Halloween Special: Chocolate Banana Muffins

Are you planning to throw away those over ripe bananas?? Please don't, instead make this banana chocolate muffin... It tastes so good that i regret giving away those pretty 9 muffins to my husbands office friends... :D
And yes, Happy Halloween to all!! Today is 2015 Halloween, and my very first Halloween. I wanted to make something special for Halloween and cookies were in my mind for few days.. But I ended up making this banana muffin as i had some over ripe bananas at home and also some left over buttercream frosting too.
The recipe is adapted from Joy of Baking 

Ingredients:

1. Flour - 1 3/4 cup
2. Baking powder - 1 tsp
3. Baking soda  - 1/2 tsp
4. Sugar - 1/2 cup
5. Brown sugar - 1/4 cup
6. Cocoa powder - 3 tbs
7. Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
8. Salt - a pinch
9. Egg - 3 (small or medium size)
10. Butter, melted - 1/2 cup
11. Banana, mashed - 3 large, about 1 1/2 - 2 cups
12. Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
13. Buttercream frosting - 1 1/2 cups (optional)

Note:

• I have used mini chocolate chips
• You  may mash banana manually or use a blender to do the same. I used a blender for mashing bananas
• Since i had problem with mixing baking powder and baking soda with flour last few times, i have put extra effort to make sure it is mixed very well with flour and other dry ingredients by putting all dry ingredients into a canister and giving nice shakes and stir :)
• I have used a 12 cup muffin tray and 4 silicone cups for baking

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F heat
2. Prepare a 12 cup + 4 cups muffin tray with paper cups
3. Mix all dry ingredients from 1 to 8 very well. Make sure there is no lumps
4. Mix all wet ingredients from 9 to 12 in another bowl
5. Fold in dry ingredients mixture to wet mixture until they are combined and not many lumps in the batter left
6. Spoon the batter in to each muffin cup to fill 3/4 or little more than that of the cup
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or unitl skewer comes out clean when dipped at the muffin center
8. If you are frosting your muffins, you may do it after the muffins are cooled to room temperature. I have used blue color and white color frosting with star tip and round tip. And top it with wilton  sugar eyes. 

I am linking this post to Fiesta Friday

Pumpkin Kulfi

Kulfi is an all time favorite Indian dessert. Here I am giving a twist to the traditional kulfi by adding pumpkin puree to it. Halloween is here in few days and pumpkins are in abundant in markets now. It is a beautiful site to see farm fields filled with large monster pumpkins. But in the below recipe i have used canned pumpkin puree, lazy me :) .

Ingredients:

1. Pumpkin puree, sauteed in a tsp of ghee for 3-4 minutes - 3 tbs
2. Milk - 4 cups
3. Brown sugar/ White Sugar - 3/4 cup
4. Saffron - a pinch
5. Cashew nuts, chopped - 1/4 cup
6. Badam/Almond chopped - 1/4 cup
7. Pecans, chopped - 1/4 cup
8. Cardamom - 2

Brown sugar gives a nice caramel flavor to Kulfi..

Method:

1. Boil milk in a clean pan
2. When milk starts to boil add nuts, spices and sugar to it and stir.
3. Continue boiling the milk under low-medium flame stirring in between till milk is almost reduced to 1.5 cups
4. If you want to go with the traditional kulfi, pour the above mix into a bowl and cool it to room temperature.
5. If you want to add pumpkin puree to it, add it now and let it cook for 3 more minutes and pour it into a bowl and cool it to room temperature
6. Keep the bowl in the fridge for 3 hrs
7. After 3 hrs, stir the mixture again for 2 minutes to avoid water crystals
8. Pour the kulfi mixture in to small bowls or Popsicle mould and freeze it overnight.
9. You may top the kulfi with almond slivers.

I am linking this post to Fiesta Friday

Vegetable spring roll

Do you like to snack in between meals?? Well, who doesn't love that.. How about a cookie or a samosa?? Wait...Think again..do you really want to eat that butter, sugar or oil to satisfy your appetite? Not always..(I know sometimes the answer is "Yes" :) ) Here comes the very fresh, crisp and healthy snack for you.. It is so easy that any one can make it at home provided you have the freshest veggies and rice paper wraps with you..

I love to have vegetable spring roll with peanut sauce dip. The crunch you get at each bite...ah.. you should try it yourself...

Ingredients:

1. Carrot, julienned - 1 cup
2. Cabbage , thin strips - 1 cup
3. Lettuce leaves, small - 5
4. Glass noodles/ Rice, cooked - 5 tbs ( I have used basmati rice)
5. Mint leaves/ Basil leaves - 5
6. Rice paper wraps - 5

Method:

1. Take one rice paper wrap and dip it in warm water till it is soft. (takes less than a minute)
2. Place a small lettuce leaf in the center
3. Top it with  carrots, cabbage and a tbs of rice or noodles. Adjust the quantity of veggies so that you can fold the wrap well.
4. Place a mint leaf or basil leaf on top
5. Fold the wrap according to the pic shown.
6. Repeat the same with all the wraps

Tada..vegetable spring roll is ready to be served.


I am linking this post to Friday Fiesta co hosted by Juju and Indira.

Peanut sauce dip

We had vegetable spring roll with peanut sauce dip few days back from a Vietnamese restaurant  and it tasted really good, especially the dipping sauce. It was a kind of sweet peanut sauce. Though I am not a peanut butter lover, I wanted to come up with a copycat recipe for the dipping sauce at home. Below is the recipe of the same. It tastes very similar to the restaurant version we had.

Ingredients:

1. Peanut butter, creamy - 4 tbs
2. Honey - 2 tbs
3. Sriracha sauce - 1 tsp
4. Sweet balsamic vinegar - 1 tbs
5. Soya sauce -  2tbs
6. Salt to taste

Note:

• If you cannot find Sriracha sauce, use red chilli sauce. (not the sweet one)

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients well. Adjust the water according to the consistency you like.

See the recipe for Vegetable spring roll here.

Egg On Omelette

Here comes a very quick and easy recipe for breakfast... "Egg On Omelette"

Ingredients:

1. Egg - 2
2. Baby spinach - 2 cups
3. Oil - 1 tsp
4. Tomato Salsa - 2 tbs
5. Salt to taste

Method:

1. Beat an egg in a bowl
2. Add salt to taste and mix spinach leaves in it
3. Heat a small nonstick pan, and add 1 tsp of oil in it
4. Pour the egg spinach mix in it and make a small well in the center using a spoon
5. Cover it and cook for a minute
6. Spoon over the salsa on the spinach omlette and let it cook for a minute more
7. Slowly open up the second egg and pour it to the center well and switch off the pan

Serve the yummy eggy breakfast warm with a bread toast and coffee.. :)

Tomato Salsa

Tomato salsa is a very handy sauce/dip to go with nachos, wraps, salads etc etc! It goes really well with most of the things.. So whenever we prepare it at home, i make sure that i will have some extra to store it in fridge for later use and it has never gone wasted :)

Ingredients:

1. Tomato, chopped (canned tomato) - 1 can
2. Tomato puree (canned) - 1/2 can
3. Jalapeno pepper, chopped - 1/2(adjust it according to your spice level)
4. Lime juice - 1 tbs
5. Salt to taste
6. Garlic, chopped - 1 clove
7. Onion, chopped - 2 tbs
8. Coriander leaves, chopped - 1 tbs
9. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Sugar - 1/4 tsp

Note:

• We don't want to puree salsa completely. Hence pulsing in the blender will do the trick
• Store it in an airtight container in fridge for later use
• According to my husband it tastes best on the next day

Method:
Add all the ingredients in a blender and pulse it 2 or 3 times

Tada... that is it.. salsa is ready to be served!

Key Lime Pie (Soft pie version)

A very quick pie made from graham cracker pie crust bought from store and it tastes so delicious!

Ingredients:

1. Key Lime juice / Lemon juice - 1/4 cup
2. Condensed milk - 1/2 tin
3. Heavy Milk cream - 1 cup
4. Egg yolk - 2
5. Egg - 1
6. Sugar - 1/2 cup
7. Whipping cream - 1 cup
8. Sugar -  2 tbs
9. Lime zest - 1 tsp
10. 9 inch graham cracker crust - 1

Note:

• I have used heavy whipping cream instead of milk cream as i didn't have milk cream at home. Both milk cream and whipping cream will work fine

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F heat
2. Mix all the ingredients from 1 to 6 in a mixer for 2 minutes
3. Pour it into a graham cracker crust and bake it for 15-20 minutes till the pie is almost set
4. Cool the pie and refrigerate for 2 hrs
5. Whip 1 cup of whipping cream till the cream is slightly thickened and then add 2 tbs sugar to it
6. Whip again till it holds the shape
7. Spread the whipped cream on the refrigerated pie and sprinkle the lime zest on it
8. Refrigerate the pie over night to set it well and serve it cold

This recipe is participating in the below:
#Friday Fiesta #89 

Cook-once-eat-twice

Roasted Squash/Pumpkin soup

Roasted squash soup is a mild flavored soup with sweetness from the roasted squash and coconut milk. Flavor is enhanced with roasted coconut shredding on it.

Ingredients:

1. Squash - 1/2 medium sized one (pumpkin can be used as a replacement here, around 3 cups cubed)
2. Onion, sliced - 1/4 cup
3. Ginger, chopped - 1/2 tsp
4. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
5. Coriander powder - 1.5 tbs
6. Coconut milk, thick - 1/2 cup
7. Salt to taste
8. Roasted coconut shredding - 1/4 cup
9. Oil - 1tsp

Note:

• Coconut shredding must be roasted till slightly browned
• Roasted pumpkin/squash seeds can also be used as topping along with coconut

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F heat
2. Roast squash in the oven for 40 minutes until it starts to get browned on top
3. Heat oil in a pan
4. Saute onion and ginger
5. Add turmeric powder. coriander powder and give a toss
6. Add 2 cups water and let it boil
7. Using a spoon get the flesh out of the roasted squash and add it to the above
8. Let the mixture cook till everything is mixed well and soup is slightly thickened
9. Blend the soup well in a blender
10. Boil the smooth soup again and add coconut milk to it under low flame
11. Add salt to taste and switch off the flame
12. Serve the soup warm or cold with roasted coconut on top

I am linking this post to the below:
 No Croutons required hosted by Lisa's kitchen and TinnedTomatoes