Chocolate Avocado Almond Cake

by Deerga // May 21, 2017 // No Comments

Hi everybody! I know, it has been a very long time since my last post. And what is better to post than a recipe from my favorite form of cooking, baking!!! I have a greater affinity to baking and this must be the umpteenth time that I had mentioned here in my site. Baking generally involves sugar, that too lots of sugar. With that being said, wouldn’t it be awesome to bake something that is sweet but does not have processed sugar and healthy as well? I recently found one such recipe and that too of a cake! It is called the Chocolate Avocado Almond cake.
I came across the Chocolate Avocado Almond cake one afternoon when me and my HB were craving for something sweet but that doesn’t make us feel guilty after eating it 🙂 (thats one tough cookie!). Voila, I found this savior and was thoroughly satisfied afterwards. Chocolate Avocado Almond cake, as the name suggests, is made of avocado, coconut oil, coconut cream, almond flour, honey, chocolate chips and cocoa powder. It is very easy to make and is not time consuming at all.
Chocolate Avocado Almond cake is one of those rare, too good to be true, kind of recipe. It is healthy, has no added sugar (honey and chocolate chips take care of the sweetness) and is an excellent breakfast item. It can also be had as a snack (which we did when baked the first time :). For those of you wondering about the lengthy name, I came up with it, just put together the ingredients and here is your tasty, yummy Chocolate Avocado Almond cake. Try it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Chocolate Avocado Almond Cake

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Almond flour – 2 cups
Raw cocoa powder – ¼ cup
Baking soda – 1 tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Cashew nuts, roughly chopped - ½ cup (or any nuts of your choice)
Avocado, medium – 1½ Cups
Melted coconut oil – 3 tbsp
Coconut cream, room temperature – 2 ½ tbsp
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
Eggs, room temperature - 2
Raw honey – 3 tbsp
Chocolate chips – ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp
Sugar – 1 tbsp (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line the bottom and sides of the 8 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
Sieve the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Add the nuts to the dry ingredients and mix well without any lumps.
Remove the pit and pulse avocadoes in a blender. Add coconut oil, coconut cream, vanilla extract, eggs, and honey and blend together to a smooth paste.
Add the ground paste to the dry ingredients and gently mix using rubber spatula. Do not over mix.
Add the chocolate chips and fold the mixture.
Spoon batter into the loaf pan and spread it evenly using rubber spatula. (The batter will be really thick)
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the tooth pick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Cool the bread over a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Vanilla Cake with Swiss Meringue Blueberry Lavender Frosting

by Deerga // August 9, 2016 // No Comments

Hello everyone! After a few weeks, here I am with a new recipe. I might have mentioned this already but I love baking. It is a passion of mine. Trying out different varieties of cakes and whatnot is something I do when I get free time. Today I have posted below one of the recent recipes that I tried out in honor of friends all over the world. Happy Friendship Day!!! It is the recipe for Vanilla cake with Swiss Meringue blueberry lavender buttercream frosting. I know, the name itself sounds exotic and trust me, the taste do justify the name 🙂

One of the joys of baking is, for almost all recipes that you try out, there is a definite recipe with set measurements for ingredients. That in itself will give you the confidence to try out new items. Coming back to our Vanilla Cake with Swiss Meringue blueberry lavender buttercream frosting, the recipe is that of a wedding cake i.e., the vanilla cake baked here is most commonly baked for weddings! Meringue in itself is a type of dessert made from egg whites and sugar. And Swiss Meringue is a type of meringue. There are three types of meringues, they are French, Swiss and Italian. The swiss variety is smoother and silkier than the other two and is the popular choice for making buttercream frosting. I have used a concoction of blueberry and lavender to flavor the buttercream in this recipe.

Vanilla cake with Swiss Meringue blueberry lavender buttercream frosting is the perfect recipe for joyous occasions like birthdays and parties but you can also have it on days when you just feel like eating cake :). One thing to remember is you need a little bit of patience to try out this recipe since making the meringue takes some time. However, you will not be disappointed when you taste the soft and smooth cake once baked and frosted 🙂

Vanilla Cake with Swiss Meringue Blueberry Lavender Frosting

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep time: 35 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 2 layer 6"round cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 ½ cup flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
A generous pinch of salt
3 eggs
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup whole milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract

For the frosting:

1 ½ cup blueberry
1 tbsp dried lavender flowers
6 egg whites
1 cup + 3tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
1 cup + 4 tbsp (2 ½ sticks) butter, room temperature

Instructions

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease the two 6” round cake pans with butter (on the sides and bottom), dust the bottoms with flour and line them with parchment paper.
Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium mixing bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and sugar in medium speed.
Whisk in the butter until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
Add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix in medium speed until well combined- Do not mix too much.
Finally add in the milk and vanilla extract and mix again.
Divide the batter between cake pans
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the tooth pick when inserted comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Wrap them tightly in polythene sheet and freeze them for couple of hours before frosting.

For the frosting:

Place blueberry, lavender and half cup of water in a small pan and cook on medium for 5 minutes until juices have released. Let it cool.
Grind them in a blender. Strain out the pulp and extract the juice. Keep it aside.
On a double boiler (or a medium sized bowl suspended over the pan of simmering water) combine the egg whites, sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Heat, stirring gently until the sugar is completely dissolved- check by rubbing a bit of mixture into your fingers. It should feel smooth.
Take the bowl off the heat and whip the egg whites using hand mixer until stiff peaks form. It takes around 15 to 20 minutes.
Now add the butter 2 tbsp. at a time, until each tbsp. butter is well incorporated into the mixture. Once all the butter have been added, the resulting buttercream should be smooth and thick. This is called swiss meringue butter cream. If you think the frosting is runny you could add icing sugar to make it smooth and thick.
Finally add in 1 ½ tbsp. of blueberry lavender concoction and gently mix together until well incorporated.
Level the cake by cutting the top crust and frost them according to your taste.

Notes

1.To pasteurize the egg you could also clip on the liquid thermometer to the mixture to reach a temperature of 160 degree Fahrenheit, gently stirring continuously.
2.Butter that are added to the frosting should not be soft. It should be stable.
3.If the frosting is runny, refrigerate for 20 minutes and take out and mix in medium high speed until it becomes thick.
4. If the frosting have curdled, microwave for 10 seconds and then beat again until the frosting becomes thick.

Vanilla Cake with blueberry lavender frosting

Quinoa Tabbouleh

by Deerga // March 24, 2016 // No Comments

Today’s recipe is another entry to my healthy eats category. We have been having Quinoa for quite some time now, probably for a year or so, and I am on the lookout for any new recipe that has Quinoa as an ingredient.

Recently, we went to a mediterranean restaurant and I came across a new type of salad made with Quinoa. I got hooked to it and was eager to try it out myself. The name of the salad is Quinoa Tabbouleh salad and that is the recipe I have posted here.

Quinoa Tabbouleh salad is very easy to make and very healthy as well. On days when you don’t feel like cooking or doing a take out, Quinoa Tabbouleh salad is the one to go for. Very few ingredients are needed to make this salad. Also, there is an accompaniment to the Tabbouleh salad called the Zough. It is a condiment relish made from green chili. The mild taste of Quinoa Tabbouleh and the spiciness of Zough make the perfect pair.

Quinoa Tabbouleh salad can be had as a light dinner or for lunch. Quinoa in general is rich in calories and having it as a salad will not get you full or bloated. Try this wonderful mediterranean salad in your home and let me know your comments 🙂

Tabbouleh

Recipe type: Salad

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 15 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

Tabbouleh:

Red quinoa – 1 cup
Chick pea or garbonza beans or sundal – ½ cup
Olive oil – 3 tbsp
Lemon juice – 3 tbsp
Cucumber, finely chopped – 1 no (I used Persian Cucumber)
Tomato, medium, finely chopped – ½ no (2 tbsp)
Green onions, finely chopped – 2 tbsp
Carrot, finely grated – 2 tbsp (optional)
Cilantro, finely chopped – 2 to 3 tbsp
Salt as required

Zough – green chilli sauce

Cilantro – small bunch
Garlic cloves, small to medium – 3 nos
Lemon juice – 1 ½ tbsp
Olive oil – 1 ½ tbsp
Cayenne pepper – ½ tbsp
Pepper – ¼ tsp
Cumin powder –a generous pinch
Green chilli – 4 nos
Salt as required

Instructions

Soak chick pea overnight and pressure cook for 6 whistles adding enough water and salt. Drain the excess water and set aside.
Wash the quinoa thoroughly and drain them using strainer, pressure cook adding enough salt and 1½ cup water (not more than that) for 3 whistles. Or you could parboil them adding the same amount of water in a sauce pan, covered for 15 minutes. Drain the excess water if any.
Finely chop all the above given ingredients and keep them ready.
In a large mixing bowl, add olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Mix well.
Add cucumber, tomato, carrot, green onion and cilantro. Mix well.
Finally add quinoa and chick pea. Mix them well until well combined.
Have it right away or Cover and leave it at least for ½ an hour in the refrigerator and serve chill for better taste.

For making zough

Blend all the above given ingredients to a fine sauce without adding any water.
Have zough sauce as a side for yummy quinoa tabbouleh. Enjoy! :)

Mocha Ice-Cream Cake

by Deerga // February 13, 2016 // No Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I can hear the wheels turning in your head as to what to make for this special day so that your loved one will be blown away. I too had the same apprehension and I finally took a plunge in to a relatively unknown territory, Ice-cream cake. Yes, I finally made an ice-cream cake for my HB! It is the Mocha Ice-cream cake, entirely homemade 🙂 To be honest, I had had ice-cream cake only once before today, that too in my childhood. In fact I did not even know that it was an ice-cream cake then.

The Mocha Ice-cream cake is a pretty simple cake but extremely delicious and will particularly be enjoyed by coffee lovers, I believe, because my HB is one. The main thing to note while making the cake is the consistency of the mocha whipped cream. It should be beaten until you get a stiff peak. I have used homemade chocolate chunk cookies (for which I will post the recipe soon) as the base but you can also use store bought cookies. But make sure that you get good quality ones. Also, I personally prefer dark chocolate chunk cookies instead of the regular ones because they enhance the mocha flavor and the latter will make the cake too sweet. And I used a springform pan to shape the cake but you can also use a dessert bowl or any other small bowl to hold the ice-cream cake.

The Mocha Ice-cream Cake is pretty light and is not too sweet (because of the dark chocolate and brown sugar) and can be had for dessert or simply as is. My HB thoroughly enjoyed it 🙂 and hope your loved ones will too once you make this extremely delicious cake. So do try it out and let me know your experience 🙂

Mocha Ice-Cream Cake

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

½ cup cold heavy cream
3 oz of Italian mascarpone cheese
1 ¼ tbsp granulated white sugar
1 tbsp filter coffee decoction
½ tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutch processed)
¼ tsp instant espresso
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
5 Good quality thin crust chocolate chip cookies

for decorating:

10 Lindt toffee bites (optional)
1 Godiva dark chocolate truffle

Instructions

I made homemade thin crust brown butter dark chocolate chunk cookies for this recipe. You could use any good quality thin crust chocolate chip cookies for this recipe.
First add all the above given ingredients except cookies in a medium mixing bowl.
Mix them in very low speed until combined.
Then move to medium speed until stiff peak forms. It takes around couple of minutes.
Then in a 4” spring form pan, line the cookies on the bottom.
Layer the cookies with mocha whipped cream on top.
And repeat by layering another cookie and mocha whipped cream layers.
Repeat and finish it off with mocha whipped cream layer. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Carefully scrape the sides using plastic knife before removing from the pan. Drizzle a tsp of cocoa powder on top using strainer and decorate with lindt toffee bites or anything of your choice. Enjoy! 

Guacamole and Chips

by Deerga // February 8, 2016 // No Comments

Every country has its own snack food variety and the US is no exception. USA is an amalgamation of different cultures and each one has brought their version of snack food. One such is the Guacamole and Chips. Guacamole and Chips are the staple snacks/appetizers served in all Mexican restaurants here. The best part about this food is that it is healthy! And today, I have posted the recipe for Guacamole and homemade tortilla chips here.

Guacamole is similar to chutneys in Indian cuisine. It is made from Avocado, a super fruit, tomato, mint, cilantro, garlic, onion, lime juice and salt and is super easy to make. Avocado is also known as butter fruit or ice-cream fruit back home. It is a calorie rich fruit full of healthy fat. Guacamole is one dish that can be made from Avocado. You can also eat avocado as is or with salt and pepper sprinkled over and also can be used to make sandwiches. Here in the US, Guacamole and Chips is one of the game day foods, along with chicken wings. Game day foods are snacks that are usually had while watching a baseball game or football game with friends in a bar or at home.

As mentioned earlier, Guacamole is a healthy snack and hence kid friendly. Try this amazing snack in your home and have it with friends and family while watching a game or just as a snack 🙂

Guacamole and Chips

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep time: 1 min

Cook time: 3 mins

Total time: 4 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For making Guacamole

Avocado, pitted – 1 no
Lime – ½ no
Salt – ¼ tsp
Red onion, finely chopped – 1 tbsp
Cilantro, finely chopped – 1 tbsp
Garlic clove, minced – 1 no
Cayenne pepper – ¼ to ½ tsp
Tomato, deseeded, finely chopped – 1 tbsp

For making chips:

Tortilla – 2 nos
Salt – a pinch

Instructions

Finely chop onion, garlic, cilantro and tomato and keep it ready.
Halve the avocado (cut vertically in the middle and twist two halves), pit ( bang knife on the seed and pull it out as shown in the picture), cut to dices and scrape them using spoon (as shown in the picture).
Add the chopped avocado, lime juice and salt into a medium mixing bowl and mash them using spoon or fork or with the same knife.
Now mix in finely chopped onion, garlic and cilantro.
Finally add the finely chopped tomato, mix well and leave it for an hour or refrigerate the guacamole.

For the chips:

Pre heat the oven to 300 degree Fahrenheit. Cut tortilla like pizza and spread them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Place them in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Take out and flip them. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on top and bake for 5 to 10 minutes until the tortilla turn brown and form as chips. Enjoy with yummy guacamole! 

Dhoodh Shahi Murgh

by Deerga // August 22, 2015 // No Comments

I am always interested in trying out different recipes and am on the lookout for the same. That is how I found today’s recipe, an unique chicken gravy that is a sort of fusion dish (will elaborate on this shortly) I would say. It is called the Doodh Shahi Murg which means chicken cooked with milk. The main ingredients in this recipe, apart from milk are, koya and heavy cream.

Doodh Shahi Murgh is a rich gravy that makes you feel heavy even when had in small servings. The preparation of this dish is unique in the sense that the ingredients used are all Indian but the cooking method closely resembles continental style i.e., similar to pasta or cannelloni. In Doodh Shahi Murgh, the meat (chicken) is first cooked (shallow fried here), then a layering gravy made from milk, khoya and heavy cream is poured over the chicken and then baked. The resulting Doodh Shahi Murgh is a mouth watering, rich chicken gravy.

Doodh Shahi Murgh is an excellent accompaniment for naan, chappathi, parotta etc. It has a slight sweetness to it because of the milk and koya. I admit that the time taken to prepare Doodh Shahi Murgh is a bit longer than most other gravies but do believe me when I say that the taste is worth all the time spent. Try this exotic, rich Doodh Shahi Murgh in your kitchen and do let me know your favorite accompaniment to it.

Chicken Dhoodh Shahi Murgh

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Fushion

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

To marinate:

Chicken – 1 cup
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Lemon juice – from 1 lemon
Cumin powder – a generous pinch
Salt as required
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
Hung yoghurt, beaten – ½ cup

For the gravy:

Ghee – 1 tbsp
Green chilli slits – 2 nos
Onion, medium, finely chopped – 1 no
Cashew paste – 2 tbsp
Sweetened khoya – 1 to 1 ½ tbsp
Milk – 1 cup
Cumin powder – ½ tsp
Cardamom powder – a pinch
White pepper powder – ½ tsp
Black pepper powder, freshly ground – ½ tsp
Salt – a generous pinch
Fresh cream – 1 tbsp
Grated cheddar cheese – for garnishing

Instructions

Wash the chicken pieces and drain all the excess water. Add in ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, lemon juice and mix well.
Now add cumin powder, salt and garam masala powder. And again mix well.
Finally add the beaten hung yoghurt, mix well and leave it for at least 20 minutes.
Heat a wide pan with oil and add green chillies. Sauté well until the outer layer turn white.
Add in finely chopped onions and sauté until they turn translucent or golden brown.
Meanwhile heat a flat skillet with 2 tbsp of oil and add marinated chicken one by one onto the skillet. Shallow fry the chicken pieces until one side is done.
Now in a low flame add in cashew paste and mix well. Cook until the raw smell disappears stirring constantly. Cashew paste tends to stick to the bottom. So constant stirring is required.
Meanwhile check if the chicken pieces are cooked on one side and flip them to cook on the other side.
Add in sweetened khoya when the raw smell of cashew disappears. Mix well.
Now add a cup of milk and mix well. Cook for a minute.
Add cumin powder, cardamom powder, pepper powder and salt. Mix well and cook until the sauce is semi thick and well cooked. Switch off the flame.
Add a tbsp of fresh cream to the sauce and mix it well.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit or 320 degrees Celsius.
By the time your chicken will be well cooked on both sides. Take out the chickens using tongs and place them on a oven safe flat bowl.
Pour the sauce on top of the chicken pieces and make a layer.
Grate the cheddar cheese on top of the sauce.
Place the bowl inside the oven and leave for 10 minutes or until you see the cheese melt and turns golden brown on top. Enjoy this creamy chicken dhoodh shahi murgh with parotta or romali roti! 

Notes

To make hung yoghurt, place your strainer lined with muslin cloth or paper towel inside of a bowl. Pour enough amount of yoghurt in. place it in the refrigerator for an hour. Or just rotate the muslin cloth and gently squeeze the excess water (i.e. Whey) using your hand.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

by Deerga // July 7, 2015 // No Comments

Today I am posting one of the most popular snack/dessert items in the US, the Chocolate Chip Cookie. The Chocolate Chip Cookie was first invented in the United States in Massachusetts. The original recipe consisted of dough composed of butter and both white and brown sugar. Since then there had been numerous variations of this iconic snack. I had already posted White Chocolate Cashew cookie here in my blog and this is my second cookie variety 🙂

I had been wanting to bake Chocolate Chip Cookie for some time but did not really pursue it. But today at the gym, I came to know that it was international chocolate day, (see the irony here, chocolate in gym 🙂 ) and what better day to bake Chocolate Chip cookie than today? Also, happy chocolate day to all chocolate lovers!:)

Chocolate Chip cookie is so decadent but there are certain nuances in its preparation. They are, use the right amount of flour, melt the butter completely before mixing it with the flour and do not over bake.

Chocolate Chip cookie has so many variants like I had mentioned above. You can customize according to your taste, like, substituting chocolate chips with macadamia nuts or M&Ms, add peanut butter to the dough etc. So, are you ready to try this amazing and delectable Chocolate Chip Cookie in your home? Do try and post your comments.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 11 mins

Total time: 26 mins

Serves: 22

Ingredients

1 ½ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick)
½ cup granulated white sugar
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg (room temperature)
¾ cup chocolate chip

Instructions

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius. Melt the butter in the microwave oven for 40 seconds or until it reaches liquid form and bring it to room temperature.
Sieve flour, baking soda and salt together into a small bowl and set aside.
Bring the melted butter to the large bowl and add white and brown sugar. Beat well until creamy.
Add in vanilla extract and mix well.
Add the eggs and beat until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients, using spatula mix well until crumbles form or to the dough consistency.
Finally add the chocolate chips and carefully mix them.
Allow it to cool in the refrigerator for about 5 to 10 minutes. Bunch up the dough to 22 small balls and place the rolls on the cookie sheet.
Bake for about 9 to 11 minutes until the cookies are puffy and barely golden. Do not over bake the cookies.
Allow them to cool on the cooling rack for 30 minutes. Enjoy! 🙂

Notes

Few tips that I have learnt to bake the best chocolate chip cookie are
1.Melt the butter completely and bring it to room temperature.
2. Add enough flour such that dough doesn't stick to your hand while making bunches.
3. Use bunching up approach instead of rolling them out in the palm of your hand. This will get you a defined lumpy mounds of chocolate chips which looks more appealing.
4. Don't Over bake the cookies. Doing so you might loose the moist and soft texture of the cookies.

Chicken Lo Mein

by Deerga // June 24, 2015 // No Comments

Chicken Lo Mein is a Chinese noodles dish made with wheat flour noodles and chicken. Lo Mein is the Cantonese name for stirred noodles. Traditionally Lo Mein is a variation of another dish called the Wonton noodle soup. Lo Mein is a popular take-out in American Chinese restaurants. It is also sometimes called as Chow Mein but the preparation of this dish very different from that of Lo Mein since with Chow Mein, the noodles are made crispy by frying.

I love Chinese food but normally prefer fried rice and what not. I got hooked to noodles variety only recently. Like said in my earlier posts, I am always on the lookout for dishes from different cuisines which I can try in my kitchen. And now I had the opportunity to cook an authentic dish from Chinese cuisine. The Chicken Low Mein recipe I had given below is a very easy to make and the end result is totally worth the effort.

Chicken Lo Mein has a slight sweetness to it because of the brown sugar but also has spiciness as well at the same time. It is an apt dish to be served for both lunch and dinner. Try this popular Chinese dish in your home and let me know your experience 🙂

Chicken Lo Mein

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Chinese

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For the sauce:

Sesame oil – 1 tbsp
Sriracha hot sauce – 1 tbsp
Garlic cloves, minced – 3 nos
Soy sauce – ¼ cup
Water – 2 tbsp
Brown sugar – 1 ½ tbsp
Cornstarch – 2 tbsp

For Chicken:

Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Broccoli, small – 1 no ( or 2 cups of florets)
Chicken thighs, cut to bite size pieces – 500 grams
For the Lo-Mein:
Lo Mein noodles – 4 oz
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Unsalted butter - 1 tbsp
Eggs, large, lightly beaten - 2 nos
Ginger, minced - 1 tsp
Red chilli flakes, crushed - ½ tsp
Carrots, shredded - ½ cup
Snow peas - ½ cup
Garlic, minced - 3 cloves
Green onions, sliced thinly – 2 nos
Salt to taste

Instructions

Step 1:
In a small bowl combine and whisk together sesame oil, hot sauce, garlic, soy sauce, water, sugar, and cornstarch; set the sauce aside.
In a large bowl, add many ice cubes and prepare ice bath for broccoli. So that the broccoli retain its color after blanching.
Step 2:
Bring water in a sauce pan along with little salt to boil. Add the broccoli and blanch them for 4 minutes. Immediately transfer them to the ice bath to stop the cooking process.
Heat a large skillet with olive oil in medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook until changes to white/brown color. Add the blanched broccoli, reduce the flame to medium and add the sauce. Stir to coat ingredients and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Transfer it to a bowl.
Step 3:
Meanwhile bring water in the sauce pan along with little salt to boil. Add the noodles and boil for 10 minutes. Simmer it and cook for another 15 minutes or until the noodles are well cooked. Make sure the noodles don’t stick before adding to the water. Drain the noodles and set aside.
Step 4:
Heat the large skillet and add butter in medium low flame. Add the minced ginger and sauté for few seconds or until raw smell disappears. Add the crushed pepper and cook for couple of seconds. Add in the eggs, stir gently and cook for about 3 minutes or until well done.
Sauté carrot and snow peas with very little olive oil in a small flat skillet. And add it to the eggs.
Add the chicken and broccoli to the eggs as well.
Finally add the drained noodles to the skillet, stir until everything is coated well with the sauce. Sprinkle with green onions and serve hot.

Notes

Soy sauce has a lot of sodium, so taste before you add any to the finished product.

Banana bread

by Deerga // May 12, 2015 // No Comments

Hi guys, Today I finally decided to make something with the ripe bananas that has been on the counter for the past two days. So zeroed in on Banana bread, a favorite of us. Banana Bread is a type of bread that is often served as an after meal snack. According to Wikipedia, Banana bread became popular in US in the 1930s after the advent of baking soda 🙂 and February 23rd is National Banana Bread Day. Generally, I am a fan of banana and like food items that has banana as one of the ingredients.
Banana bread is very easy to make and is very flavorful. In fact while I am writing this, Banana bread is getting baked in the oven and I could smell the divine smell of bananas and butter mixed together. Can’t wait to have a bite! If you have the ingredients sorted out, then baking the bread takes no time at all. There are different varieties to banana bread as well, like, chocolate chip banana bread, banana nut bread, banana raisin bread etc. Here I have given you the recipe for plain banana bread with cashews.
Here comes the beep from the oven! Alright, enough of the stories. I guess its nom nom time and I am off to the kitchen. Hope you are too, to start making this wonderful, simple and flavorful dish, i.e. the Banana Bread 🙂

Banana bread

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 1 9x5x3 inch loaf

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 overripe large bananas, mashed
⅓ cup any nuts, chopped, divided (I used cashews)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Lightly grease a 9 X 5 inch loaf pan with butter on the sides and line the bottom with parchment sheet. Set aside.
Mash the bananas, chop the nuts and beat the eggs.
In a large bowl, sieve flour, baking soda and salt together.
In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
First add the sugar mixture into the flour mixture and mix well without any lumps. Then add in eggs and bananas and mix them with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the batter is thick and chunky (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread).
Mix half of the chopped nuts to the batter. Lightly fold the batter. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan. Top it off with the remaining nuts.
Bake in oven (preferably in the middle rack) for 60 to 65 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick when inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow them to cool.
Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen.

Chocolate cake

by Deerga // April 30, 2015 // No Comments

Now, why did I bake a chocolate cake, that too with a diet conscious HB by my side? It is the ONE year anniversary of my website, guys!!! What started as a personal log of my favorite recipes is now well on its way to become a repository of recipes catering to all types of palate. Thank you all for your continuing support and well wishes! When we decided to commemorate the milestone, there was a lengthy debate on what to make. I was oscillating between a white chocolate truffle cup cake and a perfect chocolate cake and finally settled on a chocolate cake, much to my HB’s delight!

Chocolate cake is one of the most recognized cakes in the world. I am pretty sure that there is not even one bakery/pastry shop around the world that does not sell a chocolate cake! Though the name is generalized, there is multitude varieties of chocolate cake. Today, I am giving here a very simple but decadent recipe of chocolate cake which is my favorite as well. It is a three layered chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I have been wanting to bake a cake from scratch for a long time and now that I have done it, it turned out to be a job well done :). Baking a cake, in general gets a bit messy and doing it from scratch makes it even more messier, but trust me, it is all worth it.

I am a very big fan of cakes in general (it would be the only thing that won’t get me angry when I am woken up from my sleep and offered ;)) And after trying this chocolate cake, I have a profound respect for cakes 🙂 Do try this decadent recipe and post your comments.

Chocolate cake

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour 5 mins

Serves: 3 layer 8"cake

Ingredients

For frosting:

1 ¾ cups (350 gr) sugar
1 ½ cups heavy cream
7.5 oz (213 gr) unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
12 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

For cake:

Scant 3 cups (425 gr) All purpose flour
3 cups (600 gr) sugar
1 cup + 2 tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ¼ tspn baking powder
2 ¼ tspn baking soda
3 eggs, room temperature, beaten
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cup whole milk
1 ½ cup hot coffee decoction, filtered

Instructions

For frosting:

Combine sugar and heavy cream into a sauce pan. Heat the pan and bring them to boil in a medium heat. Once they starts to boil, simmer it for another 5 to 6 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolates until completely melted.
Now add in the butter pieces and stir them again until completely melted.
Finally stir in the vanilla extract.
Let the frosting cool completely, whisking every now and then during cooling. (You can do this step in the refrigerator to speed up the process) Once completely cool at room temperature, the frosting will be spreadable.

For cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C. Grease the three 8" round cake pans with butter or oil (on the sides and bottom), dust the bottoms with flour and line them with parchment paper. If desired, wrap the cake pans with bake-even strips.
Sieve sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a large mixing bowl. This is done to avoid lumps and even the mixing. Meanwhile make hot coffee decoction and keep it ready.
In a separate bowl, combine the beaten eggs, vegetable oil and milk. Stir to mix. Then, with the mixer on low, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix on low flame until evenly distributed.
Pour the hot coffee into the batter and mix on medium to low flame until smooth and creamy. .
Divide the batter between the cake pans.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. When a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out cleanly, the cakes are done. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Refrigerate the cakes for at least 2 hours or place it n the freezer for one hour. Level the cakes by cutting the excess top bump.
Stack the cakes, spreading a layer of frosting in between each cake layer. Frost the outside of the cake for a smoother finish.

Notes

1.I would strongly recommend to line the parchment paper as this cake is so soft and gooey. You could also use cold wet cloth to tie around the pans instead of bake-even strips.
2.The recipe I have given here is for the big batch. You can reduce the ingredients by half for a smaller batch.
3.This recipe also works for a 3-layer 9" cake, with slightly shorter layers.