Kitchen-Kollections

 My favourite show on food network is emeril live. He does everything with so much enthusiasm that it would generate interest in the most unlikely people (like me). My another favourite chef is Gordon Ramsay. His series – Hell’s kitchen and kitchen nightmares are also very good. Recently, my husband and I tried our luck in baking a nice pizza. Making the pizza dough is just not easy…In one of the programs, I saw one chef swirling the pizza dough above his head as if its a giant disc. Imagine, one has to keep pounding the dough for at least one hour before it reaches a level of softness!!! We got to know about this after we made our first pizza. The dough has to be pounded for 1 hr and then it should be kept aside for at least 2 hrs before you flatten it to make a pizza base!!  of course all that pounding is a Man’s work…thats exactly what my dear hubby did I only did the chopping part!!

Well…at least i know somethings..hopefully my next pizza would turn out great. Btw – this pizza is my entry to Culinary Bazaar – A.W.E.D. italiano.

For starters – here is the link for making the perfect pizza dough. Once its done, you can keep it aside and start chopping veggies. I used onions, olives, tomatoes, green pepper, red bell pepper (cut in rings – it looks pretty). In my next pizza, i will add roasted brinjal, mushrooms, jalepenos…and the list goes on …it would be great hopefully.  Olive oil is best to use when making italian dishes. Its healthy too.  Once you flatten the dough, apply a sauce on the base ( i used pasta sauce in half side and on the other side – tomato paste…tomato paste was my hubby idea and it actually it tasted better). Then add all the veggies on top and add the grated parmesan cheese. I saw in one of the food network show, they add two to three types of cheese…well..i cant tolerate eating such huge amountsof cheese so I stick with only parmesan cheese. Sprinkly pepper and bake it in a preheated oven (400F) for 10 minutes. And the Most important thing – place the pizza base on a cookie sheet!!! it helps a lot! another learning!

enjoy the pizza with golisoda or banta! it tastes great!

A man found a bottle washed upon the shore. When he opened it a genie popped out who gave him three wishes. He wished for a million dollars and poof… there was a million dollars. Then he wished for a convertible and poof… there was a convertible. Lastly, he wished he could be irresistible to all women and poof… he turned into a box of chocolates.  

I think scientists are puzzled and still trying to find out why women drool over the good old chocolate! Here is one tongue twister..

A cheeky chimp chucked cheap chocolate chips in the cheap chocolate chip shop 

i tried to master it but after some time i gave up and ate this loaf..i think chocolate is a mood lifter too! This recipe is quite simple to follow. In case you dont have the sour cream..you can add 1/2 cup thick buttermilk. I added walnuts..because walnuts are my favourite dry fruits..but you can add dry cherries too..

Ingredients

1/3  cup cocoa powder
1/3  plus 3/4 cup sugar
2-1/4  cups all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon baking powder
1/2  teaspoon baking soda
1/4  teaspoon salt
2  eggs
1/3  cup oil
1/2  teaspoon vanilla extract
1  cup sour cream
1/2  cup walnuts, chopped
3  tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Method

• Heat oven to 350 degree F. Coat 3, 5-3/4 x 3 x 2-1/8-inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray.
• In small bowl, whisk cocoa powder, 1/3 cup of the sugar and 1/3 cup water until smooth. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 cup sugar, the eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Whisk in sour cream.
• Stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until blended. Stir 1-1/2 cups of the batter into the cocoa mixture, along with the chopped walnuts,until no white streaks remain. Dollop alternating spoonfuls of batter into prepared pans. Swirl batters together with a butter knife until marbled in appearance. Top each loaf with 1 tablespoon mini chips.
• Bake at 350 degree F for 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center of loaves comes out clean. Cool loaves in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove directly to rack to cool completely.

Lastly…

C is for “Chocolate, oh so divine.”
H is for “Heavenly with wine.”
O is for “Out of this world treat.”
C is for “Confections so sweet.”
O is for “Oh what a taste!”
L is for “Losing my waist.”
A is for “Addiction I adore.”
T is for “Thin no more.”
E is for “Eat all I please.” “Chocolate”… If only it had no calories!

Perfect for cold weather!  This is my official entry for the Click event bye Jugalbandi

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces (65 grams) peppermint white chocolate, cut into small pieces
2 large eggs, lightly beat
(1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 very ripe large bananas mashed well
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for 10 min 
• In a large bowl combine the flour(sift the flour),sugars,baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate. Set aside.
• In a medium sized bowl, combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter and vanilla.
• With a spatula, lightly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared muffing paper cups. Bake about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool for five minutes and then remove muffins from pan. Serve warm.

Well..its a brand new year and I thought of starting it off with a great but simple cake. Initially I thought of a baking a chocolate cake..but it takes a bit more time so i decided I will make banana walnut cake. Its best to use ripe bananas in this recipe. There is one interesting thing which i want to share about banana..may be its a known fact but i figured out quite late. I usually buy at least a bunch of bananas. Once I was in usual hurry and pulled out a banana leaving the stalk. After a while it started giving out some odour and some black insects started flying around. I still dont know how those insects came in..but i totally freaked out and threw the bunch away. But now, i have realised one thing, as long as you break the banana along with the stalk..no odour will be released hence..no insects. I was somehow very relived after this experience…thats why i wanted to share this experience. I feel US homes are loaded with invisible fungus…lol but anyway back to my banana walnut cake recipe..you can top it with chocolate syrup and it tastes delicious.  

Ingredients

1 cup brown Sugar
1/2 cup Butter, unsalted
3 Eggs whiles
11/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup milk
1tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 Mashed Bananas
1 cup Chopped Nuts (walnut)
half cup raisins
1 pinch Salt

Method

• Pre-heat oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit (175 degree Celsius).
• Grease and flour the cake pan.
• In small bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Separate the egg and keep aside.
• Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla extract beating well.
• Mix in the mashed bananas and add milk.
• Add flour mixture alternately with the milk to the creamed mixture. Mix only to combine, and not too much.
• Stir in the nuts. Pour the batter into the pan
• Bake at 350-degree Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until test done.
• Remove from oven and cool it.
  Note: For testing use a toothpick. Pierce toothpicks into the cake if it comes out clean without sticking. It means cake is done

Hazelnut and walnut cake

Ingredients

Betty crocker pound cake mix

2 eggs

vanilla essence

Nuts (hazelnut and walnuts)

3/4 cup milk

Method

Pour the mix into a bowl and add milk and mix well. Break two eggs and beat them well so that the whole mix becomes soft. Add half teaspoon of vanilla essence. Finally add chopped nuts. Preheat oven to 350 F for 10 minutes. Pour the mix into a baking dish and bake it for 35 min. To check whether its properly baked, insert a toothpick into the cake and if it comes out clean that means the cake is fully baked! Cool the cake for at least 30 minutes. Its the most basic pound cake that one can make..so there are many variations.  I used choclate syrup here and it tasted super!