Shortbread Cookies : I can smell orange in it

Orange Shortbread Cookies, rich in butter and tastes best with a cup of tea or coffee. We were going for new year get-together at my husband's friends house. And what would be best than a box of shortbread cookies for the occasion. Perfect !!!
I baked these cookies and added orange zest which gave them that perfect tangy citrusy flavor.
These are very easy to bake and can be made into any desired shape.
So here is the recipe:

Ingredients :
Butter - 1/2 cup (room temperature)

Castor Sugar - 5 Tablespoon

Finely grated zest of 2 orange( can use 1 )

Flour- 1 1/2 cups

Milk- 2 tablespoons
Extra castor sugar for sprinkling

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease 2 baking sheets.
• Beat the butter & sugar till creamy & soft.
• Beat in the orange zest. Add the milk.
  
• Gradually add the flour and gently pull the dough in together to form a soft ball.
• Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/2 " to 1/4 " thickness.
  
• Put on the baking sheet,sprinkle with castor sugar, & bake for about 15 minutes till golden brown.
• Remove to a cookie rack to cool. Drizzle with melted chocolate if you like.

Wish you a very Happy and Prosperous year 2009.

Butterless Pistachio Orange Melbas

One day I was just looking around for some interesting recipe on 'Foodnetwork' , when i came across this fantastic cookie recipe. It drew my attention more because they were butter less. So without giving it a second thought i tried this recipe and I'm glad i did. These may be some of the best tea cookies I've ever made. They are light, not too sweet and simply crumble in your mouth.
So here is the recipe :
Ingredients:
All purpose flour: 1 1/2 cup
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Sugar: 1 cup
Finely grated zest of 2 orange
Eggs: 4
Unsalted pistachios: 1 cup
Unsalted butter, softened, for greasing pan

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and Brush a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with butter and dust it with flour.
2. Whisk the flour and salt together in a bowl.
3. In another medium bowl, rub the citrus zests into the sugar with your fingers until the sugar is fragrant and takes on a bit of the fruit color.
4. Beat the eggs into the sugar with a hand mixer until blended.
5. Stir in the flour mixture to make a smooth, sticky but pourable batter.
6. Stir in the pistachios.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the surface lightly with a spatula.
8. Bake until the loaf is lightly browned and pulling away from the sides of the pan and the skewer inserted should come out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes.
9. Let stand for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack for 1 hour.
10. Wrap the loaf in plastic and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
1. Slice the chilled loaf as thin as you can -- 6 to 8 slices to the inch.
2. Lay the slices flat on 2 baking sheets and bake until brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Let stand overnight or for at least 12 hours on a rack to cool and crisp up.
4. Store in a well-sealed jar

Moist Eggless : Banana Pecan Muffins

Was just looking into my recipe folders and found these muffins sitting idle there since a very long time. So I thought i should do some justice with them and introduce them to all you lovely bloggers :)

Since my parents don't eat egg I am always in search of good eggless recipes. And these are one of my favorites. So here is the recipe :

Ingredient:
All Purpose Flour: 1 cup
Baking Powder: 1 tsp
Baking Soda: 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Bananas: 3
Brown sugar: 1/2 cup packed
Melted butter: 6 tbsp
Vanilla Extract: 1 tsp
Pecans: 1/4 cup ( you can use any nut of your choice like walnut)
Nutmeg Powder: 1/4 tsp


Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 F
2. Mix the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl and keep aside
3. In another bowl mix the banana and sugar with the help of hand mixer for say 3 mins
4. Add butter and vanilla extract to the above and mix well
5. Now add the dry ingredients in small batches and mix well
6. Now fold in the nuts into the batter and fill the lined muffin tin to 3/4 the way.
7. Bake for 18-20 mins

This will make 12 muffins

Lavaash Crackers for Daring Bakers !!!

I was waiting for Savoury challenge for a long time and here it is my first DB's Savoury challenge, the easiest of all.

The Challenge:

The Challenge: Make Lavash Crackers and create a dip/spread/salsa/relish to accompany it. This challenge allows for large helpings of creativity and personality, with the crackers, your flavor choices for the crackers, and with your dip/spread choice.

The Rules: You can make the Lavash Crackers either with all purpose wheat flour or you can try making them gluten free. You may use any variety of spices/seeds/salt to top the crackers. All dips/spreads/relishes/salsas must be vegan and gluten free.

The Definitions: Vegan - no animal products of any kind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism); Gluten Free - No wheat (including kamut and spelt), barley, rye, and triticale, as well as the use of gluten as a food additive in the form of a flavoring, stabilizing or thickening agent. For the purposes of this challenge, we are also excluding oats, even though there are gluten free oats available in some parts of the world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten_free)

Heads Up :

* You can do so much to make this recipe your own – adding dried herbs or roasted garlic, etc., to the dough, using gourmet spices-salts-seasonings-seeds to sprinkle on top, etc.
* The following recipe includes directions for both gluten-free crackers (à la Natalie !) and traditional AP flour crackers.
* The key to crispy crackers is rolling out the dough as thinly as possible. We noticed that the crackers turned out better if you divide the dough in half before rolling. You’ll roll out the dough as per the directions, decorate and cook the crackers in two batches.

Here's a simple formula for making snappy Armenian-style crackers, perfect for breadbaskets, company and kids...It is similar to the many other Middle Eastern and Northern African flatbreads known by different names, such as mankoush or mannaeesh (Lebanese), barbari (Iranian), khoubiz or khobz (Arabian), aiysh (Egyptian), kesret and mella (Tunisian), pide or pita (Turkish), and pideh (Armenian). The main difference between these breads is either how thick or thin the dough is rolled out, or the type of oven in which they are baked (or on which they are baked, as many of these breads are cooked on stones or red-hot pans with a convex surface)...

The key to a crisp lavash,...is to roll out the dough paper-thin. The sheet can be cut into crackers in advance or snapped into shards after baking. The shards make a nice presentation when arranged in baskets.

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
* 1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt
* 1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast
* 1 Tb (.75 oz) agave syrup or sugar
* 1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature
* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

Method :

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test (seehttp://www.wikihow.com/Determine-if-Bre … ong-Enough for a description of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

or

2. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

or

4. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper. Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper. Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt - a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.''

What I did:

1. For the crackers I followed the recipe without making any changes.

2. For the topping I spinkle cumin seeds, Paprika and dried fenugreek leaves.

My dip: Garlic Artichoke dip

I wanted to try this recipe since a long time and glad i did. It was very simple and tasty dip great to serve with crackers or veggies.

Recipe :

1 can artichoke hearts . Drained and chopped

3/4 cup light mayonnaise

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tsp Garlic powder

salt and black pepper to taste

Method :

Mix all the ingredients and bake for 15 mins at 350 F .

That's it! Lovely crisp crackers are now ready to be enjoyed!!

Eggless Coconut Butter Cookies

It seems that Minneapolis is not going to see "real summer" this year. Its June already, but even yesterday the sky was all cloudy and it was drizzling outside. Aise mousam mein, thought of having freshly baked cookies with a cup of coffee. Then started searching what is available in my pantry and saw a packet of coconut resting there. Immediately decided to make this eggless coconut cookies which I once found on Food network site. I adopted the recipe from 'here' with few changes to suit my palette. So here comes the recipe: Ingredients :

• All Purpose flour 2 cups
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
  
• 1/2 cup sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon Baking soda
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 2 cup sweetened coconut, toasted
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method :

1. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, whip the butter until very light and fluffy.
2. Add the sugar and continue whipping.
3. Then add vanilla extract and mix.
   
4. Toss together the coconut(toasted in oven for 15 mins at 350 F), flour ,Baking soda and salt then add to the butter mixture and mix until blended.
   
5. Cover with a plastic wrap and freeze the dough for 15-20 mins.
6. Take a little dough at a time, roughly shape the dough into a cookie( the dough is not at all sticky so very easy to handle ). Instead, you could even drop dough by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Preheat oven to 250 F
8. Bake for 15 mins. Then turn the cookie sheet and bake for another 15 mins. After 30 mins when the color was not changed I increased the Temperature to 375 F and baked for another 20 mins until crisp but barely colored.
9. Cool on wire rack till completely cool.

So crispy cookies are ready to enjoy with coffee !! Jab tak Summer nahien aata hei tab tak coffee ke saath in cookies ko hi enjoy karenge! ;)
And now Iam sending this crispy cookies to Suganya for her event ' AFAM- Coconut' ...

Triple S !!! Simple Sourcream Sandwich

Hungry and no time to cook ? Here is a quick fix .. This sandwich is my all time favorite be it lunch, breakfast or even dinner. Reason because it is easy to make, very filling and above all very tasty.
On the blogo sphere when Sandwich festival is around which is hosted by 'Anupama' of 'Food-n-More' , my recipe goes straight to it. Thanks Anupama for choosing such an interesting topic. So here is my recipe

Ingredients:

• Bread Slices : 4 ( I used wheat bread can use any of your choice
• Sour Cream : 2 Tbsp
• Rawa/Sooji/semolina : 3 Tbsp
• Tomato :1/8 cup Half finely chopped
  
• Onion : 1/8 cup
• peas : 1/8 cup
• oil : 2 tbsp
  
• Salt to taste
  
• Black Pepper to taste
  

Note : Can add as many veggies as you want like capsicum,beans ..
Method:

1. In a bowl mix all the ingredients except Bread.
2. Spread the above mix on one side of the Bread slice.
3. Heat a Pan/Tawa, Put oil on it, When heated put the Bread on tawa with the side spread with the mix down(yes u heard me right and if you are thinking that it will stick to the tawa then trust me it won't ).
4. Flip after 2 mins
   
5. Wait for 2 mins for the other side to become brown.
6. Enjoy the Sandwich !!
   

Favourite Samosas but this time Baked !!!

One of our all-time favorite munchies to cuddle up with are piping hot samosas dipped into tangy chutney. Abhi was telling me to make samosas on the festival of holi (A popular hindu spring festival also known as festival of colors ). First I was kind of not interested in making samosas and the reason was the oil, already i had made few other fried snacks for holi and some sweets. Though we both like to eat samosa equally but me becoming calorie conscious this time thought of baking the samosas instead of frying it.
So that day abhi was out of home for some work and by the time he came back I baked these delicious samosas which we both liked a lot. So his desire was fulfilled at the same time my guilt has been taken care of. Thus we both were happy.And the outcome was so delicious and crispy that now onwards I am going to always Bake Samosa instead of deep frying them.
So here is my recipe

Ingredients :

For the base :

• All Purpose Flour 1 1/2 cup
  
• oil 2 table spoons
  
• salt 1 tsp
  
• water
  

For the stuffing :

• Potato 2 large :Boiled and cubed into small pieces
  
• Peas 1 cup
  
• Green chillies 1 ( can add more if like very spicy)
  
• cumin 1 tsp
• turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
• coriander seeds crushed 2 tsp ( can use coriander powder also )
  
• garam masala 1/2 tsp
  
• Mango powder/Amchur 1 tsp
  
• Crushed Fennel 2 tsp
• salt as per taste
  
• oil 1 tablespoon

Method :

For the base :

1. Mix all the base ingredients in a big bowl and form into a nice stiff dough. Cover it with damp cloth and keep aside for 10
   
2. Divide dough into golf-sized balls.

For the stuffing :

1. Heat a shallow pan with oil
   
2. Add cumin seeds,coriander seeds and crushed fennel when the oil is hot
3. Add Green chillies and peas and saute for few minutes till the peas becomes tender.
4. Add salt, chili powder, turmeric powder, Amchur powder, and Garam masala and fry spices for a minute.
5. Add potato cubes and saute till spices mix well with the potatoes.
   
6. Allow the mix to cool.

For the Samosa:

1. Roll out each dough ball into circular discs about half a centimetre thick.
2. Cut circle in half in the middle, to form two semi-circles.
3. Brush some water on the edges (to seal the edges).
   
4. Taking one semi-circle, roll one end to the other forming a cone.
5. Press the edge of the cone slightly with your fork or fingers to prevent it from opening.
6. Fill cone with potato filling.
7. Pinch the middle of open end of the cone slightly to form a dent, and press edges together to tightly close, forming a pyramid-like shape.
   
8. Continue for the remaining of the dough.
9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
10. Brush all the samosas with some oil and arrange on the sheet.
11. Bake them at 400 F for 30-35 mins or until golden brown.

Serve warm with green coriander chutney or tamarind chutney or sauce.

Basket Full of Eggless Apple Raisin Muffins

I have been searching for Eggless muffin recipe for a while now and finally found one. I have seen this recipe on the show on food network. These muffins are not only easy to make, but they are very tasty and moist. I made this for our evening snack and although we are not very fond of apples, we can not stop eating them. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
So here is the recipe :

Ingredients:

• Water 1/2 cup
  
• Sugar 1 cup
• Grated apples 1 cup
  
• Raisins 1/4 cup ( can be increased if wanted )
  
• Butter 1/2 cup (1 stick )
• Baking soda 1 teaspoon
• Vanilla Essence 1/2 teaspoon
  
• All Purpose flour 1 3/4 cups
  

Method :

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F .
2. Combine the water, apples, raisins, sugar and butter in a saucepan. Bring to boil.
3. Remove the pan from heat and cool completely.
   
4. In a large bowl, stir the baking soda and vanilla essence into the flour.
5. Add the cooled mixture to the bowl and stir until blended.
6. Fill the greased muffin pan with the batter to the top.
7. Bake for 20 minutes.

Delicious moist muffins are ready to eat.


Note : Walnuts can be added to this for more flavor. These muffins can be stored in re-sealable freezer bag.

Perfect at Tea Time or Anytime ..Methi Mathri

Mathri ,the name takes me back to the time when i was studying in college. After every semester break when it is time to return to hostel, my Mom used to give me a bag full of snacks and among those these Mathris were my favorite. My friends used to tease me that are you bringing stones from your home as my luggage used to be so heavy. Anything is better than starving in hostel. I thought.

Recently one of our best friend was going to Chicago for new job. So first I thought of throwing a good party for him. Then Abhi suggested that since he is a bachelor it would be nice if you can make some good homemade stuffs for him. And then came the idea of making these delicious mathris and other snacks and sweet items for him. So here is my recipe for my favourite tea time snack.

Ingredients :

• Maida /All purpose flour : 2 cups
  
• Rawa : 1/2 cup
  
• Kasuri Methi (Dried crushed fenugreek leaves) :about 1/2 cup ,can be adjusted according to taste
  
• Salt to taste
  
• Oil :1/4 cup or more to make dough
  
• Ajwain : 1 Tbsp
• Turmeric Powder : 1 Tsp Optional
  
• Water to make dough
  
• Oil for frying
  

Method :

1. Sieve maida ,add rawa ,salt ,ajwain ,kasuri methi and turmeric powder .
2. Mix the oil well into the flour ,oil should be evenly mixed into the flour .To test if you have added sufficient oil ,take some mixture in your palm and close .When you open your palm the dough should retain its shape .If it is not retaining the shape then add more oil this will make the mathri more crispy .
3. Now add water a little by little to make stiff dough .
4. Cover the prpared dough with damp cloth for about 15 mins .
   
5. Now make small rounds and roll out into thick mathris .
6. Put some marks on the rolled mathri using fork or knife .
7. Deep fry
   
8. Let them cool and store in airtight container .

Crispy mathris are ready to eat with tea .I like to eat them with achar so you can try that too .

Healthy Moong dal Dosa

One day i was talking to my friend and asking for some quick breakfast recipe and she gave me this wonderful simple quick healthy recipe for making dosa which both of us liked very much .Making dosa in a traditional way requires so much of planning .You have to start the preparation a day in advance or if you are staying in cold place like us may be the preparation requires 2 days .So here is the recipe with the results very close to the traditional recipe with very less efforts .

Ingredients :

• 2 cups Split Yellow moong dal
• Green chillies to taste
  
• Salt to taste
  
• small piece of ginger
  

Method :

1. Soak the moong dal for 3 to 4 hours in enough water to cover the dal completely .
   
2. Then grind the moong dal to a smooth batter along with green chillies and ginger .
3. Add salt .
4. Make sure the batter has a pouring consistency.
5. Make dosa in the same manner you make traditional dosa ie lightly grease a hot pan and pour laddle full of batter at the centre of the pan ,with the laddle make quick concentric motion until the batter is spread around the pan .Put a spoonful of oil around the edges of the dosa .When you see the edges browing flip the dosa with the help of pancake flipper .A minute later it is ready to serve .
6. Serve it hot with coconut chutney or potato bhaji

PS: I am sending this to Srivalli for the “Dosa Mela“