Peach Cobbler

                 

Peach cobblers are perfect fruit based sweet treat for summers.. Goodness of peaches combined with cake like topping and served with a scoop of icecream,, wat can anyone ask for more.. I would love to call it a complete dessert meal..

                Cobbler is a dish which generally has a fruit filling with a cake like batter poured over and baked..  It can be made with almost any fruit.. Making peach cobbler has always been on my mind for a very long time.. And i wanted to try it out with fresh peaches rather than canned..And as peaches come for a very short period of time, I had to plan it well in advance.. It was the first time i made this dish.. One of the drawbacks i had in my dish was the peaches were less and the batter was more..  SO there was thick crust of batter over peaches after it baked.. Next time I would definitely keep this in mind... But then i have updated the recipe here accordingly... Make sure to pour enough batter only to cover the peaches.. This would be perfect.. Nevertheless, the taste was divine.. Hope you have a good time baking this dessert...

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

15-18 fresh peaches, peeled and sliced into quarters

1/3 cup sugar

1tsp cornstarch

1tbsp lemon juice

Pinch Salt

For batter:

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

2tsp baking powder

1 cup castor sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2tsp vanilla essence

3/4 cup milk

Method: Mix peaches and sugar and keep aside for 30mins. Keep stirring occassionally.. The juice from peaches will ooze out.. Seive the juice.. Now in a pan, over medium heat, add the peaches, cornstarch, lemon juice, salt and 2tbsp of the drained out juice.. Cook for around 8-10 mins till peaches turn soft and mushy..Preheat oven at 200c.. In a glass dish, melt the butter.. Add in the peaches to cover the bottom of the dish.. Do not mix  and keep aside till you make the batter.. Mix all the ingredients of batter.. It should be runny, so adjust the milk accordingly.. Pour this over the peaches and bake at 200c for around 40mins till the top turns golden brown in color.. Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla icecream.. 

Bread Rasmalai

Bread Rasmalai!!! One of the easiest dessert recipes that i have learnt from my mom.. And sure to impress guests... Originally, this is my mom's recipe, who made this very often, and served this cold in summers and with hot rabdi in winters.. My mom made this with only a single piece of bread roundel.. To take it to the next level, i added a sauce in between 2 bread roundels and then topped it with rabdi.. You can use any sauce or even a fruit puree of your choice.. A chocolate sauce would also be great..

Ingredients:

4-6 any bread slices

1 1/2 ltr milk

5-6tbsp sugar

5tbsp chopped almonds

5tbsp chopped pista

1tsp kesar

4-6 tbsp butterscotch sauce or any other sauce of your liking

Method: Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan and cook on sim till it reduces to half.. Keep stirring in between..It will be thick.. Add in sugar, kesar and half of almonds and pistas.. Cook for another 10mins and remove from flame..This is rabdi.. Let it cool.. Can refrigerate also... While serving, cut the bread slices into rounds using a round cutter or sharp edged bowl.. Apply butterscotch sauce between 2 bread roundels and cover it like a sandwich.. Make all the sandwiches same way.. Take a plate and pour one ladle of rabdi.. Place the butterscotch sandwich and pour another 3-4 ladles of rabdi on top till it covers the bread.. Garnish with remaining almonds and pistas and serve cold.. Can add in fruit pieces also while serving..

Nutella Mug Cake

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.”  ― Charles M. Schulz

For the people who has those chocolate cravings after every meal, nutella mug cake serves as the perfect recipe with a sizable portion of the cake.. I always crave for chocolate based cakes and pastries as these are my top most favourite dessert which I can have any time of the day and can never get bored of it... And when I found this recipe online, my joy knew no bounds.. And now that i know its so easy to make, it makes all the more difficult for me to resist making this any time of the day..

                I have made only half the original recipe, as I felt the size of half the quantity of the original recipe was perfect for 1 individual serving.. The original recipe calls for all purpose flour.. I tried it with wheat flour as well, it came out equally well.. The only difference being, if you eat the wheat cake warm, you can make out the difference.. So it is better to cool down and eat if you are making it with wheat flour.. And do not microwave it for more than one minute, as that will harden the cake and also make it dry..  So, what are you waiting for.. Bake the cake and enjoy with a cup of coffee..

Recipe Source: Kirbiecravings

Ingredients:

2tbsp all purporse flour / wheat flour

2tbsp nutella

1/8 tsp baking powder ( take half quantity of 1/4tsp measure)

1 1/2 tbsp milk

Method: Take a microwave safe mug and mix all the ingredients thoroughly in the mug and microwave at high for exactly 1minute..If you insert a sharp knife in the cake it should come out clean.. If not microwave for another 0secs and not more.. But now that i have made so many times, im sure it will be done in one minute only..  Remove and let it cool for few minutes.. It might deflate a little.. Its completely fine.. Sprinkle castor sugar and serve in the mug itself.. Or drizzle an extra dose of chocolate sauce and serve with vanilla icecream..

Stuff Potato Shells

Potatoes are loved by all alike.... This recipe is my mum's which she makes very often... Here you can play around with the filling of your choice ie instead of mushrooms use sweet corn or cottage cheese or mixed veggies... And also instead of white sauce you can use amul cream to make it more creamier and in a jiffy.. But i simply love this original recipe without any changes to it... The combination of mushrooms stuffed in potatoes makes it more versatile... It was over sooner than it was made.. I could save only two for the click...

Ingredients:

4 big size potatoes

1 pack mushrooms chopped

2 small onions chopped

2tbsp oil

Salt

Pepper

5-6 fresh basil leaves chopped or any other fresh herb available to you

1/2 cup grated processed cheese

For white sauce:

1/2 tbsp butter

1/2 tbsp refined flour

1/2 cup milk

Salt

Pepper

Method: Cut the potatoes into horizontal and par boil them in salted water... Do not remove the skin.. Cool and scoop the inside with a spoon carefully. Keep aside..

To make white sauce: Heat butter in a pan and saute refined flour on sim till the raw smell disappears for approximately 2mins.. Take care it should not turn brown... Add in milk and whisk well to break all the lumps.. Cook till it boils.. Add in salt and pepper.. It should be a thick consistency so that it coats the mushroom filling..

To make the filling: Heat oil in a pan and saute onions till pink.. Add in mushrooms and cook on high flame till all the water dries up.. Add in salt, pepper and basil leaves. Mix well.. Add in the white sauce and mix till all the sauce coats the mushroom.. The filling is ready..

Now take the potatoes and fill the hollow with this mushroom filling.. Cover with grated cheese.. And microwave for 1min till cheese melts.. Serve hot...

Pasta Salad

               

 Pasta salad is almost loved by all alike.. It gives the taste of a creamy pasta along with the freshness of salad... You can use any pasta for the salad.. be it macroni or fusili or penne.. according to your own liking.. Here I have used very tiny pastas (the shape of an eye lens)  knows as pastina, which is generally used in soups and broths, but these were available to me and so I wanted to use this for my salad...

                For the dressing i have used oats white sauce, recipe of which can be found in my list of recipes in sauce section..  You can even substitute it for mayonnaise or cream, but this oats white sauce has made the salad very healthy apart from making it creamy.. The vegetables can be added according to your own liking ie broccoli, mushrooms, sweet corn, purple cabbage etc.. Make sure you cut the vegetables approximately the size of the pasta ie if your using tiny pasta, chop it finely or the size of sweet corn, if your using fusilli cut it in juliennes.. This will give a uniformity to your salad and try making it as colourful as possible with all different coloured veggies..

Ingredients:

1 cup boiled pasta

1 small onion chopped

3-4 babycorn chopped and blanched

1 tomato chopped without pulp

1 small bellpepper (any color) chopped

1/2 cup oats white sauce

Salt

Pepper

1/2 lemon juice

1tbsp olive oil

Method: Mix all the ingredients together and serve.. Incase you like, you can cool the salad in refrigerator for almost 2hrs and serve cold.. It tastes amazing.. But remember not to add onions if you refrigerate the salad.. Otherwise the smell of onions would start dominating the taste of salad..

Oats White Sauce

               

We all love italian food.. And white sauce is very widely used in the making of pastas and anything italian in most of the recipes.. How much ever we use wheat flour pastas and veggies in the dish,, lots of butter and all purpose flour which goes into the making of white sauce makes the dish unhealthy and also heavy on our stomach... Have you ever tried making white sauce healthier?? A white sauce which your family loves and you can have guilt free in your pastas and au gratins...

                Here I share with you all the secret of a healthy white sauce made with oats... Oats which is high in fiber and minerals, is a very good substitute for all purpose flour... The only drawback with respect to this sauce is that it might appear to be a bit sticky, but olive oil eases that out to a great extent... Use it in pastas, or as a spread in sandwiches, it serves as a wonderful sauce..

                I have used this white sauce to make a pasta salad which tasted amazing and it was hard to make out that white sauce used in it was made with oats..

Ingredients:

1tbsp olive oil

3tbsp oatmeal flour ( grind about 4tbsp of oats in a mixer to a fine powder)

1 cup milk

Salt and pepper as per taste

Method: Heat oil in a pan and saute oatmeal flour for 2mins. Do not let it brown.. Add in milk and stir continuously over low flame till it boils.. Make sure no lumps are formed.. Add salt and pepper...  Add more milk if the sauce appears to be too thick....Keep in mind that sauce thickens further when cooled..  So adjust thickness according to the preference ...White sauce is ready for use..

Note: Can add 1/4 cup grated cheese and extra 2-3tbsp of milk in the end to make it a cheese sauce..

Summer Fruit Punch

Summers are a great time to have something cool and refreshing.

I had this beautiful light coloured drink at my aunt's place and was totally in love with it. So refreshing, it just soothed my senses. So, i had to ask my aunt for the recipe. A must try drink and am sure u too will fall in love with it instantly.

Here for the recipe I have used mala's crushes and amul cream. The base of the fruit punch is that of litchi's.

Note: You can also change the base of the fruit punch i.e. use you can take any other flavored crush of your family's choice as base instead of litchi, and add the remaining crushes in the given quantity.

Summer Fruit Punch

Ingredients:

2 cups litchi crush

1/2 cup pineapple crush

1/2 cup orange crush

1/2 cup strawberry crush

1/2 cup cream

1 small lemon juice

2tbsp powdered sugar

3-4 tbsp crushed ice

1 bottle soda

Method: Blend together litchi crush, pineapple crush, orange crush and strawberry crush. Add in cream, powdered sugar, lemon juice and blend again. This serves as the base of the fruit punch mocktail. It can be stored in fridge for 3-4 days. While serving, in a tall glass, add 2tbsp of the fruit punch mixture, cover it with crushed ice. Again add 2tbsp of fruit punch mixture and layer it with ice. Now top it with soda and fill the glass. Garnish with mint leaves and a slice of lemon. Serve chilled.