.. Add in broccoli stem and cook for 3-4mins.. Then add in florets and cook for another 2mins.. Add in water and salt and let it boil.. Simmer and let it cook for 5-7minutes till the water reduces to 3 cups.. Off the gas and let it cool.. Meanwhile roast the almonds in a pan till light brown in color.. Keep around 1tbsp aside for garnishing and add the rest in the broccoli pan.. Now blend the broccoli to puree.. There would be small chunks of broccoli left in it.. Its ok.. Again pour the puree back to same pan and add in milk and keep stirring till it boils.. Add pepper and adjust the consistency of soup with additional warm water as desired.. Let it boil on sim for 3-4minutes.. Garnish with toasted almond silvers and serve hot..

 This was all I had - broccoli florets and stems

 Heat oil, saute garlic and onions

Add in chopped stem 

 Add broccoli after few minutes

 Roast almonds and keep aside. I did this twice as this quantity was less..

 Add water and salt and  boil till it reduces a bit.. Then add almonds

Blend in a fine puree 

 Remove in a pan

Boil and adjust consistency..

 Season with pepper

Garnish with leftover roasted almonds and serve..

Cheesy Vegetable Crepes

                

Cheesy Vegetable Crepes are perfect for anytime hunger prangs.. Be it as a whole meal or as an after school snack, it is sure to mesmerize your taste buds and also keep you full for long..

                This italian dish is my brother's favourite when he feels like having something different from the routine khaana..  I learnt this in one of my cooking classes.. And has been hooked onto this ever since.. It has a nice melt in mouth kind of feel when you eat this.. 

Ingredients:

For batter

2 cup maida

2 ½ cup milk

1.5tsp salt

1tbsp Butter

For toppings:

1 carrot chopped and boiled

1 capsicum chopped

1 onion chopped

1 tomato deseeded chopped

2 cubes cheese grated

Salt and pepper for seasoning

3-4tbsp tomato sauce

Method: Mix ingredients of batter and keep aside for 20mins. It needs to be semi thick batter.. In a pan heat butter and fry onions. After 2 mins add carrot and capsicum. Cook for 2 mins. Then add tomatoes, salt and pepper. Mix and off gas. On nonstick tawa make small crepes using butter. Cook lightly both sides.. Then apply tomato sauce, spread the toppings and grated cheese. Cover till cheese melts. Roll and serve.

Note - You can play around with the toppings as you like..

Incase you want to make many stuffed crepes together for a gathering, make all the crepes, the stuff then with the topping, roll and place in a baking pan..  Bake in preheated oven at 180 for 8-10mins till cheese melts.. Serve hot..

 Heat butter and saute onions

 Add in boiled carrot and capsicum

 After 2mins add tomatoes and mix

 Add in salt and pepper and mix well

 FIlling is ready

 For batter, mix all the ingredients and keep aside..

 It should be semi thick batter..

 Heat a nonstick pan and make crepes with butter..

 Cook lightly both sides

 Spread tbsp of tomato sauce

 Spread the filling

Add grated cheese

 COver and cook on sim

 Till cheese melts

Serve hot

Chocolate Buttercream

This is my first attempt at making the chocolate buttercream.. The last i had buttercream cake was only in my childhood around 15 years ago.. After that it has always been fresh cream cake.. I actually forgot the taste of buttercream and also what buttercream is, till the time i saw other bakers frosting, piping and decorating their cake with luscious buttercream, which made it equally tempting.. I was so eager to try my hand at buttercream that i had to bake a cake to satisy my crave for buttercream.. And i was .. oh so.. marvelled with the way my chocolate buttercream tasted.. I thought it would be all greasy and buttery in mouth.. But then, it was just the other way round.. Creamy... Smooth... Delectable..

                Ok.. Now coming to the making of buttercream.. The more you beat the butter and icing sugar, the softer and fluffier your cream will be.. Always use either icing sugar or powdered sugar which is store bought.. Incase you are using home-made powdered sugar, make sure you have sieved it well with a superfine mesh to avoid any coarser sugar crystals.. Otherwise your buttercream wont be smooth enough.. And if you are making buttercream in large quantity use a hand mixer to beat the butter and sugar.. This way your task will be easier.. Here i made only a small quantity of chocolate buttercream.. So i used a hand whisk to beat the cream which was fine..

                This has now become my absolute favourite frosting for a chocolate cake.. Im so hooked onto this that i just cannot get over the taste of this buttercream.. I hope you people too like it..

Recipes where I used Buttercream
Chocolate Fudge Sheet Cake

Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cocoa

3tbsp unsalted butter room temperature

1/2tsp vanilla extract

1/2 + 1/3 cup powdered sugar

1tsp milk

Method: Whisk cocoa powder and butter well.. Add in powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk and mix whisk again till smooth and creamy.. Use it as a frosting on cake..

Note: Incase you want a thicker buttercream, avoid using milk.. You can then pipe out roses from the thicker buttercream..

 Sieve powdered sugar with a fine mesh

 Mix cocoa powder and butter

 Whisk well

 Add in powdered sugar and milk

Whisk well..

Chocolate Buttercream is ready for frosting..

Momos

Momos, a steamed dumpling with vegetable filling.. Its very rare that i find momos anywhere near my home.. So i generally end up making them at home.. These are healthy and light.. So these are apt for evenings when you feel like having something light as well as tasty....

Ingredients:

For the dough

1 cup maida

1tsp oil

1/2 tsp salt

For the stuffing

1 cup cabbage finely chopped

1 carrot finely chopped

2-3 green chillies chopped

3-4 garlic chopped

1tsp vinegar

1/2tsp soya sauce

Salt to taste
To serve with:
Schezwan Sauce

Method: Mix all ingredients of dough and make a smooth dough with water.. Rest it for half an hour.. Meanwhile make the stuffing.. Heat 1tsp oil in a pan and saute garlic.. Donot brown.. Add the chopped cabbage, carrot and green chillies.. Saute on high flame for 4-5mins till the water dries.. Add in salt, vinegar and soya sauce.. Mix well and off gas.. Keep aside to cool.. Now take the dough and divide it into lemon sized equal balls.. Roll it thin.. Put a tablespoon of filling in between and gather the edges to form a round shape.. twist in the centre to seal.. Make all momos in a similar way.. Now heat cooker with 2 inches water in it.. Put a ring in it.. take a colander which fits into your cooker and place cabbage leaves in it.. Oil the momos slightly and place it on the cabbage leaves leaving space between each momos as it tends to fluff up.. Now place the colander in the cooker and cover it with lid.. Remove the whistle.. Let it steam on medium heat for around 10mins till the covering of momos become transparent and its not sticky to touch.. Remove and serve hot with schezwan sauce..

Mix all ingredients of dough and make dough with water

Chop carrot, cabbage and green chilli finely

Heat oil in a pan and saute garlic

Add chopped vegetables and cook till the water dries

Add in salt, vinegar and soya sauce

 Take a lemon sized ball from the dough and place a tbsp filling in between

 Gather the edges and seal in between twisting it slightly

 Take a colander and place cabbage leaves in it.. Oil the momos lightly and place on the leaves

Heat a cooker with 2inches water and place a ring mould in it..

Place the momo pan in the cooker and cover it with the lid.. Steam for 20mins

 Momos get fluffed up and also the covering gets transparent

 Serve with schezwan sauce