Back after a long break with Butter cake!!

Ive been in hibernation for a loooong time.. We relocated to a nearby city called Arcadia from Pasadena,the reason being my elder kid's education.
Arcadia boasts having one of the best school districts in California.

I like my  kitchen in this apartment  a lot cuz its bigger and it is well lit.Well lit means.... Brighter and better pictures for my blog:)

So coming to the recipe..It is one of the simplest tea cake.Rich,soft and moist and it tasted even better the next day.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup

Baking powder - 3/4 tsp

Sugar - 1 cup(you can reduce to 3/4 cup if you want)

Melted Butter - 1/4 pound

Vanilla essence - 2tsp

Eggs - 2

Method:

Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
Mix the flour,baking powder.
In another pan mix the butter with sugar.Then add the eggs,vanilla essence.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just flour is incorporated into the wet ingredients.It would be lumpy.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean and the cake springs up when touched.
The cake would be golden brown in color when done.
Allow it to cool completely.

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Schezwan Paneer

I bought a jar of Ching's Schezwan sauce recently.On the back I found this recipe and found it quite interesting . It came out too good.Here goes the recipe

Ingredients:


Paneer - 120 gms

Capsicum - 1 diced

Onion - 1 chopped

Ginger - 1tsp chopped

Garlic - 1 tsp minced

Tomato sauce - 2 tsp

Red chili sauce - 1tsp

Schezwan Sauce - 2Tbsp

Oil  - 1/4 cup for shallow frying paneer

Cornflour - 1 1/2 tsp

 sugar - 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Method:


Shallow fry the paneer and drain excess oil.

In the same pan add the ginger and garlic and saute till the garlic is slightly brown.Add the chopped onion and saute till light brown.

Now add capsicum and saute for 2 minutes.The capsicum should be crunchy.Now add the salt, sauces and saute for 2 minutes.

Then add 1 cup of water and allow to boil for 2 minutes.Now add the fried paneer and simmer for 2 minutes.

Mix  1 1/2 tsp of cornflower with 6tbsp of water to thicken the sauce.

Finally add sugar and mix well.

Garnish with chopped spring onion and serve hot.

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Strawberry Shortcake Muffin

Ive been MIA for a while because my kid's summer vacation has started and I'm frequently hearing the "Iam SO bored, Ma"  dialogue.This summer is even more challenging, taking care of 2 kids.I barely log on to blogger.

I managed to squeeze some time to post this recipe.I love browsing the foodgawker website.Whenever Iam in need of a recipe, I browse this site as it has so many versions of the same recipe posted by many food bloggers.When I was searching for strawberry muffin recipe this one grabbed my attention.The name itself was catchy.It tasted so good.

This recipe was posted by Jennifer of Seasons and supper.Thanks Jennifer!!

I tweaked the recipe a little bit.


Ingredients:


All purpose Flour - 2 cups

Baking powder - 2 tsp

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 1/4 cup

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Butter - 1/2 cup cold and cut into cubes

Egg - 1

Whole milk - 1 cup

Strawberries - 10 cut into small pieces.

Vanilla - 1tsp

Method :


Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.Line the muffin pan with liners.

Grease or line12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder,salt and sugar. Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender (or two knives) until it is in small pea-size pieces.

In small bowl mix the egg, vanilla and milk. Add all at once to flour mixture. Stir with spoon until just blended. Gently mix in the diced strawberries.

Spoon into muffin cups, making sure each muffin has some strawberries and bake for about 25 minutes. Cool completely in pan before removing.

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Spicy Oven Fries

These are the healthier version of french fries because they are baked and not fried.It can be served as a side or a snack.

Ingredients :

Yellow potatoes - 3(Peel the skin and cut into cubes or cut into long strips.You can leave the skin on  if you wish)

Oil - 2tbsp

Salt to taste

Chili flakes /Chili powder - 1 tsp

Kitchen king masala - 1/2 tsp(optional)You can even use garam masala or Italian seasoning .

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 425 deg F.

In a medium bowl pour the oil.Toss the potato cubes,salt,chili flakes,Kitchen king masala  and mix well.

In a cookie sheet,spray non-stick cooking spray and arrange the potatoes taking care not to overcrowd them.

Bake them for 15 minutes and then turn the potato cubes and bake for about 10 minutes.The potatoes will be light brown on the outside and soft on the inside when done.

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Aval /Poha Paruppu Usili

Aval Paruppu Usili is one of the interesting dishes of Tamil Brahmin Cuisine.It contains no onions or garlic.

The first step is to make Usili made of grounded and steamed toor Dal.Then poha should be mixed with the usili/dal mixture

Ive blogged about Beans paruppu usili long back.The procedure is the same except we have to substitute Poha for Beans.

Ingredients :

Extra Thick Poha/Aval - 1 cup

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Curry leaves - a few sprigs

Sesame oil - 2tbsp

Salt to taste;

For the usili/Dal mixture:

Toor dal - 1/2 cup

Dry red chillies - 4

Salt to taste

Asafoetida - a pinch

Procedure:

Wash Poha several times.Drain the water completely.Let it stand for 20 minutes.

Make the usili as mentioned here

In a pan mix the poha and usili together and set on low flame.Adjust the salt and cook till raw smell of Poha goes off.

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