Perfect After School Eats!!! #1

Weather is gloomy.... skies are overcast with thick grey clouds aka gloomy moods!  Kids are grumpy, they just got done with a test!  One was ecstatic -- says she did just great, while the other refused to share her enthusiasm!!  Did you guess, he was a boy!  Gotcha!!  I have come to terms too, that they are more laid back and their interest in academics will get activated in a couple more years .... waiting.....!!!  

Once they get home, and their backpacks are slewn over, all they think of is food!!!  And today, since the weather was so overcast, I wanted to cuddle with them ... and snooze!!!  I was  doing just that when I was woken from a bare 2 minute cat nap with a wolfish cry for food!!!  Believe me when I say, onlookers might have mistaken the scenario for kids being shipped from a starved planet!!!  I sprinted down to muffled pleas for a snack!!!  Fair enough!  I raked my mental cookbook when my son begged for "salsa fresca" when he spied the red plum tomatoes, courtesy... MG farmer's market!  Now my turn to get ecstatic!!!  

My kids...my kids....wanted salsa...fresh home made salsa...I was soooooo proud of them!!!!  Then they sweetly, very casually chirped, they could slurp it all off with some chips!!  Deflated pride  moment...can you picture me???!!!   But nevertheless.... I set out to chop and churn up some wholesome, fresh, home made salsa!  This is what we had....... for an after school snack! 

This simply screams Easy!!!!  But yet...I share my simple Salsa Fresca recipe with you....

You will need..... these...

 

You, basically mix all of the above in a bowl and gently toss together with a little salt!  And your salsa fresca is ready!!  At our snack table, we mop it off with scoop chips, regular tortilla chips, baked, fried, blue corn....all of those edible spoons!  

I thoroughly enjoyed making them with my kids and feeding them something off the farm stand!  How cool is that?!  Now that we have finished our staple produce (this recipe was made with whatever scrape onion, tomatoes and jalapenos we had on hand :)); we have to make a beeline to the farmer's market tomorrow, would love to meet you there..... at Maple Grove Farmer's Market at 3:00 PM, tomorrow Thursday....anybody coming ????!!!   See you there.....

Conversations on Foods to Cook!!!

I made a friend.... through a friend!  Isn't that wonderful??  Now what gelled our conversation and sealed our friendship????? .... FOOD!!!!  That is what I love about this blog!  This is bringing me new friendships, people of similar wavelengths, interests,  conversations that revolves around one of the things closest and dearest to my heart --- FOOD!!  I can't wait for the phone to buzz in a few minutes and we are going to embark on a delightful brainstorming session ... what to cook for the forthcoming week of festivities?!! 

Till then...Enjoy these......

http://en.petitchef.com/

Ableskiver or Ebleskiver or Aebleskiver!!!???

I love strolling in open air markets, closed in markets, anywhere there is food, food products or just ingredients or produce!!  On one such strolls, I came across these yummy little, perfect Danish Doughnuts!!  Airy, soft, round, pancakey, perfect in every way for a liesurley weekend breakfast!   They looked so cute in their cast iron pan with round indentations, the creamy liquid, bubbling away with gentle flames cooking it from beneath!  I couldn't wait to get my hands on it until the little girl frying them messed it up :(((  I was heartbroken.

But the chef in me wouldn't let me give up that easily either!!  I had to recreate this!!  And moreover, they looked like a breakfast food from my native land also!  So, all the more reason to attempt it!!  Next day as I was lunching with a bunch of friends in a park, I casually mentioned the past day's incident, and she said she had made it that morning!!!!  It was a sign!!  I logged into my Facebook...my friend R mentioned that her daughter enjoyed it soooo much at a Danish friend's place!!!  Now that was an even bigger sign!  I could not ignore the beckoning to making one!  I read the ingredients some place and decided to make my own version, of course,  my simplified version of the same!!!  Now I stuffed it with strawberry preserves, ideally, apple pie filling will be great!!!  So give the recipe a try, you will be pleasantly surprised!!!  But...but.... you will need this pan!  You could also try making these Danish roundels with an ice cream scoop, I suppose, but is a breeze with this pan!

My Trust worthy Appa kaaral!!!

 This is called "Appa Kaaral"  in Tamil.  I have a non stick variety as you can see and is even more convenient....no seasoning, pre conditioning, sticking to the pan business, no mess!!  Get yourself one!  Life can't get easier than that!!   You do get Aebleskiver pans at Target and Walmart here, in the US! That said...on to the recipe..... so simple...will be ready in minutes...by the time, your pan is ready and greeting hot....your batter is ready!

On with the recipe....

You will need .... 1 cup of Bisquick, 1/2 cup of milk (I used 1%), a pinch of salt (for the dessert version) or 1/2 tsp of salt (for the savory version), 1 egg, 1/4 cup strawberry preserves and powdered sugar for dusting for the dessert version or 1/4 cup Mexican cheese blend for the savory version.

Whisk all the ingredients together with the milk and make a batter, slightly thicker than a cake batter.  

Prepare the pan by heating it on medium high heat and drizzle a teaspoon of canola oil in each socket!

Drop 1/2 a tablespoon of the batter into one socket, fill it with a teaspoon of strawberry preserves or apple pie filling or cheese for the savory kind, and pour the remaining half a tablespoon of the batter to cover. 

Cook for couple minutes on the first side, till the edges are crisp.  Use a pair of wooden skewers to flip the Aebleskivers and cook for another couple minutes till nice and brown!

This is how a perfect one looks like and is even more perfect when served dusted with powdered suggahhhh!!

Aebleskiver's humble sister from across the globe ... Mor Appam!  meaning Buttermilk dumplings.  My mother would treat us with this for Sunday snack sessions called "Tiffin"!!!  How we would look forward to these sessions .... rare treats like Sevai (noodle hoppers), Bajji (vegetable tempura), Pakodas, Mor appams would make their appearances.  Awesome with coconut chutney!!  

My adaptation of Mor Appam for the American kitchen.....

You will need... 1 cup of Bisquick, 1/2 cup beaten yogurt/buttermilk, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, salt to taste, tempering of 1/2 tsp mustard, 1/2 tsp urad dal. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, couple split red chillies, Curry leaves and hing (asefotida) in 2 tsp of canola oil!  

Mix the tempered seasonings and the batter together like above.it is ready to be deep fried....  Fry them by the tablespoon into the prepared pan and fry them up on both sides just like above!

Mor Appams!

These light fluffy tangy morsels of shallow fried batter are heavenly with spicy mint chutney or coconut chutney!!!  

Verdict:   Hubby tasted them with delight and immediately asked for chatini....in his Tirunalveli lingo!!!  So....my friend...you make them now and enjoy Aebleskivers...the Danish and the Indian way!!!

Savoring the end of summer vacation!!!

Today is the last day of my children's summer vacation.... they do not want to come out of their bedrooms, even though I suspect their little tummies are rumbling big!  They want to enjoy sleeping in those extra 5 minutes, and once they get up, I am sure they are going to beg me to let them watch TV, again endlessly..... drink jug fulls of lemonade, enjoy sweets in all forms!!  

                          These are the times I intervene and give them something constructive to do....like cooking or more like baking!  They love to bake, I suspect more so because they get to eat raw cookie dough/brownie/cake batters!!!!  Hahah!  More than the baked products!  I let them do it until I add eggs, fear of egg whites allergy.....but sometimes, I let the indulgent mom in me out and let them eat a little.  Heavily influenced by my mother, I normally make a small cone of "Ganesha/Pillayar" with dough of all forms before I embark on actually making the end product.  In case of the cookie making process...they make a bee line to eat the little Pillayar!!  Cute!!  OK....I do hear cute, faint voices urging me to go down to feed them...will be back to blog their favorite.....yummy chocolate chip cookies!!!!

 Preheat your oven to 350F!
You will need a few simple ingredients that you already might have  in your pantry..... 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 3/4th cup packed brown sugar, 3/4th cup regular granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 1 cup softened, unsalted butter, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips...

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together... the flour, the baking soda and salt, set aside....

In another large mixing bowl, add the sugars, softened butter, vanilla and cream them until they are all soft brown in color, and creamy in texture! 

 Add one egg at a time (make sure you get only the egg and not the shell :)))  Tip: But, if at all a small bit sneaks in, use the big shell scoop to pick that out!!!  Will come out easily!  The mixture should look creamy, whipped up and golden like so.....

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients (never the other way around...a cardinal rule in baking!), and in batches and mix well. The dough should thicken on mixing...

 Add the chocolate chips, you could customize here...could add heath candy, crushed, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chops, milk chocolate chips, nuts...here is where you make it your own!!!

Now is when my kids enjoy sneaking bits of dough out of the bowl and devour them with utmost pleasure!!!  And....indulgent mom that I happen to be.....shamelessly let them...well...history repeats, only in my case, my dad was in my shoes!!! 

Prepare a baking sheet, by spraying evenly a generous spritz of non-stick spray on it!!  I am sheepishly exhibiting my trusted, well used pan!!

 Bake the cookies in the middle rack of a 350F preheated oven for 11 long minutes!! or at least that's what my kids chime at home...Mom...it takes forever for these yummy cookies to come out!!!!

Rest them in the baking pan for a minute (let them still continue cooking unless they are overly browned already!)

          Transfer them to a cooling rack and store them in an airtight jar!!!                                                                       These are such big hits in my house!!!   I have passed them on to yours....go ahead and create those special memories in your kitchen with your chipmunks...and do get back to me!!!!!  YUM!!!