Do we need any occasion to bake cookies ? Absolutely not!!!!!! …….I feel we can bake cookies anytime & have them  anytime – just dunk em in tea or milk – anytime. I get so excited whenever I  see  pictures of any cookie especially one  that looks fresh out of a bakery I know i have to bake them. My love for fresh baked cookies dates back to my childhood ( as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts as well) & now that I have the luxury of having a big oven I want to bake something everyday. These cookies are kind of a replica of the Chocolate Bourbon cookies that we so used to love as kids. My father would bring that tin of Britannia  chocolate bourbons & it would be gone in no time. I saw the pictures for these cookies on the net ,topped with Dulce De Leche ( honestly all I know about Dulce De Leche is that it is some kind of a topping) , so avoiding a trip to the grocery store I topped them with “Nutella” Instead & they taste exactly like The chocolate bourbons…..soft & crunchy  at the same time & the little dab of nutella  makes  them…….make em…….I dunno what to say ( lol)

Ingredients:

I cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened  cocoa powder ( I used Hershey’s)
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp ( 112 grams / 1/2 cup )
1/3 cup heaped confectioner’s sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons crushed pistachios.
1-2 tablespoons nutella

Preparation:

Mix the dry ingredients together, flour, cocoa, salt – keep aside
Beat the butter & sugar together in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until light & fluffy.
Add vanilla extract , mix well.
Start adding the dry mix 2 tablespoons at a time until completely incorporated . Mix well. Do not overmix the cookie dough.
The dough will be soft , divide it into 20-24 equal portions( I scooped it out with 1/2 tablespoon measuring spoon)  roll into small balls & just flatten each ball slightly into the palms .
Now press one side of each ball into crushed pistachios & place them onto well greased baking sheet.
For the thumbprint you can either make an impression in the centre of the cookie with your thumb or a 1/2 measuring tsp ( I used 1/2 measuring tsp)
Bake at 325 degree F for 12-15 mins. You might have to adjust the bake time as every oven is different.
The cookies might puff up from the centre while baking , in that case just press them with a spoon again while they are hot & soft.
Let cool completely . Top each cookie with a little dollop of Nutella .

Note: Top them with nutella just before serving as they tend to become a little  soggy  from the moisturous Nutella.

Happy Baking……….Enjoy.

My 23rd post & 3 awards form Sobha of Good Foods . Thank you so much Sobha. I am really touched .
Congratulations on your 5th anniversary & May God bless you. Lots of Luv.

When I started this blog 2.5 months ago I knew nothing about the blogging world. Although I had been nagging my husband for quiet some time to design a website for me where I could just file all my recipes for my friends & family & for myself – it just never happened. One fine day as I was googling  the internet for some recipe there was this link on the right corner of my screen saying ” create your own blog”. I hesitantly clicked on it to see what it was…..yes I say I was hesitant coz my computer had crashed a couple of times earlier due to some spam. But anyways I went thru the whole thing & then it seemed to be the longest day of my life as I kept waiting for G to get home & show him my discovery .
G gave me a big nod saying “yes you can do it here & document whatever you like” I spent all of the next day setting up my blog & both of us were pretty amused by the fact that with my limited knowledge of computers I had set up the whole page myself- the credit really goes to Google for giving us the space & the tools to design our kitchens . Thanks Google.

This 2& 1/2 month journey from my kitchen to yours has been so beautiful, I now have 41 friends who take out the time to compliment each of my creations. I am really touched by the overwhelming response. It is your support , your comments & compliments  that keep me going. Every morning as soon as G leaves for work I hop onto my computer to get in touch with each of our kitchens. Thankyou guys for sharing so much & for giving so much.
Also I would like to Thank my husband Gautam ( although thankyou is a very small word for what all he does for me) for sporting me all through , designing, taking pictures & making changes whenever required.
I would like to extend my regards & thanks to Sobha Of” Good Food ” who has shared 3 beautiful awards with me. My 23rd post & 3 awards already…….I still cannot believe it.  But moving forward I will be sharing  a very colourful dish with you all today  which is really an expression of my feelings & a big compliment for all the wonderful friends I’ve made during this journey.
Lots & Lots of Hugs  to you all……..
Cheers

For  Thepla: 

Ingredients:

Ingredients:
2 cups Milk,
1 cup Fresh Cantaloupe,
2 tbsp Sugar,
Ice cubes,
1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder,
  
Method:
Add cut cantaloupe sugar and milk in blander than bland well.
 Add ice and nutmeg powder than bland until smooth and creamy.
 Serve immediately.

Not this last week, but actually the week before, I made Caramel Apple Muffin Tops out of 500 Vegan Recipes.  I have a muffin top pan that I swear I have never used to make muffin tops.  I used it to make hamburger buns and vegan Yorkshire pudding, but never actual muffin tops.  So, when I was searching for a muffin recipe to make before work one day and saw this recipe, I thought it was definitely a match.

The recipe calls for a sturdy apple, such as Granny Smith.  However, I only had a few Fuji apples in my fridge, so I used one of those.  The longest part of the process was making the caramel apples.

It took quite a while for the liquid to reduce into a thick caramel sauce.  If you think the apples look great in that picture above, let me tell you, they smelled heavenly!  I didn’t have any Sucanat, but I did have some vanilla cinnamon sugar.  I used 2 teaspoons of that in place of the Sucanat.

The recipe makes 6 good sized muffin tops.  I will say that the muffin tops stay flat, though and don’t look like much of a muffin top when they were done baking.  They looked more like a muffin pancake (see picture below).  The texture of the finished muffin top was a bit dry.  Perhaps that’s because I didn’t have any quick cooking oatmeal and used 1/2 cup (instead of 3/4 cup) of oat flour instead.  I probably should have upped the applesauce a little.  Whatever the reason, the muffin tops were not moist and crumbly, but dense and dry.

I could definitely taste the oats in the muffin, but the cinnamon and caramel flavors from the apple mixture was lost.  I thought the muffin tasted a bit bland, and I attribute that to having no spices in the muffin batter.  I think the depth of the caramel apple theme would have been deepened by adding spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom?) into the batter before the caramel apples were added.

Jordan liked the taste of the muffin batter, as evidenced below.   She was chasing that bowl across the floor to lick up every drop of the batter.  I had one leftover muffin top that I ate a couple of days later and it still tasted great.  (I stored it in a green box to keep it fresh.)  All I had to do was heat it up a bit and it was good to go. 

I bought a whole seedless watermelon, which I cut up on Friday evening to take on a trip yesterday to tour five wineries in Southwest Michigan with some girlfriends.  Unfortunately, we did not eat the watermelon on the trip.  That means I have an entire watermelon waiting to be eaten and my sons do not eat watermelon.  So, I decided to make sorbet with some of it.  I mean, really, I’ve had the ice cream maker long enough.  I need to start using it.

I chose a recipe by Alton Brown.  I couldn’t find the written recipe, so I used the recipe shown on the video.  You can find the video here. The reason I chose this recipe is because I did not have to strain the watermelon after liquifying it in the food processor.  Plus, it has a little lemon juice and vodka (very little) in it.  Next time I make it, I’ll add some lemon zest to the mixture before freezing it.  I think it would be much better with a more pronounced lemon flavor.

Here is the list of ingredients.

Watermelon Sorbet

1 lb. 5 oz. seedless watermelon
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons vodka
9 oz. sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest (what I’ll be adding next time)

After mixing all of that in my food processor (using the metal S blade) until the sugar dissolved, I refrigerated it for about 3 hours, which is one hour longer than I needed to.  I poured the mixture into my ice cream maker and initially set the time for 40 minutes, but ended up letting it run for 50 minutes.  It’s in the freezer now to firm up a little more.

This is definitely the first of many adventures I plan on having with the ice cream maker.  Now that I’m using it again, I will be making ice cream with almond or coconut milk or coconut milk creamer this summer.  I just bought some Newman’s O creme-filled chocolate cookies, so I can make Cookies and Creme Ice Cream.  I’ll be making that this week.  My sons will definitely eat that frosty dessert.

Ta’s Veggie’s Soup   (made in crockpot)


Ingredients:


1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
3 cups water
2 medium potatoes, diced
2 celery ribs, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 medium onion,  chopped
2 teaspoons fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup lentils


Method:


Hubby’s method.  Throw it all in the pot.  Cover with additional water, if it is not covered, completely.  Say a prayer.  Turn pot on high and cook for 6 hours.  Turn down heat to low and leave until ready to eat which was about an hour.  


He gets bragging rights and deserves them.

I love Michelle’s Cheese Spread aka Mom’s  Cheese Ball.   You will find this at Ms. enPlace.  Michelle is full of love and humor and I know you will all enjoy her and her musings.

Next, we happily have Food Corner’s Rainbow Cupcake.  This is her version and different than the ones, I have seen.  It is a beauty.

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Ingredients:
medium sized cauliflower 1
All-purpose flour/maida 2 TBSP
Cornflour 2 TBSP
Rice flour 1/2 TBSP(optional)
chilly powder 1/2tsp
corinder powder 1/2tsp
Ajinomoto 1/4tsp(optional)
salt 1/2tsp
turmaric powder 1/4tsp
approx a little less than 1/2 cup warm water

For Manchuri :

White onion,1/2 cup finely chopped,
Green chilly 2, finely sliced
Finely minced garlic 1 1/2 TBSP
Finely sliced ginger 1/2 TBSP
Green chilly 2 finely chopped
Soya sauce 2 TBSP
Green chilly sauce 1 TBSP
Vinegar 2 TBSP
Tomato sauce 3 TBSP
salt as required
Cooking oil 1 1/2 TBSP
Coriander leaves 1 TBSP finely chopped
oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed pan.

Preparation:

Cut the cauliflower into florets, place in salted warm water for 10-12 mis, drain and keep aside.

In a bowl, mix All purpose flour, cornflour, rice flour, salt, turmeric,chilly powder, coriander powder, ajinomoto and water to make a thick paste. Dip the washed and drained florets into the batter and keep it for 1/2 and hour..so that each floret is well coated with the batter.

Keep the oil pan on heat…once hot dip each floret separate in the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Reduce flame and deep fry till the gobi is almost cooked. Increase the flame towards the end of the cooking process and fry the gobi till it turns golden brown. Remove onto absorbent paper and keep aside.

Heat oil in a large wok and once the oil is piping hot, add the chopped garlic and stir fry for a few seconds. Add the green chillis and ginger and stir fry on high for a few seconds.
Add the chopped onions and stir fry on high for 3-4 mts, constantly tossing them.

4 Reduce to medium heat and add soya sauce, tomato ketchup, chilli sauce and vinegar. Combine well and cook for 2 mts. Add 3-4 tbsps of water and cook for 2 mts.
5 Add the deep fried gobhi and combine.

Toss on high flame for 1-2 mts. Turn off heat. Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves. and serve hot.

Serve with tomato ketchup ………..yummy..

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I Wish all of you a very happy DIWALI……………….May all your life full with lots of lights always……..

Here comes my sweet on the special occasion…..

Actually this is my fav sweet before marriage my dad use to bring this sweet especially for me….yummy saate…. and i never knew that i could be able to prepare this in my kitchen…….thanks to Vani from RECIPE WORLD…who made to prepare this…..

When I saw this recipe in her blog…I was so happy ..because i can prepare my fav sweet at home only…but i was not very sure that weather i will be able to do this as like that or not……..

Finally I tried this for Diwali……and u beleive me or not it was so nice..I felt so happy and proud that i could be able to make it…..thanks again to Vani….please Visit her blog(http://vanilohit.blogspot.com/2011/09/saate.html)

She has got lots of yummy and treditional nice recipes…..

so here is the recipe….I have made very very miner changes accordingly…apart from that i have used the same method as she has mentioned in her blog…..

Ingradents:
All purpose flour (maida) 2 cups
pure Ghee/Clarified butter(or also u can use dalda but i have used ghee) – 1/4 cup
Icing Sugar – around 1 3/4 cups
Pinch of salt
warm Water
Oil for deep frying
Silver Foil paper(u can also use a Nylon cloth as mentioned in original recipe)

Procedure:
Mix all purpose flour, salt and ghee in a mixing bowl nicely.

Now Add water little by little and knead non sticky dough(as like rooti dough).Rest it for 10-15 mins by covering it with a thin plastic sheet.

Now divide the dough into 2 parts.take one portion of the dough and roll in circle shape(similar to rooti)

Fold it twice and you will get a triangle shape.

Roll it again like chapathi and fold it.

Repeat this for at-least 13 – 14 times(for lots of layers inside).

Finally, roll it into 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick and cut into circle by using cookies cutter.
Repeat the same producer for the rest of the dough…once u finished…(Prick the circles with a fork for best results)

Heat oil in a deep bottom pan. Deep fry the Saate on lower medium flame till it is golden and crispy both the side(for around 10-15 mins)
Transfer the deep fried Saate onto a tissue paper to absorb the excess oil if required(mine was not oily) and keep aside to cool down.

Mean while add around 1/4cup(add little more if required) water to the Icing sugar mix well and bring to boil(for glazing). Prepare a thick sugar syrup.keep in to get cool bit.

Now arrange the deep fried saate on a silver foil paper.Pour around 1-2 spoons of warm sugar syrup(not too hot) on the top of each Saate and spread it little-bit.

Keep aside till the sugar syrup is settled and crystallized,then take out the the saate from foil sheet and its ready to serve..

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