Chicken Stew Recipe

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs cooked chicken (no bones)
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 can vegetable broth
• 3 cans of water
• 2 tbsp oil
• 6 potatoes, chunks
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• green beans
• yellow beans
• carrots
• cabbage
• peas
• corn

Preparation

In a large pot, sauté the celery and onion in oil until soft. Add broths, chicken and water (use chicken broth can to measure 3 cans of water). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Add potatoes. Let simmer for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Add vegetables; any favorite will do, frozen or fresh. Simmer an additional 10 minutes until vegetables are tender. Serve hot!! with fresh French stick bread. Corn starch can be added as a thickener, but if you use extra potatoes and lots of vegetables it doesn't really need thickening

Yogurt Cake Recipe

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons plain dried bread crumbs
• 1 (6-ounce) single serving- sized container mixed berry flavor yogurt or yogurt flavor of your choice
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ yogurt containers (or 1 cup) sugar
• 1 yogurt container (or ¾ cup) sunflower oil, vegetable oil may be substituted
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 yogurt containers (or 2 ¾ cups) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup tart apple, peeled and diced, such as Granny Smith
• 1 cup pear, peeled and diced
• powdered sugar, for garnish

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nonstick 10-inch springform pan with the butter and plain bread crumbs. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla until well combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. In batches, add a third of the dry mixture to the wet mixture, mixing until well combined between each addition. Next, stir in the apple and pear until mixed throughout. Pour into the prepared springform pan and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, then reduce the heat to 300 degrees and bake for an additional 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. To serve, remove from the pan, dust with powdered sugar and place on a serving plate

Indian Lentil Recipe

       

Ingredients

• 2 cups masoor dal
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 – 3 tbsp refined oil
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 1tsp dry roasted and crushed cumin, or 1 ½ tsp whole cumin
• 1tsp garlic finely chopped
• 1tsp ginger finely grated
• 2 –3 green chilies finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, finely diced
• couple of sprigs of cilantro finely chopped
• salt to taste

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preparation

Heat oil in a pan, add, cumin and onions and sauté until onions are slightly caramelized. Add crushed ginger and garlic and continue to sauté until oil separates. Add tomatoes, green chilies and turmeric and sauté until tomatoes are mushy. Rinse Dal thoroughly and add to the mixture in the pan. Add 3 –4 cups of hot water, close the pot with a lid and let it cook. Stir occasionally. (I do this in a pressure cooker and allow it to whistle twice). When the dal is cooked the mixture gets creamy and thick. Add more hot water based on desired consistency. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with Rice or Indian Breads

EGGLESS CAKE

 

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 cup Maple Syrup
• 2/3 cup Soft Silken Tofu (See My Notes #1)
• 1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter (I used unsweetened and unsalted)
• 3 tablespoons Milk (I used 2%)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 tablespoons Water (See My Notes #2)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350/180C for 15 mins. Lightly grease and line the muffin tin with paper liners. Also spray the paper liners lightly so that you can peel off the cupcakes easily.
2. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Blend together all the wet ingredients except water.
4. Pour the wet mixture to the flour and combine until just moistened. Stir in the chocolate chips too. If you feel that the batter is too tight add 1 to 2 tablespoons water.
5. Fill each muffin cup 2/3rds full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. I checked after 16 minutes but the cupcakes were not done; the batter was sticking to the toothpick. I baked for another 4 minutes and it came out clean.
6. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack. Do not leave it in the tin for more than 5 minutes because the paper liner will start giving out moisture and the muffins will become soggy.

My Notes:

1. Soft silken tofu was mentioned in the original recipe but all I had was Firm silken tofu and that too the Lite variety from Mori Nu. Earlier I baked a chocolate cake using that tofu and got a rubbery cake so I was in a dilemma whether to use it or not and finally decided to go with it. Surprisingly these peanut butter cupcakes turned out very good; light and fluffy unlike the chocolate cake. I used the dry measuring cup to measure the tofu. Mine was vacuum packed so it did not have any water at all. I spooned it in the 1/3rd cup twice.
2. Water was not mentioned in the original recipe but I had to use it because I felt that the batter was too thick. I think that this wouldn’t be necessary if we use soft tofu because it has more water content than the firm silken tofu I used. I guess that the consistency of peanut butter also matters. Mine was quite hard as I had stored it in the fridge. I think another tablespoon of water also would not have hurt the cupcakes. So consider all this before adding the water.