Mocha Walnut Choco Chip Muffin

According to my family, I am a chocolate addict. I eat chocolate day and night. I make so much desserts and cakes with chocolate that my hubby thinks I only know one ingridient and that is chocolate.
I am trying to make different desserts but I always tend to be partial to chocolate.
I can see on my expanding waistline too, that I have been too much indulging on chocolate.

Especially bloghopping is not helping, I look to blogs and If it is having chocolates then i bookmark them and tend to make as soon as I can.
This is one of those recipie I found in Deepa's place. I am sure you don't need a introduction to her place as you all will be knowing it, still what the heck I will say it :-) Passionate About Baking and the title says it all, she is really passionat in baking.

I have so many recipes I have bookmarked from her place.
The Moment I saw this Mocha Walnut Choco Chip Muffins I knew I was going to make them.
I made them for my daughter and her friends. I am sure I have mentioned , every tuesday my daughter brings her friend/friends home after school and she knows her mom will make somthing for her and her friends.

So that is what i did on tuesday, made these and oh yes I heard them saying wow really delcious muffin. And then yesterday her friends asked when is your mom going to make muffins again, so from that you can know how much they like these ones, so this recipe is a keeper.
You should go to her place , there is a whole information about muffins
I added less sugar and I have changed them in the recipe below.

I used orange callets for dcoration, which was yummy too.
Ingredients:
Hot water - 1/4 cup
Instant coffee/espresso powder - 2tbsp
Buttermilk - 3/4 cup
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Flour - 1 3/4 cups
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder - 4 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
Walnuts - 1/2 cup / coarsely chopped / optional ; reserve a few halves for topping

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Line twelve 1/2-cup muffin cups with paper liners.
Stir 1/4 cup hot water and instant coffee in medium bowl until it dissolves.
Add buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla and whisk until well blended.
Mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
Add buttermilk mixture and stir just until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and walnuts (or pecans).
Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Bake until tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
Transfer muffins to rack and cool.
I am sending this to at Ruth Kitchen Expiriments for her bookmarked recipe event.

Apple, cranberry & cider cake

I saw this delicious cake recipe in Maria's place The Goddess"s Kitchen.
I love the name of her blog and she has writtten A blog dedicated to perfecting the art and joy of baking and cooking by an aspiring domestic goddess!

And I can assure you, if you jump over to her place you will see what she means by Perfecting the art and joy od baking.
Her place is raining with delicious baking goddies. Just like this Spiced Apple, Cranberry & Cider Cake
When I saw the cake I knew I was going to male them, but then I don't have the book she had written from were she got the recipe so I mailed her to ask her if she would be kind enough to send me the recipe and i think in a flash I got the recipe in my mail, whiwh I was so pleased and when I saw the ingridients , I was happy as I had all the ingridients here at home.
So this is what I made for sunday afternoon coffee. Ofcourse as it is sunday i took the cake to my inlaws place.
We all loved them.
I sreved with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.
Thankyou Maria for you wonderful recipe.

It was a real high cake

Ingridients:

3 medium red skinned eating apples
100 gm dried sweetened cranberries
200 ml dry cider
350 gm self raising flour
2 tsp ground cinamon
175 gm light muscovado suage ( I added 125 gm)
175 gm unsalted butter, melted
3 eggs beaten
For the topping
1 medium apple thinly slices and pips removed
3 tbsp of apricot jam, warmed.

For the cake peel and core the apples, then chop them rough.
Put the apple, cranberries, and cider in a saucepan and bring to the boil , then simmer very gentley for 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool completley.

Prehat the ocen to 180°C. Grease and baseline a 20 cm springform tin fitted with a flat base.
Sift the flour and cinamon into a bowl and stir in the sugar. Add the melted utter, eggs and apple and cider mixture. Stir untill just combines, then spoon into the prepared tin and lever the surface.
For the topping arrange the apple slices evenly over the top of the cake mixture.

Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes or untill a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out into a wire reack.

Brush the apricot jam over the top of the cake while it is still warm. Leave to cool completleu , then serve in slices.

Serve the with whipped cream or custard.

Errisery

I am sure all Keralites will be knowing this traditional dish Erissery..
Ofcourse there is a lot of different ways to make this traditionam dish.
Mine is from Mrs Mathews book Flavours of the spice coast.

1/4 cup blacke eyed beans
2 cups water
2 cups pumpkin
1/2 coconut grated
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chillie powder
2 to 3 green chillies ( optional)
3 garlic cloves
Salt to taste

For seasoning
2 tsp coconut oil
1 small onion choped finley
1 tsp mustard seeds
a few curry leaves
2 dry red chillies halved
2 tabsp coconut grated.

Methid:
Cook and wash beans in 2 cuo water. Add the chopped pumpkin and cook.
Coarsley grin ingridient 4 to 7 and add to the coked vegetable. Mix well and add salt.
Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds.
Toss in the chopped onione, curry leaves dry chiliies.
Add grated coconut and saute untill the coconut is lightly browned.
Stir this seasoning into the curry and serve hot.

Sending this to which is hosted by Srivalli aslo to whiwh is hosted at Tongueticklers

Layered Parotta

I was always fascinated while watching the road shop dabbas in Kerala, making these wonderful parotta's.
If you take a bus and when the bus stops in some main town, there will be this fellow near the bus stand making these parotta's in his small shop in the street.
Ofcourse I used to always drool watching them making and always drooled too when I saw people so much enjoying these delicious parottas.

So when I saw this in Spice Club , I remember telling her I will make these delicious looking parotas and she had given the explanation so good that even I could follow them :-)
If you want to make these delicious parottas , check out Cham's place for the recipie.
I was surprised they were so easy to make and hubby andd daughter loved them.

I coudn't roll them thin with my roller so i just used my fingers which went much easier to get a thin layer.
Good news is Shyama's computer is fixed. And it is going superfast.
Bad news, on wenesday she only have school in the morning, wenesday afternoon school are free here . So at the moment she is using the fixed superfast computer and I am here in hubbies computer :-).

I am sending this to at Ruth Kitchen Expiriments for her bookmarked recipe event.

Butter chicken



I have been catching up with all the food posts as much as i can today.
Shyama's computer is still in the place were it is given for fixing and I am using hubbies pc. Everytime he is not using I have been grabbing them :-).

Normally I am bloghopping much more, but as the computer is not there it , I must admit I did more other things.
I had heaps and heaps of ironing to do, which I did today so that is a plus piont of the busted computer.
When hubby don't use Shyama wan't to use them for doing her schoolwork etc..... and now I send her to play her violin in her room so I can have the pc :-)

Now to the cooking, I made Asha's Butter chicken .I made them for our saturday dinner.
It was just yummy delicious. As it is weekend i did papadoms also. Ofcourse while hubby and daughter was drooling , i just told them don't touch the food, I have to take a picture.
The butter chicken was so yummy there was nothing left at all, and I was surprised how easy they were to make.
Asha had written in her place make the dish a day ahead so it taste better. .

3 boneless,skinless Chicken Breasts,cubed to bite sized piece (Marinate these chicken piece for 1 hour with 1 tsp tandoori powder, 1 tsp corriander powder, little corriander leaves, few chillies with few tbsp ofyoughurt. ( if you like you can add a little red food colouring to the marination, this it toatally your choice)

2 big Onions sliced,
2" ginger,
2 Garlic both chopped,
1  tbsp Coriander seeds pd,
1/2 tsp Chilli pd,
1 tsp Paprika,
1/2 cup Tomato sauce,
1 tsp Garam Masala,
1/2 tsp Turmeric,
1/2 tsp cardamom pd,
Pinch of Nutmeg and
a tsp of Fennel seeds pd,
2 tbsp Cashews or Almonds,
1 tsp Tandoori masala if you have it
,1/2 cup Fat-Free half and half or 2% milk,4 ( I use normal cream)
 tbsp Butter and
Cilantro minced
.Lemon slices to serve
Grill the chicken pieces in the oven whick will take 15 to 20 minutes in the mean time make the sauce.

Heat 1 tbsp oil,fry onion slices until soft and reddish on the edges.Add ginger and garlic and saute for a minute.Put them all into a blender.Now toast the coriander seeds,2 cardamoms peeled and seeded,cashews or Almonds, until you get an aroma.Add to the blender along with chilli pd,paprika,turmeric and Tandoori masala,tomato sauce,blend to a smooth paste.Take it out in to a bowl.Heat 1/2 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp of Butter in a pan.


Add ground paste and fry until it leaves some oil on top.It will be quick since they are already fried.Add 1 cup water,boil and turn down the heat to low,add half and half or milk while stirring constantly until well mixed and simmering.Add cooked chicken,Garam Masala, Nutmeg ,Tandoori pd and Fennel pd.When you see oil specks on top,add last of butter and turn off the heat,and let the butter melt.Mix well,
(Again this is personal choice, you ant the sauce to be more red like the take away add a bit of red foof coloring)


To Serve:


Garnish with minced cilantro and dot with cream just before serving.Serve with Basmati rice,Pita or Parathas or Naans with a salad and crisps.

I served them with a simple peas pulao.

You can get the recipe from here , with the same sauce she has made a vegetarin kofta, which also look so yummy.
I am sending this to click event

Mini chocolate pots

I know it is really crazy to make something you saw in someone's blog so fast, but I coudn't help it .
when I saw this Mini Chocolate pots in Sunita's place. You should check out her place for this yummy chocolate pots, one look at them and you will run to the kitchen like me and make them.
That is exactly what i did when i saw them yeterday in her place ( ofcourse I had all the ingridients which helped too )

I saw them in her place, stopped blog hopping and immiedietly and straigh went to the kitchen to make them.
It was really easy to make them and they are super delicious.
I halfed the recipe as we are just with three and didn't want to indulge in them too much.
I followed the recipie fully, just used light cream and i added Orange callet which gives the dessert a wonderful orange taste.
This is one of those dessert you should make when you are really craving for something chocolatey :-). I was not craving for chocolate, but then when I saw the picture in sunitas place it was love at first sight ;-)

Sunita says good things do come in small packages and I totally agree with her.

Check out the recipe here.

Chicken Piccata

For this months I was paired with Iron Stef, I love this event as you don't choose the blog yourself, so you will have to look to the blog which you are paired with and prepare something from their blog.
If you go to her blog you will see there are lot of yummy recipies, I decided on this Chicken Piccata as I had all the ingridients at home and I have been wanting to make something totally different with chicken.
I made it for lunch yestersay and I have to admit all of us loved it, actually we coudn't stop talking about how yummy it was.

This I will me making more often as we all loved it.
I was really surprised how easy it was to make and I served with pasta with a light tomato sauce.

Last weekend the lake near to our place was frozen. Lake is only less than 2 minutes walk from our home.
Actually I didn't know it was frozen and when I saw all the people on the lake then only I knew it was frozen so Shyama, hubby and me went to the lake to have some fun, together with one of Shyama's friend.
It was like a small fair there was food stalls selling hot dogs and hot chocolate etc and you could rent the shoes for ice skating. Which i didn't do ( Shyama did) Even without ice skating I fell and have to tell i fell with a bang :-)

All of us having fun

2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (1 1/2 pound total)
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup flour
Salt and pepper
4 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup chicken stock or dry white wine ( I used chicken stock)
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup brined capers
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

Cut the chicken breast halves horizontally, butterflying them open. If the breast pieces you are working with are large, you may want to cut them each into two pieces. If the pieces are still thick after butterflying, put them between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound them with a meat hammer to 1/4-inch thickness.
Mix together the flour, salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan. Rinse the chicken pieces in water. Dredge them thoroughly in the flour mixture, until well coated.

Heat olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add half of the chicken pieces, do not crowd the pan. Brown well on each side, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve to a plate. Cook the other breasts in the same manner, remove from pan. Cover with aluminum foil and keep warm in the oven while you prepare the sauce.
Add the chicken stock (or white wine), lemon juice, and capers to the pan. Use a spatula to scrape up the browned bits. Reduce the sauce by half. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Plate the chicken and serve with the sauce poured over the chicken. Sprinkle with parsley.

Espresso-Flavored Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta

I made this panna Cotta for my Christmas eve dinner .
They were really yummy. We all loved the taste of the chocolate and coffee in this dessert.

Only thing which went wrong was it didn't set like a pannacotta. It was like a thick cream.
I guess there was not enough gelatine in them.
The recipie said 1 envelope powdered unflavored gelatin (about 2 1/4 teaspoons) bit in my packet there was much more gelatine left and i didn't dare to put them indside the mixture, i measured the tsp amount and addeed.
So if you are going to make this, adjust the amount of gelatine as the taste of the dessert is yummy delicious.
It didn't matter that it didn't set fully as i served them in individual glasses.
It i had made them in moulds and was planning to serve them out of the mould, it would have been disaster.
The recipe I got from Godiva website here

Panna Cotta:
1/4 cup cold water
1 envelope powdered unflavored gelatin (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
4 bars (1.5 ounces each) Godiva® Milk Chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
4 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish:
Unsweetened whipped cream
Grated or finely chopped Godiva® Milk Chocolate

1. Pour water into a small custard cup. Sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the water. Let stand for 5 minutes or until the gelatin is softened.

2. Heat 1 cup of the cream in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat to a boil. Remove from the heat. Add the chocolate, swirling pan to completely cover the chocolate with the hot cream. Let stand for 3 minutes. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

3. Heat milk, brown sugar, espresso powder and remaining cream in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-low heat, until the sugar and espresso powder are dissolved, stirring occasionally. Increase heat and heat to a boil. Remove from the heat. Slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the chocolate mixture, stirring constantly, until the ingredients are mixed. Stir in vanilla and gelatin until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

4. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a pitcher or large measuring cup with a pouring spout.
Divide the mixture among 6 martini glasses or coffee cups.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Garnish each dessert with whipped cream and grated chocolate.

My daughter's computer is busted ( i always use that one) so it will be gone for fixing tommorow and hubby uses this computer, so my looking and commenting to the blogs this week will be less frequent)

Scallops in cream sauce with baby leeks

I love scallops, but I only make them for special occasions, so this is what I made for my Christmas eve dinner party for starters.
Now when I am looking to the picture I am drooling thinking about how yummy it tasted.
All my guest really enjoyed them and there was a lot of praise from them too. Which is always nice.

Ingridient.
20 pieces of scallops.
10 baby leeks
10 small onions
400 ml liquid cream
180 gm butter
300 ml dry white wine
2 pinches of sugar
1/2 lime
50 gm of salmon eggs
5 soup spoon of chives
Salt and peper to taste.

Clean the leeks, don't take the fully green bits. Cut them to long thin strips.
In a pan mix the leeks with 40 gm butter and sugar.
Addd salt and peper.
Cover and let it simmer for 15 minutes in a very low fire.
You should not burn them. Strin from time to time.

Cut the onions fineand add them into a pan together with the wine and boil till all the liquid is almost fully gone.
Mix with the cream and heat it in a soft fire.
Remove the pan from the fire and add the butter to the sauce.
In the mean time cut each scalops in twoadd salt and peper and fry them for few minutes, don't fy them longer then they will taste rubbery.
Pour few table spoon of the sauce to the plate, add six pieces , take a scoop of leeks and keep them in the middle and scatter the eggs on top of the plate together with the chives.

Coffee -crasin - mascarpone loaf

This is my first post for this year, so let me wish all my friends A very Happy New year.

Hope all your wishes come true this year.

Here at my side we all enjoyed the Christmas and Newyear parties.Minus point of all the parties is that my new years resoulution ( again this year) is to try loosing the excess weight.After starting to blog I have gained 4 to 5 kg. Which I am reallygoing to try to get rid off ( I did say TRY)

So I have decided I am only going to bake on sundays ( when i bake for sunday I take to my in laws place for afternoon coffee, so I won't have temptation , which I will, if i keep them here at home) And aslo will bake on some tuesdays as my daughters friend/friends come here after shcool, for a drink and a snack.

Evert tuesday I do get one friend from her, but then sometimes there are three girl friends comming over.So you know 16 year olds love to have cookies and cakes, so then i bake something for them if i am in the mood for baking.

Before I go to the cooking part I want to share with two gifts I got for my Kitchen for Newyears. (we don't do christmas present, we do presents on Newyear.) So after comming from my inlaws place after midnigt, we open up our presents)

I got a chocolate Fondue pan from one of our good friends.Then the surprise of all was my daughters present. ( When she was little I used to buy a small present and then tell to her to give for papa as a present and he did the same) but now she is bigger she has been doing it herself for the last year from her own pocket money.

So if you look to the picture you will see what I received from her.A measurement jug, measuring tbsp etc.. and then some 10 cookie cutter.I must admit this was the best gift I got especially as she was so thought full to buy something like this.

When ever someone came home for the last days , I have been proudly showing them the gift she gave me :-)))

So I thought I will share with you all :-)

Present from my daughter

Picture taken on Christmas eve dinner in our home. (Removed on 15-01- 2008)

Chocolate fondue set

My Christmas eve tabel ready for the party.

Yummy lobster in my in laws place for Newyear eve party

Now to the cake.....

This yummy delicious cranberry cake was made when i was on the break. I saw this cake in sunita's place and i Knew i will sure making them. As they looked so yummy.

If you want to make this delicious cake you can get the recipie from her place here.

You woudn't believe there is only few tablespoon of flour in them and no sugar and butter at all. I had to double check the recipie when i saw the little amount of the flour she was using , first i thought she must had made a type mistake, but then my daughter was looking to the pic and she was reading the comments and she told it is true that there is only so little amount of flour.

It was a yummy cake, i was really surprised how wonderful it tasted even thought there was no sugar etc.......this is a cake i will be making again.

Sunita said her cranberries sinked , mine too did that, but i also add cranberries on the top so that they all didn't sink. I also added a tbsp flour to the cranberries. Which ofcourse worked as you can see.Sunita used Bailey's with a hint of coffee, I had here Original coffee so I used them and added1/2 tsp Instant coffee powder.I served them with Mascarpone cheese with baileys.

My cake was a bit darker lookinjg, i guess it is because of the addition of coffee.
I am sending this to at Ruth Kitchen Expiriments for her bookmarked recipe event.