Homemade pizza

This was my second attempt at making pizza at home. The first time the crust didnt turn out too well, but this one was quite good.
Its basically mix together-{ 1T dry yeast, 1cup very warm water, pinch of sugar} Add it to 2.5-3cups of organic flour and a handful of semolina/sooji, salt, dry basil, and garlic powder.

1st pizza- homemade tomato sauce with garlic, onion, mozzarella cheese, and mushroom.
2nd pizza- basil/cilantro pesto topped with artichoke, spinach, feta cheese

Mango

sunday brunch

Pesaratt
Peanut chutney
Upma

baklava

On Saturday I made this baklava. I learned this from my Egyptian friend a few years ago. Its much more delicious to make at home, and really simple(though tedious). Its also my husbands favorite.


* Mostly I am just listing my cooking adventures because Im a nerd like that. If anyone is interested in any recipes, just ask! :)

And now... the recipe.


*1 package of frozen phyllo dough(thawed in the fridge)
*half cup of melted butter , preferably ghee/clarified - (I've heard you can use cookiing spray also, but I dont like to use it because of the chemicals and Im sure it would alter the taste)
*2 cups (i think) of coarsely ground nuts. walnuts and pecans work especially well, pistachios too
-- I put them in the food processor and pulse until it is half finely chopped, half medium chopped
*2-3 TBSP sugar, or to taste
*cardamom powder OR cinnamon powder(I like the cardamom)
*handful of fresh or dried coconut(Optional)

Sugar syrup(see below)

Preheat oven to 375
Mix nuts together with sugar and cardamom and coconut if using, and keep aside
Open package of phyllo and keep covered with damp cloth because it will dry out easily.
Using a pastry brush, grease the bottom of a cookie sheet with butter/ghee.
Peel off one single layer of the pastry/phyllo and place it in the pan. Brush that too with ghee.
Repeat this with half of the phyllo sheets, brushing on every one with a THIN layer of ghee(dont put too much. it doesnt have to completely cover each sheet. )
Brush the top with ghee and then evenly spread the nuts mixture on it.
With the other half of the sheets, begin layering the same way, brushing with ghee on each layer.
Finally, CUT the whole thing into diamonds or squares BEFORE PUTTING IT IN THE OVEN. Be sure to cut all the way through. using a pizza cutter helps with this step.
Place in the oven for 15-20 mins, check to see when the top is golden brown.

While it is baking start making the sugar syrup.

Put 2.5 cups of sugar into a pan with 1 1/4 cups of water. bring to a boil and simmer until it thickens.
It is ready when you put a drop on the counter and it holds a shape and when u rub it between fingers its very sticky. At that point squeeze in a little lime juice(optional, but its supposed to keep the sugar from becoming grainy) and 1t vanilla extract, and turn off the heat.

Pour the sugar syrup evenly over the baklava after taking from oven, while its still HOT. Let it soak in before eating, if you can wait :)

**One variation on this is to put two thinner layers of nuts in each third of the phyllo.

Thurs

masoor dal, rice, drumstick kuzhambu(Yeah!!), rice vattal

Tues,

Gosht biryani
Mutton kurma
Pudina raita
Cucumber slices

Hello again!

Im back, and planning to post more pics, starting with Mondays meal...
Stuffed cabbage leaves.

First I made mutton fry, make it dry.
Boil whole cabbage leaves in salted water for couple minutes, not fully cooked.
Place a few spoons inside each cabbage leaf and roll it up tightly.
Prepare tomato masala and lay the cabbages inside.
Cover and cook on low heat until cabbages are tender(or put in oven).

Another view

Here's one more of my pretty roses.......


I'm going on a blog-break. Will be back :)

Sunshine on a cloudy day

I picked up this dozen roses, in my fav colour, for just 6 bucks.
Don't you love the way flowers can brighten a room?

and..... Stuffed Jalapenos

I was really happy about these. They lived up to my expectations. I came up with the recipe which I thought would match the flavour in my mind....

Here it is:

Wash dry and slit the jalapenos. Deseed them without breaking it apart.
In a bowl mix cream cheese(neufchantel), shredded cheddar cheese, finely chopped onions, and chaat masala. Stuff it inside the jalapenos.

In another bowl mix some besan flour with salt and water to a thickish paste(to coat the peppers). Then roll them in bread crumbs and fry in oil.

More Scones!

I decided to get more creative with the scone making...

Using a pretty standard "Scone" formula, I substituted 1 mashed avocado and half stick of butter. I then added in chopped spring onions, jalepenos, and ajwain (seeds).

I like the cauliflower soup so much, that I went for it again, with a few changes(of course- I can never make the same way twice). The first time came out better(beginners luck?) but this was also good (hubby prefered this one actually).

Also had rice and dal :p

Almost forgot

I also made chocolate chunk scones!

Inspired by how simple it was to make the first ones a few days ago, I decided to try out a sweet version.

I bought two good quality chocolate bars 55% cocoa. One was made from african cocoa beans and had raspberries in it(MMM!). The other was from columbian beans.
Yes, I really fall for that kind of thing.

Here is their website: http://www.chocolove.com/
You must taste it to believe it :p

Wed

Chick peas pulav
Paneer makhani
and
hubby surprised us with some Hakka scallion roti/paratha that we like from a chinese-indian restaurant nearby.

swiss chard dal

swiss chard is similar to spinach but I actually prefer swiss chard, especially when it is fresh and tender. It also has pretty red stems (stems can be white also) which lend a nice color to the dal. Not to mention the health benefits.
So Tuesday's dinner was:
swiss chard dal
rice
leftover chicken
cucumber tomato raita

Here is how I made the dal... its very fast and simple.

masoor dal 1/2cup
a small bunch of swiss chard, chopped. include the stems, but cut off any tough part.
1 small red onion chopped finely
Turmeric, salt
seasoning- mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry/kari leaves
sambhar powder
lime (OR tamarind**)

Boil the dal and swiss chard together, with 1.5 cups water and turmeric and salt.
Once its cooked, mix it well and add water if needed.

In a small pan heat oil/ghee and add the seasoning. Then add the onion and sautee it well. At the end add the sambhar powder, stir and turn off the heat.

Add this to the dal immediately.
Sprinkle with lime juice.

**If using tamarind instead of lime, add it just after the dal is cooked and bring back to a boil so the tamarind taste is not raw.
But do not boil after adding lime juice or it will become bitter.

Do chickens sneeze?

It seems to be a common belief that like mad cow disease, avian flu can be caught by humans eating chicken meat. According to health officials that is not true. You are more at risk of catching the virus by walking through an infected chicken coop.

"Still, as seriously as health experts take the bird flu, none think of it as a food-borne illness. It is a group of flu viruses that infect birds. In fact, these viruses occur naturally in wild birds, which carry the bugs in their intestines but usually don't get sick from them. The current concern relates to the virus' spread to domesticated poultry flocks -- chicken, turkey and duck -- mainly in Asia but spreading into Eastern Europe and beyond.

Humans who are at risk have direct contact with affected poultry. Infected birds shed the virus through their feces, and that is mainly how the virus spreads. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure is considered most likely during slaughter, de-feathering, butchering, and preparation of poultry for cooking. It is contact with live or recently slaughtered birds that puts people at risk."
http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/poison/poultry.cfm

Also
This is a very informative article from a scientific standpoint, and explains many things. He says our main cause of concern is for the virus to mutate and be passed from human- human.
A stat from this site says while there have been more than 100 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans, ""Two million people die each year from tuberculosis (TB)". That's each year!"

Another informative article here.