Winner of July’s ONLY Event | Event Announcement of September’s ONLY Event

Hi All!!
Sorry for the delay in announcing the winner this month, the event round up was posted a long time back but was not complete and since I was traveling could not contact the host to update it. Now, that it’s updated I’m announcing the winner.
Out of the 20 accepted entries, the winner is

No.5 is of Chandrani’s Balep Korkun. Congrats Chandrani, you get a cookbook from Tarla Dalal once you confirm via email, in which way you publicly follow my blog. As is always mentioned that the book can be won only by the followers of my blog. Please contact me at cookingoodfood@gmail.com within 48hrs. In case you fail to respond back, I will have to pick another winner.

Coming to the next month’s theme, it’s an all time favorite food; Sandwiches with the addition of Burgers and Panini too.

The event is guest hosted by Sushma from Savi-Ruchi. The details of the event can be checked in her blog tomorrow. The giveaway cookbook for the winner of the event is sponsored by www.tarladalal.com.

So, try innovative fillings and send loads of recipes to the event. Good Luck.

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Red Beaten Rice & Potato Cutlets | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free

Hi All!!

A lot of thought process goes into creating a recipe and then a lot of creativity is involved in clicking the pictures. If you notice in all food magazines, food channels, food blogs or any food related websites, a lot of attention is give to food styling and food presentation. As it’s said, that you eat first with your eyes and then with the mouth, so it’s important that the food looks appealing and attracts you to try it. This is especially important when the food is presented in the virtual world where you can not really taste the food!!

One recipe rather one picture which was on the cover page of Good Food Magazine made me drool over it and I was so tempted to create a recipe similar to that and style it in a similar way, And finally after many months of postponing I’ve created a similar recipe in my style and made it more healthier. The original recipe was of a poha cutlet with a rasam dip. I’ve also made a poha cutlet only but instead of using the white version of poha (beaten rice) I opted for red, the more healthier one. Similarly, instead of the rasam dip, I made a tangy Mint chutney.

It was a recipe created for the kid’s lunch box. I need to make healthy and tasty food for the kid which would guarantee that he would finish it without making a fuss. It might sound funny but being a food blogger’s Mom brings in a lot of challenges too especially on deciding what goes into the lunch box, the food going into it can’t be compromised. To my delight, the kid’s lunch box is quite popular amongst his friends and they would demand to eat his lunch box most of the times, leaving him hungry. He would come home famished with a headache. Finally the kid acted smart and gave his classmates my blog id so that their Moms could cook recipes for them from my blog and they could also carry that in their lunch box. This has helped him to a certain extent.

Anyways, I had shaped the cutlets and refrigerated them so that in the morning I didn’t have to rush since I wanted to send them in kid’s lunch box. The kid happily carried this in his lunch box and he came back complaining again that he got only two pieces to eat and he wanted to eat more. He also said that it is one of the best cutlets that I have made and I should make them more regularly. I was more than happy to hear that, as my purpose was solved.. Thumbs up

Red Beaten Rice & Potato Cutlets

Preparation Time: 1hr | Cooking Time: 8mins/batch | Makes: 16 | Serves: 4 | Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients

1-1/2cups soaked thick red beaten rice

3 large potatoes

4-5 green chilies

4-5 garlic cloves

1inch piece ginger

salt to taste

handful of chopped coriander leaves

oil for shallow frying

Method

Wash the beaten rice several times with water and drain the water completely. Soak it for an hour.

Boil, peel and grate the potatoes.

Finely chop green chilies and coriander and grind ginger and garlic.

Crush the beaten rice with the fingers and add salt to taste. Also add the chili, ginger, garlic and coriander.

Mix together properly. Divide the mix into 16-18 portions. If you feel that the mix is too wet, you can add bread crumbs too.

Shape them into a ball and then flatten. Smoothen the edges.

Take a non stick pan and sprinkle a tea spoon of oil and heat it. Place 5-6 cutlets at a time and cook on a medium flame on both the sides till crisp and golden in color.

Serve with ketch up or Mint chutney.

Sending this to my event ‘Only’ Food For Pregnancy, hosted here.

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Pesto, Cucumber And Tomato Sandwich

While going through my blog, I noticed that it has very few sandwich recipes, in fact there is only one, have to add some more in the future. To start with, today's post is this Pesto, Cucumber And Tomato Sandwich that I made for breakfast, a couple of days back. I have used store bought basil pesto and reduced fat cheese slices, making the sandwich a little more healthier. This is not only very easy to make, but a very filling one too..

Need To Have

Bread Slices
Basil Pesto
Tomato Slices
Cucumber Slices
Sundried Tomatoes In Olive Oil, chopped
White Cheese Slices
Pepper Powder

Method

For a single sandwich, I have used three slices of bread. Toast two slices on one side only and the third one on both sides. Take one slice, the toasted side facing you, spread a little basil pesto, place a cheese slice on the top, followed by the tomato slices. Add a dash of black pepper and place the bread slice that is toasted on both sides.

Now arrange the cucumber slices and then the sun-dried tomatoes. Then place the third slice on the top, with the side that is not toasted on the outside. Apply a little olive oil, and toast on both sides on a hot skillet, pressing it lightly on the top while toasting. Remove, slice it into half and serve it warm.

Note
I have not given measurements for any of the ingredients, use as many slices of tomatoes or cucumber, depending on the size of the bread slices,everything can be increased or decreased according to your taste.

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Brown Rice & Red Beaten Rice Dosa With Onion-Tomato Chutney | Indian Pancake | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free | Step Wise

Hi All!!

Sorry for being away from the blog all of a sudden..the intention was definitely not to disappear but somehow life became too busy with traveling, then unpacking and getting back to a regular routine..

I’m posting yet another healthy preparation which is perfect for not only pregnant women but any health conscious person. I’m personally trying to move gradually to eating brown rice rather than the polished rice. I had attempted this preparation using brown rice before we started on a tour and during my travel I had carried my laptop too so that I could finish the post but life was so hectic that I never found time to complete the post. Finally today I’ve just pushed myself to sit in front of the screen and finish the incomplete job.

Let me be honest I was very skeptical about the taste of the dosa. The only thing I was confident about was that no matter how the dosa tasted, some kind of pancake could be made with the batter. To my surprise the dosa turned out really nice, it was very light to eat and had a nice nutty taste which I savored thoroughly without being guilty as it had healthy and wholesome ingredients in it.

I made a few changes to my regular tomato chutney and made it a little spicy too to go with the plain dosa and the combo turned out superb. I gave the dosa in kid’s lunch box and we had it for the breakfast. In case you want to eat light food for the dinner, this dosa is just perfect for that.

Brown Rice & Red Beaten Rice Dosa

Ingredients for Dosa

2cups brown rice

1/2cup red beaten rice/poha

1/4 cup dhuli moong daal

1/4cup urad daal

1/2tsp fenugreek seeds

Ingredients For Chutney

1small onion

2medium tomatoes

1/4tsp turmeric

4-5 dry red chilies

6-7 curry leaves

salt to taste

2tsp oil

For Tempering

2tbsp oil

1tbsp mix of urad-chana dal

1/2tsp mustard seeds

Method For Making The Dosa

Soak all the ingredients for 4-5 hours. The brown rice takes a longer time to soak. Grind them to a smooth & fine paste. Mix all and let it ferment overnight or for 8-10hrs.

Once fermented, mix again thoroughly to release the trapped air and add salt to taste. Adjust consistency using the water.

Grease a non stick pan and spread a ladle full of batter in concentric circles and cook on one side till crisp ad golden in color. Flip and smear more oil and let it cook.

Method For Onion- Tomato Chutney

Heat oil and sauté the red chilies followed by onions. Once the onions have become translucent add tomatoes, curry leaves, turmeric and salt. Cook till tomatoes are soft. Cool and grind.

Heat oil for tempering and splutter mustard seeds and then add urad-chana daal. Once the lentils are golden pour it over the chutney and mix.

Sending this to my event ‘Only’ Food For Pregnancy, hosted here.

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Carrot Raitha

Raitha is a must in my home, whenever I make parathas or briyanis, even otherwise my daughter loves to have cucumber raitha just like that. We can make it with almost all vegetables and it's a healthy accompaniment to any meal. For today's raitha, I have used grated carrots and chopped tomatoes, very simple to make and the extra flavor comes from the seasoning..

Need To Have

Carrot - 1 cup grated
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
Grated Ginger - 2 teaspoons
Coriander - 1 tablespoon, chopped
Curd/ Yogurt - 1 cup
Green chilli - 1, deseeded and chopped finely
Nigella seeds/ Onion seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - to taste

Method

Take the grated carrots, ginger, tomatoes and coriander in a bowl. Add the curd and salt and mix well.

Heat some oil, add the nigella seeds, when it starts sizzling, add the chopped green chilli, stir for a few seconds and mix it with the carrot and curd mixture.

Note
Can add 2 teaspoons of grated coconut, if you don't like or don't have nigella or onion seeds, you can do the seasoning with black mustard seeds, but onion seeds definitely gives a different flavor to this raitha.

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Host Line Up 2013-14

Hi All!!

Here’s the host line up for the upcoming events for 2013-14. A few events which are challenging are still open for hosting in 2014. In case you are interested in hosting leave me a line with your blog details at cookingoodfood@gmail.com

Month & Year	Event	Host	Event Round Up
August’13	‘Only’ Food For Pregnancy	Pari
September’13	‘Only’ Sandwiches, Burgers & Panini	Sushma
October’13	‘Only’ Traditional Recipes	Jillu Anand
November’13	‘Only’ Diwali Treats	Sowmya Karthi
December’13	‘Only’ Baked Treats	Kalyani
January’14	‘Only’ Parathas & Flat breads	Rafeeda AR
February’14	‘Only’ Food For Growing Children	Shruti Dhingra Wahi
March’14	‘Only’ Dairy Free Cooking	Priya Suresh
April’14	‘Only’ Cooking With Grains	Shruti
May’14	‘Only’ Tried & Tasted From Foodelicious	Pari
June’14	‘Only’ Summer Food & Drinks	Shailaja
July’14	‘Only’ Gluten Free Cooking	Pari

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Radiocapferret

http://www.radiocapferret.vaziva.com/wp-content/uploads/podcasts/emissions/invite/invite16082013.mp3

Écoutez en cliquant sur le lien ci dessus l'entretien de RadioCapFerret avec le Président de notre association le matin de notre assemblée générale à la Forestière.

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Eggplant And Double Beans Masala

At last, back to blogging, it's been more than a month, a move and couple of trips had kept me very busy, slowly settling down in Bangalore and missing Chennai very much. Have been missing my fellow bloggers, will catch up soon. Coming to today's dish, Eggplants and Double Beans Masala, this is an excellent side dish to go with both rice and rotis. I have used the small purple eggplants and fresh double beans, which makes this dish really very delicious and the fennel seeds and coconut paste gives a nice flavor to this dish..

Need To Have

Diced Eggplant - 3 cups
Fresh Double Beans - 1 cup
Tomato - 1 chopped
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Curry Leaves - 6 to 10
Salt - to taste

For The Masala

Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon
Shallots/ Small Onions - 4
Dried Red Chillies - 4
Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Method

Grind coarsely, without adding water, all the ingredients given under 'Masala'.

Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the eggplant pieces and saute for 2 minutes. Then add the butter beans, mix, add the turmeric powder and salt, cover and cook on reduced heat.

When the double beans are cooked, add the tomatoes, cover and cook for another 2 minutes, until the tomatoes break down.

Now add the ground masala and curry leaves, keep mixing for another 5 minutes and switch off.

Note
If fresh butter beans are not in season, can use dried ones, soak it and pressure cook it and then add it to the curry.
Can also use pinto beans instead of butter beans.
You can make this like a gravy, just grind the masala into a fine paste and add some water while cooking it.

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Affordable College Care Packages (smart business)

Going to college is an exciting adventure that everyone would go through would always remember throughout life. The excitement does not prevent stress for those who are coming to college the first time. This is the reason why a lot of things are done to support these students who are leaving the home with care packages. You may not have this package at home or able to supply them perfectly to your ward which is the reason you can order for them online.

The perfect package basket would support a student for a long time and is known to be healthy if the right ingredient is picked. This basket would be able to support a new student who is trying to find feet around the school. It may not be easy for some of these students to be able to adjust to the food in the school cafeteria. This is what the food basket can help the student achieve with snacks and some healthy meals included in it.

The Benefits

I. Care package college students can be what these food baskets can be called that may contain a lot of items that you can decide.

II. Chocolate of various ranges can be seen in these packages that are made from a lot of recipes. This is what gives a student that feeling that home is still with them when they eat from these food baskets.

III. A student may not be able to get chocolate covered pretzels in school.

IV. However, with a package that have this as its menu content, a student can easily enjoy what he or she might have missed at home.

V. Cookies and tea may not lack from a student who enjoys tea like Chamomile, Earl Gray, English Breakfast and many other varieties can be gotten from these packs.

VI. A student would not fall sick if the right carepackages are gotten for that student.

VII. You can choose the right package when you take your time in browsing through the internet. The parents or guardians have nothing to worry about when they make use of these packages for their wards.

VIII. School becomes simple and less stressful when the right food basket is given to a student.

It is not only new students who would need these college carepackages, even old students have the need of these packages. There are so many varieties of these packages you would want to use if you are a student. The ordering of these packages can be done in the comfort of your dorm if it is possible for you. And for those who are coming from home, they can make their preference known before their parents can order for them. This would make it possible for them to have no challenge with the menu contents of the ordered packages.

Mydormfood.com is the website that would provide you with the right package for your kids in school. There are so many types of these food baskets that it would be easier for you to select the type of care package you need. The cost is very affordable and the ordering is very effective and efficient. You get your package within hours you ordered and they work 24/7.

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Bars, Pubs, and Taverns Welcome Customers and Offer Alcoholic Drinks (Jhon Smith Ben)

A common social practice is to go out for drinks with your friends. There are wide varieties of venues where you can get alcoholic drinks, sit and listen to music, or just enjoy the company of your peers. These venues have a specialized counter called "the bar," where a bartender and his helper work on preparing cocktails and pouring wine and beer. The "back bar" is an area behind the bartender that has the liquor stock and glassware. Many bars are highly decorated and very ornate. Others are understated. But all bars serve alcoholic beverages that are commonly known as drinks.

Tables, chairs, and stools at high counters provide seating for customers. Couples or a single individual are welcome to sit at the bar to enjoy their drinks and the company of others seated nearby. Large groups can sit at a table or in a booth. Depending on the size and layout of the bar or pub, cocktail waitresses serve the drinks that the bartender has made. Occasionally, in a smaller tavern, the bartender does the serving.

Bar patrons may find themselves enjoying drinks in a myriad of surroundings. Dive bars, for instance, are usually frequented by local people who are only interested in getting an alcoholic beverage with their friends. Neighborhood bars may serve drinks to the same patrons nearly every night of the week. Other bars feature live music, along with the drinks. These bars frequently implement a cover charge or have a minimum drink purchase requirement. The cover charge is usually used to pay the live musicians; however, they gratefully accept tips, as well. Other pubs and taverns have DJs who play recorded music. Usually, a bar comes to be known for the type of music it plays. Some of these bars may have a small dance floor, but the focus of the business is serving alcoholic drinks. Cocktail lounges are frequently found in hotels and restaurants.

In many cities, laws are in place that prohibit minor children from entering an establishment that serves alcoholic drinks. Zoning and legal restrictions may state where these establishments can be located within a city or town. Some communities place restrictions on what type of alcohol can be served to patrons. For instance, wine bars can only serve wine and drinks that have an alcohol percentage not greater than wine. Many wine bars are quite elegant and most are quiet. Wine bars may offer a small tasting menu, with food selected to be paired with certain wines. Beer is served, almost exclusively, at beer pubs or small microbreweries. A person looking to have a drink made with vodka or Scotch would probably not go into a microbrewery for a drink. Many microbreweries and brewpubs serve food, as well.

Drinks have become very sophisticated, with cocktails coming in a wide variety of flavors. A cocktail is sometimes defined as an alcoholic spirit mixed with soda or fruit juice and served with fruit or herbs. Ingenious new concoctions arrive on the scene from time to time. Bartenders who experiment with flavors, mixers, and ingredients are now called mixologists. The techniques and recipes are known as mixology. In large urban areas, customers become familiar with what kinds of cocktails a certain mixologist or bar generally serves. For instance, martini bars are popular and the list of martini types is seemingly endless. Bartenders invent new combinations and offer them to their customers. The ones that taste good become popular; the drinks that don't are usually not seen again.

Drinks are not only varied, but so is the glassware in which they are served. For instance, fine red wines are ideally served in a balloon-shaped crystal glass. White wine glasses are more vertically shaped. Champagne flutes are designed to keep the bubbles in the glass until the wine is consumed. Martini glasses, highball glasses, pilsner glasses, beer steins, glasses specifically designed for ales or porters, and many others grace the back bars of nearly every establishment where drinks are sold.

Drinks have a long and colorful history. Some have been used for medicinal purposes. Others were invented in celebration of an important date or event. But the idea of going out for drinks remains a constant.

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Raw Banana & Tender Fenugreek Leaves Paratha | Vegan | Flatbread | Stepwise | Pregnancy Recipes

Hi All!!

I’m here with yet another healthy recipe which is definitely tasty too. I was very curious and apprehensive about how this combination would turn out. The raw banana has become kind of favorite with me after I made the gluten free, Banana Rings. I had been eyeing the small bunches of baby fenugreek leaves for a few weeks now, in my regular vegetable shop and this time I decided to give it a try. These small baby plants are about 2-3 inches long with tender stems, roots and tiny leaves.

Both, the raw banana and fenugreek are extremely nutritive ingredients and a combination of both definitely is an extremely nutritional preparation. During pregnancy, one needs to consume about 300 more calories daily than one normally would in their non-pregnant state. The extra calories gives added energy to support the growth and development of the unborn child. The average-size banana contains about 100-110 calories. Other than that, the banana are fat free, cholesterol-free food that contribute to heart health.

Bananas offer a load of potassium in a relatively small package. Potassium is an electrolyte nutrient that, along with calcium and magnesium, helps manage your body's balance of fluids. Eating bananas for their potassium content during pregnancy can control lower leg edema, the swelling of the ankles and calves that often strikes expectant moms; and leg cramps, another common side effect of pregnancy. Bananas are also a nonacidic mild food, less likely to upset the stomach than fatty foods or citrus fruits. Bananas are an excellent source of Vitamin B6, which is suggested to be the key to relief from morning sickness.

When it comes to fenugreek, people have mixed opinions. A few believe it should not be eaten and others believe it a very good green for pregnancy. Personally, I ate all kinds of greens ( my doctor recommended that) in my pregnancy including the fenugreek leaves without any harmful effects. So, those who are apprehensive about eating Fenugreek leaves can replace this preparation with Spinach but before doing that, please read the contribution of this plant in pregnancy here.

All my dilemma with this combo was put to rest when I tasted the flatbread/paratha. It was yummy with the softness of banana, flavor of methi and perfect blend of spices added to it. I did not over do with the spices, as I wanted the flatbread/paratha to retain it’s natural flavors.