Who can resist a chocolate cake?

Having family and friends over has always been a wonderful experience. Since I was having a friend flying to the US just to spend time with me I thought I must make it very special. It was wonderful to recount all the wonderful things we did and recollect all the naughty things that are always an important part of our conversations.

The ganache and the chocolate cake was a heavenly combination and for every chocolate lover this is something you cant miss out on.

And if you cant come here in person to taste it here is your share

Leg of Lamb Roast...Do it my way

As I grew up my siblings and I loved having BBQ parties and trying our hand at roasting different meats. As I was doing my daily grocery I came to the meat section and suddenly thought to myself..why not try my hand at roasting the leg of a lamb. I put together what I thought would give me the best roasted lamb leg ever. Since it was a herculean task to handle such a huge piece of meat I needed my husband to help me with it and we decided that we will try it on the weekend.

 Ingredients:

• 4-5 lbs lamb leg

• whole spices- 1 pc cinamon, 5cloves, 5cardamom, 8 pepper
• crushed chillie-1table spoon
• fennel seeds-3/4 tablespoon
• star anise 2
• oregano-1 tsp
• 5 whole garlic pips-crushed
• paprika-1tsp
• juice of 1 lemon

Marinade

• 1 cup whole milk yogurt
• 1 Tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 3 Tbsp ketch up
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 3/4 tsp corriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 Tbsp Tandoori powder

 Method:

• Wash the meat and wipe it with a paper towel to dry the meat.
• Make cuts on the meat so that the meat is well marinated.  
• Use Shaan meat tenderizer and rub it on the meat. 
• After a while use a mortar and pestle and crush the whole spices along with the garlic and the paprika and smear it on the meat. Keep for a while and apply lemon juice or vinegar and let it stay for some.

                 

• Make the marinade by beating up the yogurt for 2 minutes to get rid of the lumps. 
• Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. 
• Double the quantity if you like the meat to be well covered with the marinade. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator. 
• Add salt 2 hours before baking. Keep the meat out of the fridge 2 hours before marinating wrap the meat in silver foil and bake at 350 F for 3 hours.

Carefully slice the lamb roast into thin slices and serve as desired. The soup can be poured over the meat to give it a moist soup flavor. Serve the slices while they are hot.

Bon Appetit !

Meat Loaf

               Meat loaf as I know is originally a German or a Dutch dish and is a cousin to the famous Italian meat balls. It is basically ground beef which can also be substituted with Turkey,Veal, sheep or poultry. ground meat is combined with a few ingredients and formed into a loaf before baking.

                 This recipe is one of the easiest and the simplest. Every beginner will love this recipe. Try it...

Ingredients:

• 3/4 kg or 1 1/2 lbs beef mince
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 3 pips garlic
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp corriander powder
• 3/4 tsp cumin powder
• 1 large onion
• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp prepared mustard
• 1 cup chillie ketch up

Method:

1. Wash mince well and drain out all the water
2. Preheat oven to 350 F
   
3. Chop onion and saute on medium heat.
4. Add corriander, cumin, and turmeric powder and stir well.Stir in some salt and pepper powder as required.
   
5. Remove from the heat,add the mince and stir and add the milk, egg and the bread crumbs. Place in a lightly greased pan or roll into a loaf and place in a greased dish.

 Stir ketch up , mustard and brown sugar and pour over the meat loaf.

There's nothing like homemade donuts

As a little school girl I always looked forward to coming home from school. My mum was an excellent cook and tried her hand at something special every evening. It ranged from cakes, puddings, souffles, desserts, tarts,  savory, Indian chaat and a variety of different eats that we relished. One on of those special evenings when I came back from school I saw something special which looked like doughnuts. I thought to myself that this cant be true. Before she realized we had wiped the plate clean. I asked my mum to make them again for the school fund raiser and I felt very proud when all my friends told me I was very lucky to have a mommy who made such delicious treats. Well I must say I am lucky but I never got to taste doughnuts again. She always promised me that she would make donuts for me sometime and I thought I must surprise her by making them myself.

I chose a couple of recipes from different books and online and made a recipe of my own.

• 1 envelope active dry yeast( if using rapid rise yeast directly add it to the flour)
• 1/4 cup warm water (Heat to 110 degrees)
• 3/4 cups lukewarm milk
• 1/4cup  + 1 Tablespoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3 Tablespoons shortening
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•  vegetable oil for frying

• If you are using active dry yeast sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy. If you plan on using rapid rise yeast add it to the four and continue with the next step

• In a large bowl, mix together the sugar,yeast, milk, salt, shortening, 1 cup of the flour. Mix for a few minutes at low speed, or stirring with a wooden spoon.Then add the eggs and mix it gradually into the flour. Beat in remaining flour a little at a time at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a greased bowl, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise until double. You can also preheat an oven and place the dough in warm oven after switching off the oven.Dough is ready if you touch it, and the indention remains.

• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and gently roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. Let doughnuts sit out to rise again until double. Cover loosely with a cloth.  
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy skillet to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Slide doughnuts into the hot oil using a wide spatula. Turn doughnuts over as they rise to the surface. Fry doughnuts on each side until golden brown. Remove from hot oil, to drain on a wire rack.

For the Glaze

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 1 cup confectioners' sugar or icing sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in 4 tablespoons hot water one tablespoon at a time until the icing is somewhat thin, but not watery. Set aside.Dip the fried donuts into the glaze on one side and place it on a mesh placing the undipped side flat on the mesh so that it dries

Variations:

1. Use a chocolate ganache and then dip in roasted walnuts. 
2. U can also use an icing nozzle and insert jam into the fried donuts.
3. On the glaze use ready sprinkles for an extra special look.

Be Creative and keep me updated when you try out these donuts. I must say it was delicious and I heard people say they enjoyed every bite of it.

Grilled Pork

               
                        It was the best feeling to have family over. After all the cooking and desserts from my side Russell came up with a welcoming idea...Pork on the grill with sweet corn and a few margaritas. As we sipped on the margaritas and waited at the grill we walked down memory lane reminiscing many nostalgic moments of being pampered by my aunts and uncles especially since I was the oldest girl in the family. The ride on the bike, the ice-cream each time I fell for their tricks, the head and foot massages, never ending stream of chocolates and toys...it feels like it was just yesterday.
                      Oooops! gettings back to the pork. Since this is Russell's specialty I give him due credit for it. It was delicious and the few tips he gave me were of great help.

Ingredients:

• Pork Slices
• Minced garlic-2 table spoons
• Minced ginger- 2 tablespoons 
• minced chillies - 1
• Yogurt- 1/2 cup
• Ginger Gralic paste-1 tablespoon
• Soya sauce-1 teaspoon
• Lemon - 1
• turmeric  -1/4 tsp
• Cumin powder 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala powder -1/2 tsp
• Vinegar- 1/4 tsp

  Mix all the above ingredients well to get a paste like consistency. Make neat cuts on the meat carefully seeing to it that you don't cut through the meat but just enough for the meat to marinate.

   Mix all the ingredients. Make neat cuts on the meat so that it absorbs and marinates well. Keep it over night.

Doesn't that look like it is perfect to grill. Heat the BBQ grill to 350F and cook for around 15 minutes on each side. The time differs based on the oven and the preference of how well you like it cooked. We like it well done and hence it takes a little longer. You can also try this in an oven.Spray the tray with oil or PAM and put a silver foil over it. Spray a little oil again and put the pieces. Keep checking to see if it is cooked. BBQ is all about how you want it to taste. It all depends if you like it rare,medium or well cooked. Go ahead and try it yourself.