Broccoli Casserole ... yumm !! ?????????

No Kidding ! Bahaar enjoyed this one today (much to my surprise !) Not only did she have seconds, she had thirds ! This was such an easy dish to make I'm thinking if I could substitute the broccoli with other veggies for her to try as well. It took me about 10 minutes from start to get the casserole into the over (which included 7 minutes of steaming the broccoli) and from there, about 20-25 minutes in the oven for the casserole to get golden brown. Here's what you will need

1 Can cream of "anything" soup. I used cream of Chicken. However, you can use others such as Cream of Celery or Mushroom etc. I've tried other Cream of Cans before, with pretty much the same result : yumm ! You will end up using less than the whole can so the smaller the can you can find, the better

1-2 bunches of broccoli

Butter or any other non-sweet Crackers (the quantity of these will vary depending on the surface area of the broccoli you have to cover). I used about 10-15. Try not to use Saltines since they bring more salt to the party and the canned stuff anyways has much more salt that is healthy so less the merrier.

Steam the broccoli until its al-dente. Note that it should not get too soft since it will cook some more in the oven. If your child prefers it crisper, steam it for a shorter time by all means. I steamed my batch for about 7 minutes in a rolling boil since Bahaar refuses to eat anything thats not absolutely soft or absolutely crisp (like chips). Drain immediately. Remove in an oven safe bowl. Scoop in the Cream of chicken mix from the can a little at a time and toss the broccoli so as to evenly coat it. Note that adding too much of the canned soup will make the result mushy and undesirable. Crush the crackers into a fine crumb mixture and sprinkle evenly on top. Cook in a preheated oven at 375 deg C for 20 minutes or until the top is nice and golden brown. Be careful since it takes less than 2 minutes of overcooking for the cracker crust to turn from yummy golden to a burnt black.

Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Chicken Soup For the ...

Well, this one's for the upset stomach. Bahaar's been ill for the last week with a stomach infection, and she's had this soup a couple of times this week. She's actually liked it ! I used a pressure cooker to make it. However if you don't have one, I guess you can cook the chicken in the saucepan until its really tender (practically falls off the bone). I used drumsticks to make it. But you can use other pieces that are high in 'gelatinous'  material as well.

1 Chicken Drumstick skin removed

1/2 Cup frozen diced carrots

1/4 Cup frozen peas

1/2 tsp ground ginger garlic paste

Salt to taste

Put all the above items in a pressure cooker with 2-3 cups of water and close the lid. Let the cooker "give off steam" 3-4 times. If you have another kind of pressure cooker, just cook the chicken according to the manufacturer's instructions that would leave the chicken completely tender. 

Allow to cool and open the lid. Take the drumstick out and shred the chicken into tiny shreds and add that into the broth. Serve warm.

You can substitute the ground ginger garlic paste for only ginger paste or only garlic paste as well. Ginger helps in digestion and garlic helps kill internal infections of the digestive system.

Italian Style Chicken and Potatoes

Posting the recipe to this, is going to be extremely easy ! Making this, even easier ! The first because I borrowed the recipe from a friend's blog. The other because the crockpot does the cooking !!

So where do you find it ? Look for it in the "Crafty Mommy" blog. Where do you find that link? Check out Bahaar's blog. Sounds like too much effort ? Go directly there : http://craftykorisa.blogspot.com

I made a few modifications to the recipe. I added a handful of frozen chopped spinach, a dash of garlic powder and a sprinkling of onion powder. I also added a handful of mixed veggies (carrots, corn and green beans). Towards the end of the cooking, I felt that the stuff was stickig to the bottom so I added a little bit of chicken broth (about half a cup).

Hope you all enjoy !

Greek Lamb Moussaka

I have to admit, this is the first greek food I have tried making ..... ever ! Ofcourse, I love Baklava !

This dish, is traditionally made with Eggplant (also known as Aubergine) instead of potatoes. However, I wasn't sure if Bahaar would like eggplant. I did however, want to add some veggie twist to it so I added zuchini slices. Here's what you will need. Note that the original recipe called only for Cumin and Cinnamon powders. I added Garam Masala instead. Garam Masala is a blend of Cinnamon, Cloves, Bay leaf, cumin, coriander seeds and black peppers. Garam Masala is traditionally used in many north Indian dishes. I also substituted fresh cilantro for fresh parsley mainly because, a lot of Cilantro is used in Indian cooking, and thats what I had on hand.

1 Lb Ground Lamb

1 Pepper diced small(you can use green, red, yellow, orange or a mix of all these)

1 Medium Onion diced finely

1 Cup Tomato Sauce (I used readymade pasta sauce but you can use plain too)

1/2 tsp Garam Masala (you can sub 1 tsp cumin powder and 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder instead)

2 Eggs

1 cup milk

1 Zucchini sliced into rounds

1 Potato sliced into rounds

3-4 stems Cilantro

Salt to taste

Cooking spray

Start preheating the oven to 375 deg C. Soak the potato slices immediately after cutting, in salted water, to stop them from turning brown. Keep them soaked for about 30 minutes so that the potatoes absorb some of the salt. Then take a pan, coat with cooking spray and add the potato slices in a single layer to the pan (You can absorb some of the water from the potatoes by dabbing them on a kitchen towel. That way, you won't get burnt with the water sizzling at you). Cook the potatoes until the underside is very lightly browned and you see tiny blisters. Turn the potato slices over and cook the other side. Remove and keep aside. Add the next batch of the potato slices and repeat until done.

Remove any bits of potato left in the pan and coat it with cooking spray. Add onion and saute for a little while until they start caramelizing. Then add the lamb and saute until it gets browned. the lamb will leave liquid. Be sure to keep stirring until most of the liquid evaporates (This dish will have enough moisture anyways without the liquid from the lamb). This is probably one of the few dishes where I would add salt at this time. The reason for that is, the salt will pull out the moisture from the ground meat which we can evaporate in the cooking process. Then add the Garam Masala. Stir for a minute or so until its mixed, followed by diced peppers.

In a baking dish place half the potatoes in a single layer. Layer with half of the ground meat mixture. Layer the zucchini slices and add the remaining meat mixture on top to cover the zucchini. The top this with finely chopped cilantro. Layer again with remaining potatoes.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until fluffy. Add the eggs to the milk (cold ! otherwise the milk will cook the eggs !). Mix well. You could add a pinch of salt to this mix. Pour this mix over the potato mixture. Pop the dish into the oven and cook for about 30 minutes until the center is set. The original recipe called for baking for half hour at 350. However, that didn't quite happen for me. I had to increase the temperature to 400 after the first half hour of baking at 350 and bake for another 20-25 minutes. the baking time will vary on how much liquid remains in the dish.

Let it stand for 5 minutes to allow easy cutting. The center will be extremely hot. Hence, when serving children, me extra careful.

Cheese Pyaas Paratha (Tortilla stuffed with Cheese & Onions)

1 Cup Wheat Flour (preferably whole wheat flour with no enriched white flour added)

1 Tablespoon very finely chopped Onion

1/2 Teaspoon very finely chopped Ginger

Salt to taste

Water as per requirement to combine flour into a ball

3/4th cup Shredded Cheese (preferably mild Cheddar)

4-5 Teaspoons mashed boiled Carrot

Mix Cheese, mashed Carrot and Onion and keep aside. Add salt to the flour and start adding water (preferably luke warm) gradually, combining it into a ball. Knead the dough for a good 5-10 minutes. Take a small piece of the formed dough (about 1.5 inches in diameter) . Flatten it on a rolling board with a rolling pin. Roll the flour and form it into a 3-4 inch tortilla. Scoop 2 teaspoonsful of the Cheese Onion mixture into the tortilla. Gather the edges of the tortilla together to seal the mixture in and form a ball. Roll the ball into a thin tortilla. Heat a non stick pan. Put the tortilla in the pan and roast it on both sides until light brown spots develop on each side. If required, add a little bit of "Ghee" to both sides after initial roasting of the tortilla and roast for a further 30 seconds each side.

Repeat for the rest of the kneaded flour making Tortillas. Be careful serving the tortilla to children since the cheese inside may be very hot.

For Adults, you can leave out the carrots and stuff with cheese and onion. Alternately, you can stuff with boiled mashed potato. Be sure to add salt and if desired, finely chopped green chilies to the potato mixture.