Brunch Specials

I have decided to go a little light on the cooking bit and do some healthy stuff for a while, because all the baking and the fancy food is beginning to show on me, especially around the hips. As it is i am lazy to cook and click and type it out, so imagine how its gonna be now? Worse? I am not going to abscond, but I'm gonna limit my baking to once a week and include loads of veggies and fruits to our diet. I am opening the blog out to anyone who wants to chip in a few recipes of their own, so the blog doesn't come to a stand still. So please do send me a recipe with a pic and il put it up, and its just not the bloggers I'm talking about..I know so many friends of mine who are awesome cooks and i might have to push them a bit to send in stuff, but i am gonna do that. For now here's a brunch special which is almost a week old. I whipped it up last Saturday when we had a friend staying over and Ro and W agreed to help me with it and so it wasn't really a big deal at all. I completely bossed over them and got most of the work done...cheeky me huh?

Wholemeal Buttermilk Pancakes with a Berry Compote

For the pancake:

Wholemeal flour- 1 cup

Brown Sugar- 1/4 cup

Baking Powder- 3/4 tsp

Baking Soda- /4 tsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Buttermilk- 1 cup

Egg- 1

Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp

Vanilla extract- 1 tsp

Mix together all the dry ingredients (first 5) in a bowl.

In another bowl whisk the eggs and mix the buttermilk, vanilla and oil till well incorporated.

Add this to the dry ingredients and stir well. Its ok if the pancake batter is a bit lumpy. Keep aside for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and pour in a ladle full and cook till you see bubbles appearing on top. Carefully flip over and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Berry Compote (adapted from the Low Gi-Diet Cookbook):

Mixed berries- 200 gms (i used blueberries and raspberries)

Brown sugar- 1 tbsp

Honey/ maple syrup- enough to drizzle

Put the berries in a saucepan and gently heat until they are warm and have softened. Add the brown sugar and give it on for a little longer, just to get the sugar melted.

Stack the pancakes and serve topped with the warm berries and a few drizzles of honey or maple syrup or even whipped cream :)

Notes: Pancakes are horrible once cold. So try serving them as and when its done.

The berry compote may be a bit tangy, but since you are serving with honey or syrup over pancake, it should be fine.

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes on the vine- 250gms

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)- 2 tsp

Salt and pepper- for seasoning

Balsamic vinegar- 1 tsp (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C and place the tomatoes on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Drizzle with vingar (if using) and EVOO generously and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or till the tomatoes are soft.

Sausage Veggie Bake

Onion- 1, thinly sliced

Garlic- 3 pods, mashed

Broccoli- 1/2 cup

Cauliflower- 1/2 cup

Carrots- 1/4 cup

Spinach- 1 cup

Sausages- 1 cup, chopped into in inch pieces

Salt and pepper- to season

Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese- 1/2 cup (grated)

Oil- 1 tbsp

Colman's Cheddar Cheese Sauce- 1 sachet

Milk- 350ml

Blanch the cauliflower and broccoli florets. Keep aside.

Clean the spinach leaves, drain and transfer them to a bowl and close with a lid. Cook in the microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Drain off the water and keep aside.

Cook the sausages in some oil. Drain on kitchen towels. Keep aside

Heat the oil in a frying pan and throw in the onions and garlic. Cook till transparent and fragrant. Add the broc, cauli, carrot and spinach, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook till done. Just before you take it off the fire, add the cooked sausages and give a final stir.

Transfer into an oven proof casserole dish.

Make the Colman's cheese sauce as per instructions. Boil the milk and add the contents of the sachet and stir till you get a lump-free mix. I went ahead and added some cheddar cheese as well.

Pour the cheese mix over the veggies in the casserole dish, sprinkle the rest of the Cheddar cheese and bake in a pre-heated oven (170C) for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with garlic bread or on its own. It is very creamy and i wouldn't say its healthy healthy, but i feel a whole lot better at having all these veggies :)

Here are a few bakes i have tried: Wonders with leftovers, Fish Bake' Pie, Tuna and Pasta Bake, Fennel and Spinach Gratin

Notes: You can basically add any veggie of your choice...beans, mushrooms, potatoes, leek etc and go fully vegetarian or add chicken, mince meat, bacon etc. and make a whole non-veg meal out of it too. If you add pasta to the above recipe, it can be a whole meal on its own.

You can make your own cheese sauce/ white sauce. The recipe can be found here.

'Brunch' ed Up, eh?

Oh don't you just love the whole idea of a brunch? Well, I do and i love going out to brunch rather than staying at home and making one. Especially after a night out on Saturday, you wake up late on Sunday and head out to a restaurant, have a 3 hour long brunch and if you have friends joining you, even better. So today was brunch day and for a change i decided to do it at home. Boy was it so much more easier and fun to have brunch than to have breakfast at 10 and then get prepared for lunch by the time you are done cleaning up after breakky.

We started off with a rather rich and heavy Frittata, washed it down with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice followed by buttermilk blueberry pancakes and a cuppa freshly brewed coffee. Yes, you guessed right..we were so full after that to even clean up and now i have a messy kitchen staring back at me. I thought id take a breather, come and blog about it and then get back to cleaning up (which basically means loading the dish washer) ;)

Bacon and Spinach Frittata

Frittata is an Italian omelet mixed with veggies, meats, cheese or rather anything of your choice and served open..and not folded. It is initially cooked on a hob top and finished off under a grill.

Bacon- 3 rashers, cooked and crumbled

Baby Spinach- 1 to 2 cups (depending on your taste. Ro didn't let me put more than a cup)

Garlic pods- 3, chopped fine

Spring onions- 3, chopped fine (both bulb and greens)

Garlic sausages- 3, cooked and chopped (optional)

Eggs- 4

Heavy cream- 30ml

Mature cheddar cheese- less than a 1/4 cup

Pepper powder- as required

Salt- to taste

Baking powder- a pinch (optional)

Clean the spinach leaves, drain and transfer them to a bowl and close with a lid. Cook in the microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Drain off the water and keep aside.

In a large frying pan, cook the bacon and sausages (if using) and preserve the oil.

If there is way too much oil, discard some and in the remaining, sautee the garlic and spring onions till light and fragrant.

Add the spinach, crumbled bacon and sausages. Season with some pepper powder and sautee for a few minutes. Check for salt and only then add, since the bacon and sausages will have some salt content in them.

Beat the eggs, cheddar cheese, cream, salt pepper and baking pwd in a bowl till light and fluffy.

Add this to the frying pan and mix well, without disturbing the ends too much. Try and distribute the filling evenly.

Cook on low fire for about 2 minutes and then cover and cook for a minute or two again. Transfer to a pre-heated grill for another 5 mins max..just to brown the top.

Cut into wedges and serve.

Notes: The garlic sausages were about to expire and so i added that too. The bacon would be good on its own or rather better, because somehow there was a conflict of flavours.

Whole milk can be used instead of heavy cream. I wanted to make sure we don't eat healthy today :)

Add mushrooms, carrots, peas or any veggie of your choice and make it an egg-etariandelight.

If you do not have an oven, you can just carefully turn the egg upside down to brown the top. Be careful though...you shouldn't crack the beautiful round shape. Invert it on to a plate first and then insert that plate back into the frying pan to be double sure. Am i making sense?

Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes

This is my first time with buttermilk pancakes and i must say it does make a difference to the texture and a slight taste variation. Or am i imagining it, i don't know. I asked Ro and he said he cant remember eating pancakes made by me at all....but clarified that the Tesco one tastes a whole lot different (good different or bad different is a very time consuming argument, so i left it at that)....Thanks for that baby, i am so stupid i didn't know! DUH!

All purpose flour- 1 cup

Sugar- 4 tbsp ( optional)

Baking powder- 3/4 tsp

Baking Soda- 1/4 tsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Egg- 1

Buttermilk- 1 cup

Butter- 2 tbsp, melted and cooled slightly

Vanilla extract- 1/4 tsp

Fresh Blueberries- 100 gms

Mix all the dry ingredients (first 5) together and keep aside.

Whisk together the remaining, except the blueberries, and add to the dry ingredients. Stir until it is just blended and then add the blueberries. Give a final stir and keep aside for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat a non-stick skillet and pour in one ladle full of batter. After about 3 minutes, bubbles start appearing on top and at that time, flip and cook for another 2 minutes or till golden brown. Repeat till the entire batter is used up. I got about 10 medium size pancakes.

Drizzle some maple syrup, butter or even honey and serve with fresh blueberries on the side. Wanna die sooner? Add some whipped cream :0

Note: Buttermilk can be substituted with whole milk

I tried using an electric grill for the pancakes, but it was surprisingly taking too long and the bubbles were just not there...Hob top skillet is the best.

Use bananas, chocolate chips, strawberries in the place of blueberries, and I'm sure the result will be as 'fruitful' :)

Phew! that was awfully long, i think i'll get Ro to clean up ;)

Can we be more Brit-Dish?

We had the tastiest Brit-dish of all, Bangers and Mash, two days ago and yes, i made it at home. I'm so proud for being able to recreate the exact same thing we've been having at pubs and making a big deal of, when its actually one of the simplest things to make. The first week we were in UK, about 2 years ago, we were staying in a hotel and had to depend on the various restaurants for our daily meals. I wasn't complaining at all. There were so many options and it was indeed the best time to experiment. So on a Sunday afternoon we decided to have brunch at this pub that had advertised their Sunday roast...in fact almost all the pubs had advertised Sunday roasts and we were quite sure we wanted to try the roast that was apparently so popular. So i opted for the chicken roast with mash and veggies and Ro ordered the beef roast with chips. Huge quantities, but unbelievably tasteless and bland to the core. So we put in ketchup and mayo and all the sauces that were available and still it wasn't worth eating. We wasted the entire things and i have vowed never to try out the roasts at a pub ever again. The apple pie with custard was however yummy.

Pub food is very basic and its more or less the same everywhere. Unless its a 'Thai Food' Pub or a 'Mexican Food' pub, they usually have the same fare. I realised I'm actually not a big fan of the usual British fare after my bad experiences with the Sunday roasts, fish and chips and pies ( yes all of them). I usually stuck to burgers and I'm so sick of it now. Bangers and Mash are available only at selected places and once i tried it, i knew it was the best of them all. So I now make it a point to check the menu before i go in. Yes, fussy would be an under statement :)

Bangers (sausages): Beef/ chicken/ pork/ venison- 6 (I used beef)

Extra virgin olive oil- 1 tsp (or just enough to coat a non-stick pan to fry the sausages)

Onion- 1/2, sliced

Button mushrooms- 100gms, sliced

Leek (optional)- 1 (only the white part) (replace with spring onions or shallots)

Salt- as required

Pepper- 1 tsp

Oil- left over from frying the sausage as enough oil oozes out

Colmans sausage casserole sauce mix- 1 packet diluted in half a pint water (replace with chicken/beef stock)

Fry the bangers or even better grill them. Keep aside

In a saucepan heat some oil and sautee onions, mushrooms and leek till soft and fragrant. Add enough salt and pepper and continue. Add the Colmans mix and bring to boil. Add the bangers and simmer.

For the mashed potato. I followed the recipe from BBC. Instead of cream i added milk and cheddar cheese and it tasted just fine.

You can use any vegetable of your choice, I used green peas and carrots blanched and then tossed with a bit of butter and pepper.

Place a spoon full mashed potato in the centre of a plate, arrange the bangers on top and pour the gravy over. Enjoy with a mug of beer and its almost like you are in a British Pub.

Wonders with leftovers

I have been pushing the last couple of days with ready meals and junk food like burgers, hot dogs and pizzas and Ro hasn't complained till now. Its just plain laziness and also to prove to Ro that he needs me to survive...food-wise at least! I have also run out of almost everything and haven't made an effort to go grocery shopping either. The rains and cold winds have added to this misery and i just don't want to step out of the house. Yes, i go into these nonchalant moods once in a while and no matter what happens, until i feel like doing something, i just wont budge. Awesome right?

It was also the aftermath of a kitchen disaster where i tried to make a caramel something and it all just smoked up. Thank god my smoke alarm didn't go off, and after scrubbing and scratching the hardened caramel off the vessel, i was in no mood to be proactive. So after searching all the cupboards and freezer for an easy dinner option, I came across some pasta, sausages, bacon and asparagus and decided to make something eatable, which ultimately turned out quite tasty.

Wheat pasta (Fusilli)- 200 gms (was all that was left)

Spring Onion- 1 large

Baby tomatoes- 8 to 10 sliced in half

Green chillies- 3, sliced thin

Asparagus heads- 5 to 6, sliced

Pork frankfurters- 3 sliced into coin size pieces

Bacon- 2 rashers

Grated cheddar cheese (mature)- 2 hands full

Maggi seasoning sauce- a few dashes

Tabasco sauce- 1/2 tsp

Salt- to taste

Cook the pasta as per instructions with a pinch of salt. Drain and keep aside.

In a frying pan, fry the bacon rashers. Once cooked, remove and drain on a paper towel and slice into small pieces. In the same frying pan, fry the sausages in the oil oozed out from the bacon (If there is too much oil, pour out some and use the remaining). Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside.

Now throw in the sliced spring onion, baby tomatoes, green chilli and asparagus and sautee till the asparagus becomes more or less cooked. Add the pasta, bacon and sausage slices, a few dashes of Maggi seasoning, Tabasco and salt and mix well. Do a taste check and if its not spicy enough, you can either put some more Tabasco sauce, chilli pwd or pepper. Towards the end, sprinkle the grated cheddar cheese and give a final stir. The heat from the pasta will make the cheese melt. So it doesn't have to be on fire. Enjoy!

Notes: You can use spinach, green peas, carrots and any other left over veggies for this meal. Ro hates asparagus, but he didn't even realize they were in it:)

If you want to make it a bit more rich, you can add some white sauce. I was lazy, so i didn't.

Instead of spring onions you can use normal onion and for baby tomatoes, the normal ones can be used. I didn't have either of those.

Also, i used both sausages and bacon, but you can choose any one or none at all if you have enough veggies to compliment

Make sure the left over oil from cooking the bacon is used to do the rest of the cooking because it gives that extra flavour to the dish.

Munchies with leftovers

Some friends from Wales suddenly announced they were coming over and I had to make do with some left over chicken breasts and sausages to do the impromptu cooking. These are good cocktail recipes, really easy and absolutely tasty.

Thattukada style Chicken Fry adapted from Sig's recipe

Boneless Chicken breasts- 250gms, cut into bite size pieces

Ginger garlic paste- 1 tbs

Coriander pwd- 1/2 tsp

Turmeric pwd- a pinch

Chilli pwd- 1/2 tsp

Garam masala- 1/4 tsp

Maida- 1 tsp

Lemon juice- 1 tsp

Salt- to taste

Oil- enough to deep fry

Onions- 1 small cut lengthwise

Curry leaves- 2 sprigs

Marinate the chicken pieces with the above (except onions and curry leaves) ingredients and keep for an hour. In a wok, heat the oil and deep fry the chicken pieces till brown on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a kitchen towel.

Remove some of the oil from the wok and throw in the curry leaves and onions. Fry well till brown and soft. To this add the fried chicken pieces and sautee till they are all well mixed. Serve hot with a glass of Chardonnay.

Notes: I guess it would taste even better if its with bone. I didnt have any

Using coconut oil for the frying makes a world of a difference but an unhealthy option.

Sausage Stir Fry

Chicken or Pork Frankfurters/ sausages- 4, cooked and sliced into bite size pieces

Pointed sweet red pepper- 1, sliced lengthwise

Pepper pwd- 1 tsp

Balsamic vinegar- 1 tsp

Oil- 1 tbs

In a wok heat a little oil and cook the sausages along with the pepper powder. Keep aside

Pour in the rest of the oil and stir fry the red pepper till soft and cooked. Add the sausages and the balsamic vinegar towards the end, give a final stir and serve hot.

Note: It will be fancy if you use tooth picks and do a pepper, sausage arrangement.

Sausage Fried Rice

It was one of our really lazy days at home and was surfing the various blogs for something easy to make. Stumbled upon this recipe from sig's blog and decided to give it a shot. This is an easy recipe if you have left over rice. Sausages and peas are almost always available at our place and although its not come out as fancy as Sig's it sure tasted fine to us. I have altered the recipe a bit so the lazy me didn't have to spend more time in the kitchen :)

Cooked and cooled rice- 2 cups

Sausages- 2 diced

Carrots- 1/2 cup diced

Green peas- 1/2 cup

Shallots- 1/4 cups thinly sliced

Light or dark soy sauce- 2 tbs

Fish sauce- 2 tsp

Pepper- 2 tsp

Salt- to taste

Spice paste: 1 large shallot, 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste and 1 tbs of Thai Masaman paste

Egg -1 per person

Grind or mix the spice paste ingredients together and keep aside.

In a large wok, sautee the shallots till golden brown. To this, add the sausages and fry till brown. Now, add the carrots and while it cooks, about half way through add the green peas (frozen ones cook really fast). Mix well and now add the spice mix. Sautee well, till the raw smell dies. Add salt at this stage and then put in the rice. Make sure it is well coated with the masala/spice mix. On full heat, add the soy sauce, fish sauce and the pepper pwd and mix well till the rice is well coated.

I don't like a runny egg, so i broke the yolk and seasoned it with some salt and pepper.