Pancakes and More

How good is it to dream someone to make a wonderful breakfast and hot cup of coffee when you wake up in the morning,Well my dream came true and it was more than wonderful. My Husband made one of the best omlette's that I had ever tasted and most heavenly pancakes! They were just delicious. I wanted this to go as a post, a gesture of gratitude for him. It was indeed pleasant and wonderful.

The recipe for Omlette is from him for two people.

4 eggs-nicely beaten

1/2 Onion- thinly sliced

2 tomatoes- diced small

3 green chillies- chopped(according to your taste.We like it spicy)

Mushrooms-Handful, thinly sliced

Salt-To taste

2 tbsp-Oil to grill the vegetables

2 tbsp -Oil to make the omllette( this measurement of oil is for each omllette)

To make:

In a grilling pan heat the oil and grill the vegetables till they are lightly cooked.Sprinkle salt on the vegetables and keep it closed. In a flat frying pan, heat oil and pour the beaten eggs to spread. let it cook for about 5 mins. Take couple of spoonful of vegetables and place it in the middle of the omllette and fold it in half and plate it as you like with toast or pancake.

Ingredients for Pancake:

Pancake Mix- 2 cups( makes about 5 pancakes)

Banana- 1 mashed

Blue Berry- Handful

Butter- 2 tbsp

Water- 1 1/4 cup

Strawberry- 10-12 thinly sliced.

Dollop-Whipped cream.

In a mixing bowl mix pancake flour and mashed banana and blueberry with water.Mix it to a pouring consistency( a lil thick). Heat the flat pan and butter it. Pour the pancake mixture and cook for about 1 min and flip to cook for another minute or so. Plate it and top it with freshly sliced strawberry and fresh whipped cream. Experience Heaven !!!!!

Sweet Corn Egg Soup

It was one of those days which called for ultra light dinner after an over dose of  south indian breakfast and lunch. We were in no mood to indulge in masala dosa's or rice and its accompaniments. Therefore I thought why not treat ourselves with a soup and a store bought salad along with garlic bread ... All the preparation required was 20 mins and we were at the dinner table enjoying the soup and everything. This soup is a must try and the best part is it can vary to suit vegetarians ,non-veges and eggetarians.

Ingredients: Serves 2

1 can -Sweet corn kernels

1 can - Chicken broth ( can also use vegetable broth)

1-egg white beaten

1/2 tsp- Soy sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Method:

Coarsely grind the sweet corn. Make sure you dont grind it to a paste. There should be some kernels to bite into.In a thick bottomed vessel heat the broth . Pour the coarsely ground sweet corn into the broth.Let it come to a boil. Add soy sauce,salt and pepper. Whisk the beaten egg white into the boiling soup.Whisk continuously so that the egg white do not form a lump.Serve hot with garlic bread. Tastes yummy!!

Wonton Samosa

Lazy sunday afternoon's.......after a nap I always crave to eat something crunchy,fried and spicy. I don't mind going to the extent of putting some efforts to satiate my craving. This sunday it was a job which was easy and satisfying to the taste buds. I made samosa's using the wonton wraps. It took me close to half hour to prepare the samosa's ..but to wash it down it just took couple of minutes!!! yup! they were that tasty.

Ingredients: ( 8 samosa's)

Wonton Wraps-Six small wraps

Potatoes- 2 large

Peas-Handful(Frozen)

Garam masala-1/2 tsp

Cumin powder-1/2 tsp

Coriander powder-1/2 tsp

Chilli powder- 2 pinches

Oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Cook potatoes and mash them with green peas. Add garam masala,cumin,coriander and chilli powder.Add salt to taste. Take one wonton wrap and place it on your palm. Take a spoon and scoop the filling in the center of the wrap.Brush the opposite corner's with oil .Press it against each other so that it sticks together. Repeat the same with the rest of the wraps.

Heat oil in a frying pan and deep fry the samosa's untill golden brown. Serve it with kethchup and savour it with a hot cuppa coffee or tea!

Red Bell Pepper Soup

Peppers to me meant that they either had to land in Chutney's,Side dishes ,Curries or fritter's. Never did I think that they can be used to make soups too !! I tried this red bell pepper soup and it turned out simply delicious. The color of the soup was apetizing and the consistency of the soup just fulfilling.

Hubby dear was first a little apprehensive to try the soup but then he liked it so much that he said that I post this recipe in my blog so that I don't forget the ingredients to prepare it next time. That was quiet encouraging from a man who does not like his soups to be thick.

I must say that "A bowl of soup a day keeps the fat at bay" ;) .... How'z that??

Ingredients:

1 - Red Bell pepper(Cut into four pieces and deseeded)

2 -Tomatoes (Cut into halves)

1 small -Onion(Cut into small cubes)

6 cloves-Garlic

1 cup-Chicken Stock

1/3 cup cream or milk(Optional)

1 tsp pepper

1 pinch-Rosemary

2 sprigs -Thyme

1tbsp-Olive oil

Salt to taste

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.In a pan place the red bell pepper, tomatoes,garlic and onions and drizzle olive oil. Sprinkle pepper and salt and roast the vegetable untill soft and a little charred.It takes approximately 20 mins for the vegetable to roast.Allow this to cool.

Pour in these vegetables with the chicken stock in the blender to make a fine puree. Pour the puree in a thick bottom vessel and bring to a boil on low. Slowly stir in milk or cream so that it completely blends with the puree. Throw in the thyme and rosemary and stir well. Add salt according to your taste.Serve Hot and enjoy with Tortilla chips or croutons.

Shrimp Portofino

Well, Well... new year with loads of new and exciting things for me! I am now a mother !!! With this new role in life my cooking was put on the back burner.Things are slowly getting settled and I din't want to let my passion for cooking die just like that! I am here again to with a whole new purpose now and that is for my daughter to have a set of recipes when she would start cooking! How cool is that going to be for her to tell her friends that she has the vintage recipes !!!! :)

My friend S visited us this Christmas to see our lil one. We all went out to enjoy a good dinner at the Macroni Grill that chilly night.I am not a great fan of pasta's but that night I tried the Shrimp portofino and it was just great.I thought to myself that this would be the best recipe to get myself back on track in the cooking front.... tried this recipe with my variations and it has now become our favorite!!!

Ingredients

1 bunch-Whole baby Spinach leaves
1/2 cup -Mushrooms sliced
1/2 cup-Whipping cream
5 cloves-Garlic chopped
Handful -Pinenuts
3 tbsp-Butter
2 tbsp -Olive Oil
10-15-Shrimp
1 packet -Any pasta(preferably angel hair or sphagetti)
Salt
1 tsp-lemon juice
Red & Black pepper crushed

Cook the pasta al dente and keep it aside. Take a wok and heat the butter and Olive oil.Add chopped garlic and pine nuts. Take care not to fry them too much. Add the mushroom and saute.Pour in the whipping cream and boil the shrimp and spinach leaves and let the sauce simmer for a while(approx 5 mins) Add the pasta ,lime juice ,salt and mix well.Season with crushed red and black pepper.Garnish with parsley.

Serve with garlic bread and White wine.

Portobello Mushroom Burger

One of my brazilian friend always mentioned about portobello mushroom burgers an I thought to myself how on earth would mushroom burger taste without meat or veggies in it! However, I decided to give it a try from one of Betty Crockers cook book fearing the results of EAT(eater acceptance test).Keeping in mind my eater(Hubby the great) I tweaked the recipe a little and it turned out to be absolutely lip smacking!!

Ingredients: Makes two burgers.

Marinade:
2 tbsp- Olive Oil
1/2 tsp- Thyme *
1 pinch- Rosemary
1 tbsp - Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp - Honey Mustard*

1/2 tsp- Freshly Ground Pepper
1/2 tsp- Hot Sauce1 tbsp - Grated lemon peel
1 tbsp - Grated Grapefruit peel (Optional) *
Salt to taste.
2 Portobello mushrooms- Clean wiped
1 number - Sliced Onion.

Assemling:
MayonnaiseLettuce leaves
Sliced Tomatoes
2 slices of provolone cheese *
Burger Buns.

In a wide container add all the marinade ingredients and mix well. Rub the marinade on the mushrooms so that it coats both the sides evenly.Mix in the onions in the marinade.Heat the grill pan. Place the mushrooms and onions on the grill pan till the mushroom is cooked on both the sides and the onions are caramalized.Rub the remanining marinade(if any)when you flip the mushrooms and onions everytime.Spread mayo on the burger buns,place the lettuce leaves,mushroom patty,caramalized onions,cheese,Sliced tomatoes.
Serve it with ketchup,Chips and pickle!!!

*These ingredients are my addtions to the original recipe

Chicken Tikka Masala

Come to think of chicken the only dishes that always came to my mind were the chicken biryani, chilli chicken and chicken fry which are very easy to prepare until I tried this chicken tikka masala which turned out to be absolutely tasty and a very easy dish to whip up when in hurry.

Chicken Tikka with Naan took me straight to the Dhaba on the Mysore-Bangalore road which we used to frequently visit as students. As I savored each bit of the naan and chicken tikka masala … I felt nostalgic, gathered all my memories of my student life, sharing 1 dish with six people, the 1 by 2 tea, desperately collecting each single rupee from everyone to make up the amount for what we ate and so on. The taste was pretty much the same as the dhaba tikka taste except that we dint have to share it with six people…..Those were the days.

Ingredients

½ pound Chicken
2 tbsp-Tomatos Paste
2 Tomatoes- Pureed
1tsp-Ginger Garlic paste
2 Tbsp- Chilli powder
2-3 pods – Cardamom powder (remove the pods)
1-2 –Cloves
1tsp- Cumin powder
5-8 tbsp – Heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp-Fenugreek leaves (Dried/ Fresh)
2 Tbsp- Vegetable Oil
½ stick –Butter
Salt to taste
Fresh cilantro to garnish.

Marinade Ingredients:
1 cup- Thick yogurt
½ tsp-Chilli Powder
½ tsp-Ginger Garlic paste
2 drop-Red food color
1 tsp-Salt
2tbsp-Butter(liquid)
Salt to taste

Method:
Marinade the chicken with marinade ingredients for about 5-8 hours in the refrigerator. Skew the marinated chicken and grill it in the oven till the chicken is cooked. When cooled shred the chicken pieces and keep it aside.
In a pan add the oil and pour the Tomato puree. Add the tomato paste. Stir in the ginger garlic paste and fry for 2 mins.Add the chilli powder, salt, powdered cardamom, Cumin and cloves. Bring the mixture to a boil. Stir in the whipping cream and the butter. Finally add the shredded chicken pieces and bring it to a nice boil. Mix in the fenugreek leaves and garnish the dish with cilantro.
Relish this with naan or Roti and take a free trip to any dhaba you wish!.