Butter Bean Pualo

From past few weeks, I reach home exhausted with absolutely no energy to do anything - let alone cook & blog. So, I have been cooking pretty simple (and more often eating out!) and in my very little free time, I am engrossed in New Moon. I just started it 3 days ago and thought it was as engaging as it predecessor. :)

Today's dish is something I tasted at one the potlucks at my office. - a tasty yet simple 'Butter Bean Pulao'. It takes 20 mins flat to make it and with a spicy side dish as an accompaniment, it would make a healthy lunch/dinner.

This is my entry to My Legume Love Affair: 12th Helping, guest hosted by Anarasa, a brainchild of lovely Susan @ The Well Seasoned Cook.

Butter Bean Pulao

Ingredients:

2 cups of rice, soaked for 30 mins
1 cup butter beans (or lima beans) [ I used frozen!]
1 medium onion, sliced into thin strips
2 cloves
1 small cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
2 tsp butter
Salt to taste
1/8 tsp turmeric
2 tsp biryani masala
1 tsp coriander-cumin powder
few mint leaves

Preparation:

1. Heat butter in a flat bottom pan, add cloves, cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Saute onion until golden brown on medium heat.

2. Add all the dry powders - turmeric, salt, biryani masala and coriander-cumin powder. Drop the butter beans with mint leaves. Mix well. Let it cook for 1-2 mins. Add a tbsp of water if needed.

3. Now add soaked rice and fry for 2-3 mins. Add 3 cups of boiling water and cook it covered for 15-20 mins on medium-low flame. Once done, let it sit for 2 mins and serve with any side dish!!

Yummy..:)

Have a great week ahead.

Siri

Veggie Flatbread Pizza with Bean puree

Pixar has done it again - with 'UP' - a heart-touching story, amazing screenplay, with cleverest talking animals and what not! I absolutely adore the Russell kid in the movie. He is sooo cute!!!. The best part of the movie though was a lovely dialogue-free montage, in the beginning of the film which follows the sweet relationship of Carl Fredricksen and his wife Ellie - from their contented marriage to old age. It a highly recommended movie for everybody and I thoroughly enjoyed it!!



Today's recipe is kid's favorite too. Its pizza time folks but with a healthy bean puree twist. :)

Veggie Flatbread Pizza with Bean Puree (Adapted from here & here)

Ingredients:

For Flatbread dough -

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp instant dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup of warm water (105-110 F)
1 tbsp olive oil

For Bean puree -

1 cup pinto beans, canned & rinsed
few rosemary sprigs
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup oil-drained sun-dried tomatoes
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil


For assembling Pizza:

I used - couple of small cherry tomatoes, chopped onion, bell pepper and mozzarella cheese.

Preparation:

Pizza dough:

In a large mixing bowl, add flour, instant dry yeast, salt and oil. Make a well in the middle and add water little by little to make a dough.
Remove from bowl and knead. Place in a clean oiled bowl and let rise, slowly, about 2 1/2 hours.
Knead, divide dough into 2 portions, let rise again for 1/2 hour, and then roll out as desired.

Bean Puree:

Add pinto beans, rosemary sprigs and onion to about 3-4 cups of water & bring it to a boil.
Puree drained beans and onion, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped rosemary in processor. Add oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, puree until smooth paste. if desired, add 1/2 cup boiling water while blending in the processor. Ready to served as a dip or a spread.

Veggie Flatbread pizza:

Pre-heat oven to 400 deg F.
Roll out the pizza dough into desired shape. I ended making a rectangular one. Lightly sprinkle the pizza peel (or a flat baking sheet) with corn meal. Place the flattened pizza base on to the baking sheet. Spoon on the bean puree, place the veggie toppings and sprinkle lots of cheese :). Bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm !!

Enjoy!

Before signing off, there is a sweet treat to you all - Blueberry Pound cake :) made by Shri, who is a very dear friend of mine!!

Have a great Sunday ahead.

Best,
Siri

....I got one and bought one...

I was quite surprised today, when I had two big parcels at my doorstep.:)...

..Every Saturday, you would find me shopping at Trader Joe's and my excitement had no bounds when Susan informed me that I was the lucky winner for her give-away! How lucky I am. Thanks Susan. You can surely expect some yummy recipes from this book on my blog soon. I can't wait to get started...:)



..a sneak peek into the TJ's cookbook.



..next is my recent purchase..'The Bread Baker's Apprentice' by Peter Reinhart..:) Yeh Yeh! It was on my list for a really long time and finally I bought it.:)


...a sneak peek into the BBA book.....


Chao for now friends..

Have a great long weekend ahead.

Siri

Friday Humour...

-- A married woman writes to a technical support guy --

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and I noticed a distinct slowdown in the overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewellery applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NEWS 5.0, MONEY 3.0 and CRICKET 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Married Woman

Tech Support Reply -

Dear Married M'am,

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewellery 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-In-Law 1.0 under any circumstances (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.

You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance.

We recommend: Cooking 3.0 and Hot Looks 7.7.

Good Luck Madam!

Source: My friend's email.

Eggs in Purgatory

Life has been a roller-coaster ride from past few weeks. It all started with heavy stress at work, resulting in slowly skipping of my meals, constantly worrying about upcoming deadlines and the result is something, which I never expected to happen to me. It was in those painful 2 weeks, that I felt leading a stress-free and healthy life is so important.

Now, my god's grace and early diagnosis of the problem, I am doing fine and that was when I pledged again not to let my work pressures to control my life.


...On another note, recently I received my copy of Sukham Ayu, authored by Jigyasa Giri and Pratibha Gain, which I ordered from Indira's blog. I was always intrigued by the goodness of Ayurveda and hopefully this book would be my stepping stone towards a healthy lifestyle which I am aspiring for. Here is a quick review about the book and I will get back with mine soon.

Coming today's recipe, it can be considered as the best breakfast dish ever. It is comforting, delicious and tasted amazing when served warm. 'Everyday Italian' is one of my favorite shows and this was an instant hit at my place. Give it a try sometime and I am sure you will surprised too about how well the flavors blend in with each other making it a hearty breakfast item. :)

Eggs in Purgatory (Adapted from Giada's recipe)

Ingredients:

For tomato base -

1 cup tomato puree
1 garlic pod
1/2 medium onion, very finely chopped
some fresh cilantro
salt - to taste
1 tsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 cup water


For Potato pancakes-

1 cup mashed potatoes
1/2 tsp paprika
salt - to taste
2 tbsp all-purpose-flour

For Fried egg-

2 eggs
salt & pepper

Preparation:

1. Tomato sauce - In a saucepan, heat oil and add bay leaf, minced garlic & onion. Saute for couple of minutes and then add tomato puree. Season it with salt and add about a cup of water and let it simmer on medium heat until the sauce thickens. Finally mix in fresh cilantro leaves and keep aside. [One can use store-bought marinara sauce and skip this step].

2. Potato pancakes: In a mixing bowl, stir in mashed potatoes with all-purpose-flour, salt and paprika. Heat some oil in a fry pan. Form the potato mixture into pancakes and shallow fry them until golden brown for 2 mins each side. Transfer the pancakes to paper towels to drain. Keep the pancakes warm on a baking sheet in the oven.

3. Fried eggs: In a heated pan, crack the eggs, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until the white is firm for about 2 minutes. Turn the eggs over and cook for 30 sec longer.

4. Serve: Spoon the sauce on serving plate. Place a pancake on the top of sauce. Slide a fried egg on the top. [Sprinkle some cheese over the top].

Note: All the three - sauce, pancakes and fried egg are to be seasoned moderately or else the final dish might turn out to be too salty!

Enjoy!

Siri

AWED: May edition

Image Credit: Scenery enroute from Batalegala - Kadugannawa Sri Lanka

"To me the beauty of Ceylon lies not so much in its blue seas and golden beaches, its jungles and its mountain peaks, as in its ancient atmosphere. There is no nation, from Egypt of the Pharaohs to modern Britain, in whose literature this island has not at some time been mentioned by one or other of its many names -- Lanka, Serendib, Taprobane, Cellao, Zellan, to recall a few. History lies buried in its sands, and ghosts of romance lurk among its bastioned rocks, for Lanka is very, very old."

~ D. J. G. Hennessy,
Green Aisles, 1949

Time sure flies. I can't believe its been almost an year that I last hosted my dear friend's lovely event - AWED. ..and this time I am back with another exciting theme for all of you and Yes, you guessed it right! in this month 's 'A Worldly Epicurean’s Delight', - we are touring through the scrumptious cuisine of 'the Pearl of Indian Ocean' - Sri Lanka :).



A simple google search came up with these links which provide us a varied variety of dishes that can be made out of this delectable cuisine. refer to this, this and this.

Here are some rules of participation:

1) Make any dish - Vegetarian (eggs allowed) and post the same in your blog and link back to this announcement and also to DK's blog. Feel free to use the logo.

2) Multiple entries are most welcome - the more the better!.

3) Take a snap of your yummy dish and send it across with any size.

4) Send me your Name, Recipe, Recipe URL, Photo to : info[dot]siri[at]gmail[dot]com

5) Last date for the entries are June 5th 2009.

6) Non-bloggers can also participate by sending their entries with the same details to the above email address.

Let's get cooking then.

signing off for now,
Siri

FFOF # 74

It is always fun to play memes as they make you think and wonder who you are & what you like. 'Four Foods On Friday' is one such weekly meme where you basically have to answer four food-based fun questions. :)

..and here are this week's questions:

1. What’s your favorite flavor of yogurt?

My favorites change seasonally. ;) With spring almost there, I am in mood to have a 'Strawberry Yogurt'.

2. Got a recipe for a smoothie?

Banana-Peach smoothie: Blend in sliced bananas with peaches, milk, vanilla extract and honey! Yummy :)

3. Got a recipe for split pea soup?

Split peas are commonly used in Indian cooking and on cold, lazy evenings, a bowl of warm split pea soup works wonders. Here is one keeper recipe from 101 Cookbooks.

4. What’s your favorite kind of pudding?

I love Banana pudding the best.

signing off for now,
Siri

Potato Korokke

Its called the 'Land of Rising Sun' and comprises of about 3,000 small islands making it an archipelago. Japan's common staple food includes - Rice (Gohan or Meshi) , Noodles (men-rui) and Bread (pan). This cuisine also offers many deep-fried, pan-fried and grilled options along with numerous variety dishes with seasonal vegetables.

Today's recipe is one such Japanese croquette called 'Korokke'. Its usually made with vegetables or meat and mine has mashed potatoes as its main base. :)




Potato Korokke

2 medium potatoes
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 egg
Salt & Pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp Garlic powder (optional)
Oil for shallow frying
1/4 cup Breadcrumbs, for coating

Preparation:

1. Peel and cut potatoes into halves. Boil potatoes until soften. Drain and mash potatoes while they are hot.

2. Heat a tsp of oil and saute chopped onion. Mix into mashed potatoes and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

3. Make flat and oval-shaped patties. Dip into beaten egg mixture, and finally coat with breadcrumbs.

4. Shallow fry them until golden brown. Serve hot!!




This is my entry to AWED: Japan , brain child of DK and this month guest hosted by lovely Lavanya.

Have a great week ahead.

signing off for now,
Siri

Tex-Mex Migas

Everything is a fair game for breakfast as that's the opening meal of the day and for me especially it can make or break my day! Migas is one such keep-sake recipe for those busy mornings, (where I can't spend more than 15 mins in the kitchen) as it has bountiful of flavors and is a quick dish to make. I first learnt about this from one of my friends from Texas. There this is served as a breakfast and is an essential part of their Tex-Mex cuisine.

..there is also one other version of Migas which is again a traditional dish in Spanish cuisine, where they use the left over bread, soaked in water overnight and then sauteed with a variety of ingredients and condiments.

I made the Tex-Mex version of Migas which make use of corn tortillas, eggs, onions, peppers and tomatoes. these are the basic ingredients for Migas and one can add any other left overs too.



Tex-Mex Migas (Basic recipe from FoodNetwork)

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 corn tortillas. ( I used store-bought lime tortillas, just to add some color and flavor :))
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp finely chopped onion
1 tbsp of chopped tomato
1 tbsp of minced bell peppers (I used red and yellow ones)
1 green chilli, minced
1/8 tsp paprika (optional)
1 tbsp cheddar cheese, shredded

Preparation:

1. Cut the tortillas into thin squares and fry them in a tsp of oil for couple of mins. Drain and keep aside.

2. Heat butter in a pan, saute onions until golden brown. then add peppers and tomatoes. Cook for 3-4 mins. Add eggs and season with salt and paprika. Scramble until eggs are cooked.

3. Take some in a bowl and sprinkle some cheese over it just before serving. (Microwave for 30 sec to melt the cheese, if necessary!).


I am sending this as an entry to 'Event for Eggs', hosted by Sudeshna. :)

Have a fun-filled weekend ahead.

Chao,
Siri

For Blogger Aid: Healthy Quinoa Paranthas

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one."

~ Mother Teresa

BloggerAid is one such group of international food bloggers, united to alleviate hunger and to make a difference. One of the ambitious projects they took up is to publish a cookbook with the help of we, food-bloggers and 100% of the profit from the sales of this cookbook will be directed to 'School Meals', a program of The World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations front line agency.

...and my humble entry to this mega project is - 'Healthy Quinoa Paranthas' .

..here is a glimpse of how these look like...as I am not supposed to reveal its ingredients. :).


signing off for now,
Siri

Weekend Sneak-Peek!

This ad featuring 'Ellen DeGeneres' won the 'Outstanding Commercial' Emmy Award and I absolutely love this.

Siri

April Fool's Day

Image Source: from one of the forwarding mails I recieved today! ;)

- Siri

This book makes me cook: Blackberry Wine

For march edition of 'this book makes me cook', the book selected was - 'Blackberry wine', a classic food-related book by Joanne Harris. Its the story of Jay Mackintosh, who has only one successful book in his credit and now, in his soul-searching journey, reaches a small town in France, where he buys a chateau and starts living there. Each and every character in this novel is so captivating that they actually haunt you even after you finished the book and the sheer brilliance of the author is - "She wrote the book from the point of view of a bottle of wine!". The 'Specials', as they are called talk, rustle and react to the circumstances around Jay. They take him back to Jay's childhood memories which revolves around an old mad named Joe, who grows all kinds of vegetables & fruits and makes wine of his own.

Would I read it again, you ask? I would say definitely because the style of Joanne's writing is so pleasing and enchanting.

..I made some 'Savory French Breakfast Muffins' - a savory twist to these classic French muffins. This is my first time to try out savory muffins and though they were very moist from inside, the top was a little flaky and hard. Any ideas about how to get around this problem?

Savory French Breakfast Muffins (Makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of All purpose flour
1.5 tsp Baking powder
1/8 tsp Salt
1 egg
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1/3 cup of Butter, melted
1/8 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp extra-virgin Olive oil
1/4 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Bell peppers (I used red and yellow)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.

2. Combine the dry ingredients - all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, pepper and salt in a large bowl.

3. Whisk egg, buttermilk, oil and butter in a medium bowl. Fold in cheese and bell pepper. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and slowly blend in the wet ingredients with a spatula.

4. Scoop the batter and fill until 2/3rds into the muffin pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Storing the muffins:

Wrap leftover muffins individually in plastic wrap, place in a plastic storage container or ziplock bag and freeze up. To thaw, remove plastic wrap, place it in a paper towel and microwave for 30 to 60 seconds.

Check out what other members of my book club made for this event:

Strawberry Preserve by Simran

Off these also go to BBD 18: Quick Breads, hosted by Mansi of 'Fun & Food Blog'.

[Update] - For the month of April, the book club has unanimously voted for a Jane Austen special. Choose any book of hers and cook something inspired by it.
Do you wanna join our book club? If so, just leave a comment on this post and I will get back to you. Chao :)

Have a fun week ahead.

signing off for now,
Siri

Happy Ugadi :)

Wishing you all a very a Happy and Prosperous Ugadi 2009!!

Cheers,
Siri

No Knead Pizza

Those were the days when I used to peer through the Sbarro counter to get a glimpse of how they make a pizza. I always loved their pizzas and Strombolis (minus the huge a amount of butter they use) and was always under the impression that making a 'pizza dough' is an art to learn, and moreover for a novice baker like me, it was something like - 'No way!, I can never make it'.

... But surely thats not true according to Jim Lahey, the founder of Sullivan Street Bakery ('No Knead Bread' fame). When I saw his article in Tasting Table (my favorite food newsletters of all), I was so excited to see how simple his recipe was. I tried it out and voila! I surprised me myself. The pizza crust was so delicious that I wanted to have more and more. :) Thanks Jim!



No Knead Pizza (Adapted from Jim Lahey's recipe)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting (I used all-purpose flour)
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast (I used Fleischmann's RapidRise)
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of (lukewarm) water

Toppings:

Pizza Sauce (store-bought)
Fat-free shredded Mozzarella cheese
Veggies - Onions, Tomatoes, Peppers

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour with the yeast and salt. Add the water and stir until blended (the dough will be very sticky). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 12 to 24 hours in a warm spot, about 70°. (I mixed the dough at night and let it rest till morning - for about 14 hours.)

2. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and lightly sprinkle the top with flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.

3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Generously sprinkle a clean cotton towel with flour and cover the dough balls with it.

4. Let the dough rise for 2 hours. (I skipped this step as I was too eager to see how it turns out. Nevertheless, the outcome was yummy , so no regrets! :) )

5. Stretch or toss the dough into the desired shape, spread the pizza sauce cover with toppings & cheese and bake on top of a very hot baking sheet (or pizza stone) until the base is slightly browned and the cheese is starting to sizzle. Serve warm! (I baked at 350 F for about 15 mins)

Have a lovely day ahead :)

signing off for now,
Siri