Pink Princess Layered Cake

What Barney and Baby Bop do to my daughter and me!!! I cannot be too critical, because it was one of the Barney shows that kindled her interest in macavoni and cheese and bokklee ... so I will take the good with the bad - although I don't think too many people will agree that cake is bad ...
I had bookmarked this one at the time of her 2nd birthday but she was rather fixated on Barney and Elmo so I decided to shelve this project ... I am not into making desserts, but as a blogger, i require to be versatile, so I have been visiting a lot of websites to get some dessert and cake recipes. I found this one at Allrecipes.com - I have a changed a few things to suit availability and taste.

Ingredients:

1 box of Pillsbury Strawberry Cake mix
1 carton of Sara Lee's butter cream
1 box of fresh Strawberries

Preparation
Set oven to 350 degrees
Grease two 8 inch square pans and keep ready
Follow cake baking instructions on the Cake mix box
Bake for about 35 minutes

For the iciing
Wash and cut the strawberries
(set aside a few -3 or 4- for decorating your cake)
Grind with 1 tsp of milk
Whip this into the butter cream
Put the butter cream in the fridge to allow it to thicken a bit

When the cakes are ready, remove the first one from the pan and place on a flat baking plate
smear a thick layer of icing on the top of it
Place the second cake carefully and gently press down so that it will sit firmly
Then I simply dribbled the icling uniformly all over the cake, allow it to drip down the sides
Be creative about how you want to arrange the strawberries on top of the cake - I am sure you can come up with something better than my simple design :)
Did I remember to tell you to whip in a lot of love into the batter?
There you have it and trust me, if I can make it, you certainly can!
Cheers for now :)
For more pics, please visit my Flickr site in a few days...I promise to have it going soon

Kick-starting my Best Western Desserts Event with this entry and sending this to Mharo Rajasthan's Bookmarked recipes event

Guest EVENT coming to Now Serving

Let’s greet VALENTINE MONTH with some SWEET Love!

Announcing the BEST ‘WESTERN’ DESSERT EVENT

Feb 1- Feb 28, 2011
IMPORTANT : PLEASE USE LINKY BELOW TO SEND IN YOUR ENTIRES

 Jan Silverman, a good friend, makes some of the best desserts I’ve ever tasted. It just seems to come naturally to her. And for people who have read my blog or my comments on your desserts, you’ll know that this is the one food area that I am still a fledgling. And then it struck me who better than Jan to come and present and where better than my blog J  I decided to learn a few tips from the master. And I get to blog the recipes I learn on my blog. Fancy that. However, I will not be entering these for the awards.

So I decided to make this a Dessert event and would like to invite you all to participate…  Jan has kindly accepted to judge the top 3 entries who will receive a “Best Western Dessert” award, while all the other participants will receive an award for the excellent contributions. This will be both interesting and tough, since I know the immense creative capacity of my fellow bloggers – Not kidding!

I hope you will all join me in welcoming Jan to Now Serving and also be privy to her outta-sight dessert-making talent J

Look for JAN IN MY KITCHEN coming soon...

RULES:

For those who are already following this blog, Please feel free to send in your entries with a maximum of which 3 and at least 1 should be new.

For those who are new, please sign in to follow and RSVP the event – Same blogging rules apply to all entries

NON-bloggers welcome 

Please link your entries with the linky tool at the bottom of the post - 
If you have any questions, please email me at

priyamahadevan@hotmail.com

One more thing - no Indian sweets entries at this event- sorry :( 

All entries must be linked back to this event. with the logo. Please take the logo from my blog and display on yours along with dessert you have entered for the event.

Luv ya!

Uber healthy Sindhi Kokis

All right y'all, it is officially pelting down ice and I am waiting anxiously for my older kids to come home - early dismissal - I am unable to pick them up because the little one is down for a siesta and would panic if I was not here when she awoke - Murphy's law - just when you think you can sneak out for a few minutes is when the little one's antenna perk up and pick up mom leaving signals (sigh)
But rather than pace around the house, I decided that I will treat my kiddos when they come home wet and cold to a delicious lunch/snack, call it what you will.

And for those onion lovers, you know it makes any dish taste better - well, mostly. Kokis came to mind. These are decadently delicious chappatis that the Sindhis make for breakfast and serve with dahi and wheat halwa. I dispensed with the halwa part right away... Kokis are made with pure ghee where the atta or dough is kneaded in ghee. A family friend who is Sindhi told us that their day started off with a good dollop of wholesome ghee... well, those days are long gone, I think?

I have enjoyed these plentifully during my Delhi days and I have tried to make it a few times in the past, but I think this healthier version turned out best. So here we go

 Prepares in 15-20 minutes
Ingredients
2 cups of multigrain atta (available at the India store -
1 big red onion
1/2 cup of cut or crushed cilantro
4-5 green chillies
4 tsp of olive oil
salt
a dash of herb de provence and a little thyme

Preparation

I don't like my onions raw mostly, so i sauteed slightly in a tsp of olive oil

Add the oil, salt, herbs and chillies & the lightly fried onions to the batter 

Knead the dough like you would for I want to say pakodas a little loose or oodhiri - this means use very little water and keep checking to see if you can make a ball...

Once this is done, go ahead and roll the balls out like you would chappatis - 

Cook both sides on the pan and serve hot with yogurt 

A couple of tips: Serve these up with dark brown sugar or jaggery and yogurt - THey are to die for since the three combined satisfy your tastebud's requirement for sweet, salty, hot, and sour 

Tip 2 is just to keep the fun of decadence and not feel guilty at all, I crushed about 10 cashews and kneaded it into the dough -

Presented to you with love!

Persian Spinach and Black-Eyed Peas

This is a Persian recipe which I pulled out of WIKI (http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Persian_Spinach_and_Black-Eyed_Peas) when I googled Persian recipes to contribute to the AWED event
This again reminded me of our very own keerai kootu or spinach gravy curry and I add some legumes to my kootus simply because my kids love it

Here is how I made it

Ingredients

1 pack of frozen spinach
1/2 cup of black eyed peas boiled
1 tsp of tamarind pulp (instead of the suggest lemon juice)
I replaced the cinnamon and parsley recommended with cilantro and ginger powder
I did not have leeks so did not use it
Preparation
Followed the instructions on the website almost exactly except I mixed the tamarind in some water along with the spinach.
I am pasting the instructions below

1. In extra-large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring often, until wilted and tender, 5 to 8 minutes.
2. Add spinach, parsley, scallions and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook just until spinach has wilted, about 8 minutes.
3. Stir in black-eyed Peas, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook, uncovered, just until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve hot.

It was very tasty and I served it with home made chappatis and love :)
http://sweetartichoke.com/2011/01/06/a-w-e-d-event-announcement

Breaded Mozzarella (Bhajjis)

This is a cinchy quick fix if you are want to eat something cheesy and well - fried :) You gotta get in the fried stuff once or twice or month or, if you are like me, you will have a craving for it and go berserk when you get your hands on them -- Just a small dose of the bad stuff, every now and then :P

Ingredients:
Fresh Mozzarella balls diced to your preference (you do not want to cut them too thin)
For the batter:
1/2 cup of either gram flour or all purpose flour
spices of your choice (I used rosemary, and some herb De Provence)
For spicing
1 tsp ground peppers or
I used 1 tsp of rasam powder
1 cup of bread crumbs
Water to make batter consistency of pancakes or slightly thicker (FOR FLAVIA)

Preparation
Heat sufficient oil to fry
Make the batter fairly thick
Keep the mozzarella slices, the batter and the bread crumbs organized and follow the pick, dip, roll and drop formula
Pick up a slice, dip in the batter until it is covered
Then roll them a few times in the bread crumbs
Then drop them gently in the oil
Keep the heat in medium, so that the outer shell and the inner batter layer have time to cook - should not take too long at all -
When the color is just right (see photo) remove them from the pan and drain in a paper-toweled colander

Serve Hot - with your favorite dip -
I made a really quick yogurt dip which i will blog soon :) Happy snacking

Daily dose of fruits smoothie - Drink Up!

Ever since we got out Vitamix, which i want to say is about 4 years, at least, we have had the morning ritual of fruit smoothies going - I remember clearly, we were in Queenstown, NZ and every morning, we would walk down the main drag and there was this incredible smoothie/fresh juice place. The Fruits and veggies looked SO fresh and SO inviting and tasted SO delicious that we came back and as providence would have it, Sam's Club was having a promo on Vitamix, we grabbed one right away! I must say that the Vitamix has been the best addition to my kitchen helping me grind idli batter, giving me smoothies, lassies, chutneys, thogayals, soups  --you name it..Vitamix, I LOVE you!  But Any blender will do the trick!

Going back to the smoothie, I also learned,  from the several health shows I watch and health magazines and websites, to add a flax seed powder and wheat germs to the smoothie. We also add some Gojji  berries for good measure (these are available like dried raisins and are a great snack to have around as well) I found out too that Gojji berries are none other than our Yellandha Pazhams!!! Fancy that :)) Does that bring back the fond memories of LR Eshwari's crooning of that fruit?? yellandha payeh... It did for me:)) besides, my dear sister who does one helluva an imitation of LRE never lets me forget any of her songs...
But seriously the beauty is they blend in so well, unless you want to be fussy about it, it is totally unnoticeable. Now I present your 5 servings of fruits a day in one delicious glass - Drink up!

Here is the dope on Wheat Germ and flaxseed
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/benefits-of-flaxseed

Wheat Germ Can Be Used As A Natural Supplement

As with vitamin supplements, wheat germ can be used in the same way, but in a natural form.

Wheat germ is a good source of:

* B vitamins such as folate, niacin, thiamin, and vitamin B6
* Calcium
* Complex carbs
* Fiber
* Iron
* Magnesium
* Manganese
* Omega-3 fatty acids
* Phosphorous
* Potassium
* Protein
* Selenium
* Vitamin E
* Zinc

Ingredients: All the fruits you like, or are available (frozen or fresh)+ 1 tbs of Wheat germ + 1Tbl spoon of Flaxseed powder + 1 Table spoon of Gojji berries - Blended. -

NOTE: If your fruits are too sour and not sweet enough, add a couple of spoons of brown sugar or sugar substitute...You want to enjoy what you drink even if you're doing it to get your 5 servings of fruits 

Tip for moms with little ones who don't like their fruits - Blend the fruits and add their oatmeal or rice cereal and feed. MY little one has practically been raised on this since she started on solid foods.

Here's to a healthy start to your days :) Signing off with Love until I blog about my veggie smoothie :)

http://fussfreeflavours.com/

Clementine Orange Rasam/ Tradional Indian tomato-lentil soup with a hint of clementine

Oh My darling, Oh my darling, Oh my darling clementine season is upon us :)) The crates are home, esp with my son popping one in each time he passes the kitchen counter - But i had my first taste of it in the rasam tonight and I must confess (with modestly) that this was a superb impulse -

E-How describes Clementine oranges a cross between an orange and a mandarin orange. They were crossbred to be seedless, sweet and easy to peel. It is pretty much like what we in India referred to as loose jackets (with perhaps tighter jacket or santras and no seeds) Although on second thoughts, I think loose jackets could be tangerines

It really tasted amazing and I wish some of my blogger friends or even follower friends lived by me to taste it :))

Ingredients

1 can of diced tomato/tomato puree

1/4 cup of finely cooked and mashed toor dal (split pea) 

the pulp of 1 clementine orane

2 table spoons of rasam powder

cilantro to garnish

Ghee or butter to sautee with

Mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves to sautee with

Preparation

If you are using diced tomatoes, put in the blender along with the rasam powder and the dal and turn it for a minute to blend them together

Put in a deep pot and allow the blend to come to boil

Add salt

In a small pan, palce the ghee or butter - wait for it to heat and then pop the cumin and mustard seeds and the curry leaves.

Pour into the rasam or soup and swtich off the stove.

Peel the orange and run it in the blender until it is juicy

Pour into Rasam and serve HOT

As with lemon rasam, do not heat after - I have no proof of what might, since the pot was cleaned out :)

Love to please and tease your tastebuds

Sending this to Veggie Hut's winter warmers event!