Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Yummy pot roast in slow cooker



Hi All, It was a really busy day, had to run a lot of errands ,and this is what came to my rescue for dinner. A one pot meal , fantabulously delicious and hearty...POT ROAST.

It needs a good 8-10 hours to cook so start in the morning and use a slow cooker and
forget about it till dinner for a yummy feast.

Ingredients :

Meat chunk - Boneless 2-3 pound chunk of meat (lamb or beef) . ( I did not have a piece that big so I used three small stakes of lamb)
onion - chopped 1/2 cup
garlic powder
dried thyme leaves - 1 and 1/2 tsp
veg stock or beef broth
red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp
1 bay leaf
4 cloves of garlic
1 can of diced tomatoes.
bite sized veggies - carrots, celery , potatoes , onions

Procedure :

Wash and pat dry the meat chunk. season well with salt and black pepper on both sides (approx 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper powder). Heat 4 tblspn of oil in a nonstick pan.
now brown this meat chunk on all sides. Sprinkle some garlic powder on them and add these to the slow cooker bowl.

Now add chopped onions to the same oil and fry until translucent. add garlic and thyme leaves and saute for 30 sec. Add this to the slow cooker bowl.
Now add the can of tomatoes,all the bite sized veggies , red pepper flakes , bay leaf into the slow cooker bowl and add veg/beef stock until the stake is fully immersed in it. Add some black pepper and cook on high for 8-10 hours straight. You will see that the veggies are perfectly cooked and the meat just melts in your mouth by the end of the cooking.



If you need the sauce to be thicker just remove the veggies and meat on the serving place and in a separate pan add the liquid and boil with 1 tsp corn flour until thick and add on top of the meat.Enjoy with garlic bread.
Bon appetit!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Creamy Pasta with Parmesan crusted chicken breast




Hi ! today I have for you my take on alfredo pasta and heavenly parmesan crusted chicken. Its italian, its creamy, its flavorful, its filling and its all here from scratch. lets get right into it.

Ingredients:

pasta 1 packet (I used shells but it does not matter)
salt 1 tsp

For sauce

Evaporated Milk - 1 small can.
butter stick - 1
garlic - 4 cloves
Red pepper flakes - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Ground Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
oregano 1/4 tsp
cilantro



Method:

For Pasta :-

Boil a pot full of water. Add salt and cook pasta according to instructions.

On another stove heat a pan and add a butter stick.
To this add finely minced garlic and red pepper flakes. Now add a can of evaporated milk on low heat. stir well.To this add half a packet (1 cup ) of cheese (I used five cheese Italian),
salt ,ground black pepper,oregano and fresh cilantro or parsley.

Drain the cooked pasta and add to this mixture. Check for salt.

You could also add finely chopped and caramelized red onions , capsicum and tomatoes for added taste.



Parmesan crusted Chicken Breast:-


1 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup All purpose flour
1 egg
chicken breast cut into fine slices 6 (fine slices)
Parmesan cheese - 1/2 packet
olive oil -2 tbl spoons
salt and pepper

Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper and olive oil.
In one bowl add breadcrumbs,all purpose flour and parmesan cheese.
In another bowl add a beaten egg.Now dip chicken breast in dry mixture then in egg and then again in dry mixture.

In a pan heat 4 tbl spoons olive oil and add breasts.cook them to nice golden brown.

Heat oven 350F in a greased pan add the browned chicken breast.add Parmesan cheese
on top and let bake for 5 minutes. check if chicken is done.

assemble and serve

Note: This is not my own recipe. It has been adapted from various sources on the Internet. This listed recipe is how I choose to make it with little modifications and really liked how it turned out

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Khalakand (An Indian dessert/sweet)


My Family visits India once every year. Usually my husband accompanies me and flies back in a few days and I stay and enjoy for a few more days(months..). When I come back the only
request I get is "Can you bring khalakand?". So Khalakand is hands down his favorite sweet... well that made it inevitable for me to try my hand at this lovely dessert. Its so simple yet so delicious and needless to say my husband finished it all. It was a hit! Now we can enjoy khalakand all months round yuhooo!!...Enjoy this everyone, its lovely.

Ingredients:
Khoya (khowa), crumbled - 2 cups
Whole Milk - 1 and 1/2 cup
Paneer ( I used store bought) - 1/4 cup
Powdered Sugar - 5 tbsp
Granulated Sugar - 1/4 cup
cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
Water 1/2 cup
Pinch of Nutmeg
few Chopped almonds

Method:




Bring the water to a boil in a non stick pan. Add milk and let it boil once. Turn the heat down. Add powdered sugar and stir continuously.Now add nutmeg, cardamon powder and granulated sugar.
stir for 10 minutes. Now add crumbled Khoya and paneer.Add the chopped almonds. keep stirring until the mixture thickens and starts leaving the pan.

Grease a pan with a little butter. Pour the above mixture and let cool completely. Refrigerate it for an hour. cut into square pieces and serve.



Note: This is not my own recipe. It has been adapted from recipes from various blogs.

Sending this recipe to Lets cook with cheese event

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Fish Fry
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Hi Everyone, Back after a looong break but all pumped up and ready to bounce back. This time its Fish fry Indian style. I personally feel too many spices spoil the taste of the fish. It should have a very flavorful but subtle taste. This is maybe one of the quickest recipes you can make.

You can use pretty much any fish and although fresh is good you can make this with frozen fish as well.

Ingredients:

Fish fillets : 1 pound (around 4 nos) I use Tilapia or Cod but you could use any fish
Red Chili powder : 1- 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp



Method:

Wash the fish well. pat dry. Mix in all the remaining ingredients and marinate for half hour in the refrigerator.Heat a pan at medium heat and add 4 tblspns of oil. Now add the fish fillets. Let cook till golden brown on one side and then flip and cook on the other side. squeeze some fresh lemon juice on the fillets and serve hot. Its that simple and may I add DELICIOUS!