Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Zucchinis galore and a big scramble for recipes to make these with – came up with 2 winners – this recipe an adaptation of Paula Dean’s Zucchini Chocolate Chip bread and to be blogged a wonderful, very healthy and sumptuous zucchini casserole – please await this J

Paula has nailed it with this recipe – takes about 15 minutes of prep time and 50 minutes of baking – It was a runaway hit with my brother and nephew and my kids undoubtedly lapped it up!

The only changes I made to Paula’s recipe were the spices – all spice instead of cinnamon and orange extract instead of vanilla extract

Click here for the original recipe

But for those who do not believe in clicking away, here it is …

Ingredients

•    3 cups all-purpose flour

•    1/2 teaspoon baking powder

•    1 teaspoon salt

•    1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

•    1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

•    1 teaspoon baking soda

•    3 eggs

•    2 cups white sugar

•    1 cup vegetable oil

•    2 teaspoons vanilla extract

•    2 cups grated zucchini

•    1 cup chopped pecans

•    1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

•    1 tablespoon orange zest

•    Whipped cream, for serving

•    Zucchini ribbons, for serving

Preparation

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Grease (2) 9 by 5-inch loaf pans.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, spices and baking soda.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar, and continue beating until well blended. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, pecans, chocolate chips, and orange zest. Stir in sifted ingredients. Pour into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove loaves from pans and cool. Chill before slicing. Serve with whipped cream and ribbons of zucchini.

Good to eat as it, take for a picnic (like we did) or anytime of day when you want a satisfying snack!

Zucchini Blossom Fritters (Bajjis)

Zucchini & Patty Pan Blossoms (squash flowers)
FROM THIS TO....

Served with  Hot and sweet sauce (YUM)
THIS :P

Before I get into my post, I want to thank all the people caring to follow this blog J A big thank you Gita Jaishankar for making me reach an awesome number of followers. I am sorry I did not take notes on who made up the first three centuries ): but I will in the future! So thrilled, so humbled – did I say So thrilled already?

Too beautiful to NOT eat (lol)

This is probably the third summer that we have not traveled to India or anywhere abroad (yet) and I have taken immense joy the luxury of starting my own veggie patch and seeing the fruits/veggies of our effort. Zucchinis, Patty pans and Tomatoes and more recently chili peppers have been delighting us in abundance! Each day I would see these wonderful yellow blossoms from both my patty pans and zucchinis and saw, wow another veggie in the offing until this wonderful Italian friend of mine thanks to whom my summer has been a blast, told me that these could be made into fritters and are ever so popular in Italian cuisine! When we got together she made them Italian style with all purpose flour and eggs. For those who know me, you are aware that if I can avoid using eggs, I do and IF there is a possibility of adapting recipes to Indian or vice-versa, I am all for it – right?

How to distinguish MALE flower?

But my friend also taught me to distinguish the “male” flower from the female, squash bearers. The male flower blooms brightly in the morning and do have a pistil that rather resembles the male reproductive organ – Sorry to be “green” about this folks, but the look for the penile projection! The male flowers are the tasty ones and are the ones to be used for this recipe. So if you have your own garden and are growing zukes or patty pans, you can make yourself this delicious treat.

Fry away

Close up

Ingredients

Male Zucchini/patty pan blossoms / oil to fry

NOTES

Wear GLOVES since these stems have a million small and very mean thorns

PICK Flowers EARLY in the MORNING

Cut the flower at the head of the stem,

WASH them thoroughly, because there is a veritable bee/ant fest happening inside!

DRY thoroughly with paper towels

Store in Ziplocs and refrigerate until ready for use!

For batter

1:1 besan/ chickpea flower: rice flour

Salt

A dash of asafetida

Curry leaves

1 tbsp Homemade chili powder or sambar powder (adjust according to preference)

To maintain some Italianess, I added some fresh rosemary and basil (also Homegrown – told you I’d be using that word a lot this summer)

MIX all these with water to a smooth flowing consistency!

Washed and drained

Preparation

Dip and drop – dip the flower in the batter and drop in hot oil
Note:: It can splutter a lot since no amount of drying gets rid of all the water! SO be aware of this and take precaution!

Cook until golden brown

Serve with chutney/ketchup or enjoy by itself

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Presenting Zucchini Blossom Bajjis, folks J

Cheers until the next post

Garlic Spinach Stir-fry Noodles

From the stove to your plate in 5 minutes FLAT! No kidding

This is the easiest meal you can ever prepare, and probably the tastiest, seriously – how many of you like Indian- Chinese food? You can see my hands way up there J This recipe came about after a pasta meal I’d made the previous day and had some angel hair remaining.

I also had some fresh leaf salad spinach – the big boxes you get at Sam’s! Two hungry kids and one quick thinking mom namely moi (:  and all happy! A whole lot healthier than Maggi and a whole lot yummier too!

Start to finish 5 minutes not taking into account the time to cook the noodles. You can make this individually so it can be served hot (like dosas(:

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INGREDIENTS

Angel hair or thin vermicelli (even if you have no leftovers, this takes 5-10 minutes to cook at the most)

Fresh Spinach leaves

Garlic 1-2 cloves depending on how much you love it

1 Red chili crumbled

1 tbsp sesame oil

1-2 tbsp Schezwan stir-fry sauce (this is vital folks)

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PREPARATION

In a shallow wok/pan heat the sesame oil

Crumble the chili in it

Next, crush the garlic or add crushed garlic

Now throw in the spinach and spin a couple of times. The spinach will almost immediately get soggy

Add the noodles and the sauce over it

Toss a few times until all the noodles are drenched in the sauce

Feel Free to garnish with peanuts!

Put on your plate and dig in hot (:

Optional: you can also crumble some spicy peanut balls on it or add some roasted cashews (it is delicious as is though)

Cheers until the next recipe!

Blueberry Pie

A crumbly pie-crust and a luscious filling!

We went to a berry patch close to home with our friends and some berries did we pick, before I knew it we had 8 boxes brimming with blueberries and 2 with raspberries – came home feeling hot, but extremely triumphant knowing we had hand-picked organic berries and that we were going to make a pie with it – ELATION was what me and my daughter who loves to bake were feeling – Washing and drying the berries took forever but once that was out of the way, we thought of simple recipes for the pie, and egg-less ones considering my sweet sibling who were visiting and she absolutely does not have eggs –

the Pyrex glass is see through

I resorted to my cornstarch and decided to make phyllo dough my pie base! Turned out great and accolades from all – My lovely daughter was my sweet helper for this pie and I hope to have many more sessions with her before the summer is through!

INGREDIENTS

1 pack of phyllo dough

2lbs of blueberries washed thoroughly and dried

1tbsp of water

3/4 cup of honey

3/4 cup of cane sugar

2 tbsp of corn starch

1tsp cardamom ( I clearly prefer cardamom to cinnamon and almost always substitute the latter for the former)

3 tbsp butter

These beauties are washed and ready to go

cook the berries

line the pan with layers of phyllo

Pour the filling

Make the lattice strips - remember to trim the jagged edges with kitchen shears

PREPARATION

Set oven to 350

In a pan heat add the blueberries

They almost immediately start breaking down

Add the honey and sugar and stir in

Once the blueberries get cooked and are mushy, mix cornstarch in 1 tbsp warm water and slowly dribble over the simmering blueberries and watch it thicken quickly! Remove the filling from flame
Grease a 9 inch pan

Place 2- sheets at a time up to 6 or 8 sheets, brushing them with butter as you go along

Pour the blueberries over the layers of phyllo

Cut several thin strips of phyllo dough and place in a lattice design over the pie filling

Place in oven and cook for 40-45 minutes or until the crust starts becoming golden.

  

NOTE: keep a damp paper towel by you as you layer the phyllo and press over them so they do not dry out – Freeze any remaining dough since they get fungus quite quickly!

Get a piece of the action :)

Cool the pie, cur and enjoy by itself or with a yummy scoop of ice-cream

Oreo Beets

Oreo Beets

This was a no brainer recipe but get this – We were attending the dress rehearsal of  my daughters who has a children’s role in an Opera close to home, conducted by a Maestro – The venue is incredibly beautiful and the little tent that sells some food incredibly expensive – So I ordered this beet salad – a couple of small beets slivered with some cheese in between – And they charged us a wicked $12 for it!!!!!!!!!!!!! Either they were or out of their minds or I was to even consider buying, let alone actually doing so. The lady’s quip, The goat cheese that is used is really expensive!!
I named these Oreo Beets because when I first saw them at that tent, I thought they were selling Oreo cookies for dessert! (lol)

The salad and the idea was good, no doubt, but I immediately resolved to make this for an entire family of 4 for way under $12 and that’s exactly what I did and two per person at that! I have no idea how they made this, but here is my take on it!

This is a great party idea … A very cool and delicious, dressy, summer salad, this can be put on the table in 10 minutes flat, assuming you have beets and goat cheese in the house J It is a very Frenchy salad with deceptively small portions yet rich in flavors and quite filling.

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Ingredients

2-3 beets cut in ½ thick rounds

Goat cheese (that can be molded to place as sandwich)

Herbs of your choice – I just sprinkled a dash of herbs de Provence

Preparation

Cut the desired number of beets into rounds and steam until semi-tender (with a little crunch to it)

Goat cheese, tends to be like feta, but not so crumbly and can be molded into a ball and flattened between 2 beet rounds.

Sprinkle herbs on top and refrigerate for a couple of hours

Serve cold! 

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Brought to you with love and 1/5 of the price (lolz)

Paneer Manchurian

Paneer Manchurian

This is a dish I make often but never think to blog – like we never end up seeing the local sites of our town, this one has been bypassed by other newer recipes that I’ve either concocted or learned! This is a house fav and gets demolished almost as soon as it is prepared!!! The last time I made it for a party and it was enjoyed by all – If you are looking for a quick, exotic and gourmet Indian-Chinese paneer recipe, look no further! I would like you to make this and give me some feedback! That would be the best compliment of all J

Preparation time: approx 15 minutes

Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS:

2 lb. paneer (cubed)

1 tbsp. Maggi Hot and Sweet Sauce

1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp Asian spice mix

1 tbsp. spicy Szechuan stir-fry sauce

2 tsp. honey

1 tsp. sesame seeds

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

¼ cup of: fresh onion chives, fresh garlic chives

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. corn starch

PREPARATION

1)      Heat the olive oil and gently toss the paneer on high heat until slightly brown

2)      Whisk all ingredients except chives and corn starch

3)      Pour over the paneer and lightly turn

4)      Allow to cook on low heat

 In the mean time…

5)      add tbsp. water to cornstarch and mix well

6)      Now, add the cornstarch slowly into the bubbling sauce. It will start to thicken almost immediately

7)      When it has reached the desired consistency, add the chives and toss.

8)      Serve hot with ginger garlic rice (recipe given below)

The ingredients

Whisk the liquid ingredients together

Garlic and onion Chives (homegrown)

Saute the Asian spice mix and the sesame

Add the paneer

Now the sauce

The corn starch and the chives

 Ginger Jeera Rice

Ginger Jeera Rice

Ginger Jeera (cumin) rice is a quick and flavorful rice and is a beautiful accompaniment to almost any kind of Indian-Chinese dish.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups Basmati rice

1 inch of ginger (grated fine)

2 tsp. cumin seeds

3 tbsp. butter (I used garlic and herbs butter)

PREPARATION

1) In a shallow pan, heat the butter and add the ginger, chives, and cumin and sauté.

2) Wash 3 cups of rice, adding exactly six cups of water

3) Now add sautéed ingredients into water with salt to taste

4) Cook in rice cooker for a fluffy and soft texture

Enjoy the aromatic rice with a tongue-tickling Paneer Manchurian….

Baklava and 200th Post

Nine months of starting this blog and a two month break in between Now Serving has reached another milestone, the 200^th post. Truly a labor of Love. Distractions galore since summer started – family visits galore and more in the offing – all good but the kids at home, time just vanishes and before i know it I am at the end of the day not having accomplished much towards my passion – my garden, my kiddos, and some new wonderful friendships, pool, Women’s 4 miler (yep I am trying to do that too) bunion issues (those are painful) summer school for my daughter, the pick-ups, dance which I still doing intermittently – see in how many ways a woman can be distracted?!

But its all good! It all good! I just have to discipline myself to blog twice a week like I’ve been doing – All the blogging marathons with Valli did me a world of good, by way of teaching me some discipline, really!

Anyway, I am sitting last week starting at my checkerboard cake pan and thinking, Aha – I’ll make a sweet & savory cake with the zucchinis out of my garden and beets –I made the cake alright and it was quite yummy – but the moment they got cooked the colors blended and there went my idea of this white and pink cake L  But I am not a giver upper! I still needed a good idea for my 200^th post – it had to be sweet.

My husband comes home on Friday and tells me that one of his post-docs made some baklava and it was terrific, but it took the person 2 ½ hours to make it – A weekend project that would also be a good milestone recipe – I said and headed straight on to whole foods to get me some honey (I love their clover honey and now their orange blossom honey) We were getting together for a cookout  on July 4^th with some good friends, and I made some of the sweet potato bakes which I’ve blogged recently except this time with a pesto sauce I cannot wait to blog and a new spicy peanut paste, which too i will be blogging over this week. I also made some Paneer Manchurian which was a super hit also to be blogged – But I think the Baklava was very well enjoyed by my friends and family.

I also picked up some interesting recipes from my friend which I will be experimenting and Indianizing in the next couple of weeks… It rained like the dickens, but our host cooked on his grill, while my little one skipped around the rocks splashing in the rain in her swimsuit, holding on to her “belle” doll! For a brief moment, I thought this is what living in Kerala might be…

One last word – the BIGGEST thanks to all my wonderful blog followers, friends and fellow bloggers who visit my blog and leave wonderfully encouraging comments – You really do make my day and give me the daily shot in the arm to pursue this wonderful passion. LOVE You and please do keep coming and visiting …

Rambling ceases now

Now for the recipe – takes no more than 1 hour

Ingredients

18 half sheets of phyllo dough

1 lb of nuts – I used equal proportions of almonds and cashews

½ cup of melted butter + 2 tbsp

1 tsp ground cardamom

Pistachios for garnishing

For the Syrup

¾ cup of honey

¾ cup of white sugar

1 tsp rose water/ rose essence

Preparation

Set oven to 350

Melt the butter

Crush/chop the nuts and ground cardamom and mix the two together and keep

Take a 8-9 inch pan (I used my Pyrex) and coat with butter

Place 2 phyllo sheets at a time and and brush with butter- and repeat process until you have stacked 8 sheets.

Now use half the nuts and spread it over the layers.

Place 2 more sheets over that and butter them and add the rest of the nuts

Over this, place 8 more sheets, brushing with butter every 2 layers (exactly like you did for the bottom layers)

Cut into squares/ diamonds

Now Bake for 40 -50 minutes (depends on your oven efficiency) or until the top is nice and brown

Preparing the Syrup

While that’s baking, get yourself a deep dish pan

Mix 1 cup of water with the ¾ cup of sugar and boil until all the sugar has melted and you got a clear liquid.

Now add the honey and rose essence and allow it to simmer for 20 minutes on very low heat.

Remove baklava from oven and immediately pour syrup over the bake – you will hear a crackle/sizzle J - Allow the syrup to soak in for a couple of hours before serving.

 It was indeed a sweet way to get to 200!

Don’t know if you read a post a while ago when I’d expressed a desire to make this and talked about the local restaurant which made the best baklavas, well now I can tell him to take a hike coz I can make these anytime I desire (lolz)

Love and cheers,

Priya