Cottage Cheese-Sago Corn Cobs

Hi Friends!

A few days back I was watching a cookery show in which they were showing recipes made during fasting. I got really inspired by one of the recipes in which they made potato corn cobs. This recipe kept lingering in my mind and I was too eager to try that for two reasons, firstly, I found the idea very innovative and secondly quite simple to try.

Now, to duplicate the recipe as it is, it’s never possible for me, so I did try the recipe using my ingredients and flavors but for those who want to try it during fasting just go ahead and try it with only potatoes.

These corn cobs look so elegant that they can make a good party starter and are so attractive that kids will love this  and will ask for more, as my younger one did.

I was recently watching a Nigella show in which she said that it’s better to deep fry than shallow fry as food absorbs more oil in shallow frying. Now, I was quite shocked to hear that as all these days I avoided deep frying and preferred shallow frying so that I could reduce the oil intake and since this statement came from a celebrity cook like her I could not remove it out of my mind. I really need to do more research on that but would love to hear your opinion too. I am sure many of the bloggers can throw some light on this topic.

But for now the recipe..

Ingredients

makes about 12

1 cup cottage cheese crumbled

1-1/2 cups potato flakes or 2 boiled potatoes

5-6 green chilies

2 garlic pods

a small piece ginger

1 tsp cumin pwd

salt to taste

7-8 tbsp cornstarch

a cup of soaked mini sago

freshly ground pepper

oil for frying

one potato cut into fingers

 

Method

Wash the mini sago and drain all water. Let it soak for half an hour.

Grind coarsely the green chilies, garlic and ginger. (I used my handy)

Add water to potato flakes and make mashed potato.

 

Mix together the cottage cheese, mashed potato, green chili mix, salt to taste and cumin powder.

This mix makes the base of corn cobs.

In the cornstarch add a little salt, freshly ground pepper and some water to make a paste.

Take a small ball of the cottage cheese base and flatten it.

Insert a potato finger at the bottom and wrap it with the base all around with no gaps. Shape it like a corn cob.

Dip it into cornflour paste and then roll in sago.

Deep fry on a medium flame.

Remove it on a kitchen towel to remove the excess oil. Serve it hot with some Szechuan sauce and Mint sauce.

Sending this to Kitchen Samraj’s CWS- Sago started by Priya and to my event ‘Only’-Kid’s Delight

also to Mita’s  MM- party treat event guest hosted by Saraswathi of Sara’s corner.

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Teddie Pasta and Veggies in Tomatoey Cheese Sauce and ‘Only’ Series Event Announcement

Hi friends!

I feel glad to announce that I am starting off with ‘ONLY’ series from this month onwards. Every month I will pick up a new topic thus enabling us to innovate more recipes. For this month the topic is “KIDS DELIGHT”.

Kids are a source of inspiration to our cooking as we really have to think hard to provide a tasty and at the same time nutritional food to them, so that they are nourished properly. So feel free to make any kids friendly recipe, which you believe will provide a balanced diet and at the same time will pamper their taste buds too.

Though this  is a vegetarian  blog I will accept non-veg entries also as many kids only eat non-veg. Send in your fresh entries (no limit) but I will accept only two archived posts if reposted. E-mail  to cookingoodfood@gmail.com  with the Subject- Kids Delight   in the following format:-

Your Name

Blog’s Name

Recipe link

Picture of size 350pixel

Link back your post to the event page. Use of logo is Mandatory as it helps spread the word. Non bloggers can also participate, just send in your entry and picture to the above mentioned email and I will post your recipes in my space.

Here is the list of people hosting the events for the next few months.

Month Host Theme Round Up August’10 Pari Only-Kids-Delight      Part I      Part II Sept’10 Piya(Yallapantula) Mitharwal Only-Low Oil/ Low Calorie Food      Part I October’10 Preeti Binniwale Only-Festive Food      Part I Nov’10 Pari Only- Chaat      Part I Dec’10 Saraswathi Iyer Only- Greens Jan’11 Prathibha Garre Only- Salad Feb’11 Pari Only-Cooking with Bread March’11 Nivedita Only-Original Recipes April’11 Only- Fusion Cooking May’11 Nayana Kanabar Only- Coolers and Mocktails June’11 Reva Only- Ice-Creams July’11 Harini-Jaya Only- Baked

Coming to the recipe,

My kids love different shaped pastas, dino, mickey, teddie and so on. My co-sister keeps providing me with small goodie bags of these cute shaped  pastas. These are very light to digest and extremely easy to cook. My job is to make different kinds of sauce and add the pasta to it. Earlier I have shared a recipe with dinosaurs pasta too.

Today, I share another very tasty and hassle free preparation and is loved by my kids. The cheese sauce is very simple to make and the addition of tomato puree gives it a mild tomatoey flavor and a beautiful color. I have kept the spice level and flavors as per my child’s palate, one is free to make suitable changes.

I had made this for my kids lunch but this can also make a heavy evening snack too. My kid loved it and to my delight did not even observe that there were veggies going in it which were beautifully hidden under the thick cheese sauce.

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups milk

5-6 cheese slices

1 tsp butter

3-4 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp white pepper pwd

1 tsp oregano

a large pinch nutmeg pwd

a few celery leaves

about 3 cups boiled pasta (I used mickey shaped)

mixed veggies cut into triangles ( I used zucchini and colored bell peppers)

1 garlic pod finely chopped

1/2 onion finely chopped

about 1/2 cup grated mozzarella-cheddar cheese

Method

Boil the pasta as per the directions given on the pack.

Remove it in a colander and pour cold water on it.

 

In a pan tip in the veggies and drizzle a few drops of oil, some salt and pepper and cook for a min.

Heat butter in a pan and add garlic to it followed by chopped onion and saute lightly (do not let it brown).

Add the milk and bring it to a boil.

Add the  white pepper, oregano, celery and nutmeg.

 

Mix thoroughly.

Add the cheese slices and tomato puree, let the sauce thicken.

Mix the cooked pasta in it.

Grease a baking dish and pour the pasta. Top it with the veggies followed by grated cheese.



Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes/ or till the cheese melts.

   
Serve it hot with some garlic bread.

This is my first entry to my event and also sending it to Mita’s  MM- party treat event guest hosted by Saraswathi of Sara’s corner.

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Buckwheat and Colocasia Dosa

Hi!

Sunday started off in a great way as I made one of my best impromptu preparation till date using the buckwheat. I know good ways to consume the buckwheat but making a dosa never came to my mind till yesterday and was elated by the end result.To add to my elation S took me out for shopping and I shopped and shopped till I dropped, after returning home watched 3 Idiots again on Sony TV while eating a Cheese Burst Pizza. 

Coming back to the Dosa I made, I never realized that buckwheat can yield such a perfectly textured dosa . I love the earthy flavor of buckwheat and truly enjoy it’s health benefits. While many people think that buckwheat is a cereal grain, it is actually a fruit seed that is related to rhubarb and sorrel making it a suitable substitute for grains for people who are sensitive to wheat or other grains that contain protein glutens. Buckwheat flowers are very fragrant and are attractive to bees that use them to make produce a special, strongly flavored, dark honey.

The Buckwheat has huge health benefits, it’s lipid-lowering activity is largely due to rutin and other flavonoid compounds. The nutrients in it help control blood sugar and improves blood flow thus helping prevent heart problems. The versatile food is a possible probiotic,a carbohydrate that prompts the growth of “friendly” bacteria in the digestive tract. For a detailed read on it’s health benefits check here. How to proceed for the Dosa, read further..

Ingredients

4 cups buckwheat flour

250gms colocasia (boiled and peeled)

a small handful of coriander

5-6 green chilies

salt to taste

water

Method

In a food processor grind together green chilies and coriander.

 

Add boiled colocasia and mix it with the green chili and coriander paste.


Add 4 cups of buck wheat flour, salt to taste and mix again. If required add a little water.


Remove the batter and add more batter to bring it to a dosa like consistency.

Grease a non stick pan and spread the dosa in concentric circles. Cook from either side on a medium high flame.

Serve hot with any spicy chutney. I served it with coconut chutney and green tamarind  thokku.

Sending this to Iftar Moments Hajiri 1431 hosted by Taste of Pearl City.

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For My 150th Post, Wrapped Up..Grilled Veggies and Couscous in Aioli Dressing

 

Hi friends! I feel elated typing this post as I cross another landmark. For this, I decided to share a wrap which I am very fond of and is surely very very tasty and healthy too.

Mocha is a favorite hangout place for me and DH and we keep exploring their menu every time we visit it but this wrap has surely become a regular order. It was after reading the description in menu card that I learnt about the aioli dressing and wanted to give this a try. The aioli dressing as I have understood is a French dressing for salads and meat. It is garlicky, creamy and like mayonnaise is an emulsion of oil and oil  soluble compounds in water and water soluble compounds.

To make the wraps my first hurdle was to get hold of Couscous which is not so easily available here, gladly my good old INA market came to my rescue. For a foodie this market is a must to visit. Working with couscous is a child’s play, they are so easy to work with that it does not need any detailed explanation.

The next step was convincing S to by a grill pan (actually it’s a steak pan but grills excellent), to my delight after 2 years of pestering I eventually bought it  a few days back.

Once I had this there was no looking back I had to make this wrap. The original recipe asks for char grilled veggies but I was happy by grilling my veggies on this pan, since it’s a cast iron pan it gave a nice rustic, burnt and smoky flavor to the veggies.

There are many aioli recipes available on the net. I read many and then suiting our taste buds concocted mine. This was my first attempt to make this dressing so with all apprehensions in mind I made this and was extremely happy with the result.

I also made whole wheat tortillas at home, yes, I did work hard for this post but during the entire process I was worried how the end product would be. The tortillas are so easy to make if you are used to making thin rotis regularly at home, for me it was an easy task surely and I was mighty happy looking at my tortillas.

Finally came assembling the wrap, then grilling it and at last dig into it. I was so apprehensive that I served it first to my son and I jumped with joy the minute he showed his thumbs up with the first bite. The taste was as close as I could get to Mocha’s. I patted myself for all the hard work and made a wrap for myself.

So here’s what I did…

Ingredients for Aioli Dressing

1 garlic

2 egg yolks

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup EVOO

1 tsp lime juice

1 tsp cold water

1 tsp crushed whole grain mustard

 

Method

Bring the eggs to rooms temperature and then separate the egg yolks.

Finely chop the garlic and mix it with salt.

Whisk the egg yolks with the garlic.

Add half of EVOO gradually drop by drop while whisking continuously. I used my electric beater for this process. Be careful as the oil needs to get mixed with the water component to form the emulsion. If precaution is not taken then the oil-water components separate.

After adding half the oil add  lime juice, water and beat. After this stage the oil can be added in more quantities and keep whisking.

The end product’s a thick, viscous, garlic flavored emulsion which can be used as a dip or dressing.

Ingredients For Whole Wheat Tortillas

(makes about 13)

1 cup APF

1-3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

5 tbsp oil/shortening

1 cup warm water

Method

Mix both the flours and salt. Add the oil and rub and mix to get a bread crumbs like texture.

Add water gradually and knead a dough which is soft but not as soft as a bread dough.

Cover it with a cloth and let it stand for an hour.

Divide the dough into 12-13 parts and then give each part  a ball shape.

roll each ball on a floured surface into thin 7inch circles.

Heat a griddle and roast the tortilla lightly on each side on  a medium high flame. Turn immediately as light blisters appear.

Do not over roast else they will turn crisp.

Preparing Couscous

Boil 150 ml water with 1/2 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp salt. Add this to 150g of couscous, mix  and let it stand for 2mins so that it can fluff. Add 2 tbsp butter to it and mix again. The couscous is ready to be used.

Grilling the Vegetables

Cube a half of green, yellow and red capsicum, half onion and slice 1/4 zucchini (one can add veggies of their choice). Grill on high flame till they are slightly charred from either side. Then chop them.

Couscous and Grilled  Vegetables Stuffing For The Wrap

Mix in the couscous, 4-5 tbsp aioli dressing, 1 tsp white pepper pwd, a pinch of crushed rosemary and salt if required.

 

Assembling the WRAP

Take the tortilla and place about 4-5 tbsp of the stuffing at one end and then wrap as shown in the pics.

Grill the wrap with a little butter on the griddle on either side.

Serve hot.

These wraps can make a heavy snack, a good dinner item or are even good for brunch.

Would love to hear from my silent readers too, so leave me a note please.

Sending this to Iftar Moments Hajiri 1431 hosted by Taste of Pearl City.

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