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Deliciously quick & easy vegetarian/
​vegan recipes
 

Quick & Easy French Toast

2/17/2018

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An easy french toast recipe that allows you to whip up these sweet delicious protein rich bread triangles in minutes!

​Ingredients (3 servings)
3 slices of bread, cut into triangles
2 eggs 
1/2 cup fresh milk
​2 tbsps caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
​A pinch of salt

Method
​1)Mix all the ingredients and whisk them till well combined.
​2) Dip each triangle into the egg batter and let it soak for a few minutes.
​3) Heat a skillet and swig a little canola oil.
​4) Fry the dipped bread triangles  in batches. 
​5) You can have them on their own or serve with honey and whipped cream too!  
​
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Fluffy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Pancakes

2/11/2018

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There are tons of pancake recipes out there. Why is this recipe so special? Well, this recipe is from my sister June who passed it to me years ago. It has been very well received for years in my family and friends. It’s a simple basic recipe for fluffy soft melt in your mouth pancakes and so many other variations can be made out of this one basic recipe. Like you could add mashed bananas, blueberries or raspberries or choc chips etc. I added chop chips this time round at the request of my younger Daughter Riya.

Ingredients ( for 6 pancakes)
1 cup self raising flour
2 tbsps caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

1egg, beaten
3/4 cup fresh milk
2tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Other additions ( Optional)
Mashed Bananas
Choc Chips
Blueberries
Raspberries

Method
1) Mix all the dry ingredient first and then add all the wet ingredients.
Get a pancake pan ready and when hot, grease it with a mix of butter and canola oil. Pour the batter in and add the chop chips on TOP. Drizzle a few drops of butter and canola oil mix.

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2) When the bottom looks light brown, flip over and let it brown on the other side.
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Enjoy with a drizzle of maple syrup on top and butter on the side.
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Banana Walnut Wholemeal Bread Pudding

4/20/2017

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When my girls were much younger and were studying in a local elementary school in the East of Singapore, I would volunteer on a weekly basis to keep the kids gainfully occupied while the teachers were engaged in their staff meeting. Occasionally, we would hold meetings related to th volunteering within the school and food was always brought in. One of the parent volunteers, Niza, made an amazing bread pudding that I can't replicate even till today. Attempts to obtain her recipe were always met with vague answers and that she would bring the recipe the following week. I guess when you have an absolutely delicious out of the world recipe, you wouldn't want to share it with friends you don't know so well.

Perfectly understandable but something I wouldn't do. I share my recipes with everyone. I believe that everyone brings a different, their own unique touch to the food they make and it never turns out exactly the way the original cook makes it. For example, let's take my own recipe below. Some may make it full fat, some may use blueberry bread instead of the stipulated banana walnut bread. You get my gist? So go on and share your recipes with everyone. You'll make that person's day!  And the fact that someone actually asked for your recipe is a compliment and vouches for your culinary skills. What a boost to your ego :)
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For those who may not know, bread pudding is essentially a bread based dessert. It is popular in many countries around the world. Bread Pudding  uses stale bread pieces spread with butter and then soaked in a sweet creamy egg mixture and then baked till the custard sets and the top is a glorious golden brown. One of the easiest desserts to prepare and it can be both sweet or savory. Interesting fact - Bread Puddings were first found in a published recipe book in UK dated 1728. We are looking at a close to 300 year old recipe!
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Many recipes online use actual bananas and walnuts for their Banana Walnut Bread Pudding. I needed a quick and easy recipe so I used the slices of a Banana Walnut bread loaf, instead. Such an easy fool proof way to bake the perfect Banana Walnut Bread Puddng. It tasted heavenly, by the way :) And look out for the wholemeal version.  Couldn't resist not topping off with more walnuts, though!

​Ingredients ( Yields 8 big square chunks)
  • ​6 thick slices of Banana Walnut Wholemeal Bread
  • Butter for greasing the baking dish and spreading onto the bread slices
  • ​3 eggs
  • 150gm sugar (can reduce it to 130gm if you prefer a less sweet version)
  • 300ml skim milk
  • 120ml low fat cream
  • ​1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
  • ​1 cup roughly chopped walnuts 

Method
1) First butter a 10 by 6 inch rectangle glass baking dish.
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2) Then cut the bread slices into 4 triangles each and butter both sides.
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3) Arrange them into the baking dish in an alternate fashion, till all the pieces are used.
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4) Preheat the oven now at 180 deg C or 350 deg F. Then beat the eggs lightly with an electric beater.
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5) Add the sugar and keep on beating till all the sugar has dissolved around 5 mins.
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6) Now, you will add the cinnamon powder, vanilla essence, cream and skim milk. Whisk everything till all are mixed well.
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7) Pour this egg cream mix into the baking dish with the prepared bread slices. Bread slices will start to float, so gently press them down with a spoon. Set aside for 10 mins.
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8) Top with the chopped walnuts.
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9) Bake in the pre-heated oven for 40-45 mins or till the top is golden brown.
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10) Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an added indulgence.
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Easy Mango Nut Bread

9/29/2016

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Mango is under utilised in cakes and muffins. Ripe mangoes are soft, sweet and can easily be mashed into the batter, much like the quintiessential bananas. I came across a certain variety of mangoes in my local neighbourhood. They were so juicy, so sweet and a little fibrous. I had to return for more. Overstocked with mangoes all of a sudden, I remembered an easy recipe for a Mango and Nut Bread incorporating nuts and ripe mangoes.

​No creaming or melting. Lot of mixing only!!

Ingredients (1 loaf)
​2 eggs
​1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup all purpose flour
​1/2 cup sugar (can reduce to 1/3 cup if you prefer a less sweeter loaf)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

​1 cup ripe mango flesh
​1/2 cup chopped almonds/walnuts

Method
​1) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C or 350 deg F. Grease a loaf pan and line with grease proof paper. As always, get all the ingredients ready. From top left clockwise - all purpose flour, eggs, cubed mangoes and sugar.
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2) From top left, clockwise -  vegetable oil, chopped almonds, vanilla essence (centre), salt and baking soda. 
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3) Place all the wet ingredients into a mixing bowl - vanilla essence, oil and eggs. Whisk for a few mins till mixed well.
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4) Place all the dry ingredients into another bowl and mix.
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5) Add in the egg mix into this bowl and mix lightly.
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6) Add in the cubed mangoes and chopped almonds.
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7) Mix gently so as to leave the air in the batter. Thorough over mixing will result in the air escaping from the batter which would give a flat bread. Pour into a prepared bake loaf - what a lovely yellow hue.
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8) Bake for 50-60 mins or until the skewer comes out clean.
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9) At the 30 min mark, this is how it looked.
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10) The final loaf at 50 mins. A gorgeous golden brown broken crust. Enjoy with your favorite cuppa!
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Spinach, Mushroom & Fontina Cheese Calzone

7/31/2015

4 Comments

 
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Calzones have originated  in Naples, Italy and  are shaped like folded pizzas. It forms a nice semi circular form when folded over and it is rather easy to hold in your hands and devour the luscious fillings while standing or walking.  A typical calzone is baked in an oven and one can insert any type of fillings vegetarian or otherwise.

As a rule, Calzones are usually stuffed with cheese be it Ricotta, Parmesan  or Mozzarella. Here I have done the Calzone like the Gourmet Boscaiola Pizza in one of my earlier posts using Fontina Cheese instead.

After baking, the Calzones are usually served with Marinara Sauce or topped with a combination of olive, garlic and parsley.

 The following recipe yields 8, 6 inch calzones.

CALZONE DOUGH


Ingredients ( Calzone Dough)

 3/4 tsp white sugar

 1 and 1/4 cup warm water ( 110 deg F or 45 deg C)

 1 packet active dry yeast

  2 tbsp olive oil

 3/4  tsp salt

 3 cups unbleached bread flour

 1 tsp Italian seasonings


 Some extra bread flour for dusting rolling board

Method ( Calzone Dough)

Place the warm water in a bowl and dissolve the sugar in it.

Then sprinkle the yeast on the top but do not stir. Leave it to get foamy for about 10 mins.

After 10 mins, add in the salt and olive oil and stir.

Add in the bread flour and the Italian seasonings and mix for a few minutes. You would have got a ball of dough by now.

Remove this dough and place it on a floured rolling board. Knead to form a smooth dough. Add in a little olive oil or extra flour to help.

Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a loose towel and let it rise for around 2 hours near a warm place.

In the meantime, prepare the fillings.

 Spinach and Mushroom Filling

Ingredients ( Filling)

 4 tbsp Olive Oil

 8 cloves Garlic, minced

 10 cups Spinach, washed

 16 button mushrooms, washed, dried and then sliced

Salt to season

 150 g Fontina Cheese, sliced thinly into 32 squares ( 4 for each calzone)

 Method ( Filling)

Take a sauce pan and heat 2 tbsps of olive oil in it. Fry 4 minced garlic cloves till slightly brown, put in the spinach , add a generous pinch of salt and cook till it wilts. Check for salt and set aside.

Take the same saucepan and heat the other  2tbsps of olive oil in it. Fry the other 4 minced garlic cloves again till slightly brown and then put the sliced mushrooms, another generous pinch of salt and fry till the mushroom slices are cooked and water has all evaporated. Set aside. Check for salt and set aside.

Slice the Fontina cheese and set aside.

FINAL STEPS

After 2 hours, preheat the oven to 400 deg F..

Roll out the dough on a floured board to a big tube and then cut into 8 equal slices. Leaving the other pieces in the mixing bowl, roll out one of the pieces into a 6 inch circle.  

Arrange the cooked spinach and mushrooms on one side of the circular dough only. Place 4 pieces of Fontina cheese and fold over like a curry puff. Then pinch the sides till it seals the calzone. Repeat for the rest of the calzone dough slices.


Place the calzones on a well oiled baking tray and brush the calzone with more olive oil

Bake for 25 mins till the dough browns at the edges and underneath.


Enjoy warm with red chilli flakes or just on its own.
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    Hi guys! I'm Nilofar Iyer and I have shared my dishes here for you to cook for your own family and friends with love and most importantly with their long term good health in mind. 

    Bon Appetit!

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