BAKLAVA

Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey.Its a Greek or turkish favorite that makes everyone think you are a master chef and is sooo easy to make!!The phyllo or Filo dough for this recipe is found in the freezer section of most grocery stores.Almonds,pistachios and walnuts are excellent for this recipe.Working with phyllo needs a lot of patience becoz they are fragile and break so easily but its ok if they tear up.There are lot of hints to make this dessert a great success.Below are some of the useful tips:-

TIP 1:Get all the ingredients ready before you begin .
TIP 2:phyllo sheets tend to dry quickly so it has to be covered with damp cloth when not in use.
TIP 3:Make the sauce ahead and cool completely.Its either way :Pour HOT SYRUP over COOLED BAKLAVA or COOLED SYRUP over WARM BAKLAVA.
TIP 4:Never cover you baked baklava as it gets soggy.Store at room temperature

INGREDIENTS:
1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
1-1/2 cup butter
For Filling:
1 pound chopped nuts(I prefer almonds ,pistachios and walnuts)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

for the syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup honey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside.
Unroll phyllo sheets. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work.
Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows then make the diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool.Sprinkle with coarsely ground pistachios for garnish. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

Wishing all my fellow cooking enthusiasts a very Happy and Wonderful
NEW YEAR!!!!

Mermaid Doll Cake

Side View...

Back view..



This is my second doll cake.I made it for one my friends B'day.For this adorable cake I used the trusty Wilton "Wonder Mold". The baking pan is meant to look like the bottom of a dress when a doll is placed through the center. So here it is a mermaid cake Its a simple chocolate cake with butter cream filling and icing.Just couldn stop working on it.Loved making it.I used gummy fish for added decoration.I also made some star fish using gummies.So Except the doll everything else was edible.I used different icing tips to pipe out shells,flowers,grass etc.Hope you guys Like this cake.If you have any Questions about decorating please post Your comments. Your comments are so Encouraging to me...

Ribbon Pakoda

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup besan or chickpea flour
1/2 tsp asafoetida
1-2 tsps chilli powder (or more!)
salt to taste
oil for deep frying

Method:
Heat oil in a wok.Sift the flour mixtures and combine well with the chilli powder,salt and asafoetida or Hing.Add water little by little to form a dough.If it is too watery add rice flour to adjust.

Apply little Oil or use a spray to the murruku maker .Use the Ribbon Disc and and squeeze the dough in the hot oil to make flat ribbon shaped pakkodas.Drain on to the paper towels. Let cool before storing them into the airtight containers.

Roasted gram Ladoo or Dalia Ladoo or Maladoo

This is a very quick sweet made for any occasions especially during Krishna Jayanthi.A wonderful treat made with simple ingredients.

Ingredients:
1½ cup Split roasted gram or Pottukadalai(tamil)
1 cup Sugar
½ cup Ghee
1 no Cardamom crushed
7 nos Cashews

Method:
Powder the Pottukadalai / Split roasted gram / Dalia / Chickpea to a fine consistency along with that one cardamom . Also powder the granulated sugar too and keep aside. Now measure equal quantity of both the powders(1:1 ratio), for every cup of powdered gram flour its 1 cup of powdered sugar. Mix them both in a big bowl.

Break the cashews into small pieces and then fry them in little ghee until golden and add it to the flour mixture.

Heat the remaining ghee until melted and slowly add it to the mixture. (Ghee mentioned may be slightly more, so add little at a time, don’t pour all at once)
Keep working until it reaches a crumbly texture.

When you press and knead you should be able to make small laddoos. That’s the texture we are looking for. Once ready, apply some ghee to you hands and start making small laddus. They tend to break easily so work it up with ghee.Yields about 10-12 ladoos.

************Happy Diwali************

May the festival of lights be the harbinger of joy and prosperity. As the holy occasion of Diwali is here and the atmosphere is filled with the spirit of mirth and love, here's hoping this festival of beauty brings your way, bright sparkles of contentment, that stay with you through the days ahead.
Best wishes on Diwali and New year.

Spinach Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

1 slice(1 oz)soft multi grain sandwich bread
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cups 1 % low fat milk
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp minced garlic
4 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded
4 oz fontina cheese,shredded
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp kosher salt and cayenne pepper
8 oz penne reigate pasta 1 (60z) bag baby spinach leaves

Method:
Heat oven to 350 degree F.Arrage four inividual 2-cup ovenproof glass bowls on a baking sheet.(you cn also cook the whole recipe in a 9-inch square baking dish).Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil.

Meanwhile pulse bread in a food processor until fine crumbs form.Melt butter in a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat;add breadcrumbs and cook,stirring often,for 3 minutes or until golden brown and toasted.Transfer breadcrumbs to a small bowl and stir in 2 tbsp of the parmesan.

Wipesaucepan clean.add milk,flour,and garlic and whisk until blended.Then, whisking frequently,bring to a boil over medium high heeat.Redue heat and simmer for 3 mins or until thickened.Remove from heat and stir the remaining parmesan,cheddar,fontina,mustard,salt and cayenne pepper until cheese is melted and sauce smooth.Cover,keep warm.

Cook pasta in boiling water,2 mins less than the recommended cooking time or until very al dente.Add spinach to pot and stir until wilted.Drain pasta mixture in a colander,rinse under cold water,and drain again.Transfer to a large bowl;stir in warm cheese sauce.Spoon into ovenproof dishes.Sprinkle tops evenly with the crumb mixture.Bake until tops are golden and sauce is bubbling,about 25 to 30 mins.