Lemon pepper grilled prawn, Mango chili salsa, Prawn head jus

Cooking is often a lot about motivation. Without motivation it becomes a boring habit just to fill your tummy and surviving this big bad world. I was staying away from cooking for last couple of months because there's a certain lack of motivation. Finally, as always MasterChef Australia became my saviour and I decided to modify one of the dishes I saw and make a healthier version of it.

Prawn has always been one of my favourite ingredients to cook, and salsa was one of the first item i learned to make when I started cooking first. Together Grilled prawns, prawn head jus and fresh salsa make an amazingly tasty and healthy dish.

Ingredients for the Grilled Prawns-

• 6 Prawns (peeled, deveined, heads separated for the jus)
• 1 tsp kaffir lime juice
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp Tang (an orange drink powder that I used to get mild orange flavor)
• 1 tsp honey
• salt
• olive oil

Method-

• Marinade the Prawns in the mixture of all the ingredients except olive oil for couple of hours.
• Heat the olive oil in a grill pan.
• grill the prawns until they are cooked properly in low flame.

Ingredients for Prawn head jus-

• The separated prawn heads
• 4-5 lemon leaves
• 2-3 star anise
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp Bhut jolokiya chili sauce (you can substitute it with sweet chili sauce)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• olive oil
• water

Method-

• Slow cook the ingredients till you get a nice consistency and the mixture becomes 1/3rd of the actual portion. Keep tasting to adjust and balance of the taste
• Once done, strain it and keep it aside.

Ingredients for Mango Chili salsa-

• 1 large mango (peeled and diced)
• 4-5 real hot green chilies (chopped)
• 1 small tomato (chopped)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp kaffir lime juice
• salt and pepper

Method-

• Mix all the ingredients and season well.
• keep it in the freezer till you serve it.

Assemble all the items and serve!

Dim-Daal ( Boiled eggs cooked in spiced Lentil)

Rice, lentil and fish is often considered as the ideal Bengali daily staple food. We all have grown old with that and precisely why I have never really thought that I could ever go ga ga over a lentil preparation! 

This recipe is from the other half of Bengal, which is known as East Bengal or Bangladesh, and when it comes to the art of food, Indian part of Bengal (West Bengal) is considered to be far behind. 

So, last Monday, it was a friend's birthday, and after reaching at his place, my curiosity took me to the kitchen (obviously!) and there i found something interesting. It was "dim-daal ", which is basically boiled eggs cooked in spiced lentil. It tasted so delicious that I had to get the recipe from Nina Nandi aunty. 

If you love bong food, you can definitely try this at home. My husband is not fond of lentils, even asked for it twice. In case, you have someone in your home who doesn't like lentil, will like it. 

Ingredients-

• 1 and 1/2 cups Moong Daal
• 6 Boiled eggs (peeled and cut in 2 pieces)
• 2 tbsp Onion paste
• 2 tsp Garlic paste
• 2 small tomatoes (chopped or pureed)
• 2,3 sticks of cinnamon
• 2,3 small cardamom
• 4 green chillies 
• 2 tsp Ginger paste
• salt
• Sugar
• Ghee
• Mustard oil
• water

Method-

• Wash the Moong daal and let it dry for half an hour. Then dry fry it till it becomes light brownish. 
• Grind the cinnamon and cardamom
• In a cooker, boil the fried moong daal with water and salt. Keep it aside.
• In a kadai, heat some mustard oil. Add green chillies . Fry half of the onion, garlic and ginger paste. Add the boiled and cut eggs in it. Mix and fry well. Once mixed and fried well, keep the eggs aside.
• Add some ghee in the kadahi and add the remaining onion, garlic, ginger paste. Add the tomato puree and remaining green chillies. Add the cinnamon and cardamom mixture.
• Now add the boiled Moong daal and cover the lid. Add salt and sugar. Once it is cooked, add the boiled eggs and cook for 5-6 minutes more. 
• Garnish it with chopped chilly, coriander and little bit of ghee.
• Serve with rice or roti.

Vanilla Dacquoise, Raspberry Jelly and Bavarian Cream

Sometimes when I feel totally blocked, It is other people's good work that motivates me the most. During Christmas I was watching Chef's Table while surfing some food blogs and suddenly got thethe motivation to try something exiting for Christmas. Couple of years back I made Dacquoise for the first time and I remember how difficult it was and at the same time how tasty the outcome was. However, because of the difficulty level and for various other reasons I couldn't try making Dacquoise again. This time I thought of making Vanilla dacquoise with raspberry jelly and strawberry bavarian cream. I didn't really think I could finish this wonderful dessert as my Bavarian cream got absolutely spoiled for couple of times before I got the right one.

It was gorgeous and mouthwateringly tasty and I thought of posting this before New Year's eve. But well, blame it on my lethargic nature or the crazy parties I was having, I couldn't do so. However, finally, here goes the recipe.

Oh, and I couldn't get tasty raspberries from the market, they were all pretty sour in taste. Hence, I decided to opt for the jelly crystals.

Ingredients for Raspberry Jelly-

• 1/2 cup jelly crystals
• 2 cup warm water

Ingredients for the Bavarian cream-

• 7 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 500 ml whole milk
• Few drops of vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp powdered gelatin, sprinkled over 1/3 cup water
• 500 ml whipped cream

Ingredients for the Vanilla Dacquoise-

• 1 1/2 cup blanched almonds
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 6 egg whites

Ingredients for the Lemon Glaze-

• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp powdered gelatin sprinkled over 1.5-2 tsp water

Prepare the Raspberry Jelly-

• As I have failed to get good Raspberries from the market and instead have used Jelly crystals, this step was pretty fast. You just need to add the warm water on the Jelly crystals and stir to mix. Once it is mixed completely, let it cool in the refrigerator for couple of hours.

Prepare the Vanilla Dacquoise-

• Pulse the almond with 1 cup powdered sugar. Now slowly sift and mix the flour in it and keep the mixture aside.
• In a stand mixer beat the egg whites in medium to high speed while mixing the remaining sugar slowly till it forms peaks.
• Add the almond sugar flour mixture in the egg mixer slowly and keep beating in low speed. Add a couple of drops of vanilla extract in it.
• Preheat the oven in 180 degree C.
• Ready 2 baking pans with greased parchments. Pour equal portions of the mixture in both.
• Place them on a rack in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes. Let it cool.
• Now flip them carefully on a plate or board, and very carefully remove the parchments papers.

Prepare the Bavarian Cream-

• Be focused and careful, as this was the most difficult level for me in this dessert.
• Whisk the egg yolks with sugar. While doing it, put a saucepan on medium flame. pour the milk in it. let it come to boiling point.
• Once it starts to boil add a drop of vanilla extract in it.
• While whisking the yolks non stop, pour the milk slowly in it. Keep whisking really fast so that it doesn't create any lump.
• Once it is mixed thoroughly and coating the back of your spoon, transfer it in the saucepan again.
• On low heat, add the gelatin in the mixture and stir rigorously.
• Put it of the flame and cool down for 5 minutes.
• Mix the whipped cream gently and let it cool down. Once it is cool, use it immediately.

Preparing the lemon Glaze-

• In a saucepan on medium flame, mix the water, lemon juice and sugar. stir until the sugar is dissolved. Now add the gelatin and mix well till you get an even mixture.
• Let it cool

Assembling the Dessert-

• Place a layer of Dacquoise at the bottom, then place some jelly on top of it. 
• Over the layer of jelly, place some Bavarian cream. Top it with very little lemon glaze.
• Place another layer of Dacquoise and repeat the steps. I did not put the glaze on top the second time as it was not going with the design. But if you keep it plain you should put the lemon glaze on top too.
• Let it set in the freezer for an hour before serving.

Lamp (diya) shaped savory tarts

So just before diwali I slipped and fell and my left wrist got twisted. However, my dear friend didn't care much about it and decided to throw a challenge, which was, to make something unique that will go with the theme of diwali.

After thinking for a few hours I decided to make lamp (diya) shaped savoury tarts and the end result made me jump in joy!

Ingredients for tart-

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4th tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter room temperature
• 2 tsp fresh cream

Instructions-

• Mix the dry ingredients together. Add butter and cream. Mix till you get a smooth mixture.
• Wrap the dough with plastic n refrigerate for 20-30 mins.
• Make small balls from the dough. Take lamp shaped molds and press the dough balls. Prick the base little so that it doesn't puff up while baking.
• Keep little bit of dough aside.
• Let the oven preheat at 200℃ while preparing the filling.

Filling-

• For filling you can use any savory or sweet ingredients that you like.
• I have chopped some spinach, mixed it with sweet corn, and bacon and stirred it in olive oil.  After that I have added bit of ricotta in it. 

Assembling the tart-

•  Roll the remaining dough that you have kept aside. Cut  thin strips from it.
• Pour the mixture into the tarts. Arrange the strips on top of it in criss cross style.
• Bake it for 20 minutes and your lamp shaped tarts are complete.

Bacon wrapped prawn with prawn head reduction sauce

Aching arm and lack of motivation can be quite a disastrous combination and I was suffering exactly from that. I have realized that I wasn't really cooking these days and I had absolutely no clue about how to come out of it. Then another season of Masterchef Australia happened and I started finding myself back again. My aching arm is another story and I try not to think about it.

Last weekend I was in a pretty cranky mood when suddenly I decided to do some experiments in my kitchen. One of the experiments were - Bacon wrapped Prawns with Prawn head reduction. Hence, after spending hours in nature's basket, big basket and local market, I was ready to enter my kitchen with full enthusiasm.

Ingredients for bacon wrapped prawn skewers-

• 6 medium size prawns
• 3 bacon strips
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• Salt
• Olive oil / butter

Method-

• Wash and separate the prawn heads.
• Cure the prawns with lemon juice, zest and salt for 1 hour.
• Brush the skewers with butter/olive oil before sticking the prawns in it. Place 2 prawns in each skewers.
• Wrap them with bacon strips.
• Heat some butter / olive oil in a grill pan.
• Cook the bacon wrapped prawns till the prawn is cooked. However do not overcook it, as less is always more with prawns.

Ingredients for prawn head reduction sauce-

• The separated prawn heads
• 4-5 lemon leaf
• Fresh rosemary ( use at per your need. I used lot of fresh herbs for the beautiful aroma)
• Fresh lemongrass (again according to your requirement)
• 1 cup Coconut milk
• Salt & pepper
• Butter
• Water

Method-

• Mix prawn heads, 2 lemon leaf, rosemary, lemongrass, water, salt in a pressure cooker. Boil till 5-6 whistles.
• Strain the mixture.
• Heat butter in a deep wok, pour the strained soup in it. Cook it in low flame and let it reduce. Once it comes down to half, add the coconut milk little bit at a time.
• Keep tasting, as you might need to add more butter, remaining lemon leaves, pepper and salt. 
• Once you get a smooth,aromatic, little tangy  and buttery consistency and it got reduced to 1/4th of the previous quantity, your sauce it ready.

Assemble and serve. 

Church Street Social

During my trip to Bangalore, Social was not really on my list, even though I absolutely Love Social in Delhi. However, one day, I ended up to Social Church street. I was really tired and wanted to have some beef steak. I have ordered for medium rare, on the rare side and oh boy!! They have simply nailed it. The steak, the wasabi prawn - overall the dish was amazing. Also, my sister took peri peri sizzler and I was impressed to see the portions. We also opted for fish and chips and it was as usual nice. Overall I was elated after having food there. Much recommended,

Arbor Brewing Company

The day I planned another trip to Bangalore, I started looking for a good brewery to satisfy my love for beer and Voila! I found Arbor! Took my sister and then we reached Arbor and absolutely loved the outside sitting area.

Then comes the beer menu and I was confused! Such a vast menu for home brewed beers only. Tried 4 of those and absolutely love them. We have also ordered tenderloin steaks, where they have messed up a little. I have asked for rare medium but instead I got medium. However, I forgive that because of those amazing beers. The crowd was very sophisticated and this place is definitely a must visit for any beer lover.

Herb Grilled chicken, chargrilled zucchini and tomato, Corn and cheese puree, fennel and rosemary oil, chicken jus

In our family, Jamai sasthi was never about the Jamais only. My Mom and my grandma used to say, that, it is about children and I have always seen them celebrating it for their kids- us :)

Every year I see delicious posts from people celebrating this auspicious day. This year, husband decided to take a few days of leave  from office, that and of course certain episodes of Masterchef Australia inspired me to finally ignore the heat outside and cook something to please our taste buds.

This dish has multiple elements and you need to arrange the elements carefully so that, at the end you can plate up properly.

Ingredients (Herb grilled Chicken)-

• 3-4 chicken legs
• seasonings ( salt, pepper, dry herbs)
• Fresh herbs (rosemary, fennel, basil)
• 5 tsp lemon juice
• Oil/ Butter

Method-

• Boil the chicken and keep the stock separately.
• Marinate the boiled chicken with all the ingredients and keep it aside for 30 minutes.
• Fry the chicken pieces on a grill pan till the skin becomes golden.

Ingredients & Method (chargrilled zucchini and tomato)-

• Make even slices of the zucchini and cut the tomato in circular slices.
• Add but of salt and pepper.
• Chargrill them till cooked.

Ingredients (corn & cheese puree)-

• 1 cup sweet corn
• 1 tbsp cream cheese (you can use any other semi soft cheese also)
• 1 tbsp fresh cream
• 1tsp pepper
• Salt

Method-

• Grind the sweet corn, pepper and salt in a blender till it becomes smooth.
• Add cream cheese and blend again.
• Mix the cream and blend till you get thick puree. 

Fennel & Rosemary oil-

• Fresh fennel
• Fresh rosemary
• Olive oil
• 1 Garlic clove

Method-

• In a deep bowl heat the oil, herbs and garlic. Once it start to spread aroma put the heat off.
• Let it cool down and then blend it.
• Strain the oil from the mixture and keep it aside.

Chicken jus-

• Chicken stock (from the boiled chicken)
• Dry herbs
• Pepper
• Salt
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 tsp butter
• Chopped coriander
• Olive oil

Method-

• Boil all the ingredients together till it gets reduced to 1 small cup of thick chicken jus.

Once all the elements are ready, serve it.

Enjoy :)

Tea smoked Basa with pickled cucumber

Who doesn't love to create a restaurant style roasted fish dish that also has some smokiness in it? That is precisely why I was thinking of infusing tea flavor in the Basa and it was delicious!

An easy to cook dish, that will definitely make you dig in multiple times.

Ingredients-

• 1tbsp tea leaves (opt for strong flavor, and not green tea)
• 2 tbsp uncooked rice
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar 
• 4-5 Basa fillet
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• 1 Cucumber
• 1/4th cup rice Vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar

Method-

• Make very thin slices of the cucumber.
• In a bowl, mix the sugar with vinegar till the sugar is dissolved. Add pinch of salt in it. Place the cucumber slices in it. Keep it in the refrigerator.
• Cure the Basa fillets properly with pepper, salt and lemon juice. Let it rest for an hour.
• Line a roast tin with foil, mix the rice, sugar, brown sugar and tea leaves in it. Scatter the mixture over the foil.
• Heat the convection oven to 200°C.
• Take another sheet of foil and make plenty of holes in it. It will go into the tin, hence you need to make a rectangle of it that can fit inside the tin.
• Let the roasting tin get hot and the tea gets smoked a bit. Now lay the Basa fillets on the foil that you and tightly cover with tightly with more foil.
• Roast it for 10-11 mins to cook the Basa fillets well. 
• On a plate serve it with the pickled cucumber and herb mayonnaise.

Diggin- review

It was on our way back from auto expo this year, that we decided to dig into Diggin. Located in Ananda Lok, Diggin is a beautiful looking restaurant from outside. Inside the decor is very pleasing and so is the stuff. I loved the fried calamari. The herb chicken bruschetta was also nice. However there was bit too much of gravy and less taste in the Prawn Squid pizziola. Overall a budget place to have good food.

Herb n mixed veggies sticky rice

Complaining that we are too busy for everything has become a habit these days. Even though, I believe it isn't that impossible to find out time for something you love, Few days back I got introduced to a new technique of cooking. Earlier, the dishes that used to take 45-50 minutes, now takes only 10-12 minutes and that is definitely a blessing. Last night, I made sticky herb and veggie rice and yoghurt rice in a jiffy.

I think many of you want to know the time saving rice recipe. Hence, sharing it below-

Ingredients-

• 1cup basmati/any kind of sticky rice of your choice
• 2 cup water
• Chopped Veggies of your choice (I have opted for chopped spring onion, carrots, red green n yellow bell peppers
• 1tsp basil 
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4th tsp lemon pepper
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2-3 tsp oil
• 1tsp butter

Method-

• Wash the rice and keep it for 15minutes.
• Now take a cooker, add the oil. Now add some spring onion and other chopped veggies.
• Above the veggies layer sprinkle bit of salt and herbs. Now add the rice. Add the soya sauce and butter.
• Make another layer with the remaining veggies, remaining herbs, salt n lil more salt n pepper.
• Add the water.
• Cover the cooker properly.
• Cook it for 10-12 minutes or till 2-3 whistles (not more than that) in HIGH FLAME.
• After that let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Stir once before serving. 

Gateaux Pithiviers for #DaringBakers #December

I love baking. Especially when it pushes me to challenge myself, I tend to love it even more. Hence, when I saw that, for the month of December, Kat challenged us to make Gateaux Pithiviers, I was full of joy. This was something I never even heard of. Hence every step was extremely enjoyable. Yes, the end result is not that photogenic but it was absolutely lip smacking.

Puff pastry-
Ingredients-

• 500 gm all purpose flour
• 500 gm butter
• 1 cup ice water

Instructions-

• Add 100 gmflour and 100gm butter in a bowl and combine. If the mixture gets warmed up put it in freezer for 5 minutes and start needed again. Wrap it in clingfilm and place in the refrigerator.
• Combine the remaining flour, butter and chilled water well. Wrap in a cling film and keep in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.
• Remove the dough from fridge and roll and make a 16-17cm square. Now remove the butter mixture from fridge and place on the dough. Fold the dough so that it can cover the butter mixture properly like a packet.
• Roll the square packet. Be careful so that the butter mixture doesn't come out. If it feels warm just put it in the fridge for 5 minutes.
• Fold the dough in third and roll. Refrigerate it for 1/2 an hour. Repeat the process 6 more times.
• Now you will get a nice slab of dough. Wrap in in cling film and put it in the refrigerator. You can store this for around 3-4 days in refrigerator.

Frangipane-

Ingredients-

• 1cup blanched almonds
• 100gm granulated sugar
• 50gm butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 2tsp orange juice
• 2tsp lemon juice
• 2-3 tbsp dark rum

Instructions-

• Toast the almonds and grind it.
• Mix all the ingredients together and grind it.
• Chill for 30-40 minutes.

Gateaux Pithiviers-
Ingredients-

• 1/3rd of the portions that you made
• 1batch of frangipane
• 1 egg
• Lil bit powdered sugar

Instructions-

• Divide the puff pastry in 2 parts and roll out one part. 
• Using a knife or sharp bowl cut out a 8" diameter circle from there. Place it carefully on a baking sheet.
• Beat the egg. Brush it on the pastry. However, avoid brushing the egg on the sides.
• Place the frangipane on the center of the pastry. Place it in the freezer.
• Roll out the other half of the pastry. Cut a same diameter circle. Now take the Pithiviers out of the freezer and cover it with the pastry.
• Mush the upper and bottom layers together, using your finger. Be careful so that the frangipane doesn't spill out.
• Now press with fingers of your hand and using the back of knife create indents. You can also create some patters on top. This was my first time, so I failed in doing this pretty miserably.
• Eggwash the whole top. 
• Preheat oven to 220°C . 
• Bake for 28-35 minutes.
• Then reduce the heat to 170°C and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes.
• Cool it down completely before serving.

Irish Soda Bread #daringbakers

I love baking breads. So, this time when I saw for the month of September Meredith from the Poco loco Olsons challenged us to experiment with soda bread, I was elated.

My injured hand which is paining like hell, couldn't stop me from making these soft and fresh Irish Soda Bread.

Ingredients-

• 2 cups Buttermilk
• 1&1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda

Method-

• Preheat oven on 220 degree C.
• Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix buttermilk in it and knead it well. Mix till everything is incorporated really well. You will get a stiff dough.
• Now, prepare a baking sheet and roll the dough in round shape, 1 inch thick.
• Using a knife make a few dimples (just prick) on the surface.
• Bake it for 15minutes till the top looks golden/brown.
• Have it fresh with jam, nutella or peanut butter.
• Enjoy!!

Crownie - looks like Cookie, tastes like Brownie

You have heard about Brownie. You have heard about Cookie. How about merging two of these and creating something which is double delicious. My friend was reading a British food magazine while he saw the new thing "Crownie". Hence, my target was to recreate that.

Did a few little changes in the main recipe, the result was absolutely lipsmacking!

The recipe I got from " Great British Food" magazine.

Ingredients-

• 250gm flour
• 200gm chopped dark chocolate
• 100gm roasted peanuts
• 100gm brown sugar
• 50gm cocoa powder (I like it really dark n bitter), but the parent recipe says 25gm. Do it according to your taste.
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1 egg beaten
• 200gm butter, room temperature

Method-

• Line a baking tray with parchment.
• Preheat the oven in 180 degree C.
• Mix the butter and brown sugar till it becomes creamy and fluffy.
• Beat the egg in the mixture. 
• Mix the cocoa powder, baking powder and flour in it and keep mixing.
• Add the chopped chocolates and roasted peanuts in it and form the dough.
• Now you can make balls from the dough and can use cookie cutters or you can give the balls round shape using your hand.
• Bake them for 12-14 mins. It will be little squidgy inside and well done outside.
• Enjoy!

Yafawi Sfeeha #daringbakers

Running a dessert counter on your own, that too, without any prior experience is super tough. However, this month I have decided to take part anyway. And I did.

The July Daring Bakers’ Challenge was brought to us by Manal from Manal’s Bites. She introduced us to an authentic Palestinian dish from Jaffa that is served as a main meal along with a bowl of soup or a salad. The “Yafawi Sfeeha” or also known as “Milwayeh” which means twisted, is crispy yet tender and full of flavor.

I have never heard of yafawi Sfeeha, hence the size became bit bigger than what they wanted. Nonetheless, the taste was amazing.

Ingredients:

To make the dough:

2 cups plain flour,

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons powdered milk 

2 tablespoons (45 ml) vegetable oil

About 1 cup warm water for kneading

Melted ghee 

Directions:

1.Mix flour, salt, sugar, powdered milk and vegetable oil and warm water until you get a tender and slightly sticky dough. 

2.Form golf-ball-sized dough balls. Place on a baking sheet that is very well greased with ghee and keep it in room temperature overnight.

3. You can make the filling in the mean time.

4.once your filling is ready, brush some oil on the surface you will be working on. Place and spread the dough on it gently. 

Meat filling-

Ingredients:

400gm chicken (ground) (traditionally beef is used, but because of the unavailability I had to use chicken

1 medium onion, minced

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1/2 tsp all spice powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

3/4 tsp lemon zest and 1/4teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Heat a frying pan, cook the meat with onion and spices. Put it off the heat and mix the lemon zest and pepper mix. Cool it down before using it in the Yafawi Sfeeha filling.

Once the filling is cooled. Put it in the yafawi Sfeeha and roll it like a snail. 

Preheat the oven in 200 degree C. Bake the yafawi Sfeeha for 15-18 minutes.

Classic Lamington #daringbakers

When I started my journey I had literally zero knowledge about baking. I still do not have much but I have learnt a lot and still learning. In this process, daring bakers group has definitely been a great help.

So, when I checked this time, I saw, for the may challenge Marcellina from Marcellina in cocina dared us to make Lamingtons. An Australian delicacy that is as tasty as it is elegant.

Ingredients-

• 3 large eggs , at room temperature
• 1 cup castor sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup cornflour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp melted butter
• Pinch of salt
• 1&1/2 unsweetened desiccated coconut

Method-

• Prepare your baking tray with a buttered paper/non stick paper.
• In a mixer, mix eggs, sugar, butter and salt. Mix in high speed for 12-15 minutes.
• Add vanilla extract and mix for 4-5 minutes. The mixture will be almost  tripled in size.
• Now fold the cornflour and salt in the mixture and mix well with a fork or metal spoon.
• Preheat your microwave oven in 180 degree C.
• Pour the mixture in the prepared pan.
• Bake it for 22-26 minutes.
• Let it cool for couple of hours.

Chocolate icing-

• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 cup Cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions-

• Add all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Heat it for 1 minute and keep mixing. Heat again for 1 minute and mix till you get shiny chocolate icing. Keep it on hot water To keep it melted.

Assembling lamingtons-

• Cut the sponge cake in square pieces. 
• Deep the cake squares in the chocolate icing.
• In a plate keep the dessicated cocoanuts.
• Roll over the cakes on the dessicated coconuts.
• Let it cool for half an hour before serving.

Bagel at home!!

When nothing else works, food does. Well, on second thought, for a foodie food always works. So, this time I thought of making one of the tastiest bread- bagels. Even though, in India we don't get bagels frequently, it is still a popular choice among many. The experience of making is also extremely satisfying.

Ingredients-

• 150gm flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp dry yeast
• 2 tbsp honey / 1 tbsp sugar
• Sesame seed to sprinkle (optional)

Method-

• Mix the dry yeast in 1 cup warm water and 1 tbsp sugar. Wait for 10-15 minutes till you get a frothy mixture.
• In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, brown sugar and the yeast till everything is prploperly mixed and you get a tacky dough.
• Now in a lightly greased bowl, keep the dough, loosely covered with a clung film. Keep it till it becomes double in size.
• Now make flattened balls from the dough. Using a wooden spoon or something you need to make a hole in the middle.
• Boil water in a deep saucepan. When the water started to boil pour the honey/sugar and let is get dissolved. Now put the bagels in the water and wait till it rises. It will take 1-3 minutes.
• Pre-heat the microwave in convection mode in 200 degree C. 

•  Sprinkle the sesame seeds (if using).

•  Bake the bagels for 22-26 mins each till they become crisp and brown. 

•  Enjoy !!

Focaccia De Recco #daringbakers

I love anything that is Italian. Hence, this month Daring Baker group challenge made me immensely happy as for the month of April Rachael of pizzarossa and Sawsan of chef in Disguise took us on a trip to Italy. They challenged us to try our hands at making focaccia from scratch. The popular Italian bread that can be prepared in multiple ways was the monthly challenge for April. I decided to make Focaccia di Recco which has originated from the Northern Coastal region of Italy. This type of focaccia has gooey cheese filling and extremely yummy to taste.

Ingredients-

• 200gm all purpose flour
• pinch of sea salt
• 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tbsp extra for topping
• 250 gm fresh mozarella cheese
• water

Method-

• In a mixing bowl. mix the flour, salt and 2 tsp of olive oil. Mix well and keep incorporating flour in small amount till you get the well knead dough. Wrap it with plastic and let it rest in room temperature for about an hour.
• Pre-heat the convection on 230 degree C.
• Now divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and with the help of a rolling pin, make two equal size of flat bread. 
• Grease a baking tray and place one flat bread on it. add the cheese pieces on it. Now cover with the other flat bread. Make some wholes on it so that the bread can retain the shape after heating by releasing the hot air from inside.
• Pinch the edges to seal them together.
• Sprinkle some rock salt on top and Bake in the oven for 6-9 minutes.
• Serve hot.

Quick Bites- Veggie Cheese Balls

Making a tasty and time saving snack is a big pain for me. However, few days back I had some left over veggies from the salad I prepared for lunch. So I thought of making the veggie cheese balls. I used smoked feta, but if you have pizza cheese (mozarella) you can use that too. The result was yumm and it takes hardly 30 mins to prepare this yum snack. The cheese melt inside the mouth and everyone will love this easy recipe. 

Ingredients-

• 1/4th of a small cabbage, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 medium size carrot chopped
• 50 gms Feta/ Mozarella cheese in room temperature
• Pinch of dry rosemary
• Pinch of dry Basil
• Pinch of Black Pepper
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp rice vinegar
• Salt
• Vegetable oil to fry

Method-

• Mix all the ingredients together. Keep it aside for 10 mins.
• Add the cheese in it. Make the balls.
• Heat oil in a deep frying pan.
• Fry for 3-4 minutes or till the veggie balls become golden.
• Serve hot,

Tarte Tatin- #DaringBakers

My month starts with a simple thing- I check Daring Bakers forum just after waking up. It gives me a strange thrill and pleasure to see what is the challenge for that month. After baking the tasty Siopao last month, I was eagerly waiting for this month challenge. 

For the March Daring Bakers' challenge, Korena from Korena in the kitchen taught us that some treats are best enjoyed upside down. She challenged us to make a Tarte Tatin from the scratch.

Usually, Tarte Tatin is cooked and baked in a heavy bottom oven proof saucepan. However, in case you don't have one, you can cook the filling on stove and then you need to transfer it in the cake tin, cover it with the pastry and bake. Since, I do not have oven proof saucepan,

Ingredients for puff pastry-

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup cold butter
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup chilled water

Method-

• Mix the flour, salt and butter. Knead and squeeze the mixture till you get a rough pastry.
• Roll and Fold the pastry thrice and then freeze it for half an hour. Repeat the process again after 10 minutes.

Ingredients for Tarte Tatin-

• 4 large, sweet apples.
• 1 tsp cashew
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsp salted butter
• 1 & 1/2 cup granulated brown sugar
• The Puff Pastry that you have made

Method-

• Peel the apples, remove the cores and cut them into quarters.
• In a large bowl, toss the apples in 1/2 cup granulated brown sugar and 2 tsp lemon juice.
• After 10 minutes, discard the moisture came out from the apples.
• Now melt the butter and brown sugar together till you get dense and brown caramel.
• Place the apples in it. Cook in low flame for 12-15 minutes.
• Transfer it into the cake tin.
• Roll the puff pastry and cover the cake tin.
• Pre-heat the oven in 200 degree C. 
• Bake it for 30-35 minutes, till the puff pastry becomes light golden.
• Tastes best if you serve it with a dollop of vanilla icecream.