Dinner for 2

This is one of my quick fixes when hubby dear suddenly realizes he feels hungry. I boil chicken and freeze them in different zip-lock bags and freeze them. I use them in a variety of ways, sometimes shredded for soups or salads or even for fried rice and other times I just fry whole chicken pieces in a little oil and serve it with some cooked rice and broiled broccoli. 

For the chicken:

1 sliced onion

1 sliced tomato

1 whole chicken (with bones)

3 pips garlic cleaned and cut

1" ginger chopped fine

1 teaspoon black pepper powder

salt to taste

Fill a sauce pan with 2 cups of water. Cook the chicken along with all the ingredients for 15 minutes on slow fire or till the meat is cooked. Once done let it cool and bag it to freeze or use it immediately to fry. 

TIPS:

I have added a few tips that I use and have learnt from my extremely talented mum, mum-in-law and my aunts. 

1. To add to the taste you can fry thinly sliced potato in the same oil that the chicken was fried and serve with the chicken stock/soup.
2. The chicken stock that you get after cooking the meat can be used in making soups.
3. The chicken stock can also be frozen in ice trays and used for future use in cooking to improve the taste of chicken dishes.

Sauteed Chicken

Who doesn't want a quick and easy recipe when time is a major constraint and you do not want to sacrifice on taste and healthy stuff..Here it is

Ingredients:

• Salad mix
• 2 boneless chicken breast(cut into small slices)
• 2 tablespoons chilli garlic sauce
• 1 tablespoon tomato ketch up (optional)
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• Salt to taste

I buy boneless chicken breast and make strips. Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil and add the ginger garlic paste and stir it. Then add the chicken strips and stir gradually adding the  soy sauce, salt and pepper powder. When the chicken is half done add the chilli garlic sauce and let the chicken cook. Stir the chicken occasionally, cover and cook till fully done.

Serve some of the salad spring mix on to a plate and toss the freshly cooked chicken on the mix. This makes for a light and healthy dinner. 

I make my own home sauces and hence if you are using store bought sauces you can add a little vinegar (1/2 tsp) to better the taste of the dish.

Beef Brisket

I have always loved trying and tasting different cuisines and ways of cooking. It has always intrigued me how the same ingredient is cooked in multiple ways depending on which part of the world you come from. The same food which is a delicacy for some becomes a taboo for the rest. For me however food is food and I have enjoyed trying out various recipes with beef.

                      As a little girl I would accompany my dad to the market and wondered how he managed to chose good meat every time. As I grew up I began reading more about it and learned that each part of the animal is divided and the cooking time and taste varies based on the cut of the meat.

                      One evening on our way to the meat store my husband and myself felt a little adventurous and decided we should try making beef brisket at home instead of having to eat it at restaurants every time. We went and luckily for us we had a lovely 4 pound piece waiting just for us. We picked it up and there started our adventure. 

After the first formalities of cleaning the meat and wiping it dry, my husband and me just stood and stared as to what we should do next. I decided that we should rub the meat with oil after forking it for a while and letting the oil penetrate into the meat. This helps the meat retain the moisture. We then decided to make a rub which would add flavor to the meat. I was also particular to get a crust on the meat since each time I had beef brisket at my favorite restaurant it had the same delicious crust.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoon chilli powder

4 teaspoon mustard powder

2 tablespoon onion powder 

5 teaspoon white sugar 

1 tablespoon cayenne powder

5 teaspoon garlic powder

3 tablespoon black pepper powder

2 tablespoon salt or as required

1 packet webers chipotle marinade mix (optional)

Mix the above ingredients in a bowl and rub it on the brisket which has already been rubbed with oil and let it marinate for a few hours.(it is best marinated over night) 

                       The brisket is a very tough cut of meat and needs to be cooked on slow fire for a long time. Keeping this in mind and reading all bout the long cooking hours I decided to make best use of my slow cooker. I cooked the meat over night in the slow cooker for 10 hours. After the long hours of slow cooking since I was particularly interested in the crust, I broiled the cooked brisket without the soup in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes.

Make thin slices and you can use them to make sandwiches, in pita pockets and even just chomping on a few pieces is simply delicious..

                   

Tinker Bell Cake

Birthdays are special days in our lives..As kids we enjoy celebrating it with a cake and with friends and family. Since we were having friends over and their little girl celebrated her birthday recently I decided to surprise her with a tinker bell cake.

                The flavor of choice was red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting...The summer heat was being unfriendly when it came to the icing on the cake. I however managed to decorate the cake and found a little candle of tinker bell to adorn the cake. 

    Happy birthday Tara               

                                                                  

Chicken Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo sauce is white creamy sauce that can be served with pasta. It usually goes well with fettuccine. it can be combined with chicken or shrimp and will taste just as good. the basic ingredients that goes into Alfredo sauce are cream, butter and parmesan cheese.

1/4 cup butter (substitue italian herb flavored olive oil)
3 pips minced garlic
1 small onion, chopped
2 chicken breasts sliced to thin pieces
2 cups cream (substitute whole milk)
1/4 tsp crushed black pepper
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
1/2 tsp cornflour
Crushed chillie flakes (optional)


Melt butter over medium heat in a sauce pan ( if you want to try being healthy you can use the substitute of italian herb infused olive oil- I buy this at http://athymeforallseasonings.com). Once the butter melts throw in the chopped grlic and the chopped onion. Add and saute the chicken pieces. (Mix the cornflour in the milk if you are using milk but if you plan on using cream then you will have to use all purpose flour/maida) Once the chicken is cooked add the milk/cream , cheese, black pepper and salt and simmer. Do not let the sauce bubble. Keep stirring continuously. Add the parmeasean cheese and cook for 6-8 minutes or until done. Add chillie flakes for extra spice and flavor.

PASTA:
            When sauce cooks simultaneously bring pasta to cook as per the boxed instructions( I used 1 cup uncooked wheat penne pasta in this recipe). Once cooked drain the pasta and spoon pasta onto serving plates with alfredo sauce poured over the top.

VARIATIONS:

1. Shrimp: Instead of Chicken you can substitute it with shrimp and make it shrimp Alfredo. Shrimp cooks fast, so take care not to over cook it.
2. Spinach: Cook the spinach along with the chicken to get a spinach & chicken Alfredo.
3. Mushroom: is another choice and can be substituted for the spinach and chicken. 

Purse

                     There is nothing more a lady loves that swinging a pretty little hand bag in her hand and having shoes to match her petite dress. The trends have changed over generations but the passion for every woman to have a varienty of bags remains common to date. Making a cake for a family member means a lot,  keeping in mind the love and affection that is shared and this was a special cakerealising just how fond of shoes and purses  she is.
                    I can never understand what it is with women n their shoes n hand bags coz when I was in college I had over 30 bags of varying brands n colors to just about match every outfit I had. These are thoughts that run through my mind each time I make a cake and I guess it is these wonderful memories that makes me forget time as I work with all my cakes.          

Strawberry Shortcake

    
A couple of days ago I was asked to make a strawberry shortcake and I was so taken up with it and was taken back in a flash to the days when I was just as old as the little girl who was celebrating her birthday.             
                   Ask a little girl her favourite flavor and most often she will reply that it is strawberry. Sitting back and thinking I remember each time my dad asked my choice of ice cream on every weekend when he took us out and pat came the answer," Dad can I get strawberry". As I grew up my fascination hasnt decreased I had names like strawberry blush and I would think that this is a passing phase but to date its still my favorite be it the fruit or just anything strawberry.
                 Having worked with all kinds of frostings I was asked to make a whipped cream frosting and was wondering how to manage it since it is not one of the more stiff and friendly ones to work with. Not possesing the traits of an artist I was wondering how to go about making my cake and asked my husband what he thought was a perfect strawberry short cake. He replied, "something to do with strawberries I guess"
Well I thought that was a smart idea and just decided I need to do something different and came up with the idea of a royal icing transfer since my freehand drawing isnt great.

I took the picture that you see on the left and was wondering gosh can I actually do something like this. I started and realised that it took me 3 hours and this excludes the total drying time of 3 days. I was so happy with the end result that i thought it was worth the trouble. After outlining the whole picture in black icing I used royal icing to fill it in. It does sound just so simple until I got down to doing it. But as is my policy I never give up and thats how I completed it and there goes my strawberry shortcake  for you.

Fish Fry

Who doesnt want to have an easy recipe to dish out when guests come over or when your family is simply ina  good mood to have some tasty fish fry. I came up with this recipe when my darling husband called me one friday after noon and said, " Today I just feel like eating some good fish fry as an appetizer n well maybe some chicken curry will be nice for dinner." Thats how I thought of this recipe

Ingredients:
Salmon Filet -1 tray
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Tandoori paaste- 1 Tbsp
Vinegar 1 tsp
salt to taste
2 sprigs of curry leaves

Clean the fish well. Cut them into equal sized cubes and mix it with the vinegar. In a seperate bowl add the ginger gdarlic paste and the tandoori paste. Toss in the fish and add the salt. Mix well and keep aside for 10 minutes.

Heat 5 Tbsp oil in a pan and heat it on high. Throw in the curry leaves and when you hear it splutter add the fish and reduce the heat so that the fish cooks and fry till done. Take care when adding the curry leaves and the fish since the oil is hot. The amount of time taken to fry the fish is left to your taste.

Chicken Curry

                                                   

Food is an integral part of every person’s daily life. As for me I have always thought it to be of utmost importance for people to enjoy what they eat. I do believe in integrating healthy food and tasty food so that anyone who eats food enjoys it as well.  I love trying out recipes and try to make a note of the ingredients that I add at the spur of the moment which can actually give a different taste to the dish.   I decided the best way to actually make a note of my recipes  is to start a blog so that many others can enjoy the benefit of cooking a tasty meal that is something different from their daily routine.  

Chicken cut into medium pieces

Ginger garlic paste-1 tsp

Turmeric-1/4 tsp

2 cups water

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Grind:

onion (big)-2

Tomato -2

Garlic- 6

Fennel powder-1tsp

Red chillie powder ¾ tsp

Coriander powder- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder ½ tsp

Spices:

Cinamon -1”

Cloves – 4

Cardamom(Green) 6

Fennel seeds- 1 tsp

Ginger Garlic paste 1 ½ tsp

Cut the chicken and clean it well. Add the ginger garlic paste and turmeric along with a sprig of  curry leaves and cook till half done in a pressure cooker or just in any vessel. The pressure cooker just makes it easier but can be done otherwise by just boiling.

Grind the ingredients marked under the grind title into a coarse paste

In a separate pan heat 2 Tbsp oil and add the spices excluding the ginger garlic paste. Fry the spices for a minute and then add the ginger garlic paste and fry it so that the raw smell disappears for about a minute or 2. On low heat add the already ground paste to this and fry well till you begin to get an aroma and the oil begins to leave the sides of the paste. This may take anywhere from 20-25 minutes . It is important to fry on low fire and stir at regular intervals. Once you get the aroma it is time to throw in the chicken and stir well. Cook for 3 minutes and then add in the stock collected from boiling the chicken.  Stir well and keep it on the fire till it starts boiling. Turn off the fire  and sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves.

Mini Mouse Cake

"A baby is a gift and brings a world of new meaning to a parents world". It was just the other day that little Madison was born and already her mommy was getting ready for her 1st birthday party. Time flies and the little angel has grown to be a sweet little toddler.

             











The world of Walt Disney has always fascinated both young and old and Mickey Mouse and Mini Mouse has been a name that is recognized by every age. Madison chose her theme cake to be mini mouse. I was happy to make the cake for her. Her mommy then asked me if I could also make a few cupcakes and I was a little jittery since I never tried making cupcakes. I thought over it for a few days and decided that there is always a first time. I mustered the courage and started working on the bows for the cupcakes.

With all the hesitance I realized it is actually so much fun to make and decorate the cupcakes. The golden cupcakes were filled with strawberry filling and my own butter cream strawberry frosting. I was surprised at how well it turned out and cannot seem to remember the ingredients and quantity that I added. I remember getting upset with my darling mother when she couldn't give me quantities to the recipes I asked her. Well I was doing the same now but as long as the end was pretty that's all that mattered and I was glad that Madison enjoyed the cake.

With all the hesitance I realized it is actually so much fun to make and decorate the cupcakes. The golden cupcakes were filled with strawberry filling and my own butter cream strawberry frosting. I was surprised at how well it turned out and cannot seem to remember the ingredients and quantity that I added. I remember getting upset with my darling mother when she couldn't give me quantities to the recipes I asked her. Well I was doing the same now but as long as the end was pretty that's all that mattered and I was glad that Madison enjoyed the cake.