Simple Yellow Bundt Cake

Ingredients:
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, kept at room temperature for 30 minutes
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 13- by 9-inch metal baking pan (not dark) or 2 (8- or 9-inch) round pans.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer (fitted with paddle if using a standing mixer) at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla, and beat until thoroughly incorporated, about 5 minutes. Mix in flour mixture in 4 batches alternately with milk at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until batter is just smooth, then spread evenly in the bundt pan (regular pan can be used as well).

Bake cake in middle of oven until it begins to pull away from sides of pan and a tester comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pan, then invert onto a rack and cool completely. Decorate the middle with chocolate chips/ strawberries or blueberries. Serve with whipped cream. YUMMY!

A good meal, anyone?

What makes a good meal?
A tried and tested (or tasted!)recipe? Hearty and fresh ingredients? A honed skill of many years or simply good company? Perhaps all of these.
My husband often asks me how I can cook so many different dishes. I hardly ever make the same recipe more than a couple of times. Even when I make the same dish twice, adding the same ingredients etc they always manage to taste a bit different. Maybe cooking a dish is just like having a relationship with someone. It may be your best friend from high school your ex-boyfriend, the postman who has been delivering mail for years now, your swimming instructor, the local barista, the man who sells you fish at the grocery store, your aunt from Hyderabad, your husband or your favorite teacher---it's all so different and yet so similar in some ways. Like the spices that add flavor to a dish, in a relationship you must have respect, love, trust, expectation, reliability and so on. Well, of course you don't need to love your barista, you just rely on her to help you start the day with a perfect cup of coffee. Maybe you don't have to trust the mailman not to peek into your mails (it's a bunch of bills anyways!) but you do expect him to be there---a familiar face somehow makes the everyday chores so much easier! You don't obviously need to love your ex (unless you are not over him yet!) but perhaps you hate him; or trust him with the secrets you shared...or not!

Like a good meal, you need all these different people and all the myriad emotions attached to each of them. Makes life so much more complicated and yet so much more interesting!

A cup of Cha (tea)...

As far as I remember I was twelve years old when my mom taught me how to make tea. The sole purpose of teaching me this complicated recipe of boiling the water for a certain period of time, measuring the tea leaves accurately, adding the right amount of ginger or green cardamoms---all seemed geared to making me independent in making my own cup of tea whenever I would feel like it. Yes, I was drinking at least four cups of tea from the time I was 12! Bad parenting, I say!:)

The morning started with my dad making tea for me and then hurrying off to the local bazaar before all the fresh vegetables and fruits would disappear. The next two cups would be consumed after I came from school and finally one last cup with my mom before she retired for the night and I went back to finishing homework. Even today, more than the cups of cardamom-infused tea, I remember the conversations that flowed with it. Tea almost acted as a lubricant, clearing way for me and mom to communicate. Perhaps it also gave her a rushed guideed tour through the hours of my life which at the time was surrounded by friends, sports, gossip, fashion concerns and efforts toward having the perfect skin. My monosyllabic answers to all my mom's questions gave way at night when we relaxed on the couch holding our individual cups of this wonderfuly warm liquid in our palms. The inhibitions just melted away. Tea just made me and my mom friends for an hour each day. It was a precious hour for her and a relief for me in many ways. No more hiding, no more judgments, just plain and simple conversation. No holding back, no bars.

Today as I sit in my house, thousands of miles away from home, and drink my steaming cup of coffee( I drink tea only when I go back home to India), I often fondly smile as the memories of Ma and those many cups of Cha, flood my thoughts.

Pot Orzo!!

Ingredients
1 pound orzo
1 cup peas
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried basil
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup white balsamic
vinegar(can be substituted with 1tbsp of lemon juice)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 cup shredded Parmesan

Preparation
Cook orzo in a large pot of boiling salted water according to package directions. Two minutes before pasta is done, add peas. Cook until pasta is done and peas are tender. Drain; pour into a bowl.

Whisk together garlic, basil, salt, pepper, vinegar, olive oil and parsley. Pour dressing over hot pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan. Toss well to combine and you ready to eat a healthy and nutritious meal all in one pot!

Salmon with Tomato-Basil Sauce

Ingredients
Cooking spray
4 wild salmon fillets
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons lemon and herb seasoning
4 cups cauliflower florets
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 cup chopped Roma (plum) tomatoes
1/4 cup slivered basil leaves
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 tbsp corn kernels

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.


Season salmon with salt and pepper. Brush lemon and herb seasoning all over both sides of salmon.


Place salmon on prepared baking sheet. Arrange cauliflower on another baking sheet, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with Parmesan. Roast 15 minutes, until fish is fork tender and cauliflower is golden brown and tender.


In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, basil and capers. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.


Serve 4 of the salmon fillets with tomato mixture spooned over top.
Sprinkle some corn for a crunchy taste.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Red Peppers

This is perhaps my new favorite in the veggie aisle! It's healthy and contrary to popular belief, it's DELICOUS!

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
3-5 small yellow/ red peppers
3 tablespoons good olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.


Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix the spouts and the peppers in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more salt and serve immediately.

Mint Lemonade

Ingredients

* 2 cups sugar
* 6 cups water
* 2 cups fresh lemon juice
* 1/2 cup mint leaves

Directions

To make simple syrup: Place 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved and let cool. Place lemon juice in a large pitcher, add remaining 4 cups water and 1 cup of the simple syrup or more to taste. Stir in mint leaves and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve over ice.

Strawberry Pie

Ingredients
1 pre-baked pie crust shell
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon strawberry extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (3-ounce) package strawberry-flavored gelatin
2 quarts fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered


Directions
In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch, whisking well. Add boiling water and extracts. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens, whisking often. Remove from heat. Add gelatin, stirring until smooth. Let mixture cool to room temperature. Arrange strawberries in baked pie shell. Pour cooled filling over strawberries, coating completely. Refrigerate until set, approximately 4 hours.

Chicken Tandoori

* 1 (3-pound) chicken (I used drumsticks for the recipe)
* 1/2 cup plain yogurt
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1 tablespoon peeled and grated or crushed ginger root
* 1 tablespoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
* 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
* Vegetable oil, for brushing
* Fresh cilantro sprigs and sliced lemons for garnish


Preparation:

If using chicken breasts or whole chicken make diagonal incisions into the chicken flesh.
In a bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon juice or vinegar, garlic, ginger, cumin, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, cardamom, cloves, black pepper and salt. Stir until well-mixed, then pour the mixture over the chicken and rub it into the flesh, turning the chicken several times. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. (Do not marinate for longer than 2 days.) Remove the chicken from the refrigerator at least 1/2 an hour before cooking.

Remove the chicken from the marinade, pressing lightly to extract excess marinade, and brush with oil. Place the chicken pieces on a well-oiled grill rack and grill, turning 3 or 4 times till the juices run clear when a piece is pierced near the bone with a knife.

(If roasting, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan, brush with oil, and cook, turning once, 25 to 30 minutes).

Serve with sprigs of cilantro and slices of lemon.

BBQ Chicken with Orange Zest

1/2 cups BBQ sauce
1 tbsp. grated orange zest
2 tsp garlic paste
1/3 cup orange juice
6 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts(marinated with salt and pepper)

In bowl, mix BBQ sauce, orange zest, and orange juice. Reserve 1/2 cup. Set aside.
Pour oil into a shallow pan. Add garlic paste and soon after add the chicken, turn to evenly coat. Let the chicken brown evebly on both sides and then pour the BBQ paste. Cook the chicken for another 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Turn and brush occasionally with reserved BBQ sauce mix.
Garnish with sesame seeds and coriander.