French Toast

               

I love eggs.. I used to eat eggs when i was a child.. But later, stopped getting eggs at home as my dad became very pious.. But we were still given the liberty to eat eggs outside once in a while.. What i really missed about the eggy dishes was french toast.. I loved the texture of this toast a lot.. Crunchy and crispy from outside, soft and chewy from inside.. And mildly sweet.. As i write this post, it makes me salivate.. :P .. Its eggless, but trust me, the taste has been all the more same, with just the eggy smell on the miss.. Taste wise it has been very satisfying.. I served these toasts with a drizzle of hazelnut chocolate, white chocolate and some bananas on the side.. This dessert is perfect to feed my inner child, and revive childhood memories..

Ingredients:

5-6 white bread slice

4-5tsp butter

For mixture

1/2 cup milk

2tbsp custard powder

1tbsp honey

1tbsp sugar

1/4tsp vanilla extract

For garnish:

Any fruit you like

Chocolate spread

Method: Mix all ingredients of mixture.. Dip in a bread from both sides for few seconds and roast on a skillet using butter on medium flame from both sides till it browns and becomes crisp.. Make all toasts similar way.. Drizzle chocolate spread and serve with fruits..

Note - I used milky white bread as it is bit more sweet than regular bread and fits the dish perfectly..

Before you dip the bread in custard mixture, whisk the mixture once, as the custard powder tends to settle down..

All ingredients of custard mix

 Dip in bread from both sides

 Roast on skillets from both sides

Roast all breads similar way

Drizzle chocolate spread and serve with fruits

Chinese Corn Croquettes

             

Chinese Corn Croquettes can be served as an amazing party snack or a perfect rainy day snack.. This finger snack is tangy and spicy balanced with the sweetness of corn.. I made this appetizer on a sunday evening for my family who munched on it while watching tv (it did not rain though :P).. If i plan to make a dish, it needs to be made irrespective of everything else.. And so absence of rain was not a hindrance for my family to enjoy this fried snack..

                "Croquer" is a French word meaning "to crunch", and so the name croquette which are generally oval shaped fried rolls made of breadcrumbs, potato mash, stuffed with a filling of choice.. Here i made a filling of sweet corn with the chinese flavours..  So sit back errr no,, gear up to make this dish in your kitchenette and enjoy it the most..

Ingredients:

For Schezwan corn

1 cup corn kernels boiled

2tbsp schezwan paste

2tbsp onion

Salt

For Croquettes

2 potatoes boiled

2tbsp bread crumbs

Salt

Red chilli powder

Dhaniya

Green chilli

For sauce:

1tsp oil

1tbsp onion chopped

2tbsp tomato sauce

2tsp chilli sauce

Method: For schezwan corn: Heat oil. Saute onions and add schezwaan paste. Cook for a min. Add corn and mix and keep aside. Mix all ingredients of croquette and make it cylinder shape with schezwaan corn stuffed in between. Deep fry. For sauce: heat oil. Saute onions and add sauces. Mix and cook for a min. Keep aside. Take short glasses. Pour 1tbsp of prepared sauce each. And put cylinder shaped croquette on top.  In few short glasses serve only schezwaan corn as well.
Note - You can make your own schezwan sauce at home or use store bought ones. I used home made, the recipe of which is given here..
Can experiment with filling of your choice.

Process of Schezwan Corn

Process of dipping sauce

Process of making croquettes

Serve croquettes in shot glasses with some sauce and some more schezwan corn

An inside view of the croquette

Tortellini In Spinach Tomato Sauce

                

Tortellinis are stuffed ring shaped pasta with a hole in between.. There is no much difference between tortellinis and ravioli except for the shape.. Both are stuffed pastas coated in thick italian gravy.. Many a times before, I have made spinach and cheese raviolis but not tortellinis.. Making tortellinis are not hard but definitely takes ample time in shaping.. Shaping these cute little pastas was fun though.. I made these tortellinis from scratch using a homemade pasta dough and stuffed with just plain cheese, which can't get any better.. Pastas or for that matter the dough tends to dry out quickly if left uncovered, which makes it difficult to work with and also prone to tearing.. So keep both the dough and already made tortellinis covered with a plastic wrap or a wet cloth while you are working with them..

                There is something unique about making pastas from scratch.. It gives me a feeling of pride and achievement for making a dish all by myself, and also the taste is superior compared to readymade ones.. The cheese which melts inside the pasta gives it an awesome texture.. You can make this pastas with any sauce of your choice, be it white sauce, pesto sauce or just plain aglio olio.. It is sure to entice your taste buds..

 Recipe source - here

Ingredients:

For the pasta dough

1 cup flour

1tsp salt

1tbsp oil

1/2 cup grated cheese for stuffing

For the sauce

5-6 ripe tomatoes

1 onion finely chopped

2 bunches spinach chopped

5-6 garlic cloves crushed

Salt

Pepper

Red chilli flakes

2tbsp tomato ketchup

1tbsp chilli sauce

1/4 cup cream

1/2 cup grated cheese

Method: Mix all the ingredients of pasta dough except cheese and knead into a semi soft dough with water (Making a hard dough will tend to dry out the pastas quickly).. Roll it into 1/4inch thickness and cut into roundels (I used a 2inch radius bowl to cut my roundels).. Apply water on the outside of the rounds.. Place a tsp of cheese on it and fold in half..Seal it well with the help of a fork.. Pull the sides behind and stick with little water.. Make all the pastas similar way..Make sure you seal the pastas really well for the stuffing to stay intact.. Boil water in a large pan with some oil and salt in it.. The pan should be large enough for all the pastas to float in the water easily.. Once boiled, add in the tortellinis and let it cook for about 7-10mins till it floats on top.. Meanwhile make sauce.. Heat 2tbsp oil and saute onions and garlic till soft.. Add in all other ingredients except cream and cheese and cook for few minutes till the sauce boils and becomes thick.. Add in cream and cook for another 2 minutes.. Remove tortellini from the water and add directly into the sauce.. Mix lightly.. Cover and let the tortellinis absorb some sauce.. Garnish with cheese and serve..

Process of making tortellinis

Process of making sauce

Add tortellinis once the sauce is ready.

Serve hot..

40 Minutes Burger Buns

All Purpose Flour Buns

                When I first learned how to bake breads, it seemed to be a very time taking process, (not in a protesting manner, but the planning required before hand to bake a bread), albeit the outcome has always been satisfying.. I always wondered if there was a way out to bake the breads instantly when in need.. One of the ways was using fresh yeast, which was not a feasible option as fresh yeast had a very small shelf life.. And so, i always went with the long procedure of baking breads, which took around 4hrs in all.. Cooling time extra.. Next, what i resorted to was kneading the dough a day before and refrigerating it.. There were two positive outcomes of this, one - half of the procedure was done very well in advance and two - it helped the flavors and textures to develop better... But still, my purpose of baking fresh breads when in need on the spur of the moment was not resolved completely, until i came across this recipe of "40 Minutes Burger Buns" in one of the food blogs.. And boyyy! It was like a solace to my heart and mind.. And with my glittering eyes and grinning mouth I just couldnt stop looking at this recipe for long..  I knew, this was the therapy to most of my worry..

                Now that i found the recipe, I couldnt find a perfect time to bake these buns.. As most of the time I was either held up with some other work or had some other culinary plans.. This recipe lied in my bookmark list for long.. And then one day, my brother out of the blue voiced his desire to have burgers for dinner.. It made me so excited hearing this.. I knew this was the time for me to try out these instant burger buns.. I got home early from office that day in my excitement to bake these round fluffed beauties.. And only to hear my mom ringing an alarming bell, "the powercuts have been frequent today.. So be careful with your bake".. But I just ignored the warning and started gathering the ingredients.. And alas, lights out.. It just took life out of me.. As if my world has come to an end.. Left the ingredients wherever they were and walked out of the kitchen with a long face.. My mom looked at me feeling dejected.. She asked me to get the burger buns from the bakery.. And i wudnt listen to her.. The lights were back in 10mins sharp.. And again i started looking towards the kitchen and then towards my mom, would she warn me again..She looked at me with the corner of her eyes, knowing that i cudnt be stopped what so ever and warning me again would be a waste of energy.. I waited for few minutes to see if the power cut would happen again, but it didnt.. And then, in the name of God, i started my work back.. This time a bit quickly.. Gathered all the ingredients, set the oven in preheating mode, kneaded the dough, made balls, set to rise and in the oven.. My heart pacing fast, and praying God, please take care of our dinner tonight.. And yayy,, God was so kind to me, my buns were baked perfectly, without any powercuts.. I was jumping around seeing these beautifully risen golden buns.. Perfect to be made into burgers..

All purpose Flour Laadi Pav

Coming to the recipe - Seeing the pictures of the bun and the comments and compliments, it seemed to be a perfect recipe.. But still, i was dubious of the quantity of yeast mentioned in the recipe.. I generally use around 1/2 tsp of yeast for every cup of flour, and this recipe called for 1tbsp of yeast for 1 3/4 cup of flour, which was way too much for me.. And the water content less than i normally use.. What if the buns dont turn out the way it should be, what will our dinner be.. I had this habit of experiment with food recipes right at the time in need, and never in advance.. This was another concern my mom always had with me.. She always advised me to carry out my experiments atleast once before making it for the actual meal.. I told mom, we either eat the buns the way they are, straight out of the oven or make burgers with the leftover bread lying in a box on the kitchen counter.. My mom knew I failed many times in my first times before, so to be on safe side, she asked my sis-in-law to get a pack of buns from outside and keep it away from me without knowing about it (which were not put to use :P).. I went ahead with the recipe, using the same quantity of ingredients mentioned in the recipe.. Oh, im so proud to have done that and not altered it a bit.. The buns were truly a thing of delicacy.. I had a sigh of relief , and yeah my mom too, more than me, on seeing the flawless buns.. A tough exterior with soft and chewy interior.. May be that's the reason the quantity of yeast was so much so that it could rise well without any time for fermentation..  My brother, couldn't make out these were homemade till the time my mom revealed it to him.. And indeed, it is a recipe without any room for errors..

Whole Wheat Flour Buns

                I have made whole wheat buns, pav buns out of the same recipe.. I was flabbergasted by the result each time.. You can even make stuff buns out of these, or mix herbs and spices for an added flavor and zing.. The variations are endless.. Its your play dough.. Imagine and create..

Recipe Source - here

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1tbsp instant yeast

1/2 tsp salt

2tbsp sugar

2tbsp vegetable oil / olive oil

1/2 cup + 1tbsp water

Method: In a bowl add all purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar.. Mix lightly.. Add in oil and water and knead into a smooth dough.. Knead for around 5-7 mins.. In the mean time preheat oven at 200c.. Make 6 balls out of the dough and place it in a greased baking tray.. Cover and let it rise for 10mins.. Brush lightly with milk and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.. Bake at 200c for around 20mins till the buns are nice golden in color..

Note:

If using whole wheat flour, use 1/2 cup + 3tbsp of water as whole wheat flour needs more water than all purpose flour..

Original recipe called for baking temperature of 225c. My oven heats up pretty fast.. So 200c was perfect for me..

 Process of making buns

Buns straight out of the oven

 Cross Section of bun

Happy Meal.. :)

Pizza Cups

               

 Pizza Cups are nothing but pizza in a twisted form which can serve  as a great evening appetizer for kids as well as adults.. When i first saw these cups in one of the forums, i was smitten by the idea of baking pizza in a unique form.. It seemed very exhilarating  to me baking pizza in an unprecedented way..  You can serve individual portions and yeah,  customize the toppings too, according to the choice of your family and friends... All you need is pizza dough, chunky pizza sauce, cheese and some toppings of your choice.. It can be made well in advance and reheated at the time of serving..

I made these pizza cups using muffin moulds(which were deep enough) and also mini tart moulds (which were shallow), to see which served the purpose better for baking the perfect pizza cups.. Both were equally good, with just the difference in size.. Mini ones looked really cute and were the perfect size for kids..

Ingredients:

For the dough

1 cup flour ( I used half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour)

1/2tsp yeast

1/2tsp salt

1tbsp sugar

1/2tsp mixed herbs              

1/2 cup water and milk mixed and warm

For the filling

1/2 cup chunky pizza sauce 

1/2 cup grated cheese of your choice ( i used amul pizza cheese)

Handful of olives to top

Method: In a bowl mix flour, yeast, salt, sugar and herbs.. Make dough with water and milk mixture and knead for about 10mins using stretch and fold method.. Place it in a greased bowl and cover with cling film.. Leave it to rise till it doubles in size for almost an hour.. Meanwhile keep other ingredients ready.. Grease and dust whichever mould you are using.. Preheat oven at 200c.. Once the dough is doubled in size, punch it back and knead for a minute or two.. Roll it to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into rounds and place it in the greased moulds.. (You can see here that the dough roundels have not covered the moulds fully.. They are only 3/4th way up.. Its ok.. It rose to the top ehile baking giving it the perfect mould shape..) Fill it with chunky pizza sauce, layer with cheese and top it with olives.. Bake at 200c for around 25mins till the cheese melts and top is golden brown.. Remove from oven, leave for 5mins and demould the pizza cups.. Serve warm..

Note - You can either use store bought pizza sauce or make one at home.. Your choice..

Top it with toppings of your choice ie olives, corn, pepper, jalapenos et al.

Roll the dough and cur roundels

 Place it in greased muffin moulds

 Fill it with chunky pizza sauce

Top it with cheese and olives

The same thing in tart mould..

Baked pizza cups