A Tasty Sandwich

A tasty Sandwich


Here's another staple..though the ingredients are very simple , they result in a very satisfying bite.
Yumm…..yes, we can say that for a sandwich  :-)


Ingredients (for 2 sandwiches)
1. Brown bread/ wheat bread/ multigrain bread- 4 slices
2. Cucumber- 1, thinly sliced
3. Tomato- 1 big, thinly sliced
4. Capsicum- 1, thinly sliced
5. Red Onion-1, thinly sliced
6. Mushrooms- 3-4 small, thinly sliced and sautéed in oil/butter
7. Olives-4, thinly sliced (I used pimento olives)
8. Lettuce- 4 leaves, washed and torn by hand
9. Salt-to taste
10. Pepper-to taste
11. Cheese spread- to spread on the slices- 4 tsp
12. Mustard sauce and ketchup (optional)


Method
1. Spread the cheese on the slice. You can use readymade cheese slices also.
2. Spread the layer of each vegetable ; onion, cucumber, tomato, capsicum, mushrooms and olives.
3. Add salt & pepper. Now cover with torn lettuce leaves.
4. Cover this with another slice of bread ( if you want you can put some ketchup/mustard sauce on this slice).
5. Serve with hot cocoa or tea.


Variations to the filling:
You can add corn instead of mushrooms. You can boil them instead of sautéing them.
Add dried herbs of your liking eg. sweet basil and mint.
If red onion is too pungent for you, take white onions.
To add more color use multicolored capsicum- red, yellow & green. If you have access to colored lettuce or cabbage , use that. Cabbage needs to be washed and blanched before use.
You can use mayonnaise instead of cheese spread but, I'm not a big fan.




If you have any more filling ideas for a tasty cold sandwich, I would love to give it a try.
Ciao ….shabba khair….bbye

Sandwich with Pita bread

I realized that my blog is flooded with cake and dessert recipes….not fair, since these are not the everyday cooking experiments which I undertake.


Let's change that.


Let's talk about sandwiches…everybody likes them. Easy to make and generally healthy ( no frying etc.).


Sandwiches are something which we make at least 2 times in a week for breakfast or brunch….or just like that. 
Regular white bread sandwiches are common and they taste good, but we (yup, my hubby gave the idea!) decided to change it a little and take Pita bread/Lebanese bread for our sandwich..which is like a rolled up, stuffed with veggies sandwich.


Ingredients (for 4 sandwiches)
1. Pita bread- 4
2. Cucumber- 1, chopped
3. Tomato- 1 big and firm, chopped
4. Capsicum- 1, chopped
5. Red Onion-1 small, chopped
6. Hummus- 4 tbsp
7. Olive oil- 2 tsp+ some to drizzle on salad
8. Lettuce- 4 leaves, washed
9. Salt-to taste
10. Pepper-to taste
11. Red chili powder- 1 or 2 pinch





























Method
1. Take all chopped veggies in a bowl, add salt and pepper to it. Drizzle a little olive oil on it.Herbs are optional. You can add mint, basil or thyme or whatever you fancy. I did add a little bit of dried sweet basil.
2. Take hummus and pour olive oil on it with little red chili powder and mix thoroughly with a spoon.
3. Take pita bread and spread hummus on it. Sprinkle vegetable salad on the centre, cover with lettuce and now fold the bread from both sides and the edges.
4. Heat a skillet or tava. Place the sandwiches on it and then lower the flame. Cook until toasted well.
5. Serve hot…no need for any other sauces unless you are a ketchup freak…:P

Birthday cake...Again!!!

I know its a cake again...but one can never have enough cake recipes...right!?

Right. That's settled then.

It was my friend's birthday…that means i just had to bake a cake.

Plus women like chocolate , so I made a chocolate cake. (yippee!!)

Orange and chocolate is a winning combination, no second thoughts about it.

So I donned my apron and made this cake for her.

Orange chocolate eggless cake

Ingredients

1. Flour/maida/whole wheat flour (take any one)- 1 &1/2 cup
2. Cocoa powder- 1/3 cup
3. Baking soda- 1 tsp
4. Brown sugar- 3/4 cup
5. Salt- 1/2 tsp
6. Butter- 75 gm (you can use 5 Tbsp olive oil also…I used butter)
7. Orange marmalade- 1/4 cup
8. Orange juice- 1 cup
9. Orange extract- 1 tsp

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven at 150 degrees Centigrade. Prepare the pan by greasing it with butter and dusting with flour (you can use cocoa powder to dust it too).
2. Take all the dry ingredients and mix in a bowl.
3. Mix juice, marmalade and melted butter in another bowl.
4. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredient mix to the wet ingredients  and mix well. Add the rest of the dry ingredients , mix well.
5. Add orange extract and mix well.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and keep it in the oven for 40-45 min or until the toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool the cake before cutting. You can dust it with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Birthday and Fruit cake

I get excited about baking birthday cakes..... because you can be very elaborate with them. I take my time searching, bookmarking recipes, improvising, procuring stuff from the market, finding ways to dress it up....my whipping cream decorations are a far cry from perfection.

So, when I was thinking of making a devil's food cake with layers of creamy richness for my hubby's b'day....he threw a surprise at me....'no creamy stuff, no chocolate'

WHAT!

Did I hear well? no chocolate!!?? OMG . But all my bookmarked recipes have chocolate.

A quick survey of my fav blogs led me to this Orange cake by Soma of Ecurry.
Saved the day...:)

I've used a variety which is termed as "mausmi" in India...not the orange we generally use. I was not very sure of the results, but it came out a winner...yipeee

SERVES 10–12

INGREDIENTS

For cake 

1. 3 Mausmi
2. 2⅓ cups sugar
3. Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
4. 2½ cups flour, plus more for pan
5. 2 tsp. baking powder
6. 1 tsp. baking soda
7. 1 tsp. orange extract
8. 3 eggs
9. 6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

For glaze

1. ¼ cup fresh orange juice (I used packed juice)
2. ¼ cup confectioners' sugar

For garnish

1. 2 oranges, sliced in thin strips
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 1 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS

For cake 

1. Trim about ½" from the tops and bottoms of oranges; quarter oranges lengthwise. Bring 6 cups water to a boil and add oranges. Bring water back to a boil; drain. 

2. Repeat boiling process twice more with fresh water. 

3. Put oranges, 1 cup sugar, and 4 cups water into a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and orange rind can be easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes. 

4. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature.

 5.Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9' round cake pan with butter and dust with flour; line pan bottom with parchment paper cut to fit. Set pan aside.

6. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.

7. Remove orange quarters from syrup, remove and discard any seeds, and put oranges into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until oranges form a chunky purée, 10 to 12 pulses.

8. Add sugar, reserved flour mixture, orange extract, and eggs and process until incorporated, about 2 minutes.
9. Add olive oil; process until combined. 

10. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes. 

For glaze

In a small bowl, whisk orange juice and confectioners' sugar to make a thin glaze. Remove cake from pan and transfer to a cake stand or plate. Using a pastry brush, brush orange glaze over top and sides of cake; let cool completely. 

For garnishing

Bring 3-4 cups water to a boil; add orange slices. Bring water back to a boil; drain. Repeat boiling process twice more with fresh water. Combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1 cup water in the pan and add the orange slices to the pan. Simmer at low to medium heat for about 15-20 minutes or until the the slices softens and the solution gets thick, syrupy and sticky. Remove oranges and reserve to garnish.

Garnish cake with confectioners’ sugar and orange slices.

I did not use icing sugar though. Good for me because the cake came out a little too sweet for my liking. I believe a little less sugar in the batter would make the cake taste even better....I've not tried it out though. If you do, please let me know how was it?

 

Dal dhokli/ Wheat flour dumplings with lentil mix

This is one of my favorite recipe. My mother used to make it, usually during cold days when the winters had not really settled in but the evenings and nights were chilly. A warm bowl of love....

Ingredients
For dal
Split moong chilka dal/ Green Gram dal- 1 katori
Chana dal/Bengal gram dal- 1spoon
Fresh ginger- grated, 1 spoon
Green chilli-1, chopped
Turmeric powder-1/4th tsp
Water- 2-3 katori

For dhokli
Whole wheat flour- 2 katori
Besan/Gram flour- 2 tbsp
Ghee/Clarified butter-1/2 katori approx
salt- to taste
Jeera/cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp

For tadka/tempering
Ghee/clarified butter- 2tsp
Red chilli powder-1/2tsp (adjust according to taste)
Jeera/Cumin seeds-1/2tsp

PS: katori is the household bowl in India and measurement differs from one region to another. The katori which I used holds about 150 ml of liquid.

Method

1. Take wheat flour , add all the ingredients for the dhokli and knead it. Use lukewarm water to make dough. Keep aside for 15-20 min. Knead with both hands to make the dough smooth and divide into small balls. Flatten the balls and make a hole in the middle (something like a very thin doughnut). If you make it thick, then it will not cook well.
2. Take all ingredients for the dal in a pressure cooker.
3. Add the prepared raw "dhokli" and close the lid of the cooker. 
4. The whole preparation should be ready after 3-4 whistles, but always remember cookers are different everywhere, also the water quality might differ and increase or decrease the cooking time. The best way to know if the dal dhokli is done, is to check the 'chana dal' for done-ness. 
5. When the 'dal dhokli' is done, then temper it just before serving.
6. Take ghee in a pan, put it on high heat. Add jeera and let it sizzle and brown. 
7. Add red chilli powder and turn this mix into the cooker. Take care that the chilli should not get burnt. This will give a lovely reddish tinge  and a beautiful aroma to the preparation. 
8. Serve hot.