Stuffed Eggs

Oooh! Stuffed Eggs! Had made these for a party a loooong time ago... and last weekend, they were the perfect choice for a (big) bite-sized appetizer for our poker party. I came across this recipe a while back in a book called 'Simple Cooking for Smart Men' by Karen Anand, something Vineet had 'invested' in during his bachelor days... its the book he has turned to, to impress me with his culinary expertise from time to time... he is very smart after all :)  So here is a slightly adapted version of Karen's original recipe:

Ingredients:
- 6 Eggs (makes 12 halves)
- 1/4 cup Cream cheese
- 3 tbsp Feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 small Onion, very finely chopped
- 1/2 Green Capsicum, very finely chopped
- 3 tbsp Worcestshire Sauce
- 1 tbsp Soya Sauce
- 1 long Green Chilli, seeds removed & finely minced
- Freshly cracked Black pepper, to taste
- Salt, to taste
- 5-6 Fresh Lettuce leaves
- 5-6 Cherry Tomatoes

Method:
1.) Bring a large pot of water to a simmer. Float the eggs gently into the water and boil to cook (about 15-20 minutes). Once boiled, cool under running water slightly and peel and set aside.

2.) Slice the eggs in half along the longer side, such that you get 2 identical halves. Scoop out the cooked yolks into a bowl. Rise the boiled egg whites under cool running water to clean up. Set aside on a paper towel to drain.

3.) Take half the quantity of boiled yolks, and mash with a fork till they're soft and creamy. Whisk in the Cream cheese, Feta, chopped Onions & Capsicum, Chillies, Worcestershire & Soya sauces, and black pepper and salt.

4.) Using a teaspoon, scoop the filling into the hollows of the boiled eggs. Garnish with a little of the chopped Capsicum.

Serve on a bed of fresh, crisp lettuce along with halved cherry tomatoes scattered on the plate.

Bread pudding with salted- sugared Pecans

I'm pretty certain that most most of you who are reading this, have often had, a few slices of bread ( or sometimes even half a loaf) going stale in your refrigerator. Na na... nothing to feel embarrassed about, i do too... I usually air-dry stale bread over a few days and make bread-crumbs, my go-to ingredient for instantly adding 'body' to soups and gravies.

But... I was in the mood for something sweet yesterday, and I figured that eggs, milk and bread (pretty standard breakfast ingredients) would make a quick dessert...an unassuming, comforting, no-fuss bread pudding...
For this recipe I used honey as a sweetener since I'm consciously trying to avoid refined sugar in my recent baking endeavours...Also, I created a salty-sweet nutty crust, with pecans, salt and a pinch of brown sugar... tasted absolutely yum!

Ingredients:
- 7-8 slices stale Bread 
- 1/2 cup Raisins
- 1/4 cup Brandy / dark Rum
- 1 cup Milk
- 2 Eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Honey
- 1-1/4 cups Pecans
- 1 tsp cold Butter
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp brown Sugar


Method:
1.) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Soak the raisins in the brandy or the rum. Cut the bread slices into 1/2" cubes.Tumble them into a non-stick baking dish.

2.) Whisk the eggs till they're light and frothy. Add the milk, vanilla, honey and a few tablespoons of the brandy from the raisins. Whisk all the liquid ingredients together.

3.) Add the raisins to the bread cubes. Toss with your fingers to mix gently. Pour the egg-milk mix over the bread cubes. Let the bread soak in the mix for about 10 minutes.

4.) Meanwhile, roughly chop the Pecans and transfer to a bowl. Add the cold butter and with your fingers rub the butter onto the pecans. Add the salt and brown sugar to the pecans and using your fingers coat the pecans nicely.

5.) Spread the salted-sugared Pecans over the soaking bread mixture. Bake @ 180 deg C for about 35-40 minutes.

Serve hot/ cold with fresh berries / cream or topping of your choice. I like this better made with brown bread instead of white. Also, if you have trouble finding Pecans, Walnuts will work just as well... Go on... make this NOW! :)

Pancakes with Instant Blueberry Jam-Sauce

Vineet doesn't like pancakes! I almost dint believe him the first time he said that !!     
After detailed interrogation, I discovered that my dear husband, has trouble accepting what he calls, "deceptive" foods! Things that look like one thing but taste COMPLETELY different!
Like Shrikhand (a sweet-sour yoghurt, saffron & cardomom based indian dessert) for example - the first time he tried it, he was convinced it was mango ice-cream...and it very obviously wasn't. So it seems his enemity with pancakes was that he thought that they were omlettes, and they turned out to be sweet!
I on the other hand LOVE them! Mom made these for Rahul & me during the school holidays, where I'd spend nights devouring Enid Blytons mysteries, dream about my own adventures, and wake up in the morning demanding pancakes... if the FAMOUS 5 had them with bacon on the side.... I wanted it them too! :)
So since Vineet was away on work, I treated myself to these as a lovely Saturday breakfast.

Ingredients: (makes 8-10 pancakes)
1-1/2 cups All-purpose flour (maida)
1-1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tbsp Olive oil (or butter)

Method:
1.) Measure out all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

2.) Whisk the egg using a fork till its light and fluffy. Add the milk, vanilla and olive oil and whisk lightly to mix.

3.) Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly pour a little of the milk-egg mixture. Stir it in and repeat till you have a nice thick batter. The consistency should be like a cake batter/ or even like dosa batter. If its too thin, add a couple of teaspoons of flour to thicken it.

4.) Heat a non-stick pan. Spoon a little of the batter onto the hot pan and gently spread making clock-wise circular motion, till they're about 4-5 inches in diameter. Keep the heat gentle and wait for bubbles to form and the top to set ( like the photo).Lift the edge of the set pancake and peek to see if its golden-brown.


5.) Using a flat wooden spoon, flip the pancake over to cook on the second side. Transfer to a plate. Make the rest of the pancakes.

Enjoy these will maple syrup or honey, or if you're in the mood for something more special, try the 

THE BLUEBERRY JAM SAUCE

I made this right before I started with the pancakes, so it had some time till it was cool enough to eat.

Ingredients:

1 pkt dried Blueberries

5-6 fresh Blackberry or mulberry (optional)

1 tsp grated Lemon zest

1 tsp Lemon juice

2-3 tbsp Honey

1/2 cup Water

Method:
1.) Heat a saucepan. Add the water, honey and dried blueberries.  Roughly chop the blackberries, and add them to saucepan.

2.) Turn the heat to high and let the contents bubble away and gradually thicken. Stir in the lemon zest and turn off the heat. At this point the sauce will be really thick and very sticky. The dried blueberries will have softened and the blackberries , if used, will get easily mashed. Squirt the lemon juice and mix well. Transfer into a bowl and set aside to cool.

3.) Drizzle over the pancakes and Enjoy!

I had a few extra tablespoons of this instant "jam" left over, which on refrigerating became even stickier. I was just wondering how to use it up, when I spotted the tub of Yoghurt on the top shelf... and Bingo! I had instant home-made fruit yoghurt ! Without all the horrid sugar, that shop-bought flavoured fruit yoghurts have!! :)

Also, I preffered to use dried blueberries instead of fresh ones, since I wanted the berries to retain their shape, and also wanted the sauce to be thick-ish... fresh blueberries made a delicious, runny sauce, so use that if you like! :)

The 3 C's Breakfast Omlette

Breakfast is my most favourite meal of the day... and nothing celebrates a glorious Sunday morning like a freshly made Omlette dotted with brightly coloured bits of Chillies, Coriander & Cheese... I used bright red fresh chillies to contrast the green of the coriander and it made a delicious omlette even prettier :)

Ingredients:
- 3 Eggs
- 1 large Red Chilli, finely chopped
- 1 small bunch Coriander, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup grated Cheddar
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- Freshly cracked Black pepper
- 1 tsp Olive oil, for frying



Method:
1.) Crack the Eggs into a bowl. Whisk with a fork until light and fluffy. Add the salt & pepper and whisk again.


2.) Add the cheese, chillies and coriander into the eggs and lightly whisk to mix well.


3.) Heat a frying pan on medium flame. Drizzle the olive oil and swirl it around to coat the surface of the pan. Pour the egg mixture onto the pan and allow it to spread out evenly and thinly. Cover with a lid and cook over a low-medium flame, so that the eggs are cooked through but do not 'brown' too much.


4.) Uncover the pan, and check if the eggs are set by a simple swirling action. Cover and cook if the top is still a little runny.Switch off heat when cooked.


Fold in half and transfer onto your plate. We enjoyed this with some toast and a glass of freshly squeezed Orange juice :)

Baked Eggs with Tomatoes

This receipe makes for a light dinner for two. Serve it up with some toasted bread with or without a blob of butter. Its best made with cherry tomatoes as they keep their shape and don't wilt  into paste while cooking like ordinary tomatoes do, and also they look so pretty on the plate :)

Ingredients:

1-1/2 tbsp Olive oil
2 medium Onions - finely chopped
1 Red Chilli - fresh, deeseeded and finely chopped
1 Garlic clove - sliced
1 Small bunch Coriander - chopped
500 g Cherry tomatoes - cut into halves
1 tsp Sugar
4 Eggs

Method:
1.  Heat The Oil in a frying pan. Add the chopped Onions, red chillies and garlic and cook for a few minutes until soft.
2.  Add the cherry tomatoes, sugar and part of the chopped coriander and let the mixture bubble away for a few minutes until the sauce is thick.
3.  Using the back of a wooden spoon, make 4 dips in the thick sauce. Crack an Egg into each. Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for about 6-8 minutes till the eggs are done to your liking. Garnish with Coriander and serve!

For a slightly more indulgent version of the same receipe...
Preheat the Oven to 180 deg. C. Once the sauce has thickened as per Step-2, transfer it into a oven-safe baking dish. Make the dips in the sauce and crack the eggs into them as per Step-3. Sprinkle a generous quantity of grated cheese (cheddar, since most of us have that in the fridge anyway) and bake till the Eggs are cooked and the cheese begins to bubble and brown.
Allow it to rest for a few minutes in the oven. Garnish with the chopped coriander and gobble it up! :)