Baked Ravioli

 

This was one of the easiest, fastest and most convenient dish I ever prepared. I had a box of fresh ravioli in my fridge that I wanted to use in a different way. Normally, I toss this ravioli in some kind of sauce or brown butter and enjoy but this time, I decided to bake the raviolis.

 

Here’s how I made it.

 

Baked Ravioli

Ingredients

1 lb fresh ravioli

2 cups marinara sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella

 

How to:

Pre heat the oven to 400° F.

Spread the raviolis in a single layer in a greased oven proof dish.

Spread marinara sauce on top, followed by cheese.

Covered tightly with aluminum foil and bake for about 20 minutes.

Uncover, bake for 5 more minutes or until the cheese is browned and serve.

Enjoy!

Coconut Balls

 

This mithai is very nostalgic to me as it most likely was the very first mithai I made on my own when I was a teenager! Amul had just introduced the milkmaid condensed milk I believe in the 1980s and it was on the lable , the picture of the mithai and back of the lable had the recipe. I picked up one tin and peeled the label off just to see the recipe and realized we had everything available in the fridge and pantry. So I checked with mom and went ahead to make this delicious mithai. Coconut desserts are my weakness. I love coconuts, be it dry or fresh. So I knew I had to make it anyways. After that first attempt, I had made it a numerous times but then I kind of forgot about it until this past month. It was a day when I wanted to do something and not sure what to do. I had time on my hand and I didn’t want to bake. I know I had condensed milk in the pantry. All of sudden a light bulb went on in my head! I thought, let’s make coconut balls. And I am so glad I did. I actually had so many of the balls as soon as they were made, I had to ask myself to stop!

 

Here’s how I made it.

 

Coconut Balls

Ingredients

1 tin condensed milk(300 ML)

1.5 cups + ¼ cup finely shredded coconut, dry

1 tsp cardamom powder

1 tbsp ghee

 

How to:

In a sauce pot, mix condensed milk, coconut and cardamom powder and cook on medium low heat until mixture leaves the sides of the pot.

Let it cool down for a couple of minutes, grease your palms with ghee and make balls.

Roll them into ¼ cup coconut flakes

Enjoy!

Honey Dijon Dressing

 

My family loves Renee honey dijon dressing. We just can’t get enough of it. This time around, I was out of it and my son wanted that dressing with his salad. I searched online and found this recipe on Food Network. Alton Brown is my favourite chef on Food Network and if it’s his recipe, I would follow it in a heat beat. And it’s so easy. It’s perfect for salad dressing, dip and marinade.

 

Here’s how I made it.

 

Honey Dijon Dressing

Ingredients

5 tbsp honey

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar( I used white vinegar)

 

How to:

 

Easy. Mix all the ingredients in a bottle and use it.

Egg Masala

 

This is mom’s recipe. Whenver we were in a rut, mom used to quickly whip up this dish. And it was SO GOOD! Ever since mom has gone back to India, this was on back of my mind. Finally I got to make it. I didn’t change a thing in this recipe. Made it exactly the way mom makes it. And hubby loved it. Following day, he asked for it again! That was a big complement!

 

I also made lunch using the leftover egg masala, wrapping them in a large tortilla. Give it a try. I am sure you would be happy you did!

 

Here’s how I made it.

 

Egg Masala

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp each garlic, ginger paste

2-3 green chillies, finely chopped

Salt to taste

3 tbsp oil

1 tbsp each red chili powder and cumin powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 medium tomato, chopped

 

How to:

In a wok, heat oil on medium high heat.

Add onion and saute till translucent.

Now add all the spices with tomato and saute till oil separates.

Break eggs carefully on the sauted masala mix.

Cover and cook for about 3 minutes until the eggs are done.

Enjoy!

 

Pesto Stuffed Chicken with Rosemary Potatoes

 

The story goes something like this. Every Summer Wednesday, we have a farmer’s market across from the building I work. I try to go there almost every Wednesday, to pick up freshly baked breads and herbs. I especially look for basil. Love those  fresh, huge basil plants. I’ve tried so many times to plant Basil in my back yard- in the ground and in the pot. But those squirrels. They seem to be liking my basil. I plant today and tomorrow it’s gone. So I’ve stopped planting basil and since I love to use it in salads, I buy them. Well, I learned a trick about the farmer’s market. They start at 9 am. They close down at 2. So if I go after 1 pm, bingo. I am in for a big saving. Basil plants are normally $2.50 per plant. At 1, they give away 2 for $3! Now that’s a bargain. Last Wednesday, I was a bit late. Got there at around 1.30. no one had  basil plant left. Finally a farmer girl offered me to pick the leftover basil leaves from the huge box that they use to put their plants. I was so glad as it was for free! I picked up as many basil leaves as I could possibly find and guess what, I got a bagful of them. And no, I am not going to do this every week! I will go at 1 yes, to get the bargain though for sure.

So I brought the basil home, right away made pesto and in the weekend, had this wonderful chicken dinner.

Here’s how I made it.

Pesto Stuffed Chicken with Rosemary Potatoes

Ingredients

1 cup Basil Pesto(2-3 cups loosely packed basil leaves, 6-9 cloves garlic, 1 hand ful walnuts, ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese, 1 cup or so extra virgin olive oil- give them a zip in a food processor. Store in an airtight jar in a refrigerator for about 2 weeks.)

4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2-3 tbsp Italian seasoning

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp freshly chopped rosemary

Salt and pepper as needed

1 lb baby red potatoes

 

How to:

Place chicken breasts in between 2 plastic sheets, smooth side down and with a mallet, pound them as thin as possible.

Spread both sides of the breast with salt, pepper and italian seasoning as required.

Place all chicken breast on each other, overlapping slightly so that you can have about 8” large chicken breast circle.

Spread pesto all over it.

Roll it up tightly.

Bake it hot oven till chicken is done.

In the mean time, microwave baby potatoes for about 3 minutes, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and chopped rosemary.

Spread the potatoes on a baking tray and bake in hot oven with chicken(at about 400° F.) until the potatoes are golden brown.

Serve with salad or your choice of steamed vegetables.

Enjoy!

Cannoli Cups & My Blog's 4th Anniversary!

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 4 glorious years since I’ve started blogging! By God’s grace, I’ve been able to make great friends through my blog. I don’t know what I was thinking when I first registered my blog! I thought of sharing all the short cut Indian dishes that I prepare almost every day in my kitchen. That was put on the shelf and in these 4 years, I’ve blogged about so many different recipes. This blog has become my cookbook, a documentation of my recipes that I can go back to and make again and again if I forget the steps. And on my journey, I’ve conjured quite a few lifes! Believe me, I’ve got all those emails.

This occasion calls for a special celebration, right? So let’s celebrate my blog’s 4^th birthday with these easy to make Cannoli cups. You can make cups using pie dough or phyllo. I’ve used store bought cups just to make my busy life easier. No crime in it, okay. One should take advantage of every help one could get from anywhere if that one is as busy as I am. So, choice is yours. Either make your cups or buy them pre-made.

Here’s how I made it.

Cannoli Cups

Ingredients

2 packs of pre-made phyllo cups(available in freezer section of super markets)

1 cup homemade mascarpone cheese(didn’t I tell you I will make and use this cheese often?)

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp cinnamon powder

Mini chocolate chips

How to:

Mix cheese, milk and cinnamon powder with hand blender on medium speed.

Place the mixture in a piping bag.

Pipe the mixture onto the cups.

Garnish with mini chocolate chips and serve immediately.

You can make this mixture a couple days ahead and refrigerate it until you are ready to use.

Enjoy!

Khaman

Now this is authentic Gujarati Khaman. We call this dish “vaati daal naa khaman” because this used the ground split chickpeas.  This is a long process just like making Idlis and dosas from scratch. You make Nylon khaman right away using besan. Anything nylon is not authentic and instant!  Just like the fabric itself. But this khaman dish takes time and effort to make and thus, tastes so much more better than the Nylon Khaman.  Frankly, I hadn’t made this khaman in a long time, maybe 3 years or so. Everytime we feel like having khaman, I would go for besan and make nylons.  I happen to have  4 lbs. of split chickpea bag that I bought over Christmas period last year.  I thought, let’s make khaman this time, the proper way. And I am glad I did. They came out so good, I can’t even describe that taste in words.  I also gave some to my Marathi co worker and she now absolutely is in favor if this khaman over nylon khaman.

Here’s how I made it.

Khaman

Ingredients

1 cup split chickpea, soaked overnight

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

A pinch of turmeric powder

½ tsp citic acid

1 tsp Eno fruit salt

Water as required

How to:

Grind the soaked chick peas with salt in a blender to smooth consistency, adding just enough water to run the blender smoothly.

Adjust the water quantity. It should be thicker, just like idli batter.

Leave it overnight in a warm place to ferment.

Heat up a big sauce pot with water in it.

Boil the water.

Grease a deep pan(I used 8” cake pan) with oil and set aside.

In the meantime, add citric acid, pepper and turmeric to the fermented batter.

Once the water boils, then only sprinkle Eno on top of the batter. You will see lots of bubbles instantly forming up on the top layer.

Now gently fold the batter to incorporate the Eno.

Pour in the greased plate, steam it for about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare tempering.

Once cool down, cut into pieces and pour over prepared tempering.

Enjoy!

Ingredients for tempering:

3 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustart seeds

Pinch of Asofoetida

Green chillies and cilantro leaves and shredded, fresh coconut for garnish(Optional)

Heat up the oil, add mustard seeds.

Once the seeds crackled, add asofoetida, green chilles(chopped) and pour over the prepared khaman.