‘Meat Lovers’ Beef Steak Meal

I love meat, full-stop! Yes, I love meat and I have no qualms, whatsoever, in admitting that. Its not that I don’t like vegetables, but given an option, there’s a strong (read 99.9%) chance  that I’d opt for meat over vegetables. That’s just how I am and no one can do much about it. Although, with my husband’s efforts and out of sheer laziness, I actually got to taste some veggies like egg plant, for the first time in my life and honestly speaking, I actually liked them.

Having said all that, lets get back to, yes, you guessed it right, MEAT! When it comes to steak, my preference is beef all the way. Many restaurants do serve chicken steak, and even I have made chicken steaks at home a number of times (mostly because one, its easier to find boneless chicken breasts, and secondly, chicken requires much less time for marinating than beef does), however, my strong preference still is beef steak.

After some research on the history of steaks, I came to know that Steak is primarily an American dish (I wonder why I always related steaks to Italians!), which dates back to the 1880s. For those who are more interested in the recipe rather than the history of steaks, I’d skip the details, and those who actually want to learn about steaks, here’s the link.

When I go to a restaurant for steaks and look at the menu, the first thing that boggles my mind is selecting the type of meat that I want for my steak. Steaks can be made from a number of types of meat, which very in their cuts. The common types of meat are: Filet mignon, Rib eye, Sirloin, T-bone, and many more. Most of the time, the servers at restaurant suggest Sirloin since that is a very tender meat and since we desis prefer well-cooked, tender meat, that is a good choice for us. And again, I like my steak well-done, since medium or rare-done are too tough/ pinkish for my taste!

Ok, I’ll stop babbling now and get on with the recipe. The recipe that I am sharing is my cousin’s who after trying a few recipes, settled on this one, which is basically a mixture of 2-3 recipes. And when I tried it, I had to admit that it sure is a perfect recipe!

The steak tastes very delicious as it is, thanks to the perfect marinating, but when served with brown mushroom sauce, the taste increases manifold.  To complete this scrumptious meal, add garlic breads, some sautéed vegetables and not to forget caramelized onions, which is really simple to make yet tastes divine.  Other add-ons can be mashed potatoes, baked potatoes or fries, depending on your preference.

So, finally, here’s the recipe for a complete steaks meal. Serve it with mint lemonade or any other drink of your choice and collect accolades!

Ingredients:

Steak

2 beef or chicken fillets

1 tbsp + 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp vinegar

½ tbsp ginger garlic paste

½ tsp mustard powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp crushed red chilies

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt as needed

Mushroom Sauce

1 tbsp flour

1 cup water

Mushrooms as needed

Caramelized Onions

1 medium onion sliced

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp black pepper

Salt as needed

1 tbsp brown sugar or honey (optional)

Sautéed Vegetables

1 medium potato

2 medium carrots

½ cup peas

1 small capsicum

½ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp sugar

½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

Garlic Bread

3 bread slices (bran or white)

3-4 tbsp butter (room temperature)

2-3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)

¼ tsp oregano

¼ tsp paprika/ crushed red chilies

Method

Steak

• Mix all the ingredients mentioned above (except 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce) and prepare the marinade.
• Pour this marinade over the meat and coat well on both sides.
• Marinate for around 5-6 hours for beef and 2-3 hours for chicken.
• Heat the grill pan well and put the meat in it along with the marinade.
• When one side is dark brown (or whatever color is desired), pour 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce each, on top of  the meat and then turn them.
• When the other side is also brown and the steak is well cooked and tender, pour half cup plain water in the pan.
• Mix flour in the remaining ½ cup water and also add that.
• Stir it well with a spoon or spatula to avoid lumps; add mushrooms.
• Once the sauce is thick and bubbling, take off the steaks from the pan and pour the sauce over it.
  
  

Caramelized Onions

• Heat oil in pan.
• Add onions in it.
• Also add salt, pepper, and sauce.
• If sweet taste is required, add honey or brown sugar.
• Sauté it for few minutes till the onion gets a bit soft and take off the pan.
  
  

Sautéed Vegetables

• Cut potato, carrots and capsicums in cubes.
• Boil potato, carrots and peas.
• Heat oil.
• Add capsicum and fry for a few minutes.
• Then add the remaining vegetables.
• Add seasoning and sauté for 5-10 minutes.
  
  

 Garlic Bread

• Mix butter, garlic, oregano and paprika with a fork to form a paste.
• Spread on bread slices.
• Cut in as many pieces as desired.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 150C for approximately 10-15 minutes or till the bottom gets light brown and the sides feel crispy on touching.
• If desired, switch on the top grill to give slight color on the top.
• Serve steaks with garlic bread, sautéed vegetables and caramelized onions on a platter.
  
  
  

Tips:

• Marinating beef overnight will give even better results.
• Non-stick pans do not need additional oil for cooking steaks. However, if the steak is sticking, you can pour little oil.
• Any vegetables can be used as per your taste.
• French loaf cut in pieces can also be used to make (authentic) garlic bread.
• Do not over-bake the bread or it will become too crispy.
• Using a red-hot sizzler for serving steaks will give it ‘restaurant touch’ with the ‘sizzling’ sound.
• If desired, mushroom sauce can be prepared/ served separately. Once the meat is cooked, take it off the grill pan, prepare the sauce as per instructions and serve in a small bowl on the platter.

Butter Cookies

My love for baking goes way back, in fact, I can’t even recall when I baked first! Initially I tried recipes of friends/ family or from TV shows.  But whenever I tried my hands on any sort of cookies or biscuits recipes, the result was never perfect and with time, I stopped trying biscuit recipes after many failed attempts.

A few months back, I saw butter cookies recipe on my favorite blog and when I went through it, the recipe looked quite simple. And since I truly trust the recipes of this blog (which belongs to my mentor of baking!), I instantly decided to try the butter cookies recipe. As expected, the result was perfect.

The best part about these cookies is that they can be served and decorated in a number of ways. If you want to keep it simple, you can leave them as it is or simply brush it with egg yolks and sprinkle chopped nuts of your choice or granulated sugar on top. Another option can be making sandwich cookies filled with chocolate ganache or your favorite jam; the possibilities are infinite!

For a more sophisticated look, these cookies can be coated with royal icing in a number of ways. Recently I tried my butter cookies with royal icing and the result was amazing.

Preparing and decorating with royal icing, however, is a lengthy process and requires detailed explanation, which I shall cover soon in some other blog post. For now, I am posting just the cookies recipe, which I have taken as it is from bake fresh. Enjoy!

Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

Flour 1 ½ cup

Castor Sugar 6 tbsp

Vanilla Essence ½ tsp

Butter 4 tbsp

Egg 1

Method:

• Beat butter (at room temperature) and sugar until well combined.
• Add in vanilla and beat until creamy.
• Add in egg and beat well.
• Add in sifted flour and mix with hands just enough to form a uniform ball.
• Rest for 10 minutes.
• Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut with cookie cutter in desired shape; place on an ungreased tray.
• Bake in preheated oven at 190C (no.5) for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
  
  

Tips:

• If the dough is too sticky to bind, add little more flour to make it bind well.
• If your oven bakes unevenly at different places, its advisable to rotate the tray once half the baking time has elapsed; this ensures that all the cookies will be baked evenly.
• To check if the cookies are done, lift with a spatula or knife while still in oven and if the base is golden brown, the cookies are ready.
• After taking out from the oven, rest for 10-15 minutes before lifting from the tray; the cookies are soft when hot and may break.
• Once completely cooled, store the cookies in an airtight jar or container.
  
  

  

  Butter Cookies with Royal Icing

Strawberry Almond Foldovers

First of all Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim followers. Eid has passed away more than a week back but its still the month of Eid, so better late than never. 

Eid in Dubai this year was a lot of fun for me. Now that we have a bigger social circle here, we got to meet lots of people over Eid. Eid morning started with Eid prayers after which, a One-dish Eid breakfast was organized at a friend's place in my apartment building. All the Pakistani families in our building were invited and each one of us took one dish each to the party. The menu was traditional and scrumptious and meeting everyone made it even more special. Rest of the day was also spent visiting guests and the next day, in entertaining guests. All in all, it was a good festive ocassion.

Now to the recipe; I tried out this recipe in Ramzan for an Iftar party at my place. I really wanted to share it then but couldn't take out time to write. Now that Ramzan is over and so is the festivity of Eid, here I am sharing this unique recipe with you all.

 
Usually the snacks that are prepared for Iftar are savory. When I saw this recipe on a cooking show, I immediately decided to try it out for the Iftar party since it was a lightly sweetened snack and since it involved baking, I just had to try it.

Strawberry Almond Foldovers is an interesting recipe, just as its name suggests, in that the dough of these foldovers is salty while the filling is sweet, hence resulting in a perfect combination of sweet and salty. The dough is also quite different than the others that I have tried since it has cream cheese in it. When baked, the cream cheese gives the foldovers a unique smell, which reminds one of bakery items.

This recipe serves as a perfect compliment with a cup of tea or coffee and can be baked and stored in airtight containers. Also, for people with diabetes, this can be a good recipe as the dough of these foldovers is salty and the strawberry jam filling can be replaced with sugar-free jams that are easily available in markets.

Try out this one and I guarantee you that you will give it a permanent place in your list of hi-tea items. Oh and one last thing, I have adapted this recipe from Shireen Anwar's program Masala Mornings. Enjoy!

Strawberry Almond Foldovers

Ingredients:

Flour 2 cups
Cream cheese (spreadable) 200 gms
Butter 200 gms
Vanilla essence 1/2 tsp
Strawberry jam 8-10 tbsp
Flaked almonds as needed
Egg white (beaten) 1
Sugar (granulated) for sprinkle

Method:

• In a mixing bowl, add butter, cream cheese, flour & essence and beat on low speed (for 2-3 minutes) till the dough resembles bread crumbs; do not over-beat.
• Mix with hands till the dough is smooth; if it is too soft, add little flour.
• Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Lightly flour a clean surface and roll the dough about 1/4 inch thick.
• Cut rounds with a cookie cutter.
• Put approx. 1 tsp jam in the center and fold to form a semi-circle.
• Brush with egg white on top, put almond flakes and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
• Bake at 190C for 15 minutes or till golden brown.

Tips:
 

• If the dough is too soft to roll, add flour and roll again.
• Do not fill too much jam in the center; otherwise it may leak out during baking.
• Mash the jam if has fruit chunks in it.
• Different jam flavors can be used for variation.
• Colored sugar can be used for decoration.

Treat for the Holy Month… Bread Rolls!

Its that time of the year again; the most holy of all months, Ramzan is here. We all should feel lucky that we have been blessed with  another Ramzan in our lives.  This is a chance for all of us to pray as much as possible during this holy month, repent for our sins and to gain Allah’s love and likeness. Any ibaadat done in this month has many times return as compared to other months and hence is a chance for us to reap maximum benefits and gather Allah’s blessings. May Allah accept our fasts and our prayers (Ameen).

Now lets come to food! With Ramzan comes the  ritual of trying out new and unique recipes. After a whole day of fast with no food and drink, everyone wants to enjoy  good food. You may hear a lot of people advising to cut down on the fried stuff/ snacks and to instead have food that is high in energy, nonetheless, for me,  iftar seems incomplete without snacks. Its ok to enjoy such food once in a while, if not daily, during the whole month; hence here I am sharing this recipe with all my readers.

It is difficult to take out time in Ramzan for blogging, but I have been desperately wanting to share this recipe and just one request by a good old friend of mine, to share recipes for Ramzan, and here I am doing just that!

As for the recipe, I learned it from my dear eldest sister, who in turn learned it from a cousin of ours. I loved having these rolls when my sister used to make them and once she got married, I tried and started making them myself. After getting married myself, every tea/ dinner party I host, I almost always make these rolls and (please don't mind my immodesty!) there haven’t been a single incident that this recipe wasn’t appreciated and people hadn’t asked me for its recipe!

These rolls have 5 basic ingredients, apart from seasonings and are quite simple to make. Yet, the taste is really unique and delicious.  And for all the diet-conscious friends out there, let me mention that these rolls are quite healthy since unlike most rolls, they require very little oil for frying and are not deep fried.

These rolls store well in refrigerator up to a week. They taste scrumptious as it is, but serving with chili garlic sauce or coleslaw, doubles the taste. Do give it a try and let me know if you agree with me or not. :)

A quick note, I am sharing a few pictures from an Iftar party at my home last year. Hope you all enjoy them.

Bread Rolls

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken fillet 200 gms

Potato (medium-sized) boiled 1

Egg boiled 1

Butter 50 gms

Bread slices (fresh) 12-14

Black pepper 1 tsp

Chinese salt 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Egg beaten (for coating) 1

Bread crumbs as needed

Oil for frying

Method:

• Boil chicken, potato and egg.
• Shred chicken; mash egg and potato and mix all.
• Add seasonings and butter and mix well to form filling.
• Cut the corner of bread slice and moisten it with water (enough for it to be rolled easily).
• Put the filling in the center of the slice (along the length of the slice), cover from both ends of the slice and press with hands to seal. The slice with stick due to the moisture and will take the shape of roll.
• Dip the roll in beaten egg, coat with crumbs and shallow fry till golden brown.
• Serve hot with coleslaw or chili garlic sauce.

Tips:

• Always use fresh bread for these rolls; using bread taken out from refrigerator will result in breaking of the bread when trying to roll.
• For added taste (and look), add sesame seeds to the bread crumbs used for coating.
• To store the rolls, keep them in a container and cover with a clean, moist cloth so that the rolls stay fresh and moist; refrigerate the container.

Fresh Cream Pineapple Cake

There was a time when the only cakes available in most bakeries in Karachi were fresh cream cakes including pineapple cakes and black forest cakes. Be it anyone’s birthday, the occasion of Eid, or congratulating someone on their success in any field, the most popular choice were these cakes.

Later on, with the opening of some modern bakeries, the popularity of these cakes started diminishing and these were replaced by chocolate mousse cakes, chocolate fudge cakes, coffee cakes, tiramisu cakes, and many other such varieties. This was a welcome change since everyone was tired of having the same old fresh cream cake. Even my family shifted to these new variety of cakes and the fresh cream cakes were forgotten.

And then one fine day, when I was chatting with my husband over chocolate fudge cake and a cup of tea, I asked him which cake was his favorite. He said that he loves those really moist cakes, covered with cream. And that’s when I decided that I have to try fresh cream cake for him.

I started searching for a recipe for the cake. During my search I came across a perfect recipe from none other than my dear cousin who’s settled in Melbourne. She has been making these cakes for along time since her husband also loves fresh cream cakes. She thoroughly explained me the recipe step-by-step and apart from a few hitches the recipe turned out excellent.

And the next thing I knew, I even got an order for pineapple cake from a neighbor of mine for another neighbor’s surprise birthday party. All the guests absolutely loved the cake and by the grace of Allah, I got another order for the cake there and then.

The pictures that I am posting with this blog are from last Friday (also included are a few pictures from my first two attempts of the cake, which I made for order) when I made the same pineapple cake for a dinner party at my place. This time, I even got to try out all my newly learned cake decoration techniques, which added further beauty to the already delicious tasting cake.

When my guests saw the cake, it took them a while to believe that it was homemade and after tasting it, everyone told me that it tasted divine. As for my husband, he said and I quote: “After eating this homemade fresh cream cake, I am forced to believe that so far, all such cakes that I have eaten, haven’t been fresh at all!’ He absolutely loved the moist sponge and the thick cream layers in the cake along with pineapple chunks.

To sum it up, I think I’ll be making many more fresh cream cakes in the near future to satisfy my husband’s and my own sweet tooth!

Pineapple Cake

Ingredients:

Sponge
Eggs 3

Castor sugar 3/4 cup

Flour 1 cup – 2 tbsp

Corn flour 2 tbsp heaped

Baking powder 1 1/2 tsp

Vanilla Essence 1/2 tsp

Water 2 tbsp

Icing

Fresh cream 500-600 gms

Icing sugar 5-6 tbsp

Pineapple chunks

Pineapple syrup

Cherries

Method:

Sponge

• Preheat oven at 180C.
• Grease an 8 inch pan with butter and coat with flour; remove excess flour.
• Out of 1 cup flour, take out 2 tbsp and replace it with 2 heaped tbsp corn flour.
• Sieve flour, add baking powder in it and mix with spoon.
• In two separate clean bowls, separate egg whites and yolks carefully without dripping yolks in the whites.
• First beat egg whites on high speed till soft peaks are formed.
• Add sugar and beat again till hard peaks are formed (total beating time approximately 15-20 minutes).
• In another bowl, beat yolks till it changes color to light yellow (approx. 6-8 minutes).

• Add essence and water and beat again.
• In whites, add yolks mixture and fold gently with spoon in clockwise direction.
• Slowly add flour in 3 parts and again fold with very soft hands in clockwise direction; do not over mix the batter or it will deflate.
• Pour in prepared pan and smoothen the top with a spatula or spoon.
• Bake at 180C for around 20-25 minutes till the cake leaves the sides of the pan.
• Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Cool the cake completely before frosting.
• Cut in three equal layers with a leveler or sharp knife.
• On cake plate, put the first layer (topside down) and pour pineapple juice, specially around the edges; apply prepared cream (method given below) and arrange pineapple chunks on top.
• Put the second layer (topside down) and repeat the above step.
• Put the third layer, pour syrup and apply cream on top and on sides, covering completely; level with a spatula.
• Decorate with pipin bag, pineapple chunks and cherries or as desired.
• Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours and serve chilled.

Icing

• Chill the bowl for beating.
• Place the bowl on top of a bigger bowl filled with ice cubes.
• Add chilled cream and sugar and beat on high speed till hard peaks are formed (approx. 20-25 minutes).
  
  

Tips:

• Do not drip egg yolks in whites or else, the cake will not be spongy. Its easier to separate eggs when they are cold.
• Egg whites should be beaten till hard peaks are formed; if the bowl is inverted, the whites should not fall.
• Folding should be done with very light hands and in clockwise direction to avoid batter from deflating.
• Sponge should be completely cooled (and preferably chilled) before filling and frosting.
• Use chilled cream for better results; if the cream gets loose while icing, beat it again to make it stiff.

My first two attempts of Pineapple Cake, both made for order.

Vanilla Tea Cake… the name says it all!

Week before the last, my father-in-law (who is settled in Karachi, Pakistan) called us up and said that he is coming to our place (Dubai, UAE) for a short trip of 5 days. We were both excited and started planning for his trip. But as always, the very first thing that came to my mind was (you guessed it right!!) ‘food’!! And for me, with food comes baking. Since I knew that Papa avoids creamy/ fatty stuff and that he prefers desserts, which are lighter, I decided to make a plain vanilla cake for him.

Before I dwell on more about the cake, I want to talk about one thing, which is a little out of context; whenever I bake cakes or am about to bake, my husband and me often argue over the size of the cake. Since its just the two of us living here, he wants me to bake really small cakes, something, which can be finished by us and not thrown away after reaching its expiry date. And somehow, I always end up making a minimum 8 inch cake, since i haven’t bought smaller cake pans! So, as I was saying, I planned to make a vanilla cake and since I knew that we’ll argue once again on whether to make a big or a small cake, I suddenly thought of an idea.

I had a few aluminum foil containers in my kitchen cabinet which I normally use for storing food, or for sharing food with neighbors. So I took out one medium sized container and decided to bake the cake in that! The foil container reminded me of the ‘plain cake’ (as it is usually referred to in Pakistan, or at least in my family, and is used extensively, either of the plain variety or the one with dry fruits, etc) that my Mom always used to get from the nearby bakery, to be served as refreshment in case some surprise guests came, or for that matter, to be used in fruit trifle’s layering. I suddenly had a nostalgic feeling about my family back in Karachi, my old house and the nearby bakery’s ‘plain cake’ and that got me further excited about baking in foil container.

Now, for the recipe, since I had to make a smaller cake, I decided to use the recipe of ‘Classic Yellow Cake’, which I have borrowed from my mentor Nadia’s blog and which, I normally use for making cupcakes. The only change I did to the recipe was adding yellow food color to the prepared batter and mixing it. This step I did only to make my cake look as close as the ‘bakery wala’ cake, and to my utter delight, it looked almost exactly like that!

As for the taste, it even tasted exactly like my childhood cake. The cake was light, soft, and very delicious and in the words of Papa, and I quote, “If you hadn’t mentioned that you have baked it at home, I would have certainly thought it was from some bakery.’ His compliment made me all the more excited and jubilant.

This cake serves as a perfect compliment with tea, to be used in trifles, or even to be served with chocolate ice cream and whipped cream (something which I tried, and was a hit with everyone). It stores well up to a week in a cooler kitchen, but if its hot, you can always store it in fridge and take out from the fridge 15-20 minutes before serving to bring it to room temperature. 

Do give this easy recipe a try and give me your feedback. I shall wait for your comments.

Vanilla Tea Cake

Ingredients:

Flour 1 cup
Baking Powder ¾ tsp
Salt 1/8 tsp
Milk ½ cup
Butter 1/3 cup
Castor Sugar ½ cup + 1 tbsp
Vanilla Essence ½ tsp
Egg 1

Method:

• Preheat oven at 190C (no. 5) and prepare a foil/ pan by greasing it.
• Beat butter till fluffy.
• Add sugar until well combined and creamy.
• Add in essence and beat; add in egg and beat well. 
• Sieve flour, salt and baking powder.
• Add in sifted flour alternately with milk while beating.
• Also add food color and beat.
• Pour the batter in the prepared pan.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Healthy times call for ‘Chicken Shashlik’!

I’m sure many people keep wondering the same question as I do: “Why is every unhealthy food so delicious while most of the healthy food isn’t?” In search of an answer to this question and well, more importantly, to try and curb our unhealthy eating habits, I started looking for recipes on the World Wide Web, which were healthy yet had enough taste to not let me give up the ‘healthy eating routine’ ( and no, we are not dieting; we are just avoiding bad carbs and bad fats!!).

During the time when I was doing my research for healthy recipes, I saw a program on a food channel where the Chef was making Chicken Shashlik. The recipe really got me excited and after watching it till the end, I realized that the recipe is really quite healthy yet it tastes delicious. It is high in protein contents (chicken) and also includes vegetables which makes it all the more healthy. And the fact that it is grilled means that it has very little fat in the form of oil.

So well, I embarked on the journey to find the perfect recipe for dry Chicken Shashlik, and after 2 online written recipes and 3 video recipes down, I finally found the perfect one, which was not only grilled on skewers but also had an accompanied BBQ sauce to avoid the recipe being too dry.

Here I am, sharing Shireen Anwar’s (of Masala Morning fame) recipe of Chicken Shashlik with BBQ sauce. The original recipe is served with boiled rice and BBQ sauce but as I mentioned earlier, I am avoiding carbs these days, so I served it just with sauce. Needless to say, it turned out to be delicious and was loved by both me and my husband. So go give a try to this guilt-free recipe and get appreciation.

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken 1/2 kg, cubed

Salt 1/2 tsp

Black pepper, crushed 1/2 tsp

Ketchup 2 tbsp

Worcestershire Sauce 2 tbsp

Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp

Chili powder 1/2 tsp

Capsicum 2

Onion 2

Tomato 2

Olive oil 1 tbsp

For BBQ Sauce

Tomato paste 4 tbsp

Ketchup 4 tbsp

Vinegar 4 tbsp

Garlic paste 1  tsp

Salt 1 tsp

Sugar 1 tsp

Chili powder 1/2 tsp

Method:

Chicken

• Cut chicken into cubes.
• Marinate it with salt, pepper, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, ginger-garlic paste and chili powder for 30 minutes.
• Cut capsicum into half and de-seed. Cut into cubes of the same size as chicken.
• Cut onion into quarters (i.e, cut it in the shape of ‘plus’ sign); separate the layers.
• Cut tomato into half, de-seed and cut into small pieces of the same size as chicken/ capsicum.
• Heat grill pan with 1 tbsp oil.
• In skewer, first put onion, then closely put chicken, then tomato, and then capsicum; repeat till the skewer is filled.
• Put in grill pan and after 5 minutes, brush BBQ sauce on it.
• When one side is done, turn and brush BBQ sauce on the other side also.
• Once the chicken is cooked and the veggies are soft, take off from the pan.
• For dry shashlik, in a serving platter, take out boiled rice and put skewers on top.
• If gravy is needed, put the remaining BBQ sauce with 2-3 tbsp water in grill pan and let it boil.
• Pour on top of the skewers or serve separately in a bowl.
  
  
  

BBQ Sauce

• In a bowl, mix together garlic paste, tomato paste, ketchup, vinegar, salt, sugar and chili powder.

Tips

• Wooden skewers can also be used in place of shashlik skewers.
• In place of grill pan, normal frying pan can also be used; chicken shashlik can alternatively be baked with 1 tbsp oil.
• Chicken and vegetables can be arranged in any order; however, if chicken is placed next to tomato, the chicken cooks faster.
• Ready-made BBQ sauce can also be used.

Fruit Trifle… a Classic with a Twist!

This blog is specially for a young friend of mine who I have recently met on Facebook. She is highly inspired by the food photographs that I regularly post on Facebook as well as by my recent blogs. She specially requested me to post some unique yet easy recipes for young teenage girls, to develop their interest in cooking. So this recipe of ‘Fruit Trifle’ is dedicated to all the teenagers out there who get inspired by food blogs and photography and would like to start off with simple recipes.

Now, coming to the recipe, a lot of people might be wondering, Fruit Trifle… what’s the big deal with that!? This recipe is something that we have seen being made in our homes for a long time by Moms and sisters, not to forget, it’s also a very common dessert at a lot of Pakistani weddings. My recipe uses almost all the same ingredients that are conventionally used in this recipe, however, the assembling is a little different, which gives it a very unique and delicious taste.

I used cake that I baked myself at home; you can use plain vanilla cake, which is conveniently available at bakeries everywhere, mostly in foils. Rest of the ingredients are pretty straight-forward and easy to find.

Its a tried and tested recipe and a must-try for all my young followers. The same basic idea coupled with your creativity can result in different looks for your recipe; the choices for decoration are unlimited! Do give it a try and let me know when people try out your dish and shower you with accolades for your creativity in cooking.

Ingredients:

Milk 1 liter

Custard Powder 5-6 tbsp (any flavor)
Sugar 5-6 tbsp
Plain cake 1 pack
Bananas 2-3
Mix fruits with syrup 1 medium can
Quick set jelly 1 packet (any flavor)
Whipped cream (for decoration)

 

Method:

• Dissolve custard powder in 1/2 cup milk.
• Boil the remaining milk.
• When the milk is near to boiling point, add sugar in it and mix.
• Slowly add custard powder mixture with one hand while mixing with a spoon to avoid lumps.
• Let it cook for 5-10 minutes till the custard is thick; if the consistency seems thin, add more custard mixture.
• Remove from stove and cool completely.
• Cut slices of cake and make a layer with it in the serving dish.
• Pour syrup from the canned fruit on top.
• Cut bananas in slices; make a layer with bananas and canned fruits.
• Pour half custard on top.
• Make another layer with cake, syrup and then fruits.
• Keep in refrigerator to chill.
• Prepare one pack of quick set jelly according to packet instructions.
• Remove from stove and mix vigorously with spoon to cool it a little (but avoid letting it set).
• Pour on top of the custard to form a thick transparent layer.
• Refrigerate till the jelly is completely set.
• Decorate with whipped cream using pipin bag, sprinkle colored sugar balls.
• Serve chilled.

Tips:

• Custard should be thick consistency for the trifle to set properly.
• Custard should be chilled completely before pouring jelly on it.
• Whipped cream can be prepared at home or used from a can.
• Other items that can be used for decoration are chocolate sprinkles, chocolate shavings, cherries, and many more.

Very Berry Starwberry Muffins

Its a tale of Valentines Day this year. My husband isn’t a big fan of celebrating such ‘western’ events and hence the day passed pretty much like any other day, except that I was really bored that day since I didn’t have any cooking or any other chore to do. So I thought of going through some recipes online. Suddenly it hit me that my husband had vaguely hinted a few times that I don’t make any dessert with strawberries, strawberry being his most favorite fruit.

So, well, I started searching and I came across this recipe video of strawberry muffins by Chef Rahat. The recipe seemed quite interesting as it used fresh strawberry chunks and the final look of the muffins was so tempting that I decided to try it the next day. And so I did, and the result was amazing. It looked truly like muffins (unlike some recipes where the muffins end up looking more like cupcakes!) and tasted really delicious specially because of the soft strawberry chunks.

And since, I had made this dessert specially for my husband, I decided to make it special for him. So I made a special dinner including chicken tempura with dip, chicken boneless handi, and parathas for dinner. Keeping in mind the Valentines Day that had just passed, I decided to do a red theme. I decorated the lounge with tiny candles surrounding the muffins, dressed up in my best red attire (including red clip in my hair and red sandals!!), and totally took my husband by surprise when he got back from office. Needless to say, he loved the muffins and absolutely enjoyed having it.

All in all, it was a very special evening and since then, this recipe holds a special place in my heart. I have tried it many times after that, and the result is always perfect. Now enjoy the recipe and do leave your comments if you try it out.

Ingredients:

Strawberries 1 ½ cups (cut in chunks)
Flour 3 cups
Butter 125 gm (melted)
Baking Powder 1 tbsp
Castor Sugar ½ cup
Brown Sugar ½ cup
Eggs 3
Milk 1 cup (approx.)

 


Method:

• Preheat oven to 200 C.
• Grease muffin tray/ muffin cups.
• In flour, add baking powder and both sugars and mix with spoon.
• Beat eggs and add to the batter.
• Melt butter and add to the batter.
• Add milk (3/4 cups initially) and mix well with spoon. If the batter seems too hard, add more milk as required.
• Also add the chunks of strawberries and mix well with spoon.
• Fill 3/4 of muffin tray/ cups with batter leaving space at top for rising.
• Bake at 200 C (425 F) or gas mark 6 for 15-20 minutes.
• Decorate with whipped cream or icing sugar.
• Makes approximately 20-22 muffins.

Welcome Note served with Rich Brownies

Greetings to all who are visiting my blog. :) Before I start with the recipe, let me give a little background on how I started baking. If you have read the ‘About Me’ section on the left, I would like to add that in addition to realizing my talent for writing, I also discovered my passion for baking once I moved to UAE. I have been baking for a long time, mostly trying out recipes seen on TV. And as it is with baking (or in fact, with any other skill) with time, I kept getting better at it, and that combined with the tremendous appreciation I always received from family and friends, kept me motivated to try out new and different recipes.

Another very important factor that inspired my love for baking and that was the baking efforts of a very dear friend, who started her own baking blog with some very easy (not to forget tried & tested) yet delicious recipes, explained in a very detailed and easy-to-understand manner. This blog opened a whole new world of baking for me, with some very interesting recipes and an even interesting story behind each recipe, written in a beautiful manner. Here I would like to mention two more people who have been big inspirations to me; one is my dearest cousin who is also an amazing baker and I have also tried a lot of her recipes with amazing results, and second is a good friend of mine who has recently started baking professionally from home. So lots and lots of gratitude for all three of you for being such big inspirations to me. I dedicate this blog to all three of you.

Ok, enough talking, lets get to the real purpose of this blog. I recently made brownies for a dinner party at my place, and as always, posted pictures of it on my facebook group. I got an overwhelming response for the pictures and a lot of people requested its recipe. So, this recipe is for all of you.

Now a little about the recipe. I have adopted this recipe from a cooking show by Farah Jehanzeb. I tried this recipe first time 3-4 years back and instantly fell in love with it. And when my young niece and nephew demanded that they want some more, I felt really happy. Over the years, I have tried this recipe repeatedly and every time it turns out perfect. The thing that I like best about this recipe is that instead of cocoa powder, it uses melted chocolate, which gives it a very moist texture (unlike that of dry, cake-like brownies that are sold at some bakeries!), and the better the quality of chocolate, the better and rich is the taste of brownies. They taste great both alone or served with ice cream. This is a tried and tested recipe, so feel confident in trying it out. I hope it turns out as good as mine. I will be looking forward to the feedback.

Brownies

Ingredients:

Castor Sugar 100 gm

Eggs 3

Butter 50 gm

Baking Chocolate (good quality) 200 gm

Cream (fresh or canned) 100 ml

Flour 75 gm

Baking Powder 1/2 tsp

Essence 1/2 tsp

Salt 1 pinch

Walnuts (optional)

Cocoa powder (for sprinkle)

Chocolate Sauce

(Adapted from Bakefresh)

Cocoa Powder 3 tbsp

Icing Sugar 6tbsp

Butter 1 tsp

Milk 2-3 tbsp

Method:

Batter

1. In a double boiler (a smaller pan, placed inside a larger pan holding water), add butter and chocolate and let them melt on medium flame.
2. In another pan, beat eggs till fluffy.
3. Add sugar and essence and beat again.
4. In a separate pan, sieve baking powder and flour.
5. Once, the chocolate is melted, remove it from stove and add cream to it and mix well with a whisk, till the two are combined well.
6. Add this chocolate mixture in the egg mixture and beat will mixed.
7. Also add the dry mixture and salt, and beat till everything is combined.
8. If desired, add crushed walnuts.
9. Pour mixture in an 8 inch square (or brownies) pan lined with wax paper.
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 180C or till a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies comes out clean.
11. Top with chocolate sauce and walnuts or dust with chocolate powder or icing sugar and cut into neat squares of desired size.

Chocolate Sauce

1. Mix all well and cook on low flame for a little while until its sauce like.