Apple Pie

There are certain distinct advantages of being sick. For one, the husband waits on you hand and foot and doesn’t let you do a thing! (Big Smile :D :D). So, the bug hit my tummy last weekend and although I was sick, upset and irritated that my weekend got wasted, I was secretly happy to see that the husband cooked all meals, supervised the cleaning and kept things in perfect order in the house…..maybe I should let him do this more often :P.

So, by Sunday evening, I had rested and rusted from sleeping too much. My hands were itching to do something. And yeah, I was kind of feeling sorry for the husband and wanted to treat him to something warm and comforting for all the care he had taken while I was indisposed.

I had some apples in the fridge and the immediate though that struck me was ‘Apple Pie’!! A few nights back, the husband and I had watched an apple pie recipe on TV and I decided to recreate the same recipe (for its sheer no-fuss value!). So go ahead, try it…..

Ingredients:

For the filling:

Apples – 2 large, peeled, cored and sliced (My pie dish is smaller in size. In case you have a big pie dish, increase the number of apples accordingly)

All-purpose flour – 2 tbsp

Brown Sugar – 1 tsp

Lemon juice – 1tbsp

Cinnamon powder – 1 tbsp

Nutmeg powder – ¼ tsp

Butter (softened) – 2 tsp

For the dough:

All-purpose flour – 1 ½ cup

Sugar – 1 tsp

Butter – 1 cup cut in cubes (cold from the fridge….it should be firm)

Salt – 1 tsp

Water – 5 tbsp

Method:

Start by making the pastry dough. Mix 1 ½ cups flour, salt and sugar first. Then add the cold butter. Use your fingers to mix the butter with the flour so that the mixture starts resembling bread crumbs. Add 5 tbsp water and knead the dough till it becomes smooth and pliable. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.

In the meanwhile, take a bowl and mix the apple slices, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon powder and nutmeg powder gently. Take care not to break the apple slices. Pour the lemon juice over the mixture and mix lightly.

Take the firm dough from the fridge and break it into two halves. Knead both halves. Spread a plastic sheet / cling film on the rolling surface and place one half of the dough in the middle. Fold the plastic over the dough and then roll out the dough which is in between the plastic wrap. The disc should be an inch bigger in diameter than your pie dish. Do this for both halves of the dough.

Remove the wrap gently and place one rolled out dough in the pie dish. Flatten it carefully and fold along the edges of the mould so that it sticks to it and covers the dish completely. Trim the edges by removing extra dough and put the pie dish in the fridge to set.

Once firm, make piercings with a fork all over so that it bakes easily. Brush 1 tsp butter all over it and fill it with the apple mixture evenly. Add 2 tbsp of the sweet apple mixture water on top. Dot the mixture with a few pieces of butter.

Place the second rolled out dough on top of the filling covering the pie dish completely. Seal and trim the edges. Cut slits in the top crust for steam to escape. You may use the leftover dough from the edges to carve a design and decorate the top crust. I cut out long and thin strips and created a lattice pattern.

Brush the top crust with a little melted butter before baking. Bake for 35-40 minutes in pre-heated oven at 200°C.

The husband thought my pie looked better than the one we watched on the TV show. My BIL and my cousin were there too and the pie disappeared within 5 minutes of appearing on the table. I saw their smiles and felt the love….that warm, comforting feeling envelop me. Or maybe it was that pie…..warm, comforting and absolutely delicious J.

Love,

Anjali D

Intense Chocolate Cookies

I have been on a cookie overdrive this month. First there were those yummilicious coconut cookies, then some oatmeal raisin ones, and then I came across this magical recipe for heavenly, sinful, intense roundels of cookies. That too from the goddess herself……Nigella!!! The moment I saw the recipe, I knew I had to make these….or rather ‘try’ making these. I had originally intended to make a big batch and giveaway some to friends (The weekend was an extended one you see!!). But never having made chocolate cookies before, I suddenly developed cold feet (I was attempting a Nigella recipe, no less!). So I decided to make a small batch as a tester. If it worked fine, I could make those giveaways next weekend. By the time these got done, I was cursing myself for not having attempted the giveaway batches……they were so good!! The big grin on the husband’s face said it all J.

Intense Chocolate Cookies

(Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s recipe, basically I changed a little of the measurements and ingredients to suit myself)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup dark cooking chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg, cold from the fridge
• A handful of dark chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Place the dark cooking chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Take care not to burn the mixture. Let the mixture cool. Place the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and mix well. In another bowl, whisk the egg and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and the melted chocolate mixture and stir well. Mix in the dry ingredients and finally the chocolate chips. Scoop out equal sized portions of the dough onto a lined baking sheet. Bake at 170°C for around 15 minutes. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. Then, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!! You may also store the cookies in an air-tight jar.

Dark chocolate has an amazing way of making you feel happy and satisfied. And these cookies are truly dark and intense (see the colour?). The aroma that wafted throughout the house while baking these were enough to get curious stares from the neighbours. And my mouth was already watering….I just couldn’t wait to finish baking. The end product was one of the most amazing cookies I’ve ever had. And I have only one person to thank for my superb and sinful experience……Nigella J.

Love,

Anjali D.

Coconut Cookies

I love coconuts…..I’ve always loved them. Being from a part of the country where coconuts are used in various forms in all religious ceremonies and social festivities, the taste and flavor of coconuts is ingrained in my very being! So, when I moved to a different part of the country (post marriage) where coconuts are equally cherished, albeit in a different style / manner of cooking, I felt comforted in the fact that I would not be missing out on a few favorites after all J.

A couple of weeks back, my landlady gifted me a coconut (along with some other goodies J) as part of her religious custom during a Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth) pooja ceremony. I’m still getting used to the difference in social and religious life of the people in this part of the country from those parts where I’ve spent the most part of my life until now. In northern India, Lakshmi pooja is celebrated at a different time of the year.

Anyways, the initial idea was to prepare some coconut milk and store it in the fridge for future use. However, since scraping the edible part out of a coconut requires considerable time and effort, I just kept delaying that activity. Of course, I kept the coconut in a visible space in my kitchen so I would not forget all about it ;). In any case, last weekend, I decided enough was enough and enlisted the husband’s help in removing the coconut flesh. I gave up the coconut milk idea since it is readily available in the superstores and decided to use it in its original form. So, the task now was to decide how to use it best! I used up some part of it in a chicken curry over the weekend but still had lots left up to be used. I was in the office drafting a document when the brainstorm happened. I didn’t waste any time and decided to use it up that day itself when I reached home after office. Considering that it took such less time to dish up this goody, I didn’t let my late office hours and my gym routine (AND my lazy bones) disrupt me from this idea. Go through the recipe and see if the considerable ease motivates you too to try this on a busy weekday evening J (that is, if you have pre-grated coconut handy; else, reserve it for a weekend).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup grated coconut
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• A pinch of salt

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.

Place teaspoonfuls of the mixture on a well-greased baking tray. Shape them into roundels and flatten them a little with your fingers. Make sure to leave gaps between the cookies as these will expand.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 12-15 minutes.

My cookies were crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside – exactly the way I like them. My sister said they looked like the ones she buys at those expensive donut outlets and the husband said they tasted even better J. My success at these also prompted me to make a batch of giveaways for my friends. Happy me J!

Love,

Anjali D.

Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Have you ever had the feeling of utterly losing control over something that belongs to you in the first place? Well!! It happened to me recently when both my mother and mother-in-law decided to pay us a visit. I utterly lost control……over my kitchen!! I finally had to decide not to enter my beloved space during the entire period of their stay. Of course, it was nice to simply relax while mommy dearest was busy dishing up things that I love. Just that I had no way of creating something experimental when the pangs of experimentation would strike (which, in my case, is quite often!). Plus, my kitchen not being very large, there was just no room for three people at one go (living in the middle of a crowded city has its own disadvantages!). So, I had to forfeit my right of being in my own kitchen for one whole month.

So, the weekend when they left for their own homes, I was ecstatic. Don’t judge me here, I was sad that I wouldn’t be meeting my family for at least the next six months. I was ecstatic because I had regained control of my kitchen and I could finally have a go at those little recipes that I had been collecting for a month. I decided to bring the experimental me back into the kitchen. I went through my recipe collection for three whole days to find that one perfect dish and finally came up with this! I chose this because the major ingredients used in this dish are favorites of both me and the husband. So read on….

Chicken in Creamy Mushroom sauce

Ingredients:

500 grams boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 packet mushrooms (finely sliced)

1 large onion (finely chopped)

4-5 cloves of garlic (very finely chopped)

½ cup white wine (I used chenin blanc)

½ cup heavy cream

2 heaped tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons cooking oil

Method:

Sprinkle salt, pepper and flour over the chicken breasts and give them a good rub. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the chicken breasts until they reach a crisp golden brown colour. You do not need to cook the chicken through at this stage. Next, put the fried chicken pieces in a pressure cooker and fill it with just enough water to cover the chicken. Pressure cook the chicken up to 2-3 whistles (my chicken pieces were quite large). In the meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet, add the onions and fry until translucent. Add the garlic and fry for another couple of minutes. Next, add the mushrooms and fry for 5-6 minutes or until the same starts turning golden. Add the wine and bring it to a boil. Cover the skillet with a lid and let the liquid reduce to half. Once the liquid has reduced, remove the chicken from the stock, add the stock to the skillet and bring the same to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, add the cream and the chicken and season with salt and pepper (remember, the chicken is already seasoned….so exercise caution!). Let the sauce thicken to your desired quantity. This will also help the chicken absorb the sauce in all its goodness. When the chicken is cooked through, remove the chicken and arrange on a plate. Pour the thick, brown sauce over the chicken and serve with mashed potatoes, stir-fried veggies and some garlic bread.

Enjoy!!

I didn’t have garlic bread handy. So I melt some butter, roasted some mashed garlic in the butter and pan-toasted some regular bread in the garlic butter mix….it was heavenly! Trust me!

Love,

Anjali D.

Bread and Cheese Frittata

My weekdays are absolutely frenzied! Not being a morning person just adds up to that mess. In the mornings, I can just manage to squeeze in enough time for a quick bath and a hurried breakfast before rushing off to the office. Working for late hours makes matters worse. Had it been left to me, after office, I would have hogged on a fast, unhealthy dinner and flopped into my bed straight away. No such luxuries! My husband, the fitness enthusiast that he is, makes sure that we go to the gym in the evenings (he has long resigned to the idea that I won’t be up in the early morning J). After gym, I just have enough time for a quick bath and a rushed (and healthy L) dinner. By the time I flop into my bed, I’m so tired that I instantly doze off. Since my husband also has a similar routine, he doesn’t really complain. So, we truly, badly, madly wait for the weekends when we can indulge in things and people that we love. And of course, there is always good food!

Given this routine, I was delighted when one particular weekday, we both got to leave office in the early evening…..this meant, we could spend a whole evening together!! I decided to cook something special using a favourite ingredient of each of us (eggs for my husband and cheese for me J). Plus, it had to be quick given that I wanted to spend maximum time with my husband and not in the kitchen. So I ended up with this awesome bread frittata which required very basic ingredients and was done in 15 minutes flat!

Ingredients:

Eggs – 4

Whole wheat bread – 2 slices (shredded)

Salami or ham – ½ cup (shredded)

Frozen peas – ½ cup (thawed)

Mozzarella – ½ cup (grated)

Oil – 1 tablespoon

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Whisk the eggs with salt and pepper until fluffy and set aside. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Once hot, add the shredded ham or salami. Add the peas after a couple of minutes and stir fry the same for 2-3 minutes. Add the shredded bread and mix everything well until the bread is coated with oil and the peas and ham / salami are evenly distributed. When the bread is a little toasty, add the egg mixture all over the bread. Make sure the egg covers all of the bread, peas and ham / salami. Do not mix. Cover the pan with a lid and let it set on low heat for around 3 mins. When the sides are set and crisp and the top is still runny, add the grated cheese on top of it. Cover again for 1 min or until the cheese melts. Enjoy the goodness!!

I got the idea of this dish from here. While she had set it on a grill, just before finishing the dish, I preferred to melt the cheese on my pan itself. I’m sure her effect was equally amazing.

You can add anything else you fancy along with the peas and ham. It could be red, green or yellow bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, bacon, sausages….anything that catches your fancy and goes well with eggs. This is what the blogger from this blog suggested too.

My husband said it was restaurant quality! That just made my day…or should I say evening J. We had coffee along with this and I could feel the cares and worries of my day melting away....just like the cheese....

Love,

Anjali D.