Chicken sandwich

Chicken sandwich a healthy & Totally rocking dish for a dinner..

It’s gr8 to be back & blogging again. Due to my little one now a days full busy.. full day I have to engage with her. Its hard to get time for blogging. Last week I started craving for a sandwich having chicken filled with cheese & the fresh green flavors. So thought of making it in my home. Believe me it was awesome. The husband loved it too. You can use crab or any fish such as tuna, salmon for the filling.. So friend here is the recipe..



Ingredients

1 packet potato hoagie rolls
1/2 cup cream cheese ( or you can use mayo, ranch)
2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
1 cup cut lettuce leaves
½ cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts (cut in cubes)
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Red chilli flakes/ Paprika 1tsp
Butter- 2tblsp for pan fry the rolls
Garlic salt – 1tsp
Salt as per the taste

Preparation


 Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with pepper & salt. Add chicken to pan. Cook 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. 
Whisk together cheese, celery, onion, pan fried chicken, chilli flakes, pepper, garlic salt in a medium bowl. 

 Cut the rolls in half lengthwise. Spread butter on both sides of rolls. Warm large skillet over medium heat . Place the rolls in preheated skillet and toast until golden.
 Spread lettuce & cheese & chicken mixture over cut sides of rolls & serve hot. The taste will be doubled when you serve it with any hot soup.

Masala Prawns (chingudi Masala)

Ingredients:

Prawns - 500 gms
Chopped large Onion- 2nos
Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tblsp
2 medium size tomatoes- chopped
Salt for taste
Whole garam masalas (2 cardamom, 1” long cinnamon, 1 bay leaf)
Red chilly powder- 1tsp
Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
Mustard Oil- 2-3 tblsp ( U can use any vegetable oil but we odias like nonveg cooked in mustard oil)
Coconut milk- 2tblsp
Cumin-coriander powder- 1tsp
Garam masala- 1tsp

For marination:
Salt as per the taste
Haldi - ½ tsp

Method:

Marinate the Prawns with the above ingredients & keep it for 10-15 min.

Take a non- stick pan. Add 2tblsp of oil.  Pan fry the prawns for 5-7 mins till they cooked properly & light golden brown. Don’t overcook the prawns otherwise they will become hard. 



Heat oil in a pan. Add the whole garam masals & then chopped onions. 
Sauté for 1-2 min till they turns to brownish colour. In this stage add red chilli powder & turmeric powder , sauté for 2-3 sec & immediately add the ginger-garlic paste, don’t let the chiili powder burn. Saute for 2-3 min till raw smell goes away. 

Add chopped tomatoes. Mix well. Add cumin-coriander powder & salt. Sauté till the tomatoes becomes soft & masala is done. Now add ½ cup of water to the masala. Cover & let it boil for 2-3 mins.  Add coconut milk & mix well. Then add the fried prawns .Cook for another 1-2 min.  Add garam masala to it. Mix well & Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve hot with Roti/naan/ plain rice.

Ajwain Nan khatai

Ajwain Nan Khatai...sounds different!! is not it???  I had been to a friend's house for tea party and she offered me this cookie.. Just loved it while sipping my tea with it. Thought of baking it in my oven too. So I had all the ingredients in my pantry &  I baked these Delicious cookies. Believe me Just loved to inhale the smell of the carom seeds while baking..finally made the best cookies ever & the best part is it is incredibly easy to make...so easyyy...not to worry we will walk through this recipe step by step...it is super simple..

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour / Maida : 1 cup
Powdered Sugar : 1/2 cup
Ghee / Butter- 1/2 cup, softened but not melted
Cardamom Powder : 1 tsp
Ajwain/ carom seeds- 1tblsp
Baking soda- ½ tsp

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.  Grease the baking tray. I have used cooking spray to bake my nan khatai.
Take bowl. Mix flour , ajwain, cardamom powder& baking powder in a bowl. Set it aside.

Now Mix the butter and sugar together. Butter should be soft. Whip butter/ ghee and sugar till light and creamy in the help of spoon of electric hand beater. 

 Now fold in flour and knead well with your hands. The dough should be soft. if u will find the dough is hard then add little bit curd or milk.
 Divide the dough into equal parts and make them square size with the help of your palms.  and garnish with carom seeds. Bake the prepared cookies for 15 to 18 minutes . 
Then remove from the oven and let them cool down for 2-3 minutes before taking them of the baking sheet. Allow them to cool on a wire rack and store in a airtight container.

Mix fruit lassi

MIX fruit lassi a healthy, filling nd delicious drink.. Perfect for breakfast/ dinner....

Ingredients:

Curd/ yogrut- 2 cups
Bananna- 1 no
Apple- 1 nos
2-3 strawberries
1 orange
Sugar- 2tblsp
1 tblsp condensed milk
Cardamon powder- 1/2 tsp,
Rose water- 1tsp, ice cubes
broken cashews, blueberries & tutti frutti for garnishing

Method:

wash and cut all the fruits.
Put all ingredients in a blender, blend until froth appears. pour the blended lassi to serving glass & garnish with  broken cashews, blueberries & tutti frutti. serve chilled...njoy...:)

Chhenapoda

Chhena poda (cheesecake) a delicious authentic sweet of Odisha.




As I am staying in US we can’t get easily what we are craving for (esp sweets). So either  prepare on your own or  suppress the desire to eat . Obviously I went with option 1 & any foodie would do that as well.
 Was craving this from a long time since I was pregnant but unfortunately got gestational diabetic so that time it was a BIG NO for me & after that it has been 11 mons I am full busy with my little champ & somehow I missed it. As tomorrow is valentine day & the husband likes chhenapoda very much. So thought of surprise him with his fav sweet after all what will be a better treat than this. The husband  said ”bahut badhiya heichi pura toh pari”  (it’s awsum just like u :P ) & a tickling smile was on my face.

so here we go....

To make chenna/ cheese

Whole Milk- 2 litre
Vinegar or lemon juice-  ¼ cup 
Cheese cloth (to filter the cheese/ home made chhena)

Ingredients for chenna poda

Semolina/ sooji- 2tblsp
Sugar- 1.5 cups
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Handful of cashews & raisins
Ghee/ butter- 2 tblsp

Method:

 Boil the milk in a heavy bottom pan. When it starts boiling add the lemon juice/ vinegar. When the milk curdles the cheese will separate from the whey. Now switch off the flame. Filter the cheese with the help of cheese cloth to separate cheese from the liquid.
Hang the cheese for at least 1 hour till the whey is drained.
Pre heat the oven to 350 degree F. Grease the baking dish.
Fry the raisin & cashews in ghee. Keep aside.
Now transfer the cheese to a bowl. Rub it & mash well for 3-4 mins. Now add semolina, sugar, cardamom powder & knead well for 5-7 mins.  Add the fried cashews & raisins to it. Add 1tblsp ghee to it & again mix well.
Now make the sugar caramel. For this add 1tblsp butter to a heated pan. Now add ½ cup of sugar to it. When the sugar starts melting and turns red, pour the caramel sauce to prepared grease pan. 
Now spread the cheese mixture  on the baking tray. Now cover it with a aluminium foil. & make the slits on the foil with a knife.
Bake for 30-40 mins until a toothpick insert in the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven & let it sit for 45 mins outside before savor it.

Mushroom Broccoli Quiche ( My 1st attempt)

Now this has turned a fav. Recipe of mine for breakfast –dinner-lunch (U can have it any time). This is one of the recipes that can be made in thousand ways. 
Last summer we went to Acadia national park in US & there for lunch we went to one restaurant called Jordan Pond House. There we had broccoli quiche for the first time. As that day was Friday & we don’t eat non veg on that day so we ordered brown rice, broccoli quiche & steamed veggies. No doubt it was very tasty & flavorful. we just enjoyed it.  There I kept on my mind to make the recipe when I will reach home. But somehow I missed it may be due to my small baby gal behind whom I have to run day & nite..:P 
So few days before I  was browsing my google & found this recipe. Immediately the ring bell on my mind & I thought today is the time to give the surprise to hubby by making this quiche. I run to kitchen & open the fridge. I found broccoli & mushroom. So thought to try with these two ingredients.
After so many Google search finally find the recipe & tried it..but one important thing I didn’t hav pie pan. So I had to bake in my square pyrex bowl. 
But this one turned out wonderfully. My husband also  liked it very much. It keeps well in the fridge & reheats well. 

so friends here is the recipe.

Ingredients

Ingredients for pastry 

1 cup  maida/ all purpose flour 

100gm unsalted butter  (grated)

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg

pinch of salt

For the filling:

1 ½  cup chopped mushrooms 

1 cup broccoli florets

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 eggs

1 tsp ground black pepper

Salt to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Italian herbs 

To Make Quiche:

For the pastry:

In a bowl mix flour, salt and baking powder together.  Add the grated butter & mix it well with fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse  meal. Add the egg and bring the dough together. Add ice water in a slow ly if needed at this stage. Form dough in to a single ball. 

Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface about 2" large all around than your pie pan. Its fine even if its not an even circle or whatever. Just make sure the thickness is more or less even all around. (I didn’t have the pie pan so I have to make the quiche in a square pyrex bowl)

Next step is to gently transfer this rolled out dough to a greased pie dish.  Now put it in the refrigerator.  In the mean while we will prepare the filling.

Pre-heat the oven to 350F / 180C.

To prepare the filling:

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions until golden brown. Add the mushrooms nd broccoli florets and sautéon medium-high flame until soft & light golden brown. Adjust ground pepper and salt and mix well. Now switch off the flame & let it cool.

Now take small bowl. Break 2 and beat them. Add  milk to the eggs & again mix well. 

Now take out the prepared crust from the fridge. Lay the brocolli mushroom mixture evenly on it. 

And top off with the milk-egg mixture until it reaches almost up to the top of the crust. top off with  shredded cheddar cheese & some Italian herbs.

Bake until the top turns golden brown and patchy in parts and the crust turns golden - about 30 to mins. 

Now Enjoyyyyyyy hoootttt.

Garlic Pull-Apart Rolls

These rolls are superb…super soft, buttery & the garlic flavor is just heavenly. It was like one day in a tea party my friends were discussing about this. It sounded very interesting and as I never had them before so I made a note in my mind to find out about this recipe. After I came home, goggled about it and prepared in evening along with pizza. They were absolutely amazing combination. A must try side dish if you are bold to try something new. So friends here we go…

Ingredients: 
Plain Flour - 1.5 cups 
Luke Warm milk- 1/2 cup 
1tblsp water
Dry Yeast - 1/2 tbsp
Salt - 1tsp 
Sugar - 1 tbsp 
Olive Oil – 1/4th cup
For Garlic Spread:
Salted butter, at room temperature - 4 tbsp
Minced garlic - 2 tbsp
Dried basil & oregano - 2 tbsp (you can use chopped coriander leaves or other fresh herbs)

Method:
Preheat the oven at 450 degree Fahrenheit. Mix sugar with Luke warm milk. Mix flour, yeast, salt together. Slowly add warm milk (The milk should not be hot otherwise it will kill the yeast). Add oil and knead until you get a smooth, slightly stick dough.  


Cover it and allow the dough to rise by keeping in a warm place for about 45 mins. 

Now  make the garlic spread by mixing  butter, herbs & minced garlic .


Now  Grease a baking pan with oil or spray. Punch down the air in the dough and divide the dough into two equal portions. Now roll the dough using rolling pin & apply little flour to prevent sticking. Roll the dough in to a rectangle shape at least ½ inch thick.


 Spread about 2 tbsp of garlic spread on one side.  Roll from one end gently and firmly. Cut into half and then each half again into two halves to get 4 equal portions. Place the rolls with the cut side up in the greased pan. Repeat the same procedure for the remaining dough.  Spread a little milk on the rolls and add the remaining garlic spread & sesame seeds on top.
keep like this for another 20 min. to rise.
 

Now bake for 15-20 mins in the preheated oven. Serve hot nd njoy