Hot Apple Crisps with Cold Vanilla Ice cream

For those of you who have tried this, by now you know what I'm talkin' about. This I had this one it at a friend's place and just wanted to come back home and try making it for myself.

For those of you who have not tried this, there are four parts to this dessert,  the fruit filling, the topping, vanilla ice cream and the caramel sauce that you pour over this ...

Preheat the over at 350 degree F.

Prepare the Fruit filling:

What you need for the fruit filling :

6 Baking Apples ( go for sweet juicy ones)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour

Peel the skin of the apple and slice them really thin.
Then mix all of the above and spread them on a baking pan, like in the pic below:

To prepare the topping:

What you need for the topping:

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled out oats ( please use only rolled out oats, i used steel cut oats here as I didn't have                                            rolled out oats)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 stick butter ( make sure the butter is soft, then u don't have to use all ur muscle power trying to                                mix it with the other ingredients)

• Mix all of the above, it will be of crumbly texture , like the picture below

( sorry about the picture quality, my hands were all messy and I'm definitely not an expert clicking a pic holding the camera in one hand )

• Spread the topping over the fruit filling

• Bake it in the over for around 30-40 minutes, when you see the fruit filling later bubbling, that's when you know its ready, like the picture below
  
  

• Cut it into squares and serve it hot with cold vanilla ice cream and pour some caramel sauce over it and ENJOY !!!!!!

How to prepare Caramel Sauce

You can prepare this while the apple crisp is getting ready in the oven.

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup half and half 

4 tbsp butter

salt - a pinch

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Mix together brown sugar, half and half, butter and salt and cook for 5-6 minutes . Gently whisk while cooking, then add vanilla extract and continue to cook, until you get it in a thicker consistency. This is how it looks...

ENJOY UR APPLE CRISP ;-)

Carrot and Cashew nut cake

This is a super moist and tasty cake. If you are not a big fan of  the usual plum cake, this is definitely the one. I made a few of them during Christmas and gave it to a few neighbors and friends and I was so glad to find a cake tin to gift this in and I also had a cake pan that makes cakes that fits well into these " gift tins".

Here are a few pics...

Ingredients you need to get started

All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Baking Soda - 3/4 tsp
Baking Powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Vegetable/Canola Oil - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Egg - 2 large
Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
Grated Carrot - 1 cup
Chopped Cashew nuts - 1 cup

Caramel

Sugar - 3/4 cup
Hot water - 1/4 cup


Method:

1) First prepare the caramel and keep it aside to cool. For this, heat sugar in a dry pan on medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally. Make sure you don't use a spoon to stir the sugar.

2) Make the caramel dark, make sure it does not burn. Add hot water to the caramel and switch off the flame. The caramel dissolves well. Keep it aside to cool.

3)Prepare the cake pan, by lining it with a parchment paper, use the parchment paper so that the sides of the cake don't get hard. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F/ 180 degree C.

4) Prepare the dry ingredients. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Keep it aside.[ I do this in a medium sized bowl. I like to use the largest bowl I have for the wet ingredients for two reasons, one, so that the liquid won't splash out if you are using a hand blender and two, because you will eventually be adding the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients bowl ].

5)Beat the eggs and the sugar well, then add oil to this and beat till you get a creamy consistency.

6)Add the cooled caramel and vanilla essence to the above mixture and mix well.

7) Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir, not too much but just until everything is mixed well.

8) Add a teaspoon of flour to the grated carrots and chopped cashews and add it into the mixture and give a quix stir with the spatula.

9) Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, till the cake rises well, but make sure you don't over cook it else it will lose the moisture and cake will be dry. When the cake is cooled, enjoy it, its a very moist cake and tastes so good !

Let me show you a pic of the same recipe cake which I made with a lighter caramel. So, you can decide if you want a lighter one or a darker one, both are really really good.

Also, I made this cake in all different sizes of cake pans, here are a few pics...

They make such beautiful gifts too...

HAPPY BAKING, ENJOY THE CAKE AND GIVE IT TO SOMEONE YOU LOVE !

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

Chilli chicken

I was looking for a good recipe for Chilli chicken and frankly speaking never came across one that I really wanted to try. So what I did, I tried to come with my own version of chilli chicken and we love it ! I had some guests over the other day, usually its naan and butter chicken or appam and stew , this time, it was naan and chilli chicken and they all loved it too !!! Well, batura goes very well with this chilli chicken, next time, batura and chilli chicken it is !

So here's what I did. The measurements are rough, so please alter to cater according to your taste. ( I wish I had typed down the recipe the day I cooked this :-} , I'd remember better.

Boneless Chicken 3 lbs ( Cut into bite size pieces)
Corn flour - 1/4 cup
Chilli powder - 1 table spoon
Pepper - 1 table spoon
Salt - to taste
ginger paste - 1 table spoon
garlic - 1/2 table spoon
Soy Sauce - 1/4 cup + or - according to your taste
Tomato Ketchup  - 2 tablespoons
Teriyaki Sauce - 2-3  splashes (optional)
Brown sugar - 1/2 teaspoon + or -
Onions - 2 medium ones or 1 large one ( cut in squares )
Green Bell peppers - 1 large one ( cut in squares)
Chicken Stock - 1 cup + or -

1) Take the cornflour , add the chilli powder, pepper and salt in it , add some one and whisk well, and make a smooth batter, not too runny.

2) Marinate the chicken pieces  in the batter and keep them for 2 hours.

3) Fry them up in batches. (they are too good, resist the temptation of eating them all of them while frying the next batch).

4) Then heat 2 tablespoons of oil, I prefer sesame oil, if you don't have that use canola or any flavorless oil and add 3-4 dry red chillies slit into the oil.

5) Add the chopped onions, saute well, till lightly golden and then add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes and then add the chopped bell peppers and saute them too.

6) Add the soy sauce, chicken stock and let it simmer, to that add the other sauces too and the brown suar, check the taste adjust the sauces, add the fried chicken , if the gravy is too thin, add a teaspoon of corn flour with some warm water and make a smooth paste and add to the gravy, it will thicken, if you want more gravy, add some more chicken stock and adjust till you get the right consistency.

GARNISH WITH SOME SPRING ONIONS OR WHITE SESAME SEEDS, FOR SOME COLOR CONTRASTS :-) ENJOY !!!


Enjoy it with some Naan, batura, puri or some other roti . We had some ghee rice too. It tasted awesome !

Chilli chicken

I was looking for a good recipe for Chilli chicken and frankly speaking never came across one that I really wanted to try. So what I did, I tried to come with my own version of chilli chicken and we love it ! I had some guests over the other day, usually its naan and butter chicken or appam and stew , this time, it was naan and chilli chicken and they all loved it too !!! Well, batura goes very well with this chilli chicken, next time, batura and chilli chicken it is !

So here's what I did. The measurements are rough, so please alter to cater according to your taste. ( I wish I had typed down the recipe the day I cooked this :-} , I'd remember better.

Boneless Chicken 3 lbs ( Cut into bite size pieces)
Corn flour - 1/4 cup
Chilli powder - 1 table spoon
Pepper - 1 table spoon
Salt - to taste
ginger paste - 1 table spoon
garlic - 1/2 table spoon
Soy Sauce - 1/4 cup + or - according to your taste
Tomato Ketchup  - 2 tablespoons
Teriyaki Sauce - 2-3  splashes (optional)
Brown sugar - 1/2 teaspoon + or -
Onions - 2 medium ones or 1 large one ( cut in squares )
Green Bell peppers - 1 large one ( cut in squares)
Chicken Stock - 1 cup + or -

1) Take the cornflour , add the chilli powder, pepper and salt in it , add some one and whisk well, and make a smooth batter, not too runny.

2) Marinate the chicken pieces  in the batter and keep them for 2 hours.

3) Fry them up in batches. (they are too good, resist the temptation of eating them all of them while frying the next batch).

4) Then heat 2 tablespoons of oil, I prefer sesame oil, if you don't have that use canola or any flavorless oil and add 3-4 dry red chillies slit into the oil.

5) Add the chopped onions, saute well, till lightly golden and then add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes and then add the chopped bell peppers and saute them too.

6) Add the soy sauce, chicken stock and let it simmer, to that add the other sauces too and the brown suar, check the taste adjust the sauces, add the fried chicken , if the gravy is too thin, add a teaspoon of corn flour with some warm water and make a smooth paste and add to the gravy, it will thicken, if you want more gravy, add some more chicken stock and adjust till you get the right consistency.

GARNISH WITH SOME SPRING ONIONS OR WHITE SESAME SEEDS, FOR SOME COLOR CONTRASTS :-) ENJOY !!!


Enjoy it with some Naan, batura, puri or some other roti . We had some ghee rice too. It tasted awesome !

No Bake Oreo Ice Cream Cheese Cake

I saw this on youtube and it looked super easy and of course, one could never go wrong with  oreos whipped cream and cream cheese . Best part.... IT'S NO BAKE !!! YAY !!!

What you need to get started:


Whole cookies - 12-15   (crush them to powder form, I used the white part and the cream part and  
                                        crushed them in a food processor)
Melted Butter  - 2 table spoon
Whipping cream  - 250 ml
Cream Cheese - 100 grams
Vanilla extract - 1/4 table spoon
Oreo Bits - 4-5( broken to small bits, not crushed)
Confectioner's sugar - 3 table spoon.


Method:

1) Crush the Oreo cookies , 7-8

 2) Add 2 table spoons of melted butter and mix well.

 3) Pat the mixture onto the bottom of a 5" spring form pan

4) Beat the whipping cream well , 3-5 minutes, till you get a creamy consistency, you get the whipped cream.
Before you start working with the whipping cream to make the whipped cream, make sure the whipping cream is really cold, makes it easier to work with and I left the bowl in the freezer. Just to make it easier to work with.

 5) Mix the cream cheese, vanilla extract and confectioners' sugar well in another bowl and add bits of oreo cookies to the mixture and stir with a spatula.

 6) Mix the Whipped cream and the cream cheese mixture

 7) Spread it evenly on top of the crushed oreos in the spring pan.

 8) Arrange pieces of oreo cookies on the mixture.

Freeze to get an ice cream consistency or refrigerate to get a cheese cake consistency.

This recipe is definitely a keeper. Made it for the first time the day before yesterday, made two of it, passed on one of it to a friend of mine and she told me her son wanted it even for breakfast !

 I'm definitely making more again... my  kids loved them... and of course I couldn't resist too. Every time I make some high calorie stuff yummy stuff and  feel guilty to make it again, because I know most of it will go to mommy, I  come out of guilt thinking , after all its for the kids I'm making it :-) What a nice mom I am  !

Kheema Rice

Another simple recipe here. You don't always have to make cutlets or plain kheema when you have some ground meat at home. You can make this wonderful kheema rice.

Approximate measurements below.

Cooked rice  - 3 cups
Roughly around 1 lb ground meat ( chicken/beef/lamb/turkey)
Frozen peas and carrot - 1 cup
Onion - 1 large
Tomato - 1 medium
ginger paster - 1 tsp
garlic paste - 1 tsp
garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Chopped mint - 1/2 cup
Chopped coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
Fried Onions - Optional - 1 large
Green Chillies - 6-7 ( adjust according to your taste )
Salt
Oil - 2-3 tablespoons

Method:

1) Cook the rice with some salt and keep aside.
2) Add oil, when its hot, add sliced onions and sauté well. Then add chopped green chillies and ginger garlic paste and continue sautéing .
3) Add chopped tomatoes.
4) Add the ground meat and stir fry till the meat turns brown.
5) Add salt.
6) Add the chopped mint and coriander leaves.
7) Once you check the salt  and the meat is cooked. Switch off and mix well with the cooked rice.

Enjoy it hot with some papadom, raita and pickle. You know you don't always have to make biriyani right ;) . This will satisfy your biriyani craving in 15 minutes.

French Bread Pizza

This one the kids will love no doubt... I used pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, capsicum and pepperoni toppings, you can use any thing you like , mushrooms, chicken whatever. Its so tasty and its an easy 4 pm snack for the kids when they get back from school.

Take the bread, slice it in thin pieces or medium sized pieces, spread some pasta sauce , some cheese, bell peppers of your choice , and meat of your choice , put some sliced butter squares on the baking tray and bake it in a toaster oven at 350 degrees till the cheese melts. Enjoy one- just one along with your kids ;)

Vendekka Porichathu ( Okra )

This is another recipe of my amma's, again a very simple yet absolutely tasty one. Love to eat this with Chorr and Kachiya morr ;) .

Slit the Okra lengthwise till 1.4 " above the tip. Marinate the okra chili powder, coriander powder, a little jeera powder ,turmeric, pepper, salt, lemon juice, curd. For extra crispiness add some cornflour to the marinade.

Deep fry it and enjoy the hot and crispy okra  !!!