Mango Creme Brûlée

Mango Creme Brûlée

In the midst of everything that has been going around in the world, my focus lately has been to concentrate on the positives around me. Celebrate every little win, or small milestones in our life. 

My daughter turned 6 months old last week, and I wanted to make something sweet to make this occasion. 

With Ramadan going on, and keeping our socializing to a minimum, we couldn't share this occasion with many of our close family and friends, but I still wanted it to be a little celebratory. Hence, came the idea for Mango Creme Brûlée. We had a half birthday dessert, and also gave her a little taste of it. And by the looks of it, she seems to like Mango too, much like her parents. 

Makes 6 servings (ramekins) 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream 
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk (can be substituted with regular milk, or half and half)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup mango pulp ( I usually buy the canned alphonso mango pulp)
• 1/3 cup sugar, some more for topping

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 325 degree Fahrenheit 
2. Mix the egg yolks and sugar and keep aside. I used 1/3 cup sugar only, since my mango pulp was sweetened as well. If making Vanilla creme brûlée, increase the sugar quantity to 1/2 cup
3. In a heavy bottom pan, heat the cream, milk and salt on medium heat. As soon as it begins to simmer, take it off the heat and mix in the vanilla extract
4. Now add 1/2 cup of the cream to the egg mixture. Ensure to whisk the egg yolks in a slow and steady stream, to avoid scrambling of the eggs
5. Now pour the remaining cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, still stirring slowly but continuously to avoid scrambling
6. Place the ramekins in a large baking pan. Divide the custard mixture evenly, filling to the top
7.  Carefully fill the pan with enough hot water to reach half-way through the ramekins
8. Bake until the edges are set and centers are a little shaky. The time usually depends on the depth of the ramekins. For my 1-inch ramekins, it takes about 30 minutes. But since I decided to use 1 large glass dish, I baked the custard for 40 mins.
9. Remove once done, and cool it for about an hour before refrigerating. 
10.  I'd suggest refrigerating for at least about 4 hours or more before starting on sugar topping
11. Using about 1/4 tsp of sugar for a ramekin, sprinkle an even layer of sugar on the ramekin. 
12. Broil for about 10 mins in an oven or use a kitchen torch to caramelize. 

Notes & Tips:

• We prefer to enjoy the creme brûlée without the caramelized sugar layer, hence you can see I skipped that step in the picture. Traditional creme brûlée does have a caramelized layer, that is very easy to create. 
• You can substitute the evaporated milk with heavy cream as well, that will just make the creme brûlée a little denser. This is just a preference on how dense you like your custard
• I have noticed that my creme brûlée stays perfectly fresh and tasty for upto 3 days in the refrigerator. So can definitely be one of those make-ahead desserts. 
• For the water bath, make sure the water level is low enough so that any bubbling doesn't spill into the ramekins

I hope you guys give this easy and yummy dessert a try in your kitchen as well. Also, to make the desert look a little festive, I printed and cut out a 1/2 sign on card stock and placed it on my creme brûlée along with a happy birthday sign. And decorated with sliced strawberry. 

Keep safe dear friends and until then, Live, Love, Laugh and Eat.. Oh Yes, EAT! 

Honey Garlic Chicken Skewers

Honey Garlic Chicken Skewers - appetizer 

Honey Garlic Chicken Skewers, the recipe is pretty much in its name. The main ingredients are honey, garlic and chicken. Honey garlic chicken skewers have been served as appetizers as well as main course in our house. It's quick and versatile. Throw it in to make a quick appetizer or serve it with a side of asian sesame salad to make it a low carb dinner. Definitely a quick weeknight dinner for the hubby and me. 

I try a few variations in the recipe, like changing up the honey with honey bbq sauce. Or throwing in a splash of sesame oil if I have it in store. If you don't have Worcestershire sauce, you could ALSO substitute it with the same amount of soy sauce. 

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast, cut into 1 inch strips
• 1/4 cup honey ( I sometimes substitute this with honey bbq sauce as well)
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tbsp soya sauce (this is the same as soy sauce :P)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp chilli garlic paste 
• 1 tsp cornstarch (or cornflour)
• 1 tsp sriracha mayo (optional)
• a pinch of sesame seeds 
• 2 stems of spring onions
• a pinch of salt (if necessary) 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients except chicken and cornstarch

   

   Chicken skewers in the oven

2. Add in cornstarch to achieve desired thickness. The mix should be thick but still runny, and not pasty-thick. 
3. Add the chicken to this mixture and marinate for at least 2 hours. Overnight, is also ok.
4. If using wooden skewers, make sure to soak the skewers in for about 30 mins to an hour.
5. Pre-heat oven to 350 F
6. Feed the chicken strips to the skewers and keep aside the remaining marinade for basting the chicken
7. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly grease the foil. 
8. Lay the chicken skewers on a baking sheet. 
9. Sprinkle sesame seeds and spring onions and cook for about 12 mins
10. Then flip the skewers, sprinkle sesame seeds and cook for another 12 mins.

Serve with a side of soy sauce as an appetizer or with a side of some asian salad as an entree. I hope you enjoy this recipe. With Ramadan just around the corner, this could also be a lovely iftaar option. Please feel free to comment any questions or suggestions you may have. Until then folks, Live, Love, Laugh and Eat.. Oh Yes, EAT! 

Honey Garlic Chicken Skewers - entree

Skillet Baked Chicken Legs

Skillet Baked Chicken Legs

I love dinners where I can just throw all my ingredients in one pan and let them take over from there. I'm constantly on the lookout for week-night wonders that don't take up much of my time, and this recipe is just that. It does take a total of about an hour, but I usually marinate the meat the night before. So, I just throw everything in the oven on the day off, and Voila!

Chicken legs are best flavored with the skin on them, but if you prefer without skin, like I do, that alternative works out perfectly yummy too! I usually ask my butcher to cut the chicken legs in two - drumstick and thighs, and also add a couple of slits to them. I feel like this helps settle in the marinade flavor in better.

So respecting the minimalism of the recipe, I will keep this post to a minimal as well, here goes my new fall favorite! I hope you love it just as much as I do.

Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

For the Marinade: 

• 4 Chicken Legs - cut in two, add 2 slit to each piece
• 1.5 tsp Garlic powder
• 1 tsp Pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp ground thyme (if using fresh thyme, add in skillet instead of marination)
• 1 tsp dried parsley (can be substituted with fresh Parsley)
• 1 tsp Mrs Dash seasoning 
• Sea Salt (ground coarsely) 
• 1 tsp grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

For the skillet:

• 1 medium size potato, chopped
• a few chopped leeks (can be substituted with sliced onions too)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 stem of rosemary leaves
• 1 tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Add chicken in a bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients for the marinade and toss well.
2. Cover the bowl and leave the marinated mix in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. I usually prefer leaving mine overnight.
3. Remove chicken from the refrigerator about 15 mins prior to cooking. 
4. Preheat oven to 375 F 
5. Heat a skillet over medium heat, add 1/2 tbsp butter, fresh cloves of garlic, can be sliced for further increasing the garlic flavor. Now add the chicken to the skillet. Add the potatoes, leeks and rosemary leaves in. Add in the remaining 1/2 tbsp butter from the sides of the skillet, so that it coats the chicken. 
6. Turn the chicken pieces after 3 mins if skinless, and 4 if with skin. Keep flipping a couple of times, waiting 3-4 minutes between each flip. 
7. Now add the chicken to the oven for 20 mins. Then flip the pieces and cook for another 20 mins. (A little longer on the time, if you are using whole legs)

I usually prefer to cook them in the skillet for a few minutes before I throw them in the oven. This helps add a crispy coating on the chicken. You can serve it with some chimichurri or some mint or coriander chutney. Simple, yet comforting!

A lovely low-carb meal that is so easy to prepare! Shout out in the comments below if you are going to give this weeknight wonder a go! Until then, Live, Love, Laugh and Eat.. Oh yes, Eat!

Chicken and Spinach Flautas

Chicken and Spinach Flautas

Over the Labor Day long weekend, some of our friends hosted an amazing Mexican fiesta potluck. I was in charge of bringing tortillas, and as always, I ended up buying too much. So at the end of the night, I had to carry my miscalculation back home with me.. and this gave my brain the new task of coming up with recipes that would help me finish up my tortillas. Luckily tortillas are so versatile. I ended up using them for wraps, made quesadillas, but another winner dinner that came out of it, was baked flautas.
I've also been good about prepping meals over the weekends and finishing them of on weekdays. And so I made the filling for the flautas before hand, and rolled and baked the evening of the dinner. This amazing recipe is also a under-30 min wonder that I can't wait to share with you all. Pair it with salsa & guac, and enjoy an amazing Mexican meal night. It is an amazing finger food idea, although, when made in abundance, it serves as a lovely quick week-night dinner dish as well.

Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless chicken
• 2 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 3 cups baby spinach
• Medium size tortillas (8 inches)
• 4 Cheese Mexican blend
• Butter
• Salsa (optional)
• Sour cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Boil chicken in 2 cups of water. Add bay leaf, cumin powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder, ginger garlic paste, paprika, thyme, and salt. Let it cook for about 15 mins. You can pork a fork in the chicken and check if it needs longer. If it does, add about 1/4 cup and let it cook for another 5 mins. 
2. Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred it. (Liquid remaining should be about 1/2 cup)
3. Add chopped jalapeños and spinach to the same broth and cook on low heat for about 2-3 mins or until spinach is wilted. Now add the shredded chicken to the mixture. 
4. Cut the tortillas in half. Apply butter on the outer side of the tortilla. 
5. Spoon the non-buttered side with about 1 tbsp of chicken mixture along the edge of the tortilla. Repeat with cheese. 
6. Roll the tortilla up, starting with the straight edge. Place seam-side down on a baking sheet.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 with remaining tortillas. 
8. Bake for 10 mins, then turn over and bake for another 10 mins or until crispy. Serve with salsa, guacamole or sour cream

As always, I hope you enjoy this quick wonder in your kitchen! Feel free to leave suggestions, comments or questions. Until then, Live, Love, Laugh and Eat! Oh yes, EAT!

Amsterdam Food Diaries

A month back, my husband and I had a short stay in Amsterdam. Like I do before any holiday, I started researching all the dos and don'ts for our visit. The best places to eat, the best views to capture, touristy hot-spots, local favorites, yep - a lot of research goes into our trips. So when I started looking further into Amsterdam, apart from their infamous red-light district, windmills, museums and canals, there were sooooo many blogs on all the must-try foods in Amsterdam. We tried to pack in as much as we could in our 3-day schedule, but definitely missed out on a few. I will link the blogs that I looked into for my research at the bottom as well, in case any of you guys would like to try out some of the stuff that we couldn't fit in. But I had to share all our food encounters with you all. Before we started planning for our trip, I did not realize what a big food haven Amsterdam was. From sweet treats to deep fried goodness, from breakfasts of champions to dining like a king, there was food galore! I will be sharing all the restaurants and foods we tried, but in addition, will list my top 3 and special treat, husband's top 3 recommendations as well.. Super excited about this one, because this is the first time the hubster has agreed to provide direct input to the blog. So without wasting much time, I will get right onto it.

Day 1 - 

Thai chicken skewers

Croquettes

We started our day by making a trip to Amsterdam Centraal. Reaching there like hungry bears, we made our way to the Loetje Centraal right opposite the station. Yeah, we might have even sniffed our way to the restaurant. But oh how surprised we were! Sitting by the canals right opposite the station, this was definitely a popular touristy spot. Luckily, for a table of two, we didn't have more than a 3 minute wait. It was also a find-your-own-table sorta restaurant, so the hustling New Yorker within us found our way pretty quickly. Service was slow, especially for such a busy location. We ordered the chicken satay skewers and croquettes. Although I read that the best Croquettes were found by the street vendors, I decided to start my first meal at a reputed restaurant. The croquettes did not disappoint!!!! The chicken skewers were lovely as well. All in all, I would say a lovely restaurant, amazingly located, good food, only complaint would be the service.

Once our stomachs were full, we went around the city, tried different cheeses at many of the local cheese shops, but an amazing local find that we both couldn't keep our hands off were their Stroopwafels! A stroopwafel is a waffle made from two thin laters of baked dough with a caramel syrup filling in the middle. This made up for our mid-day meal/all day snack/breakfast.. everything. 

Chicken Schnitzel

Dinner too ended up being right by Amsterdam Centraal (coz that was our drop-off point for the canal cruise, another MUST DO!!) and we headed to a restaurant called "Flame" which looked like a steakhouse. Husband got his share of steak and I ordered a Schnitzel which was basically a dutch version of fried and breaded chicken breast. Again, the restaurant did not disappoint and we left with happy and satisfied stomachs!

Day 2 -

Dutch pancake with cinnamon ice-cream and stroopwafels

Chicken with pineapple and cheese pancake

Day 2 started off with a local favorite, The Pancake Bakery. I heard so many people rave about the Dutch pancakes, we could not miss this visit as part of our trip. Again, we got a table here without much of a wait. They had seating right by the tiny sidewalks lining the canals and we found ourselves a cozy, quaint spot. Between the two of us, we decided to order a sweet and a savory pancake. We ordered the original Dutch Pancake, oozing with stroopwafels (yes, we didn't have enough already), cinnamon ice-cream, chocolate flakes and whipped cream.. again, whats there to go wrong with this one.. We were equally impressed with their savory pancake, we got the chicken, cheese and pineapple pancake. Their coffee was amazing too and came with a mini stroopwafel with it. YES, WE COULDNT GET ENOUGH OF THE STROOPWAFELS!

Chocolate coated waffle with custard and berries

During the day, we nibbled on Poffertjes, which are tiny fluffy dutch pancakes. They are spongy and reminded me of Madelines back home.  We also had a chocolate coated waffle, with berries and custard. Talk about living the good(junk) food life! These were lined at most local bakeries and are so inviting when you walk by. We finally decided to give in an tried some of those waffles with some local coffee and an ice-cream shake, another popular local sweet treat. The chocolate waffle however, did not end up to be as tempting or scrumptious as it looked. The waffle seemed stale, and the chocolate coating seemed too sweet, and all in all, it seemed like a dry stale waffle. This could be just our experience, or maybe a wrong pick, but it definitely fell off of our favorite list. 

Vlaamse Frites with spicy mayo

Another local delicacy I had to try on our trip were their cheesy fries, locally known as "Vlaamse frites". And these weren't like any cheesy fries I have ever tried before. They mean cheese when they serve you cheesy fries. We chose some spicy mayo to add to our cheesy fries, but the options were endless. They had a huge menu of seasonings and toppings to add to your fries. Generous portions, always fresh and steaming hot. It totally made sense why we saw a line waiting for the fries before we saw the actual signboard to the store! I cannot remember the exact name of the store we had these at.  But every Vlammse frites store we passed, and there were bazillions we passed, seemed to match up in appearance. But yes, please please please, forget the calories and indulge in this amazing local delicacy if you happen to visit Amsterdam. After gobbling up on this awesomeness, our stomachs were full, but our hearts weren't. We wanted to try more local foods, and ended up finishing off our day with Doner kabobs. This was another local street food that seemed to don the windows of many local vendors. There were tons and tons of halal doner kabob joints along the canals of Amsterdam. Before calling it a night on our foodventure-filled day, we indulged in some Doner kabobs. Now being from New York, we did have certain expectations from a Halal cart. But once again, this food haven city, did not disappoint. My husband and I returned back with our tummies and hearts satisfied! 

Day 3 -

Day 3 began with a mission for us. It was our last day in this city and we decided to end it in style! During the day, we headed to Zaanse Schans, a historic neighborhood close to Amsterdam. Mainly known for its well-preserved windmills and houses. We visited a local cafe here and had some delicious coffee and breakfast. Breakfast was mostly baked goods from the local bakery, which was basic, but scrumptious. Apart from visiting different windmills, that are still very well functioning, we wanted to get a taste of the local rustic village.

Risotto Nero

We decided to dine at a restaurant in Zaandam. Like we had previously decided, we wanted to sign off our trip with a luxurious yet local meal, and this landed us at Inntel Zaandam for our dinner. We opted for a 3 course meal each, that included appetizers such as a traditional "Huisman" mustard soup with Dutch shrimps and creme fraiche, crispy chicken in Duyvis nuts, concasse of Kumato tomato and local sambal. Our main courses included Grilled beef steak with sweet potato, fresh vegetables and béarnaise sauce and a Risotto Nero - black risotto with vongole, crayfish and poached egg. To finish off, desserts included Crème brûlée with apple, and 'Boerenjongens' ice cream and Macaron of red fruit, with raspberry sorbet and white chocolate mousse. They advertised that all their ingredients were locally grown and made with a pinch of Dutch love! 

Creme brûlée

Macaron of red fruit

Husband's top three - 

1. His number one is undeniably the Stroopwafels. Yeah, he was kinda obsessed. Not to say I wasn't. But he literally ate them at any hour of the day. 
2. Cheesy fries. I feel kinda sad, this one dropped to #2, but I understand. These choices are really really hard. Those Vlaaamse Frites are definitely worth every blocked artery calorie that it came with. Couldn't stop binging. Deep-fried-warm-delicious-goodness! I'm sure whoever thought of potatoes and cheese as a combination, is pure genius! 
3. My homeboy, being the total New Yorker that he is, fell for his Doner kabob. They were delish, greasy, and flavorful to say the least. He sure felt at home with this one. 

Special mention: Husband wanted to list Top Picks instead of top three, since he thinks narrowing it down to three was not fair.. and so we compromised on giving the Dutch pancakes a special mention! Sweet and savory, both ranked the same for him. But definitely another MUST TRY when in Amsterdam. 

My top three - 

1. My number one pick is undoubtably the Vlammse Frites. Died eating them, will be ok to die after eating them too.. a definite MUST MUST MUST try if you're ever in Amsterdam
2. The second favorite for me was the Mustard soup I had on our last day there. It was so light, so fresh and sooooo good! It had that local rustic feel and yet felt so elevated in flavors. Definitely, going to look up the recipe and try to recreate this one back home
3. The last one, is so hard to just pick one, but it would probably be the local pancakes. I find it hard to chose between the sweet dutch pancake that I got and the savory pancake with chicken. But just cause I have to pick one, it would have to be the dutch pancake with STROOPWAFELS! I think I'm kinda obsessed with them. (Fun fact: I could buy a box at my local trader joes!!! Not the same as the dutch ones, but works for my casual cravings) :D 

Hope you enjoyed reading this post, and like I mentioned above.. the list was inexhaustible. We tried to fit in as much as we could in our schedule. Hoping this helps with your trip planning as well. Or even if you are just looking for cooking inspirations. Please let me know if you liked this post, or if you have any questions/suggestions. Until then, my loves, Live, Love, Laugh and Eat.. Oh yes, EAT!

Links we used for research -   

• https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/three-days-in-amsterdam/
• https://www.savoredjourneys.com/shortcut-guide-to-amsterdam/
• https://www.tripadvisor.com/Guide-g188590-k480-Amsterdam_North_Holland_Province.html
• https://travel.usnews.com/Amsterdam_Netherlands/things-to-do/3-day-itinerary/
• https://www.wanderlustingk.com/travel-blog/amsterdam-3-days
• http://www.stephaniefox.co.uk/amsterdam-itinerary-3-days/

Stuffed bell peppers

Have you ever had to buy colorful bell peppers for a dish and been stuck with extra halves of each color? Well, that happened to me. I bought bell peppers for another recipe and ended up with halves of green, yellow, orange and red bell peppers. Looking at these beautiful summer colors, I could not help but make a dish that brought out the color and taste of these beautiful peppers! That was my inspiration behind this yet another quick and easy meal..

The stuffing for this dish is my go to recipe for ground beef/kheema. I use this mixture to make stuffed rolls, fry kababs, just a basic filling recipe. When I do use this mix to fry kebabs, I add some gram flour (can substitute with all purpose flour), to this mix. This helps bind the kababs well, when frying.

Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup coriander/cilantro leaves
• handful of mint leaves
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 2 tsp coriander-cumin powder mixture
• salt to taste

For the bell peppers:

• Colored bell peppers - cut in halves
• 4 Cheese blend - optional
• Oil for coating
• Cilantro for garnish

Directions:

1. Wash the ground beef and dry it in a strainer.
2. Heat some oil in a pan and roast the ground beef for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients for the filling and cook until the meat is cooked
3. In the mean time, clean the inside of your peppers and coat them with some oil.
4. Add the mixture to the bell peppers and bake at 375 F for about 20 mins. 
5. Sprinkle cheese and cilantro before serving! 

And that is it, your stuffed bell peppers and ready to serve! Hope you like this quick summer fix. Please feel free to comment and give me feedback on the recipe, or to ask any questions. Until then, Live, Love, Laugh & Eat.. Oh yes, EAT!

Oven-fried Cornflake Chicken

My husband and I are big fans of fried chicken. We are literally one of those couples that is always down for gold old Popeyes. Last month I had some leftover cornflakes, that neither of us wanted to eat with milk. So the next best thing that I could think of, was to make oven fried buttermilk chicken with the cornflakes. 

While I do agree that oven-fried is never the same as deep-fried chicken, but using cereal instead of breadcrumbs, does help achieve that crunchy effect. And yeah, is definitely a comparatively healthier alternative (closes-eyes-when-adding-butter). Another hack that I used to make my chicken a lit notch healthier, was to mix milk and vinegar instead of buttermilk. So instead of 2 cups buttermilk, like the recipe asks, I substituted it with 1.5 cup 2 percent milk and white vinegar. The consistency and effect it adds to ur chicken is the same as buttermilk. 

With these few hacks, there was a good compromise between taste and health. Hopefully, you guys enjoy this latest gorge from kitchen! 

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time:  40 mins (Additional time required for marination)

Ingredients:

For the marinade - 

• 4 Chicken Legs, cut in 2  ( so 4 thighs and 4 drumsticks)
• 2 cups Buttermilk
• 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
• 2 tbsp Hot sauce (Frank's hot sauce or similar)
• 1 tbsp Salt
• 2 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp Paprika

For the coating - 

• 3 cups Cornflakes (crushed)
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 tsp Mrs Dash seasoning
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients for the marinade except the chicken in a large bowl and stir until combined.
2. Add Chicken and refrigerate. You can marinade anywhere between 30 mins to 2 hours. In my case, I let it sit for about an hour. Take it out of the refrigerator while you prep for the remaining stuff. 
3. Pre heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and 
4. Line your baking tray with aluminum foil and grease it with some cooking spray.
5.  Mix the crushed cornflakes with the remaining dry ingredients. I like to season my crumbs, and thats why I add the spices and seasoning to it. If you prefer your crumbs without the seasoning, that is an option too. Also, to crush my cornflakes, I simply added them to a zip lock bag and crushed them using a rolling pin. I added the dry spices to the zip lock too and that reduced all the crumb messiness for me.
6. Add the cornflake crumbs to a shallow dish. Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture and evenly coat with the cornflake crumb mix. 

7. Place the coated chicken on the baking tray. Drizzle melted butter over chicken pieces. Bake until crispy and golden, approximately 40 minutes.

If you are unsure of whether your chicken is done or not, try sticking in a fork, if it goes through smoothly, you are good to go. If not, bake another 5 minutes and try again. Let your chicken rest for about 3-4 minutes before you devour it!

Feel free to comment and give me your feedback on the recipe, or to ask any questions. Until then, Live, Love, Laugh & Eat.. Oh yes, EAT! 

Greek Chicken Souvlaki

It has definitely been a while since my last post, and I apologize for the long hiatus. I had a busy few months and even though I had been trying new recipes on and off, I did not have a chance to upload it on the blog!
This one is another one of the house favorites, because of how quick and easy it is to create. Chicken Souvlaki is a Greek dish that's made with marinated and grilled chicken and sometimes vegetables, all threaded onto skewers and broiled. It's often server with Pita bread. I paired my Chicken Souvlaki with store bought hummus, tahineh sauce, lettuce and olives, but I will also add in my recipe for my homemade yogurt sauce, which is basically my version of the tzatziki sauce.
Chicken Souvlaki can be quickly grilled or broiled in your oven and is a flavorful and quick meal for those busy weeknights. In fact, we ended up making this twice in one week because it was such a hit, can't argue with that kind of success! So without wasting much time, let me share this gem recipe with you!

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time:  25 mins

Ingredients:


Greek Chicken Souvlaki -

• 1 Chicken Breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp Mrs Dash seasoning (I was out so I actually substituted with Montreal steak seasoning)
• 1 tsp Lemon + Pepper Seasoning
• 1 tsp fresh sea salt
• 1 tbsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  
  

Yogurt sauce -

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, whisked
• 1/2 cup cucumbers, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh coriander or parsley, chopped
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup water

• Directions:

1. For the chicken souvlaki, combine all the ingredients except the chicken in a large bowl
2. Add in the chicken and toss it well in the marinade
3. Leave the chicken in the marinade for about 30 mins to no longer than 2 hours
4. You can add it skewers, or line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread the chicken evenly on the sheet. If using skewers, make sure to soak the skewers in water for about 2 hours prior to grilling
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. I used the broil setting in my oven for the chicken
6. Broil chicken in the oven for about 18-20 mins or until cooked

Yogurt sauce - While the chicken is cooking, you can go ahead and make your yogurt sauce. Mix the ingredients for the yogurt sauce and add in the water gradually. Mix until it has reached desired consistency. 

I hope you enjoy this latest quick fix as much as my family did. Feel free to comment and give me your feedback on the recipe, or to ask any questions. Until then, Live, Love, Laugh & Eat.. Oh yes, EAT! 

Braided Chicken bread

In case you guys haven’t noticed already, I am a big sucker for creating recipes from leftovers. This is probably because I can never portion correctly and cook for just 2 people.. I always end up either buying extra ingredients or cooking extra food. Former more often than the latter. In the case of this recipe, I had the second problem. I made extra kheema (ground meat), for a get together, and my husband refused to eat these leftovers a second time.. yep, I already fed him the leftovers once before.. but for the second time around, I knew I had to recreate this in a way that he would enjoy this meal, and I would too. So I revamped my kheema(ground meat), by mixing it with some sauces. It was originally a dry kheema(ground meat) dish. Then I stuffed this kheema(ground meat) inside a bread. Easy peasy isn't it. He devoured it, and I finally managed to finish my kheema too. Although, I used this recipe to finish off my leftover kheema(ground meat), this is also a great alternative to make with any kind of stuffing. It could even be leftover vegetables, you can use lamb, beef or turkey instead of the ground beef that I used or you could whip up some fresh stuffing and make this bread. Just one piece of advice would be, to use a filing that is slightly moist. Since you will be baking the bread with this stuffing, the stuffing might dry out if it doesn't have enough moisture. Having said that, do not make the stuffing so wet, or gravy-like, that all your stuffing runs out of the bread and makes it soggy. So without wasting much time on my wet-dry saga, here is the recipe! I follow this bread recipe to the tee - and it never disappoints. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Ingredients: 

• For the dough: 
• All purpose flour - 4 cups
• Instant yeast - 1 tbsp
• Fresh milk - 2 tbsp (You could also use powdered milk, same quantity)
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Oil - 4tbsp
• Eggs - 2 (1 for the dough and 1 for glazing later)
• Powdered sugar - 1 tsp

• For the chicken filling:
• ground chicken - 1 lb
• Onion - 1/2 cup, finely chopped
• Tomato - 1/2 cup, diced
• Green chillies - 3, chopped
• All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
• milk - 1/4 cup
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Cumin powder - 2 tsp
• Hot sauce - 1 tbsp
• Garlic powder - 1 tbsp (you can substitute with fresh garlic
• Ranch - 2 tbsp
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cheese (optional)

Directions: 

1. For the dough, mix together the flour, salt, sugar, milk, yeast, oil and egg. Knead it to a medium soft dough with slightly warm water. I used about 3/4 cups of water. But make sure you little water at a time, so you don't end up with a runny dough.
2. Leave it covered to rise for an hour. 
3. In that time, get your filling ready. To make my filling, I made my kheema(ground meat) previously. Recipe for that was to take some oil, roast some jeera in it, then add onions and saute. Next add chillies, tomatoes & salt and cook until soft and the mixture is like a paste. Now add the kheema and cook until you smell the aroma of cooked kheema(ground meat).
4. For the filling for the bread, I added some oil to a pan. Once hot, I added some all purpose flour and roasted the flour. Then I added milk to it and mixed until it turned into a smooth paste. Next I added some garlic powder, cumin powder, hot sauce and ranch to it. Then I added my previously cooked kheema to this along with some salt and pepper. That was it, my filling was ready.
   
5. Once my dough was risen, divide the dough into 4 parts. Preheat the oven to 400 degree F
6. Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape about 1/3 inch thick. Slit the edges with a knife.
   
    
7. Put the filling in the centre (add cheese to the top if you like) and fold each side so they overlap each other. Similar to a braid
8. Brush the top with beaten egg and sprinkle sesame seeds to the top. Place on top of a greased baking tray. I usually cover my trays with aluminum foil before I place the bread on it
   
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly golden brown at the top of the bread
10. Wait for it to cool before taking it off the tray. Your braided bread is ready to devour! 

I have made this bread and consumed it immediately. And have also, stored it and used it the day after. Either case, the bread stays soft and moist. If storing, please store in an airtight container and refrigerate. You can also make the dough and store it before hand. I have personally stored this dough for up to 3 days in the refrigerator and it has still worked out beautifully. Just make sure, you bring the dough to room temperature before rolling it out. I hope you enjoyed this recipe too! This is my basic stuffed bread recipe, and I will keep going back to it time and again.. Until then dear friends, Live, Love, Laugh and Eat.. Oh yes, EAT!