Pineapple cake

I’ve been on a pound cake kick lately. Last weekend I made one with vanilla. One plain and another with tooti-fruities. They both turned out really yummy.


Then, this weekend I wanted to try my hand at a pineapple cake. You know … adorable, tiny layered cakes filled with fruit or frosting and covered in whipped cream icing.

Looking back, I decided that I should be posting this soon. Because vanilla is too simple and dropping in the fruits doesn't make them outstanding. But pineapple is something that we would love always. I should have just sliced 1-inch thick pieces from the pound cake loaf and then then cut out tiny cakes with a cutter. But no … that would be too easy. So I cubed them and decorated a few pieces with some whipped cream and cherries. Some with flaked almonds and some I left them plain after just slicing them. Hubby likes them that way.

On to the recipe now:

INGREDIENTS:

190g unsalted butter, plus a tablespoon extra for greasing the pan

190g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

3/4th cup pineapple pieces (chopped into small pieces) 

190g  sugar

3 large eggs

60g ground almonds or almond powder

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 tbsp plain yoghurt

1 full tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp pineapple essence

 

 

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1) Preheat the electric /convection oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

2) Butter a loaf pan and keep it ready.

3) Cream together the butter, sugar until soft and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and beat well until creamy. Use an electric whisk preferably for this process.

4)  In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt.

5) Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Just fold them in. No need to beat them. Fold them until well mixed.

6) Add the yogurt, pineapple pieces, pineapple essence  and the vanilla essence and mix well.

7) Pour the batter in the buttered loaf pan.

8)  Place in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the sponge is firm on top and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

9) You can top it with some whipped cream and cherries if you like while you serve. Or else you can just cut it into slices n eat.

 

Cheesy Pull Apart Breads

Sometimes I wonder what it is to go and start living in countries like Iceland, the Scandinavian countries or Alaska. The sceneries are amazing and everything about them looks so peaceful and serene. How I wish that I was born and brought up in those lovely countries. I Google about them and just sit and watch the pictures as if I am in love with those places.  My heart longs to somehow migrate to those places and live there. The only problem I could face is home sickness for sure.

Snapping out of these dreams, lets talk about the present now. The weather is getting better with each passing day. And I am glad. But back to June. June was gross. Not as gross as July, but I still can’t  talk about the apocalyptic July we had, so let’s talk about August. The weather gods came out from behind the bushes, blew their giant weather-trumpets and apparently fanned our country. The heat started to ease down. And even the humidity. It was glorious, hot, sticky, like as if we are plopped right down inside a broiler for a few weeks. The lines grew longer at the Ice-cream Parlors and the Juice centers. And then came the surprise weekend shower. Now I feel human. At least I don't need to wipe the sweat out of my brow every 5 minutes. Its warm even now, but for this year the worst is over for sure.

 

The outdoors have started beckoning us. Evening walks are a pleasant affair now, the parks are filling back with life, the trees look greener and the birds are adding to the joy. Once October arrives, the next six months offer the best weather. And gradually the energy to cook scrumptious meals will stock up. But before all that, I have a recipe to share for hot and cheesy pull apart breads. No we are not making breads here, but we are transforming a bread into a more interesting and a sinfully delicious concept that your guests will love it like hell. Surely a keeper and I would recommend it for a party also.

 

Here I have 2 types of Pull apart breads. One with Onions and the other with Mushrooms.

When these are combined with Cheese, they form such interesting pairs and  make these pull apart breads so delicious you won't be able to stop picking at it!

Cheesy Mushroom Pull Apart Bread

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

For the Mushrooms

1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme/rosemary

For the Bread

1 unsliced loaf sourdough bread (You can use a French Boule)
2 cups cheddar cheese, thinly sliced (I used a full pack of readymade cheese slices available in the market)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup finely diced green onion
2 teaspoons poppy seeds/sesame seeds

HOW TO MAKE:
 

For the Mushrooms

 

1) Heat butter in a pan. Once the butter is melted, add the mushrooms. Cook 4-5 minutes until they start to sweat.

2) Add the thyme and continue to cook another 2-3 minutes. Set mushrooms aside and allow to cool.

For the Bread

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust.

2) Place loaf on a foil-lined baking sheet. Insert cheese slices between cuts. Pour the mushrooms between the cuts. Use your fingers to push the mushrooms down into the loaf.

3) Combine butter, onion, and poppy seeds. Drizzle over bread.

4) Wrap in foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap the bread and bake 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Cheese and Onion pull apart bread

1 loaf Sourdough bread (I used a French Boule)

2 cups cheddar cheese, thinly sliced (I used a full pack of readymade cheese slices available in the market)

1/2 cup Butter (You can also a mix of garlic butter and salted butter)

1/4 cup Green/ spring onions roughly chopped

2 tsp Poppy seeds/sesame seeds

HOW TO MAKE:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust.

2) Place loaf on a foil-lined baking sheet. Insert cheese slices between cuts.

3) Combine butter, onion, and poppy seeds. Drizzle over bread.

4) Wrap in foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap the bread and bake 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

5) Serve hot.
 

 

Mac & Cheese

Its a beautiful and a fresh summer morning with golden streaks of sunlight streaming through my window. Summer has a few more days left in it and the thermostat numbers are still tilting towards the higher side. The flip flops, the sunglasses, the beach pools ,the grill kits and the picnic baskets are helping us enjoy the summer in a zillion ways.

Last weekend was an overwhelming one. Post our Friday lunch,we noticed that the sky darkened swiftly and a storm stared hard at us. And when it started to pour, it was like a dream come true as we had just started to experience a heavy downpour after several months. This happens very rarely in Muscat. Most of the time our clouds disperse into the interiors of the country and we never get to see rainfall.

So we had enjoyed watching the rain and thank God it was the weekend. The weather called for a good hot meal after which our body could go into hibernation. The heat had disappeared and the weather was heavenly. The evening was tailor-made for a peaceful outing. An ideal weekend deserved an ideal meal. I chose the easiest and I call it Mac & Cheese.

The recipe for it is worth noting down.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
1 cup prepared Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/4 cup shredded mozarella cheese
1/4-1/2 cup  milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp Oregano and Rosemary each


HOW TO MAKE:
 

1) Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.

2) Stir alfredo sauce into the cooked pasta with the three cheeses and enough milk.  This is so your mac and cheese doesn't dry out while it's staying cool.

3) Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the Oregano & Rosemary if you have.

3) Pour this into a baking dish  and top with some butter.

4) Preheat an electric Oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Bake it till golden brown. for 20 minutes.

Note:  Homemade Alfredo sauce can be made with 2 tbsp butter, 1 cup whipping cream, 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, salt & pepper to taste. Just mix the butter and the whipping cream together and bring it to boil, stirring well until thick for about 3-5 minutes. Remove from  heat and continue stirring adding the grated Parmesan cheese and the salt cum pepper. Mix well and use it for your Pasta.

 

Four Cheese Pepperoni Pizza Knots

 

So another month of dreadful heat to face and then we are well on the way to welcome autumn . I’m sitting here trying to think of good things about winter and the only thing I can come up with is food. Pleasant windy days? I guess so. Cold nights? Yup !!!

 

But then you still need to go out to enjoy the winter walks? Yeah, no. A winter walk in the evenings and on the beach side during the weekends. The most amazing way to break-free from the ho-hum days with great vigor. Splendid imagination... but its still a long way from now and instead of all this dreaming around, I think its time I come to today's recipe.

 

Something interesting here and again we are knocking at the gates of Italy. A twisty tale of the Pizzas. A rich combination of cheese and pepperoni. A luscious meal for the most elite guests. It is decadent, it is awesome, it is rich and sinfully scrumptious in every bite. With the cheese oozing out as you dig in and the pepperoni imparting its abundant flavors, enjoying these yummy pizza knots is as good as being transported to the seventh heaven. They are a joy to look out and evermore so delicious to eat.  

 

Now onto the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

 2 balls pizza dough (see for the recipe here)
1/2 cup pizza sauce (see for the recipe here)
2 cups grated Italian four cheese blend ( I combined grated mozzarella, grated cheddar and grated parmesan only)
1/4 cup pepperoni slices
Italian seasoning or oregano
 

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1) Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line baking sheet with silicone baking mat and set aside.
 
2) Roll pizza dough out into large rectangle, about 16x20 {but doesn't have to be perfect}.
 
3) Spread pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni onto half of the pizza dough, leaving a small edge border untouched. Fold the other half of dough overtop of the pepperoni and cheese and press around edges to seal.

4) Cut into 8 even strips. Twist each strip, then tie into a knot. Top with any grated cheese that fell out while tying and sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
 
5) Bake 8-10 minutes or until browned and cheese is oozing. Cool 5 minutes before serving.
 
 

 

Murgh Kali Mirch

There are so many festivities this time of the year, I realize I haven’t posted anything simple, or laid-back, for a while now.

High on my list of comfort food would be something pretty traditional from our home country - India . And Chicken is our first choice for a decent meal on a weekend or a party or a get together. It makes me smile in reminiscence of my childhood days when we would gather around for a traditional family meal with our grandparents and feast on the simple dishes that were prepared and chatter around through the meal. It is a different scenario these days when a table is laid and we are silently rushing in with the food because there is a lot to catch upon everyday and mealtimes are restricted to short spans. Life has changed so much over the last decade and the simplicity has been fading away at a fast pace.

 

This chicken curry is a classic dish. Yes,I call it Gourmet standard. Something that you can find in the 5-star menus. This earthy, soup-like rich curry is robustly flavored with creamy buttermilk, and basted with tomatoes. Aromatics like fresh black peppercorns, chili, turmeric, ginger, garlic and curry leaves are the base of the gravy cooked in a traditional earthern pot made from red clay. The key ingredients that impart a unique flavor are the crushed peppercorns and the curry leaves. All these ingredients when cooked together create a highly satisfying result, and the cooking vessel—clay pot—uplifts the flavors.

 

But I did not make it in a clay-pot. I cooked it in a normal vessel. Outcome? Something rich, pungent and totally delicious.. mmm.

 
 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

1 Kg Chicken cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup buttermilk

 2/3 cup Oil
1 tbs whole black peppercorns
1 inch cinnamon stick
3 cloves
3 cardamoms cracked
1 tsp asafetida
5 chopped onions
18 fresh curry leaves
1 tbs crushed black peppercorns

 2½ tbs fresh ginger, crushed
2½ tbs garlic, crushed
3–4 tsp chilli powder2½ tbs coriander seeds, ground
4 tsp ground turmeric

Salt to taste

8 tomatoes, chopped

1 tbs Oil

1 tbs black peppercorns, ground, extra

1 tbs garlic flakes or 2 garlic cloves,crushed, extra

1 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped

HOW TO MAKE:

1) In a bowl, combine the chicken and buttermilk and mix well. Place in the refrigerator to marinate.

2)  In a large saucepan, heat oil and add whole peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves, and cook until fragrant.

3) Then immediately stir in asafoetida, add onions and 8 of the curry leaves  and the crushed pepper. Cook onions until dark golden-brown.

4) Stir in ginger and garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Add chili, coriander, turmeric, and salt, and stir for 1 minute.

5)  Add tomatoes and cook, until they soften. Stir in chicken mixture and cook, until chicken is cooked through.

6) Mix oil with pepper, garlic and remaining curry leaves. Keep aside.

7) Just before serving, add pepper mixture and coriander and mix well. Serve immediately with rice.