A very healty chocolate.

Mom had promised that she will give the Son chocolates while back from school, but the healthier variety. He was a bit sceptic at first, coz his school reader says chocolates are junk food and not healthy. But Mom was like...."you wait and see"....

Anyways, he was really happy to see this arrangement but had just one question the whole afternoon.

"But how did the strawberry get inside this chocolate ??

Mom : aabra kababra..hokus pokus...gili gili gilieee....

The answer never appealed to him anyways, and finally comes up with his own reasoning.

"I know how..its just how a toy gets inside a kinder" !!! ... and off he went.

 (you just cant beat kids thoughts at times.)

Strawberries dipped in melted chocolate. Sure, its something that every single foodie has tried out. The easiest n quickest means to make a lovely edible centrepiece.

and for a change....

.... thats our family, the chocolate-strawberry version.

Drew faces with the edible icing pen, and was not my little ones super excited! The three of them were around me while editing the picture, selecting the specs overlay for Dad n Mom, but a bit upset too, that I never gave them any hat. :)

 Off it goes to Valentines Special by Anzz Cafe, Chocolate Mela and  Anyone can cook event by Ayesha.

Eat the cake, and the cover too!

 

Edible wafer paper ! that too is new now to the Kuwait market, so straight it came home. But , was not exactly sure what to make out of it, except trying out the butterfly cutouts as shown on the package cover. But, it never stayed the same way as shown in the picture. Was just falling off to the sides.

 

 

So, thats when I thought of making wraps for cupcakes, so thats its 100 % edible, including the covers.

Its just soo simple, just cut the wafer paper in a slight arch shape, decorate with Dr. Oetker icing pen , wrap round the cupacke and stick it together with "edible glue". And what is that ??

Well...something that works perfectly well for me in sticking edible things together - just mix icing sugar with a few drops of water (just like you do to make a decorative glaze) to a semi thick consistency. Thats it..it does stick things!

 

Corn meal Idiyappam with Egg Roast & Kuruma

 Corn Meal Idiyappam (string hoppers)

 Saw this pack of "Nirapara" Corn Idiyappam podi and straight it went to my shopping cart. Not sure how its in other parts of the globe, but here, in Kuwait, belive its new to the market. So, definitely went in for a try.

To make:

Corn meal idiyappam:

Idiyappam flour : 3 cups

Boiling water : 4 cups

Salt to taste

How to:

Mix 3 cups of the flour to 4 cups of boiling hot water with added salt to tasts and mix it with a wooden spoon.

Once , less hot, work with your hands to make a fine dough.

Pass it through the idiyappam press and steam till cooked. You can find more about this Keralite breakfast dish out here

 For the kerala style Egg Roast :

You need:

Eggs - 6 nos
Onion - 4 nos
Garlic pods - 5 nos
Ginger - 1 small piece
Green chillies - 2nos (chopped)
Egg Roast Masala - 1 tbsp

Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tbsp
Pepper Powder - 1/4 tbsp
Tomato(medium) - 1 nos
Vegetable oil - 3 tbsp
Salt - As required

Boil eggs, remove the shells and keep it aside.
Heat oil in the pan and add onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic.
Fry onions till it turns yellowish brown.
Add tomatoes and fry it properly.
Add the egg roast masala, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, coriander, pepper powder and salt .

Once the masala is cooked, add in the boiled eggs.
Stir it, cover the pan and let it cook for 15 minutes. Add just a bit of water to not let the masala burn. This makes a thick dry egg roast.

For the kuruma, just add some coconut milk to loosen the roast and you get a different version of the same curry.

 

Teddy-on-the beach Cake, a makeover

This post is meant to demonstrate a simple cake makeover in just about 20 minutes. So, definitely not going in for details on making a cake, i just use a normal store brought plum cake in here.

You need:

Round shaped cake

Whipping Cream

Teddy bear crackers, flat wafer crackers

Licorice belts / sheets, ring shaped jelly gums

Coctail umbrellas

Kit-kat or any other similar ones

Corn flakes / crackers - crushed to fine powder

Blue food colour

How to: 

Beat the whipping cream till peaks appear, as per package instructions. (little things are best when done with little fingers...my lill assistant.)

Seperate the whipped cream to two batches and add in blue food colour. Little in one, and a bit more in the other to get two diffrent tones - dark and light.

Apply white whipping cream to the sides and top half of the cake and cover it with the crushed corn flakes to resemble sand.

Cover the remaining top portion with the blue coloured cream, blending in dark and light tones. To the edges, touch the white cream for the waves. Note that you keep few cut pieces of paper below the cake while applying the cream to keep the base plate neat. To be removed once the docoration is done.

 Slightly push up and then pull back the whipped cream white a knife / spatula as shown to resemble waves.

 Cut the licorice belts into a small rectangle and place a teddy cracker on top. Now, they are ready for a sun - tan on the beach, shaded by a coctail umbrella.

Place ring shaped jelly gums in the waters with teddy's inside..

 Cover the edges alternating with kit-kat and thin ice-cream flat wafers, and secure with a ribbon.

There you go !! remake in just about 20 minutes!

...am back...and moving...

.... its been reallly really long time since i have posted anything here...almost 3 yrs!!! Phew !! Had too many other things to prioratize, you know..had 2 more kids post the last time i typed in here, so was very busy with kids and family...even had to give up my job.

Now, on a fresh start, on a new space...

changing my blogger username from "the kitchen scientist" to " a teflon frypan"  Y the name ??

in here....

http://ieatonline.blogspot.com/

see you there!!

Oven baked Chicken & Majbooz

You need:

Chicken - (I have used 3 mini chicken here)

Whole spices - cloves, cardamom, pepper, cumin, bay leaves

Turmeric powder and Chicken Masala (any brand)

Tomato paste

Barbaque sauce and

Salt to taste

How to:

Place the cleaned chicken (do not remove the skin) in a pan filled with water and add the spices along with a table spoon of chicken masala and boil till the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Drain the chicken , but retain the broth.

Mix together about 1 and a 1/2 tsp of chicken masala, 2 tsp tomato paste, 2 tsp barbaque sauce, salt and pepper to form the coating mix.

Apply generously over the chicken , inside out. Now thats my loyal assistant, ever ready to help Mommy in her kitchen.

Preheat oven to 200 deg C, and bake till the outside is golden brown, for about 25 minutes or so, depending on the size of the chicken. Mine did get a bit too charred..

but, you are not gonna eat the skin anyways...(excuses..i know...)

And with the chicken broth, drain off the spices and measure the amount. Say, if you've got 4 cups of broth, then add in half the quantity, 2 cups, that is.. of washed and soaked basmati rice and cook the rice in the broth. A lovely but very mild flavoured rice is ready just in a couple of minutes. 

A typical arabic meal....Chicken Majbooz...

..and now..for the photo shoot...

:)

Liked this post ? Then, do "like" my facebook page "The Pick'y Bank" to keep updated on more interesting recipes.

Minty Kubus Christmas trees

Edible christmas trees , the spicier version.

You need:

Kuboos /Pita bread

Mint chutney

Red bell pepper

Bread sticks

 How to:

To prepare mint chutney, grind together mint and coriander leaves with ginger, garlic, green chille, coconut, a small bit of yogurt. Add salt to taste .

 Cut the pita breads in triangulae shape and insert a bread stick as shown.

Apply the mint chutney atop each bread piece.

 Decorate using red bell peppers. A quick starter for your christmas get-togethers.

Sorry, this has come after christmas...but, you have the next one coming 11 months from now.

 

Marshmallow Snowmen

 

Something to get you kid coming back asking for more.....

You need:

White marshmallows

Bread sticks

Icing Sugar , Water

Jelly gums / candies - rings, sheet type, and small round shapes

Icing pen

 How to:

Mix Icing Sugar with a few drops of water to form a white thick glaze. It works great as "Edible glue".

Insert the bread stick into the marshmallow and apply the "edible glue" on the top side of the Marsh.

 

* - Stick onto the Marsh, a ring shaped jelly / candy to resmble a hat rim.

* - Take a thin strip of the jelly sheet and tie round for the shawl.

* - Draw using the icing pen, eyes and a smile.

 * - Apply a bit of the glue onto a smaller sized round shaped jelly and place on top of the ring shaped one. The hat is done....and so, is our Snowman !



Bread N Cheese Cuts

Dont they look like some perfectly iced mini cake shapes(with imperfect decoration in here, though) ? Well...not really....

You need:

Bread slices

Mayonnaise/jam/peanut butter or any other spread

Slice cheese

Cookie cutters

Icing pen for decoration (optional)

How to:

Apply mayonnaise/jam or any other spread to the bread and place a piece of slice cheese on top.
Cut the bread to desired shapes using cookie cutters.

 
Decorate using Icing pen, and there's one super easy snack perfect for your kids school mid day eat.

You can also slightly toast the base side of the bread shapes with some butter in a skillet and sprinkle sugar on top. This tastes best when served hot.

Pickled Eggs

The QUESTION:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers eggs;
A peck of pickled peppers eggs Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers eggs,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers eggs Peter Piper picked?

The ANSWER: They're right here!

Editing the rhym to that best suits you...thats what I have done here. With the recipe as well.

 

Note: There are a lots of recipes for pickled eggs in the internet, but most of it askes for Apple cider vinegar. But , just thought about giving a try with normal white vinegar and trust me, it will come out perfectly fine. So, here goes...

 

Eggs - 6 - boiled, cooled and pealed

Beetroot - 2 medium sized / 1 large - grated

Water - 2 cups

White vinegar  - 1 cup

Spices - Cloves, peppercons, cardamom, cinamon - 5 to 6 each

Salt - a pinch

 

 How to:

 

* - Into a pan, add all the above ingredients, except the egg and boil for about 20 minutes on slow flame stirring in between till the water turns dark purple, from the beetroot.

* - Drain off the beetroot and the spices and let to cool.

* - Pour the beetroot syrup into a glass jar, (i have used an empty jam bottle, cleaned and dried) add the boiled eggs and let it stay closed for minimum 24 hrs in the refrigerator.

 

 Here, in the image above, the dark purple colour is from beetroot, while the lighter tone was got by doing the same with violet cabbage, instead.

In here, I have used 2 normal sized hen eggs and 4 quail eggs.

 

Slice, arrange on leafy platter and....you are ready to serve!