Oyster Chowder

One interesting tit-bit about a traditional chowder is that crackers or biscuits are used to thicken the broth. Though in this recipe flour is used, many recipes use oyster crackers finely chopped to create body.

I took about 10 oysters for this recipe and this served well for two of us. Clean the oysters and rinse out the water well. You will need one medium size onion finely chopped, one small potato diced into smallish cubes, 8 cleaned button mushrooms, a handful of cleaned roughly chopped spinach, a cup of milk, a tbsp flour, some regular cheese and a cup of salt seasoned chicken stock. Spoon the flour into the milk and mix well. Chop the mushrooms into small bits.

In a wok, warm a tbsp of olive oil. Fry the onions till they are transparent pink. Once this is done add the potatoes, toss a bit and put a lid for 4 mins at low heat. Once the potatoes are a bit soft, throw in the mushroom and stir for 2 mins. Next add the spinach and again stir for 2 mins. Next pour in the milk and the stock. Bring to a boil and gently release in the oysters. Cook again in low heat for 5-6 mins. Grate about 11/2 tbsp cheese in the broth. Your chowder is good to dig in!

Midnight Cookies

723 Baxter St. Athens, GA 30605. 706-850-5478

This is where you can get late night cookies. This comes under the category of coffee house and cafe and they have a delivery system of late night cookies.

Back in India, we just make do by making midnight cookies ourselves. And why not? it is indeed just so simple, so quick.

Prep first. Preheat oven up to 180 degrees centigrade. Line baking trays with butter sheets or baking paper.

Next place 120g butter and 175g castor sugar in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Add one beaten egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence and mix until smooth. Sieve in 125g plain flour, 35g cocoa powder and 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda. Beat and mix well.

Dampen your hands, roll lime sized dough into smooth balls. Place on the baking sheet keeping gaps. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 mins.

Transfer to a wire rac and allow it to cool. Bring it on! Its midnight!

PS-This recipe makes about 25 odd pcs

Mocha Cupcakes

Mocha is the name of the largest port in Yemen where from African coffee is the most traded and transported. It is also a type of coffee bean. This recipe creates a rather evolved sense of coffee magic, an experience so refined and so subtle that one feels kind of elevated. Try it. In fact the first time that I baked them initially one felt that they were not kinda sweet. Finally even kids were devouring them. Of course different matter, these were hungry kids....

In a saucepan please take 85 g butter, 1 tbsp clear honey, 85 g sugar, 2 tbsp instant coffee powder and 200 ml of water and mix well. Place it on heat, stirring constantly. Once the sugar dissolves, allow it to come to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer for 5 mins. Keep it aside to cool till it reaches room temperature. 

In a separate bowl sieve 225 g flour with 2 tbsp cocoa powder. Add it to the cooled above mix, fold in smoothly.

In 2 tbsp milk, add 1 tsp soda bicarbonate and make a paste. Fold in gently to the batter.

Now finally, add 1 lightly beaten large egg and beat the the mixture together until smooth.

Lace the cupcake molds with paper cases. spoon the mix into the cases. 

Your oven should have been preheated to 180 degrees centigrade. Set in the cupcakes molds and bake for 15-20 mins or until well risen and firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

In the picture, I have not added any topping as we were carrying them on a trip. It is enjoyed the most with a swirl of whipped cream dusted with some sifted cocoa powder. 

Choco Chip Cookies

Ruth Wakefield was baking her regular divine butter cookies at her Toll House Inn in 1938 and one time she decided to chip some chocolates and add it to the batter expecting the chocolate to melt. Lo behold! The chocolate remained as soft chips thus going on to give birth to the world loved choco chip cookies. Ruth then wrote to Nestle about her discovery and the even then corporate choco giant printed her recipe on their wrapper in return giving Ruth a lifetime supply of delicious chocolate.

Back home Gautam Ganapthy's beautiful photographer mamma shared her way of baking her divine choco chip cookies with her DIL and Kavery then passed on this magical recipe to me. Trust me, it is easy.

Cream 1/2 a cup of butter in a bowl until light. To this add 3/4 cup sugar which in turn constitutes of half brown sugar and half white sugar. Gently whisk till the sugar butter mix is light and creamy. Now add one egg and whisk well for 3 mins. Fold in 1 tsp vanilla essence. 

In a separate bowl, sieve 1 cup flour with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp baking soda. Gently blend in the flour mix to the creamy batter and once well blended, add 3/4 cup of choco chips. Once again fold in the chips gently and well into the mix.

Heat your oven at 350 degrees centigrade. Place butter paper on your baking rack and just blob little cookie dough with your hand on the paper one after the other. Bake for about 20 mins. This amount of dough should make you a batch of about 20-25 approximately. When you allow the baked cookies to stand, they become firm.

A cup of milk, a cookie and your book, sleep sweet soon!

Rum Soaked Cranberry, Banana and Walnut cake

An interesting trivia about cranberries is that they are also called bounceberries because a good ripe cranberry bounces. They also have medicinal qualities but we are not interested in that fact now.

Five or six hours prior to preparing the batter, soak about 2 heaped tbsp dried cranberries in half a cup of dark rum. Mash 2 ripe bananas well. Chop half a cup of walnuts. 

In a mixing bowl, throw in 200g butter and whisk 140g castor sugar, 1 tbsp honey amd 1 tsp vanilla essence well with the butter with an electric whisk. Once soft and creamy, add 3 eggs, but one at a time giving it a nice whisk each time so that the eggs softly blend in. The mix will look light yellow and creamy.

In a separate bowl mix 300g flour with 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp salt. Sieve once. Add half of this to the butter mix and with a spatula mix well. Now add the banana mash and fold in completely. Next add the rest of the flour mix and once again blend thoroughly again with a spatula. It is time to pick out the cranberries from the rum cup and add them to the batter along with the chopped walnut. One more good round of gentle folding and the batter is ready to go!

Pour into the waiting prepared baking tin and set it into the pre-heated oven. It takes about 30 mins at 150 degrees centigrade. Have fun!

Coffee Cake

Who doesn't  enjoy the romantic whiff of dark coffee brew? Coffee shops have become an universal phenomenon. Working, chatting, catching up, meeting, being alone, thinking, doing nothing...all of these qualify for a shortie or a longie at a coffee shop.

At a tea at Kavery's we had this lovely coffee cake. I am anyway a black coffee fan, It was love at first taste.

Take 150g each of castor sugar, butter, flour, 3 eggs, 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp of coffee and 1 tbsp of hot water to dissolve coffee. Use a whisker and cream the butter till it is soft. Once creamy, add the castor sugar and mix well. Separate the eggs and beat them separately for 4 mins each, if you are using an electric whisker. In another bowl fold in the baking powder with the flour. With a flexi spatula add the flour mix to the creamed sugary butter. Smoothly mix the batter till the flour folds in completely with the butter-sugar mix. Now, dissolve the coffee in the hot water and once done add this to the batter. Pour into your prepared baking tin. Bake at 160 degrees centigrade for 30 mins. Your itchen will be filled with a sexy subtle aroma, enjoy!

To make the icing you will need 225g icing sugar, 100g butter, 1tbsp coffee and hot water. Again cream the butter which was kept at room temperature. Once soft, fold in the icing sugar and finally add the coffee which you need to again dissolve in the hot water. 

Once the cake is at room temperature, with an icing knife gently coat the cake with the coffee icing. Sprinkle some choco chips or chocolate shavings. Keep in the fridge. Whenever you are serving, take it out for a bit from the cold, slice out a delicious wedge and sway the lucky one off his or her feet!

Egg Cabbage Salad

I call this salad "The Indian Khimchi". It is unique in the way it is dressed. Tamarind and roasted cumin gives the salad an interesting zing. Potatoes, an all time fave and eggs, loved by many create magic with fresh green cabbage.

Take 4 hard boiled eggs, 2 potatoes. 4-5 and cabbage leaves which are fresh and green, 2 de-seeded green chillies, 1 large onion and 2 tbsp of finely chopped coriander leaves or cilantro. Cut the cabbage leaves into rough chunks or squares. Finely chop the onion and the green chilly.

For the dressing, you need 11/2 tbsp of tamarind pulp(use a fun foods jar if you have), 4 tbsp of tomato ketchup, ½ teaspoon of chilly powder. ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of pepper and ½ teaspoon of cumin powder.    

Boil eggs for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and put the eggs in tap water immediately. Peel and cut the boiled eggs into 4 long or round pieces. Boil potatoes, peel and cut into ¼ inch thick round slices. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a skillet/pan and allow the oil to spread all over. Warm the oil well and slowly place the potatoes all over without creating a double layer. The potatoes need to be fried to a light crispy state on both sides. Set the potatoes aside and add a wee bit of olive oil onto the same pan and golden fry the chopped onions. Once the onions turns transparent pink, please add the green chilies and 1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro. It is now time to add the pretty green cabbage leaves. Stir fry in low heat for about 3 mins.

For the dressing, spoon all the elements of the dressing int a bowl. Gently mix with a spoon. Add a tbsp of water for the right consistency. Mix 2 tbsp of the dressing with the salad elements. 

Now plate the salad and randomly position the boiled eggs. Dot the eggs with the dressing. Sprinkle some cilantro and serve warm (as in the temperature it is at).