Chicken Green Fried

Chicken Green Fried - What a name !! I just couldn't think of anything else .Well, the name comes from the ingredients that these pieces of chicken are cooked in curry leaves , mint,coriander and green chilly ...... aren't  they green?

Yogurt curry ( Moru curry)

This is one lovely curry that I whip up sometimes when I run short of time or just for the love of it.
Yogurt is the basic ingredient and all else will be around your kitchen at all times......

Pizza

Leftovers ................. One could work wonders with leftovers.They are always handy on a lazy day and if disguised they become a family favorite too. Pav Bhaji is one such dish that has helped me disguise it in many ways and kids have just loved it.

Pasta with Mushrooms

Cooking is fun as long as someone decides whats to be made................:P
Stuff like instant noodles, pasta,upma etc.. usually comes handy when you just don't want to cook anything- yet, a meal on the table is a must. It makes it all the more complicated when one likes this and the other likes something else...........the balancing act is worse than thinking what to cook........lol !!
On one such boring day - I made this pasta with mushrooms......This is quite easy to make and tasty as well.

Since this is one of days of compulsive cooking - the measures are as appropriate to the quantity of pasta...........and the steps are as follows:

1.  Boil pasta  and set aside - don't throw away the water.....
2. Shred the boiled chicken breast and just saute them in a pan with some pepper and set aside.
3. Pound  a tsp of fennel and a tsp of cumin together.
4. Heat oil in a wok,  add a tsp of fennel-cumin powder.Toss in some chopped garlic,chopped onions and fry well.
5. Add sliced mushrooms and  some salt and fry well.
6. Now add the shredded chicken - add some pepper powder or chilly flakes........toss them all together and then add half a tsp of dried oregano.
7. Increase the heat and add the pasta and mix well. If it is too dry - add the water saved from the boiled pasta.
8. Garnish with chopped parsley or fresh coriander ( both tastes good) Serve hot !!!!

Additional garnish  : Store bought pasta sauce,Alfredo sauce,Tomato & basil sauce,  spinach,spring onion,mozzarella cheese or the same baked in white sauce and cheese - The variations are plenty.

However, for a lazy day - this is a good fix for a short, healthy and fulfilling meal as long as it is eaten warm

Banana Muffins

Banana muffins falls into my list of comfort foods. The recipe for  Banana cake or muffins come in so many variations and the ones that I have tried did turn out quite well.This is one of my fave recipe, archived ,as scribbled down on paper somewhere in the moment of time - I cannot recall the source .............I have made these muffins so many times - and these proportions are just right for a soft, spongy and rich tasting banana muffins like these..........

Chicken Puffs

Snack time is fun.......and usually we end up snacking on all kinds of rich food, despite our best efforts to cut down on them. There was a pack of Puff pastry squares  in the freezer,some cooked chicken breast - so got down to do the puffs a little differently...........and all I did was bake it in a cupcake pan.

Chocolate Wacky Cupcakes

An interesting name for cupcakes - wacky !! I came across this recipe on the Food Buzz.

The name was catchy enough, so was the blog Gingerbread Bagels. There's some charm to that name as well!

My kids and me went " WOW" just looking at the pictures and we just had to make these cupcakes.Thankfully, I had it all but for the chocolate chips.

Wacky cake is a spongy, cocoa-based cake. Unlike most pastries and desserts, no eggs or milk are used to make this cake batter. They say Wacky Cake may have been created as the result of rationing during the World War II when milk and eggs were scarce. Refer Wikipedia for detailed information. Honestly, I appreciate the women who baked during those troubled days :)

Banana Cream Pie !

Pie crust is done............now the cream pie. This is what I would happily add to my list of comfort food.
Martha's Banana cream pie is what  I have used as a reference.

Pie Crust !

Pie...............who doesn't like a share of a pie ?? I wanted to make a pie  and the first step is to get the pie crust made. Every time I wanted to do it - I would conveniently settle down for a store bought pie crust.

I was determined to do this some day, and I looked up every available literature on pie crust. Making the pie crust is not the point - the right way with basic ingredients and simple techniques is what the lazy me was looking for.However, Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook came to my rescue.

When I first came to Fujairah in 2001,my son & me would devotedly watch MARTHA on the channel Dubai One everyday at 10 AM. They were all old shows, but we both were so fascinated with everything she did on the show.Cooking,Baking,Crafting, Gardening so on & so forth. We have watched so much of her shows that, besides it being a  learning experience and an inspiration to bake -   my 2 year old  wanted to be on the Martha Show !!! LOL ....

Coffee and Chocolate Pudding

A Sweet Punch theme for November 2011 is the PUDDINGS - Hot/Cold.
Divya of Easy Cooking is hosting the event this month and she has chosen Coffee and Chocolate Pudding.
The recipe says to serve this delicious self saucing pudding with a generous scoop of Vanilla Ice cream.

I have baked this with all the ingredients on hand and did run out of brown sugar in the end. However, there is demand from the family to bake this another day.:)

PORIYAL - Chicken Roast

When Chicken took over the menu for the day - I decided on making this recipe which was shared by my friend Susan Thomas.This is one of her mom's signature dish called "Poriyal". Susan managed to get this right and very willingly shared every lil detail of this recipe ............

The best part however is that this recipe has very very basic ingredients.Besides, it needs loads of patience & love ........trust me - that's the only way it works. :)