Creamy Tomato Basil soup

Tomato Basil Soup

The secret to a delicious tasting Tomato Basil soup is in the freshness of the ingredients since this is a very simple soup prepared with very few spices .

Ingredients :

4 vine ripened red tomatoes chopped

1 can of organic tomato sauce ( not ketchup )

1/2 cup carrot puree/juice

3 tbsp heavy cream

1/4 th cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1 cup  vegetable stock.

1 shallot

2 cloves of garlic finely grated

salt to taste

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil 

2 tbsp fresh Italian Parsley (to garnish)

Italian Basil growing in  my backyard

Fresh tomatoes from my backyard

Directions :

Heat olive oil in a non- stick pan .Add the finely sliced shallot and sautee till transluscent.Add the garlic and saute for a few seconds. Now add the chopped tomatoes ,salt  and pepper and roast for 5-7 mins.Add the tomato sauce ,vegetable stock and  carrot puree (this helps to cut down the sourness of the tomatoes and also adds a delicious flavor and nutrition to the soup) and simmer on a low flame for 10 mins till soup starts bubbling.Add the fresh  cream and chopped basil leaves .Simmer for another 2 mins. Garnish with chopped Italian parsley. Serve hot with grilled cheese toast.

My kitchen pics for 'October Blog Carnival-It's a cook's nook event'

Last week I had sent  my kitchen pics for Nupur's 'Kitchens Revealed ' event  .This week I got an invitation from Sharon  who writes a beautiful  home decor blog at http://www.thekeybunch.com/ to participate in the 'October Blog Carnival -It's a cook's nook' event  at her blog and I'm more than happy to do the same.
It's always fun to view kitchen pics and get to share new ideas  .This time around I'm also posting some of my kitchen garden pics because it is an intricate part on my kitchen and cooking too.

Here's the  link if you would like to participate
 http://www.thekeybunch.com/2010/10/october-blog-carnival-its-cooks-nook.html

White zodiac countertops ,white cabinets ,dark walnut wood floors and SS appliances give my kitchen a very contemporary look and feel not to mention that I have to work extra hard to maintain that look :)

I knew  it would be a challenge to  go for an all white on white  kitchen especially if you use a lot of spices in your everyday cooking and cook a lot but I couldn't pass this up.

This is my KitchenAid kitchen fridge (I have one more Kitchen Aid  fridge in the adjacent room) I was  always short of freezer space so bought a second one..

Peek inside the kitchen fridge

peek inside the second fridge

KitchenAid dishwasher ,Moen faucet n Kohler sink.

A peek inside my  walk in kitchen pantry

Bar on the left

Kitchen Aid 8 burner gas range with dual convection ovens makes cooking a breeze not to mention it's the star of my kitchen.

walk in pantry on the right

Yellow tomatoes that I grew in my backyard kitchen garden this summer

Vine ripened  red tomatoes

Watermelon which I grew meticulously  from seed but unfortunately got destroyed 2 weeks before harvest thanks to the carelessness of the workers who sprayed weed killer on it !!

Strawberries some we ate some the birds enjoyed :))I did not want to put a protective net around it as I've read sometimes their little feet get caught in it. So I let them enjoy it too.



My kitchen garden when it was just planted in spring early this yr



Rosemary

view of my backyard from my kitchen

Gardenias blooming in my front yard

Citrus flavored Cremini Mushrooms n Wild Rice Pilaf

Wild Rice is not really rice but the  seed from an aquatic grass. This rice is dark brown to black in color and has a delicious nutty flavor.You will often find it as a mix of brown or white  basmati/Texmati and wild rice in grocery stores . The Indian brand Kohinoor also carries it.Below is a recipe for a delicious wild rice dish .The citrus vinaigrette compliments greatly with the nutty flavors of the rice and the cremini mushrooms add a great full bodied flavor .Enjoy it with your favorite vegetable or chicken curry.Do add all the vinaigrette ingredients ,you will not taste the honey at all as it balances out with the soy sauce and citrus flavors.

Ingredients :

8-10 brown cremini mushrooms

1 tsp lemon -pepper seasoning

1 tbsp olive oil

                                  4 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2  teaspoon olive oil
2 cups brown basmati rice n wild rice mix
3/4 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
1 lemon, zested
1 cup thinly sliced green onions

For the Citrus Vinaigrette :

1/2 cup olive oil

Juice and zest of 1 orange
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
 salt and freshly ground black pepper


Directions :
For the Mushrooms:

 Wash and thickly slice the cremini mushrooms .Heat olive oil in a pan. add the mushrooms and lemon-pepper seasoning and saute for 5 mins.keep aside.

For the Citrus Vinaigrette:


In a blender, combine the olive oil, orange juice, lemon juice, soy sauce, honey, and cumin taking the measurements listed under 'Citrus Vinaigrette'. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

For the wild rice blend:

Wash and rinse the rice ,strain and keep aside.Heat 1/2 tsp olive oil in a pot. Add the washed rice and saute for 30 secs.Add 4 cups of water ,salt and bring to a boil .Let most of the water evaporate and then remove from heat ,cover the pot and let steam for 5-7 mins..Remove the cover and gently mix in  the prepared vinaigrette,chopped green onions,corinader leaves,lemon zest,orange zest  n sauteed mushrooms.Serve hot with vegetable or chicken curry.

Giada's Italian Style Doughnuts -Orange Zeppole



Italian Doughnuts -Orange Zeppole




I was going through Giada's recipe book and came across these delicious looking Italian doughnuts .I was a little skeptical in trying out the recipe because I've never made doughnuts before  and more so because  Dunkin Donuts is right outside my home so never bothered to make at home :) Anyways,decided to try them out and followed the recipe exactly and were they good !!! They got wiped out in less than 10 mins ,everyone loved them the kids more so.They taste way better than store bought  .Try them out follow the recipe exactly and you cannot go wrong.I left out the chocolate sauce as the doughnuts tasted great just as is.



Ingredients :

For the doughnuts

1 stick butter ( 1/2 cup )

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 tablespoon orange zest

Vegetable oil, for frying

Orange Sugar:

1 tablespoon orange zest
2 tbsp sugar

Directions :
For the Orange Zeppole:





In a medium saucepan combine the butter, salt, sugar, and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Take the pan OFF the heat and stir in the flour. Return the pan to low heat and stir continuously until the mixture forms a ball, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed, add eggs, 1 at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Add the orange zest and beat until smooth. Set aside.






For the Orange Sugar:

Place the orange zest and sugar in a bowl and mix together 


Pour enough oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat


Using 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the hot oil. Turn the zeppole once or twice, cooking until golden and puffed up, about 5 minutes. Transfer the cooked zeppole to the dish with the Orange Sugar. Roll to coat in the orange sugar. Finish making  the remianing similarly and grab a couple for yourself as these will quickly disappear :)



fry to a golden brown

the cooked dough should look like this before you add the eggs

this is how the batter should look finally

orange zest

Peas Stuffed Aloo Tikki Chhole

This is a great chaat party dish  or even a meal in itself.There's nothing junk about it ..packed with proteins and nutrients from the peas,potatoes n chickpeas and still tastes like Bombay street food !!

MDH chunky chaat masala is the star of the show here.

Ingredients  for the peas stuffed patties :

3 large Russett potatoes (these bake great)

1 cup green peas

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 finely chopped green chilli

1/2 tsp MDH chaat masala

3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

salt to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp pepper pwdr

Directions :

Bake or boil the  potatoes .Mash them ,add salt to taste and keep aside.Heat oil in a pan .add cumin seeds,let them brown then add the peas,chaat masala,green chili,salt ,pepper and saute for 2-3 mins till peas are tender.Remove and mix the coriander leaves in them.

Take a dollop of mashed potatoes in the cup of your hand.add a tbsp of peas in it and cover with more mashed potatoes and shape into a round flat topped patty.Make the remaining similarly. Heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry them to a golden brown on each side.

shaping the patties

Ingredients for the chhole :

There are many delicious recipes for making chhole some of which are very time consuming .Here's one that takes only 15 mins but still tastes fabulous. I use organic tender cooked chickpeas as they taste delicious,cut down cooking time tremendously and each chickpea is perfectly cooked  and not mushy unlike when we pressure cook them not to mention they are grown organically and are free  of pesticides and preservatives.

Ingredients :

1 can of tender cooked organic garbanzo beans ( chickpeas)

3/4 th of a large red onion (reserve 1/4th for garnishing)

1/2  tomato

3 whole green chilis

1 bay leaf

4-6 black peppercorns

3 cloves

1 black cardamom

4 cloves of finely grated garlic

1/2 inch finely grated ginger

1 heaped tbsp MDH chana masala

1 tsp MDchunky chaat masala

1/2 tsp cumin pwdr

1/2 tsp turmeric pwdr

1 tsp corinader pwdr

salt to taste

3 tbsp olive oil

Directions :

Heat oil in a pan. When hot add the peppercorns,cloves,bay leaf n black cardamom.Let sizzle for 30 secs.Add the finely chopped onion,and whole green chilis(slit the chilis to prevent them from bursting).

Saute till the onions are transluscent then add the finely grated ginger n garlic and tomato along with the chana masala ,turmeric,coriander,cumin pwdrs and cook till oil seperates from the mixture.Add the garbanzo beans and 1/2 cup water and salt  and cook till gravy thickens. Finish off with MDH chunky chaat masala.

To serve plate the chickpeas and place the patties on top. Drizzle with mint-coriander chutney and chopped onion and cilantro and serve hot.

Sending this recipe for Nithu's CWF--chickpeas event

http://www.nithubala.com/2010/08/250th-post-cwf-lb-chickpeas-event.html

My kitchen pics for Kitchens Revealed event

We are always posting recipes and food pictures  on our food blogs but thanks to Nupur we had a chance to peek into some of our friends kitchens too and it felt wonderful going through the pics.It's like you know the person a little bit more better and anyone who loves to cook  love their kitchen too as they spend a considerable amount of time there. Here's a peek into my kitchen  ...sending these pics for Nupur's -Kitchens Revealed event .Here's the link to participate

http://onehotstove.blogspot.com/2010/09/kitchens-revealed-link-party.html


Let me first begin with my Ganesh Chaturthi  2010 pooja pic below

My KitchenAid  8 burner gas range with dual electric convection ovens .. makes cooking for a crowd a breeze 

 KitchenAid dishwasher and Kohler sink.

 KitchenAid  fridge ,microwave n GF grill below

walk in pantry

a peek inside  my first fridge

a peek inside my second fridge

view of my backyard from my kitchen

Savory Cheese Egg Toast

This is a  great picnic snack easy to prepare , carry and eat on the go.Goes well for breakfast /brunch too .This is like eating a cheesy Indian style  omelette and toasted bread all rolled into one.

Ingredients :

4 slices of Multi grain bread

2 eggs

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

1 finely chopped chilli

1/4th tsp turmeric

1.4 tsp cumin pwdr

1/2 tsp pepper pwdr

salt to taste

2 cubes soft cream cheese

Oil for pan frying

Directions :

In a bowl break the two eggs.Add salt,pepper,turmeric,cumin pwdr,chopped chili,coriander leaves and beat together well with a fork .Spread the cream cheese on the slices of bread and cut into four slices as shown in the pic below.Heat oil in a frying pan .Coat each slice evenly by dipping in the egg mixture and shallow fry to a golden brown .Serve hot with ketchup.