Cake House

                                         Eid Mubarak to all my dear friends E id is a time of celebration. We use this opportunity to meet all our relatives and friends and share our joy and happiness.  Food plays an important role in all these reunions and no feast is complete without a dessert  and that too if it is a festival then it is sort of a compulsion to have sweet to celebrate. Each and every family will have their own version of traditional recipes and in that, sweet is a must. I have tasted this dessert, whiIe I was in Andhra and my neighbours used to give this often. Then my mom learnt this and made this for me. I usually make different varieties of payasams or kheer for Eid. But this time I thought of this and tried with the help of my mom and the result was, a perfect and yummy dessert within minutes. In this recipe, the vermicelli is roasted in clarified butter and then cooked in sugar syrup till soft and smooth. If we want we can add khoya which will increase the flav

Do you recognize those guys in that lineup above? You should. We've all seen them before...and they are guilty! Guilty of having no taste at all! Off-season tomatoes...sigh. I may be a bit spoiled, living in New Jersey, the Garden State. Our summer vegetables, most especially our tomatoes, are unbelievably good. Summer "Jersey" tomatoes are deep red, meaty, juicy and very sweet and flavorful. So delicious, you could eat one with nothing else at all and be satisfied. Once the season has past, my heart breaks each time I have to buy a tomato from the grocery store. I used to just pass them by. They just were not worth it. Until now. I've been slow roasting tomatoes in the oven. If you've noticed in some of my recipes, I love to use sun dried tomatoes a lot. These have the same concentrated rich flavor, but they are a bit more moist.  Once roasted, you would never, ever believe that they are the same tomatoes that went into the oven. You can do a lot with them. They

Manti Every culture seems to have their own dumpling. Armenians have manti, little boats, usually stuffed with ground lamb or beef. Out of the oven, they are golden, crunchy and savory. Then, they are thrown into a broth lightly blushed with tomato and topped with a dollop of yogurt. This soup is warming, comforting and very filling. Making manti was a family production. My sisters and I would join our Mom in the kitchen and we'd all have a hand in creating these little boats. Our Mom usually handled the dough (don't get scared off yet, there is a super easy shortcut that doesn't involve you making any dough at all!). We all worked around the table together filling and pinching (and talking and laughing, loudly , I'm sure) until trays and trays of the manti made their way in and out of the oven burning the fingers of those of us too eager to test them. Wonton Wraps...the shortcut! Manti 1 lb. lean ground beef 1 medium onion, grated 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 t. allspi

Chicken Broth Broth, whether it is chicken, beef or vegetable, seems to be the basis for so many things I like to cook,  especially during the colder months. That's why I wanted to give you this recipe now.  I like to make my own broth for so many reasons. First of all, it just tastes so much better!  It's richer and much more flavorful, I can control the amount of salt in my cooking and it's so economical! When I do this, I use a 16 quart stock pot. I freeze it in containers. Some broth goes into really large containers for soups and some in 2 cup measurements. I like to use those when I cook any rice or grains and the 2 cups is usually the perfect amount. As much as this recipe makes, we really go through it! I think there are a couple of things that help deepen the flavor of this broth. One of them is browning the seasoned chicken and the vegetables before simmering. That golden color comes up soon after adding the water. That's exactly what you want. The addition of

My daughter recently announced that she has decided to become...a pescatarian ! A what ?! Don't worry. It's not as scary as it sounds. It's just that she no longer wants to eat anything that has legs or walks on the earth...just things that swim around in the sea. This is fine with me.  I think it's commendable and I will do whatever it takes to support her. This doesn't mean that  I won't cook any earthly creatures anymore...I just won't be serving them to her. There's a really bad joke that I've debated over telling you. I don't know. It may not be that funny.  Forgive me and please don't judge me if it's not...because it's not my joke. While on vacation this summer, we sat at a hibachi table with four lovely teenagers from the UK. They were adorable and really fun to talk to. When the chef asked if anyone had any dietary restrictions, one of the girls said that she was a pescatarian. So, my husband, who tries terribly hard to be

Having parttime vegetarian F. for lunch I looked for inspiration in Maria Elia's The Modern Vegetarian and made this version: rinse 200 gr lentils and soak them for an hour. Then boil  a couple of small beetroots ( ca 250 gr) which will take just under an hour as well. In the meantime start with the dressing, with 2 tsp grated ginger, 2 grated cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp Dyon mustard, 1 tbsp lemonjuice, 30 cl sherry vinegar, 70 cl sesame oil, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sugar (make sure everything is at room temperature!). After soaking the lentils cut 1 big or 2 small onions finely, do the same with 2 cloves of garlic. Soften them in some oil then add the lentils and 2 bay leaves. Cover (just) with water and cook for about 25 mins. Peel the beetroots and cut into wedges. Cut a buffalo mozzarella in pieces. Slice 8 mushrooms and fry them quickly on both sides. They should still have a bite. Serve as shown, with the dressing added and some rocket and coriander leaves.

Lentil Soup I fear that maybe lentil soup is going to be a hard sell.  What would give me that idea?  It all started with photographing the soup.  I'm really new at all of this, photographing food especially, but I've found that a bowl full of brown is really hard to make appealing. Then, the look on my family's faces when I told them I had just made lentil soup.  "Come on, you guys love my lentil soup!"  As far as I'm concerned, they just didn't remember how good it really was. So, after I announced to my husband and my daughter that the forced-feeding shall commence, I presented them with the soup.  "Well, it smells amazing," said my husband.  I sat staring, feeling stymied, as they each hesitantly put spoonfuls in their mouths.  Both of them raised their eyebrows in surprise.  Maybe those memories were coming back!  "Oh wow...this is delicious!"  Well, of course it is. Lentils are so good for you.  They are high in fiber, magnesium,

I love visiting Laura’s blog as there are so many different varieties and so many new dishes which are very easy to make and the way she explains each and every dish is amazing to watch.  Once as I was searching for some other recipe, I accidentally found this and at that time I had all the ingredients which was required to make this dish with me. So thought of giving it a try, not in a tart pan but in small dessert glasses and I know that the glass which I used was not so small but we can make this in small glasses and it looks good when served in glasses. Believe me, this tastes so delicious. With the sweet and the tangy flavour, we will end up having at least two to three glasses. This is a perfect dish for any occasion and also a different dish to try. As shown in the original recipe we can make this in tart pan and cut it in slices and serve it, but I like it this way as we can see the layers. To fill the glass, I layered first with biscuit crumbs, condensed milk mixture, whippin

Whole Wheat Pancakes I'm halfway to weekend mode on Fridays!  Who doesn't love the weekend?  Sleeping in a bit, wearing pajamas and making pancakes.  Bliss. Making these pancakes a little healthy will not spoil that bliss.  Trust me.  I just ate two stacks testing that theory!  These are not completely whole wheat.  I do use cake flour as well to keep things light.  I've got a few other tricks too.  With whole wheat flour you really have to work at not ending up with something dense.  That's why I separate the eggs and whip up the whites to a soft peak.  That alone makes a huge difference.  So does the addition of a little Greek yogurt.  It keeps the pancakes tender and adds moisture the way buttermilk does. I also like to add ground flax seed for its nutritional value and its nutty flavor.  It is high in fiber, omega-3s and antioxidants.  The recipe will still work if you omit the flax, but it really is worth a try.   My family's favorite addition to pancakes is ba

Chicken Waldorf Salad Over Mixed Greens We have started a tradition of going apple picking around this time every fall.  This year, we came home with some of the biggest apples ever!  They were Melrose apples.  They are delicious; crisp, sweet and little tart. I had also made a huge pot of chicken stock that day to make some hot soup to come home to (those recipes are coming soon).  So with an abundance of apples and a whole cooked chicken, I just had to do something to combine the two.  This salad seemed perfect! This recipe is a much healthier version of an original that uses lots of mayonnaise!  If you don't have pre-cooked chicken already, the rotisserie chickens at the grocery store are a good option, but poaching a couple of chicken breasts is quite easy too with less fat and sodium.  I'll tell you how to do that below.  They turn out very moist and tender. If you wrinkled your nose when you first read the word "curry" as my husband usually does, give this a try

By Nigel Slater: (enough for 6 people)  Onion 1 large one, celery 3 ribs,  large carrots 3,  butter 50g,  baby pork ribs 1kg, cut into short racks (about 3 bones each) mushrooms 250g, beef stock 800ml,  pappardelle 250g, olive oil a little  Peel and finely chop the onion, celery and carrots. Melt the butter in a large, deep casserole, add the ribs and brown lightly. Add the vegetables and cook for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time, till slightly softened. Finely chop the mushrooms, add to the pan and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook, covered, at a low bubble for a good 3 hours, stirring from time to time. Take the lid off for the last half hour. Bring a pan of water to the boil, salt generously and add the pappardelle. Cook until al dente, then drain. Season with a little olive oil and some black pepper. While the pasta cooks, slide the flesh from the ribs – it should come off effortlessly – and stir it through t

Chicken Cacciatore served with Soft Polenta Welcome to my first blog!  I have been reluctant in choosing my first recipe.  I wanted to introduce myself to you with something exotic and impressive.  Chicken Cacciatore?  Exotic?  Well, maybe not so much (unless you pronounce it with a really thick Italian accent).  Impressive?  Actually, yes!  This fairly simple recipe has so much flavor and it really is so delicious.  I truly believe you will be impressed! It hit me the other night, on the heels of a fairly cool October day.  I wanted to prepare something hearty for my family to come home to.  This is one of their favorite comfort foods.  I love how tender the chicken becomes and how the many flavors come together for a perfect cool weather meal.  I realized then that this represents the type of recipe I want to share with you through this blog.  It is nothing complicated, it's nutritionally healthy, and a perfect recipe for a weeknight family meal (it reheats perfectly the next day

T his is a very easy, simple and delicious side dish, which goes well with steaming rice. Usually we will be preparing this with regular potatoes, but with baby potatoes this looks cute and tasty too. Believe me, you will ending up licking the bowl. This will be so tasty and it will be a hot favorite among kids.  I have added a touch of sambar powder as this will increase the taste and this I learnt from my S-I-L. Whenever she goes to her house, she used to bring homemade sambar powder and she used to add it in all the fries and it tasted heavenly. This has become a regular dish at my house, that my kid always wants this along with rice. This is very healthy and nutritious and is worth a try. Ingredients: Baby Potatoes- 10- 15 nos Red chilli powder- 1 tsp Turmeric powder- ½ tsp Cumin powder- ½ tsp Sambar powder- ½ tsp Onions- 1 no Green chillies (slit)- 2 nos Mustard seeds- 1 tsp Urad dal- 1 tsp Oil- 1 tbsp Method: Wash and pressure cook the baby potatoes for until 2 whistles. It shoul