Russian Chicken Cutlets

Russian Chicken Cutlets

This has been a very different Ramadan for me and my family. For those of you'll who know, we usually go to Masjid everyday during the holy month of Ramadan. And that is where we break our fasts with iftaari - which usually consists of cookies, tea and a date. And follow our prayers with dinner at the masjid too. This dinner usually involves a dessert, a savory dish - like an appetizer and then the main course. 

This year, while we are still able to perform all our prayers, one thing we miss is the festive feel of our community gathering. The food playing a big part in this gathering. And in order to fill that void, I've been trying to ramp up my cooking. I'm going back to re-creating a lot of old family recipes and meals that bring back some nostalgia and happy memories. One such recipe that I am sharing with you today is the Russian Chicken Cutlets. This falls in the category of the bohri kharaas - the savory appetizer that precedes the main dish. 

This is not one of those quick one pan meals that I usually throw in. It is more involved, but definitely worth it . Also, I tried to look for why this recipe was called Russian Cutlets, but I'm still looking for an answer. 

Makes: 25 cutlets 

Ingredients:

• 2 lb chicken kheema (minced meat)
• 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 7 green chillies, ground or chopped to very tiny pieces like a paste
• 1 capsicum, chopped to tiny pieces
• 1 small carrot, grated 
• 2 potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 tbsp grated cheese
• 2 tbsp Mrs Dash seasoning
• Salt
• Pepper
• 3 eggs
• 1 packet vermicelli, crushed
• Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Cook chicken kheema with ginger garlic paste, green chilli paste, salt and pepper in a pan. Do not add any water. The kheema will release some water when cooking. Cook in its own water stirring at short intervals, so that the kheema is cooked evenly and doesn't form lumps
2. Once the kheema is done, take it out in a big bowl. You will later use the same bowl to mix all the ingredients
3. Use the same pan, to make a thick white sauce. Start with heating the butter in this pan. Now add the all purpose flour and brown for a couple of mins. Now slowly add the milk in this pan, making sure no lumps are formed. Let it cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes and then add the Mrs dash seasoning and some pepper powder. 
4. Now throw in the chopped vegetables and potatoes in the white sauce and cook for another 3-5 mins. 
5. Now mix in this white sauce mixture with the chicken kheema previously cooked. Mix in the cheese and cilantro to this mixture and give it all a good mix. You will have to get your hands dirty on this one ;) 
6. Make flat cutlets that are about 2 inch in diameter from this mixture. It will be a little sticky to work with, but once fried, they will be soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. 
7. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and keep it aside
8. Place the crushed vermicelli in a shallow plate
9. If the cutlets feel too soft once shaped, you can place them in the refrigerator for about 30 mins before you start frying
10. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Dip the cutlets in the egg and then coat in the crushed vermicelli. 
11. Fry the cutlets for about 3 mins each side until a light golden brown. Remove and place on a paper towel to soak excess oil

You can serve these cutlets with tomato sauce or some coriander chutney. You can also coat the cutlets in breadcrumbs instead of vermicelli. I hope you enjoy this old family favorite recipe. Stay indoors, stay safe and cherish this time with your family. Until then folks, Live, Love, Laugh and Eat.. Oh yes, EAT!!

Notes: 

• You can substitute chicken kheema with shredded chicken as well
• Also, I make some of these cutlets and freeze them for later. Just prepare the cutlets until Step 9 and freeze for as long as a month

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

Mustard soup

Mustard and coconut soup

Winter has arrived.. at least in this part of the world that I live in, and so has the season of soups. I could binge on soups all year round, though! My husband and I have been consciously trying to reduce our dairy intake and this is why creamy soups will be on a down-low for us this winter. He was down with the flu last week, and hence I using all my soup knowledge, to try and make him flavorful soups, that would also help with faster recovery. While doing so, I thought of using coconut milk as a base for one of my soups. I usually do a corn & coconut soup, but decided to change it up with mustard this time around. It was a simple, quick and flavorful soup packed with flavor, yet light on the stomach.
I prefer adding shreds of chicken to my soup, but you could substitute this with veggies, or any other meat. For the jalapeños, I used the store-bought pickled ones, since I feel like they pack in more flavor, but feel free to use fresh or pickled ones depending on your taste.
For my chicken broth, I usually like to boil chicken legs in ginger-garlic paste along with some salt. I use the broth for the soup, and shred the chicken from the legs to use in the soup. The flavor from the bone makes a big difference in my opinion!

Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds (optional)
• 1 Bay Leaf 
• 1 clove of  Garlic, chopped 
• 1/2 Onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp, Jalapeños
• 2 tbsp Mustard Sauce
• 1 can Coconut Milk
• 3-4 cups Chicken Broth
• 1 cup Shredded Chicken
• a bunch of rosemary leaves (usually 6-8 leaves)
• 1/2 tbsp Franks Hot Sauce
• Salt according to taste
• Pepper according to taste 

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a pot and add bay leaf and a few cumin seeds to it
2. Once the cumin seeds start popping, add in the garlic and onions
3. Wait till the onions turn translucent. Now add the jalapeños and give it all a good stir.
4. Next pour in the mustard sauce and mix everything well
5. Then add the coconut milk and chicken broth to the pot and let it boil
6. You can also add the shredded chicken here, if you are including chicken in your soup. Cook on medium heat for about 5 mins.
7. Add rosemary leaves to your soup now along with hot sauce. Make sure you add your hot sauce according to your taste preference. I would say start with a little and keep adding till you reach desired spice level. Cook for another 5-7 mins.
8. Lastly, adjust salt and pepper according to your taste and your super delicious soup is now ready to be devoured.

Hoping you guys get to bundle up and enjoy some soup too. As always, feel free to comment with questions, concerns and suggestions. Until then, Live, Love, Laugh and Eat.. Oh yes, EAT!!

Crispy Coconut Chicken Tenders

My grandmother loves using coconut in almost all her food. And its not just limited to using it for her cooking, she uses coconut even as a garnish in most of her foods. She makes khopra par (a dessert consisting of coconut, mava and sweet syrup),which is my ultimate favorite. Having spent a lot of time with her, growing up, I really found a liking towards using coconut flavors in my food. This was one of the inspirations for using desiccated coconut/coconut flakes in my chicken tenders. #makinggrandmaproud

Chicken tenders is something that has been done over and over again, so using coconut instead of traditional breadcrumbs was an inviting variation. This is a simple and light dinner recipe, can be used as a side or a snack too.. It might seem like there are many parts to it. There is definitely more prep work required for this, but its quick once all the prep is done.

You can pair it well with a salad, or guacamole or any other dip really. You can make it spicy by adding more cayenne pepper to your coconut flakes or keep it mild by reducing the amount. I paired my crispy tenders with glazed carrots to amp up our dinner. But this could easily be served as a finger food during game night. Another variation to this recipe would be to bake it. I am making the most of my summer frying days. Saving my baked tenders for winter nights. ;)

But yes, a recipe with many variations that can suit everyones needs.. Light, crunchy and summery. You can also replace the chicken in the recipe, with fish or shrimp for another fun variation. Hope you enjoy it!

Prep Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast, chopped into 3" cubes
• 2 cups coconut flakes
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• handful of fresh cilantro (can be substituted with parsley), chopped
• 2 tbsp Mrs Dash seasoning
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Season chicken evenly with salt and pepper
2. Add 1/2 cup flour, eggs, cilantro and Mrs Dash seasoning in a bowl and whisk together. If the batter feels too thick, add a little water to make the batter thinner, until right consistency is achieved
3. In a separate shallow dish, mix together coconut flakes and cayenne pepper
4. Add remaining 1/2 cup flour, in a plate or a shallow dish for dusting the chicken 



Shallow fry / Panfry chicken

5. Heat oil in a shallow pan on medium heat
6. Dust each chicken in the dry flour and take off excess. Next, dunk the chicken into the egg mixture. Then coat the piece in coconut flakes to make sure it is even coated.
7. Shallow fry chicken pieces in the pan for about 2-3 mins on each side, until light golden brown. 
8. Drain off excess oil and serve hot!

Like I mentioned earlier, I paired my crispy coconut chicken tenders with glazed carrots and sweet chili sambal sauce. Recipe for the glazed carrots is also added below.

To make Glazed Carrots:

• Carrots, 3
• Butter, 1 tbsp
• Brown sugar, 1 heaped tbsp
• chopped Dill (optional)
• Salt and pepper - a pinch

1. Boil carrots in hot water for about 8-10 minutes making sure they are dipped in the water. 
2. Drain and let them cool in a strainer
3. Add butter to the same pan, stir brown sugar, salt and pepper powder into the button until the sugar has melted.
4. Add carrots and the chopped dill leaves to the pan and cook for another 5 mins

Crispy Coconut Chicken Tender with glazed carrots

I hope you try this recipe soon, and enjoy it with your loved ones like I did. Feel free to comment with questions and suggestions. 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!

Apple & spiced pecan salad

A beautiful and light summer salad that tingles the flavor buds, and doesn't make you feel like you are having a boring salad again. This recipe provides for a variety of flavors and also a variety for textures. Pair it with a protein of your choice and it will be a great supporting cast to your meal or enjoy it by itself and let it be your star for the night. 

Ingredients:

• 1 red apple, sliced
• 3 cups fresh arugula
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped lightly
• 2 tbsp Ken's Steak House Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette Dressing
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• a pinch of sugar 
• 1/4 cup feta cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Sprinkle the chopped pecans with sugar and cayenne pepper. Slightly roast the pecans in a pan for about 5-6 mins, or until a light honey brown color. Make sure to continuously be tossing them in the pan so they dont burn. Take it off the heat and let them cool.
2. Mix together the apples, arugula, (cooled) spiced pecans in a salad bowl
3. Add dressing and optional feta cheese and toss them all together

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!

Deconstructed Jalapeño poppers!

Jalapeño poppers are a super favorite of mine.. The best ones I've had are from Jack in the box, which a popular West Coast fast-food chain. So I decided to give it a twist of my own by using some leftovers I had at home. I usually try to use up a lot of leftover ingredients at home because I get it for one recipe and have a random assortment of ingredients that need some way of bringing them together. This time around, the ingredients I was working with where jalapeños, garlic and herb flavored cream cheese and pita bread that I got with a Mediterranean salad the day before. I threw in some mozzarella cheese, ranch dressing and bread crumbs to the mixture and ended up with these deconstructed jalapeño poppers aka jalapeño and cheese pit-zza (pita-pizza). As you may have noticed, I am terrible at coming up with names for my recipe, but the end product was definitely better than my attempt at naming it. So read along...

This is a quick and easy recipe, definitely one of those weekday wonders that you can make up and serve fresh. Having fresh made dinner and using up leftover ingredients from my refrigerator, this is sure a win-win for my kitchen! I also added in tiny bits of cooked chicken on my pit-zza, but that was only to provide some meat to my ever-so-hungry-for-meat husband. This could be replaced by any other toppings you would like. Some options would be olives, bell peppers, onions, or whatever you are trying to get rid of, from your refrigerator! So without wasting more time, here goes the recipe.

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp Ranch dressing
• 2-3 oz. Garlic and Herb cream cheese (You can use regular cream cheese and season it according to your taste)
• 1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese 
• 1/8 cup Jalapeños, sliced (I used the Jar ones, but you could definitely used freshly cut jalapenos as well)
• 2 tbsp Panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 tbsp softened Butter
• 2 Pita breads, cut in quarters (can be replaced with pizza base or any other bread of your choice)
• Cubes of cooked chicken (optional) 
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2.  Next spread some cream cheese on the base of your Pita breads. 
3.  Then mix the ranch, remaining cream cheese, jalapenos, salt, pepper and chicken and kept that aside .
4.  In another bowl, mix the softened butter and bread crumbs.
5. Spread the ranch and cream cheese mixture on the Pita breads and sprinkle some mozzarella cheese and bread crumb mix. 
6. Bake in the oven for about 7-10 min until the base is crispy and bread crumbs are a golden crispy brown. 

And that's it, your personal pizza is ready! I hope you enjoy this 10 min wonder like I did.. please comment below if you did enjoy this recipe and let me know how you used your leftovers. Was it Mozzarella or Cheddar? Buns or Pita breads? Either way, it will turn out delicious! Until then, Live, Love, Laugh and EAT. Oh yes, EAT! :)

Cream of Celery & Mushroom Soup

As the Northeast braces itself to face the Arctic "Bomb" Storm, my love for soup grows more than ever. The thought of a warm creamy soup entices me any time of the year, but even more this winter. I usually don't buy canned or packet soups from the store because they just never cut it for me. I personally don't think store bought "Cream of" soups match anywhere close to homemade soup flavors.
My last soup post was an easy yet time consuming recipe. This one however, is one of those perfect weekday cook ups. Easy and quick to make, amazing to taste.. Don't see any reason to wait to tell you more.. The initial recipe that I had referred to for this soup was a plain Cream of Celery soup. But I had leftover mushrooms that I threw into the mix, and I did not regret that one bit. But if you are not a mushroom lover, fear not, you can still devour this recipe, follow it exactly the same way without adding the mushrooms. You can basically use this recipe as the base for any other "cream of" soups. You could substitute the celery with mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, etc.
For best results, make sure you use fresh and flavorful celery (you can tell by the color of celery, it would be a bright green color, with tightly packed stalks).

First, finely dice the onions, garlic, celery and mushrooms.

Melt butter in your pot, and add the garlic and a slit green chili. Mix in the onions and celery and cook them until the onion turns translucent. Since I have a gas stove, it takes me about 5 mins to achieve that. Once, the onions are translucent, add in the flour and stir for another 2 mins. Now add the broth.

I made fresh broth by boiling chicken, ginger-garlic paste, salt & pepper together. Once the chicken was cooked, I took out the chicken pieces and left the carcass with the leftover celery stalks and boiled that for another 10 mins. I then strained this broth and saved it for my soup.
I added the broth, some cream, and milk. If you want to make it less heavy, you could get rid of the cream and just use milk.
Stir immediately to avoid clumping. Increase the heat now and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium then add salt, pepper, and any other herbs you'd like to add. For me personally, the flavor of celery and mushroom turn out delicious together, so I don't add any additional herbs. Now cook uncovered for another 10 mins, stirring occasionally.

Your deliciously creamy soup is now ready to devour! You can enjoy this soup as is, like I did, or use it for any recipe that calls for cream of celery as a base.

Prep Time: 15 mins  Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients: 

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• 1 packet celery sticks, finely chopped (about 6-8 sticks)
• 1/2 cup mushrooms (about 2-3 button mushrooms)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 green chilli
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions: 

1. Melt the butter in a pot. Add the garlic and chilli to the melted butter.
2. Add onion and celery to the pot and cook until onion is translucent ~5 mins.
3. Add the flour and cook for another 2 minutes
4. Then add the chicken broth, cream and milk to the soup, stirring continuously
5. Increase the heat now and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium then, and salt, pepper and any additional herbs per your preference. 
6. Now cook uncovered for another 10 mins, stirring occasionally. 

If using as a base for another recipe, the soup will keep in the fridge for at least 3-4 days. 

This soup started off on a fridge cleanout day to get rid of my celery and mushrooms, but ended up being a real show stopper for me! I hope you enjoyed this recipe. Please feel free to share and comment. And let me know if you tried it. Until then, stay warm everyone.. Live, Love, Laugh and EAT. Oh yes, EAT! :)

Chicken Soup with Vegetables

Chicken Soup for the soul.. These dropping temperatures definitely have me craving some soup. And chicken soup is definitely my go-to! It isn't particularly a quick recipe, but it needs minimum monitoring and can be something you've left on the back burner while you finish other tasks. It is also a one pot and in my case, a one pot and one chopping board recipe.. So here's your not-so-quick but easy fix for the winter.

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 70 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken legs (I usually cut mine in half, so I have 3 thighs and 3 drumsticks)
• 1 cube of maggi chicken flavor Bouillon cube (you could also replace this wih either homemade or store-bought chicken broth)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 5-6 Peppercorns 
• 1/2 tsp ground thyme (fresh thyme would definitely enhance the flavor, but I don't usually have fresh thyme available)
• 1 bay leaf
• 6-8 baby carrots diced
• 1 medium yellow onion sliced 
• 2 medium ribs of celery
• 3-4 mushrooms
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Any fresh herbs that you would like to add to the mix. I usually use my go-to: Mrs. Dash seasoning and some fresh parsley and coriander since I grow them at home. 

You can also vary with the vegetables and flavors you have readily available at home. The idea of this soup is to use as many of the extra veggies you have at home and modifying the flavor according to your personal taste.

Directions:

1. Using a sharp knife, cut out all the meat from the bones. In a large pot, cover the meat and the bones and carcass with water. Add the chicken bouillon, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaf.
2. Heat the stock over medium-high heat for about 30 mins. Once the chicken has changed color, reduce the temperature to medium heat and let it cook for another 15 mins. Add more water if it feels necessary. Remove the meat and set it aside to cool. (If you are using fresh thyme, this would be the right time to remove it from the stock mixture). 
3. Bring the soup to a simmer and continue cooking for another 10 mins, skimming as needed. Now add the ground thyme, salt and pepper. If the broth is too cloudy, you could use a fine-mesh strainer to clarify it. This is a personal preference, I usually like the froth in my broth.
4. Once the chicken has cooled, remove any leftover meat from the bones, and shred the remaining meat to bite-sized pieces. Return all this meat back to the pot and return to a simmer.
5. Add the diced vegetables, and other dried herbs that you would like to add to you soup. Finish off with the fresh parsley and or other fresh herbs that you would like to add in.
6. Last but not the least, add the lemon juice and give it a good stir before you take it off the heat. 

Another variation to the soup would be to blend all the boiled vegetables and add the chicken to the blended mixture. This would be ideal for all those picky eaters who won't eat vegetables once they see them.. Serve Hot! I usually like my soup with some bread or crackers. I hope you enjoy this recipe. I would love you hear your variations in the comments as well. 

 A light and simple recipe after all that holiday eating. Wishing you and your family a happy holidays and in case I don't write another post in the next few days, wishing you a Happy New Year as well..