No Flour Chocolate Souffle

As the days are getting colder and colder here in Chicago, we are on the lookout for hot and warm things to eat. Today we thought of making a chocolate souffle and when I was going through the recipes to make one, I found a no flour chocolate souffle recipe in Nick Malgieri's book 'Chocolate'. The recipe was very simple and we had to try it. The souffle rose well, was baked through with a soft liquid center and we enjoyed it a lottt.

Ingredients:(Makes 4 servings)

Semi sweet Chocolate - 7 tbsp 

Strong brewed coffee - 2 tbsp

Butter - 2 tbsp, softened

Egg yolks - 2

Egg whites - 4

Salt - a pinch

Sugar - 2 tbsp

Method of Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F and butter and dust the ramekins with sugar and place them on a baking sheet

2. Add the chocolate and coffee to a heat proof bowl and place it over a pan of hot water. Mix often and allow the chocolate to melt. Remove from heat.

3. Stir in the butter and let the mixture cool down. Stir in the egg yolks.

4. Add egg whites and salt to a bowl and using an electric mixer beat them until they hold light peaks. Add the sugar gradually and continue to beat till the egg whites form soft peaks.

5. Take a quarter of the egg whites mixture and stir it into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the rest of the egg whites mixture using a rubber spatula.

6. Pour the batter into the buttered and sugared ramekins. Fill them to the top. Bake for around 12 to 15 minutes or until the souffles are well risen and baked through, except for the center which should remain soft and liquid.(You can use a spoon to lift the top off on one side and check, the top will fall right back into place)

7. Serve the hot no flour chocolate souffles immediately.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

My dearest hubby had a Halloween party in his office this week and wanted me to make him something for that. I baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for him and they turned out pretty good. The preparation was pretty easy and I added a few raisins to the cookie dough as well. The bake time for each batch was around 10-12 minutes.

Ingredients:(Makes about 25-30 cookies)
All purpose flour - 3/4 cup
Butter - 1 stick/8 tbsp, softened
Brown Sugar - 3/4 cup
Rolled Oats - 11/2 cups
Chocolate Chips - 1 cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon Powder - 1/2 tsp
Raisins - 1/2 cup(Optional)
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and line the baking sheet with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl add butter and sugar and beat them till creamy.
2. Add the vanilla extract and egg and beat till a smooth mixture is formed. Stir in the flour, cinnamon powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Add the oatmeal and chocolate chips and raisins, if using to the mixture and mix well. Drop the cookie dough using a tablespoon onto the baking sheets. Flatten the cookies slightly using the back of a fork or a spatula.
4. If you prefer chewy cookies, then bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and still moist else bake for 12 minutes.
5. Cool the cookies and store them in air tight container. Enjoy the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with your friends and family.

Sending this to Champa's 'Bake-off' event and Akila's 'DNSW:C'

Raw Plantain Curry

I made this curry accidentally one day and we loved it so much that we have been making this very often. I was planning to make a raw plantain fry by parboiling them and accidentally over boiled them. So, I made this curry instead of the original stir fry and was more than happy that the accident happened :).

Ingredients:

Raw Plantain - 1, peeled, diced into small pieces

Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Tamarind - small lemon size, soaked in warm water

Jaggery - small piece(optional)

Water - 3 cups

Dry Roast and Grind to Powder:

Fenugreek seeds - 5 or 6

Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Coriander Seeds - 1 1/2 tsp

For Tempering:

Oil - 1 Tbsp

Dry Red Chillies - 2

Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Split Bengal gram - 1/4 tsp

Garlic pods - 3, roughly crushed

Method of Preparation:

1. Boil water in a vessel and add the diced plantain pieces, salt and turmeric powder to the boiling water. Cook covered. After the plantain pieces become soft, add the tamarind extract to it. 

2. Slightly mash the plantain pieces with a masher or using the back of a strong ladle.

3. Add the ground powder, chilli powder, jaggery and mix well. If the mixture becomes too thick, add little water to get to the desired consistency.

4. Heat oil in a small pan, add the mustard seeds, let them splutter, then add cumin seeds, split Bengal gram, broken dry red chillies and crushed garlic pods.

5. Fry till the garlic pods turn golden brown. Add this mixture to the boiling curry, adjust the salt and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.

6. Enjoy the hot raw plantain curry with hot steamed rice.

Bourbon Biscuits

Bourbon biscuits are loved by many and my hubby is one of those. He likes munching on these biscuits and enjoys them with his cup of coffee. Few days back I was going through a book on chocolate and found a very easy recipe for making the bourbon cookies. Finally today, I took time out to try the recipe and make the bourbon biscuits. The biscuits came out very well, the only thing missing was the sugar granules on top, next time I bake them, I will add the sugar granules on top before baking the biscuits. The original recipe did not have vanilla essence, however I feel that addition of a little vanilla extract will make them taste even better.

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Cocoa Powder - 3 tbsp
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Unsalted Butter - 4 tbsp, softened
Granulated Sugar - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla Extract - 1/4 tsp

For the Filling:
Hot water/Strong brewed coffee - 3 tbsp
Melted Semi sweet chocolate - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
2. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Mix them well and sift the mixture using a sieve.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar and then beat in the egg and vanilla essence. Stir in the dry ingredients until the mixture turns into a dough.
4. Knead the dough a little and place it on a floured surface. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough and roll it to form a 10 inch square.
5. Cut the dough into strips 21/2 inch in width. Then cut each strip into 1 inch pieces. Approximately you should have 40 1 X 21/2 inch rectangles.
6. Arrange the cookies on the baking sheet and using a fork, pierce each biscuit/cookie about four times. Bake them for around 20 minutes or until they become crisp and dry
7. Cool the biscuits in the baking sheet.
8. For the filling, mix the coffee or water into the melted chocolate and add the sugar. Mix well. Turn half the cookies over so that the bottom side is facing up. Spread a little filling on them. Place a cookies on top of the ones with the filling. Leave the cookies until the filling sets and hardens a little bit.
9. Enjoy the bourbon biscuits/cookies with coffee or tea.

Note: Do not over bake the cookies, else you will end up with hard biscuits.

Sending this recipe to Champa's 'Bake-off' event.

Roasted Garlic Guacamole

Making guacamole is probably the easiest and quickest. All you need is ripe avocados and within minutes you can dish up a yummy guacamole. Today I tried adding roasted garlic to the guacamole and the outcome was so yummy that my better half finished the whole bowl of guacamole with chips.

Ingredients:

Ripe Avocados - 2

Garlic - 2 cloves, unpeeled

Tomato - 1 small, finely chopped

Onion - 1/2 small sized, finely chopped

Cilantro - 2 tbsp, finely chopped

Paprika/Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp

Lime Juice - 1 tsp

Salt - As per taste

Method of Preparation:

1. Heat a small pan, add the garlic cloves with the peel on. Roast them until the garlic turns soft and black spots are developed on the them. Roast them for around 10 to 15 minutes, turning around in between.

2. Let the garlic cool down, remove the peel. Add the roasted garlic to a mortar and grind to a smooth paste.

3. Cut around the avocados, then twist the avocado halves and pull them apart. Remove the seed and scoop out the avocado flesh into a bowl. 

4. Add the roasted garlic paste, chopped cilantro, lime juice, paprika and mix well, coarsely mashing the avocado flesh. Add salt and chopped tomatoes, mix.

5. Wash the chopped onions in water, drain the water and add them to the avocado mixture.

6. Mix well, adjust the salt and enjoy the roasted garlic guacamole with chips.

Banana Peppers Potato Fry

Banana peppers are widely available in most of the grocery stores here in US. Back in India, my mom used to make a simple banana peppers fry by adding roasted chana dal/daliya/poppula podi. Today I made a spice mix and used it to add flavor to the dish. I also added potatoes to it, you can even avoid using potatoes and make this dish using only the banana peppers. The banana peppers i used were a little spicy, so I added a little amount of chilli powder, it is better to taste the peppers while they are being cooked before adding chilli powder to the dish.

Ingredients:

Banana Peppers - 5, slit them open, discard seeds, finely chop them

Potatoes - 2, medium sized, finely diced

Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp(adjust according to spice levels)

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - As per taste

For the Spice Mix:

Bengal Gram/Urad dal - 1 tbsp

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Chana Dal - 1 tsp

Fenugreek Seeds - 8

- Dry roast all the ingredients, cool them and grind them

Method of Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a non stick pan, add cumin seeds, after they start spluttering, add the chopped potatoes and banana peppers. Mix well, add a little salt and cover the lid.

2. Keep stirring in between, if needed sprinkle a little water.

3. Once the peppers and potatoes are 3/4 th cooked, add the ground spice mix, chilli powder and mix well.

4. Adjust the salt and cook covered till the potatoes and banana peppers are completely cooked through.

5. Serve the banana peppers potato fry with steamed rice or rotis.

Baked Tandoori Chicken Breast

Few months back, I had watched an Indian TV show, in which chef Sanjeev Kapoor of the 'Khana Khazana' fame was talking about his new book based on Tandoor dishes. In the same episode he made tandoori chicken without using a tandoor. Though I did not note down the ingredient quanitites, I registered the ingredients in my mind :). I have been wanting to try that for a long time now. Finally, this weekend, I did try the tandoori chicken recipe. I baked the tandoori chicken breasts and finally finished them under the broiler. The baked tandoori chicken came out very soft and moist. We are definitely going to try this recipe again with a few more variations.

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast - 2
Mustard Oil - 2 tbsp
Yogurt - 5 tbsp
Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Kashmiri Chilli Powder - 2 tsp(renders red color)
Chilli Powder/Paprika - 1/2 tsp(Adjust as per spice levels)
Lime Juice - 11/2 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Butter - 1 tsp
Salt - As per taste

Method of Preparation:
1. Make incissions on the chicken breasts using a sharp knife. Sprinkle a little salt, 1/2 tbsp lime juice and a teaspoon of kashmiri chilli powder on both sides of the chicken breasts and rub them into the chicken.
2. In a bowl add the yogurt, ginger paste, garlic paste, remaining kashmiri chilli powder, chilli powder, remaining lime juice, salt, garam masala and the mustard oil. Mix well.
3. Add the chicken breasts to the marinade, mix well using your hands so that the marinade gets coated evenly on the chicken breasts. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line the baking sheet with a foil and spray a little cooking spray on it.
5. Place the marinated chicken breasts on the baking sheet, keep aside the left over marinade, we can use it to baste the chicken later.
6. Bake the chicken breasts for 25 minutes, take them out and apply the remaining marinade on the either sides of the breasts and put them back in the oven for 15 minutes.
7. Take out the chicken breasts and apply a little butter on either sides. Bake them for 10 minutes.
8. Once the chicken is cooked through, put the baked chicken under the broiler for 3-5 minutes or until it is charred a little bit.
9. Slice the baked tandoori chicken breasts and enjoy with onion rings.

Sending this recipe to 'Anyone Can Cook- Series 5' being hosted by Ayeesha and Girlichef's 'Hearth n Soul'