Friday, January 27, 2012

Veggie Breakfast Rolls with Cranberry Sauce



In the Southbeach,
I heard something screech,

Then I looked up in the sky,
Which made me want to fly,
With hands spread aside,
Eyes open wide.

And then I saw seagulls,
and so many eagles,
So I took a pic, 
And went click, click and click.

Out of the many,
This was the one pretty,
So with great zest,
I posted this picture 'coz it was the best.

( This poem is now officially been selected for the top 10 worst poems in the world. Thank you for reading it. But I still like the picture. Don't u agree? )

About the breakfast roll recipe , It's a recipe I came about last sunday morning, when I felt so fresh that I wanted to make something new. I had just bought these amazing looking sun dried tomato and spinach tortillas and I thought of combining them and the cranberry sauce and the lonely eggs laying peacefully in the fridge. So I came up with this scrumptious and colorful roll for a bright, happy sunday morning.

The Recipe:
Ingredients: 
(For 2 rolls)

Tortillas - 2
Eggs - 1 or 2 (depending on the size of the tortilla)
Chopped tomatoes
Chopped cilantro leaves

For the Stuffing:
Half of a big bell pepper , finely chopped
Approx 2 -1.5" * 1.5 " pieces of Tofu, finely chopped
2 big bulbs of garlic
2 green chillies
1 tsp of Paprika powder
1 to 2 tsp of curry powder
pinch of turmeric
2 Pinch of sugar
salt to taste 

Method:

Stuffing: 
*  Take around 3 tsp or more if you like , of oil in a pan. Let it heat over medium.
*  Add green chilli and chopped garlic, saute until lightly brown.
*  Then add bell pepper, saute it lighly , should remain crunchy.
*  Add  chopped tofu , sprinkle paprika powder (or red chilli powder if you wish), curry powder (or any other masala powder), sugar , salt, turmeric.
*  Saute it for 2 mins approx.
*  You are done!!

Well, not yet...U need to do the rest like below. 


* Beat eggs in a bowl along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Keep Aside.
*  Heat pan over medium heat. When it's ready, place a store bought tortilla on it and just roast it for few secs only on one side. Remove it from pan.
*  Now spread oil on pan, now pour the eggs onto the pan, after few secs, place the heated side of tortilla onto the egg. 
*  When the eggs are cooked, flip the tortilla- egg combi and heat the other side(the tortilla side) for few secs. Do not overcook or brown the tortilla coz it will be difficult to roll it.
*  Remove from pan and place it on a plate.


For the assembly:

*  Spread the Cranberry Sauce on the egg side. For the cranberry sauce recipe, look here. If you do not have it, spread ketchup or any other sauce of your choice.
*  Now place the stuffing on it and sprinkle some chopped tomatoes and cilantro leaves on it. Place the stuffing towards a side and not in the center which helps in rolling.Leave an inch on the bottom.
*  Now fold the bottom inch and then roll it. 
*  You can use a paper towel/tissue paper on the bottom half of it to help it to stay rolled.
* And if you do not have access to store bought tortillas, you could always make chapathis with maida(All purpose flour) or wheat , of your choice.


And now for the most important step, which you shouldn't miss.

EAT IT!!


Enjoy it!
Let me know if you've tried it.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Simple n' Tangy n' Sweet - Cranberry Sauce (Indian way)

OK! So I was so puzzled about how to start this post . I was so out of words all of a sudden that I begged hubby dear to shower some ideas.
This is what he said "New year,new recipe, berries, cranberries :))". Thanks Hun'.

I finally made up my mind to put up some recipe. I was very apprehensive for God knows what reason, to put up recipes but somehow I just thought of trying it out and somehow I remembered this experiment of mine with cranberries last year and somehow I managed to remember the recipe I attempted and somehow I again tried it out today and just felt happy about it and somehow managed to take pictures in between and somehow essayed this sentence having seven somehow's.

Did you count it?

Or did you go back and read it again?

No? Don't do it! It's ok!

Yes? Good for you.

SO about this cranberry sauce - Cranberries are tangy / sour to taste. So a little help from spices and a bit of sweetness from sugar gives it a boost of flavor. This is a versatile sauce b'coz you can use it in many different ways just like you would use your ketchup or the tamarind chutney.

Oh you could also dip a spoon in it and lick it like you would with the tamarind chutney. Yes, I do that! Coz I love it.

So here's the recipe-

Ingredients:
12 ounces cranberries
1 tablespoon red chilli powder
1 tablespoon roasted / plain cumin powder
jaggery / sugar
salt to taste

Procedure:

Wash the cranberries , put it in a pan, fill it with enough water to cover it and boil it for almost 10 mins or so, until it softens.


Next, Add a tablespoon of red chilli powder. Mine was a very strong one. 1 tablespoon was enough to give it the amount of spice that I needed, so if yours is a milder one , you might want to add 1 tablespoon , then add more as per your taste.


Then, Add 1 tablespoon of roasted or plain cumin powder. I prefer adding the roasted cumin powder. 


Now for the sweetness you could use both sugar or jaggery. I added a tablespoon of sugar, then I suddenly remembered that I had this pack of jaggery lying there for many months unopened. So then added about 6 to 7 medium pieces of jaggery to get the required amount of sweetness. So it is upto you how much you need to add. If you are going to use only sugar you would want to start with about 3/4 or 1 cup of sugar and start from there. Add more if you like it.



Then finally add salt to taste.
Keep boiling it over medium heat until everything is cooked thoroughly , probably around 10 mins or so. Keep stirring it, and be careful , it's going to spurt all over your counter. so keep stirring it or partially cover it with a lid. 

Once it's cooked enough, cool it and put it in a blender and mix it until smooth if you want a smooth sauce or keep it as it is if you like it more chunky.


Once it is cooled down, transfer it into a dry bottle and it could be freezed for long use.


I had enough sauce to fill a jam bottle and a little more. So I put a little of it in the refrigerator and the rest went into my freezer section for future use.
This is very much like the tamarind chutney recipe itself except there is cranberries in it.
This sauce could be used as a dipping sauce for samosas, pakoras, etc, also to make bhel, sandwiches and much more.
Someday I'l show you all the ways I used it, i'l post it in my blog with food pictures.

So hope you enjoyed this recipe with all the goodness that the cranberry provides. If you try it, do let me know.

I will surely be posting more recipes in future, only those which I come up with out of no where and ends up looking and tasting good on my plate.

Chao

Friday, January 6, 2012

2 Artists, 1 Family

There are now officially 2 artists in our family.

Introducing Artissssssssssssssst Ankush..

Ta daaaaaaaaaaaa.........

Presenting his artwork which was on display in his school today morning!!



I was so happy looking at these artworks of my son in school:) I cudn't stop smiling!

OK my husband says that even he couldn't stop smiling when he saw them!

And here's the self portrait oil painting I just completed.

Not good enough, but here it is anyways!


So we are now 2 artists in our family!