3 Easy Canapé Ideas

Summer time means lots of parties and friends over. While having fun is the key agenda, so is good food. As we wait for the meat to grill, we start off with some very simple canapés. So we have some sweet & some savoury to munch on while we laugh and chit-chat around the table.

GOAT CHEESE & FIG PRESERVE

On rice crackers place a little goat cheese & fig preserve on top

SMOKED SALMON, CUCUMBER & DILL YOGHURT 

On a rice cracker, place 2 small pieces of smoked salmon & a slice of cucumber. In a separate bowl mix yoghurt, salt, garlic powder & some dill. Top up your canape with the mix.

DEVILED EGGS WITH OLIVE

Boil eggs, peel, cut in halves (vertically) and take the yellow out in a separate bowl. Now place the white on your serving dish. Crush the yellows fine, and add some salt & pepper, olive oil, mayonnaise and some spicy mustard sauce and mix well. once mixed add chopped, pitted olives and mix lightly. Spoon the mixture into the egg whites.

Creamy Milk Cooler (Thandai) Recipe

Its a very popular Indian recipe and its usually drank during the festival of colors (Holi) which is held during the warm month of March. Its usually quite hot in March, to step out, play with colors and splash color dissolved water on each other. People are out in the heat all afternoon, and a chilled milk drink is usually very satisfying. Its not any ordinary chilled milk, but cooked for some time with nuts, saffron and sugar. Here is the full recipe.

Ingredients

Milk - 300ml

Cardamom - 3

Sugar - 3 Tbsp

Slivered Almonds - 2 Tbsp

Soaked & Peeled Almond - 10

Saffron - 5 - 6 Strands

Fennel Seeds - 1 Tbsp

Poppy Seeds - 1 Tbsp

Rose Essence - 2 drops

Recipe

| In a Vessel heat milk on medium flame for  about an hour |

| While heating add Cardamom | 

| In a grinder, grind the soaked & peeled almond along with fennel & poppy seeds into a paste. And then add the paste to the milk |

| Now take out couple of teaspoons on milk in a bowl and soak the saffron for few minutes |

| After an hour of boiling the milk add the sugar and stir for a few minutes, then turn off the heat. Once its turned off, add the saffron, & rose essence |

| Let the milk cool down, and put it in the refrigerator to cool it further |

| Once the milk is cooling, grind the sprinkle mix and sprinkle a little while serving |

| You can make everything in advance and keep it in the refrigerator. And when guests arrive, just serve |

please do leave behind your comment, suggestion, insights, love notes... I am listening.

& share the love on

Twitter  |   Facebook   |    Instagram   |   Pinterest   | Bloglovin   

My Day Of Cleansing

I have been experiencing heaviness and water retention in my body off late. I have a tendency for water retention and my lifestyle has not been very healthy in the last few weeks. Too many cocktail brunches late night bar hopping and socializing sort of had taken its toll. Also, we had somehow moved away from our sort of healthy diet to eating greasy food, outside almost everyday. So, I decided to go for cleansing. I had tried Master Cleanse couple of times after being highly recommended by a friend, but I figured that its not for me. I had one lime/maple/cayenne drink in the morning and couldn't do any more. So you can practically call me a neuvo in that territory! But then as I wanted to do it anyways and kept researching for the right program for me and came across BluePrint's Invigorating Cleanse.

My experience has been that of a beginner and I wanted to share my experience starting from the first to the 6th bottle. I have also put down the time as I tried to have them at an interval of 2/2.30 hours

Bottle#1 @ 09:00

A healthy green bottle of Romaine/Celery/Apple/Spinach/Lemon. We do eat salads, but its usually spinach, provided its at home. When we are out we never order salad. So thats something I am going to change now. The drink tasted quite good, though M wasn't a fan but I really liked it. My body felt energized. I am a total caffeine addict. I need my morning and evening cups of strong tea and to an extent that I get a headache if I don't get my evening cup and the absence of morning cup make some cranky. But surprisingly I had passed my usual morning tea time, and I was fine! May be it was the excitement, or genuinely working but something clicked.

Bottle#2 @ 11:00

This one was more fruity with Pineapple/Apple/Mint. Tasted really good. Though food craving had set in by then. I would suddenly come across food channels on youtube or find the cheese in the fridge and had to be really strong to not have it. But then I decided to not be too harsh on myself, so I referred to their cheat sheet and had quarter of an avocado and it felt much better. I kept myself busy with work, but my energy seemed to be dipping. I decided that next time I should do it over a weekend when I don't have such a busy schedule and its much more relaxed or probably a Friday.

Bottle#3 @ 13:00

Again a repeat bottle of Romaine/Celery/Cucumber/Apple/Spinach/Kale/Parsley/Lemon and it didn't taste as well as the first time. It wasn't bad but my food craving was higher. I usually try to stand when I am working, as it keeps lethargy down but I was sitting on a chair by now. I was feeling quite full though. It wasn't that I was hungry, but it was more psychological. I kept looking around for solids.

Bottle#4 @ 15:30

I was feeling quite low by then and this gave me a kick. It was Lemonade/Agave/Cayenne and I suddenly the the surge of energy. It lasted for about an hour, but I had to step out to walk Margo then and I utilized that time to do that. He is an energetic and social puppy and can be quite trying on one's energy level. Once I got back I again gave in to my craving for caffeine and referred to their cheat sheet. It allowed half a cup of coffee, so I boiled water in an espresso cup and added little instant coffee and drank it slowly. Though it didn't make me feel great or very different as I had expected from my trusted cup, but then I satisfied my quench for caffeine.

Bottle#5 @ 18:00

Well, this was the worst. My craving for food was pretty high and the drink had beet! I hate beet! I rallied through it with forced enthusiasm and sat down to sip it slowly but the moment I opened the bottle the liquid spilled over me slightly. So considering it has beet which is a strong coloring agent and the bottle of this particular juice comes so filled I would advice you to open it in a sink. So I started sipping through it and went down the drink with a couple of sips remaining. I put it away and kept staring at the last bit of it. And finally just before I had to drink the last bottle I sipped it all down.

Bottle#6 @ 20:30

This was Cashew Milk/Cashew/Cinnamon/Vanilla and tasted good. Though what would had mentally satisfied it by then would had been a thigh chocolate milkshake with whipped cream and ice cream (extra scoop) but after the long day it felt like a treat! I sipped it up slowly and thought of the taste to be rather nice.

My mind did play tricks with me all throughout. I felt a bit more chillier than I usually do. I was feeling cold! I did feel a bit weak. But today I don't really feel that way, after having had a nice sleep. I had no problem waking up, whereas I usually feel lethargic. No caffeine kick at all. Its a big deal for me. I eventually ended up having tea but much, much later than I usually do. I started my morning quite early feel very fresh. I have no urge to over eating or even eating unhealthy things for that matter. I don't feel bloated as I did earlier and considering I have lost 2lbs today I am assuming it was 2lbs of water retention. So my final verdict is that I really like it and I don't know how frequently I would like to do it, but once a month is for sure if not more.

please do leave behind your comment, suggestion, insights, love notes... I am listening.

& share the love on

Twitter  |   Facebook   |    Instagram   |   Pinterest   | Bloglovin   

Lentil & Turkey Soup

Yellow lentil soups are an integral part of the Persian cuisine as well as Indian. Its a part of their main diet. I am not sure who has influenced whom but they exist quite prominently in both the cultures. The one that I like the most the Persian version of it, but then with an Indian twist.

Ingredients

Onion - 1 big

Yellow Lentil - 1 cup 
Minced Turmeric - 1lbs

Turmeric - 1tsp apprx.

Salt - As per taste

Garlic - 4-5 cloves

Nigella Seeds - 2tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1tsp

Cumin Powder - 1tsp

Olive Oil

Recipe

| Soak the lentil for couple of hours. Then add salt and turmeric and boil the lentil till soft. I usually add a lot of water so that the lentil doesn't burn if left unattended for sometime |

| Chop onions and garlic |

| Heat oil in a pan and add onion & garlic. Then add cumin/nigella seeds and let it heat till there's aroma |

| Add the minced turkey in the pan and cook well |

| Now mash the lentil with your hand or a hand grinder a little and add the lentil in the pan and cook for sometime. Then let it cool |

| In a separate baking dish, slice lemon into thin slices and bake it till brown |

| Now let everything cook together till thick and serve with Naan. You can also serve it with Ciabatta |

| Garnish with lime & cayenne |

please do leave behind your comment, suggestion, insights, love notes... I am listening.

& share the love on

Twitter  |   Facebook   |    Instagram   |   Pinterest   | Bloglovin   

Saffron Caramel Pudding - Recipe

It all started when I couldn't find the vanilla essence in my kitchen. I looked and looked and looked and finally concluded that my pantry is out of vanilla. But then I had a bowl full of pudding batter and a pre-heated oven. SO the only option I had was to find an alternative that would over-power the egg! So I soon reached out for saffron, wasn't sure about ginger this time, and voila. We loved it. Saffron has the power to give a rich twist to milk. And there it was a beautiful dessert. 

For the Caramel

| Sugar - 2 Tbsp |

| Water - 1 Tbsp |

For the Pudding (Makes 2)

| Milk - 1/2 Cup |

| Egg - 1 Nos |

| Sugar - 2-3 Tbsp |

| Saffron - 1 Pinch |

Recipe

| Mix the Pudding ingredients except Saffron in a bowl or ideally a Pyrex jar |

| In a small bowl take about 2 tbsp milk and heat it for 10 secs in your microwave then drop the saffron and let it cool |

| Beat the batter in the jar |

| Now in a sauce pan add the caramel ingredients. Put it on high heat |

| Let it be on heat till it turns golden in color |

| Then take it off heat and pour it in 2 small ramekins | 

| Now add the saffron milk to the batter, mix well and pour it the ramekins |

| Pre-heat the oven at 350degrees |

| Now take a baking pan and fill enough water for the ramekins to sink in half way |

| Place the ramekins in the baking pan and put it in the oven |

| After about 45mins take it out and let it cool |

| Once cooled down, loosen the edge lightly with a sharp object like knife and let the liquid flow out cover the ramekin with a plate and flip it |

| The pudding should be out |

Now, just enjoy!

please do leave behind your comment, suggestion, insights, love notes... I am listening.

& share the love on

Twitter  |   Facebook   |    Instagram   |   Pinterest   | Bloglovin   

Raw Mango Mimosa

As we step towards spring I smell freshness in the air. Beautiful crisp freshness. And along with that barbecues and easy to make barbecue drinks. Aam Panna is my favorite drinks ever since growing up so giving it the cocktail twist is a sort of an obvious. Here is how I do it!

Firstly place the Mangos in a baking dish and put it in the the oven at 400 degrees and bake it till the skin cracks open. If you got charcoal grill, then even better!

Once its done then let it cool for as long as it can.

Then peel and take the flesh out. Now in a blender add the mango pulp, 1tbsp roasted cumin powder, black salt (as per taste), sugar (as per taste), mint and blend. Once everything is blended, add water and blend again. Once its done, pour it in a bottle and store in your refrigerator.

You can of course drink it as is. But for a bit more fun you can spike it too. Here is how to do it!

Ingredients

2.5 ounces of the above drink

2.5 ounces of your favorite chilled Chardonnay

................................................................................

Recipe

                                                                           In a shaker add everything & shake well.
                                                                                                   Serve chilled

please do leave behind your comment, suggestion, insights, love notes... I am listening.

& share the love on

Twitter  |   Facebook   |    Instagram   |   Pinterest   | Bloglovin   

Beef Bourguignon With Pistachios

Ingredients

Olive Oil - 2tbsp

Onion (chopped) - 1nos

Garlic (chopped) - 1tbsp

Cloves - 5-6

Bay Leaf - 3

Beef Cubes- 1.5lbs

Brandy - 1/4 cup

Red Wine - 1 cup

Thyme - 1 sprig

Rosemary - 1 sprig

Carrot - 1bunch

Mushroom - 1 cup

Pistachio - 1/2 cup

Cornstarch - 1/8 cup

Beef or Chicken broth - 600ml

----------------------------------------------

Recipe

In a bowl take the meat, cornstarch, salt & pepper and mix well

In a vessel heat oil and toss the meat. Stir for sometime till its brown and bring it back to the bowl.

Now in the same vessel add clove, bay leaves and the pistachio and stir for a bit. Now add the onion & the garlic and cook on medium flame for 10 mins.

Add the thyme, rosemary and the veggies in the vessel. Cook for 20 mins.

In this you add the brandy and the wine along with the meat. And then the broth. Let the alcohol evaporate and them cover and cook on low heat for a couple of hours. You can add some water depending on the consistency that you want.

Once its close to how you like it, taste and add salt.

please do leave behind your comment, suggestion, insights, love notes... I am listening.

& share the love on

Twitter  |   Facebook   |    Instagram   |   Pinterest   | Bloglovin   

How To Make Brownies With Ginger

I love brownies and I love my ginger. When it gets cold I add fresh ginger to the already existing packaged grated ginger to my grocery list. Ginger gives a certain warmth to the body and feels so perfect for the winters. I added just a dash of ginger to my regular brownies and it was so delicious that I had to share the recipe!

Ingredients 

Milk chocolate chips - 3/4 cup

Butter - 1 stick

Sugar - 1 1/2 cups  

Flour - 3/4 cup

Ginger - freshly grated 1 1/2 tbsp

Eggs - 3nos

Recipe

| In a big microwave-proof glass bowl melt the chocolate & the butter for about 30 seconds. 

| Take it out and stir, till it is all liquid. This will take a bit for the heat to expand, but in a couple of minutes you should see amazing glossy chocolaty liquid.

| Add the sugar & mix well. Then add the eggs one at a time and keep mixing. I use a small egg beater for this as its all pretty easy to mix, but you could use a mans mixer if that works for you.

| Now add the ginger for that fresh kick. And in the end the flour. 

| Remember that this has high proportion of chocolate and less flour. Also no Baking powder, so it should have the nice fudge like consistency when done.

| Put it in the oven at a 350 F. Cook for about 50-60 mins, or when its done. Put it on a rack and let it cool. Then Serve!

please do leave behind your comment, suggestion, insights, love notes... I am listening.

& share the love on

Twitter  |   Facebook   |    Instagram   |   Pinterest   | Bloglovin   

Restaurant Review of The Month : Psari Seafood Restaurant

February happens to be the official month of love for me & M. And its not just Valentine but also happens to be our anniversary this month. We love doing little fun things and dine out even more this month. On Valentine's we decided to go to Psari. Its a Greek seafood restaurant and on Valentines day the environment was vibrant and awesome. The place was completely packed and after reaching we realized our only saving grace was that we picked it up through Opentable, which of course made the whole process much easier. We could just book a table in advance.

The food was absolutely delicious and in particular if you are a complete seafood fan, then give the grilled octopus a shot. We ordered for some Chardonnay to accompany the food. The staff were very friendly and courteous. And as a special touch at the end of our meal, I was even handed over a rose. How beautiful is that!

Psari Seafood Restaurant

Order recommendation (for 2) : Grilled Octopus | Shrimp Bisque | Greek Combo

If you like my posts then, please do leave behind your comment, suggestion, insights, love notes... I am listening.

& share the love on

Twitter  |   Facebook   |    Instagram   |   Pinterest   | Bloglovin   

Orange Almond Cake With Coffee Cream

Once I entered 2016, I decided to bake more. I remember once I got married, I had taken up baking and I loved it. I collected baking pans and baking goods and try to make new things every day. But eventually I lost touch. So, my thoughts were why not bring back something I loved so much and then share them here. And to know what you thought of it. 

Ingredients

For the cake:

Eggs - 4

Flour - 1 cup

Orange Juice - 3/4 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Butter - 226 gms

Baking Powder - 1tsp

Baking Soda - 1 tsp

Slivered almonds - 1/2 cup (toasted)

For candied Orange

Orange - 1 sliced

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - 1 cup

Almonds - Handful (slivered)

For the filling:

Heavy Cream - 500ml

Recipe

The Cake

| In a bowl cream the butter, then add sugar and cream them together. Now add eggs one by one. Beat them and add Orange juice and mix well. Now add Flour, Baking powder & Baking soda to the mix. Mix everything together and add a little more orange juice to get the right dropping texture. It won't be liquid but rather thick |

| Now mix in the almonds, that were kept aside |

| Pre-heat oven at 350F and use that time to line your baking pan. Once done spray some cooking spray in it and then pour in the cake batter | 

| Place it in the oven and let it bake for 30-45 mins depending on your oven |

Candied Oranges 

| Once the cake is in the oven, slice up your orange as thinly as possible |

| Now take an open pan to boil the water & the sugar and boil till sugar dissolves. Once it starts to boil, place the oranges in it and keep boiling and turning the slices till the outer white starts turning transparent. Then take it out and place it on a flat porous platform |

| Now take a plate and line it up with a cling wrap. Pour the remaining syrup on it and sprinkle some more almonds on top. Once dried break it up |

Assembling

| Once your cake is ready let it cool down. Longer you keep, the better it would be. I suggest a few hours at least. Then cut through the middle and separate the top layer from the bottom |

| In a separate bowl add the coffee to the cream and start beating. Do it till its really thick. Now start putting big dollops on the lower layer till its a massive and sprinkle the brittles made with the left overs of the candied orange syrup. Then gently put the top lid on and lightly press it down |

| Now put the remaining cream and spread it all over the cake. and put the candied orange slices on top. Sprinkle the remaining brittles and you are done |

share the love on

Twitter  |   Facebook   |    Instagram   |   Pinterest   | Bloglovin   

Vine Aerators : Do We Need Them?

Drinking wine should be every woman's solace. Its perfect for a girl's night out, a romantic date or if its just a book and you on the couch. A glass of wine is always a good idea. Its the perfect way of letting your hair down and enjoy every moment of it. I love my wine and I enjoy a good Cabernet Sauvignon any time you ask me. But when it comes to its accessories I choose slowly and wisely. So when VinoAria asked me to try out their aerators I thought it was a smart choice to make. It was useful and inexpensive. You can find them here. But then they have this great discount on the product which is 'extremely' appealing!

What is a Wine Aerator?

Wine aerators helps the wine breathe. In lay man's terms wine has something called Tannins for being corked in tightly for so long. So when the wine is first opened, it may give out very little aroma due to lack of oxygen. The taste may be dry and acidic. An aerator helps the oxygen to be introduced to the wine in the right amount, to slowly release the aroma and enhance the sate into a more mellow nature. Thus making the wine drinking experience much better.

What I think about wine aerators

I would purchase a wine aerator for 2 simple reasons. The only 2 reasons that ever bothers me when it comes to wine. Here they are:

Wine tastes better
I am not a big fan of dry wines so a mellower better tasting wine is. I also like the fact that I can enjoy the aroma for a longer time, and allows me to drink it longer and slower.

No wastage
I don't know about you, but I believe my wine pouring skills to be not-so-perfect! Inspite of trying to imitate the experts, its never a no-spill experience for me. An aerator that lets me control the pour is a blessing. Trust me!

About VinoAria Wine Aerator
Its inexpensive, handy and comes in a lovely box. I think its a very good gift option as well, and as an aerator it does its job very well.

*The product had been sent to My Happy Nook for review. All opinions are my own.

please do leave behind your comment, suggestion, insights, love notes... I am listening.

& share the love on

Twitter  |   Facebook   |    Instagram   |   Pinterest   | Bloglovin   

Holiday Recipe : Moroccan Slow Cooked Lamb With Prune

This is by far my favorite dish and its so beautifully aromatic, exotic texture and tastes nothing short of a king's meal! Its something I make on special nights as not only is this exotic & rich but also time-consuming. But then all good things do need patience. This recipe is not mine, but a bit of a combination of several recipes online and a few trial and errors, but do love the outcome. Also ideally it should be cooked in a tajine. However, I don't have one, so I just use an usual pot. It works very well. Though I feel serving in a tajine does add a bit of drama.

So heres how to make it

• Lamb Rack - 1.5 lbs
• Medium White Onion - 1 nos. Sliced
• Cinnamon - 3 Sticks
• Cinnamon Powder - 1 tbsp
• Saffron - 1 pinch
• Ginger - 1tbsp
• Turmeric - 1tsp
• Prunes - 1 1/4 cup
• Honey - 3tbsp
• Sesame - 1tbsp
• Salt

Recipe

~ Heat some olive oil in a big pot.

~ Add the onion, cinnamon sticks, cinnamon powder, ginger, turmeric & salt and toss till light brown.

~ In a separate small hot pan toast the saffron for about a minute and then drop in into about a tablespoon of water. Keep it aside.

~ Add the lamb rack to the pot. Flip it around for a bit. And continue to cook for about 20 minutes.

~ Once the rack is coated with the onion & other spices add water, just enough to cover the meat.

~ Cook for 1 and half hours on medium heat.

~ Then add about a cup and a quarter of prunes & the saffron kept aside.

~ After 10 minutes of cooking take the rack out and separate the pieces with a knife. Make sure the lamb has cooled down before you start cooking. Continue to cook the broth while doing so.

~ Add the meat back into the soup and cook for hand an hour more.

~ Serve with green vegetables & couscous

share the love on

Twitter  |   Facebook   |    Instagram   |   Pinterest   | Bloglovin