Dil Cheese Cheese kare!

I bought this oven some 4 years ago, but started using it properly, recently. I have doing Baking a lot these days, for a change and I am getting better at it :D Pasta, as the blog knows it, I love it. But I am kindda getting bored of the same Arrabiatta sauce pasta I cook very often. So, the brother wanted cheese pasta and the oven was crying for attention. :D I used Mozzarella cheese in this dish.

 Cheese Pasta:

Ingredients:

White sauce:

1 tsp Flour;

1 tsp butter;

1 cup milk;

1/3rd cup cheese

Pasta:

200 gms Penne Pasta boiled (or any shape pasta);

1/2 cup Chopped Onions;

1/2 cup Chopped Capsicum;

1/3 cup Chopped Carrots;

1/3 cup Chopped Mushrooms;
2-3 Garlic cloves crushed;

Olive oil; 

Salt and pepper- to taste; 

Cheese to garnish; 

Oregano

Method:

• Preheat the oven for 10 minutes.
• Grease a baking dish and keep aside.

For white sauce:

• In a pan, melt butter and roast the flour until light brown. 
• Start adding milk, little at a time. Keep stirring. 
• Add cheese, salt, pepper. Stir till you get the desired consistency. 
• Remove from the fire, keep aside.

For Pasta:

• In a separate pan, heat olive oil, add garlic and stir. 
• Add the veggies and stir fry. Add salt, pepper. 
• Add the boiled pasta. Put off the fire and mix nicely. 
• Pour the pasta and veggies into the white sauce and mix well so that pasta is coated properly. 
• Pour the mixture into the baking dish. Sprinkle oregano and cheese. 
• Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes  or until cheese turns reddish brown.
• Serve hot with garlic bread.

The Outcome:

Cheese Pasta Fresh out of Oven

The Fiasco: Needless to say, None :D

Hit the Lottery with Fries That are Baked!

Yes, I lost the post twice, thanks to the new Blogger interface. And I wasn't alone is a relief to know.

Anyway.

Potatoes, Punjabis and Patels are found in every nook and corner of the world, or so I've been told. Potatoes and Punjabis share a special bond. And I, can eat potatoes in any form, except for a pizza topping. :D

Also, I don't share my fries with anyone. No-no-no-no!

yeah, I know they are not healthy and stuff. So that's why when I came across this healthier option at Purple Foodie's blog, thanks to @pomegrantee , I rushed into the kitchen to make them instantly, only with a little variation to PF's recipe.

What else could have I wished for! Healthy, baked, Potato fries. Thank God for Potatoes and Thank God for Potato Fries. Ultimate comfort food. :D

Here is how I made them.

Ingredients:

4 nos Potatoes- medium size- par boiled;

4-5 tsp Olive Oil;

7-8 garlic Cloves- Minced;

Salt, pepper to taste;

Oregano for seasoning.

Method:

If you're going to use a oven, Preheat it 225 degrees. I own an electric tandoor, which is much quicker and much easier, so I use it more often than an oven. Because it gets preheated quickly. :D

• Cut the potatoes into wedges and keep them aside.
• In a bowl, take olive oil and add the minced garlic. Microwave it for about 1 minute. Use as less olive oil just enough to coat the wedges.
• Now, add the potatoes in the warm oil and garlic mix and the salt pepper and oregano and toss it nicely, so the wedges are coated with the oil and the seasoning.
• Keep aside for a about 10 minutes.
• Now, arrange your wedges on the greased baking tray in a single layer avoiding any overlapping.
• Bake them till crispy Golden brown. In oven, it might take about 40 minutes or more.
• Serve with your choice of dip.

The Outcome:

The Fiasco:

It isn't exactly a fiasco, but I used more oil than needed. It dint make the wedges fried, but were oily-er than I desired.

Bhool na Jaana, Lasagna toh banana.

Too much love with lasagna I have. I cook it too often, too and with variations every time.This time, it was very fusion-ist. Only, waiting for the day when I successfully cook that smooth non-lumpy white sauce. =\ 

Practice, more of it is needed. 

Anyway, Blender  comes to the rescue. :D Shush! never let any secret out. :D

So here is the recipe of my favorite style lasagna. 

Ingredients:

10 Lasagna Sheets- Boiled;

Cheese- whichever you like. 

For Tomato Relish:

4 nos Tomatoes (Big);

2 nos Onions (Medium) Shredded;

1 nos Capsicum (Medium) Shredded;

Small portion of carrot Shredded;

4-5 French Beans- Chopped;

4-5 nos Mushrooms- Shredded (Optional);

2 Tbsp Olive Oil;

1 tsp Ginger garlic paste;

Salt, pepper and Oregano to taste.

For White Sauce:

1 tsp Butter;

1 tsp Flour;

1 cup Milk;

Few baby corns or corn kernels;

Salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

For Tomato Relish:

• Blanch the tomatoes and peel off their skin, puree them with a Hand blender.
• Heat Olive oil in a pan, add ginger garlic paste.
• Now add all the shredded and chopped veggies and saute them.
• Add the tomato puree. Stir nicely to mix all the vegetables. Let it cook while stirring in between. See the oil gets absorbed in the gravy.
• Add the salt, pepper and oregano.
• Get the desired consistency, add a little water if it is getting dry. We'll need nice gravy.

For white Sauce:

• Heat the butter in a separate pan, add and roast the flour. 
• Take the pan off the heat and start adding the milk in smaller quantities while stirring continuously.
• When you are done adding the milk, put the pan back on the flame and keep stirring so that no lumps are formed. (I suck at this)
• When the sauce get enough thick, put the flame off and add the salt and pepper and also the baby corn/ kernels.

Putting the dish together:

• Grease the baking dish and line it with two lasagna sheets.
• Now layer the Tomato relish on the lasagna nicely.
• Cover with another two lasagna sheets.
• Next layer the white sauce over it and cover it with lasagna sheets.
• Make 4-5 layers of lasagna sheets repeating the above mentioned process.
• Grate the cheese and some oregano on the top.
• Bake in the Microwave for 6-7 minutes or till the cheese is brown.
• Serve with Garlic bread.

The Outcome:

I used the heart shaped mold to cut it out and plate it.

The Fiasco:

Like I said, I need to learn to make nice White sauce. =\

Additional Benefits:

Your kitchen will smell awesome with all the oregano also the microwave will smell awesome for days. :D

Pizza? Wo bhi Chinese?

Yes. Chinese Pizza. ever thought of it? I am totally into experiments. Plus when you have guests come over, and they know about your food blog, you have somethings to prove to them. *sigh*

Anyway, people tell me that pizza made at home is not as good as they have int he restaurants. My say is, Get and oven or electric tandoor. Microwave is not meant for Pizza.

So here i bring you the Chinese pizza.

Chinese Pizza:

Ingredients:

1 Pizza base;

Schezwan Sauce;

Finely chopped vegetables- Cabbage, Capsicum, Mushrooms.

1 tsp olives;

Pizza/ Mozarella Cheese.

Method:

• Take the pizza base, apply little olive oil.
• While you cook the schezwan sauce, (Click here for the recipe) keep the consistency thick. When you are about to put the flame off, add the chopped vegetables into the sauce.
• Apply the sauce on the base, spread some olives, shred cheese and keep it in the oven/ tandoor.
• Use as less cheese as you can. 
• Wait until the cheese is Golden brown. and serve hot.

The Outcome:

Chinese Pizza fresh out of the oven

The Fiasco:

None. :D

Chocolate Cake hai Khaana, toh khud banana :)

Thanks to @ohayesha who baked a cake for her friends birthday and twitpic-ed it. That just could not stop me from being tempted and I rushed into kitchen for baking one for myself. And, my cousins somehow smelled that I was going to bake a cake and they showed up on the door. :D And rest as they say, is History.

 Brownie Hot Chocolate Cake.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (maida)- 1 and 1/3 cup,
Sugar- 1 and half cup,
cocoa powder- 4 tablespoons,
Baking powder- 1 teaspoon,
Vanilla Extract- 1 teaspoon,
Butter- 3/4th cup,
Some boiling water,
Eggs- 3,
Choco chips,
Chopped walnuts - to garnish.

Method:

•  In a bowl, mix flour, add sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and vanilla extract.
•  In another bowl, beat eggs, butter and boiling water together.
• Now, mix all the ingredients to make a smooth batter, beat for few minutes.
• Add choco chips and nuts.
• Bake in a preheated oven 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C for 20-30 mins

-or-
in a Microwave for about 8 minutes.


For Frosting,

 

Let the cake cool first, then, cook some condensed milk and chocolate powder for a few minutes until the consistency become pourable. Pour on the cake and do some art work of your choice with chocolate sauce.

The Out come:

The Fiasco: When I took the cake out of oven, it was liquid from the center. It looked like a well. When I put it in the oven again, I was sure it is waste. and will turn hard now. But somehow, it survived. Thank god for that. :)

P.S. I loved the cake so much that I could not decide which picture to put on. So uploaded all of them. :D

Kuch Meethha Ho Jaaye

Having contributed to a few Food blogs, I always wanted to have my one of my own, where I could key down my attempts at cooking. Also, the movie 'Julie and Julia' plays a pivotal role in the formation of the blog. 
I am not a great cook. Honestly. Somehow, the culinary skills are genetic. 
Now that winters have started, winters being the food season, I thought to kick the dormancy out and try getting back to cooking.

This happens to be the first post of the blog, so this had to something sweet. Also, I started the cooking season with sweet. Honey Cinnamon Cookies it is. One healthy cookie with Honey and whole wheat floor.

Here is the recipe:

Honey Cinnamon Cookies: 

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup honey (or to taste)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ea. cinnamon, cloves, half a pinch of salt, cardamom

3 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour

Method:

• In a saucepan, cook honey and butter together until it reaches the boiling point.
• Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• Sieve  flour, baking soda and spices until no streaks remain together. Add sufficient flour to the honey and butter mixture to make a soft dough (about 3 3/4 cups).
• If dough seems too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time. If dough seems too dry or dense, add a tablespoon of milk until dough is of a good consistency.
• Form the dough into thin rolls, wrap in wax or parchment paper and chill thoroughly in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Slice into 1/8-inch thick slices and bake in a preheated 375°F oven for about 10 minutes or until done.

Final Product

Fiasco: The shape, as you can see. :D