Kerala Egg Puffs

Hi there!!!!!!
Its been ages that I hopped in here. Anyway lets start with a Happy 2015..:)...Now to say, there are a lot of excuses but lets just leave it behind..
 Again its that part of the year where in the clouds in Beaverton decide to fight and finally cry throughout the day, making the earth completely wet and the air completely cold. I do miss those lovely snows back in Grand Rapids, but yeah you got to enjoy what you have...right??? And what is the best way to enjoy a rainy day to us Indians...yup something warm and spicy..doesn't matter if its fried, baked or steamed.. So here is one such baked recipe that is best for those evenings or for that matter any evenings...:)

Puff Pastry sheets-1 no(cut to 6 pieces)
Hard boiled eggs-3 nos(cut to halves)
Onion-1 medium(sliced thin)
Green Peas-2 to 3 tbsp(frozen)
Curry leaves-3 to 4(torn to small pieces)
Ginger-1/2 tsp(finely chopped)
Garlic-1/2 tsp(finely chopped)
Chili powder-3/4 to 1 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Garam Masala-1/2 tsp
Black Pepper Powder-1/2 tsp
Tomato Ketchup-1/2 to 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil-1 to 2 tsp
Milk/Egg for egg wash

Method of preparation:
1. Take the puff pastry sheet and let them thaw at room temperature for 40 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add onion, garlic, ginger and curry leaves. Cook till onion turns golden brown.
3. Add the green peas and cook till it is soft.
4. Add chili powder,turmeric,garam masala, black pepper powder and salt. Cook for about 2 minutes.Add the ketchup and mix well.Turn off the heat. Let the mixture cool.
5. Preheat the oven at 400F. Prepare the baking sheet by setting up parchment paper on it.
6. Cut the puff pastry sheet to six equal pieces. Place about 1 tbsp of the mixture on one end of it. Place half of the egg and then wrap with the other side of the pastry sheet.
7. Press the edges of the pastry sheet lightly but firmly with a fork.
8. Place it on the baking sheet and continue it for the remaining pieces. Then just brush milk/egg wash on top of the pastry sheets.
9. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Once golden brown take them out and serve once warm.

Notes:
1. Thaw the pastry sheet before using.
2. Add the chili powder according to your tolerance level. If you want more color without much spiciness use kashmiri chili powder instead.
3. Instead of green peas you can add carrot .

Double Chocolate Cake

     Life becomes so busy sometimes that you tend to run and in that race you usually forget/ignore stuffs that is important to you. "It can still wait" goes on until finally you totally forget about it and it remains in a corner unnoticed. Same is the case here...Its been real long time. Now there are a lot of things that I can say to support the absence but its best to move on...
   This was a chocolate cake done a little while back. A perefct chocolate lovers cake...Loaded with chocolate. The recipe is from here. Delicious cake with lovely texture.

 Bittersweet chocolate- 2ounce(chopped)
Vegetable oil-3/4 cup
Sugar-1 cup
Egg-1 large
All purpose flour-2 cups
Dutch-process Cocoa powder-1/2 cup
Baking Soda-1 tbsp
Salt-3/4 tsp
Coffee-1 cup
Buttermilk-1 cup
Semi Sweet Chocolate chips-1/2 cup

Method Of Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and dust a 8" pan and 4 cupcake liners or 9" pan or 12-cup bundt pan for baking.
2. Melt the chocoate in a pan/bowl on low heat/microwave. Transfer it to a large bowl and let it cool slightly. Then add the sugar and oil into it and whisk until smooth. Add egg and whisk again.
3.In another bowl mix all the dry ingredients and set aside.
4. Now add half the dry ingredients, 1/2 cup of coffee and 1/2 cup of buttermilk to the chocolate mixture and mix until smooth. Add the remaining dry ingredients, liquids and mix smooth.
5. Add the chocolate chips and fold it lightly to the batter.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached. Cool the cake in pan for 10 mins and then transfer it to cooling rack to cool completely.

For Icing:
Semi sweet chocolate-2 ounce
Unsalted Butter-5 tbsp(soft)

Method Of Preparation:
1. Melt the chocolate to smooth  in a microwave safe bowl. See that you dont burn up the chocolate. You can do it using the double boiler method.
2. Add butter 1 tbsp at a time to the melted chocolate and mix well.
3. In a large bowl take some chilled water.Place the chocolate butter bowl on top of chilled water and beat till it reaches the spreadable consistency.
4. Pour the chocolate mixture on top of cooled cake and spread it with the help of spatula.

 Notes:
1. Use good quality cocoa powder and chocolate.
2. The coffee was warm when i used it.
3. Chocolate chips can be omitted.

Baked Chickpeas

Snack is an unavoidable stuff in our house. Be it with tea or while watching late night movies we tend to munch on something which goes on as a repeated relay of actions form bowl/pack to mouth. Now I dont claim that we always snack on healthy stuffs..but once in a while I like to snack on them and these here make a perfect crispy, crunchy snack which is kindof healthy too..You will be surprised at how quickly the bowl gets empty...:)

Chickpeas-1 cup
Olive oil-2 to 3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Cumin-1/4 tsp
Chilli powder-1/4 tsp(add more if you want it spicy)
Turmeric- 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice-1 tbsp

Method of Preparation:
1. Wash the chickpea and pressure cook it till its soft but not mushy. I pressure cooked it for 6 times on medium high heat. There was no pre soaking.
2. Drain the water and spread the chickpeas on tissue to dry. you can pat dry too.
3. Preheat oven at 400F.
4. In a bowl mix all other ingredients with the chickpeas and spread it on a baking sheet.
5. Bake them for about 30 to 40 minutes until light brown and crispy. See that they dont burn. Do shake the baking pan inbetween for even baking.
6. Serve hot or at room temperature.Stores well in an airtight container.

Molten Lava Cake

This was our valentines day treat...I know the day is gone long back and I had been planning for this post since then...and finally its here..A delicious molten lava cake. My search for something that was not too much of work, perfect for two and done in few minutes ended here.

Semi-sweet chocolate chip-1/4cup
Butter-2 tbsp
Powdered Sugar-1/2 cup
Egg-1
All purpose Flour-3 tbsp
Vanilla Extract-1 tsp
Raspberries, Ice cream,Powdered Sugar to indulge.

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Grease 2 ramekins with non stick spray/butter. Place the ramekins on baking sheet and set aside.
3. In a medium microwave safe bowl melt chocolate chips and butter for about 1 and 1/2 minutes  until smooth.Stir every 30 seconds to avoid burning.
4. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.Then add egg and whisk until smooth.
5. Stir in flour and vanilla extract and mix until no lumps remain.
6. Distribute the batter equally into two ramekins and bake them for 12 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let them rest in bowl for 1 more minute.
8. Then invert into a plate and dust with powdered sugar and serve with a dollop of ice cream.

Chocolate Raspberry Sandwich Cookies

   Sometimes you just want to kill the evening when you have a super excited son and a completely drained mommy. Those are the times when I want him to sit with something instead of frog hopping or running. I offered him a lot of options like reading, painting and all he did was suggest me frog hopping and running...offcourse with a smile that I cant say No to..Then I finally decided to tell him I will give cookies if you go and play..oh come on you guys do that too...right... So after 5 minutes of playing he came running for the cookies. Now to fight with a 3 year old over cookies is something you rarely want to do...because they always win it...No matter what.:(..So finally there I was searching for a simple recipe with less work.

    That when I found this recipe and thought of keeping my son busy with it. So we started with the work. Mixing and rolling was done by me and half of the cutting as my son got quite bored after doing one set. He was much interested playing with all purpose flour as a powder.So at the end I had a completely white faced son..:), quite bit of white floor and these delicious cookies.

Raspberry Jam:

Raspberry-1 cup
Sugar-1 cup
Lemon juice-1/2 tsp

Method of preparation:
1. Wash the raspberries and pat them dry.
2. Add the sugar to raspberries and crush them little and set aside for 15 minutes.
3. Heat a pan and add this mixture to it. Mash the raspberries little more and cook the mixture till it boils and then add the lemon juice and mix till it becomes thick. It wont take much time.
4. Turn off the heat when its done and transfer it to a clean bottle.

Chocolate Cookies:

All Pourpose Flour -3/4 cup

Cocoa Powder-1/2 cup
Butter-6 tbsp(at room temp)
Salt a pinch
Brown Sugar-3/4 cup+ 1 tbsp
Egg-1 large
Vanilla-1 tsp

Method of Preparation:
1. In a bowl mix the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.Beat in the egg and vanilla on low speed.
3. Add in the dry ingredients and mix well. Roll the dough into two balls and set aside in the refrigerator to chill for about 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Take a ball of dough and place it between two parcment papers. Now slightly press the dough and using a rolling pin roll it to 1/4 inch thick.
5. Using a cookie cutter cut out shapes. Do dip the cutter in flour to prevent sticking of the dough to cutter.
6. Place the cut out cookies on baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 mins. Let cool on a wire rack.
7. Once cooled transfer them to an airtight container. Five minutes before serving sandwich the jam between two cookies.

Notes:
1. When the dough becomes soft and difficult to handle keep it back in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Covered Coconut Macaroons

Its almost a month that I posted anything here or been active on facebook. I am held up in packing and is extremely busy. Will be away for another month too. Thanks for all the messages :). For time being we can see the yummy post that I had prepared for a friend.
       Sireesha Puppala  from Siris Food is a  person most of you are familiar with. For me she is a cute bubbly girl with full of energy...We got to meet virtually through fb and then I have always enjoyed her clicks and drooled seeing the delicious food prepared by her..You will find a wide variety of recipes in her space and I say once you are there,  you will be lost in that wonderful world of treats. She had approached me long time back for the guest post and I accepted it. As many things came to front in my life,  I almost lost track of the date that I had committed. Then I suddenly remembered it and send her an email saying that it will be done soon but that soon took a  little long...:)
   Coming to the recipe, if you are a coconut lover and enjoy its chewiness with a hint of chocolate then this is it...Its from the book "Desserts 4 Today"..I have given it a little twist by adding cardamom powder. If you don't want you can just leave it. If you are someone who doesn't like chocolate, I never thought there will be someone like that until I met my husband..;) you can skip it and enjoy..

Do visit here to check how these simple and delicious macaroons are made...

Cocoa Brownies with Walnut and Brown Butter

  When Abraham Chacko approached me to write a guest post for his space I was very happy to do it and accepted it without second thought said yes. He had given me enough time and wanted it only by the end of march. As many of you know me..I am the last minute person..No matter how much time I get..ok sometimes I do start early but then there will be something that holds me till the last minute..I guess that is how I am programmed by God..Now I don't want to rewrite it..;)..So here too I started with one recipe and finally ended here after editing the pics and knowing that they were horrible...Guess these are tolerable..:)
     As the many other friends I have got in fb, he is one among them. Quite an interesting guy with loads of talent. He has a great collection of recipes and a very cute family with two adorable daughters and an all in all great wife Susan..:). Chacko's Kitchen is the place where you find their effort..If you have never been there do visit it..
    Here is the small treat that I have prepared for them from here...This is a perfect fudgy brownie with a crunch of nuts perfect to have with milk. Here instead of butter, brown butter is used and it does taste great. Mixing and making them is quite easy though do not over bake them. Do visit here for the recipe..:)

Hokkaido Milk Bread with Tangzong(Eggless)

This time Aparna gave us the detailed recipe to bake Hokkaido Milk bread.They are soft white breads which gets its texture from the use of Tangzhong. This month I have been baking a lot of bread using this method as a part of another baking group too. As I have done the loaf already here I have tried some shapes.Original recipe is from 65 Degrees Tangzhong “65C Bread Doctor” by Yvonne Chen, and adapted from here.

For Tazgzhong(Flour-Water Roux):
All purpose flour-1/3 cup
Milk-1/2 cup
Water-1/2 cup

For Dough:
All purpose flour-21/2 cups
Sugar-3 tbsp
Salt-1 tsp
Powdered milk-2 tbsp
Instant dried yeast-2 tsp
Milk-1/2 cup+1/4 cup(extra if needed)
Cream-1/8 cup(25% fat)
Tangzhong-1/3 cup(use half tangzhong from above)
Salt-1/4 tsp
Unsalted Butter-25 gm(cut to small pieces, softened at room temp)

Method:
The Tangzhong:
1. Whisk he flour, water and milk in a saucepan until smooth and there are no lumps.
2. Place saucepan over medium heat, let the roux cook till it starts thickening.
3. Keep stirring constantly so no lumps form and the roux is smooth.
4. Cook the roux till it reaches 150F(65C) or until you see lines forming in roux as you stir/whisk.Take pan off the heat at this point.
5. Let it cool completely before using it for baking.

To make bread:
1. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, mix together, make  a well in center and set aside.
2. whisk cream, milk, tangzhong together and add this into the dry ingredients. Knead until everything comes together and you get a dough shape and gluten has developed. Then knead the butter.
3. Knead the dough into a ball shape and keep it in a  greased bowl covered with a kitchen towel to proof till its doubled in size, about 45 minutes or more depending on the weather.
4. Transfer it to a clean surface to shape it.This recipe makes one loaf(9"X 5"), 2 small loaves(6"X4"), or 1 small 6"X4" loaf and 6 small rolls, or can shape it to rolls or different shapes.. Deflate and divide the dough .Preheat the oven to 325F.
I made a tortoise,2 flowers and six small rolls.

To make tortoise:
5. To start with tortoise first take ball of dough and shape it into a smooth ball.Shape a head and four limbs from smaller pieces of dough.
6. To make shell take a small piece of dough make a thin round(1/8" thick) and mark with a knife. 
7. The marks should be deep but don't cut through. Wet the under side of dough with milk or water and stick it on back of your tortoise. 

To make flower:
8. Take two small rolls of equal size. Stretch them to sticks about 3/4 to 1 inch thickness.
9. Take two sticks and make spirals with them. Pinch the ends after making a small round.
10. Now take a small ball that fits in center of round and brush it with little milk on the sides and place it in the center.

To make rolls:
11. Take a small ball and roll it to a small oval shape using a rolling pin. Fold the smaller side into center and then the other side slightly over the earlier one.
12. Now roll the unfolded edges again to form a small rectangle and then make it to a roll and pinch the edges to seal well. Keep the roll in the muffin pan and continue with the other dough ball.
Notes: You can stuff the rolls with sweet or savory fillings.

13. Set it aside covered with a kitchen towel to proof  for 45 minutes or till it reaches to 3/4th of the tin.
14. Apply a layer of egg wash to the dough and bake it in the preheated oven for  35 to 40 minutes. To check doneness tap the bread and you should hear a hollow sound.
15. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Slice and enjoy soft freshly baked bread. You can keep it in airtight box for later use. This stays fresh even the next day.

Done by:

White Bread using Tangzhong Method

Baking a bread and then enjoying the fruit of your work is the best thing to do..And if the bread turns super soft and delicious then you can sing along about it..:) This time Baking Partners group came up with baking bread using either Asian method-Tangzhong or the Scandinavian method. I went with the Tangzhong method where in one part of flour is heated to 65C with five part of water. This method yields soft breads. The recipe is from Christine's Recipe   and thanks Swathi for suggesting it. The bread was super soft and had great texture..Here is how its done..

Ingredients for tangzhong: 

Bread Flour-1/3 cup/50 gms

Water-1/2 cup
Milk-1/2 cup

Ingredients for bread:
Bread flour-21/2 cups/350gms
Caster Sugar-3 tbsp+2 tsp/55 gms
Salt-1 tsp/5gm
Egg-1 large/56gm
Milk powder-1 tbsp+ 1 tsp/7 gm(optional)
Milk-1/2 cup/125ml
Tangzhong-120 gm
Instant Yeast- 2 tsp/5 to 6 gm
Butter-3 tbsp/30gm(softened)

Method of Preparation:
1. Mix flour n water well without any lumps. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly  to avoid burning or sticking. The mixture starts to become thick.
2. Once you see some lines appear in mixture when you stir with spoon remove from heat. The temperature of mixture will be 65c/149F.
3. Transfer it to a clean bowl and wrap with a cling film to avoid drying. Once cooled completely this can be used to make bread. You can use it the same day or the next day.

Method of making bread:
1. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl make  a well in center and set aside.
2. whisk egg, milk, tangzhong together and add this into the dry ingredients. Knead until everything comes together and you get a dough shape and gluten has developed. Then knead the butter.
3. Knead the dough into a ball shape and keep it in a  greased bowl covered with a kitchen towel to proof till its doubled in size, about 40 minutes or more depending on the weather.
4. Transfer it to a clean  floured surface. Deflate and divide the dough into four equal portions. Knead into small balls, wrap in cling film and let rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile grease a 9"X 5" loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 350F.
5. Take a small ball and roll it to a small oval shape using a rolling pin. Fold the smaller side into center and then the other side slightly over the earlier one.
6. Now roll again to form a small rectangle and then make it to a roll. Keep the roll in the baking pan and continue with the other dough ball.
7. Set it aside covered with a kitchen towel to proof  for 40 minutes or till it reaches to 3/4th of the tin.
8. Apply a layer of egg wash to the dough and bake it in the preheated oven for  35 to 40 minutes. To check doneness tap the bread and you should hear a hollow sound.
9. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Slice and enjoy soft freshly baked bread. You can keep it in airtight box for later use.

Turned them to a simple sandwich.....

Notes:

1. Tangzhong can be kept fr a day or two in fridge. Do not use it if you see it has turned dark. Top be on safer side use it on the day its made or the next day.
2. You can make this bread into rolls, shape it, fill it.
3. Instead of bread flour you can use all purpose flour.
4. For the half milk half water used in making tangzhong you can use full 1 cup water.
5. Instead of egg wash you can use milk or cream to get brown color, but gloss will not be there.
6. While baking if the top of your bread is browning fast then cover it with a foil.
7. The rise time of dough depends on the area you live.
8. The dough is very sticky.Its a mess when you knead with hand. You have to knead till it is soft and elastic and do not add extra dough. Kneading properly should help to get rid of stickiness.

For shaping the bread check this link.

Strawberry Cake

Finally it is the end of feb and here comes my valentines day cake...:) A cake that I had almost lost hope of been seen here..Now there is no point in saying about my love story as Valentines day is long passed..so we will stick to cake and the day it is baked...
I have been saying that feb was a terrible month for me..now why is never told...so here it is...
   The month begins with a busy schedule for hubby..which in turn means..early to office and late to home...That is its just me and son through out the day and sometimes night which kept me busy than my husband...:)Those days went on for a week and then hubby gets a dental surgery and a liquid diet for 5 days....Now i should say sick men are worst than small kids..;) To put it in single work I was totally messed up..with a son overactive, a hubby drowsy with medicines and awake with pain..cooking and rest of my routine..
Then comes the carpet changing day of the whole house...Luckily divided to 2 days..Now u got to imagine... Me and son in a room with all stuffs...Terrible!!!!
Now this very special Valentines day was in between this... I had no plans to do anything crazy..but then empty mind is devils workshop..:) Suddenly on 13th around 11 I feel that I need to bake..Started off with this cake as I already had a tub of fresh strawberries. Then start the frosting in between all this rush.. Halving the cake gets messed up as the cake slides and it gets cut slant.The layers get messed up...:) Then when i did the strawberry frosting I felt that it was less and decide to frost the layers with whipped cream...That was another disaster. As I used too much whipped cream the cake started to slip..Now there was a plus point ..the cake was not too sweet.. Then frosting I had a different plan..Anyways that dint work as I thought and then I went with this rose and chocolate bark idea.. Now if I would say this cake can also be mentioned as a disaster cake...:)
Texture and taste wise the cake and frosting is excellent...Its only my mistakes that made the cake a disaster..But then its  for my husband and kid who don't see how it is...For them it is only the taste that matters...And I got a thumbs up for that...That makes a happy me...:)

Fresh strawberries-1 cup
Sugar-1 to 2 tsp
Milk-1/4 cup
Egg-6 large whites
Vanilla-1 tbsp
Cake flour-2 nd 1/4 cup
Sugar-1nd 3/4 cup
Baking Powder-4 tsp
Salt-1 tsp
Unsalted Butter-12 tbsp
Pink food coloring- few drops

Method of preparation:
1. Wash fresh berries and chop them. Add sugar and set aside for about and hour or two until juicy. Place the berries in a food processor and puree it. You can use frozen berries too.
2. Use 3/4 th cup for cake and remaining for the frosting/as filling.
3.Preheat the oven to 350F and grease and dust two 8 or 9 inch pans.
4. In a small bowl combine puree, milk,egg, vanilla and mix with fork till well blended.
5. Mix flour,sugar, baking powder and salt to combine using a mixer.Add butter and continue beating Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
6. Add liquids and beat at high for  about a minute or until evenly combined. Add food coloring and then beat to combine. Scrape the sides.
7. Divide batter into two prepared pans and smooth top.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 mins or until tooth pick comes out clean.Let cake rest in pan for 10 minutes and then on wire racks.Let cakes cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry frosting:

Butter-1 cup
Icing Sugar-6 cups
Vanilla-2 tsp
Strawberry puree- 1/3 cup

1. Mix butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl on low speed until light and fluffy.
2. Blend in strawberry puree and vanilla.
3. Add milk one tablespoon at a time, if desired consistency is not achieved. Keep covered.

Chocolate barks:
Bittersweet Chocolate pieces-4 squares
Parchment paper

1. Melt the chocolate and spread it on a strip of parchment paper. Let it set.You can keep it in freezer for 4 to 5 minutes. cut to pieces.

Whipped cream-as needed.

Assembling the cake:
1. Let the cakes cool. Then cut it to halves.
2. Spread the whipping cream/strawberry frosting.
3. Place the other half and then cover it with the strawberry frosting.
4. Using an open star tip pipe the roses on top.
5. Ten press the chocolate bark on the sides and keep in the refrigerator to set.

 Notes:
1. I used half the recipe for frosting and cake.
2. Baked a 6" X 2"cake. There was a bit more than 3/4th of pan for first time, so kept the remaining in fridge for the time the first batch was baking. Cooled the pan and then baked the remianing.
3. I have used whipped cream for the inner layer.

Linking  this to Recipes with fruit @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen & Valentines Day event @ Priya's Versatile Recipes.