Black and White Banana Loaf

Black and White Banana Loaf

Recipe source : Dorie Greenspan

I am going bananas again!!

I have lots of bananas lying in my pantry getting darker by the day. i have a whole range of food planned to take care of the bananas. The planning takes a long time to reach the execution stage. 

But today I finally made this Black and white banana loaf and it turned out awesommmee!!

The bananas are first mushed and then mixed with rum and lemon juice. It is then left for some time as the banana imbibes the two flavours. The nutmeg also has a very distinct taste in the cake. All in all an amazing recipe from Dorie Greenspan!

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp nutmeg powder

½ tsp salt

2 ripe bananas

Squirt of fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp dark rum

3 oz/85 gms dark chocolate, chopped

110 gms + 2 tbsp butter

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

½ cup milk

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Grease a loaf tin.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg powder.

Mash the bananas and mix with lemon juice and rum. Keep aside for some time. 

Melt the chocolate and 2 tbsp butter on a double boiler. Beat the 110 gms butter till smooth. Add the two sugars and beat till pale and glossy. Add the essence and mashed bananas and mix well. 

Add half the flour mix and then the milk. Now fold in the rest of the flour. 

The batter will look a bit curdled but it is fine. 

Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if the cake is ready.

Feather Cake

Feather Cake

I love the name!! Feather Cake!!

The very name made me visualize a cake as soft and fluffy as feather, as delicate as the name suggests. And I was not disappointed. There is no baking powder or baking soda in the recipe and I was wondering how can a cake be as light as feather without the help of any rising agent. The magic is the stiffly beaten egg whites. They are what makes the cake rise.

The cake, when it was baked, was a beautiful sight to behold. The outer crust was golden and inside it was white and spongy. You could actually see the air pockets that made the cake so feathery. Amazzinnngg!!

Ingredients

1 ½ cups flour

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup cold water

½ tsp vanilla essence

6 eggs, white and yolk separated

¾ tsp cream of tartar

¼ tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Beat the yolks till thick. 

Add cold water and beat some more. 

Now gradually add the sugar beating well after each addition. Add the essence. 

Now fold in the flour adding 2-3 tbsp at a time. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar till stiff. Fold gently into batter. If you beat at this stage the egg whites will lose their shape. 

Bake in a bundt cake tin for 55-60 minutes.

Spiced Pear Upside Down Cake

Spiced Pear Upside Down Cake

Recipe Source : tasteofhome.com

I love upside down cakes, be it pineapple, apple, peach or pear. It is a great way to incorporate fruits into the cakes. Also the juices from the fruits soak into the cake while baking and they give the cake a unique flavour.

I have adapted the recipe from tasteofhome.com. However I have made certain changes. The original recipe called for molasses which I have replaced with jam. I have used Apricot jam but you can use any flavour you want. Also I have increased the quantity of eggs. And I have used warm milk instead of warm water.

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter, melted

 ½ cup roasted cashews, chopped

¼ cup brown sugar

2 large pears, peeled and sliced

½ cup butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup jam

1 ½ cups flour

¾ tsp ginger powder

¾ tsp cinnamon powder

½ tsp baking powder

½ cup warm milk

Pour melted butter in a 9” cake tin. Sprinkle nuts and brown sugar. Heat a little till the brown sugar starts melting. Arrange the pear slices on top.

Make the batter

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. 

Add eggs and jam. Beat well. 

Combine flour, ginger powder, cinnamon powder and baking powder. Add flour mix and warm milk alternately. 

Spread over pears. 

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees and bake for 40-50 minutes. 

Egg Biryani

Egg Biryani

There are days when thinking of what to make for lunch is the most cumbersome task. These are the days when I take a short cut. The best short cut is a biryani. 

I have tried out many chicken and mutton biryanis and so this time I decided to make Egg Biryani. It is a simple process and pretty quick to make. If you want you can make it in the “dum” style. But like I said..this recipe is for lazy days and doing the “dum” process is simply too much work.

Ingredients

5 hard boiled eggs

1 ½ cups long grain rice, washed and soaked

3 onions sliced fine

1 large onion, sliced fine (for making barista)

2 tomatoes, sliced fine

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 star anise/phoolchakri

4 tbsp curd

2 tbsp coriander powder

1 tbsp cumin powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

Salt to taste

First make the barista.

Heat ½ cup oil to smoking point and then put in the sliced onion. Fry till the onions are well browned. Keep aside.

In the same oil fry the boiled eggs. Keep aside.

Add cumin seeds and star anise to the hot oil. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and saute.

 Add the 3 sliced onions and cook till the onions are pink and translucent. 

Add the tomato, cover and cook till the tomatoes are done. Add the cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt. 

Once the masalas are well cooked add the curd and saute well.

 Now add the soaked rice, eggs and browned onions. 

Add 3 cups of water and boil on high flame. 

Keep cooking on high flame without a lid till the water is almost evaporated. Now turn the flame to low, cover with a lid and cook till the water evaporates completely and the rice is well cooked. You can garnish the dish with chopped coriander leaves. 

OMG Cake

  

 OMG Cake

This is going to be my OMG!! Cake!!!

Why OMG? Because it was so so soft that while cutting the cake i had a rapturous look on my face. And the taste...ummm can’t even begin to describe!! You have to make it to believe it!! 

This cake was the result of poorly stocked pantry. I began with a marmalade cake in mind but then I had no marmalade and no fresh oranges. So I used what I could lay my hands on. Pineapple jam and orange juice from a tetra pack!!

 I thought that pineapple and orange should make a good flavoursome combination. And to be honest even I was taken aback by the beauty of the cake. It was super moist..like I said when I was cutting into it I was filled was amazement and wonderment. 

The cake was cut and consumed in a matter of minutes. And I miss it sorely!! Gonna bake one more!!

Ingredients

1 ½ cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ cup oil

½ cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1/3 cup marmalade/pineapple jam

100 ml orange juice

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Line and grease a 8” cake tin.

Cream butter, oil and sugar till pale and fluffy.

 Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.

 Add the marmalade and mix well. Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add to the batter. 

Add the orange juice and mix well.

 Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Sleepy Salami

Sleepy Salami

It is  fun to be young! You can play all you want, sleep all you want and yeah, eat all you want!!

And you gain this realization when all this is behind you!

I don’t remember the last time I ate something good and didn’t feel guilty and start counting the calories. As a kid you have a great metabolism, and also you are always running around and getting exercise without planning to. Whatever you eat is digested soon and you are hungry again.

My preteen son is at this stage. He is hopping and running around. He is hungry all the time. And while he enjoys all kinds of food I can only sit and wonder where my golden years went.

What do you do when your kid demands something to eat at midnight? Too tired to cook something; too late to order anything. Open the kitchen and all you have are eggs and some cold cuts. Well I made a Sleepy Salami. Salami slices in a blanket of fluffy, white eggs!

Ingredients

For one serving

2 salami slices

1 egg

Salt and pepper to taste

Beat the egg with some salt till frothy. Heat a pan and add some oil. 

Once the oil is hot pour the egg and rotate the pan till the egg covers the whole pan. 

Place the salami slices on the egg. 

Fold over the sides of the egg on top of the salami. 

Now fold it in half so that one salami is on top of the other. 

Cook both sides. Place on a plate and sprinkle some pepper.

Shakshuka

Shakshuka

This is a complete meal. Shakshuka is an Israeli Tunisian 

dish of eggs poached in a tomato based gravy. It is generally very hot and is cooked in a cast iron skillet. I have added few Indian touches to it and baked it in an oven. It has vegetables, a mixture of aromatic spices, a lot of chiili and lots of tomato. This is a quick fix tummy filling dish that you can have at any meal.

This is a very traditional recipe which I have adapted for my ease. First of all I have not used any ready made cans of tomatoes. I have used fresh chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and ketchup.

 I have used capsicum and onions but you can use carrots, broccoli, French beans ..anything..Add as much veggies as you want to the dish o make it healthier.

I have baked it in the oven but you can put it in a deep pan, cover and cook on the gas. It comes out as good.

So have an egg-xiting time making and experimenting with the Shakshuka

Ingredients

4 large eggs

1 large onion, cubed

2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped fine

1 capsicum, cubed

5 pods garlic, chopped

4 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

5 green chillies, chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp ajwain

1 tsp pepper powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp Kashmiri lal mirch powder

Salt to taste

Heat some oil in a pan. Add the cumin and ajwain. Add the chopped garlic and green chillies. 

Add the chopped tomatoes. Cover and cook till soft. I have added the onions later because I wanted them to have the crunch.

Once the tomatoes are soft add the puree and ketchup. Mix and add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt. 

Cook till oil starts leaving the sides. Now add the onions and capsicum. Cook on low heat for some time. Sprinkle the pepper powder. The mixture will not be dry. Keep it a little sauce like.

Now what I did was I transferred the masala/sauce to a baking dish. Then I cracked 4 eggs over them. Do not mix or scramble the eggs. Let the yolks sit there beautifully. 

Then preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Bake for about 20 minutes. I don’t like runny yolks but many people do. So adjust the timing depending on how you like your egg yolks.

Alternately what you can do is cook in the pan itself on gas stove. Crack the eggs, cover let it cook till the eggs are done.

Once done sprinkle some salt and pepper powder on top.