Chicken and Lychees Stir-fry

Tried this chicken recipe from a ‘Chinese Chicken Cookbook’.   I was not too sure about  the Lychees but this dish turned out lovely and  reminded me of the sweet and sour chicken that I loved to have…only this one tasted better.   If you do try it,  please let me know how you liked it.

Recipe :  500 grms chicken breast fillets, thinly sliced, chilly powder, lemon, coriander leaves, green chilly, cornflour, oil for deep frying, 1 tablespoon oil (extra), 1 fresh red chilly, 4-5 green shallots, 2 onions, 2 carrots, 1 green pepper, 3/4 cup water, 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 teaspoons corn flour (extra),  350 grams fresh lychees (or tinned).

Wash chicken and pat dry.  Add salt, lemon, chilly powder and finely cut coriander and green chilly to chicken.  Leave aside for 10-15 minutes.  Then toss in cornflour, shake away excess cornflour.  Deep fry chicken in hot oil until lightly browned and tender, drain on absorbent paper.  Cover and keep warm.

Just before serving, heat extra oil in pan,  add chopped red chilly, shallots, onions, carrots and green pepper.  Stir until pepper is soft and  onion is translucent.  Stir in combined water, sauce and sugar, bring to boil, simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.  Stir in blended extra cornflour in 2 tablespoons of water.  Add lychees and fried chicken pieces.  Check  salt and if needed just add a little.  Stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens.  Recipe best made close to serving time.

Creme Brulee with Bondi Chai

My friend Amar,  who is a big-shot in Bondi Chai in Australia, coaxed me to do a Creme Brulee with Bondi Chai for a ‘Recipe Book’  that they were intending to do.  This was my entry;  dunno if I made the cut,  but I had a great time doing it.  Here is the recipe for you to try out.  So hurry and buy some Bondi Chai from a dealer near you or make friends with Amar ,  he can give you a pack .  Now am in deep trouble…….

2 cups heavy cream, 2 teaspoons Bondi Chai Vanilla Honey powder, few drops of vanilla essence,  5 egg yolks,  ¼ cup sugar, 1-3 – ¼ cup white or light brown sugar (for caramelizing top).

Preheat oven to 150 deg. C.  In a heavy bottomed saucepan, preferably nonstick,  heat the cream with the bondi chai and vanilla essence for about 12-15 minutes till thick.  Keep stirring over low heat to ensure it does not burn.  Do not let it boil.  Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. 

In a mixing bowl beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in ¼ cup sugar.  Strain the cream through a fine mesh sieve and then add about half of the cream mixture, a little at a time, to the egg mixture.  Whisk till well blended.  Then pour the egg mixture into the remaining cream mixture.   Pour into 4 small ramekins or  4  custard dishes. 

Place the dishes in a large baking pan and pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.   Bake for 50-60 minutes.  Check if done by shaking the pan, if the mixture wiggles, keep it for some more time. 

Carefully remove the dishes from the baking pan and let cool to room temperature.  Refrigerate for 2 hours or so. 

Before serving, layer each dish with a thin layer of sugar, covering it completely.  To caramelize, light a propane torch and hold the flame over the surface till the sugar caramelizes.  Serve immediately.

Pumpkin Cupcakes For Halloween

Buffy de Vampire Slayer

Scary The Pumpkin

With Halloween just down the corner,  I thought of making Pumpkin Cupcakes from a recipe that I had in my recipe-book.  They turned out nice and moist.  Decorated them with cream cheese frosting and thought of making some scary toppers for them.  If you feel uggggh after seeing them,  am real pleased, coz that was the intention.  Please tell us which of the scary ones you liked best;  or is that asking for too much ?

For the Cupcakes : 2-2/3 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 2 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1 tsp. salt, 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup corn oil, 4 large eggs.

For Frosting : 8 oz. cream cheese, 5tbsp. unsalted butter, 2 tsp vanilla essence, 2-1/2 cups icing sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Line cupcake pans with liners.  In a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  Set aside.  In another bowl, blend together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil.  Add the eggs one at a time beating after each addition.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions and mix till all is incorporate.  Fill the cupcakes about 3/4 full and bake till they are golden, say about 20 minutes or till toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool and then frost with icing.   For the icing combine the cream cheese and butter.  Beat on high speed till combined. Mix vanilla essence and add the icing sugar untill smooth.  Fondant was used to make the toppers and edible food colour was used for colouring and painting

Wicked Witch

Booooooo

Rest in Pieces !!

Batty the Bat

The Friendly Ghost

Itssy-bitsy Spider

Count Draculla from Shanghai

Aaaarrrgh Frankeinstein

Paneer Masala

My best friend from school is a vegetarian and I remember my mom used to agonize over what to cook whenever she would visit us .    I have been in a similar predicament when my husband would want to invite his vegetarian colleagues for a meal.  But not any longer!  

Here is an easy to make “vegetarian” dish which my daughters love, which you can try out when faced with a similar situation. What Chicken is to non-vegetarians, Paneer is to vegetarians.  So go ahead and feast on this Paneer masala.

Here is how to make the Paneer Masala:

Paneer (Cottage cheese) cubes     – 400 g, Onions (chopped)- 2,   Coriander powder  – 1 heaped tsp, Cumin powder  - ¾ tsp,  Chilli powder  - 1 tsp, Turmeric powder –  ¼ tsp, Instant coconut milk –  ½ cup,      Capsicum (preferably green) – 1 (cut into cubes), Tomato paste    – 2 tbsp,  Ginger garlic paste – ½ tsp, salt to taste, oil.

 Shallow fry paneer cubes in oil till golden brown and keep aside.  

 In a little oil (use the same pan that you fried the paneer in) fry onions till translucent. Add capsicum, sauté for two minutes. Add ginger garlic paste, tomato paste and the powders. Mix well and fry for a few minutes.  Add a little water. Add paneer and coconut milk. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with vegetable rice or roti.

Beef Pepper Steak

Fancy these moist, tender and juicy beefsteaks ?    Now you don’t have to pay through your nose to have them in a fancy steak-house.   Make them at home and dig in .

6  beef steaks (sirloin or tenderloin), sliced 1/4-inch thick;  Lemon juice (of 2 big lemons),  4 tablespoons  steak sauce or if not available substitute with Worcestershire sauce,  1 teaspoon soya sauce,  freshly ground pepper  (coarse)-  2 teaspoons,  minced garlic  (6 cloves), grated ginger  (3” piece),  3 large onions - cut thick slices,  yellow and green peppers –cut thick slices,  olive oil,  salt to taste

 Prick the beef on all sides with a fork. Wash and pat dry.  In a big bowl put the steak sauce,  lemon juice, ginger, garlic, black pepper and salt.  Toss the beef in it and refrigerate for 1 hour;  stirring it once or twice in between.

 Add olive oil to a heavy skillet and fry the beef on both sides…say 4-5 minutes on each side.  Add marinade little by little and ensure that the beef is moist and not burnt.  At the end of 10 minutes the beef should be done – as it has been tenderised by the lemon juice and the marinade.  Remove to a bowl and keep covered.

In the same oil, fry the onions till they are transparent, then add the peppers and toss;  then add the cooked steaks and any juices which are in the bowl and stir fry till they are all mixed.  Serve hot with steamed rice and a spicy salad.

Spring Rolls

Based on a request from our readers to dish-out some chinese dishes and also quick and easy appetizers,  we have made these Spring Rolls.  We urge our readers to send us their requests;  and if we can,  we shall try our best to do what we can.  Please try them and tell us how they turned out and do not hesitate to send us any queries you may have.  You can get spring roll wrappers in the frozen food sections of your supermarkets. 

Ingredients : 1 Packet Spring Roll wrappers, Beans, Carrots, Peppers (green, orange, red),  Cabbage, Spring onion, 1 onion, Cheese grated, White pepper, ½ cup (or less) water,  Sugar – a pinch,  1 egg white (to help the wrappers seal), Salt to taste, Oil for deep frying.
Cut all the vegetables into strips.  Boil beans with a little water till just done, add carrots and then cabbage, onion and peppers.  Let the water dry up..but don’t over-cook the vegetables.  Add white pepper, sugar and salt.  Let it cool down then add grated cheese (if you add when hot the cheese will melt and you will have a watery filling). The filling should be moist but not watery.
Let the frozen spring roll wrappers thaw and be at room temperature.  Handle gently and remove a wrapper, arrange on the counter and put a tablespoon of  vegetable filling in one corner of the wrapper. Roll the wrapper tightly and stop just 1” short of the end.  Turn the left and right side flaps over each other and dab with egg white.  Turn the flap remaining over the left and right flap and seal with egg white (as shown in pictures below).  Complete all this way.

The filling for the spring rolls

Arrange a spoonful of filling in one corner of the wrapper

Roll up tightly ......

Fold the left and right side flaps over each other

Heat oil and fry Spring Rolls in batches of 4 or 5.  Remove on kitchen rolls.  Serve hot with dipping sauce of your liking; cut into bite size pieces with a sharp knife.

The crispy outer wrapper, the moist, crunchy filling and the warm, melted cheese will surely tantalize your taste buds.

I know another type of spring rolls which can be made with flour and made at home in a non-stick frying pan.  They wont be as crunchy as above spring rolls and dont need to be deep-fried,  but are equally tasty.  I assure you that I will share them with you one day.

Fish Balls with Lime, Coriander & Mayonaise Sauce

Hi everyone.  Have unexpected guests ?  Want to have some tasty appetizers ?   Have a shoe-string budget ?  ‘Bring on the Chef in You’  presents these easy-peasy and yummy Fish Balls.  Try it out in your kitchen and let us know how you liked them.

Ingredients :

1 Tin (387 grms) Tuna fish flakes (in oil, not brine),  2 onions finely minced,  lemon juice, 1 big potato (boiled and mashed),  1 egg,  coriander leaves ½ a bunch, (chopped fine),  ginger -1” chopped very fine,  1 green chilly finely chopped,  fish Sauce or soya Sauce,  bread crumbs, oil for deep frying.   (I skipped the salt as the sauce and even the fish have salt)

Fork out the fish flakes in a bowl.  Discard the oil.  Add the onions, mashed potato, coriander leaves, ginger, green chilly, lemon juice and fish sauce.  Mix till combined and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes. Then shape into small round balls. 

Whisk an egg in a bowl.  Put bread crumbs in shallow dish.  Dip each fish balls in the egg and roll in breadcrumbs.  Do the above for all the balls and keep aside in a flat plate.  Fry the balls in hot oil in batches till golden.  Drain on paper towels.

For Dipping Sauce – Mix together 1 cup mayonnaise, few finely cut coriander leaves and lemon juice.