CREME' CARAMEL/CARAMEL CUSTARD...a fab party dessert!

A really easy fool proof recipe of this perfect dessert!...the secret here is to use full cream Milk of the best quality you can find, I have perfected this recipe over a period of several years, since it is difficult to achieve that perfect melt-in-the-mouth creamy gorgeousness the Creme' Caramel deserves!!!

Ingredients-

for the caramel

• Sugar-6 tbsp
• Water-2 tbsp

For the Custard

• Whole/Full cream Milk-1 and 1/2 cups
• Skim Milk Powder- 100 gms
• Eggs-4
• Pure Vanilla extract- 2 tsp
• Condensed Milk- 5 tbsp

Method-

• Combine the sugar and water for the caramel and set on heat, let the sugar  melt and bubble away, keep stirring all the time, till it achieves a deep brown/golden colour.

• Take a metallic mould, one which can be put in the pressure cooker for steaming later.
• Pour hot caramel and swirl all around quickly before it hardens, no need to grease, set aside.
• Combine all the ingredients for the custard in a large bowl and beat well.
• Pour into prepared tin, and cover with a piece of foil.
• Steam in pressure cooker without whistle for 20 minutes,switch off flame and let cool

Invert onto serving plate and serve warm or chilled along with Fruits/Vanilla Ice cream/whipped cream.

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CHEESE AND ONION QUICHE

What is a Quiche??...an open pastry case, filled with a mixture of eggs, cream and other savoury (= not sweet) foods, which is baked and eaten hot or cold

pronounced as -/kēSH/

This delicious flaky pastry shell filled creamy savoury treat is a perfect accompaniment to your evening Tea or Coffee.

Ingredients-

for the pastry  shell-

•  Plain flour-175 gms
• Salted butter-80 g
• Chilled water- a couple of tbsp.

For the filling-

• Milk-200 ml
• Butter-1 tbsp
• Onion-1 medium chopped
• Heavy Cream-2 tbsp
• Eggs-2
• Cheese-1/2 cup grated
• English mustard-1/2 tsp
• Salt and black pepper to taste

For the pastry shell-

• Sieve flour in a large bowl.
• Rub in the butter till the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Add chilled water, a tbsp at a time till the whole thing comes together as a stiff dough.

• Wrap in cling film and chill for 15 minutes.

• Gently unwrap and roll out pastry, grease and flour one large tart pan or 4 individual pans.

• Fit out the pastry and trim edges, return to chill for another 15 minutes.
• In the meantime preheat oven at 200 C, bake  the cases for 15 minutes and take out.

For the filling-

• 
  Heat butter gently, and  add onions, let sweat.Turn off heat when pink.
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the cooled onions, reserving only a little egg white.
• Brush pastry cases with the reserved egg white to seal in and prevent pastry from turning soggy.

• Gently spoon in the filling in to the shells and bake for 20-30 minutes till filling is set.
• Serve warm.

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CRUNCHY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES- Easy Step-by-step recipe

These are the perfect accomapaniment to your cup of Coffee,... crispy, crunchy, melt-in-the-mouth buttery goodness and so easy too! They are bound to become yours and your kids favourite too!! After all who can say no to protein packed cookies that are delicious and easy to boot!!

Here's the recipe-

Ingredients-

(makes 24)

• Plain flour-140 gms
• Soda-bi-carb- 1/2 tsp
• Salt-1/2 tsp
• Butter-115 gms (at room temp.)
• Egg-1
• Vanilla essence-1 tsp
• Crunchy peanut butter- 250 gms
• Sugar-165 gms

Method-

1. Sift together the flour, soda and salt and keep aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in the Peanut butter and blend well, stir in the dry ingredients.
4. Chill till firm.
5. Preheat oven to 180 C, Grease 2 baking sheets.
6. Roll out teaspoons of dough into balls.
7. Place on prepared sheets and with a fork, make a criss cross pattern as shown in pic.
8. Bake till lightly coloured, 12-15 minutes.
9. Cool on a wire rack.

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THAI YELLOW CHICKEN CURRY- Easy step by step recipe

It is after a long hiatus that I am writing this post, but I do promise to be regular from now on, I would also like to thank each one of my readers who have been regularly writing in to me for their queries or suggestions.Please do keep writing in at bindiyasingh7@gmail.com.
Today I made this warm, milky, flavorful Thai curry which is very comforting eaten with freshly boiled basmati or jasmine rice, it scores high on the nutrition scale too and is tasty to boot, so lets get cooking!
Thai yellow curry paste is easily available at all supermarkets and is easily distinguishable from its Red and Green counterparts, using Coconut milk from a tetrapack is so easy and I definitely prefer it over the elbow grease of extracting milk from fresh coconuts.

Ingredients-

• Boneless Chicken- 500gms
• Coconut Milk- 200 ml (freshly squeezed from 2 coconuts or packaged)
• Thai yellow curry paste-50 gms
• Refined oil-2 tbsp
• French beans- a handful, top and tail
• Brinjals(long variety)- 2-3 sliced lengthwise
• Cauliflower(separate into florets) 1/2 cup
• Carrots-1/2 cup diced, if desired
• Cilantro/ Coriander- for garnish
• Salt and black pepper to season

Method-

1. Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan and empty the contents of Yellow Curry paste(easily available at all supermarkets).Fry for a minute.
2. Add the washed Chicken pieces and continue frying on low heat for another 5-8 minutes.
3. Next tip in the coconut milk and stir well, add salt.
4. Add the veggies and cover, add 1/2 cup more water if required.
5. Cook for another 15-20 minutes till the Chicken and veggies are both cooked through, taste and adjust seasoning.
6. Garnish with cilantro and serve with freshly boiled rice.Enjoy!

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BE SMART...DIY LIKE HE DID IT!

My brother lives alone in the US alone and is constantly in a fix about everything,... specifically Cooking...and he is forever on the phone with me asking me what to do???what to cook???how to cook???what to eat??? and so on and so forth haha.
Recently he came across an even bigger problem, his stove was not working and trust me it is enough for him to throw a fit... and call me up...of course lol, after hearing him out patiently, I suggested that he get either a repairman or as a last resort another stove top, now he being a student and on a tight budget at that was so completely devastated...then suddenly it stuck me...I had come across this cool website Partselect.com.
Both of us logged onto the site together and heyy check this out...there it was, everything you ever needed and on top of that- same day shipping, 30 day returns, 2 million parts, as we checked out the brand he owns there was even listings by colour, material and what not!
He quickly checked out what he needed, and there are even videos of how to replace that part, how helpful is that.I then pointed out to another good feature a Virtual repairman!, you just put in the model number and he will diagnose the problem for u!!
All in all so very helpful and my brother happily reported he got the stove fixed at a fraction of the cost, so I decided to post about it so that it helps my readers in a fix just liked it helped my bro!

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GOOEY CHOCOLATE CAKE FOR MY BIRTHDAY (eggless and healthy too!)

This is the cake I chose to bake on my birthday today, since a lot of my family and friends don't eat eggs.The cake is deliciously moist and tender due to the addition of yogurt, and intense chocolaty too due to the generous amounts of cocoa powder, a keeper all the way for sure, this is my go to recipe for an eggless cake!
The recipe is from the very talented Deeba's kitty and can be found here, I however played around with outstanding results, omitting eggs altogether whilst increasing the amount of yogurt.

 

Ingredients:

Flour – 1 1/2 cups

Wholewheat flour -1/2 cup

Cocoa – 2/3 cup

Instant Coffee – 2 tbsp

Baking Soda – 1 tsp

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Salted Butter – 1/2 cup; at room temperature

Sugar (powdered/caster) – 1 cup

Thick and fresh Yogurt/curd – 2 cups

Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp

Coffee Extract – 1 tsp (optional)

for filling-

Unsalted butter-50 gms

Chocolate-75gms

Icing Sugar 2 tbsp

for the frosting-

Full cream milk-2 cup
Cocoa powder-2 tbsp
Sugar (icing)-2 tbsp
knob of butter(1 tsp)

Method:

• Grease well & flour pan you would be using approx 9' one, & preheat the oven to 180C.
• Sift both the flours + baking powder + baking soda + salt + cocoa. Keep aside.
• Beat the butter & sugar. Add the coffee & vanilla extract & beat.
• Now alternatively add the flour mix & yogurt till well incorporated. Don’t over mix. The batter will be quite thick, ie, not a flowing one.
• Turn into loaf tins/round/bundt cake pan level out & bake for 45 mins to an hour/until done. Slide a sheet of foil over the top loosely if you see it browning too soon.
• Once done, cool in pan for 5 minutes, turn out on rack. 
  For the filling-
  Microwave chocolate and butter till beginning to soften, mix well icing sugar(sieved) and beat well ,slice cake in half and sandwich.
  for the frosting-
  Take a small saucepan and add ingredients for the frosting, boil rapidly for 20-25 minutes till thick,add butter, let cool.Drizzle on top of the cake and add silver balls, chocolate savings etc. as desired.

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