Turkey Melts

I started to eat burgers at Fuddruckers last year while I was pregnant and it was part of my cravings too. And now I am totally in love with them. For a while I had been wanting to make them at home, but wasn't very sure about how successful I could be with the attempt. Thought of making it with ground turkey and there it was a flavorful burger which all three of us enjoyed.


Ingredients:-


For the burger:
Ground turkey - 1 lb
Shallots - 1 big or two small finely chopped
Green chilies - 2 finely chopped
Paprika/cayenne pepper - 1/2 tsp (as much as you need)
Salt to taste
Pepper powder - a little
Egg - 1
Oregano - i used dry oregano, its optional
Lemon juice - a few drops

Mix all the above together and put it back in the fridge for a couple of hours to set.
Make sure that the mix is at room temperature before you start making them.

Heat a skillet and just rub it with oil. In the mean time, preheat the oven at 400 degrees (broiler).
Divide the mix into equal portions and then place it on the hot skillet, after two minutes turn it and leave it for another two minutes.
Now place them on the bottom half of the bun and place it in a baking tray, followed by a slice of cheese on top and put in the oven for two to three minutes. Remove them from the oven and allow it to rest for a couple of minutes before you are ready to serve them. If you don't like them well done, you remove them once the cheese melts. Putting it in the broiler setting, will ensure that the burger doesn't become dry and stays juicy and tasty!


Hamburger buns
Lettuce leaf - seperate the leaves and put them in ice cold water with a few drops of vinegar (helps to maintain the crunch)
White onion - sliced in circles
Mustard
Tomato slices
Pepper jack cheese or any cheese that you like

For the sweet chili sauce:
Chili garlic paste - 4 tbspn
Hot sauce - a few drops
White vinegar a few drops
Ketchup - 3 tbsp
Honey - 2 tbsp

Mix it all together and set it aside. You can add more or less spicy as per your need.

To plate it - on top of the melted cheese spread the sweet chili sauce, then place a couple of lettuce leaves, a slice of onion, tomato, a little mustard (if you need) and place the top bun on top and serve.
A juicy and tasty burger is ready and you will wanna make it more often at home that go to a burger joint to have it

NeiPayasam

Kavitha Kishore of Kavitha-vin Kaivannam is a good friend of mine. I love her recipes and have tried a few too. This payasam is now more of a meal for my son.He likes to take it for lunch to school. He loves it very much and will keep eating every spoon by complementing me for it, well thanks to Kavitha for the recipe.
Most of the time I end up making it with left over rice. You can also say that its an excuse for me to make it. Its very simple and tasty too.
This is my version of it,
You need:
Cooked rice - 1 bowl
Jaggery syrup - 1/2 bowl
Ghee - 3 tbspns
Cashew broken
Golden Raisins
Cardamom powder
Grated or chopped coconut

Method:-
Break the jaggery into pieces and pour a little water in it and let it dilute completely. Then strain it and bring it to a boil and reduce the heat and let it simmer till it becomes a little thick.
Cook the rice as usual and let it cool, make sure there are no lumps.
In a non-stick vessel heat the ghee add the cashew nuts, coconut and raisins and fry it well
Add the cooked and cooled rice and fry it for 3-5 minutes and add the cardamom powder.
Now pour the jaggery syrup and mix it well. Reduce the heat and let it absorb the syrup and stir it regularly.
It should be almost dry out. Serve it warm.
Am sure it will be a hit with the kids and adults alike.

One pot biriyani with raita and kheer

Everytime I make biriyani, I will be working on it for more than an hour to say least. Couple of weeks back, I wanted to have biriyani but was in no mood to spend so much time making it. My dear friend Nisha saved my day by telling me that I could make it in the pan with ease. So here it goes.
photos

You will need:-
Chicken - i used boneless cut into cubes
Red Onion - 1 thinly sliced
Tomato - 1 sliced
Green chilies - finely chopped
Cilantro - chopped
Mint - chopped
Cinnamon
Cloves
Cardamom
Bay leaf
Golden Raisins
Cashewnuts
Ginger Garlic paste
Turmeric Powder
Chili powder
Curd - little optional
Vinegar

Salt
Cooking oil
Ghee / Butter - optional
Basmati rice

Method:-
In a vessel boil the required amount of water. I used two cups of basmati rice so I boiled 4 and a half cups of water. Wash the rice and soak it in water and set aside.
Take a big non-stick vessel in which you can cook the rice also.Once warm add the cooking oil and ghee/butter
Once hot add the bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, raisins, cashewnuts and saute for a few seconds before adding the sliced onions.
Maintain medium heat and saute till completely cooked and turns golden brown
Add the ginger garlic paste and garam masala and fry till the raw smell goes.
Add turmeric powder and the chicken pieces, mix well and add salt
Pour in a few drop of vinegar or lemon juice and once the chicken is 3/4 done add the chili powder, tomato and the chopped cilantro and mint and very little curd.
Once completely cooked add the soaked rice and fry for a few minutes and  then pour in the boiling water and reduce the heat to minimum and let it cook. Stir occasionally and if you need to add more water for the rice to cook add a little at a time. But make sure that you only add boiling water.
As soon as the rice reaches the consistency of almost done, swtitch off the stove and cover the vessel and leave it alone for a while. That heat will be sufficient enough to completely cook it without over cooking.

Serve hot with raita, egg and any spicy sides you wish.......


Vermicilli kheer:

I had store bought almond milk and I was thinking on what to make with it. Since my son had been asking me for payasam for a while now, I decided to make it.

Vermicilli
Cashewnuts
Raisins
Cardamom powder
Almond milk
Sugar
Ghee

In a non-stick vessel, heat the ghee and add the chopped cashewnuts and raisins and fry well. Now add the vermicilli and fry it unti it turns golden in color.Now add warm almond milk and sugar and mix well. Stir it continuously to avoid burning. Once fully cooked add the cardamom powder and serve warm or chilled.
It was very easy and ready in a few minutes.

Cucumber raita:-

Cucumber - skin removed and chopped fine
Onion - finely chopped
Green chilly - finely chopped
Cilantro - finely chopped
Curd - as much as needed
Salt

Mix all together and let it set for atleast half an hour before serving. All the three dishes were done within an hour's time

Mixed fruits for the baby

The look of being satisfied with what she was being fed, I was all pumped up to prepare her fruit mix too.
Cranberries dried
Raisins
Apple
Pear
Banana

Boil the cranberries and raisins in boiling water for 5mins and let it soak it all up. Skin and chop the apple, pear and banana and steam cook them together till they are well done.Add a couple of drops of fresh lemon juice on top of the fruits to avoid discoloration of the fruits. In the food processor first mince the cranberry and raisin mixture till smooth. Now add the cooked fruits and puree everything together.The whole house is smelling of fruits now.........

Steak in cranberry sauce

I had tried this recipe to send it for an event, but it got well done and I wasn't very pleased with the color. So I opted not to send it for the event. The taste was good and Vivek liked it too. Steak is a very flavorful meal and the first time I had it was when Vivek took me to Texas De Brazil for his birthday a couple of years back. But I don't try it much at home. I served it with creamed mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, fried spinach and sauteed beans.
You can view the images at this link :  yummy steak


For the steak:
Flank steak
Spice rub
Pepper
Salt
Few drops of lemon juice
Cooking wine - a few drops

Mix the ingredients together and rub the steak with it. Put it in a zip lock bag and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Remember to keep it out and let it return to room temperature before grilling it.Heat a grilling pan or a non-stick pan and just spray with cooking oil . Once hot place the steak and do not move it around. After 5 mins turn it over and leave it for 3 to 4 mins. This timing depends on the size of the piece and also gives a perfect medium rare cooked steak. Remove it and cover it with a foil and let it rest for a couple of minutes before slicing it. This

Mashed potatoes:-
Yukon gold potaoes or any potatoes that you use
Whipping cream - 1/4 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Salt
Pepper
Fresh parsley

Bring a big vessel of water to a boil and add the peeled and cut potatoes along with salt. Once the potatoes are well done, strain the water and smash the potatoes immediately and make sure there are no lumps left. Warm the milk and add it gradually to the smashed potatoes and return it to the stove on low to medium heat. Once it starts to absorb the milk add the cream and pepper powder and mix it well and just before removing it from the stove add the chopped parsley and stir it well. Cover and let it set for a few minutes before serving. If it becomes dry add some more milk to it. It has to be creamy and smooth...Serve it warm.

Mushroom gravy:
This gravy is optional...
Button mushrooms
Shallot - 1
Garlic - 1 minced
Pepper powder
Salt
Whipping cream - 2 tbsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
All purpose flour - 1 tsp
Paprika - just a little
Oil
Salt to taste

In a non-stick pan heat the oil add the minced garlic and then add the chopped shallot. Once done add the chopped mushroom and saute till the raw smell goes add the pepper powder, paprika, salt and the all purpose flour and stir well add the milk and a little water if needed. Once the flour and mushrooms cook completely add the whipping cream and reduce teh heat. Let it reduce till the gravy thickens and remove from heat.
Fried Spinach:
Oil for deep frying
Baby spinach leaves

Remove the stem from the leaves and wash and wipe them dry. Make sure they are completely dry or else while frying the water might splutter all around you.  Heat a non stick pan and add oil ,once hot add the leaves a few at a time and make sure they get cooked well and crisp. Place them on a paper towel to extract all the oil and keep it aside.


Sauteed Beans:-

This was my first time with canned beans and all i had to to was just strain the water and give it a quick rinse. In a non-stick pan add a couple of drops of olive oil and add the beans and pepper powder and saute for a couple of minutes and serve warm.


Cranberry cinnamon sauce:-

I used dry cranberries, so had to rehydrate them first by putting them in a little boiling water for 30 minutes
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon sticks

Once the cranberries were ready i added the brown sugar and cinnamon sticks and water and let it boil and  then simmer it for 15 minutes. Then grind it into a puree, remember to remove the cinnamon sticks. Strain the mixture and return it to the stove, place the cinnamon back in it and then let it reduce some more.

Plating - pour a couple of tablespoons of the cranberry sause on one end of the plate, place sliced steak on top if it, a big scoop of the mashed potatoes with the mushroom gravy on top, place the crisped spinach on the side of the mashed potatoes and the sauteed beans on the side. Bon Appetite..... The whole meal took me around two hours to get done, hope you guys like it too

Baby food....mixed vegetables

Giving our kids the best nutrition has always been our priority. When my son completed 4 months his doctor told me to start giving him solids and that I could start making them at home. Well that time I didnt read much about the variety that I could prepare so I worked with the methods that my MIL taught me and was glad that I had the help. She was not happy with the words no salt and no sugar until he completed twelve months.

Now when Diya completed her 4 months her doctor said that I could start the solids but nothing home made until her 6 months were completed. Even she doesn't get salt or sugar until she turns 1 year old. So we have been giving her Gerber, BeechNut, Earth's Best and Yummy In My Tummy baby food along with the baby cereals. This time I started to read on baby food and that it was ok to combine vegetables and cook. The books did have a lot of options. I kinda just wanted to make a blend of what I had at hand. Now she prefers solids more than milk. She loves to drink juice and water a lot, which is a relief as some of the kids I know give trouble to drink water.
She completed her 6 months last friday and since she had her shots done and was fussy, I didn't bother to start with something that she was not familiar with. Today I steam cooked a few vegetables for her. And it does smell great and am I did give it a taste and it wasn't bad at all.
Steam cooking the vegetables is the best method to avoid losing the nutrients.
The vegetables that I cooked today are:-
Broccoli
French Beans
Squash
Sweet potatoes

Steam cooked all together till they were completely cooked and minced them in the processor while they were still warm. Poured them individual serving size containers and refrigirated them and have to put them in the freezer. Now all I have to do is wait and see how much she likes them........

Baked Penne with Broccoli

I wish I could be more regular with my blog, but guess what, with two kids every time I get a free time all I wanna do is just sit without doing anything. This is a dish I made last week and to my realization I haven't made pasta for more than six months.Well so here it is, though a bit rich in flavor but without cheese.

Ingredients:-
Broccoli florets
Shallot - 1 finely chopped
Garlic cloves - 2 finely crushed
Red pepper flakes - for spice
Paprika - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder
Basil - i used dry crushed herb (1/4 tsp)
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
All purpose flour - 2 tbsp
Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp
Whipping cream - 1/4 cup (i used regular)
Penne

You can cook the pasta as you are getting the broccoli ready.

Method:-
1. Bring a big pot of water to boil and add salt to and the amount of pasta needed. Let it cook al dante.
2. In the meantime in a non stick pan heat the olive oil.
3. Add the garlic and shallot and fry it till the aroma rises.
4. Add the pepper powder and red pepper flakes as per spice needed. Add the basil. If using fresh add around 2 tbsp chopped.
5. You can add a dash of white dry wine if you want, i didn't add it
6 .Add the broccoli florets and fry it for a couple of minutes and add salt.
7. In another non-stick pan melt the butter and add the flour, fry it and add the milk and keep stirring it to avoid lumps.
8. When it is about to boil add the whipping cream and lowe the heat and stir it for a couple of minutes and then add it the broccoli.
9. Switch off the stove and let it rest in that heat itself
10. Pre-heat the over to 350-375 degrees.
11. Transfer the cooked pasta to an oven safe tray and pour the broccoli gravy on top.
12. Sprinkle the paprika on top and bake it for 10 - 12 minutes
13. Serve it hot

If you do not have oven, for step 7 add 1/2 of milk and for step 8 add 1/2 cup of whipping cream.
And let it cook for a while on low heat. Add it to the broccoli and let it simmer for 5 minutes and then add the cooked pasta. Since this is done stove top, when you add the pasta add around 1/4 cup of the water that you used to cook the pasta.