stuffed and smiling

Coffee Banana Muffins - the "wake me up" breakfast

5 May 2012
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I'm back! Well, at least, sort of. I'm in Bangalore now, all moved in and almost set up. I say almost cos I still don't have internet set up at home. What good are husbands if you can't bum off their office provided internet-on-the-go! Also, my pictures, however drab, manage to look much better on R's mac. So, we're all good.

Everyone needs a good go-to recipe for breakfast muffins. They have the power to transform an ordinary day into a wonderful one! While I don't drink coffee (yes, the only south Indian I know who doesn't) at all, I love the flavour of coffee in my baked goods. Especially the kick that coffee can give you when you mix it with some good yummy chocolate. I was surprised, in fact, to see how well coffee works with banana in this recipe. Give this one a try and trust me, you won't be disappointed. I made 2 batches of these muffins for a weekend brunch session with some friends and it was a huge hit. I had people asking for seconds and even packing a few home for nibbling later. When I made 2 batches, I was a little apprehensive about over doing it, but I had to struggle to save one for pictures.

How I made it

2 cups flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn baking powder
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup strong coffee, cold - I used filter coffee
3/4 cup cooking oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 bananas, diced small
1/2 cup raisins
sugar for sprinkling on the top

Preheat oven to 180 deg

Mix flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and raisins in a bowl. Combine buttermilk, coffee, oil, vanilla, sugar and eggs in another bowl. Whisk wet ingredients together and pour over the dry ingredients. Combine until just mixed. Add bananas and mix until just combined. Do not over mix at this stage.

Scoop it out into muffin pans lined with muffin liners and sprinkle some sugar on top. Bake for 17-20 mins until the tops are brown and a tooth pick inserted into the muffins come out clean.

This recipe makes some unbelievably moist and yummy muffins that will fill up just on its own or just some juice to go with it.

Recipe Source. Check out this beyond awesome blog!

My notes:

The batter is quite thick in this case. Do not panic.

Regular programming will resume shortly...

3 Apr 2012
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I'm moving again. My 3rd move a year. And this time, I'm moving cities. Leaving the land of Bollywood for the land of Sandalwood. With all the chaos, i suspect we're going to be eating junk for a while. I'm going to try to post a few things i have in my drafts as soon as i have some time to breathe.

There is no doubt that I'm going to miss Bombay like mad. Our house, the life, being employed, the friends i made, the ease of getting exotic ingredients and the great vibe that makes this city what it is. But the one thing I'm definitely looking forward to is the bigger kitchen that's waiting for me in Bangalore.

If you're from Bangalore or you live there, any/all suggestions for foodie things to do there are welcome!

PS: that is a picture of my cook book corner which has my books & pages of my notes. This one of the favourite corners of my house. Also, I've bitten the instagram for android bug :-P

Homemade Granola - yummy breakfast goodness

10 Mar 2012
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You know how they say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Somehow, it's also that one meal that also suffers 'cos of the morning rush. I'm struck by this realisation that we're missing out on wholesome breakfast every once in a while. That's when I make my batch of granola. Though I've done tried homemade granola in the past, this batch is disappearing at an alarming rate. That could also be because this granola is not just breakfast now. This has also become my 4'o clock snack at work. (I have hidden a box in my desk!)

There is also this eternal confusion between muesli & granola. While they're similar, they're not the same. After reading up about this extensively on the web, this is my understanding. Both muesli & granola have breakfast cereal like oats, barley, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, dried fruits etc. Muesli is generally not sweetened or toasted. But granola usually is toasted and is sweetened with honey. As a result, granola is crispier and sweeter. So when you add milk or yogurt to it, there is not need to add fresh fruits for sweetness or add sugar.

I think there are 2 things that make this granola special. It has cranberries (none of my other ones in the past had them) & chocolate. What a brilliant combination it turned out to be. Also, if you make your own granola even once, I bet you anything, you will NEVER go back to the store bought shit!

How I made it

4 1/2 cups oats (I used Quaker oats)

1 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup flax seeds

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup water

1 vanilla bean scraped, or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips or cut up chocolate

Preheat the oven to 150 deg C and cover a baking tray with parchment paper.

In a small kadai, mix the water, honey, sugar, butter and vanilla bean / extract. Let it boil and simmer till the sugar dissolves. In a large bowl, add all the other ingredients and add in the liquid ingredients & mix till the dry ingredients are coated well. Transfer the granola mixture to the baking tray and bake for 45 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon a few times to make sure that the granola cooks evenly. Let it cool completely.

Transfer to a air-tight container.

I usually have this with little milk & i'm done for a good few hours.

My notes.

1. Granola may not be crisp when just out of the oven but it crisps up nicely as it cools. So wait for it to cool completely before you store it up.

2. When you add chocolate to the mixture before putting it in the oven, it nicely melts and forms these pockets of melted chocolate with oats and nuts sticking to it and it melts in your mouth!

3. You can add anything dry fruit that catches your fancy to the granola mixture. Some options are walnuts, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, pistachios etc.

Recipe Source

Elaichi & Saffron Madeleine

2 Mar 2012
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2 months since the new year started and not a peep on this blog. I'm so ashamed I could bury my head in sand. Maybe, I should also. If you came here when I was MIA and went back disappointed, I'm extremely sorry. The truth is, I was cooking, I was clicking pictures, I was lining up posts in my head, but that final push to move my ass and post was just not happening. I've broken the jinx and done my first post for 2012. Now hopefully, I'll keep going. With the apologies done, I'll quickly move on to this yummy french treat that disappeared so fast that I had trouble saving 3 for my pictures.

Madeleines are french cookies that are soft and buttery and remind you of a sponge cake more than a cookie. I had never eaten a madeleine before I baked these. But I had seen them all over the internet and wanted to definitely try them at home 'cos that looked like the only I was going to have any. Now, for a very person like who cooks by feel/taste, cooking something I've never tasted before was definitely a big big challenge. I read up endlessly about what they were supposed to taste their, their texture, colour and whatnot. But the next issue was access to a madeleine pan. I didn't find any in Bombay. But some freak coincidence, my father-in-law picked these up for me at Singapore cos they looked nice. I was super delighted by this surprise!

This recipe is from one of my favorite baking guides - Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan. When I baked these, I had no lemons at home and hence decided to go with a different flavour than the one she had used in her book. It turned out super yum with just a hint of elaichi & saffron! Even my usual, I-don't-like-sweets husband asked for seconds and thirds (which is always a sign of success for me).

Here's how I made it:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt (i omitted this since I used salted butter)

2 eggs at room temperature

6 tbspn sugar

1 tbspn brown sugar, packed

1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract

4 pods of elaichi - skin removed & crushed

4-5 strands of saffron

6 tbsp butter

1 tsp honey

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the elaichi powder and saffron to the butter and melt it. When it melts, you get the lovely aroma of elaichi which fills up the kitcken. Filter it out and keep the butter aside to cool.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugars until smooth. Gently whisk in the cooled melted butter and finally, the honey. You'll have a thick, smooth, shiny batter. Dorie asks you to press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 days. If you're like me and don't want to fight with plastic wrap, spoon the batter in a ziplock bag or a disposable piping bag and chill. This way, you can pipe the batter directly on the madeleine mold and its a lot easier.

Preheat the oven to 220 deg C. Generously butter the madeleine pan, dust the insides with flour, and tap out the excess. Fill each madeleine mold with about a teaspoon of batter; the molds should be about three-quarters full.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and give the madeleine pan a nice tap. Gently remove the cakes. You can serve the madeleines immediately

or put them on a rack to cool.

Repeat the process with any remaining batter, making certain to cool and rebutter and flour the pan. Just before serving, dust the madeleines with confectioners' sugar if desired.

My notes:

1. Its very important to refrigerate the batter to get that characteristic hump of the madeleine. Don't hurry up and cut the chilling time short. You need to chill it to get nice humpy madeleines.

2. When you fill the madeleine molds, make sure to stop when you think you can put in some more batter. The sight of batter spilling out from the mold all over your oven is not pretty!

3. Eat it just the way it is when its hot. When its cold, you can dip it in some chai and enjoy the buttery goodness that melts in your mouth.

These cookies stay good for upto a day in an air tight container. Mine got over before that in any case. So i'm not sure it stays for longer :)

Chocolate Mousse - The best one you'll eat

28 Dec 2011
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That title does seem a little cocky and boastful. But its the only way to describe this Chocolate Mousse 'cos its Julia Child's. I came across this in David Lebovitz's blog and he had called it the "perfect" chocolate mousse. When a man like him says that, you have no choice but to believe it. This chocolate mousse tastes nothing like the plasticy, card boardy shit that usually passes off mousse. Its luscious, gummy, intensely chocolatey, not too sweet, rich and you really can't stop at one bite. I usually do not have just more than a taste of any dessert I make. But this one, I have been snacking on it every time I pass the fridge (and God knows I can't afford to do that!)

I was a little apprehensive in the beginning to use 4 raw eggs 'cos I didn't want even a hint of the eggy smell. But worry not, you can't taste or smell the egg separately. This quantity gave me 6 servings in a medium sized ramekin. It's perfect for individual servings although I must warn you it is heavy and might be too much for one person to finish especially after a big dinner.

You can head over here for the recipe 'cos I followed it to the T.

My Notes:

1. When you separate the egg whites and yolks, ensure that is not a hint of the yolk in the whites cos if there is, it won't whip up fully.

2. Use the best quality bitter chocolate you can find. You won't regret it.

3. The only change I made in the recipe was that I used Amarula instead of rum and the hint of coconut tasted excellent in the mousse.

Onion Coriander Dip and a Mint Pesto Dip - For your holiday parties

23 Dec 2011
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Merry Christmas, everyone! Have a fabulous year end and hope you have your big list of resolutions for the new year in your drafts already. I make these resolutions every year but the trick to following them through is what I hope to achieve this year.

The season to party, entertain and be entertained is here! No party is complete with some chips and where there are chips, can dips be far behind. These dips are super simple and easy to put together. If you want to cut down on the calories, serve these up with some carrot and cucumber sticks and you're set!

Onion Coriander Dip

1 cup yogurt

1 big-ish onion - quartered

Half a bunch of corinader (discard only the roots)

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

salt to taste

You'll need thick yogurt. Put the yogurt in a muslin cloth and hang it out to drip for an hour or so. In a mixer, grind the onion and corriander. Don't grind it into a pulp. You still need some crunchy pieces you can bit into. Just before you're ready to serve, mix the yogurt with the ground mixture and added in some grated cheddar cheese. Add salt to taste. You're done!

Mint Pesto Dip

1 cup mint leaves

2 tbspn dry basil (you can use fresh ones as well)

3 tbspn Mayo

1/2 cup cheddar cheese (cut up into small bits)

1 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic

salt to taste

Grind the mint leaves, basil, garlic and cheddar cheese with some olive oil. If you have any trouble grinding, add a little of water. Add this mixture to the mayo and mix. Add salt to taske and your dip is done.

You can make these in bigger batches for your parties. I scaled up this recipe to serve about 40 people at a friend's party. I was super tired after all the prep work that the pic suffered as usual. Promise to be back with a better pic and another recipe for party finger food.

Cold Roasted Beetroot soup - Indian Style

8 Dec 2011
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That feeling when you're hungry, but too lazy to cook and you want that one dish that will make you want to lick the bowl and fill you up and make you feel all warm and fuzzy? This soup is the solution. Let me be honest. I'm not the most successful when it comes to making soups with whatever I have at hand. Actually, I'm not very successful with soups at all. This one, has however, given me the boost to go on and try more. It is earthy, Indian and is quite filling. With some crispy toasted bread and a small salad, I can't imagine being able to eat any more dinner.

Here's how I made it

(serves 1)

1 medium sized beetroot

1 onion

2 tbspn curd

2 tbspn milk

1 tbspn cumin powder

1 tspn garam masala

1 tbspn olive oil

1 tbspn butter

Peel the beetroots and slice them up into rounds that are not too thin. Spread on a plate and pour the oil on top of it. Sprinkle some salt (to taste) on top of it. Bake in a 200 deg oven for 30-40 min until its nice and roasted and crispy. In the meanwhile, heat butter in a pan. Slice up the onions and fry for a min. Add the cumin powder and garam masala and fry for another min. Add some water and allow the onions to cook for 5-7 mins. If the water evaporates, keep adding water to keep the onion submerged. When the whole broth looks nice and brown, switch off and allow it cool. Grind the onion broth and the beetroots in a mixer. Add some water if it gets too thick. In another bowl, whisk the curd and milk. Add it to the beetroot mixture and add salt to taste. All done! Now chill in the fridge and serve cold.

My notes:

1. Wait for the beetroot mixture to cool down completely before you add the yogurt mixture 'cos otherwise it will split!

2. The roasted beetroots make for a yummy snack themselves! Go on and finish of half of it just like that, the way i did :)

Coconut cupcake with Buttercream and Candied Mango frosting

3 Dec 2011
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My gorgeous friend G had invited us over to her place for a lovely evening. There was going to fun people and great music. I wanted take along something sweet to end the evening on a high note! I decided to make cupcakes. Unlike my usual last minute baking decisions, I had decided to bake ahead of time and also had some time in had to do something elaborate. I didn't want to do the usual chocolate options and was looking for something more fresh. I also had some candied mangoes that I picked up from the Bangalore airport. Naturo sells a whole range of candied fruit bits that are yum to use in desserts or to just munch on. I do want to make candied fruit from scratch but we can leave that for another day. Did some searching on the internet and landed on this recipe that hit the spot. It had coconut, candied mango, rum, buttercream and I was sold.

Here's how I made it

(makes 22-24 cupcakes)

For the cupcake:

11/2 cups self raising flour (see notes for substitutes)

11/4 cup maida

226 gm + 2 Tbspn of butter (2 slabs of Amul butter + 2 Tbspn)

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

3/4 coconut milk (see notes)

1/4 cup rum

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the flours. Cream the butter and sugar - about 3-5 mins. Add the eggs one by one and beat until combined and follow it up with the vanilla extract. Add the dry and wet ingredients alternately and beat until just combined. You need to start and end with the dry ingredients. Take care to not over beat. Fill 3/4 in cupcake trays lined with cupcake liners. Bake for 20-25 mins until the tops just brown. Cool them in the tray for 10 mins and cool them on a wire rack until they're completely cool.

For the buttercream frosting:

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar (I used icing sugar)

200 g butter

1/4 cup condensed milk

1 tsp coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp rum

1/2 cup candied mango

a pinch of salt

Combine the egg whites, sugar and salt. Set this bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water till the mixture is opaque and warm to touch. This takes about 2 minutes. Take it off the heat and beat till the whites are glossy and sticky. This roughly takes 8 mins. The butter needs to be cold but soft. Cut it into small chunks and keep adding one at a time. Add condensed milk, coconut milk, vanilla extract & rum. Beat till the frosting is nice and fully.

Once the cupcakes have completely cooled down, you can pipe the frosting on to the cupcake or just slather the icing. Top with the candied mangoes and you're done! These cupcakes are not too sweet and are super fresh and fatty! But you're not going make this everyday, are you!

Notes:

- if you don't have self raising flour, substitute with 11/2 cup maida and 2 tspn baking powder.

- if you're using coconut milk from a tetra pack, dilute it with some water before you measure it up.

- if you don't want to use rum, just substitute with more coconut milk

- the amount of frosting you will get from this recipe is more than what you will need for the recipe. But you can always find use for some yummy frosting, right?

- if you don't have candied fruit, you can top it up with some roasted nuts or even some praline.

- if you're planning to leave out the frosting, you may want some more sugar cos its not too sweet by itself.

Recipe Source

French toast with a twist (with Rose water & Pistachio praline)

25 Nov 2011
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breakfast easy french toast french toast french toast with a twist under 15 mins

It was one of those days. I was alone at home. My stomach was rumbling and I was in no mood to make dinner. It was too late to order in. I wanted something sweet, filling and easy to make. And that was the story of this yummy frech toast with a twist.

Here's how I made it

For the french toast

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 tbspn rose water

Honey - as per taste

6 slices bread (I used baguette)

butter for toasting

For the praline

2 tbspn brown sugar

2 tbspn roughly chopped up pistachios

Lightly beat up the eggs. Add honey, rose water & milk and mix until combined. Pour this mixture in to a shallow dish and soak the bread pieces for about a min each side. In the meanwhile, heat up a tava and when its hot, add some butter and when it starts to melt, toast the bread slices until its golden brown and crispy on both sides.

For the praline, heat up the brown sugar in a sauce pan and when it starts to melt, add the nuts and toss around for 30 seconds. Immediately spread the molten mass on a butter paper or aluminium foil and spread it out thin. Allow it to cool. It will become hard and brittle when its completely cool. Beat it up in the mixer for 10 seconds until its an uneven crumbly mass.

To assemble, put the bread slices on a plate and top it up with some honey and pistachio praline. Watch your blahness melt away as you eat it.

My notes:

1. Keep the toasted slices warm in an oven (heated to 180 deg) until its time to serve else it will get soggy.

2. You can use white sugar as well to make the praline. I used brown sugar cos that's what I had.

3. You can even roughly grind the praline in a mortar and pestle instead of using a mixer.

Chocolate squares with chocolate liquor (eggless)

4 Nov 2011
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cake with liquor chocolate easy chocolate cake eggless chocolate cake quick chocolate cake

I wanted to bake something for a colleague's birthday and she wanted something with a liquor flavour. I have seen a lot of yummy cupcake recipes with Kahlua, Baileys etc on the www and wanted to try them out. But the actual day came, I lost my baking mojo. Since my oven isn't too big, baking a cupcake would've meant at least two times of lining and filling and baking and I had no mood for all that. So, I turned to my usual saviour, chocolate. And something with chocolate and chocolate liquor can not possibly taste bad. As usual, i was out of eggs (:P) so i looked online for eggless recipes for chocolate squares and did some tweaking and viola, some yummy chocolate squares were born.

These chocolate squares are moist, light and extremely yummy. You can easily leave out the liquor part and make them as plain chocolate squares with some chocolate chips/chocolate chunks/nuts/marshmallow and what not.

How I made it

(makes about 12 squares)

11/2 cups plain flour (maida)

3 tbspn Cocoa powder

1 cup sugar (i used 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar cos that's what I had)

1/4 cooking oil (something flavorless like sunflower oil)

1 tsp baking soda

Juice from a medium sized lemon

1 cup minus 3 tbspn water

3 tbspn chocolate liquor (you can use any liquor you wish)

Preheat the oven to 180 deg. Mix flour, cocoa & baking soda and sieve. Warm the water and dissolve the sugar in it. It doesn't need to become a syrup. Just needs to dissolve well. Wait for it to cool. Once its relatively cool, add the oil, lemon juice and liquor and whisk.Pour this into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Pour the mixture into a greased and floured tray and bake for 25-30 min until the cake starts pulling away from the sides. Cool on a wire rack. Once its slightly cool, brush the surface with some more chocolate liquor. Allow it to cool completely. Dust with some icing sugar and tada, your yummy chocolate squares are ready.

My notes:

1. If you're not adding the liquor, just add a full 1 cup water

2. You can add some nuts or cinnamon powder to this recipe itself for a different taste.

Inspired by

stuffed and smiling

Coffee Banana Muffins - the "wake me up" breakfast

Regular programming will resume shortly...

Homemade Granola - yummy breakfast goodness

Elaichi & Saffron Madeleine

Chocolate Mousse - The best one you'll eat

Onion Coriander Dip and a Mint Pesto Dip - For your holiday parties

Cold Roasted Beetroot soup - Indian Style

Coconut cupcake with Buttercream and Candied Mango frosting

French toast with a twist (with Rose water & Pistachio praline)

Chocolate squares with chocolate liquor (eggless)

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