Cheese balls - great party appetizers!!

Happy New Year, everyone!! I know its been almost a month since the new year, but better late than never I guess! I have been meaning to share this recipe with you since after Christmas but finally today, I got to make this post on Tasty treats! Yes, things are really hectic over here, I just dont know how to manage my time. Its totally weird that even now, I cant really say that I have adjusted to having to work, spend a chunk of my spare time in commute and still having to be a mom and a wife, all the while wishing to keep my blog going!! I had to skip the Daring Baker's challenge for December becuase I just couldn't figure out a time to do it! All the working food bloggers out there, please give me pointers!! :-)

Anyways, we had a quiet but nice Christmas meal with just the three of us. I had tried roasting Cornish Hens for the first time, along with a few other new recipes, which I am hoping to share with you soon. We had these amazing cheese balls as appetizers. These are very quick to put together, but they would definitely impress your guests in their looks, not to mention its wonderful taste. The texture of the soft, melting cheesy balls add onto the great appeal of these easy appetizers. Make sure to serve them warm, so as to keep the cheese melted.

I found this recipe in the Food Network Magazine at work, in a small ad for Viva Paper towels. The recipe has been shared by Jeannine Williams. I really didnt make any changes to the recipe except for that I didnt have garlic powder (I thought I had it, but it turned out on the day of cooking that I didnt!! - should have checked first!). So ours were probably lacking the flavor, which we absolutely didnt notice, because they were delicious!! The tomato ketchup dip is definitely the perfect accompaniment for these golden-brown fried cuties!

Recipe (Makes approximately 44 balls) :

Ricotta cheese (15oz. container) - 1

Eggs - 2

Shredded Mozarella Cheese - 2 cups

Seasoned bread crumbs - 2 cups, divided

Garlic powder - 1/4 tsp

Vegetable oil - for frying

Tomato sauce - for dipping

Method:

Heat 2 inches of vegetable oil in a large pot or deep fryer until the termometer registers 360F.

Mix together ricotta and eggs.

Add mozzarella cheese, 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs and garlic powder.

Roll cheese about the size of golf balls, toss in remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs.

Carefully place in oil.

Fry a few at a time, about 1 minute 30 seconds.

Drain on paper towels (Viva ofcourse!!) and serve warm.

Tips:

1. We got about 20 big cheese balls (not golf ball sized for sure!!)
2. Serve warm so that the cheese is still melted.
3. Coat the balls well, with bread crumbs. If the cheese portion is exposed, it might melt and stick to the bottom of the pan.
4. I used plain toasted bread crumbs and not seasoned crumbs.

Have a great week ahead!! See you soon with more recipes...

Vols-au-Vent with Home-made Puff Pastry for DB challenge

Once again its time for all of the Daring Bakers across the world to reveal our challenge for the month of September.

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Eventhough I was a little scared thinking that this would be a lot of work, I was encouraged and excited by the wonderful photos that Steph had posted in our forum on challenge reveal post!! I knew I wanted to attempt this challenge, but like the last few months, I wasnt sure if I would actually get to do it because of time constraints.

Mandatory parts of the challenge: You must make Michel Richard’s recipe for puff pastry (as seen below), and form at least part of it into vols-au-vent.

Optional parts of the challenge: You may make your vols-au-vent large or small, and may fill them with whatever you choose (savory or sweet).

I finally got to start my challenge yesterday!! I halved the recipe because the thought of using a pound of butter on the same day, almost made me faint! I started at around 8.00 am and finished all of my six turns of dough by about 10.00 am. Working with the dough was so easy and everything went smooth, but still a bit of butter leaked here and there, once in a while. But I was really surprised at how quickly I finished my turns without major problems.

I was thinking of completing the baking in the evening, but couldnt' wait to see if my pastry would rise or not. So I cut the dough in half, rolled it out and cut out floral shapes to form my savory vols-au-vents. By the time I finished cutting them out, I think the butter was softened, so it was hard to align two floral cutouts to form the shell. So my initial shells turned out a bit lopsided or uneven.

The savory shells were filled with chilled chicken salad with chopped cooked chicken, celery, onion, mayo and salt. The sweet version was kept simple with whipped cream, chopped strawberries and grated chocolate.

VERDICT:

I really really loved the home-made puff pastry!! I am so excited because I never thought I could make a supposedly hard dough of puff pastry at home, ever! It was really amazing to me how fast I got done with preparing the dough! The pastry puffed up nicely when baked and was crisp, flaky and delicious! The chicken salad was perfect on the pastry shells. Yes, for the first time ever, I loved the savory version more than the sweet version (probably because the dough had salt which went well with the mayo and the salad). The sweet version was kept simple because I just didnt have any time, though I thought about a filling of mango mousse or vanilla mousse. I bet it would be awesome fillings for a more elegant dessert version! JM and even lil LM loved the chicken salad version. I would love to make the puff pastry again and maybe make some meat puffs and some sweet versions of vols-au-vent! Thanks Steph, for this wonderful choice...

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough

From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Steph’s note: This recipe makes more than you will need for the quantity of vols-au-vent stated above. While I encourage you to make the full recipe of puff pastry, as extra dough freezes well, you can halve it successfully if you’d rather not have much leftover.

There is a wonderful on-line video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia” that accompanies the book. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough (although they go on to use it in other applications). They do seem to give slightly different ingredient measurements verbally than the ones in the book…I listed the recipe as it appears printed in the book. http://video.pbs.org/video/1174110297/search/Pastry

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter

plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent

Yield: 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe above will yield about 8-10 1.5” vols-au-vent or 4 4" vols-au-vent

In addition to the equipment listed above, you will need:
-well-chilled puff pastry dough (recipe below)
-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)
-your filling of choice

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage. See the “Tips” section below for more storage info.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.

(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)

Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.

Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)

Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the silicon mat or parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)

Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.

Fill and serve.

*For additional rise on the larger-sized vols-au-vents, you can stack one or two additional ring layers on top of each other (using egg wash to "glue"). This will give higher sides to larger vols-au-vents, but is not advisable for the smaller ones, whose bases may not be large enough to support the extra weight.

*Although they are at their best filled and eaten soon after baking, baked vols-au-vent shells can be stored airtight for a day.

*Shaped, unbaked vols-au-vent can be wrapped and frozen for up to a month (bake from frozen, egg-washing them first).

Steph’s extra tips:

-While this is not included in the original recipe we are using (and I did not do this in my own trials), many puff pastry recipes use a teaspoon or two of white vinegar or lemon juice, added to the ice water, in the détrempe dough. This adds acidity, which relaxes the gluten in the dough by breaking down the proteins, making rolling easier. You are welcome to try this if you wish.

-Keep things cool by using the refrigerator as your friend! If you see any butter starting to leak through the dough during the turning process, rub a little flour on the exposed dough and chill straight away. Although you should certainly chill the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns, if you feel the dough getting to soft or hard to work with at any point, pop in the fridge for a rest.

-Not to sound contradictory, but if you chill your paton longer than the recommended time between turns, the butter can firm up too much. If this seems to be the case, I advise letting it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to give it a chance to soften before proceeding to roll. You don't want the hard butter to separate into chuncks or break through the dough...you want it to roll evenly, in a continuous layer.

-Roll the puff pastry gently but firmly, and don’t roll your pin over the edges, which will prevent them from rising properly. Don't roll your puff thinner than about about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick, or you will not get the rise you are looking for.

-Try to keep “neat” edges and corners during the rolling and turning process, so the layers are properly aligned. Give the edges of the paton a scooch with your rolling pin or a bench scraper to keep straight edges and 90-degree corners.

-Brush off excess flour before turning dough and after rolling.

-Make clean cuts. Don’t drag your knife through the puff or twist your cutters too much, which can inhibit rise.

-When egg washing puff pastry, try not to let extra egg wash drip down the cut edges, which can also inhibit rise.

-Extra puff pastry dough freezes beautifully. It’s best to roll it into a sheet about 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick (similar to store-bought puff) and freeze firm on a lined baking sheet. Then you can easily wrap the sheet in plastic, then foil (and if you have a sealable plastic bag big enough, place the wrapped dough inside) and return to the freezer for up to a few months. Defrost in the refrigerator when ready to use.

-You can also freeze well-wrapped, unbaked cut and shaped puff pastry (i.e., unbaked vols-au-vent shells). Bake from frozen, without thawing first.

-Homemade puff pastry is precious stuff, so save any clean scraps. Stack or overlap them, rather than balling them up, to help keep the integrity of the layers. Then give them a singe “turn” and gently re-roll. Scrap puff can be used for applications where a super-high rise is not necessary (such as palmiers, cheese straws, napoleons, or even the bottom bases for your vols-au-vent).

Thank you so much for visiting me today!! Have a great week ahead! Check out the work of other DBers here.

Spinach Cheese Swirls

Things are definitely getting more hectic around here... I am going to start volunteering at the U for a couple of months. So each day is packed with actvities like preparing for the work, finding a pre-school for lil LM and finishing up the house-hold stuff before things get real crazy around here!! I am trying to enjoy the last few days of freedom and savoring the time alone with my lil girl. Even before starting work, all those days whining about sitting at home have started to seem like a bad idea ;-). Eventhough I know that if we were in India, LM would've started Kindergarten, it feels hard to let go!! SIGH!! JM is wondering why I am sad about sending her to pre-school for the whole week. Well, it might be because I am used to being with her 24/7!! I am so sorry, am I bringing you all down? I just had to let it out somewhere..... Anyways, lets get into our recipe for today!

I got this recipe from a small recipe booklet of Pepperidge farm puff pastry sheets. This is a very simple and straight-forward recipe made easy with the ready made pastry sheets (Check out the home-made flavored pastry sheets for Daring Bakers challenge here). I substituted a few of the ingredients with my own. Check out the original recipe here. These cute lil cheese swirls were simply irresistible. "No one can eat just one" if I could quote the Lays potato chips ad! This is one delicious hors d'oeuvre or appetizer that you can serve your guests which is guaranteed to be an instant hit! Sorry for the not so great pictures, we just didnt have the patience to wait around for re-taking the pictures!!

We all are not-so-great spinach lovers and these made me doubt if I am missing out on something! The spinach goes well with the cheese and other ingredients in these savory cuties and the flavor and texture of spinach is well pronounced, but wonderful! Try these out and you will be definitely making more of these - thanks to the puff pastry sheets!! :-)

PS: A special thanks to everybody who dropped me a word appreciating my song in the previous post.

Recipe:

Puff pastry sheet - 1/2 of a package (1 sheet)
Egg - 1
Water - 1 tbsp
Colby & Muenster Cheese - 3/4 cup
Parmasen - a dash
Green onion - 1, chopped
Italian seasoning - 1/4 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Frozen Spinach - 10 oz, thawed and drained well

Method:

Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature for 40 minutes or according to package instructions.

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.

Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg and water in a small bowl.

Stir the cheeses, green onion and seasoning in a medium bowl.

Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface.

Brush the pastry sheet with the egg mixture.

Top with the cheese mixture and spinach.

Starting at the short side closest to you, roll up like a jelly roll.

Cut into 20 (1/2-inch) slices.

Place the slices cut-side down on the baking sheets.

Brush with the egg mixture.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the swirls are golden.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tips:

1. The actual recipe use Parmesan and Muenster or Monterey Jack cheese.
2. I have omitted the garlic powder in the actual recipe and added some Italian seasoning.

Enjoy the recipe! Have a great day!!

UPDATE:

I would like to send a few of my archived recipes to Sudeshna's First Blog Birthday event : Event for eggs.

Egg Biriyani
Egg Curry with Coconut Milk
Pineapple Fried Rice
Onion-omelette-sandwich with mushrooms

Happy 1st Birthday to your blog, Sudeshna!!

Beef Croquettes (Cutlets)

Hey everyone!! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter and Vishu (in Kerala)! Things have been very very hectic for me back home at MN. We came back from California on Friday and have been taking care of several overdue stuff all through this week. I was busy putting together a humble Easter meal on Saturday and decided to stick to some basic dishes (mixed cuisine) including these beef croquettes/cutlets and onion salad as an appetizer, naan, fried rice, pork vindaloo, raita, pappad and pickle for the main course and caramel custard pudding to finish off the meal. I would like to share the recipe for these croquettes today!! I also have a small movie with a few of the floral pictures that I took in CA, along with a song I sung and recorded at home (WARNING : neither perfect nor professional!!). The song is from the new Malayalam movie Sagar alias Jacky. Drop me a word if you like it! ;-). More pictures of the trip will be uploaded soon on "Through the looking glass".

Croquettes are small fried food roll containing mashed potatoes and minced meat or fish as main ingredients and often encased in bread crumbs. This is one of the common appetizers made in Christian homes in Kerala, India for special occasions like Christmas and Easter, even as sides or snacks. I am sure I wouldnt be able to think of any celebration we had without sampling one version or the other of these cutlets!! We usually love the cutlets with a splash of tomato ketchup on the side when served as an appetizer or snack and is a great accompaniment to tea or coffee. It can be dressed up as a more adult-kind of snack with a side salad of onions, green chillies and vinegar rubbed together. It can also be served as a side to fried rice/pulao/plain rice. It is generally deep fried, but I usually shallow fry the cutlets in a skillet and brown them on either sides.

We really enjoyed the cutlets and I am sure you would too. Please do try out the recipe and let me know if you enjoyed it! The cutlets should be fine if made with other minced meat including chicken, pork or turkey (though I havent tried them), or can be subsituted with carrots, beetroots, mashed potatoes and peas for a vegetarian version of the croquettes. Enjoy!!

Recipe (Makes 20-30 cutlets) :

Ground beef - 3 lb chuck
Onions - 1 1/2 medium, diced small
Ginger - 1" by 1" piece, minced
Green chilly (Serrano) - 1, minced
Garlic - 2 large cloves, minced
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Kashmiri Chilli powder - 3 tsp
Coriander powder - 3 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Golden Klondike Potatoes - 1 1/2 lb
Eggs - 3, beaten lightly
Breadcrumbs - as needed (~2 cups)

Method:

Cook the potatoes until very tender (in a pressure cooker, saucepan or microwave).

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed skillet.

Saute onions on medium hight heat for about 2 minutes.

Add the ginger, garlic and green chillies.

Saute until the onions are tender (for about 2 more minutes).

Lower the flame and toss in all the spice powders.

Allow the spice powders to cook by adding a tbsp or two of water, on low flame.

Cook the spices until oil separates.

Add the ground beef and separate into smaller chunks using a wooden spoon.

Close the skillet with a lid and cook the beef over medium flame for about 15 minutes, or until no longer pink and is cooked well.

Remove the lid and allow the beef keema to dry.

Allow the beef to brown lightly.

Switch off the flame and allow to cool.

Once cooled, mash the potatoes coarsely and mix in.

Mix the beef-potato mixture until everything comes together.

Shape into round or oval patties or cylinders.

Dip each beef patty in the egg, shake of excess.

Coat the patties well with bread crumbs, one at a time.

If the patties are very soft, set aside until easier to handle (it will harden a bit).

Fry the patties, a couple at a time, and serve hot.

Tips:

1. The cutlets can be deep or shallow fried. I usually shallow fry them with a bit of oil in a skillet. Deep frying gives a uniform brown color to the croquettes. The pictured ones were deep fried. The last picture shows cutlets which were shallow fried.
2. The cutlets can also be frozen (before frying) wrapped in plastic wrap and kept in an airtight container. Thaw in the refrigerator or in the microwave and use as needed.
3. The cutlets/croquettes can be served hot as an appetizer with tomato ketchup on the side, or with a salad of onions and green chillies in vinegar.

Here's a floral treat from California with a home-recording (by JZ @ Tasty treats) as background score!!

Hope you all enjoyed the movie. Have a great day!!

Cranberry - Pistachio Biscotti

I guess these days everybody is busy getting their Christmas trees and gifts, planning for a great Holiday celebration! We are excited too, but this is also the time that we miss our families the most! How I wish I could celebrate Christmas and the New Year with my family! But I guess this time around, its just me and my lil family here.

Oh boy, it sure feels like winter here in Minnesota!! With sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow-falls, you dont feel like doing much!! But then who can resist fresh home-baked goods on a cold wintry day!? And since they have a good storage life, they can be made in advance and makes for a great make-ahead homemade Christmas gift for your loved ones! I baked these Cranberry-Pistachio Biscottis a week before. The smell of these crisp Italian treat filling the house is a treat by itself! I had tried Hazelnut biscottis before, but this is my first experience with cranberries!! And I should say I like those lil cuties. For these, however, I used dried cranberries. I followed the recipe on www.joyofbaking.com. The whole batch disappeared in just two days! Snuggle up on a couch with a cup of hot cocoa and a few of these biscottis and trust me, you will be in heaven!

Recipe (Makes 16-20):

Granulated white sugar - 2/3 cup
Eggs - 2, large
Pure vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp
All-purpose flour - 1 3/4 cups
Shelled unsalted pistachios - 1/2 cup, coarsely chopped
Dried cranberries or cherries - 1/2 cup, coarsely chopped


Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and keep aside.

Beat the sugar and eggs on high speed using an electric mixer, until thick, pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

When the egg mixture falls back in ribbons when the beaters are raised, add in the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together.

Add to the egg mixture and beat until combined.

Fold in the chopped pistachios and cranberries.

Transfer the dough to your parchment lined baking sheet and form into a log, about 12 inches (30 cm) long and 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) wide. (You might have to wet your hands with cold water to shape the dough into a log because the dough is really sticky).

Bake for 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.

Transfer the log to a cutting board and cut at an angle (diagonal) into 3/4 inch slices.

Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet.

Bake 10 minutes, turn the slices over, and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Source: JoyofBaking.com

Tips:

Based on the past performances of my oven, I made a few changes to the recipe.

1. Instead of 350F, I preheated and baked at 325F.
2. The biscotti log was initially baked for 25 minutes.
3. After slicing the biscotti log, the individual biscottis were initially baked for 8 minutes, turned over and baked for another 7-8 minutes.
4. I used about 1/4 cup pistachios and 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries.

I am sending these to my own event "Santa's Holiday Challenge". Dont forget that its going to be a giveaway contest with first and second prizes. You can send as many entries as you would like.

I am also sending this to the "Homemade Christmas Gifts" @ My Kitchen Treasures, "Christmas feast event" at Purva's Daawat and "Eating with the seasons" at Maninas: Food Matters.

I am also sending these to Christmas Cookies event at Susan's food Blogga and Cookie Baking event at Sharmi's Neivedyam.

Wishing you all the best this season!!

Shrimp Cutlets

Once again, I'm posting a recipe after a short break. As many of you know, I had family come over from India and stay with us for about 2 1/2 months. Time flew by quickly and they went back last Wednesday. So I decided to get back to what I missed a lot, blogging and catching up with my dear friends on the blogosphere! It sure feels good to be back. I know I have a lot of catching up to do, but thanks a lot for keeping me in your circle all this long. I am not feeling well these past few days, but I hope to get back to active blogging soon enough.

I couldn't help myself from posting this recipe today because this is one easy recipe which JM's mom introduced me to. Cutlets, in India, are basically croquettes made of vegetables or minced/ground meat (most commonly - beef) or fish. Eventhough I've had beef and vegetable cutlets (rarely ;-)) for as long as I can remember, I've never had shrimp cutlets before. This was a pleasant introduction to something really wonderful. The frozen shrimp available at the grocers here are nothing compared to the fresh ones my husband was used to, but this is a good way to dress it up to make it more flavorful. I am sure that if made with fresh shrimp/prawns, it would be a thousand times better than the ones made with frozen shrimp, which were still tasty nonetheless. So if you could get your hands on some fresh prawns, be sure to give this recipe a try. This would be a great appetizer or as a side dish with rice. Hope you all would love this recipe. Stay tuned for more recipes from my MIL. In the mean time, enjoy the shrimp cutlets! Have a great day!

Recipe:

Shrimp - 8 oz
Potatoes - 2, cooked and peeled
Pearl onions - chopped, 3 tbsp
Green chillies (serranos) - 1, finely chopped (~2tbsp)
Ginger - 2 tbsp, chopped
Garlic - 1 tbsp, chopped
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves - optional (10-12, finely chopped)
Egg - 1, slightly beaten
Breadcrumbs - as needed

Method:

Cook the cleaned shrimp with a bit of water, a pinch of turmeric powder and salt, until all the water is evaporated.

Allow the shrimp to cool.

Process the shrimp in a food processor to a medium mince.

Heat oil in a skillet and add onions, green chillies, ginger, garlic and curry leaves (if using).

Saute until the onions are somewhat cooked and the ginger and garlic are no longer raw.

Add chilly powder and turmeric powder to the onion mixture.

Saute until fragrant.

Toss in the minced shrimp to the skillet.

Saute until the shrimp mixture is just dry.

Adjust the seasoning and keep aside.

Mash the cooked and peeled potatoes retaining some small chunks.

Mix the potatoes with the shrimp mix.

Shape into cutlets.

Dip each cutlet in the beaten egg.

Roll in breadcrumbs.

Fry the cutlets until golden brown.

Serve hot with ketchup and chilli sauce.

Tips:

1. Curry leaves are optional and can be done without.
2. Instead of pearl onions, regular onions or shallots can be used.
   

Wishing you all a great weekend ahead!!

Lavash Crackers & Avocado-Mango Salsa

Once again, it is time for the revelation of this month's Daring Bakers Challenge. For this challenge, the choice went to an Alternative Daring Baker, Natalie from Gluten A Go Go, and Shel of Musings From the Fishbowl co-hosted it. They chose something savory for the challenge this month - Lavash Crackers with our personal choice of vegan toppings for the challenge from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice (pp 178 - 180). The challenge was special in that it was to be a vegan and/or gluten free challenge. It happened to be my first savory DB challenge and needless to say I was excited. I decided to go just vegan (and not gluten-free too!) with this challenge, choosing the non-gluten free cracker method. The choice of topping was very simple this time with just white sesame seeds for the lavash topping and Avocado - Mango Salsa as the dip.

Recipe (Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers) :

Unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend - 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz)
(If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
Salt - 1/2 tsp (0.13 oz)
Instant yeast - 1/2 tsp (0.055 oz)
Agave syrup or sugar - 1 tbsp (0.75 oz)
Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp (0.5 oz)
Water - 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz), at room temperature

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

or

2. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

or

4. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper. Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper. Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt - a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

What I did:

I finally got around to making the crackers yesterday. Everything went fine and the dough turned out to be smooth, soft and just right. I divided the dough in half before rolling it out. I rolled out the dough and cut them into rectangles, moistened the surface and sprinkled sesame seeds over them. Just to make sure that the sesame seeds stick, I gently pressed them onto the surface. (I also sprinkled a bit of cumin seeds and a pinch of chilli powder over my second sheet of crackers). My first sheet of crackers were fine (eventhough I didnt have to bake them even for 10 minutes), but the second sheet was browned too quickly. So I reduced the temperature of the oven to 300F. Even then, some pieces turned out too brown for my likes. So I reduced the baking time to about 6-8 minutes, and managed to salvage some lightly browned pieces, which were really crisp nonetheless. I made an Avocado - Mango Salsa from scratch to go with the crackers. The recipe for the salsa is from allrecipes.com.

Avocado - Mango Salsa :

Avocado - 1, peeled, pitted and diced
Lime - 1, juiced
Mango - 1, peeled, seeded and diced
Red onion - 1 small, chopped
Habanero pepper - 1, seeded and chopped
Chopped fresh cilantro - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

Place the avocado in a serving bowl, and mix with the lime juice.

Mix in the mango, onion, habanero pepper, cilantro and salt.

Tips:

1. I omitted the habanero pepper. Jalapenos would be a nice substitute to the habaneros. Or else, add some chopped red bell peppers to the salsa.
2. I added one tomato, diced, to the salsa.
3. I also added a tbsp of chopped green onions.

Hope everyone loved reading about this DB challenge and checking out the pictures. I cant wait for the next DB challenge! Dont forget to check out the wonderful crackers and toppings of the other DB-ers, here. Enjoy!!

Betty Crocker's Crescent rolls & Strawberry Preserves

The last Daring Bakers challenge had left me with a craving for Danish pastries, but thinking of the effort and the calories, I had decided to leave it alone for a few more weeks. The croissants that I came across on several blogs were haunting me in my dreams, and finally I decided to make something that atleast remotely resembled these pastries, atleast in their shapes - crescent rolls. From the day I saw this recipe on Betty Crocker's cookbook, I wanted to make them, but was too lazy and impatient when I saw the dough - rising step. But after completing the Danish Braid challenge, this wait seemed like nothing, and yes, it was a cake-walk! I made only half the recipe and everything turned out perfectly!! JM and I actually ate it as the evening snack and dinner, with homemade Strawberry jam. It sure was yummy!! With just a wee little butter in the whole recipe, we didnt cringe as we ate, and enjoyed it immensely. This recipe can be used to make dinner rolls, crescent rolls and cloverleaf rolls. The crescent rolls are given as the variation of the basic dinner roll recipe. It sure made a tasty set of rolls, please do try them, they were perfect!! Yumm!

Recipe (Makes 32 rolls) :

All-purpose flour - 3 1/2 - 3 3/4 cups
Butter or margarine - 1/4 cup (4 tbsp)
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Quick active dry or regular yeast - 1 package or 2 1/4 tsp
Water - 1/2 cup, very warm (120 - 130 F)
Milk - 1/2 cup, very warm (120 - 130 F)
Egg - 1 large
Butter or margarine - melted, if desired



Method:

In a large bowl, stir 2 cups of flour, the sugar, 1/4 cup of butter, salt and yeast until well-mixed.

Add warm water, warm milk and egg.

Beat for a minute with an electric mixer on low-speed, followed by 1 minute on medium speed, both times scraping bowl frequently.

Stir in enough remaining dough to make dough easy to handle.

Place dough on lightly floured surface.

Knead for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and springy.

Grease a large bowl with shortening.

Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides.

Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

The dough is ready when indentation remains when touched.

At this stage the dough can be used to make any of the specified rolls.

For making crescent rolls:


Grease cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray.

Push the fist into the dough to deflate and cut the dough in half.

Roll each half into a 12" circle on a floured surface.

Spread with softened butter.

Cut each circle into 16 wedges.

Roll up each wedge beginning at the rounded end (broad end).

Plcae rolls on the cookie sheet, with points underneath and curve the edges slightly.

Brush with butter (I didnt) and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Let rise in a warm place about 30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Heat oven to 375 F.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm or cool.

Tips:

1. I did not brush the shaped rolls with melted butter.
2. I only made half the recipe to yield 16 rolls.
3. If using self-rising flour, omit salt.
4. For the dough to rise, I usually switch on the oven at 200F or so for a minute or two, switch it off, and place the dough in the oven to rise.
5. I had actually stuffed a single roll with jam, as you can see in the picture below, to see how it would turn out. Experiment with more stuffings.

I am sending these crescent rolls to the "Bread baking day - Small Breads" event at Aparna's My Diverse Kitchen. The event was started by started by Zorra at 1x umrühren bitte.

I am also sending these Crescent rolls to the "Healthy Cooking" event over at Mansi's Fun and Food. I feel that these rolls are very healthy because it has a very low fat and sugar content. It is a leavened bread and is baked so that no additional fat is introduced. The recipe actually mentioned smearing the rolls again with butter before baking. I actually omitted that step and still the rolls turned out perfectly browned. The rolls can be eaten on their own because they taste great!! It would also go well with soups, salads or preserves!!

Source: Betty Crocker Cookbook : everything you need to know to cook today.

We had the rolls with home-made strawberry preserves. The preserve was made from a recipe on Sunita's blog. Here's a pictorial step-by-step instructions on the process. We had gone strawberry picking two weeks before and I used up our hand-picked berries by making this Strawberry Preserves. I am sending this Home-made Strawberry Preserve to "Eating with the seasons" event at Maninas : Food Matters.

Through and over the weekend, I am glad some of my fellow bloggers remembered me, because I again have several awards to share. Veda of Iyengar's kitchen passed me the "Blogging with a purpose" award. Srilekha of Me and My Kitchen and Hetal of Isha's kitchen passed me the "Yum-Yum Blog" award. Thanks a trillion for remembering me, you guys! I really appreciate your gesture. I would like to pass these onto,

Asha of Foodies Hope
Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner
Roopa of My Kitchen Treats
Rachel of Tangerine's Kitchen
Cham of Spice-club

Enjoy your awards!! And come back to Tasty treats for more recipes through the week.

Quick and Crisp Samosas and an awards galore!

I hope the title is catchy enough for all of you to check out these quick and easy samosas. The easy part of making the samosas came from using wonton wrappers to enclose the filling in. As some of you might know, I recently have now gone crazy making all kinds of Chinese food at home. So with no recipe in mind, I had bought a packet of wonton wrappers. It sat in the refrigerator for a few days before I thought of improvising with them. Two days before, I suddenly felt like making samosas and thought the wrappers would make excellent outer dough layer. And my hunch wasnt deceiving at all. They tasted awesome, not to mention crispy and easy!! I had promised JM some samosas a few weeks before (only got around to making them now!) and we enjoyed it with much delight! Finished up all the samosas in a short time. I should give a special mention to the one lil samosa that my lil girl ate happily! So if you have some wonton wrappers, put it to good use by making Indo-Chinese samosas! :-)

Recipe ( Made 15 medium samosas) :

Wonton wrappers - 15

For the filling:

Golden yukon potatoes - 2, medium sized, cooked until tender

Frozen green peas - a handful

Onion - 1 small, finely chopped

Ginger - 1/2" piece, finely chopped

Serrano chili - 1, seeded and finely chopped

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Cilantro - a handful, chopped

To seal :

Corn flour mixed with a bit of water to form a thick paste.

Method:

Peel the cooked potatoes and chop half of them finely, mash the other half. Keep aside.

Heat some oil in a kadai and sizzle the cumin seeds until fragrant.

Toss in the ginger and green chilies and saute until fragrant.

Add the finely chopped onion and saute until tender and light brown.

Mix in the frozen peas until heated through.

Add the garam masala, coriander powder and turmeric powder.

Saute until the spices are no longer raw.

Transfer the peas mixture to the mashed/chopped potato mixture.

Toss in the chopped cilantro and season with salt.

Mix well until the potato mixture comes together.

Keep aside to cool.

Take a wonton wrapper and place about a tablespoon of mixture diagonally at about the middle of the wrapper.

Apply the cornflour paste along the edge, and fold diagonally. (We will get triangular samosas).

Press the edges to seal well.

Repeat until the potato mixture is used up.

Heat oil in a deep wok or sauce pan and fry the samosas until golden brown on both sides(which would take just a minute or so once the oil is hot).

Serve hot with ketchup or chutneys.

Tips:

1. I pressure cooked the potatoes cut in half on high heat for 4 whistles, then immediately switched it off. (I have no patience otherwise).
2. Instead of cumin seeds, you can also use cumin powder.
3. I used medium wonton wrappers. They are perishable, so be sure to refrigerate the extra wrappers. The wrappers were not exactly sqaure, so I didnt get exact triangles.

I've been lucky enough to receive several awards this week, from my dear foodie friends. It is an immense please to receive these awards because it truly act as the encouragement that you need to spread more and more delectable treats in front of you all. When the awards get more and more personal, the enjoyment and the meaning associated with it is increased multi-fold.

Such were the awards that I received from Maheswari of Beyond the Usual and Vani of Illatharasi. I dont have words to express my happiness and love towards them and also to each and every person that I am passing these on to because all of you have treated me with such love, encouragement and care. I still cannot believe I am part of such an elite group of talented bloggers! It feels good to know that I am considered to be a dear friend by people whom I have never met in person, but only through blogs. It is again an honor to be a recipient of these wonderful awards and I thank both of them sincerely!

The first award is the Yum-Yum award I received from Maheswari of Beyond the Usual. She also bestowed upon my blog, the Giant Bear Hug, the second award. I feels good to know that I came to her mind while passing on these awards.

I would like to pass the Yum-yum award to (and I know none of you would disagree),

Sunita of Sunita's world

Sia of Passionate about Life and Spice

Sig of Live to Eat

Rajitha of Hunder pangs

Mansi of Fun and Food

I would like to pass on the bear hug to,

Vani of Illatharasi

Cham of Spice-club

Srilekha of Me and My Kitchen

Trupti of Recipe Center

Pearlsofeast of Anyone Can Cook

The third award I received is from Vani of Illatharasi. It is a beautiful award - a great concept - "The Award Of Friendship." Vani is a relatively new friend of mine, who has been a regular visitor from the day we got acquainted! She never forgets to leave her opinions and is a constant encouragement to me! I am glad Vani, to know that you think of me as a dear friend and that you find my blog entertaining.

To quote her "I met her in Great cooks blogroll. Because of her sign 'JZ' I thought she would be an american. After my visit to her blog, I realized that she is from South India. I got fascinated by her recipes, especially her presentation skill. Thanks JZ for being my friend and continue your creativity :)". Thanks again.

I would like to pass these onto some of the bloggers - a couple of whom I've grown to be friends with on a much more personal level.

Bhags of Crazy Curry

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner

Asha of Foodie's Hope

Maheswari of Beyond the Usual

Again, as per the rules I have mentioned only a few of you, but anyone is welcome to accept these awards. I am offering these from the bottom of my heart! I will be doing Divya's 6 quirks tag shortly. Maheswari had also tagged me for a meme, you can read it here.

Have a great 4th Of July weekend. I will be back next week with more tasty treats from the Tasty treats kitchen! Enjoy and have a blast!