Beautiful Brownies

Unbleached Flour : 11/4 cup
Salt : 1/2 tsp
Butter: 1/2 cup
Organic Unsweetened Chocolate Chip : 3 tbsp
Organic Baking Cocoa : 1/2 cup
Organic Sugar : 11/2 cup or as needed
Vanilla Extract : 2 tsps
Large Eggs Lightly Beaten : 3
Baking Powder : 1/4 tsp

 

Direction:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13 by 9 inch baking pan.
2. Gently mix all the dry ingredients together. Lightly beat eggs and set aside. Melt butter in a pan, add sugar and vanilla essence to it. Add lightly beaten eggs into the wet ingredients.
3. Now add the dry ingredients and gently blend the mixture by hand till everything is evenly blended. Avoid over beating to prevent  a cakey texture.

Dosa/Iddly

Iddly  rice: 2 cups
Urad dal : 1/4 cup
Chana Dal : 2 tbsp
fenugreek Seeds: 1/2 tsp
Aval or Poha : 2 tbsp

Direction:

1. Soak all ingredients overnight except aval because it only needs an hour to soak. Grind in the order of rice first, then dal along with fenugreek seeds, chana dal, and aval together.
2. Keep it overnight. Add salt after fermentation. If needed add water little by little to get a consistency of a nice batter that is not too thick or runny.
3. Heat and grease an iron griddle , and pour a spoonful of batter on it till is cooked on one side  and gently  toss it over for few seconds or till it is done.
4. To make masala dosa, spread the batter nicely around the griddle into a thin layer. Fill in with the cooked vegetable and fold from both sides like a crape.

 Potato Filling

1. Boil one large peeled potato. Add 1/2 tsp of salt into it. Cut into small cubes. Slice an onion into thin layers, few green chilies slit, curry leaves, small piece of ginger finely chopped and one thinly sliced garlic pieces.
2. Heat and add a table spoon of oil into a pan, crack some mustard seeds and a half teaspoon of  urad dal into it, add onion first  for few minutes till translucent. Afterwards add all the other ingredients till nicely cooked till it looks caramelized. Now add a 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder, and a pinch of red chili powder and stir well.  Add potato cubes and mix well. Check for salt. For a slightly loose consistency add a bit of water.
3. Place a spoon full into the dosa and fold from both sides. Enjoy it along with sambar and coconut chutney.

Notes:

To get a softer dosa, add more dal. For a crispier one, add more rice.

Sangria Blanca

Dry Red Wine : 26oz
Sugar : 1 tbsp
Large Lemon : 1
Orange Sliced Thinly Crosswise : 1
Lemon Sliced Thinly Crosswise : 1
Medium size peaches peeled, pitted and cut into chunks: 2
Sparkling water : 8 oz.

Combine all and refrigerate immediately before serving. Mix in club soda, and add ice cubes just before serving.

Spanish Potato Omelet

Large Potato : 2
Onion : 1
Olive Oil : 3 tbsp
Garlic Crushed : 2
Dried Oregano : 1 tbsp
Bay Leaf : 1
Large Eggs : 6
Tobasco Sauce : Few drops
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh Parsley

Direction:

1. Heat oil in a pan, stir fry potatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, and bay leaf over high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Whisk together egg, tobasco, and seasonings.
3. Transfer the potato mixture into a skillet and remove bay leaf from it. Pour in beaten eggs over low heat and stirring the set egg from the edge of the pan inward. Cook the mixture down well and continue to cook for 5 mins or till it is ready.

 Notes:

This recipe is taken from a Spanish cook book.

Crispy Cake Rusk

An unforgettable delight for everyone back in those days.  Papa always bought it and brought it home for his three girls and Mother would  keep them  in an air tight container for us to have it for later with our evening tea, and how eagerly we  looked  forward for that tea time snack! Each bite of it tingled my tongue with joy as I dipped it in the milky tea. Years have passed now, yet memories of the past linger  in between and I brought a piece of my childhood back to life today!

Sugar : 1 cup
Eggs : 2
Wheat Flour or All Purpose Flour : 1 1/2 cup
Almond Oil or Another available kind : 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp
Baking Powder : 1 tsp
Vanilla Essence : 1 tsp

Direction:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Beat eggs and sugar for about one minute.
3. Mix flour and baking powder together.
4. Pour oil, milk, and vanilla into the beaten egg and sugar. Pour this in to the  egg and sugar mixture. Beat for one minute.
5. Pour the mix into an appropriate pan, preferably a cake loaf pan. Cook for about 40 minutes or a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. When it cools, cut it into small slices.
6. Spread it on a cookie sheet  in the oven on 200F  for about 45 minutes, turning in between or till the desired crispiness is reached.
7. Store in an air tight container and it will stay for weeks! Enjoy it with tea or coffee.

Notes:

• For this recipe, all purpose flour was used.

Strawberry Mango Cobbler

What a great way to eat up those fruits that was sitting in the fridge unnoticed!  Simple ,easy and healthy recipe without spending much time in the kitchen!

Strawberry hulled and diced : 2 cups
Mangoes Sliced : 1/2 cup
Raw Sugar : 2 tbsp
Water : 4 tbsp
Corn Starch : 1 tsp
Almond Flour : 1/3 cup
Instant Oats : 1/2 cup
Butter : 2 tbsp
Brown Sugar : 2 tbsp or to taste
Silvered Almonds : a few
Salt : a pinch
Baking soda : a pinch

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Mix raw sugar, corn starch and water. Cook it on medium heat till it thickens. Stir in mangoes and strawberries.
• Butter an oven proof pan, add the fruit mixture to it and coat the fruits with the syrup.
• Using your finger tips make a coarse mixture of almond flour, oats, butter, brown sugar, salt and baking powder.Pour it over the top of the fruits and let it cook in the oven for about 20 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it rest on the counter for few minutes to set.
• Serve it with a dollop of whip cream.

Notes:

Serves 4 to 5. 
Done in 30 minutes! 

Corn Bread

Laura Ingalls Wilder, a great narrator and a story teller, grew up in the 1890s, talks about her mother cooking and baking corn bread. I sat there reading through the pages of the ‘ little house on the prairie’ and seeing it through the pages and drooling at the same time. The aroma of nice , fresh baked corn bread is simply delicious! What more can I say? I made it and loved it!!

Corn meal : 3/4 cup
All purpose flour : 1 1/4 cup
Sugar : 1/4 cup
Baking Powder : 2 tsp
Salt : 1/2 tsp
Milk : 1 cup
Egg Beaten : 1
Oil : 1/4 cup

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease 8 or 9 inch round pan.
2. Blend all dry ingredients.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients until dry ingredients are moist.
4. Pour batter into greased pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Makes about 9 servings. Serve warm with stewed black eyed peas.

Note

This recipe is as appeared on Kroger foods corn cake recipe.