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#ATOZCHALLENGE 2016 – Theme Reveal – Healthy Eating

Peeps, I am participating in the A to Z Challenge again this year! If you have been visiting my blog then you’ll see loads of post on A to Z Challenge from 2014. 

When I participated last time it was hectic yet it was fun. My theme last time was indulgent food. You can check the posts here. Both me and Indro got to indulge into lots of yummy food throughout April. And I had a happy man at home!

Now things are little different. I have another little man in my life! But food for him is still mashed potato, lentil soups and all. But I am avoiding indulgent food for some obvious reasons. Post pregnancy the weighing scale sometimes can give you nightmares!! Okay now don’t start judging me!

This year I am doing an about turn from last time. My theme this year is ‘Healthy Eating and Healthy Living’. So you are going to get 26 healthy recipes here throughout April. So I’ll be sharing recipes of Salads, smoothies, grills, soups and no desserts!!


I am not sharing the A to Z now because I might change my mind on a particular recipe. I want to keep my options flexible too. So guys keep coming back throughout April and lets stay and eat healthy!!

P.S. I am taking part in the challenge from my writing blog too – The Sunny Side of Life. Check my theme reveal post there too.  



Winter Roast Chicken

 
It’s still winters in some parts of the country, though it came in quite late in Kolkata this time. But hey, you always have an excuse for some warm comfort food, don’t you? Yes I am talking about my go to comfort food when I am not in a mood to do a lot of things for dinner. You can never really get tired of some the wholesome Roast Chicken. I cannot for sure.
 
It doesn’t take too much effort, you put it in the oven and just forget about it. Now, there are many ways you can make a roast. It appears in a lot of cuisines in their own style. There are Indian Roast Chicken versions too. The one I am going to share today though is an English recipe. In fact this is what usually we had when I was a kid. My dad stayed in England for several years so classic British recipes are a regular at our household.
 
But this is not my dad’s recipe I have made some modifications to the original one.
 
 
 
All that you need:
 
 
  1. Whole chicken with skin – 1
  2. Small potatoes with skin – 4 cut in halves
  3. Lemon – 1/2
  4. Ginger Garlic paste – 2 teaspoon
  5. Red Onion – 3 small whole onions, half an onion in thick slices and half an onion for stuffing
  6. Garlic – 10 cloves
  7. Butter – 50g at room temperature
  8. Dried herbs (Thyme + Oregano) – 2 teaspoon
  9. Olive oil – 2 teaspoon
  10. Seasoning – to taste
  11. Thread to tie the legs
 
Let’s get started
 
– Pre-heat oven at 220° C
 
– Mix the dried herbs on to butter to make herbed butter  
 
– Rub ginger garlic paste on the chicken and keep aside
 
– Place potato, cloves of garlic, onions on your baking tray, drizzle some olive oil, salt and pepper over them and mix.
 
– Push the veg on the sides to make way for the chicken
 
– Place the sliced onions in the middle.
 
– Rub the chicken with the herbed butter all across.
 
– Pull the skin near the breast and insert two blobs of this herbed butter.
This will give you an extremely juicy chicken breast after roasting.
 
– Stuff the cavity with half a lemon, half an onion and few garlic cloves.
 
– Tie the legs together so that the stuffing doesn’t come out easily.
 
– Place the bird on the sliced onions.
 
There’s a science on the placement of the chicken. When you are placing the chicken on the onion slices it allows the hot air to circulate better, cooking the bird well from underneath as well.
 
Sprinkle seasoning across. And poke the bird with a fork at places.
 
Roast the bird at 220° C for 45 mins
 
Serve hot with bread.
 
The same recipe during one of our Christmas Lunch
 
 
It’s extremely easy. you just need t put it in the oven and forget about it. It’s my go to recipe for our Christmas lunch. You can add vegetables of your choice too. 
 
Tip: Don’t throw the au jus , or the light gravy youll find on your baking tray. you can thicken 
 it with a pinch of flour or enjoy it just like that!
 
Untill next time, cheers!
 
 

Mushroom & Bell Pepper Bruschetta


There are times when you want to binge on something healthy yet tasty. That necessarily doesn’t have to be a pack of potato wafers or fried snack, right? If you like finger foods you will surely like what I am going to share today.

Pssst… I am sharing a recipe after a century it seems, but just bear with me. I am such a lazy blogger that I don’t know what to do with myself. LOL.

We all like bruschettas, right? And it’s a shame that MS Word is suggesting me to spell check and change the word to brochettes!!! In case, you want to know more about bruschettas let me give you a quick brush through.

Bruschetta is an Italian appetizer – grilled bread with a garlic rub. And according to taste and convenience people add assorted toppings. Now thank the Italians for all their wonderful recipes. Most famous form of bruschetta is a tomato & cheese one. In fact, you can make some in the way you want.

Here I am sharing one with toasted mushroom & bell papers. It is crunchy, it is healthy and it’s yummy.

All that you need:

  1. French Loaf – 1
  2. Garlic butter – 2 teaspoon
  3. Red Bell Pepper – half, diced
  4. Yellow Bell Pepper – half, diced
  5. Green Bell Pepper – half, diced
  6. Button Mushroom – sliced, ½ cup
  7. Red Onion – 1, chopped
  8. Garlic – 4-5 cloves, minced
  9. Oregano – 1 teaspoon
  10. Chilli flakes – ½ teaspoon
  11. Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1 teaspoon
  12. Seasoning – to taste
  13. Parmesan Cheese – grated (optional)


Let’s Get Started:

– Pre heat oven at 180° C

– Spread some garlic butter on the French bread slices and bake them for 5-6 minutes

– In a skillet heat extra virgin olive oil and add garlic, onion, mushroom, bell peppers.
Sauté for 2-3 minutes or till onions are translucent.

– Add seasoning, chili flakes and oregano.

Imp: Do not overcook. You don’t want the bell peppers to get soggy. We need that crunch of the wonderful bell peppers.

– With the help of a spoon spread this veg mix on the French bread slices and serve warm.

If you are adding shredded cheese then grill the bruschetta for two minutes in the oven.We enjoyed it without the cheese. You can add a little drizzle of olive oil for that extra shine.




Wasn’t that really easy peasy?

You can enjoy some bruschetta in your breakfast, or as a snack in your next brunch party. 

In case you want this for the non veg lovers – feel free to add some fired bacons! 🙂

So until next time (which I’ll make sure is pretty soon) cheers!

Keep cooking!

PS: all of this are clicked on my iPhone5S.


A to Z Challenge Day #26 – Z for Zucchini Frittata

OMG I don’t believe it I am posting my 26th post for the A to Z challenge and I am definitely a survivor! Atleast I am happy that I did post 26 x 2 = 52 posts in this one month from both of my blogs, now am I happy. Happy?? I am the happiest that I didn’t miss a single day. Woot woot.

Cool so what do we have for Z… one really easy stuff… its Zucchini Frittata… or just simply eggs with zucchini. I will rush off to the recipe because I have to post a fiction and then I have to set up my new iphone. I still can’t sync my contacts from android to iphone 5s. Please advise if you know.

Anyways let’s get into our recipe. I am using both yellow and green zucchini to get the wonderful colors


All that you need

  1. Yellow Zucchini – ½, sliced
  2. Green Zucchini – ½, sliced
  3. Eggs – 4
  4. Milk – ¼ cup
  5. Mushroom – 5-6sliced
  6. Onion – ½ sliced
  7. Garlic – 3 cloves crushed
  8. Seasoning – salt & pepper to taste
  9. Parmesan – handful of grated parmesan
  10. Olive oil – 1 tablespoon

Let’s get started

In a skillet heat oil and add the sliced zucchini.

After 2-3 minutes add crushed garlic and onion slices. [we are doing this latter because we want the zucchini to get a nice golden color]



Add mushrooms and fry.

Add seasoning

In a mixing bowl beat eggs with milk and cheese and add little seasoning

Pour the custard over the fried zucchinis.



Let it cook over low heat

Put a cover on so that the top cooks equally.

You can also put it in an oven to cook the top evenly

It will be done in 5 minutes.

Super duper easy soft and fluffy frittata is done!



Leave a comment below if you liked the recipe and you want me to share some more

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Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day #26 – post starting with Z. 
Visit A to Z and read awesome posts by bloggers. 
I am also participating in this challenge from my writing blog and I’m writing fiction this time. Visit The Sunny Side of Life and show some love.
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A to Z Challenge Day #25 – Y for Yogurt Cookies

HI guys it’s Yogurt cookies today for Y today. It’s really simple to do and is yumm. I added little cinnamon as well to get the cinnamon kick. This isn’t a traditional fluffy yogurt cookie recipe, its my way of making thin crispy cookies.



Ingredients
  1. Flour – 1 ½ cups
  2. Baking powder – ½ teaspoon
  3. Baking soda – ¼ teaspoon
  4. Unsalted butter – 1 cup, softened
  5. Sugar – 2/3 cup
  6. Egg – 1
  7. Yogurt – ½ cup
  8. Vanilla essence – 1 teaspoon
  9. Ground cinnamon and sugar – 1 tablespoon for sprinkling

Let’s get started

Combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda in small bowl.

In a mixing bowl creamer butter and sugar.

Add the egg, yogurt, and vanilla. Once combined, slowly pour in flour mixture.

Arrange on a baking tray over a baking paper with tablespoon.

Sprinkle ground cinnamon and sugar on top

Bake at 180 degrees C for 12-14 minutes.

And you are good to enjoy.



Leave a comment below if you liked the recipe and you want me to share some more

————————————————————–

Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day #25 – post starting with Y. 
Visit A to Z and read awesome posts by bloggers. 
I am also participating in this challenge from my writing blog and I’m writing fiction this time. Visit The Sunny Side of Life and show some love.
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A to Z Challenge Day #24 – X for Xmas Cake

Yo we are at X and two more days on the challenge…after that a week’s rest for me. So what do we have for X? What do you first get in your mind when you hear the letter X? I of course get X- Mas so I have a X-Mas cake recipe. It is one my favorite cakes and is a super recipe. I really love old fashioned fruit cakes where you indulge in cake mixing for days. That’s the idea to bring the festivity and magic of the time in your foods. I made this cake last year for Christmas but had not posted on blog so far. May be I was just waiting for this time. [Thank god I didn’t otherwise I don’t what I would do today!]

Anyways it’s a little elaborate process so read closely.



Ingredients

For dry fruit mixing

  1. Dried apricot – 6-7
  2. Sultanas – ¼ cup
  3. Raisins – ¼ cup
  4. Candied cherries – ¼ cup
  5. Almond – ¼ cup (halved/sliced)
  6. Cashew – ¼ cup
  7. Whiskey – ¼ cup
  8. Rum – ½ cup

Cake
  1. All purpose flour – 2 ½ cup
  2. Milk – 200 ml
  3. Vanilla pod – 2
  4. Butter – 100 g
  5. Sugar – 1 cup
  6.  Egg – 4 whole
  7. Baking powder – ½ teaspoon
  8. Salt – a pinch
  9. Cocoa powder – 2 tablespoon
  10. Zest of 1 Lemon & 1 Orange

Let’s get started

For the fruit mixing

Soak all the dry fruits in rum and whiskey in a bowl and leave it in the fridge for 2 days

After two days you can see all the liquor is soaked within the dry fruits. (you can enjoy some just like that – we had some before we actually baked the cake J )



For the cake

Heat milk in a pan, scrape the pulp of the vanilla pods and infuse in the milk for 15-20 mins. Remove from heat and let it cool

Chop the infused dry fruits in small bits and pieces



In a mixing bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt and mix

In a separate mixing bowl cream butter and sugar and add eggs



Take off the vanilla beans from the milk and pour the milk over the eggs.

Make sure milk is cool or else you will scramble the eggs

Add the lime & orange zest


Incorporate flour mix at a time

Add the infused and chopped dry fruits in the cake batter.



Line a cake tray with greased baking paper



Pour the batter in the mould and leave it for 5 minutes

Bake it in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for 40 minutes.

This should be cooked slowly in low heat.

Take out and let it cool.



You can now do a lot of things – you can have fondants on top, a marzipan cover on top or simply dust some icing sugar before serving and enjoying a wonderful Christmas lunch.


Wow I feel hungry already J

I hope you guys like it and will do it next Christmas or can do it anytime actually J

Till the next time good night


Leave a comment below if you liked the recipe and you want me to share some more

————————————————————–

Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day #24 – post starting with X. 
Visit A to Z and read awesome posts by bloggers. 
I am also participating in this challenge from my writing blog and I’m writing fiction this time. Visit The Sunny Side of Life and show some love.
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A to Z Challenge Day #23 – W for Whacky prawn with mango

I am seriously late tonight in posting. Its 10:56 pm IST and I just sat down with my laptop. I not only have to edit the photos and write this post I also have to write a fiction with wretched for my writing blog!! Some one save me… Seriously if this was not about the challenge I would have happily dozed off.. Well I could very well write about my mood now for wretched.. it’s is quite some now.  

Okay I have a simple salad recipe today – but hey its indulgent too. I have included all the things that I like – prawns, bell pepper, balsamic, garlic and it’s yummm… I just did this an hour ago and everyone loved it at home. Things like theme make me happy. Ting! Here’s my Whacky Prawn with Mango.

Ok now the recipe.



All that you need
  1. Onion – 1 chopped
  2. Bell pepper (green & red) – ½ each chopped
  3. Tomato – ½ chopped
  4. White prawn – 200 g (peeled, deveined and cleaned)
  5. Raw mango – 1 small – chopped
  6. Green chili – 1 chopped
  7. Salt & pepper – to taste
  8. Garlic- 7-8 cloves – crushed
  9. Balsamic Viniger – 1 tablespoon
  10. Chili flakes – ½ teaspoon
  11. Lemon juice – 2 tablespoon
  12. Parsley – 1 tablespoon chopped
  13. Olive oil – 1 tablespoon

Let’s get started

In a bowl marinate the cleaned and deveined prawns with lemon juice and salt for 5- 10 mins

In a skillet heat oil and add crushed garlics.

Fry till garlic turns golden brown.

Add the prawns and fry till they curl up and turn orange.

In a salad bowl combine all vegetables and pour the fried prawn on top along with the oil.
[The oil is infused with garlic so do not throw it off]

Add seasoning and a good drizzle of balsamic vinegar and chili flakes.

Toss them well and serve.

The easy peasy Whacky Prawn with mango is here for you to enjoy.



Leave a comment below if you liked the recipe and you want me to share some more

————————————————————–

Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day #23 – post starting with W. 
Visit A to Z and read awesome posts by bloggers. 
I am also participating in this challenge from my writing blog and I’m writing fiction this time. Visit The Sunny Side of Life and show some love.
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A to Z Challenge Day #22 – V for Vanilla Panna Cotta

Hello guys so we are at the fag end of the challenge and today is the V day. I have a super awesome recipe today with V. It’s one of my favorite dessert recipes. It’s Vanilla Panna Cotta and I am adding a blueberry to it. We just had it and it was yummyyyy…. This is super indulgent with full cream and yogurt and no milk.



So here it is

All that you need

  1. Cream – whole cream 2 cups
  2. Yogurt – 2 tablespoon
  3. Sugar – 2 tablespoon
  4. Gelatin – 2 tablespoon (if you are using powder or 3 sheets)
  5. Warm water – to dissolve gelatin
  6. Blueberry Preserve – 3-4 tablespoon
  7. Vanilla Paste – 1 tablespoon

Let’s get started

Soak gelatin in warm water and let it bloom

Heat cream over low heat and add sugar.

Cook over low heat for 5-7 minutes stirring at times.

Mix yogurt with and add vanilla paste. You may use vanilla essence as well. If you were using vanilla beans then scrape the seeds and add to cream in the first step.

Take off heat and add a tablespoon of blueberry preserve in the cream mixture.

Add gelatin to this mixture.

Pour in silicon moulds or glasses and set in the fridge for 1 hour.

I have added the blueberry preserves first in the moulds and then the panna cotta mix and in the glass its first panna cotta mix and then a little dollop of preserve.


So was it Hot or not? Lemme know.




Leave a comment below if you liked the recipe and you want me to share some more

————————————————————–

Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day #22 – post starting with V. 
Visit A to Z and read awesome posts by bloggers. 
I am also participating in this challenge from my writing blog and I’m writing fiction this time. Visit The Sunny Side of Life and show some love.
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A to Z Challenge Day #21 – U for Uber Cup Cake

Hello people we are on your 21stday… yay.. I survived! And hopefully I’ll survive for the next five days as well. So what do I have for my U post? It’s rather difficult to figure out something cool and indulgent with a letter called U… so I thought of this uber cool indulgent cup cake [ I am like crazy about cup cakes]. It’s like an overdoze chocolate cup cake for all chocolate lovers. Now since I find this super cool I named it Uber Cup Cakes! That’s all I can think of right now!
There is dark chocolate, cocoa, chocolate chip and a super chocolate frosting! So it’s all ‘chocolaty’ to the core.



Now I can’t write a lot now because I am doing the panna cotta for tomorrow post!

Let’s get into it

All that you need

This recipe makes 6 cup cakes

  1. All purpose flour – 1 1/3cup
  2. Butter – ½ cup softened
  3. Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
  4. Eggs – 2 whole
  5. Sugar – 1 ½ cup
  6. Cocoa powder – 2 tablespoon
  7. Salt- a pinch
  8. Dark chocolate – ½ cup melted
  9. Chocolate chips – 2-3 tablespoon

For the frosting
  1. Dark chocolate –  ½ cup softened [you could also use white chocolate, will look good in photos, but taste wise it has to be dark chocolate for me]
  2. Butter – ½ cup
  3. Confectioners’ sugar – 1/3 cup


Let’s Get started

In a double boiler melt the dark chocolate.
Visit the Tiny Tip Section for more information on melting chocolate

In a bowl sift flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.

Take a tablespoon of flour from here in a small bowl and mix the chocolate chips in that.
[This will prevent them from going down within the cake]

In a separate mixing bowl cream butter and sugar and add the molten chocolate

Combine the flour mix at a time and mix into the wet ingredients.

Add the chocolate chips and mix in the batter.

Line a muffin tray with paper liners.

Scoop out the batter in the muffin liners and bake them in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for 15-17 minutes.

For the frosting

In a mixing bowl incorporate butter and sugar till they cream nicely

Add the softened chocolate and mix till it turns smooth.

Pour it in a piping bag and rest it for 10 minutes

Please start frosting on the cup cakes once they have cooled down and not when they are just out from the oven.
SO there you go the Uber Cup Cake is here to dig in.



Leave a comment below if you liked the recipe and you want me to share some more

————————————————————–

Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day #21 – post starting with U. 
Visit A to Z and read awesome posts by bloggers. 
I am also participating in this challenge from my writing blog and I’m writing fiction this time. Visit The Sunny Side of Life and show some love.
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A to Z Challenge Day #20 – T for Tea Cake

What do we have today for T. I had initially thought of doing a Tarte Strawberry or a strawberry tart bu then now its not the season of strawberries here anymore. Last weekend I went to the super-market and then the hyper market but no strawberry anywhere, so I had to change the plan and I am here sharing an equally indulgent recipe of Tea Cake!

Tea Cakes can be made in so many different ways. I like the ones which have nuts and spices. So I am sharing a recipe of Walnut & Date Tea Cake with Cinnamon twist…. Okay complicated name? It’s a simple tea cake which has walnut, dates and cinnamon. This one is my Mom –in-law’s recipe. She does some great baking. She is visiting us next week and I am sure we’ll have some great baking recipes once she is here.


All that you need

  1. Flour – 2 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon
  2. Sugar – 1 cup
  3. Butter – 1 cup
  4. Eggs – 2
  5. Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
  6. Walnut – ½ cup chopped
  7. Dry Dates – ¼ cup chopped
  8. Cinnamon – 1 stick powdered
  9. Vanilla Essence – 1 tablespoon

How to make it

Cream butter and sugar and eggs. Add vanilla extract.

In a small bowl take the chopped dry fruits and mix them with 1 tablespoon flour.

Tip: This will prevent them from sinking within the cake.

In another bowl combine flour, baking powder and ground cinnamon

Pour the wet ingredients in the flour mixture and mix until a smooth batter.

Add the dry fruits and mix well.

Rest this batter for 5 – 10 minutes

Pour the batter in a greased cake tin / baking dish and bake it in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.


And your yummy tea cake is ready. Enjoy with your evening tea /coffee or actually at anytime.



Leave a comment below if you liked the recipe and you want me to share some more

————————————————————–

Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day #20 – post starting with T. 
Visit A to Z and read awesome posts by bloggers. 
I am also participating in this challenge from my writing blog and I’m writing fiction this time. Visit The Sunny Side of Life and show some love.
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