Fusilli with red sauce

Ingredients:

Fusilli - 1 cup

Tomato - 1

Pasta sauce - 2 tbsp

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Salt and pepper - to taste

Cream - 1 tbsp

How to make:

1. Boil fusilli in water with salt and oil added
2. Finely chop garlic and add them to heated olive oil in a pan
3. Add the sauce and little water
4. Cook for 2 minutes and add the boiled fusilli
5. Cook for 5 minutes and add the cream
6. Add salt and pepper

Verdict:

I tried the traditional way of cooking red sauce pasta. I ate with oregano dressing. Adding basil while cooking sauce would enhance the authenticity of the pasta a lot. My choice next time would be to reduce the amount of sauce a little, as it is more strong compared to the homemade one I prepared with tomato puree and tomato sauce.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Vegetarian Vanilla sponge cake with dark chocolate filling

Ingredients:

Milkmaid - 1/2 tin

Milk - 2 tbsp

Butter - 2 tbsp

Sugar - 2 tsp

Maida - 150 gms

Baking powder - 3 tsp

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Red color (optional)

Hershey bar - 1/2

Salt - a pinch

How to make:

1. Combine butter and milk maid and whisk them
2. Add sugar and whisk properly till you see the volume increased
3. Now add the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, baking soda
4. Mix them gently into batter
5. Add milk and mix
6. Add salt and vanilla essence, I also added a pinch of red color for appeal
7. Pour half of the mixture into baking bowl and add the layer of crushed hershey bar
8. Pour the rest of the mixture and bake it in oven at 180C for about half an hour

Verdict:

I could have added less of flour for softness I guess. Also should have cut down the sugar entirely as the condensed milk was already sweetened. The melted chocolate compensated all the flaws.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Toffee Tiramisu

Ingredients:

Milkmaid - 1/2 tin

Vanilla ice cream - 2 cups

Coffee cookies - 10

Dark chocolate blocks - 4

How to make:

1. Without opening the milkmaid tin, boil it in water for about two hours
2. In case, you already opened it, close it with a plate
3. The thick residue is the toffee
4. In a square bowl, grease the base
5. Roughly crumble the biscuits and spread as a layer
6. Spread toffee above this
7. Next layer it with ice cream
8. Repeat steps 5,6 and 7
9. Top it with crushed dark chocolate
10. Freeze it for sometime and serve

Verdict:

I am really not sure what to call it. Its a hybrid of banoffe pie and tiramisu. I made a silly mistake of forgetting to cool the toffee before layering which melted the ice-cream and disturbed the layers. In any case this was delicious. You can feel all the flavors in every bite, the coffee, the toffee and the cream. Next time I would try crumbling the cookies finer, adding ghee to them and forming proper crust. I have started using ice cream instead of whipped cream for suiting the Indian kitchen but now I grew fond of the texture of ice-cream in my desserts rather than cream.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Tomatoes with thousand island

Ingredients:

Onion - 1

Green chillies - 2

Tomato - 1

Garlic cloves - 4

Thousand island dressing - 1 tbsp

Iceberg lettuce - 6 leaves

How to make:

1. Chop onion in discs and remove layers to get long threads
2. Chop green chillies and garlic cloves finely
3. Chop tomatoes in discs
4. Roughly chop iceberg lettuce
5. Add the dressing and mix well

Verdict:

Thousand island dressing is available widely. I found in spencers hyper market chain and it is my favorite. The salad was simple and tasty.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Zucchini indian style

Ingredients:

Chopped Zucchini - 1 cup

Onion - 1

Besan - 1 1/2 cup

Coriander powder

Garam masala powder

Pepper

Salt

Chilli powder

Oil - for frying

How to make:

1. Mix all the powders and add zucchini discs to the mixture
2. Coat the discs well with the mixture
3. Heat oil in a pan and add the regular indian tadka (cumin seeds, mustard seeds, split bengal gram, dried chilli and onions)
4. To the tadka, add the zucchini discs and fry till tender

Verdict:

It was simply great. My mom loved it and its a big achievement for me.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Broccoli risotto

Ingredients:

Brown Rice - 1 cup

Broccoli - 1

Onion - 1

Garlic cloves - 6

Olive oil

Salt and pepper- to taste

How to make:

1. Chop off the stems of broccoli
2. Boil the stems till tender
3. Add florets to another pan of boiling water
4. Let the florets cook for 5 mins and remove them
5. Save the water of boiled stems
6. Grind well the boiled stems
7. Add olive oil to a pan
8. Add chopped onion and garlic
9. Add the stem paste
10. Pour in the stock from boiled stems
11. Add salt and allow it to boil for few minutes
12. Add the rice
13. After rice is cooked, add the florets

Verdict:

Followed an online recipe. Used brown rice instead of arborio rice, typically used for risottos by Italians. I felt I should have used butter or ghee instead of olive oil.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Chick pea salad with olive oil dressing

Ingredients:

Olive oil - 2 tbsp

Lemon juice - 2 tbsp

Salt and pepper - to taste

Soaked and boiled chick pea - 1 cup

Iceberg lettuce - 6 leaves

Onion - 1

Green chillies - 2

Boiled sweet corn - 1 cup

Boiled and chopped potato - 1 (small)

How to make:

1. Chop the onion and green chillies
2. Mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a jar
3. Close it tightly and shake it well. This is olive oil dressing
4. Mix rest of the ingredients 
5. Add the olive oil dressing and mix well

Verdict:

Everything was right in amount. Tasted good.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Sweet idly with white sauce

Ingredients:

Suji - 1 cup

Guava - 1 (small)

Shredded coconut - 1 cup

Honey - 1 tbsp

Milk - 1/2 ltr

Maida - 2 tsp

Sugar - 3 tsp

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Chopped almonds and cashews - 1 tbsp

Cardamom - 4

How to make:

1. Mix suji, chopped guava, honey and coconut.
2. Add water and milk to this
3. Mix well and make idlis with this mixture
4. Add ghee to a pan and fry the almonds and cashews
5. Take out the dry fruits and add rest of the ghee
6. Add maida flour and fry for few seconds
7. Pour the milk into it slowly mixing it well
8. Add sugar, cardamom and dry fruits to this
9. Apply the sauce on the idly and serve

Verdict:

Its a twist to a twist. I have seen the recipe on Vikas Khanna's "Twist of Taste - A Sweet Life". Due to lack of certain cookware and my aversion to yogurt, I modified it to sweet idly. It tasted lovely. May be I should make the idlis softer and add a little more honey. Will add the picture when I try this again.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Tomato Rice

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 4
Onion - 1
Garlic cloves - 6
Chillies - 2
Salt, turmeric, pepper, coriander powder and garam masala powder - to taste
Mustard seeds, cumin, bengal gram - 2 tea spoons
Ground nut - 1 tea spoon

How to make:

1. Add oil to the cooker
2. Add chopped garlic
3. Add mustard seeds, cumin, bengal gram and ground nuts (Cashew optional)
4. Add dried chillies
5. Add chopped onions and green chillies
6. Add chopped tomatoes
7. Add salt, turmeric, pepper, coriander powder and garam masala powder
8. After the mixture is cooked, add washed rice and water
9. Close the cooker and leave it for 3 whistles

Verdict:

Finally a recipe of my own. I have perfected it over time and love it absolutely. Not just me, I have people appreciating too. :)

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Chena Poda (Indian Cheese cake)

Ingredients:

Paneer - 4 cubes
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup
Suji - 2 table spoons
Baking powder - 1 tea spoon
Milk
Chopped dry fruits - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 4
Sugar - 1 table spoon

How to make:

1. Make paneer into paste with hand
2. Add powdered sugar and suji to the mixture
3. Add baking powder to the above
4. Mix well and add milk if the mixture seems dry
5. Add dry fruits and cardamom powder to this
6. Sprinkle sugar into a greased baking bowl
7. Take it into the baking bowl and bake for 10 mins at 160C

Verdict:

I so wanted to taste this since my Oriya friend told about it. I have used the online recipe for this. First time, the dough was dry, more like cookie dough and hence it was crispy. Second time, kept adding milk till it was similar to cake mixture. Both times, it was great. Very lovely. God, you gotta try this one for sure.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Raw mango sandwich spread

Ingredients:

Raw mango - 1
Chopped spinach - 1 cup
Finely chopped spring onion - 1/2 cup
Chopped spring onion stem - 1 cup
Salt and pepper - to taste

How to make:

1. Add olive oil in a pan
2. Fry finely chopped spring onion for a minute
3. Add chopped raw mango pieces and fry till they are tender
4. Add chopped spinach leaves and fry to cook
5. Add chopped spring onion stem
6. Press the mixture and add salt and pepper

Verdict:

I have watched similar spread recipe on TV and tweaked couple of ingredients. I really have to try this again. I could have reduced the amount of raw mango. Also, I could have used less spring onion stem, or could completely avoided it. Spinach could be fried only till it blanches. I will modify this way and post about it.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Wheat crust tofu pizza

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1/4 kg
Pizza sauce - 2 table spoon
Ginger - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 1/4 cup
Tofu - 2 cup
Onion - 1

How to make:

1. Mix wheat flour, baking powder and salt into a soft dough and leave it aside for one hour
2. Blend garlic and ginger and add salt
3. Add the diced tofu to the ginger garlic paste and leave it for an hour for marination
4. Chop onion in circles
5. Spread the dough with hand into round
6. Apply pizza sauce layer
7. Sprinkle onion and tofu pieces
8. Bake it in oven for 10 mins at 160C

Verdict:

I admit that I took healthy ingredients too far. Wheat crust was alright, would have been better with paneer. Also having minimum amount of toppings was a lesson from this experiment.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Eggplant with tofu

Ingredients:

Eggplant - 1/2
Tomato - 2
Onion - 1
Grated tofu - 1 cup
Chopped ginger - 1/2 cup
Honey - 1 table spoon
Mint leaves - few
Lemon - to taste
Salt and Pepper - to taste
Olive oil - to taste

How to make:

1. Blend ginger, honey, mint leaves and lemon
2. Add salt to the mixture
3. Fry the mixture in oil and then add grated tofu
4. Add olive oil and fry finely chopped onion and tomato
5. Add salt and pepper to the mixture
6. Chop eggplant in discs
7. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the discs and bake them in oven for 10 mins at 180C
8. On the cooked discs, apply layer of tomato mixture and then with tofu mixture

Verdict:

Personally, I am still adjusting tongue to flavors beyond Indian, Indo-Chinese and Italian. I had difficulty in getting the eggplant discs right. Overall, it was fine. It could be made better with reducing the amount of sauce mixture with tofu.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Penne with Broccoli pesto

Ingredients:

Penne pasta - 250 gms

Capsicum - 1

Red bell pepper - 1

Yellow bell pepper - 1

Broccoli - small

Onion - 1 (small)

Garlic cloves - 6 (big)

Salt - as you wish

Pepper - as you wish

Seasoning - as you wish

How to make:

1. Boil salt water and add pasta to it.
2. Add broccoli to this after 5 minutes 
3. After 5 minutes, drain the pasta and broccoli
4. Wash pasta in cold water and set aside
5. Make broccoli into paste (No technology, use mortar and pestle)
6. On a pan, take oil and fry the chopped garlic
7. Chop onions in sticks and fry in the pan till sauté
8. Add the chopped bell peppers and capsicum
9. After the bell peppers are cooked, add the broccoli paste
10. Once you see, the raw feel has gone, add pasta
11. Add salt and pepper
12. Add seasoning of your choice

Verdict: 

I have Indianized for my little sister, adding garam masala and coriander powder. You should add oregano and chilli flakes to get the authentic Italian taste. I finally got a wet pasta right and this is delicious, of course if you are into pasta. I just loved cooking with bell peppers. They are simply elegant. :) And yeah, I should learn to cook penne without breaking it.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Caramel cake with Ice cream

Ingredients:

Maida (all-purpose flour) - 1 small cup
Corn flour - 2 tea spoons
Dry fruits - as you wish
Horlicks powder - 2 table spoons
Baking powder - 2 tea spoons
Baking soda - 1 tea spoon
Vanilla Essence - 1/2 tea spoon
Butter - 2 table spoons
Milk - 1 small cup
Salt - a pinch
Sugar - 2 table spoons
Water - 1 small cup
Vanilla Ice cream - 2 small cups
Chocolate sauce - as you wish

How to make:

1. Mix the maida flour, corn flour, horlicks powder, baking powder, vanilla essence, butter, salt and milk in a bowl. 
2. Sprinkle the dry fruits chopped on the top. 
3. Bake the mixture at 180c for 10 minutes. 
4. Heat the sugar with water on a pan and add the cake cut into pieces. 
5. Take these pieces on to a plate and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the top. 
6. Garnish the scoop with chocolate sauce (or you can always double boil dairy milk chocolate as I do).

Verdict: 

This is an improvisation for a cake which felt incomplete. Also, inspired from a dessert ordered in a chinese restaurant (caramelized bread rolls with ice cream). I tried pouring melted sugar over the cake, but it got hardened so fast, so I then melted it in a pan and got the soft ones. So changed the recipe. Anyway, it was toooooooo good, tasted almost like the dessert I had in the restaurant. May be I will try adding banana splits next time and some nuts on top.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns