Super Moist Banana Nut Loaf

Let's start with a little note before we preheat our oven for this one - Where in the world have I been all this while? Well, to cut things short, I had been to you-seriously-cannot-be-this-lazy kind of a town. Yeah, so let me be brutally honest and agree with you if you think I've become so hopelessly tardy with my food blog. But, I still am trying to revive it and in that attempt I do hope to keep you entertained, engaged and satisfied with whatever little I share every now and then.

Now jumping into the Super Moist Banana Nut Loaf here...

Let me give you some time to jump in.

Done jumping?

This was my first baking adventure after a really, really long break of almost two and half years. And, then I took really, really long to post it, too. Good heavens, I made this sometime in summer and am posting it here in winter. But, well at least I am posting it, after all!

So yes, I made this one day to satisfy my sweet tooth and to serve up to a couple of relatives who dropped by for tea one evening. Ripe bananas come together in the oven with toasted nuts into a delicious, aromatic experience you too can feel, just after one bite into this loaf!

Karanji | Sweetened Coconut Filled Deep Fried Crescents

We're landing head-on into Christmas, and here I am, still blogging about Diwali goodies. Call me lazy, but hey, goodies are goodies - no matter when they're eaten. So, perhaps, you could make these sweet treats for your family and friends for these holidays, after all!

Now that you bought my excuse I feel a little lighter and free of guilt for not having these up around Diwali. But they're here now and they're still as good. These beautiful, crunchy crescents stuffed with sugar, coconut, cardamom and couple other things will have you clean up the platter and lick the left-over crumbs.

You can store these for over a week in an air tight container. No better reason than to stash away some right on your counter-top!

Kodbale | Savory Rice Flour Rings

I've been missing in action, I know. No wonder they call it the holidays out here. Diwali followed by Thanksgiving, I've been doing nothing but cook, eat and repeat!

Do you have memories associated with food? I do. Especially with kodbales. I'm in awe of all those tiny shops in India that churn out these kind of fried snacks, pack them in cellophane bags and sell them. They put a tiny white placard with the name of their store in tiny-er letters, along with details like the price and weight - all the ink smudged and oh-so-soggy with oil after having been snugly wrapped in along with the fried goodies. These little things were'nt fancy like well packaged, loudly colored snack boxes we get today, but they certainly made many memories. As a part of a after-school snack, or just something to much along on holidays,movies or picnics, they were always a hit.

I've tried recreating kodbales at home and this recipe works like a charm always. I made these during Diwali, as a part of the festive spread offered to Goddess Lakshmi. Ever since we got to the US, this has indeed been a mandatory snack because of its easy, although slightly time consuming, preparation.

I think this recipe is good enough, but somehow they did not turn up as crunchy as I intended them to be - Just about 95% there. Any suggestions are most welcome.

Diwali Greetings!

It's that time of the year again. Yes, its Diwali season. I now I am about a day late, but hey, Diwali is celebrated for a good 3 days, and beyond in some cases. So, better late than never!

Happy Diwali to all you readers and bloggers out there. May the festival of lights fill you heart with joy, home with warmth and life with prosperity!

So, what did you make for Diwali? Were you asked this? I was umpteen number of times. Well, so I decided why not post something in response. I know most of you would want the recipes of these items. They're on their way. But, for now, drool on!

The simplest of all items I made - Shankarpali

Another easy to pull off sweet-dish. I wonder who ever thought about this one. It will seem like you slogged for hours, but only takes a few minutes - Microwave Dudh Peda

This one is a traditionally made item during Diwali - Karanjia

And, finally, the famous spicy snack - Kodbale

As a custom, we offer these items (called 'Faraal'), fresh fruit and a platter of all items cooked as a part of the days meal, first to God (called 'Naivedhya'). This is done as a part of the 'Puja' or prayers before we eat the same. I took a couple pictures to share with you all, and here they are.

Naivedhya

Faraal

Will share the recipes to all the Diwali snacks and sweets I've put up here, shortly. So, stay tuned and enjoy the celebrations while they last! 

Masala Vada

The last few months of every year come strung with festivals knit together one after another. I made these masala vadas for Dussera and we're already well into Diwali! We're all surrounded with lots of good food and festivities. Crunchy munchies and sweet delicacies adorn the counter-top of ever kitchen in an Indian household around this time of the year.

Sorry about the sad quality of the pictures here, it was raining outside and clouds barely allowed any light indoors.

These are not only made during festivals. Think about the number of times you would've stopped by the corner shop to pick up a newspaper cone filled with fresh, hot masala vadas. Yum! This one is an ode to all the delicious street food we have in India.

I have explained making these vadas using a mixer/blender. Traditionally they are stone ground and the resultant texture is simply mouthwatering. This method yields something to that effect.

Make these this Diwali along with your festive spread and watch them disappear. (Psst...Instead, keep a couple of them in the kitchen and away from the grabbing hands. Don't complain if you have nothing left for yourself in the end!)

Baked Coconut Bites - Modak Makeover (Egg-less)

To say Lord Ganeshji is the most adaptable would be an understatement. He's been disguised into so many avatars by us humans every year when Ganesh Chaturti comes along. Ambedkar Ganapati, Cycle Ganapati, Computer Ganapati... I mean seriously?! God really has patience with us humans for all the antics we show him.

With all that said, every year, we all serve him with the one thing that's considered his favourite food - Modak. I personally love modaks, too. I made them for Ganesh Chaturti (and forgot to click pics to post it here, but will make it for you all again soon!) and they were over in the blink of an eye even with a minor glitch in them.

But here's what happened. I ended up having extra Modak filling. Plus, like I mentioned earlier about the slight mistake I'd done - I had used shredded dry coconut instead of grated dry coconut and my filling turned out to be very dry. Still, I'd say the modaks tasted good because the jaggery/gud melted when the modaks were steamed.

So, what do you do when you have left-over Modak filling? Of course, eating it up as is can be one idea. But, how about transforming it into something else? Like these crunchy baked coconut bites?

Now, we're talking. And, you agree don't ya? These coconut-y bites are so easy to make you could even use your gooey modak filling for the same as well. Just add more flour to aid in binding. I know Ganesh Chaturti was over two weeks ago. But hey, won't you just make that filling again to eat these crunchy munchies??

Grilled Shrimp Kababs

We're really not big seafood eaters. But, when it comes to shrimp we'd go the extra mile to make it. Not the curried/gravied (if there's a word like that) ones. We don't go there. We like oil, really. Ahem! Shrimp. Even if it comes deep-fried, packed with calories and bread crumbs alike. Now, like many other things that change, this frenzy of fried shrimp changed too - Ever since we bought our indoor grill! I've made grilled chicken cutlets and veggie seekh kababs, to name a few things I've thrown over the fancy gadget. I really want to use it a lot more. So, keep your eyes hooked on to SSTT.

But, for now let me serve you some Grilled Shrimp Kababs. Succulent, spicy and just made for those lazy weekend lunches when you want to do less in the kitchen and catch up with you favorite shows on TV.

You can make this using the regular conventional oven, too. I've explained that process in the recipe as well. 

This one is so easy to put together, you'd be running to buy shrimp the moment you're done reading this super-short reicpe.

Ingredients

50-60 Shrimp (tail-off), peeled, de-veined, washed

Vegetables (I've used Tomato, Onion and Green Pepper) cut into 1 inch squares

For the marinade

1 tsp Turmeric powder

3-4 tsp Chillie powder (or per taste)

2 tsp Coriander/Dhania powder

1 tsp Garam Masala powder

1 tbsp Ginger paste

1 tbsp Garlic paste

1/4 Cup Yogurt/curd

2 tbsp Lemon juice

And, of course, some salt to taste!

Other stuff you'll need

Grill/Conventional oven

5-6 bamboo skewers soaked in water

Method

- Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a zip-top bag and shake until well mixed

- Toss in the shrimp, vegetables and give another good shake to coat everything inside

- Marinate for a good 4-6 hours, or even longer if you have the time

- Preheat grill/oven. If using oven, preheat to 400F

- Thread marinated shrimp and vegetables over skewers in any pattern you wish and place on hot grill. In the oven place them over baking sheet lined with tin foil

- DO NOT throw away remaining marinade

- Keep flipping and basting the shrimp with leftover marinade and grill/bake until done

- Serve hot with a tall glass of fizzy raspberry lemon cooler

Makes about 5-6 skewers with around 10 shrimp on each

Hurricane Cupcakes | Egg-less Mocha Cream Chocolate Cupcakes

Did you know a woman named her child Tsunami because he was born when the natural disaster occurred? Well, I know its personal taste, but, really?! I thought it was bordering on absurd. I mean tsunamis are dangerous, to say the least. 

But when hurricane Irene decided to spend the weekend with us not too long ago, I was thinking of things more than dangerous. With hurricane warnings all over town, packed grocery stores, no bottled/packaged water and no flashlights available anywhere, Ms. Irene sure had pressed the run-for-your-life button in all of us along the East Coast.

Now, where was I? Yes, the woman who named her child Tsunami. Well, I did something sorta similar. But, before you get ideas and think I renamed my son 'Irene' and categorize me as a maniac...listen up!

I decided to celebrate that we survived Irene. No power outage, no flooding, no evacuation orders, no broken homes around our area and to top the list we were still alive! Oh yes, go ahead and call me a chicken all you want, but, I was freaked out.

But, we really lucked it out don't you think? And, yes, the oven was still working. So why not bake? I mean you could not go out, no traffic allowed on roads, trees ripped apart, heavy winds, flood warnings and you certainly don't want to see more of the graphic hurricane representation but you do want to eat good food. That's when I whipped up these egg-less mocha cream chocolate cuppies with my friend, DS. We had a great time baking, frosting and eating 'em up.

Need more inspiration than a hurricane to bake these? Try these cupcakes and top them off with Chocolate Ganache (Recipe here), fresh cut strawberries and mint.

Before I proceed to the recipe, I'd like to let you know that this recipe originally belongs to my friend Madhuri Kumar. It's an egg-less, butterless 5 minute chocolate cake made in the microwave. I have lost count of the number of times I've made it.  Need I say more to have you enter your kitchen?

Grilled Veggie Seekh Kabab

Summer's here. Almost synonymous with blazin' hot grills, chilled soda, sun-hats, flip-flops and most certainly a whole lot of fun. The mention of the grill would've probably had you thinking of charcoal burning and meat sizzling away on the heat. But, no. This summer, how about going green? All of us could do with an extra serving of veggies. And, what better way to get them in than make vegetarian versions of popular non-vegetarian dishes? That's what we Free-Spirit Bloggers have in store for you this month. 

All of us have in store veggie versions of recipes that normally are made using meat, poultry and/or seafood - all of which also look non-veggie, too. Hmm! Now, that's reason enough to skim through all our blogs, eh? I'll give you just the place where you can get all of this, so you can take a look at what the other Free-Spirit Bloggers are upto, but before that take a peek at what I have in store for you. I decided to take this month's theme a notch further and do away with much of the oil/grease that normally accompanies non-vegetarian dishes. So, the gill was the answer! Whatcha waitin' for? Better not be Christmas - It's way too far to have your mouth drooling the way it is! Go and turn on your grill and gorge on some grilled veggie seekh kababs.

Strawberries and Cream Popsicles

100 posts and 2 years. And, as if that wasn't reason enough to celebrate, I bought myself a Popsicle maker. Pretty obviously, I had to inaugurate it. And, I did. 

May 2010 was when SSTT entered her third year of life. Woot! I never believed I'd come this far with my blog. But, yes I have. Within two years, I've gained a lot more experience in blogging, many more co-blogger friends and certainly learnt so much more in the kitchen. At this moment, I was seriously considering deleting some of my initial posts (my first post being a simple version of Bhel Puri) because they all look so pathetic. Later, it struck me that I'd rather not. It is only when I have those old, badly written, terribly structured and picturized posts (not that I'm very good at pictures even now, but, I'm learning!) that I realize how far I've come in this culinary journey. Of course, thanks to all you readers out there and most certainly to all those of you who go ahead and try the recipes I share with you on SSTT.

Definitely, a little something to celebrate ought to be sweet. With temperatures soaring, all I could think of was a frozen treat. My little sonny enjoyed it to the hilt; I just had to take pictures of him gorging down these strawberries and cream popsicles.

You can even see the little orange bowl in which he loves to keep his munch-ables, whilst eating anything.

Baby Corn Pepper Fry

The Free-Spirit Bloggers are back again this month, and you can only 'begin' thinking of what we've got in store for you. Appetizers, starters, hors d'oeuvres or if you really care less about terminology...ahem, snacks. Call it by whatever name you want,  they're all are served with a purpose. They keep you occupied and get people conversing with each other until the main course arrives. 

Why are we all so partial to potatoes and oil when it comes to party starters? Sometimes, it is simply nice to swing things in a totally different direction. Try this - Baby Corn Pepper Fry. This one's very close to my heart, from my childhood days really, and I'd like to serve this up for this month's Free-Spirit Blogger's theme. This peppery, crunchy, tickle-your-tongue starter was a regular item on our table every time our family visited the Billiards Club in Bangalore. You'd be surprised to know this  was the first time I tried making it at home myself. No great shakes, this recipe...but great flavor, is in here!

Egg-less Chocolate Pound Cake With Paneer

The end of winter makes you want to do new things. Spring rings in a new beginning. And, with this came a refreshing idea from my very close friend and co-blogger, Madhuri Kumar. She herself had been thinking about bringing in something fresh to blogosphere. Something that would bring together like-minded bloggers and get the creativity flowing in their respective kitchens. Of course it doesn't stop there. We go a step further and put across all these 'experiments', good or bad, on our respective blogs for the world to see. 

That said, she came up with a name for this group of bloggers. She christened it - Free Spirit Bloggers or FSB, for short. Yes, now you make sense of that little logo I have up on my blog. Well, the name says it all, right? Oh! Well, not quite. I'm sure you're aching to know more. Madhuri has a great write-up on Free Spirit Blogging on her site which you can take a peek at over here. Get to meet other FSB-ites and don't forget to bookmark their pages. All of them are awesome in their own ways. I am indeed honored to have been invited to be a part of such a group. Danke, Madhuri!

For those of you who want a quick piece of information right here...Be my guest. FSB is a group of eight bloggers who co-ordinate and come up with monthly themes for blogging. Something that will allow us to transcend from the mundane recipes to exciting culinary experiences. Each of us choose a theme, be it a cook, bake or something absolutely wild (in the kitchen ONLY! Ahem!) and work on it for a good 30 days before it gets presented on each of our blogs.

The whole of last month each of us were busy in the kitchen with our ovens. Why? We all decided to take up a theme based on cake baking. The month's theme was suggested by Madhuri. All of us tried different egg substitutes for a basic chocolate pound cake. I opted on trying using paneer in place of egg. You should check out what the other's used, too. Blog hop a bit over the FSB-ites pages. It's great fun.

So, in keeping with the 'spirit' I performed my experiment on one cold Spring afternoon. Here goes!

Ingredients

21/2 Cups All purpose flour (or Maida)

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Butter

3 heaping tbsp - Cocoa powder

1 Cup Paneer (I used paneer cubes)

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Baking Powder

1 tsp Vanilla essence

1/2 Salt

3/4 Cup Milk (The original recipe for Chocolate Pound Cake calls for 1/2 Cup. I found the batter too thick and added more milk. I really think it would drink in more wet ingredients)

Method

- Preheat the oven to 350 F

- Prepare baking dish by applying butter/oil and dusting with flour till well coated and set aside

- Puree paneer in a food chopper until you have very, very minuscule pieces

- Meanwhile, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl

- Repeat the sifting process thrice to get a homogeneous mixture and set aside

- Cream together butter and sugar

- Add the vanilla essence, beat well and set aside

- Add the pureed  paneer to the butter-sugar mixture and beat well till it has been incorporated

- Now, add the sifted flour mixture to the butter-sugar-paneer mixture little by little and beat well till

blended smoothly

- Add adequate milk to achieve a batter of dropping consistency. Like I said, the original recipe called for 1/2 Cup. I added more to make the batter more smooth.

- Pour batter into the prepared baking pan, and bake at 180 deg C for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake

- Cool completely before serving

Verdict

The final cake fell apart so easily that I was itching to rename this Chocolate Crumb Cake. But, I do know paneer is an egg substitute that people use. I should try this again. My suspicion is on the freshness and quality of the paneer. So, if you see another chocolate pound cake up here on SSTT soon, you know I really am working up the experimental cook in me.

Fresh Cream Fruit Cake

When it comes to sports or any other arena that requires a competitive spirit, people get diplomatic in talking about victory. We all, for that matter, would agree when one says - "It doesn't matter who wins or looses. What counts is playing a healthy game". So, it was just with this notion in my mind that I baked this 'Bleed Blue' themed Fresh Cream Fruit Cake to support the Indian Cricket Team as they competed for the Cricket World Cup against Sri Lanka. Bleed Blue was the caption/motto of the team (created by Nike? Did I get that right, ardent fans?) which was sported across social networking sites and got my attention. It certainly had my adrenaline running when I got to know my nation was in the finals of a game that's close on the heels of religion in India.

So, a couple of us friends got together with our families to witness what would go down in the pages Indian history. While our team gave their best shot and won the World Cup, it was taking us (still is!) to sink in and digest the heady win it was. Well, what was easier? Sinking our teeth into this sinful fresh cream fruit cake to celebrate victory. 

While in most cases fruit cakes are topped off with all kinds of fruit possible, I decided to go with fruit that came closest to the colours of our Indian flag. Saffron (Oranges) and Green (Kiwi) and added blue food colouring to write the very inspiring words.

Team India, we Bleed Blue for you!!

Desi Style Savory Whole Wheat Onion Cheddar Muffins

Another one of my original baking experiments that turned out great and ....I can already see the faces light up! I know I've bored you savory food lovers enough with all my cakes and sweet muffins. So, this time I've given you mirch-masala people something to drool about - and, that too, from the oven! Literally killed two birds in one shot here.

To make things better, I've added Indian spices to give these muffins a desi feel without losing out on the wonderful combination of onion and cheddar cheese.

Do you need more reason to try this one? Ok, here's one. Having this bake in your oven makes your home smell like you've made freshly baked bread. Not heard of anyone who loathes this one, eh?

Skillet Toasted Spinach Mushroom Sandwich

The sun is peeking out, the wind is warming up. Spring is in the air...and that's what you're hearing everywhere. So, I won't be repetitive!!

Hah! That was such a mean way to start a post. But, all said and done this season does inspire you to 'get-fresh'(?)! With so much of feeling-good-about-the-day happening, I could not stop myself from dishing out something easy, healthy and filling for lunch. I just put together some spinach and mushrooms with a couple spices in a pan to make a delicious filling and slathered it along-side a wee bit of cheese (just to bind it all together) on a whole wheat flat bread. Voila! Lunch for two, under 20 minutes!

And, who is the two we're talking about? My sonny boy and me of course. This was a hit with him. I added extra cheese on his sandwich because these kids sure know to burn their calories. Fast!

Potato Mozzarella Baskets

There are moments in life when you tend to do the most ridiculously stupid things. And, as I type this post, I am doing just that. You're thinking I am out of my mind saying something so absurd? Oh, well...no, I've not yet got myself that insane. 

But, you would sure consider it insane for a person to sit at half past twelve in the wee hours of the night and start writing a post on her blog, wouldn't you? Why? She wanted to watch the clock step forward by an hour. Who? ME! Yeah, daylight saving starts tomorrow and I wanted to see when exactly this happens. My little boy and the big man of the house counted their sheep and are fast asleep in their beds and here I am having a ball watching the clock. The cable-box clock (which I'm staring at) and all those other automatic clocks in this part of the world would go one hour ahead at a certain point in time tonight... So, I hear myself croon the old Spice Girls number (with a twist in lyrics, though)...."Tonight is the night...When two become(s)...three!" Okay, I really am going bonkers out here. I should probably get to writing what I'm here for.

These little baskets get their inspiration from Nita Mehta's Mushroom and Olive Baskets, which is a recipe I found in one of her books on Baking. They're super easy and fun to entertain kids (and adults, alike). What's the best part? You can get your children to help in making this (and theory has it that they enjoy eating their food once they know they made it). I  can almost hear you saying "Oh we know 'theories' don't we? But...but...but this certainly works. My son enjoyed peeling the potatoes, placing those little coriander pieces to garnish. And yes, he gobbled these down once they were out of the oven. So, get hold of your toddler and get into the kitchen to share some fun times.

Dark Chocolate Ganache Covered Mocha Mousse Pastry

Remember my Oreo Peanut Butter Mousse Dessert that I planned to make for my cousin brother's family? Well, I ditched that whole idea. Not because it was not good, but simply because I decided to make something even more sinful. Even more drool-worthy. I mean, peanut butter is good, but chocolate is excellent! So, I traded the Oreo base for a rich chocolate cake and cut it into layers, doused it in a home-made non-alcoholic coffee liqueur and topped it off with dark chocolate ganache. Before you think it sounds so difficult, take a peek at what it looked like in the end.

This is SO worth every minute you spend making it....you will thank yourself that you tried making something on these lines. This was, quite literally, my first best chocolate cake ever. The recipe is a keeper if you think about making just a chocolate cake/cupcakes. And as for the liqueur, mousse and ganache...they just found their way into my cake and livened it up, like props for a great stage performance!

I urge you to go through the entire recipe and pick up all the ingredients before you start. You dont wnat to be half way through and realize you missed out something. No way! Also, Since this recipe is a bit long drawn I would like to break it up into parts, as below:

1 - Baking the Rich Chocolate Cake Base (Make this a day or two prior to when you want to make the pastry and store in refrigerator)
2 - Method to make non-alcoholic coffee liqueur (This and following two items, to be made on the day that you are ready to make the pastry and assemble it together)
3 - Cake assembly
4 - Method to make mocha mousse
5 - Method to make dark chocolate ganache and cover the assembled cake

Get ready for the joy ride. Just don't get bored half way through, for what you see below, is what awaits you!

Roll those sleeves up. Get in!

Sugar Glazed Banana Walnut Muffins

I hate to waste food. It is of course not something anybody would like doing. Especially when it comes to fruit, I hate to see myself throw away rotten fruit when I know I could have eaten it in the raw - What more can a lazy person ask for? No cutting, no chopping. Just wash and eat. Well, so much for natures such gifts, we always end up in situations where we have foods reaching the peak of their flavour and sometimes we just don't know what to do with the same. This happens most of the time, in our house, with bananas. We eat a couple, then they go over-ripe and then into the garbage pail. But, this slowly changed ever since I discovered the recipe for Banana Bread over a couple years ago. Not that I'd bake this every time we had over-ripe bananas, but its just such a wonderful way to use up fruit than to throw it away.

This time around I decided to twist the Banana Bread recipe to the muffin version. I even decided on adding walnuts since they perfectly compliment banana muffins. And, of course I topped it all off with a sugar glaze. One bite into this fella and you know you ain't sharing him with anybody!

Quick n Easy White Chocolate Mousse

I am a chocoholic. And, no that's no confession. It's a statement. Almost something that attributes to my personality. So much so that if you know me well enough, you would have no trouble in finding a gift for me if you're feeling overly generous when you drop by my place!

That said, I'd like to make things a little more specific. I am a milk-chocolate chocoholic. No other percentage of cocoa will do. And the absence of it simply fails to turn me on. Just like in the case of white chocolate. But once in a way we do buy these white angels, too. Unfortunately, for them, they do not get gobbled down as quickly as their relatively browner cousin. So...this half a bar of white chocolate sat in my friedge for a good 3 weeks. My eyes kept falling on them but neglecting them until yesterday, as I was browsing through Nigella Lawson's dessert videos on out very own web and something miraculous happened!

She fixed White Chocolate Mousse  out of almost nothing. And, I had just the 'nothing' available on hand. You need not guess what we had for dessert last night!

Nigella used mint to flavour her mousse, while I decided to use pineapple essence and top it off with fresh fruit as you see. And, here is what I see....you drooling like a baby!!!

Black Forest Cupcakes

What's better than good food and great company? Well, it is pretty simple - Good food, great company and LOTS of chocolate. And, what makes all this even better? Serving all this to a bunch of wide-eyed toddlers eagerly waiting at the door as you walk in with a box of freshly baked and frosted Black Forest Cupcakes. Pure joy, I say! That is precisely what I did for my little sonny S, when he moved from his playschool to prep-school early this September. I know, I know it is over a month now - How in the blue blazes did I not post it so long? Oh well, better late than never, eh?

The kids (and the class teachers) enjoyed this treat. I sure wish you would, too. Go on and make them. These gorgeous babies are only a whisk away!