First let me mention the menu she had that night! We started off with lentil soup (courtesy Nur), there was spring roll borek, then salad, nuts, dates, everything laid out beautifully. Then the main course there was bulgur pilaf (I will post the recipe for that soon), cauliflower and broccoli baked in milk cheese sauce (besemal sos), this chicken, baked peppers, green beans in tomato sauce, and eggplant dip. Finally for dessert we had sekerpare (again courtesy Nur). YUMMMM! That’s all I have to say!!!

Ok, now the recipe.

Ingredients:

chicken breast boneless, chopped in bite size pieces,
1 onion, grated
red pepper,
black pepper,
salt,
oregano/curry powder
lemon juice,
milk
oil
Method:

Marinate the chicken in all of the above ingredients for atleast overnight. Then cook in a pan, till all the water evaporates, and the pieces look shiny. DONE!!!!  mmmm, now what was I saying, super Simple?

Cantaloupe (chopped in little bite size pieces),

strawberry (chopped in little bite size pieces),

Vanilla Ice cream,

nuts (walnuts/toasted almonds/pecans etc)

Method:

Take a nice fancy glass (like a martini glass), and then layer these one on top of the other, any way you like it. The way Marty made it is: first the cantaloupe pieces, a scoop of ice cream, then strawberries, finally nuts.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!

So, if you have all these ingredients in your refrigerator, then I beg you to try this out!

I cant wait to go and buy a mango and raspberry sorbet. Not that I am a big fan of Mexican mangoes (since I am from India, I am partial to our Indian Mangoes!) but, something is better than nothing!

Ingredients:

1 cup strawberries,
1 cup mango diced,
1 cup raspberry sorbet,
3-4 pieces (about 4 inch) watermelon,
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a blender, and blend away! Pour into gorgeous glasses, and enjoy! As the show host put it, a little indulgence with other healthy ingredients!

Back to the bread, so I was saying, you could make this easy breezy recipe, and impress your guests! Again another recipe from Mrs. Vanard (my neighbor), I think she said, this was about 20-30 yr old recipe that she still follows.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar,
1 cup milk,
1 1/2 tsp salt,
1 1/2 tbsp shortening (or margarine),

1 pkt yeast,
1/2 cup warm water,
1 cup cold water
6 cups flour,

butter for smearing on the top

Method:

First take the first four ingredients, and scald it (that means, not boil, but heat till it gets bubbly on the edge). Let it cool to lukewarm.

Then, put the yeast in a bowl, and then pour the warm water over it. Wait 10 minutes. Then pour the cold water in this. Transfer this to a kettle (or any metal deep bowl). Pour in the milk mixture.

To this, add the 6 cups of flour, mix with a spoon (a few times, everything will be mixed). Wait about 3-4 hours (overnight is fine too). It will rise, then poke it down with a spoon. Again, wait an hour. Poke it down again.
Then using flour, pinch out little balls from the dough, and  make round little or big balls, place on a greased baking tray (i use a metal tray). Finish up the remaining dough in this way. Then brush the tops with melted butter or egg.

Cover this with a towel, and wait for about 45 minutes. They will become bigger in size.

Bake at 425 deg F for about 15-20 minutes or until they are golden in color.

Gulay and her family from NJ came in for a surprise stopover! Baby Nilgun is super cute! Had a good time. They liked this bread, and Gulay this recipe is for you.

The crust recipe is a little different, I follow Mrs. Vanard’s recipe for that.

Ingredients:

For 1 crust:
1 1/3 cup flour,
1/3 cup oil,
1 tsp salt,
3 tbsp milk

For filling:
5 cup sliced peaches
1 cup sugar,
1/4 cup flour,
2 tbsp butter,
1 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Method:

To make the pie crust dough, mix the dry ingredients first (double quantity, as we need 2 pie crusts, one base, and one for the top). Then pour the milk and the oil and mix well.

Use 2 pieces of wax paper, and take half of the dough, and then place it in between the two. Roll out using a rolling pin.

Remove the wax paper from one side, and lifting the bottom wax paper with its corners, gently flip the crust over the pie dish. ( I used a 9.5 inch glass tray).

Mix the flour and the sugar for the filling, then mix the peaches in it. Pour this in the pie dish. Put few blobs of butter on the peaches.
Follow the above steps to make the second pie crust, and put it over the peaches. Seal the ends, by pinching them in.

Cut some slits in the top crust (this is important). Cover the pie dish with a foil (shiny side out), so that the crust does not burn.
Sprinkle sugar or brush the top with butter.

Bake at 425 deg F, for 30 minutes, and then remove the foil from the dish and bake additional 15-20 minutes, till the crust becomes golden.

Cool it on a wire rack. Then cut pieces and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Well, you need not go to a bakery for this. You can make it at home in your oven. This recipe is what I would classify as ‘throw in everything, mix and bake’.

Ok enough about how great the bread is, how about the recipe now.

I think this recipe is from Betty Crocker’s bread recipe book. Its an old edition.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour,
1/2 cup shortening, (or margarine)
1 cup sugar,
1 tsp salt,
1 tsp baking powder,
1/2 tsp baking soda,
2 medium size bananas mashed (about a cup),
2 eggs,
1/2 cup crushed walnuts

Method:

Except the walnuts, mix all the other ingredients in a mixer, or with a hand blender (be patient it gets sticky). This is neither like cake batter, nor like dough. Its kind of in between; thicker than cake batter, thinner than dough.

After everything is mixed up, stir in the walnuts.

Grease the bread tin. Pour the batter, and bake at 350 deg F for about 65-75 minutes, depending on how your oven heats up. Mine took 65 minutes. I put it on the middle shelf of the oven.

I know, the saying is practice what you preach, but its best to wait for the bread to cool down, and then slice it. I being rather an impatient girl, had to dig in one of the corners of the bread, as soon as it came out of the oven, and hence I didnt get a chance to take a picture of the bread

At breakfast, we like to dip this bread in milk and eat. Its fantastic! But, this is good like a dessert, a snack, anything!

Ingredients:

Cauliflower, chopped up as little florets
peas (fresh or frozen)
potatoes (boiled and chopped)
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
spices: 1/2-1 tsp red chili powder,1 tsp coriander (dhania) powder, 1/2 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp fennel (saunf) powder, 1/2 tsp cumin (zeera) powder, 1 tsp turmeric
oil for cooking (about 2-3 tbsp)
ginger garlic (optional), cilantro for garnish (optional)

Method:

Start by frying the onions in the oil. When they turn translucent, then add the spice mixture, sautee for a bit, then add the tomatoes. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Then, add the cauliflower and peas to this. Mix well, and cover and cook, till the cauliflower is cooked thoroughly (about 10-15 minutes). Then add the boiled potatoes, and salt as per taste.

That’s it. I made hot rotis (whole wheat tortillas) to eat with this. Its just phenomenal to eat simple food at times. You appreciate the good things in these simple recipes.

Bon soir!
p.s. I just watched Good Year (starring Russell Crowe, and I am big fan of him) and hence the French greeting.

There is a beautiful song in a old English movie, called Gigi, its in English, but sung with a French accent. It starts with “Thank God for little Girls….”

Its a beautiful song, and the movie is very cute too!

Ghiradelli Brownie Mix,
Whipped Cream,
Vanilla Icecream,
Hot Fudge Topping (I used Hershey’s, but you may make your own too)
Method:

Make brownie as per the directions on the package. Cool it completely.

Now use a glass cup or bowl. You need to make layers. First I put vanilla icecream, then a piece of brownie, then a dollop of whipped cream and finally, I warmed the Hot Fudge topping in the microwave, and drizzled it over.

That’s it!! Hmm.. what was I saying… easy huh?

So, you know me, I usually like to eat healthy things (Chocolate is healthy in my dictionary…ahem!); so I mixed Guava juice with Pom juice, and the tartness was greatly reduced because of the sweetness of the Guava juice. So, I wouldn’t mind having Pom juice in the future, if its mixed with some sweeter juice.