Monday, February 28, 2011

Strawberries and Cream Pancakes

I was recently tweeting with Beth from  @omgyummyblog , Karen from @globetrottings Orly @yumivore, about a link to pancake recipes from the New York Times and we go to talking about pancake day which is actually March 8th this year in the UK. I grew up celebrating pancake day which is the tuesday before lent or Shrove tuesday. Because folks would often give up butter, eggs and sugar for lent pancakes were made to use them up. I have fond memories of my Dad making pancakes and me and my brother learning to flip them and eating them with sugar and lemon oh so good. 

After reading the history for this post, I came to know about a fascinating pancake race that occurs every year in the English town of Olney it is said the first race started in 1445 when townswoman late for the Shriving service at the parish church, ran with a pancake pan in her hand! The race draws hundreds to compete each year running from the Market place to the church with competitors trying to toss pancakes along the way.



Saturday, February 26, 2011

Strawberry and Banana Smoothie


When I was sick it was difficult to cook and have a proper meals, and a simple smoothie with yogurt, banana and strawberries really helped, its healthy and easy to drink :-). Smoothies are great anytime and a fun way to have fruit in the diet. 

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Hubbys Beetroot Poriyal



My hubby made this delicious vegetable side dish last week, and after he had made it asked if it could go  on the blog well of course and out came the camera!, our little one enjoyed daddy's hands turning red in the process of grating the beet root but was not amused as he tried to touch her!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Australian Crunchie



I made Australian Crunchie recently no idea how it got the name in fact I don't think Australians have even heard of it!, Its fun to make and in fact was one of my favorite things to make with my younger brother growing up. This time the name brings a huge smile to my face as we are going to Australia next month!! we decided to go a huge long haul trip before we have two kids :-), we will be also meeting some wonderful bloggers down under. I am truly blessed for the opportunity be sure to come over when we are packing next month and squeeze in our suitcases.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Chicken Noodle Soup



Yipee finally starting to feel better last week was rough but we all have weeks like that :-), one high point was making a big pot of chicken noodle soup and living off it!, thanks Heather also known as Girlichef for sharing your wonderful recipe. Its a great recipe full of flavor, I cheated a little and used store bought stock but you will find the first step of boiling the chicken with bones adds a great depth of flavor.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Tips for using Twitter


Hi all wow what a week, not even sure the day of the week!, still sick with flu but recovering slowly. Miss reading all your blogs and saying hi but I will catch up :-), heres another screen tutorial I did with tips for twitter recenty :-) hope you find it useful

Have a great weekend everyone




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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Guest Post with Victor from Random Cuisine



It is with great pleasure to introduce you to Victor from Random Cuisine he is a gifted cook, baker and food blogger and super smart read below :-), despite being poorly (as the Brits would say) I said I would post today and really wanted to. I had a temp of 101 yesterday but its down now and on the mend and we got to hear the little heart beat of our baby at the OB appointment today, little one is feeling good. Poor little Jasmine has it now but thats life we get stronger and appreciate the days we feel well more - enjoy :-)


Bonjour! My name is Victor, I’m the author of Random Cuisine (http://victor-recipe.blogspot.com). I’m a Canadian-born Chinese, lived all my life in the beautiful city of Montreal, Quebec. Recently received my Master’s degree at McGill University, I’m now in my PhD currently doing research in ultra-low temperature physics and nanotechnology. Outside work, I cook, bake, take food pictures with my Nikon Coolpix S210, organize cooking sessions and blog about recipes, so I’m pretty much keeping myself busy. Working in a cold temperature lab, I have sort of free access to liquid nitrogen, so I made once liquid nitrogen vanilla ice cream with a group of Montreal food bloggers. You can check out the video here.

First, I would like to thank Rebecca for giving me this opportunity to talk about my blog and to share with you one of my favorite recipes. Rebecca tweets quite a few of my recipes so I am honored to write this guest post.

If you’re new to my blog, you will notice that I take a lot of pictures of every preparation step, making sure that anyone who adapts my recipes, every cooking step is well executed. After all, isn’t every picture worth a thousand words?

The recipes found on my blog are random recipes made by random people at random places. I launched this blog as a mean to keep track of all the recipes made by me and my cooking groups. Life as a college student might be difficult as some of us live on a tight budget. Henceforth, the first cooking group was formed about the time I started my Masters. We were 6 members in which 4 of us are coworkers and one agreed graciously to lend his place for cooking. We enjoy our first meeting so much that we continue organizing these cooking sessions once every two weeks. We invite anyone we know: friends, colleagues, food admirers, unhealthy eaters, lazy cooks, or just skeptics, they are all welcome. These cooking meetings have been running with great success up until now since November 2008; you can read all about it on my blog on History of Random Cuisine. This group continues to expand and over 70 people have joined at least one of these meetings. I’m amazed of its success, not only that, I’m also proud that these meetings have converted some of my friends from kitchen zero to kitchen hero.

When my friends ask me to teach them to cook good food, two things that I like to teach: baking and making a sauce. Baking techniques like beating egg whites to stiff peaks, raising the dough or kneading are not common among those who never baked before. Also, I believe that any main dish must be served with a sauce to provide an extra layer of flavor. Making a pizza is the easiest way to teach both of these skills. For this pizza, I chose not to go for the traditional tomato sauce; instead I went for the basil pesto topped with chicken strips and the sweetness of pineapple. You will sure enjoy this blend of flavor. Bon appétit!


Basil Pesto Chicken Pizza with Pineapple 


Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 5 mins
Baking Time: 20-25 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients


Pizza Dough
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 envelope Rapid Rise Yeast
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp Italian seasonings
  • 1 cup lukewarm water
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil



Basil Pesto



  • 2 cups fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano) 
  • about 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • salt to taste



Toppings

  • 2-3 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch strips
  • Salt and pepper
  • Pineapple chunks
  • Mozzarella cheese, grated



Procedure

1. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, yeast, salt and Italian seasonings. Stir in water and olive oil into flour mixture.

2. Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead dough on a lightly flour surface until smooth and elastic. Make sure you are kneading on a warm surface.

3. Place dough in a clean bowl. Cover with a cloth, place beneath a light source e.g. inside the oven with the light opened. Let it rise until double in size.

4. Oil two 12-inch pizza pans. Cut the dough in half and spread it onto the prepared pans. Prick dough with fork.



5. Preheat oven to 400F.

6. Prebake the pizza dough until it starts to turn brown, about 10-15 mins.


7. Meanwhile, prepare basil pesto. In a food processor, blend all the ingredients until thick and creamy. Add more olive oil if necessary.


8. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken breasts until it turns white and still a bit undercooked in the middle. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.



9. Spread pesto onto the prebaked dough. Top with chicken strips and pineapple. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.





10. Bake for 10 mins until the cheese has melted. Serve.





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Monday, February 14, 2011

How to Make Chapatti





Last week I made homemade chapatti and so happy it worked look in the background as little Jasmine plays with the dough she even rolled a little one. To me this is what valentines is all about cooking a special meal for folks you love :-) 

Unfortunately today I am sick with a cough and fever, my valentines gift is that some kind person is covering hubby's shift so her can stay to help me ;-)

love you all 



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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Craft: Tissue paper bouquet for Valentines


Hi all I couldn't resist sharing this one for Valentines fun craft for kids to make for loved ones :-)














 The Food Hound (wish I knew her real name :-), I like names :-), lol) who has a super blog very well written, funny and with great recipes. She is also a registered dietitian :-) passed this award on to me, love that about the blogging community the way we connect and show that we care......

Love blogging as its Rebecca's little part of the internet to say what I like :-) - and thanks for all tolerating me


 love you all



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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Craft : Shoe Box English Village





Heres another fun craft clip making an English village scene :-)



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Friday, February 11, 2011

Sauted Okra with Coconut


This is our favorite way to cook okra in our house, even our 2 1/2 year old gobbles it up, the way I will show below is not spicy, but why not add some green chilis or chili powder to give it a kick. This side dish goes with everything and if done right takes all the slimiest out of the okra. We are lucky in North Carolina to be able to get fresh okra in the stores a lot of the year :-)


Thursday, February 10, 2011

Tips for Facebook Pages


I am thrilled to share my first clip of a computer screen sharing tutorial it took 2 plus hours to upload to youtube!, let me know if it helps and any more social media tutorials you would like :-)


Love


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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Potato and Pea Curry


This is a super easy curry that pairs well with homemade chapatti, clip to follow :-) my little helper even rolled out a mini one that hubby kindly ate at 2 1/2 years old, proud of her. Its like play dough for little ones. This is a fun curry and the green chili gives it a little kick.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Leek, Mushroom and Ham Crepes


Last week I got the craving for savory crepes, I always order this type of dish at creperies I had something similar a few years ago in Fort Lauderdale at a French restaurant. I had fun making them and as I made the crepes my little daughter sat on the counter top and nibbled on the warm crepes :-). The beauty of making extra crepes is that you can have the leftovers for breakfast with fruit and nutella!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Video: Sumac Spiced Chicken



Heres a fun recipe I have previously posted, but since I am into vlogging heres a demo on how to make it !!



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Craft: Tomato Box Fish Tank



Have a super weekend all

love


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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Toad in The Hole (Sausages cooked in Yorkshire pudding)


I made this dish recently its a traditional British dish and one of my childhood favorites, I always order it when I see it on the menu back home. Its basically sausages cooked in yorkshire pudding. No one really knows the exact origin of the strange name could be that the sausages look like toads peaking out out a hole, thats what I thought as a child. 

Ingredients:
  • one pack of your favorite sausages
  • some gravy about a cup
  • 4-5 small potatoes to make mashed potatoes
  • a knob of butter to add to mashed potatoes
  • a little milk for mashing potatoes
  • 4 oz of plain flour
  • a pinch of salt 
  • 1/2 an onion chopped
  • about 1-2 cups of milk
  • one egg
Method:

  1. heat the oven to 350 add the sausages with a little olive oil and onion and bake for 30 minutes
  2. meanwhile boil the potatoes and mash
  3. for the yorkshire pudding mix the flour, milk and egg with a dash of salt until you get a pancake like batter
  4. then remove the sausages from the oven and add the yorkshire pudding mix to the oven proof dish and bake a further 25-30 minutes
  5. serve with vegetables, mashed potatoes and vegetables
What's the strangest name of a dish you have heard of?




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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Bacon and Split Pea Soup


This soup was inspired by Snacking Squirrel, a lovely Canadian food blogger it looked healthy and easy to make and pleased to say I made my first split pea soup. Dried peas are a great source of protein, B Vitamins, potassium and soluble fiber great for lowering cholesterol.

 Thats actually one of my favorite things about blogging since starting blogging I have so many wonderful first recipes :-) thanks everyone.

Hubby loves lentils, beans and pulses growing up in South India with a now strict vegetarian Mum, he loves them in fact I would call them his comfort food so I knew this would appeal to him. 

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