Mushroom in a Cream Sauce

If you love mushrooms like I do, you will find ways to prepare it differently and bring new taste to it. This is one of my favorite ways. Cream and mushroom goes quite well anytime you make it.

For this recipe, I used white button mushrooms. If you like, you can use baby Portobello mushrooms too. This recipe requires caramelizing of mushrooms and onions in mushroom essence. This is what brings the flavor out of it.

Also it can be prepared in 15 minutes maximum. This is my quick go to recipe, when I don't have time and want something good to eat. So everyone, do give it a try. Trust me you will love it. :)

Servings: 3 people

Ingredients:

3 cups white button mushrooms
1 medium sized onion - chopped in small pieces
1 tbsp oil
2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup cream
salt and black pepper to taste

Recipe:

1. Take a large saucepan, add oil and heat it on high.
2. Add onions to this and cook until translucent in color. Keep stirring the whole time since heat is on high.
3. Once onions are cooked, add mushrooms. Heat is still on high. High heat helps mushrooms caramelize and get beautiful color on them.

4. Once mushrooms are 90% cooked, add garlic and cook for another minute or so.

5. After you start to get caramelized and garlic smell, add vegetable broth.
6. Let this come to a boil. Add cream, salt and pepper to this. Let this mixture come to a boil again.

7. After it comes to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low and cook this until cream consistency gets thicker and is reduced to half.
8. Once done, close the heat and serve hot with grilled chicken, fish or rice. I served it on a bed of vegetable couscous.

Vegetable Couscous

This recipe happened by accident. I bought couscous, thinking it would be like Indian couscous and I will use it to make Bengali dishes like aloo posto. But when I tried making aloo posto, it didn't came out like India. So figured, couscous here is different from what we get in India.

But since I already bought a big pack, I had to use it somehow. Looked at it and thought came to my mind that it almost looks like quinoa. So here is what I came up with and it tasted yum with the mushroom cream sauce I served it with.

It is light and fluffy. Do try it and let me know if you like it or not :) Happy Cooking.

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients:

2 Cups couscous
21/2 cups water
1/4 cup carrots - cut in small pieces
1/4 cup green bell pepper - cut in small cubes
1/4 cup onion - thinly sliced
1/4 cup peas - boiled
1/4 cup corn - boiled
slice of lemon
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste
black pepper to taste

Recipe:

1. In a deep sauce pan, add oil. Heat it on medium heat.
2. Once  heated, add onions and saute them until translucent in color.
3. Add rest of the vegetables and salt.
4. Keep stirring and cook them until all the vegetables are 90% done.

5. Add water.
6. As soon as water comes to a boil turn off the heat. Add couscous and mix well so that all the couscous gets separated properly.
7. Cover this and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.

8. After 10-15 minutes, open it and with help of fork move around the couscous so that it gains fluffiness.
9. Sprinkle coriander and lemon over it.

10. Server hot with any gravy you like. I served with mushroom and cream sauce.

Tomato-garlic Pasta

I love white sauce pasta, but always used to make red one with store bought marinara sauce. Yesterday had a craving for pasta, but didn't want to eat heavy white sauce. So thought of making tomato pasta, but alas didn't have any marinara sauce left.

So, searched the internet for the recipe. Found a very simple recipe in "laura in the kitchen" (I love her recipes :)). But didn't have all the authentic ingredients to make it. So thought, lets try my own version of it.

So here it is, ,my very own version of tomato-garlic pasta recipe. It looked restaurant like and tasted even better. Enjoy and do leave any comments/suggestion you may have.


Servings: For 2 people

Ingredients:

A handful of linguine pasta - (by handful i mean as much as you can hold in one hand)
6-8 cups water
2 tbsp olive oil
4-5 cloves of garlic - thinly sliced
2 large tomatoes - puree'd (authentically use: 2 cups of  cherry tomatoes - cut in halves)
8-10 cherry tomatoes - cut in halves
2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup of coriander - finely chopped (authentically use: 1/4 cup of fresh basil - roughly chopped)
salt to taste
crushed black pepper to taste

Recipe:

1. Take a large pan and add water and salt in it. Let the water come to a boil and then add pasta in it. Cook the pasta until cooked al dente ( meaning cooked to be firm to the bite). Once cooked, strain it and set it aside.
2. In a large saucepan, add olive oil and garlic. Start the heat at medium and as soon as garlic starts to have bubbles all around it, lower the heat to medium-low at let it infuse in olive oil for another 10 minutes. This is a very crucial step, do not, I repeat do not let garlic burn because of over heating. We want garlic essence and flavor to be infused in olive oil. This is what makes this sauce tastes awesome :)

3. Once garlic starts to brown a little, after about 10 minutes in step above, add tomato puree and cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper and dried oregano. We add dried herbs in the beginning to have their flavors get into the dish and fresh in the end to bring the dish a little kick :D. Let this cook at medium heat for about 10 minutes or until you get to the consistency you want.

4. Once the sauce is ready, add coriander and pasta to it. Mix well and serve immediately. If you want you can grate Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese on top of it.

Potato Cutlets or Aloo Tikki

This is the snack I can 100% say is my all time favorite. I am from Agra, and chaat/snacks there are delicious. I have been to many places but never tasted such aloo tikki anywhere else. Or probably its my birthplace and I have special attachment to it. But whatever may be the case, this is by far the most delicious spicy food I ate.

It is so easy to make, that makes  you think how it can be so tasty. But as all say, simplicity is the best policy. And that is what makes this snack yumilicious. If its in my control I can eat this day in day out :D. Please enjoy my version of aloo tikki.

Ingredients:

3 medium sized boiled and peeled potatoes
1 medium sized carrot - cut into small cubes
1/4 cup of boiled peas
1/4 cup of boiled corn
1/4 cup of coriander leaves - finely chopped
1 green chili - finely chopped
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
12 cashew nuts
12 raisins
2 tbsp oil

Spices:

1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp dry mango powder
1 tsp chaat masala
salt to taste

Recipe:

1. Mash potatoes (not too fine, if you prefer mash with hands)
2. Add carrots, peas, corn, coriander leaves, chili and mix everything properly.
3. Add all the spices and mix again.
4. Add bread crumb mixture at the very end and start making potato cutlets (in any shape you prefer). I generally make them round. And fill two pieces each of cashew nuts and raisins inside the cutlets.
5. Heat oil in a non-stick pan. When heated, place potato cutlets in the pan. Do this on low medium  heat, and let it slowly cook. Slow cooking gives a very good crust on cutlets and cooks everything inside out.
6. Once cooked, serve with ketchup and coriander chutney. Or you can make bread sandwich out of it.

Almond Cookies or Baadam Nan-Khatai

This is very near to my heart as it takes me back to my mom. I used to ask her specially to make these, it tasted better than anything in the world. And on top of it, with a touch of my mom's hand, it was blissful. So I decided to make these, asked her the recipe a month back. But somehow, didn't get the time to make it and lost the recipe too. Asked her again, same thing happened.

This time I decided that I will make these as soon as I will get the recipe (obviously had to ask again :( ). But finally I made these heavenly delicious cookies with a little twist of my own. Adding almond, as I love flavor of almond in anything.

I ate one of those and than I ate 4-5. I just couldn't stop feeling happy as it came out exactly I had in my mind. So happy with the results and hopefully you will like it too :).

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup almonds - grind finely
1/2 cup butter - directly out of refrigerator
1 tsp milk

Recipe:

1. Sieve all purpose flour and set it aside.
2. In a bowl, sieve powdered sugar and mix butter. Either by hand or use a stand-mixer to mix the two together. It takes a little time, but worth it :). Mix it until it has a paste like consistency. Stop as soon as it comes together, do not over mix it.
3. Add all purpose flour and almond mixture to it.
4. Mix well, and make it in a dough like consistency. Add milk only if you feel like it is still dry and crumbly.
5. Preheat oven at 350 F.
6. Take a baking tray. Make small balls out of the dough ( keep the ball size half of what cookie size you want as it is going to get double in size) and place it on baking tray at least and inch apart from each other.
7. Put this in oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes take it out and let it cool for about 30 minutes.

8. Enjoy it with tea or alone. It tastes awesome anyhow :).

Papri or Crispy snacks

Every time we want a snack, we wish there is a homemade chips/cookie instead of biscuits etc. This is just one stop solution of any kind of snack you crave for. You can have it with tea like a side biscuit/crispy snack, or make it in a spicy chaat to satisfy that craving you have time to time.

This is quick to make and can be stored for a long time. This can be made in oven too, to make it oil free. I will be posting soon about how to make this in oven for people who wants an oil-free substitute of tasty snacks. Until then, please enjoy this recipe.


Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup semolina flour/sooji
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp oil

Recipe:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add oil and mix well together.
2. Start mixing water slowly and starting making the mixture in a dough. Add water slowly, so that you can adjust the consistency of the dough. It might take more or less water depending on type of all purpose and semolina flour. Qualities differ.
3. Leave the dough covered for about half an hour.
4. Once half hour is complete, divide the dough in tennis ball sizes and start rolling the dough balls one by one of about 1/4 cm thick.
5. When rolled, take a fork and start punching holes in it.

6. Once done, cut it into small pieces. I just made it square/diamond shaped, if you want circle shape try using some small bowl with sharp round edges.

7. Heat oil in a deep pan. Once heated, add pieces you just cut in the oil and fry them until golden brown. Do fry them on medium heat, else it might get brown too soon and will be raw inside.
8. Once done, take it out on paper towel to remove the excess oil.

9. Server with dried peas curry, cilantro and tamarind chutney. Or just have it as it is with tea.

Pakoda Kadhi Recipe

There are days when you are trying to set yogurt and forgot to pick it up on time. This will make your yogurt go sour. Don't get disheartened, this is the best time to make this dish. A mouth watering dish from north India, which tastes better every time you make it.

This came perfect the first time I made it. And if I can make it in the first go, you can too :). So, everyone get up and make this super easy and delicious recipe. :) You can have this with rice, papad and some salad on the sides.


Ingredients:

Curry:

1 Cup sour yogurt
1/4 cup gram flour
3 cups water
2 tbsp clarified butter/ghee
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
2 dried red chili
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder

Gram flour rolls:

1/2 cup gram flour
1/4 cup water

Recipe:

For gram flour rolls:

1. Mix gram flour and water in a thick consistency paste such that it takes time to drop off the spoon.
2. Heat oil in a deep pan.
3. Once oil is heated, drop the mixture using your hands in small small portions (of desired size you want).
4. Let them cook over medium heat, so that they will get cooked from inside too.

5. On sides, keep a bowl filled with lukewarm water. Once rolls are cooked, transfer them into lukewarm water.

6. Let them sit for about 5 minutes. Once done, take them out by slowly squeezing the water out such that rolls don't break.

For Curry:

1. Take yogurt in a bowl and mix well until smooth. Add gram flour to it and mix well until no lumps are there. Add 1 cup water to it and mix everything well together.
2. Take a frying pan, add ghee and let it heat up. Once heated, add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, dried red chili, turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp red chili powder.
3. Once spices are done (only take few seconds) add yogurt and gram flour mixture. Let it come to a boil. Do keep stirring it else it will get burnt from bottom.
4. Once it came to a boil, add remaining water. Let it cook for 15-20 minutes on medium heat.

5. Taste it after 20 minutes to check if raw flavor of gram flour is gone. Once done, add gram flour rolls and let it boil for another 5 minutes.
6. Take a small pan, add ghee and heat it up. Once heated up, add 1/4 tsp red chili powder and add 1 tsp of water to stop red chili powder from burning. Add this, on top of your kadhi right before serving.

Cauliflower Soup

I  had to say this is the super easy soup recipe I have made till date. It is so easy, it hardly needs any ingredients and cooks without needing any hawking it all the time. And on top of it, it tastes yum.

So I had a head of cauliflower left with me. First I thought of making you know normal "gobhi aloo" sabzi. But thankfully decided against it because was very bored of eating cauliflower the same way all the time.

And guess what, at this moment, as usual Google comes for the rescue and I started searching for cauliflower recipes. It is while this search, I came across cauliflower soup recipe. Thought to myself, it must be very time consuming and tough to make. But, to my surprise it turned out that it was the easiest and quickest soup recipe I have come across. So, without any delay I made this yum soup and had it for dinner. Yes, a whole bowl of soup for me alone :D.




Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower (small/medium sized)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
2 cups water

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven at 450 F.
2. Separate cauliflower head into florets. Wash them and dry them properly using a kitchen paper towel until all water is dried. This is because if you have water in your florets it will take longer to cook in the oven and might get soggy too.
3. Take large baking tray/pan, which ever you have available. Place your florets individually and not overlapping. Add salt,pepper and olive oil on top and mix well so that each floret gets coated properly.

4. Place the baking tray in the oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, take it out and turn all the florets and place it again for 15 minutes.
5. After the end of this, we are looking for golden brown color on each floret.

6.  Take it out, let them cool for about 5 minutes.
7. Take into a mixing jar and grind it with a cup of water until a smooth paste is formed.
8. Now to heat it up again, put it in a pan. Add salt,pepper to taste. Add more water according to the consistency you like. Let it come to a boil after adding water.

9. Server hot with bread/soup sticks or top with clarified butter or plain butter.