Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts

22 June 2018

Snack Jars and Breakfast Parfaits from Season's best Fruits!!!

I hardly post any recipe posts on my blog, but this I couldn't resist. Being moved to Bangalore in March, I have been lucky to have my terrace kitchen garden and a neighbour who grows almost every fruit, veggies, spices, herbs. I will definitely take a tour of her and my gardens in one of my posts, but this post is for breakfast jars. She gave me few avocados, passion fruits and pomegranate, me been obsessed with parfaits off late, tried few of the recipes with them. So here are the parfaits I tried over the month for my daughter's snack tiffin,

Avocado Oreo Parfait

It was my first try with avocados and tried initially having with sugar, but non of us at home liked it. So thought of making avocado cream, which just turned to be superb. And that got added to my parfait list.
Avocado cream: 
Ingredient: Avocado, Vanilla ice cream, honey, milk
Method: Blend all the ingredients together, if you opt for a Smoothie use more milk, else just a little milk to blend all the ingredients and your avocado cream is ready.
Dry fruit Crunches:
Ingredient: Dry fruit, jaggery
Method: Melt jaggery in a non stick pan, add a spoon of water, to avoid jaggery from burning. Add chopped dry fruits. Roast for 2-3mins, take out on a plate immediately and let cool, I leave it overnight to get the better crunchiness.
Parfait Method:
Layer the jar with avocado cream, crushed oreo biscuits and top it with dry fruit crunches and you are done.

Falooda

Ingredients: Vermicelli, sugar, strawberry syrup, basil seeds, fresh fruit and dry fruit of your choice, custard, milk, sprinkles.
Method: 
Prepare Vermicelli by cooking it in milk and sugar and keep aside.
Soak basil seeds for 15mins
Prepare custard milk with milk and sugar(as instructed on the pack)
Line your jar with strawberry syrup, layer it with vermicelli, basil seeds, fresh fruits, dry fruits, custard milk and top it with sprinkles.

Mango Passion Fruit Parfait

Its still the season of king of fruits, mango and the passion fruits are growing in glory, so here it is Mango Passion Fruit Parfait.
Ingredients: Passion Fruit, Mango Puree, Mango cubes, Hung curd(you can use Greek Yogurt as well, but I chose to keep it home made without preservatives), honey, granola, choco-chips and apricots. 
Method:
Mix hung curd, passion fruit and honey as per your taste. 
Layer the jar with curd mixture, mango cubes, mango puree, granola and top it with choco chips and apricots, and you are done.

Banana Choco Peanut Butter Parfait

Ingredients: Banana, Plain Greek Yogurt, Coco Powder, Peanut Butter, honey, granola, roasted peanut and choco chips
Method:
Mix Greek Yogurt, coco powder(you can have enough coco powder to make it dark, mine turned out to be little), peanut butter and honey.
Layer your jar with Yogurt mixture, chopped banana, granola and top it with roasted peanuts and choco chips.
Peanut Butter recipe: Dry roast peanut, allow it to cool for 5mins and blend it, blend till it turns buttery. It doesn't need any extra oil, peanut has enough oil content. And your home made peanut butter is done.

Sprout Salad Jar

Ingredients: Sprouted green gram, grated carrots, chopped cucumber, pomegranate, salt, lemon, pepper powder
Mix sprout and the veggies, dress it with salt, pepper powder and lemon. 

31 July 2017

Wonderchef Exclusive Brand Outlet Launch at Phoenix Marketcity, Pune!!!

Not everyone like entering the kitchen early morning, and there are few like me who believe ‘I can cook healthier(if not tastier) food to my kid than my cook’ and enter the kitchen. For all we women, the Wonderchef brand believes in kitchen being the ‘heart of our homes’, as it inspires us every day to create tasting memories with the food we cook for our loved ones, and has bought the kitchenware range which is a perfect blend of health, taste and convenience that inspires us to ‘cook with pride’. The pleasure to use them, the innovation, colours and designs, with uncompromising standards of quality makes cooking more interesting and fun with Wonderchef. Gone are those days when kitchenware were in metallic, blacks and greys. Every range is unique with Wonderchef, the vibrant Royal blue, purple, green, just not colours, but also unique prints in their Oscar and Picasso collection.
Food, Store Launch, Wonderchef, Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Kitchenware, Cookware, Pune, Phoenix Market City
Wonderchef Kitchenware as a company was born out of the ‘love of cooking’. Driven by passion of making kitchen the centre of wellness and goodness in homes, Wonderchef was created by two enthusiasts, Mr. Ravi Saxena and Chef Sanjeev Kapoor in 2009. Wonderchef products are used in millions of homes in India where healthy and convenient cooking is a part of lifestyle. Wonderchef launched its first Exclusive Brand Outlet in Pune. The outlet is located at Pune’s Phoenix Marketcity, Viman Nagar. With this addition, now Wonderchef has 6 outlets in the country besides its omni-channel presence across 5000 retail outlets.
Food, Store Launch, Wonderchef, Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Kitchenware, Cookware, Pune, Phoenix Market City
On the launch occasion, Mr. Ravi Saxena, Managing Director, Wonderchef Home Appliances(P) Ltd said, “Wonderchef has grown into a trusted & the most loved brand of non-stick cookware and healthy appliances in the country. Our clear focus is to strengthen this positioning. Everything we would do over the next three years would be in this direction till such time we are one of the top 3 players in kitchen industry in India. As of now we have total 6 EBOs and we plan to open 2 more stores in Delhi and 1 in Bangalore by next month. Soon we are going to be present across Metros with partners who are passionate about cooking and want to be a part of the growing Wonderchef family”.
Food, Store Launch, Wonderchef, Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Kitchenware, Cookware, Pune, Phoenix Market City
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor launched the Outlet amongst a huge gathering and a live Cooking Competition was the highlight of the launch. Chef Sanjeev Kapoor judged the recipes and gave away prizes. He said, “I am very happy and overwhelmed to see the enthusiasm and zeal in the people of Pune. It gives me immense pleasure to see an evolving cooking culture with such innovative recipes. Wonderchef is committed to empowering women by enabling them to cook better. 
Wonderchef stores in Mumbai are located at Linking Road(Khar), Infiniti Mall(Andheri West), Viviana Mall(Thane), R-City Mall(Ghatkopar), Seawoods Mall(Vashi) and now at Phoenix Marketcity(Pune).

3 June 2017

'Little Chefs Workshop' with Amrita Kaur at Godrej Nature's Basket!!!

I have been associated with Godrej group for quite sometime. And Godrej Nature's Basket has been one of my favorite Food stores, for their variety and quality of food offered. Recently I was invited  to cover their Kids Workshop by Amrita Kaur at their Koregaon Park Store here in Pune. Being on her summer vacation kiddo didn't wanted to miss the workshop and were we both at their store last weekend. 
The recipes included Rainbow noodles Salad with Peanut butter dressing, Rainbow Nice Cream topped with nutty sprinkles and delicious Mango No-Bake Cheesecake Tart, easy, no flame colourful recipes which the kids really enjoyed whipping. Amrita wore Rainbow shades as well to go with the theme, and she made the workshop more interactive and interesting by giving kids nutrition, health and food vocab gyan.

No Bake Cheese Cake


Ingredients:
  • 1 Packet digestive biscuits, crushed coarsely.
  • Toasted nuts of your choice(almonds/pistachio/walnuts)
  • 2-3 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 pinch cardamom powder
  • Pinch of Salt
For the cheesecake
  • 1 cup cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup whipped cream
  • Fresh mango pulp + sliced for garnish
  • 2 table spoos caster sugar
  • Juice/zest of half a lemon
  • Pinch of cardamom powder
Method
  • Combine the crushed biscuits with the nuts, melted butter, cardamom powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Take a spoonful and press tightly on bottom tightly on bottom of a tart shell.
  • Blend cream cheese, whipped cream mango puree, lemon juice & zest and cardamom powder and sugar using an electrical mix or a whisk until well combined. Top this cheesecake filling over the prepared tart crust and refrigerate.

Rainbow Noodles Salad(with peanut butter dressing)

Ingredients:
  • 50g soba noodles, boiled as per package instruction.
  • 1/2 cup mixed veggies, julienned(carrot, purple cabbage, spring onions, red & yellow bell peppers, raw mango)
  • Few springs of fresh coriander.
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame tp sprinkle on top.
For Peanut Dressing
  • 1 table spoon peanut butter
  • Juice of a lemon
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce.
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
  • 1/2 inch ginger grated
  • Few tablespoons water(to thin the dressing)
Method:
  • Toss all the Salad elements together veggies and noodles. Pour the prepared dressing over it and give it a good mix. Serve in a salad bowl with sesame and coriander on top.
Peanut Butter Dressing
Whisk all the ingredient together(Peanut butter, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, soy, honey, garlic, ginger and water as required)

Chef's Gyan: prepare dressing in glass jar, if excess can be stored and refrigerated for next use.

Rainbow Nice Cream


Ingredients
  • 2 Bananas, sliced and frozen
For Variations
  • 1 tablespoon fresh strawberries/raspberries
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon Blueberries
  • 1 tablespoon fresh mango slices
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Pinch of cardamom powder
  • Toasted nuts to top(almonds, pistachio & cranberries) finely chopped
Method
  • Make sure that banana are ripe. Slice and freeze. When the bananas are fully frozen, toss them into a food processor or high speed blender and blend until you achieve a consistency that resembles soft serve ice cream
  • Divide into 5 portions. Set one aside
  • Add strawberries/raspberries to one & blend
  • Add cocoa powder + vanilla to second & blend
  • Add blueberries to the third & blend
  • Finally mango slice & cardamom powder to the fourth and blend
  • Transfer all the blended flavours in one big bowl. Cream swirl using a spoon. Make sure to not mix completely.
Note: If your blender is having trouble processing, you can add 1-2 tablespoons milk/nut milk/soy milk to make it easier.
All smiles with their Rainbow Nice cream

Armita's Veggie, Fruit Vocab Gyan

Avacado in Hindi - Makhan Phal
Jamun in English - Black Plum
Fruit with 1000 seeds - Strawberry

These are only ones I could recall ;)

The store also had a photo booth where kids got their framed photographs in chef look. All in all the day was well spent whipping some yummy colorful dishes with lovely chef.

17 April 2016

Nutrition Talk by Chef Vikas Khanna at #QuakerBowl indiblogger meet, and a Giveaway!!!

Food has always been a major challenge. Be it the malnutrition among the lesser income families or the fuzzy eater kids and the changing food pattern and lifestyle in the upper incomes. Half war is won just by substituting refined grains with whole grains. Whole grains which are rich in fibre, multiple vitamins and iron work better on digestive tract and help convert the consumed food into energy rather to bad fats.
Chef, Chef Vikas Khanna, Quaker, Quaker India, Oats, Benefits of Oats, Healthy living, Nutrition, Nutrition Talk, Health Issues, Health issues in India
#QuakerBowl @Indiblogger Meet
Nutrition, this was the topic of discussion at the #QuakerBowl @indiblogger meet last Sunday at J W Marriot Mumbai, when celebrity Chef Vikas Khanna joined bloggers from Mumbai. The style icon and celebrity Chef Vikas Khanna who is known for the twists he creates in tastes was revealed as the Nutrition Ambassador of Quaker India at the meet. Chef shared about the goodness of whole grains and Oats in particular. Through a Q&A session he introduced us to interesting food and India facts. There were other challenges for bloggers like guessing the ingredients and also a mini Master chef contest, where we bloggers in groups tried cooking awesomelicious recipes with Quaker Oats. 
Chef, Chef Vikas Khanna, Quaker, Quaker India, Oats, Benefits of Oats, Healthy living, Nutrition, Nutrition Talk, Health Issues, Health issues in India
Chef tasting our recipes
Quaker Health Challenge
Dinner has always been a challenge for me, I always prefer having dinner by 7 in the evening. But by the time I come home from office and cook my dinner its 9 in the night and that has made me put on since last few months. As suggested by one of blogger friends Reshmi Kurup, I have started having Oats for dinner(by 7:30). This makes me feel light by the time I go to bed by 10, just with in a week of trying oats for dinner, I can make out the difference in myself.
Giveaway!!!
Its a real misconception that healthy food cannot be tasty. You can make your food healthier without compromising on taste by including more of whole grains like wheat and brown rice. You can improve the nutrition by including Quaker Oats.
Watch the #QuickQuaker recipes at https://www.quaker.co.in/recipe/all-videos/all and share the link to the video of the recipe you liked, in the comment section below along with your email address. You can also shall your own recipes you tried using oats. One lucky winner will win "Do more with Quaker!" Cookbook by Quaker.

Thank you all for participating in the contest, the contest is now closed. Winner is,
SAMANTHA SURESH
Samantha, congratulations.

Contest Terms and Condition:
  • Contest is open till 5th May 2016, 11:59PM and winner will be announced on 6th May 2016. The Organizer may in its absolute discretion curtail or extend the Contest Period, as it deems necessary without any liability whatsoever; and no communication in this regard will be entertained. 
  • No purchase or consumption of products is necessary to participate in the Contest. 
  •  Prize can be sent to address only with-in India.
  • Winners will be contacted on their email id as provided while participating. The Winner shall provide his/her details i.e. valid contact no and postal address. Such information shall be provided within 3 days from the declaration of the Winner. The Winners would be contacted thrice over a period of 48 hrs. In case the Winner does not respond with the required details or is not reachable we reserve the right to pass on the Prize to another Participant, as per the criteria mentioned above, without any further notice to such Winner. The new Winner in such a case will be contacted and verified via telephone and/or email, as per this Clause.

30 January 2016

The Bombay Bronx Restaurant, Mumbai

I was at The Bombay Bronx for the Aegon Religare blogger's meet. The restaurant has been designed to give it a typical Bombayya look. Chandeliers of the lunchbox of the famous dabbawalas of Mumbai, also the glass top dinning tables, have dabbas lined up.
The cash counter was given the Bollywood and advertisment look from the 80s. Also one side of the restuarant is given the look of a local train.
The entrance has the painting of a koli women and the upper wall is given the look of EROS International.

The food too included Mumbai street foods along with pizza and Punjabi. For starters we tried Dhokla pakoda, vada pav, cheese balls, most of which were served in Mumbai style too, in paper cones placed inside small buckets. The starters maintained the authentic Mumbai taste in all of them. We also tried pizza, which was served on a grill atop wooden pan.
For main course, we had paneer gobhi with naan, which was served on a small carrom board. A single board is served to each table and everyone on the table can have from the same. The paneer gobhi for me was just ok when compared to the starters. At the bar I tried Aam Panna. It tasted very refreshing and I couldn't resist myself from having 3 of them.
Cost: Rs. 1500 for two people.

9 January 2016

Cake Exhibition at J W Marriott Sahar Mumbai!!!

I was at J W Marriott Sahar, Mumbai few weeks(few months to be precise) back as part of Blogadda's Win 15 and Pampers #SoftestForBabySkin event. The best part about Blogadda events is they always have a pure vegetarian plater, including Jain counter. That was the event when I tasted Sushi for the first time, oh man, I just fell in love with Sushi and looking for a Japanese Restaurant somewhere around.
Center stage of the buffet was awesome sugar craft by talented chef of J W Marriott. I was so much impressed and went on clicking as many pics I could. Looking at my enthu, chief pastry chef asked me to visit the lobby where there were lot more cakes for display for the cake exhibition they had as part of 'Celebrate with JW Sahar' campaign. Have a look at all the cakes I got to click. Along with the looks, the cakes were in mouth watering flavours, which included Crunchy Hazelnut Almond Marzipan, Toffee Coffee, Caramelized pineapple cake, Red Velvet, Chocolate Truffle and Dry fruit cake.
J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth


J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth
 
J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth

J W Marriott, J W Marriott Sahar, Cake Exhibition, Celebrate with JW Sahar, cakes, sugar craft, sweet tooth
Life size replica of one of the chandeliers at the lobby made of chocolate.

Isn't this awesome, do visit their cake exhibition if you get a chance to. They are treat to your eyes and to your taste buds.

12 December 2015

Stay and Din option at Pathankot..

Due to kiddo's bad health we had to skip Dharamshala and come back to Pathankot from Dalhousie. We were at Pathankot by 8 in the night and our taxi driver who had come to drop us from Dalhousie took us to Hotel R K international. R K International is next to Dalhousie Bus Station and very close to Railway station. We had our bus booked for Chandigarh the next day and the hotel looked convenient.
The rooms are quite big and clean, with bed, dresser, TV, mini fridge, sitting place and cupboard. One of windows of the room we stayed at opened towards the backside, thats Pathankot bus stand. With snow fall on last few days, the view also had snowcapped Himalayan peaks, which is always a bliss to watch.
Hotel Review, Pathankot, Restaurant Review, Punjab, Food, RK International Pathankot, Hotel Green Pathankot, Where to Stay in Pathankot, Where to din in Pathankot

Hotel Review, Pathankot, Restaurant Review, Punjab, Food, RK International Pathankot, Hotel Green Pathankot, Where to Stay in Pathankot, Where to din in Pathankot

Hotel Review, Pathankot, Restaurant Review, Punjab, Food, RK International Pathankot, Hotel Green Pathankot, Where to Stay in Pathankot, Where to din in Pathankot
A budget option if you are looking something just for a night's stay, but they don't have a restaurant. We had our food at Hotel Green which is close to R K International. The food is very good at Hotel Green, with Indian, Chinese, Continental. A very good restaurant at the proximity of Bus stand and railway station. When we checked at Hotel Green for accommodation, we were told the hotel was going on with some renovations and hotel was to start very soon, might be we will head straight to Hotel Green during our next visit to Pathankot.
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Tariff at R K International Rs. 1500/- per night, contact detail 0186 223 1888

5 November 2015

'Master Class with the Masters' @The Lalit Mumbai, #BNLF

BNLF(Blog Now Live Forever) was a much awaited event by the blogging community. Day 1, thats 30th of Nov, being the 5th Saturday of the month, I had office and didn't register for the event, while I had registered for the second day. My facebook timeline on 30th evening was full of BNLF updates by all my blogger friends. Harley Davidson motorcycles, Segways, rock-climbing wall and much more and that made me not to miss Day 2 event. 
I managed to be at The Lalit Mumbai, the venue for BNLF only by 2. Just as I reached, a group of bloggers were heading for the Master Class. I had registered for the Master Class as well and joined the group. 
Who don't like Tortellas, I just love them and when the event invite read the chef was about to prepare Tortellas, I didn't wanted to miss it. What better than trying your hands in making the pasta dough, sheeting fresh pastas and shaping your tortellas. Here is what the chef made for us,
 Dish
Food, Food Photography, Tortillas,  Ricotta Spinach Filled Tortellini on the Bed of Mushrooms, recipe, recipe of  Ricotta Spinach Filled Tortellini on the Bed of Mushrooms
 Ricotta Spinach Filled Tortellini on the Bed of Mushrooms


Ingredients
Ricotta Cheese - 25gm
Baby Spinach - 50gm
Farina flour 00' - 50gm
Semolina - 15gm
Eggs - 1 nos.
*EVOO - 5ml
Button Mushrooms - 50gm
Onion - 25gm
Asparagus - 25gm
Sage Butter - 5gm
Sundried Tomato - 10gm
Pine nuts - 10gm
Chives - for garnish
Cherry Tomato - 1 no.            
Salt - To Taste
Cracked black peppers - 2gm

Method
1. Make a mixture of ricotta cheese and spinach with seasoning for pasta filling.
2. Make dough for pasta with Farina flour, whole eggs, salt and olive oil keep for resting. Sheet the pasta and fill with the spinach filling. Give a shape as described.
3. Chop mushrooms and saute with chopped onion in EVOO. Place it as a base for the pasta.
4. Blanch the pasta in salted water for 8 minutes.
5. Make a sauce with sage butter, add chopped onion, garlic. Cook it until translucent, add chopped sundried tomato and chopped pine nuts. Add chopped parsley and fresh sage. Toss the blanched pasta in the sauce. Place the blanced pasta on bed of mushroom.
6. Garnish with butter poached asparagus, balsamic reduction, chopped chives and sundried cherry tomato.
Executive Sous Chef Ravish Mishra and Chef Rajeev Kumar

Blogger trying hands on Pasta making

Fresh Herbs



Plating the dish

Chef with his dish
 Cookery tips:
1. Floating pastas are the indication of cooked pastas when boiling in the pots. 
2. You can give flavours of sage, rosemary or any Italian herb to butter.
2. You can replace eggs with potato starch for vegetarian pasta. 
3. Substitute for mushroom for bed could be Spinach, while you can choose other filling.
* EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil

After Master Class we headed to '7 Key Steps to blogging mastery' by Jeff Bullas, a workshop on blogging.
Thank you Indiblogger for the wonderful event, as always you people rocked. I badly missed the day 1 Clear Trip activities, hope to be part of the next #BNLF :)