First I had to roll them out and of course my awesome little Indian rolling pin is missing in action. Solution - use a water glass! It worked pretty excellently!
And here they are all fried up, yums!
The last step, as always, is to dig in!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Puris and Potatoes
This was actually from way back near Easter but I never got around to posting it. I was reminded of it because I had been talking to Mom about getting her to bring me more of these when she visits STL. I basically did no cooking here, Mom gave me the puris in little dough balls to be fried and also gave me the potato masala. But the frying is kind of cool - so here are pictures!
First I had to roll them out and of course my awesome little Indian rolling pin is missing in action. Solution - use a water glass! It worked pretty excellently!
First I had to roll them out and of course my awesome little Indian rolling pin is missing in action. Solution - use a water glass! It worked pretty excellently!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Mexican Pizza
One of my favorite fast food snacks is a Mexican Pizza from Taco Bell. Sure it's super unhealthy I'm sure, but it's probably better than my other fav fast food meal - roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and a buttery biscuit from Church's or Lee's Chicken. Anyway, back to the Mexican pizza. I wanted to recreate it (Ruchir's mom does an excellent version) so here goes!
First the filling. For this I used a can of black beans and a can of tomatoes with green chilis. Ideally I would have used fresh tomatoes but we had just run out of the supply that we got from the farmer's market so canned it had to be. I just mixed them together (drained the beans first) and let them cook until it wasn't liquid-y anymore. Then I dumped a handful of cheese of top and mixed that in so it was a paste type thing.
Looks like chili but it's not!
The actual "pizza" part is two deep fried tortillas. I should have deep fried them but I didn't want to use a bunch of oil so I just toasted them with a little oil in a skillet. Because they weren't deep fried, they weren't totally crispy, but still good enough.
The bean and tomato mixture is spread between the tortillas and topped with a bunch of shredded cheese and then put under a broiler for a bit to melt. I topped it with a dollop of homemade guacamole (remember the 25 cent avocados I got? yum!). Some sour cream would have been nice too but I didn't have any.
And here's a shot of the middle so that the inside filling can be seen. It was tasty but the tortilla could have been crispier. Still good enough for me to devour!
First the filling. For this I used a can of black beans and a can of tomatoes with green chilis. Ideally I would have used fresh tomatoes but we had just run out of the supply that we got from the farmer's market so canned it had to be. I just mixed them together (drained the beans first) and let them cook until it wasn't liquid-y anymore. Then I dumped a handful of cheese of top and mixed that in so it was a paste type thing.
Looks like chili but it's not!
The actual "pizza" part is two deep fried tortillas. I should have deep fried them but I didn't want to use a bunch of oil so I just toasted them with a little oil in a skillet. Because they weren't deep fried, they weren't totally crispy, but still good enough.
The bean and tomato mixture is spread between the tortillas and topped with a bunch of shredded cheese and then put under a broiler for a bit to melt. I topped it with a dollop of homemade guacamole (remember the 25 cent avocados I got? yum!). Some sour cream would have been nice too but I didn't have any.
And here's a shot of the middle so that the inside filling can be seen. It was tasty but the tortilla could have been crispier. Still good enough for me to devour!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
For Mom - French Toast Sandwich
Happy Mother's Day!
In the spirit of Mom's wonderful cooking, I decided to make french toast. This was always my favorite growing up and I used to actually look forward to big tests days like the SAT etc because wonderful Mom would always make us a big breakfast. I've covered French toast before but it's worth repeating. It's ridiculously easy, 1 cup of milk, 1 egg, a couple spoons of sugar plus a bit of vanilla if you want. Whisk it all up with a fork, dip both sides of a slice of bread, and then throw onto a skillet that has had a quick swipe of a stick of butter. One flip and that's it - delicious! But Mom has some other tricks up her sleeve! In particular, some cream cheese between the slices after they are cooked makes things so much better! I added a little nutella in there too! And finally top with strawberries and powdered sugar (I had strawberries between the layers as well) and then you get this masterpiece! Thanks Mom for all that you do!
In the spirit of Mom's wonderful cooking, I decided to make french toast. This was always my favorite growing up and I used to actually look forward to big tests days like the SAT etc because wonderful Mom would always make us a big breakfast. I've covered French toast before but it's worth repeating. It's ridiculously easy, 1 cup of milk, 1 egg, a couple spoons of sugar plus a bit of vanilla if you want. Whisk it all up with a fork, dip both sides of a slice of bread, and then throw onto a skillet that has had a quick swipe of a stick of butter. One flip and that's it - delicious! But Mom has some other tricks up her sleeve! In particular, some cream cheese between the slices after they are cooked makes things so much better! I added a little nutella in there too! And finally top with strawberries and powdered sugar (I had strawberries between the layers as well) and then you get this masterpiece! Thanks Mom for all that you do!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Happy Guacamole Day!
I'd like to say that this was in honor of Cinco de Mayo yesterday but it was actually in honor of the many 25 cent avocados that I purchased from Aldis because they were so cheap. Simple guacamole is the best in my opinion. Mainly avocados but with a little chopped tomato, chopped onion, and lime juice. And a pinch of salt if needed. Too bad all pictures of guacamole look weird - like green goop, so here's the before picture!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Banana Muffins with Crumb Topping
Look great don't they? They tasted even better!
Recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Crumb-Muffins/Detail.aspx
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
Topping
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
[I used a silicon muffin "tin" and no greasing is needed!]
In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
[I just mixed everything together in one bowl and didn't bother to mix things separately first and then together - less effort and less dishes!]
In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.
[I did 18 minutes, then turned the oven off, cracked the door, and let them sit in there until somewhat cool. Or basically until they were cool enough that I didn't get burned - the aroma was delicious and I couldn't wait]
With the crumb topping
I usually make some pretty good banana bread (recipe to come later) but I think these are even better. Next time, I'll add some pecans to the topping!
Window Garden
Here's a shot of our little window ledge garden. Look how beautiful all the greenery is! From right to left: Chilis, Green Onions, Sweet Basil, and Mojito Mint.
The chili plant is supposedly imported from India, one of my cousins (in law) gave it to Mom and I snatched it up. It hasn't yet produced anything, but it's still alive so I'm proud of that!
The green onions I've talked about before, but I'm still so amazed at how easy they are to grow! It's literally just put the ends in a cup of water and they shoot right up! You can even see growth after one day! You will never have to buy green onions again - and since I use them a lot for garnishes, this is great for me!
The last two we bought from our farmer's market for a buck a piece. The sweet basil smells so good...I actually wanted to get Thai basil but they had run out although this is just as good! And then the mint, which I basically got for making mojitos and garnishing desserts. Is there any better summer drink than a freshly made mojito with good quality rum? I didn't think so!
Anyway, so that's my little window ledge garden, I hope to add more soon!
The chili plant is supposedly imported from India, one of my cousins (in law) gave it to Mom and I snatched it up. It hasn't yet produced anything, but it's still alive so I'm proud of that!
The green onions I've talked about before, but I'm still so amazed at how easy they are to grow! It's literally just put the ends in a cup of water and they shoot right up! You can even see growth after one day! You will never have to buy green onions again - and since I use them a lot for garnishes, this is great for me!
The last two we bought from our farmer's market for a buck a piece. The sweet basil smells so good...I actually wanted to get Thai basil but they had run out although this is just as good! And then the mint, which I basically got for making mojitos and garnishing desserts. Is there any better summer drink than a freshly made mojito with good quality rum? I didn't think so!
Anyway, so that's my little window ledge garden, I hope to add more soon!
Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Ok here's a recipe I made a few weeks ago. I wanted to bring snacks for my discussion/seminar class on the last day of classes. Unfortunately I forgot about my plan until half an hour before I had to leave that day! To make things worse, one of my students has celiac disease and can't eat gluten. Yikes, talk about asking for trouble. Luckily I found this recipe which I whipped up in 15 minutes and which baked in 10. I was out the door with 5 minutes to spare! They are delicious even for people that can eat gluten and they are fast and easy!
Recipe adapted from:
http://simplygluten-free.blogspot.com/2009/07/gluten-free-peanut-butter-cookies.html
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg – lightly beaten with a fork
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix together and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. I used chunky peanut butter because that's all I had. I also mixed in chocolate chips - highly recommended! And I didn't use quite as much baking powder which is why these are a little flatter/less puffier than normal peanut butter cookies. (I like them that way). Everyone loved them and so I later I made a batch for my friend who also has celiac. This time I used mostly brown sugar instead of white and they were even tastier in my opinion!
http://simplygluten-free.blogspot.com/2009/07/gluten-free-peanut-butter-cookies.html
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg – lightly beaten with a fork
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix together and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. I used chunky peanut butter because that's all I had. I also mixed in chocolate chips - highly recommended! And I didn't use quite as much baking powder which is why these are a little flatter/less puffier than normal peanut butter cookies. (I like them that way). Everyone loved them and so I later I made a batch for my friend who also has celiac. This time I used mostly brown sugar instead of white and they were even tastier in my opinion!
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