Cooked & Tried

Eggplant Parmesan (Vegetarian)

2010-01-04T22:44:00.000-08:00

Ingredients (For 2 Servings):
- Bread crumbs (seasoned preferred, else add italian seasoning in the crumbs)
- 1 large eggplant (enough to make 8 quarter inch slices)
- 1 cup thinned yogurt
- 2 cups spaghetti sauce
- Olive oil
- 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Method:
- Wash eggplant, peel it and cut it into quarter inch thick round slices.
- Sprinkle salt on them and leave them aside covered for 30-50 minutes. They will leave excess water and will lose the bitterness. Wash them after 30 mins and pat dry with paper towel.
- Dip the slice completely in thinned yogurt and drop it in bread crumbs. Ensure the slice is well coated by the bread crumbs on both the sides.
- Using 2 tsp oil in pan with a pinch of minced garlic, shallow fry the crumb coated slice from both the sides on slow-medium temperature so that the slice gets cooked completely and becomes crispy. Repeat for all slices.
- Take a baking pan. Spread one cup of spaghetti sauce. Spread cooked eggplant slices on the sauce.
- Sprinkle parmesan on it. Cover it by the remaining 1 cup sauce. You can use more sauce as per taste.
- Sprinkle mozzarella on top and bake it in oven at 350 degrees C till the cheese melts, (approx. 15-20 mins).
- Garnish with Cilantro/Parsley/Basil.

Suggestions:
Serve with Garlic Bread or Spaghetti noodles.

Chocolate Cake (Eggless)

2009-12-18T01:13:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

Curd - 150 gms [1 cup = 245 gms, 0.65 cup]
Powdered Sugar - 110 gms [1 cup]
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Soda Bicarbonate - 1/2 tsp
Oil (Except Groundnut) - 65 gms [1cup = 224 gms, 1/3 cup]
Cocoa Powder - 20 gms [1/8 cup = 15gms]
All purpose flour - 120 gms [1 cup]
Vanilla Extract - 3-4 drops

Method:

- Mix curd and sugar in a bowl.
- To this add baking powder and soda bicarbonate and mix it.
- Add refined oil, cocoa powder and All purpose flour, all together and make batter soft and smooth by adding water accordingly.
- Add vanilla essence to it.
- Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees C for 30 mins.

[Contributed by Dipen Parikh]

Pizza - Crispy Wheat Base

2009-08-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

Cooking Time: 1.75 to 2 hours

Ingredients:
Wheat flour - 5 cups (you may also take 3 cups wheat + 2 cups of all purpose flour )
Dry yeast - 1 sachet
Milk - 2 cups
Sugar
Salt
Nutmeg powder - 1 tsp
Olive oil - 1 cup
Hunts tomato puree - 1 can
Italian seasoning - 3 tsp
Thyme - 4 tsp
Basil dry - 3 tsp
Red chili flakes - 2 tsp
Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Parmesan cheese - 1/2 cup
Cheddar cheese, shredded - 2 cups
Mozzarella cheese, shredded - 2 cups

Toppings:
Bell peppers
Onions
Olives
Sun dried tomatoes
Jalapeños
Pineapple
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Artichoke hearts
Fresh Basil

Kitchen Accessories:
Pam spray
Pizza cutter
Pizza pan

Method:
- Take a bowl of water. Make it lukewarm in microwave for 15 seconds. Add 1 tsp sugar. Mix. Add dry yeast. Sprinkle a thin layer or flour on top of it. Cover it and leave it aside for 15 mins.
- Meanwhile, take a microwaveable large bowl. Add purée in it. Add chili flakes, salt, sugar, thyme, Italian seasoning, nutmeg powder, 1/4 cup Parmesan in it. Mix and close the lid. Cook it in microwave for 30. Keep stirring the purée after every 10 mins else it will stick on sides and burn.
- Add salt and 1 cup olive oil in flour. Add the yeast after it rises in 15 minutes. Knead the flour with milk. Knead for at least 300 times or for 20 mins. Softness of Dough should be between that of the roti and paratha dough. If it's just an all purpose flour dough, it will be much more sticky and extremely elastic. Use more milk/water if needed to knead. Make a ball of the dough and put it in a tightly covered container. Make the oven warm by turning it on at 350 degrees for a minute. And place the dough container in the oven for at least an hour. The dough shall rise due to the yeast and the warmth. It shall get to at least double of it's present size.
- Chop all the toppings. Cut pepper and onions into small triangles. .75 inch. Olives in rings. And mix them all in a bowl. Add thyme, Italian seasoning and dry basil. Mix cover and leave aside covered.
- Once the dough is ready after an hour, knead it again for 1 min so that the rise settles.
- Spray the pan with Pam spray. Spread the dough on pan into an even layer of .5 centimeter. It shall rise during cooking to triple the size.
- Cover the pan with aluminium foil. Warm up the oven and leave the pan in it for 15 mins. It shall rise. Take it out then.
- Rise the oven to 450. Meanwhile, puncture the dough on the pan with a fork except on the extreme periphery. Pinch the periphery in order to give it a fine square edged texture leaving a dip in between for the pizza to carry the puree without spilling it.
- Put the pan in the oven on the bottom rack for around 30 mins. We need to assure the crust becomes crispy without getting burnt. To check if its enough crispy or not, try lifting the crust with a spatula. If it rises off the pan on a spatula, its crispy.
- The crust shall turn light pinkish brown when it's closer to being done. Lower the temperature of oven if the crust is turning pink/brown but is yet not crispy. Cook for a while on a slower temperature to turn it crispy.
- When the base is about to turn crispy, add the puree and toppings so that they start getting cooked in parallel. So remove the pan, add cheddar cheese to make a layer of melted cheese so that when purée is spread on it, it doesn't penetrate the base and doesn't make it soggy. Put the pan in oven, let the cheese melt. Will take around 10 mins.
- Remove pan. Add purée. And toppings. And mozzarella. Cook until cheese melts.
- Add little Parmesan and sun dried tomatoes and cook for 1 min.
- Remove pizza. Brush the side of pizza base with olive oil for a nice finishing.

Pesto Pasta

2009-08-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

Serves: 3
Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:
# Pasta - 4 cups
# Fresh Basil - 2 packed cups
# Garlic paste - 2 to 3 tsp
# Nuts - Almonds/Walnuts/Pine nuts - 3/4 to 1 cup
# Parmesan/Romano cheese - 3/4 to 1 cup
# Extra virgin olive oil
# Sun Dried Tomatoes - 3/4 to 1 cup
# Salt, pepper
# Lemon juice - 1 tsp (optional)

Method:
1. Cook pasta al dente with salt and olive oil added to the water while cooking.
2. Meanwhile, add basil, garlic, Parmesan, nuts, salt, pepper and lemon juice to a grinder. Add 1 cup olive oil. Grind well. Add more olive oil if required.
3. Heat some olive oil in pan. Add cooked pasta, sun dried tomato and pesto sauce to it. Add 1-3 tbsp of water if required to mix. Mix well.

Tips:
# While preparing the pesto, add the nuts in the end and let them remain a little crunchy. It will add a nice crunch to the pastas.

Enchiladas

2009-08-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

Serves: 8-9 people with a serving size of 2 enchiladas per person
Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
- Yellow Corn tortilla. Super size.
- Rosarita refried beans - 1 can.
- La Victoria Red Traditional - Enchilada Sauce - Mild 28 oz. (Green sauce tastes well too, you can use that sometimes for a change) (Small 1$ enchiladas sauce cans are available too if you don't want to go through the hassle of storing the remaining sauce)
- La Victoria Salsa thick & chunky medium hot (or any other brand)
- Apple/pear/any crunchy sweet fruit (optional) - 1/2 cup
- Walnuts/any other nuts you like (optional) - 1/2 cup
- Cabbage/lettuce/salad mix (optional) - 2 cups
- Corn/peas/onions/carrots/cucumber (optional) 1/2 cup
- Shredded cheddar cheese - 1/4 to 1/2 cup per one dish of 2 enchiladas.

Method:
1. Chop the salad leaves into 1 inch long vertical strands. Also chop the apples/walnuts (fruits/nuts) into small pieces.
2. Add refried beans into a large bowl and add the above chopped salad/veggies/fruits/nuts into it.
3. Add salsa to it. Approx. half the quantity of the beans/salad mix present in the bowl. (more/less depending on how spicy you want it to be).
4. Mix the contents of the bowl well.
5. Lightly cook the tortilla in a pan. When done with cooking of 2 tortillas, shift them to a square enchilada plate or a pasta plate.
6. Spread a spoon of enchilada sauce on each of those 2 tortillas.
7. Put 2-3 tablespoons of the beans stuffing in a tortilla and roll it up. Same for the other tortilla in the plate.
8. Put them rolled side by side in the plate with the open end facing down.
9. Pour enchilada sauce on top of those two tortillas in the plate to cover them completely with sauce. Approx. 1/2 cup of the sauce.
10. Sprinkle 1/4th cup cheese on it.
11. Microwave the plate for 2 mins or until the cheese melts. Cover it loosely to avoid the microwave from getting unclean.
12. Meanwhile, cook the next two tortillas on a pan and prepare them to be put into the microwave.

Tips:
- It can be served with lettuce salad or Mexican rice or sour cream alongside.
- Iced Tea goes well with it too.
- If enchiladas have to be made for 8+ people, use can use a square/rectangle 9" or 13" microwaveable pan. Put 6-10 enchilada rolls in the glass pan, cover with sauce and microwave all together. Serve from the pan.
- If you love enchiladas or if you are preparing enchiladas for guests, you should keep 2-3 extra cans of refried beans and enchiladas sauce stored. They last long.

Chocolate Mousse

2009-05-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

Serves:6
Cooking time: 15 minutes

1 small tetra pack of heavy whipping cream (I like the Organics brand best - but any one works)
6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons of liquid glucose (substitute with corn syrup if liq glucose not available)
1 tablespoon of water

1. Use a double boiler to melt the liq glucose in the 1 tablespoon of water.
2. Put the tetra pack in the freezer for cooling.
3. Add the semisweet chocolate chips to the glucose and melt it - chocolate should just melt - not be extra hot - stir continuously will make it melt faster at lower temperatures.
4. Add half the cream and mix well.
5. Add the rest of the cream and whip using an electric beater till soft firm peaks form. (You will see the volume double as you whip it).
6. Portion into individual cups and refrigerate to set :).
7. Garnish with chocolate shavings/ chocolate rice and serve.

Dal Fry

2009-04-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
• 1 cup Toovar Dal
• 3/4 cup Onions (chopped)
• 2-1/2 cups Water
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 3 tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Garlic (chopped)
• 1 tsp Ginger (chopped)
• 1 cup Tomatoes (chopped)
• 1 tsp Green Chillies (chopped)
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1/4 cup Coriander Leaves (chopped)
• Salt to taste

How to make Dal Fry:
• Take the dal and wash it properly.
• Soak it in about 2-1/2 cups of water for half an hour.
• Pressure-cook the dal until it is done.
• Take oil in a frying pan and heat it.
• Now add chopped garlic, ginger, onion, cumin seeds and green chillies.
• Fry the mixture on medium flame for 3 to 4 mintues. Stir the mixture periodically.
• Put chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt and fry again on a high flame for about 3 minutes.
• Pour this mixture into cooked dal and mix thoroughly.
• Dal fry is ready.
• Serve it garnished with chopped coriander leaves.