ORANGEY CHICKEN

This last week was really hectic for me....with increase in workload and exams I could not do the thing that gave me real happiness "COOKING and BLOGGING" :D , all complains apart I am back now .. I love eating Chicken and since my childhood we have a rule in my house "Chicken every sunday!!!!" and I still follow the rule :) . When I was a kid my uncle would say that if I ate so much of chicken then soon I would dislike it well it didnt happen till now ;)  My mom would always experiment with chicken dishes and non have ever failed :) . I too enjoy following her footsteps. So today's recipe is also an experiment and turns out that chicken and orange make a pretty good combination :) and forms a good appetizer ....

Chicken Drumsticks	4 pieces
Orange	1 large
Dried Parsley	1 teapoon
Flour	1 cup
Red Chilli Powder	1 teaspoons
Black Pepper Powder	Half teaspoon
Ginger Paste	Half teaspoon
Garlic Paste	Half teaspoon
Lemon	1 piece
Honey	1 tablespoon
Oil	2 tablespoons
Salt	As per taste

1. Make small slits all around the chicken pieces so that the chicken get cooked properly from inside as well.
2. Marinate the chicken drumsticks with the ginger paste , garlic paste, half a lemon juice , salt , red chilli powder ,black pepper powder , a bit of orange zest  and a few drops of orange juice for 30 min.
3. Take the flour in a plate and cover each of the chicken pieces with the flour.
4. Heat oil in a pan and add the pieces and fry for 3 min only . Then place the pieces in the microwave for 12 min at 80 degree. The pieces need to be turned from side to side at regular intervals.
5. In the mean time, in a pan add the rest of the orange juice , a few more orange zest , half a lemon juice , salt and black pepper and cook it over medium heat. 
6. As the orange mixture starts evaporating add the honey stirring constantly. Let the mixture cook over medium heat till it forms a glaze.
7. Place the cooked chicken pieces in the orange glaze and coat it on all sides. 
8. Remove the glazed chicken pieces on a piece and pour the rest of the glaze on the chicken piece.
9. The Orangey Chicken is ready to serve.

WHAT AN EVENTFUL DAY WAS 8th Feb 2011

                                                                                                                       pic from Strange Cosmos

The morning of 8th Feb 2011 was very boring. I was gloomy and sad without any cause and was totally bored in office. Probably I was having my Monday morning blues....i know its not a Monday but since I didn't go to office on Monday so yesterday I was having my  Monday morning blues.......  :D . I think its a very common feeling for all :) .

By evening my day started changing from a gloomy boring one to a one that brought smiles to face and joys to heart. I had participated in "SLURRPY STAR OF THE WEEK" recipe contest and to my utter surprise I had won the 3rd prize. For the first time I had received a prize for cooking and I was so happy. Thanks to the editor of SLURRPY for hosting such a wonderful event....its a real encouragement for us amateur cooks :) 

And when I opened my blog and I was thrilled to see the comment for "The Foodie" she had passed me 3 award and it felt so wonderful to be appreciated.All these has encouraged me a lot. Thanks a lot "The Foodie" I am in Cloud 9 even now :) 

How can anyone claim the award?...Well blogging is all about knowing and sharing with others.....so to accept the awards there are a few criteria to be fulfilled :

• Thank and Link Back to the Blogger Who Awarded You With The Award
• Share 7 Things About Yourself
• Award 15 Great Blogger with this award
• Contact The Bloggers and Inform Them of The Award

7 things about me : 

• I love talking to my mom over phone and we can do that for hours
• The first person for whom I had cooked anything was Dad and I made chappati and dal and he could not eat it at all. I was in 6th class at that time :) .
• I have a younger sister name Paromita she is a gem and a sweetheart of the whole family.
• I am a very talkative person and love to spend time with my family and friends.
• I enjoying buying utensils or electronic appliances for my kitchen. 
• I don't like to make the morning tea and prefer if someone does it for me :P
• I love soft toys.....everytime I go for shopping I always buying one or two soft toys.
• I am totally addicted to TV :D . The first thing is do when I wake up is switch on the TV and its on the whole time I am at home.

As for nominating 15 bloggers......this is a very difficult task at hand, its very hard for me to pick 15 blogger from all the wonderful bloggers I have met. I admire the creativity of all my fellow bloggers but as I had to limit my choices so I would like to pass the 3 awards to :-

1. Kankana from Sunshine & Smiles
2. Haley from At Home with Haley
3. Nithya from 4th Sense Cooking
4. Mary from One Perfect Bite
5. Anu Santanu from Bhalo Khabo
6. Sandra from Sandra's Easy Cooking
7. Krista from Krista's Kitchen
8. Harika from Harika's Kitchen
9. Pam from For the love of Cooking
10. Barbara from Bless Us Lord
11. Sukina from Lick my Spoon
12. Cherine from Chicho's Kitchen
13. Clotilde from Chocolate & Zucchini
14. Chele from Chocolate Teapot
15. Lola from Lola's Artistic Endeavors

EGG FLORENTINE

Well its Sunday and I was thinking what special should I eat today. Guess what popped in my head........yes its EGGS.. Now that am thinking I realize I have been eating eggs every weekend....... hehehe :D  Well as for the story behind this recipe,I had already told that my fav restaurant is "The Egg Factory" they had a recipe called Egg Florentine.....frankly I didnt like their version but it gave me an idea for my version for of this recipe :) . Then I was watching disney channel and saw Wizards of Waverly Place and they were showing an episode where they had brunch for dinner and the father had made it. I somehow liked the idea but my dad is not here :(  so I had to make the dish for myself.... I have also added the recipe to Lets Do Brunch hosted by Chaya.

Spinach	1 bunch
Eggs	2 numbers
Tomato	2 numbers
Onion	1 medium sized
Red Chilli Powder	1 teaspoons
Black Pepper Powder	2 teaspoons
Flour	2 teapoon
Butter	3 tablespoons
Garlic cloves	4 numbers
Cream	1 cup
Milk	Half cup
Black Pepper	1 tablespoon
Salt	As per taste

1. Slice the tomatoes into circular rings keeping them slightly thick.
2. Heat little butter in a pan and add the tomatoes , sprinkle little salt and black pepper and toss it over and fry for 30 sec. 
3. Sprinkle little salt and black pepper on the other side of the tomatoes and toss it over and fry for 30 sec and place it in a baking bowl.
4. Cut the onion into julienne and set aside.
5. Heat little butter again in a pan , add a pinch of salt and little sugar and add the onion julienne.
6. Fry the onions till it caramelize then add a few drops of vinegar and fry again for 2 min more. 
7. When the onions are done place them on top of the tomatoes in the baking bowl.
8. Chop the spinach roughly. Grate the garlic cloves.
9. Heat little butter again in a pan , add a pinch of salt and grated garlic.
10. When the garlic turn light brown , add the spinach and cook it over medium heat. This would take some time around 20 min.
11. When the spinach's water is dried up , add 1 tablespoon of cream and cook it for 3-4 min more.
12. Place the cooked spinach on top of the caramelized onions in the baking bowl.
13. Poach 2 eggs. There are 2 ways of doing so you can use any one of that (click here to know more).                           
    

    > Set a saucepan to boil that is about two-thirds full of water.
    > Add a dash of white vinegar.
    > Spin the boiling water to cool down the water before you drop in the egg.
    > Carefully crack an egg and lower or drop it into the center of the whirlpool.
    > Wait 3-4 minutes until cooked.
    > Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer each egg onto the plate, letting excess water drip back into the saucepan.
    ***********************************************************************************************
    > Heat oil in a pan.
    > Carefully crack an egg and lower or drop it into the center of the pan.
    > Add a pinch of salt and black pepper.
    > Turn over the egg and fry the other side as well.
    
    
14. Place the poached eggs on top of the creamy spinach in the baking bowl.
15. Heat butter in a pan , add the flour and stir. 
16. Stirring constantly add the milk and cook till the sauce slightly thickens. Then add the cream and cook again till the sauce gets proper creamy.
17. To the creamy sauce add the salt and red chilli powder and cook for 2-3 min.
18. Pour the sauce on top of the poached egg.
19. Add grated cheese on top of the creamy sauce and bake for 2 min. And done :) .                            

                                          I had it with garlic bread.......... :) 

KREATIVE BLOG AWARD...............YAY..!!!

What a surprise.....!!!
Today when I was visiting other blogs I saw this award and I was thinking that this is a great award to get :) ....... And now when I logged in to my utter surprise I was presented the "KREATIVE BLOG AWARD" by Harika.YAY!!! that was my reaction exactly.
I am too excited on getting this award.....Thanks Harika you actually made my wish come true.

But blogging is about sharing so the rules to claim this award are :
1) Thank the person giving the award
2) Copy the award to your blog
3) Place a link to their blog
4) Name 7 things people don't know about you
5) Nominate 7 bloggers
6) Place a link to those bloggers
7) Leave a comment letting those bloggers know about the award

7 things about me :

• I prefer to visit different resturants and try out different types of food.
• I enjoy watching cartoons and cookery shows on tv.
• I am very fond of jewellery and purses and I have a huge collection of both :)
• I am a believer of faith and destiny.
• I dont like to make the morning tea and prefer if someone does it for me :P
• I love soft toys.....everytime I go for shopping I always buying one or two soft toys.
• I am a software engineer by profession..........just couldnt think of anything else.

Well as for nominating 7 bloggers its very hard for me to pick 7 of the wonderful and creative blogger from all the wonderful bloggers I have met. So I would like to pass the award to all the bloggers whom I sincerly follow.

PENNE IN CILANTRO SAUCE

My love for pasta started so 3-4 years back. Althought the first I tried it in a resturant i didnt like it much , then I decided to try making it and since then my love for Pasta is going strong :D .  Since then I have experimented with Pasta and they have been quite liked by my friends and my parents. This time when my parents came to visit me my dad so sweetly said "You make that tube type something with cheese and  tomato  , I want to have that again" I felt it so sweet when I made the Pasta for him , I loved to see the way he was having it just like a kid :) . As for this recipe....I had decided to make a cheese free pasta ;) . So upon recking my brain for some time I suddenly remember the menu item I had seen in my fav restaurant , although I don't actually know how they make it but I was determined to try it :D . So this dish was created .

Eggs	2 numbers
Pasta	3 cups
Milk	2 cups
Flour	1 tablespoon
Cilantro	2 bunches
Garlic cloves	3 medium sized
Tomato	1 medium sized
Onion	1 medium sized
Red Bell Pepper	1 medium sized
Red Chilly flakes	1 tablespoon
Oil	2 tablespoons
Salt	As per taste

1. Cut into dices the onion, tomato , red bell pepper.
2. Make a paste of cilantro and garlic into a smooth paste (It will a little watery but its fine)
3. Boil the pasta with some salt and little oil (Seasoning the pasta while boiling is very important. And adding oil prevents the pasta from sticking to one another).
4. When the pasta is cooked remove it on a big bowl that can be used for baking as well.
5. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan , and softy break the eggs on to the pan in such a way that the yolks are not disturbed. Add a pinch of salt on top of it and slightly fry it from both sides and remove it on a plate.
6. Heat oil in the pan , and add the onion when it turns translucent and the diced pepper  and salt and fry when done add the tomatoes and fry .
7. To the pan add the flour and stirring constantly add the milk see that it doesn't form lump.
8. When the sauce is slightly cooked add the cilantro paste and cook it for another 5 min . 
9. Pour the sauce on the pasta and add red chilly flakes and mix everything properly and bake for 2 min.

                     
                   The dish is ready..........and I love it with some garlic bread..... :) !!!!!

BAKED EGGS IN SPICY MUSTARD SAUCE

"An egg is always an adventure; the next one may be different." - Oscar Wilde Eggs can be made in many different ways and each tastes better then the other. I just love to eat eggs,I have egg dishes at least 2-3 times a week....too much :) well I know but cannot stop myself  ;)  .  I love eggs so much that my recent fav restaurant is The Egg Factory they have some awesome egg dishes and I have become a regular visitor. As for this recipe....Actually friends were coming for dinner and I just didn't have anything good to cook and due to work load in office I could not go for shopping and just then came my Saviour EGGS and so this recipe was created.... :) . I call it BHAPA DIM which in English mean BAKED EGGS IN SPICY MUSTARD SAUCE. So here it goes....

Eggs	4 numbers
Cashewnuts	8-9 numbers
Curd	1 tablespoon
Mustard paste	2 tablespoon
Red Chilli Powder	2 teaspoons
Turmeric Powder	Half teaspoons
Coconut milk	1 tablespoon
Onion	1 medium sized
Green chilly	2-3 pieces
Mustard Oil	2 tablespoons
Salt	As per taste

1. Hard boil the 4 eggs and let them cool,remove the shell and cut the eggs into half so that there are 8 egg pieces.
2. Grind together cashew nuts,green chilly and the mustard paste into a fine paste.
3. In a bowl mix smoothly the mustard paste with curd , coconut milk , turmeric powder , red chilli powder and salt. See that the mixture is not too free flowing.
4. Cut the onion into julienne form and set aside.
5. Coat a baking bowl with little oil , layer half the onion julienne in the bottom of the dish then place half the eggs and pour half the mustard mixture.
6. On top of the mixture, place the rest of the onion julienne followed by rest of the eggs and the mustard mixture.
7. To bake in the microwave , place a bowl of water in the microwave and place the baking dish on top of that see that the water just touches the bottom of the baking dish.
8. Now cook it for 15-20 min......And WALLA....!!!

                    
  Serve it with steam rice......its goes very well with that.... :)