Potato & Leek Soup...

Writing after ages today... wondering where to pick up the thread from... last 6 months have been eventfullll... moved countries.. new city... house hunting... settling.. job hunting... settling... phew guess I kinda summarized it well .. lol...

After 5 looong years in Bahrain.. we decided to move back to India.. Mumbaii... wasn't easy for a Delhi-ite me to settle in in Mumbai and cope up with the superr-fassttt life here... and a new job... looong working hours.. n the Indian work-culture... the lesser said the better ;) ... anyways its all good now n I so wanted to be back to my cooking .. n my blog :))

Though it really doesnt get wintery in Mumbai.. but watever pleasant it gets... decided to experiment a Potato & Leek Soup... this one was on my mind since I had seen this in Masterchef Australia season 1.. those who are Masterchef Australia fans... Poh had made this for the navy guys during one of her tasks.. and it just tasted so brilliant... its thick and yummm... sharing my version of the recipe...

Leek - 1 think and long stick
Potatoes - 2 medium
Milk - 1 cup
Olive Oil - 1 Tsp & 1 tsp
Butter (salted) - 1 tsp
Salt & Pepper - to taste
Garlic - for garnish

1. Coarsely chop the Leek & the Potatoes
2. In a non-stick skillet, heat the Olive oil and the Butter. As the Butter sizzles, add the chopped Leek and saute for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the chopped Potatoes, sprinkle a lil salt and cook covered on a slow flame for about 10 minutes/ or till the Potatoes soften (keep checking with a fork in between)
4. Add milk and let it boil. Remove from the flame and let it cool.
5. Transfer the mixture into a blender and blend for about 30-45 seconds.
6. Taste the soup and add salt & pepper to taste.
7. In a small non stick pan, heat about 1 tsp of Olive Oil and saute coarsely chopped Garlic for about a minute, till garlic turns brown.
8. Pour the soup into mugs and garnish with garlic...

Sip into the yummy soup and enjoyyyy !!!... I served it with homemade Bruschettazz... couldn't click that well.. so lets save the recipe for another day... for now... Relish the souppppp...

Event: Cook Eat Delicious - Desserts : CHOCOLATE

Life without Desserts is no life at all! Desserts create smiles, laughter, and sweet aromas that fill the house with deliciousness.

This month I am hosting the Monthly Food Blog Event & Giveaway, “Cook.Eat.Delicious-Desserts!” This month’s theme is Chocolate!.... The event runs from August 1st-31st.
   
A random recipe will be chosen to win the Giveaway. Round-up & Winner announcement will be posted on September 5th.

CookEatDelicious.com has started this great event.

Here are the RULES:
1. Cook up any dessert your heart desires, as long as Chocolate is the star.
2. Link back to this announcement and to: CookEatDelicious.com in your blog post  (Use of logo is optional but appreciated)
3. New entries are preferred, with archived ones being re-posted.
4. Multiple entries accepted with only one going towards the Giveaway.
5. Non-bloggers are welcome to send in their entry. Please attach a photo & full recipe.
6. Post a comment in this post after emailing me!
Please link your submissions on the linky below by August 31st, 2012 or you could mail me at riddhimac@gmail.com with “CEDD 13″ in the subject line and the following information:

Your Name:
Your Location:
Blog Name:
Recipe Name:
Recipe URL:
1 Dessert Photo

Now the giveaway:

Intensely Chocolate
This cookbook has a collection of dessert recipes that all chocolate lovers want & need! From molten chocolate cakes to Ganache tarts, there is a recipe for any occasion. It is filled with 100 chocolate recipes and beautiful photos.
By Carole Bloom

Link your enteries here:

Presto Pasta Nights #272.. roundup

After a jam-packed week... here I am to share the roundup for PPN 272... Had a crazy week at work & at home... hardly cooked.. so apologies for my entry being absent for the week... shall make up for it next week...

Coming to the contributions of the 272nd edition of Presto Pasta Nights, the popular event created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast... A BIG THANK YOU to all the contributors.. Sharing a brief about each entry along with the relevant links...

  

Rosh from Chef Al dente shares with us Linguine 'Vege'naise... the vegetarian version of Spaghetti Bolognaise... substituing meat with mushrooms..
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Elizabeth from Law Students Cookbook presents Egg Noodle Casserole... Cheesy & Yummy One-pot meal...

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Heather from Girlichef shares Spaghetti Tacos... fusion of flavors from America & Mexico.. a perfect meal for kidss..

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Tandy from Lavender and Lime shows us her home-made Busiate...

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Anne from Anne's Kitchen prepared Creamy pasta with Ham and Tenderstem Broccoli - delicious, quick and easy recipe prepared in less than ten minutes!

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Kirsten of From Kirsten's Kitchen to Yours created & shared the yummy Tomato and Herb Orzo Salad.. a lovely easy summer pasta salad 

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Titut of Warteg Gaziantep shares her recipe of Spaghetti with Chicken Meatballs in a spicy Soup...

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And last but not the least, Our Event-Owner Ruth of Once Upon a Feast presents us with her Maple Smoked Salmon Pasta Salad... a wonderful creamy pasta dish..

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And that concludes my roundup...thanks to all who contributed to this interesting collection of pasta dishes for this edition of Presto Pasta Nights. I do hope I have not left anybody out of the roundup... please drop in a line just in case.. and my please accept my apology..

This round shall be added to the round-ups at Presto Pasta Night...

This week's PPN 273.. is host by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast... please mail your enteries to her at ruth@4everykitchen.com ..

Event: Presto Pasta Nights # 272

This week, I have the honor of hosting Presto Pasta Night, edition #272

Week after week, Presto Pasta Nights captures pasta dishes by food bloggers around the world.

Please mail your enteries for the week to me :)) . The rules to participate are detailed on this page.

Entries for this week's edition of PPN must be posted between July 7 to July 12. Please include a link to Presto Pasta Nights and to Culinary Vibes. You could use the logo as well.

Mail your recipes at riddhimac@gmail.com & cc to ruth@4everykitchen.com ... along with the following info:

•Your Name
•Your Blog Name/URL
•Your Post URL
•Attach a photo

Incase you do not get my response on your mail... please resend.. as I shall be acknowledging every entry...
Hurryyyyy...

Mango Kheer...

Come Summers.. and all we want.. desire.. hog are MANGOES.. I can live on them... just love them..


Haven't cooked with mango much this season.. but out of watever lil I did.. wanna share the MANGO KHEER recipe.. it was delicious and refreshing...


Ingredients
Milk - 1/2 lt
Condensed Milk - 1/3rd of a can (approx 125 gms)
Mango Pulp - from 2 Mangoes (pref Alphanso)

Cooking
1. In a heavy-bottom pan, put the milk for boiling on a high flame. As the milk starts to boil, lower the flame & let it cook for a while till the milk thickens. This can take around 20-25 minutes.

2. Next, add Condensed Milk & stir well. Let the mixture cook. Once thickened, remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. (cooling might further thicken the mixture, hence keep that in mind while you cook the mixture)

3. While the mixture cools, pulp 2 mangoes - I pulped the mangoes with hands - did not use a blender so that the pulp has a inconsistent texture.

4. Once the mixture cools to room temperature, add the Mango Pulp to it and mix well. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Serve Cold  - Garnish with Mango pieces or chopped almonds...

yummmm ;)

Linking this recipe to: Akila's event: Dish starts with M

Event : Cooking with Seeds - Red Kidney Beans.. All July...

Culinary Vibes is here with its FIRST EVENT.... COOKING WITH  SEEDS  - RED KIDNEY BEANS... glad that Priya ( from Priya's Versatile Recipes ) let me host the event :))


Red Kidney Beans... highly fibrous & a great source of protein ain't new to us... afterall our good old Rajma Curry is a loved by one and all :)) ... let's get experimental with these Beans & create n share new recipes from our kitchens...

Link all your recipes here. Right from today - All July...

1) Only fresh entries are allowed
2) All entries have to be linked to this announcement and Priya's announcement too.
3) Usage of logo is mandatory as it helps spread the word.
4) Use the linky tool (at the end of this post) to link your entries. Non bloggers can also send their entries to riddhimac@gmail.com
5) All entries can be of any course with Red Kidney Beans as a primary ingredient.


Let's coook...

Please link your recipes here...

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1. Mexican style red beans curry | Visit blog

2. Rajma & Paneer Tawa Pulao | Visit blog

3. Mexican chilli bean rice | Visit blog

4. paricashkitchen. blogspot. in | Visit blog

5. RAJMA PULOV | Visit blog

6. Rajma Prantha/Kidney Bean Pan cake | Visit blog

7. Dal Makhani | Visit blog

8. Kidney Beans & Bellpepper Quesadillas | Visit blog

9. Creamy KidneyBeans & Zucchini Farfalle | Visit blog

10. Chatpate Rajma | Visit blog

11. Re fried Beans | Visit blog

12. Re fried Bean Burrito From Scratch | Visit blog

13. Rajma Coconut Stir-fry | Visit blog

14. Rajma Pulao | Visit blog

15. Rajma Pulao ~ Kidney Beans Rice | Visit blog

16. Four Bean Salad | Visit blog

17. Healthy Rajma, Paneer Tikki | Visit blog

18. Kidney Bean Soup | Visit blog

19. Kidney Bean spread | Visit blog

20. Rajma Tikki/Bean Patties | Visit blog

This linky list is now closed.

Get your own Linky Tools

Lasagna - Veggie Version..

Residing in Bahrain, we always have a challenge of finding veg food.. of course there are options but surely not ample.. and finding a veg lasagna .. far fetcheddd... thus, the decision of trying one at home.. and after reading a dozen recipes and an average experiment.. finally I succeeded ..

Also, this version is low on cheese..Arunesh is health conscious and thus, I decided to use our Indian version of cheese.. PANEER or Cottage Cheese.. Thou I did use Cheddar for garnish ;)

Sharing the version of my VEGETABLE LASAGNA with you... It surprised me.. and I am sure it ll surprise you too once u try it... it was simply yumm...

Ingredients (for a big dish)
Lasagna Sheets - 6 (I had rectangular ones)
Onions - 1 cup (finely chopped)
Garlic - 1 teaspoon (finely chopped)
Babycorn - 1 cup (diced)
Broccoli - 1 cup (small florets)
Mushroom - 2 cups (sliced)
Tomato - 2 cups (diced)
Tomato Ketchup - 1 cup
Cottage Cheese/ Fresh Paneer - 200 grams (crumbled)
White Flour - 2 Tablespoons
Milk - 2 cups
Parmesan Cheese - 2 Tablespoons
Salt
Black Pepper
Oregano
Red Chili Flakes
Butter
Olive Oil
Cheddar Cheese - for garnish (grated)
Mint Chutney - 2 Tablespoon (Optional)

Cooking
We need to prepare each layer for the lasagna and compile in the end before baking.. our layers would be: Lasagna Sheets, Vegetables, Paneer, White Sauce.

For the Vegetables: Heat a little Olive Oil in a non-stick pan. Add Garlic and Onions. Fry till Onions are translucent. Add Babycorn and cook for 2-3 minutes. Next, add Broccoli and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes. Then, add the Mushrooms and Tomatoes along with some salt and let it cook. Once the vegetables are tender, add Tomato Ketchup and mix well. Adjust the spice levels with pepper, chili flakes and salt.

For the White Sauce: Heat 2 tablespoons of Butter in a non-stick pan. Add White Flour and roast on high heat till it becomes brown. Add 2 cups of milk and stir continuously (this shall help in avoiding lumps) Once the mixture boils and starts to thicken, add Parmesan, Salt, Pepper and Oregano. Remove from heat and keep aside.

For Lasagna Sheets: There are 2 kinds of sheets available in the market - those which can be used raw and shall cook while baking & those which need to be cooked before layering. Please follow the instructions given on your box. I used the ones that had to be cooked in salted boiling water for 8-9 minutes.

For Paneer: Crumble the Cottage Cheese/ Paneer finely with hands. Add 2 Tablespoons of Mint Chutney (Mint Leaves blended with salt, green chili and little water) and mix well. This will add a minty flavor to the Paneer. However, this step isn't necessary - you could use plain Paneer instead.

Layering: Take a square baking dish and brush Olive Oil on the base and the sides. Cover the base with Lasagna Sheets (cooked in my case) Pour a layer of Vegetables. Sprinkle crumbled Paneer and then pour a layer of White Sauce. Repeat this layering another time (White Sauce being the final layer) and finally garnish with grated Cheddar Cheese.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20-30 mins at 350 F (or till the cheese becomes brown)

Serve piping hot... and I assure you ll keep going back for another bite :))


Linking the recipe to:

Crazzy Cooking Challenge .. Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I love Cheese.. its just so yummy.. So when I stumbled across this amazing Grilled Cheese Sandwich from Cooking Classy, I knew my search was over and this would my recipe for the Crazy Cooking Challenge..

Though the recipe has ham in it.. I was just so fasinated with the idea of combining Cheese & Broccoli that I decided to make a vegetarian version of the recipe.. substituting ham with some sliced fresh button mushrooms.. And trust me, the sandwich came out yummm..

Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients
Bread - 2 slices (brown/ white/ whole-wheat)
Cheddar Cheese (grated) - 3 Tablespoon
Parmesan Cheese (grated) - 2 Tablespoon
Broccoli (chopped into small florets) - 3-4 Tablespoon
Button Mushrooms (sliced) - 3
Onion Powder - a pinch (optional)
Garlic Powder - a pinch (optional)
Black Pepper - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Olive Oil - 1 Tablespoon

Preparation
1. Add water to the broccoli florets in a bowl and microwave for about 30-45 seconds - this will soften the broccoli. Alternatively, you could steam it too.

2. Combine Cheddar Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, Steamed Broccoli, Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder & Onion Powder in a bowl and mix well.

3. Layer the mixture over a slice of bread and then place the sliced mushrooms on it. Top with the other slice and press the sandwich gently with with both hands.

4. Heat a non-stick pan and drizzle 1/2 a tablespoon of Oilve Oil on it. Place the sandwich over it immediately. Flip the sandwich after about a minute but do remember to drizzle the balance Oilve Oil before you place the uncooked side. Leave it for about another minute before serving.. Incase you want the cheese totally melted, the sandwich could be heated for a lil longer...

5. Serve hottt.. this Crunchy Grilled Cheese Sandwich will keep you wanting moree...

Have fun visiting the other Crazy Cooking Challenge participants through the linky party below!

Strawberry Smoothie

 I am a Smoothie fan... for me, it wins over milk-shakes or over any drink for that matter... I experiment with almost every fruit .. will share the good ones off and on...

This is a fairly simple and probably the most common Smoothie... yet wanted to share it.. it's an all time favorite :)

Strawberry Smoothie

 

We would need:

Fresh Strawberries 6-8
Yogurt 1/2 cup
Milk 1/2 cup
Vanilla Ice-cream 2 Tablespoons
Crushed Ice
*Sugar (optional- as per taste)

Preparation
In a blender combine strawberries, milk, yogurt, vanilla ice-cream and sugar (optional). Toss in the ice. Blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into glasses and serve.

Icy cold strawberry smoothie.. yumm !!


Linking this to: Tickling Palates' Lets Cook Fruits ; Cool Summer Sips by Pages ; Jump N Jive by Icypritz

Cheesecake.. with Blueberries

As I write today.. am thrilled.. writing after a month feels so so good...


In one of my earlier posts, I remember mentioning how 2012 has been a health - disaster year for me and the same continued... But now hopefully it's all good and I am back to cooking.. blogging.. sharing :)) .. so I thot this post should be something sweet ... Thus, sharing my recipe of CHEESECAKE with you... served with fresh BLUEBERRIES..

This onezz is for my sister... it's her fav dessert.. and I wish to make it for her soon...


Ingredients
Sweet Biscuits (I use Marie) - 250 grams
Butter - 125 grams
Condensed Milk - 1 can (400 grams)
Cream Cheese - 350 grams
Lemon Juice - 1/3 of a cup
Blueberries - 1 cup


Preparation
Crush Biscuits until powdered - add melted butter and mix well with your hand.


To set a cheesecake, you could either use a cake tin with detachable base or a round glass bowl with a flat base. In case you are using a round glass bowl, line the inner side of the bowl with aluminium foil (this will help in de-moulding the cake later). I used a flat base glass serving dish and lined it with foil. Spread the buttered crushed biscuit and press it well with a back of a spoon. Refrigerate for 15 mins.


Beat Cream Cheese in a seperate bowl till smooth and fluffy. Gradually add condensed milk and continue beating until smooth. Eventually add lemon juice and beat well. Pour this mixture in the refrigerated mould and refrigerate again till set. (best would be to refrigerate overnight)


Once set, de-mould by pulling the cake out gently along with the foil. The foil can then be removed.


Our Cheesecake is ready.. it can be topped with Blueberries.. Strawberries.. Chocolate Flakes.. any topping of your choice.. I used Blueberries :)) .. slice and serve..

Linking this recipe to Divya's Showcase - Desserts event..



and.. to Srivalli's Kid's Delight.. hosted by UK Rasoi

Corn Lefafa Paratha

It's Magic Mingle time... And this month we got a very interesting combo.. Whole Wheat & Corn..

I am sure like me..  lot of us have to put our grey cells to work to create  tasty output :) .. kudos to Kalyani for that.. she is surely bringing out the "innovative" us.. Had it not been for this combo, I would have never thought of making a CORN LEFAFA PARATHA... and they came out just perfect & yum that I made it 2 consecutive days...


Ingredients
Whole Wheat Flour (Atta) - 2 cups
Ajwain - 1 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Red Chili Powder - to taste
Oil - 2 teaspoon
Water - to kneed the dough
Corn (boiled) - 1 cup
Chili Flakes
Oil/ Ghee for frying

Cooking
1. Mix Atta, Ajwain, Salt, Red Chili Powder in a flat- bottomed bowl. Pour 2 teaspoons of Oil and rub the mixture with both hands. Finally, kneed the dough by adding enough Water.

2. Take 2 small balls from the dough and roll out 2 round chapatiz. Spread boiled Corn over a chapati and sprinkle Salt & Chili Flakes evenly over the corn. Place the second chapati over the corn (Its like Corn sandwiched between 2 chapatiz.
Seal the ends by pressing the 2 chapatiz with soft hands ensuring that corn doesnt fall out.

3. Heat the tawa (flat frying pan) and cook the paratha with ghee/oil.  Once cooked, cut the paratha into 4 parts and serve hot ...

Indian Cooking Challenge : Vennai Puttu

It's the Indian Cooking Challenge time. This month's challenge was truly a challenging one for me... It isnt easy to make Indian sweets perfectly and this month I had to make a Tamilian sweet... PHEW.. tufff...  But I wanna thank Srivalli for this month's choice as it pushed my out of my comfort zone and surprisingly I managed it well :))


This month's recipe is VENNAI PUTTU .. contributed my one of fav bloggers... Priya... It is her grandmom's recipe..  traditional and healthy..


We would need
Rice - 1/2 cup
Grated Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Chana Dal - 2 Tablespoons
Cardamom Powder - a pinch
Fresh Coconut Pieces - 1 tbsp (I used grated coconut)
Ghee - 1 tsp
Ghee for greasing.


Preparation
1. Soak Rice for 3 hours. Then, grind the soaked rice with 1/2 cup water into a paste.
2. Pressure cook Chana Dal till soft (3-4 whistles approx)
3. Prepare Jaggery Syrup by boiling 3/4 cup water and grated Jaggery together.


Cooking

In a heavy bottom pan, boil 2 cups of water. Add the rice paste to boiling water and stir and stir and stir... till the paste mixes well with the water and cooks well. (this may take around 15 minutes.. please DO NOT stop stirring)

Next, add the Jaggery syrup, cooked Chana Dal & Cardamom powder to the rice and stir well.

Keep stirring till the mixture thickens and gets off the from the vessel. Remove from fire and finally add Ghee & grated Coconut. Transfer the mixture to a greased bowl/ tray and let it cool.

We could slice it and serve or just take a spoon and enjoy it :))

Quick Tomato Salsa

Mexican is one of my fav cuisines.. but alas, I havent explored cooking this cuisine much.. Thus, when I came across this recipe.. I so wanted to try it..

I had tried making Salsa once or twice before but owing to the tedious recipe I followed, I ended up messing it here or there.. But this month thanks for Radhika's Blog Hop Wednesday and my pairing with Rajani of 'My Kitchen Trails' .. I made this simple SALSA and just loved it... Now I can make it anytime and pamper myself :))

All we need is:
Tomato - 1 medium
Onion - 1/2
Green Chili - 1
Coriander Leaves - Handful
Salt - a pinch
Lemon Juice - 1 teaspoon

Pulse the Onions, Green Chili and Coriander in a food processor. Next, add the Tomatoes and pulse again to make a paste. (we need to ensure that Tomato isn't completely pulped.. it should be chunky)

Transfer to a bowl. Add Salt and a dash of Lemon.. Done !!

It tastes perfect with Nachoes, Tortillas or Tacos...

A big THANKS to Rajani for this wonderful recipe :))

Chocolate Cake

Technology has made us so dependant on it.. And I realised it when I changed my phone and lost all my reminders..

Feb is like the wedding season in India.. So most of my frendz have their anniversary in the month .. and thus, I require remindersssss...  This CHOCOLATE CAKE was for a dear frend on her anniversary (which I almost forgot.."almost" ..we were at her place with the cake just before it struck 12 :D )

I tried icing for the first time.. and I was very happy with the outcome.. did CHOCOLATE FROSTING and it enhanced the taste manyfold..

For Cake
Butter - 1 cup
Cocoa powder - 4 Tablespoons
Water - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 cups
Flour - 2 cups
Baking soda - 1 teaspoon
Eggs - 2

 

For Frosting
Butter - 2 Tablespoons
Cocoa powder - 4 Tablespoons
Milk - 6 Tablespoons
Walnuts (chopped)
Icing Sugar - 2/3 of a cup

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC.

2. Melt Butter with Cocoa and Water in a pan and bring to boil. Remove from heat and add the Sugar, Flour, Baking Soda and Eggs. Mix well (Either use a beater or beat with hand either clockwise or anti-clockwise... It is important to follow 1 direction only)

3. Pour into a greased cake tin. Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes.Insert a skewer to check (it should come out clean). Let it cool before demoulding it.

4. For the frosting, boil Milk along with Butter, Cocoa and Nuts together in a saucepan.

5. Remove from heat and add Icing Sugar. 

6. Once cool, cut the cake into half horizontally. Sandwich the two layers with frosting, then garnish with frosting and strawberries. Spinkle Icing Sugar on top for garnish.

The cake is simple yet yummy :) Wish you a very happy aniv Sunaina :) .. this one is for you..

Linking to: Chocolate Lover, Teenz Yummy Delights' Valentine Event, Chocolate Mela, Sweet Luv, Lets Cook - Sweet Somethings, Lets cook for Valentines, Valentines Day @Annz Cafe