Cookies! I'm sure its the most wanted goodie dor any sweet tooth lover. I never knew it will be so easy to make a home made cookie in flat half n hour. there is no problem of thr 'room temparature' thing in baking cookies. I remember sometimes our special breakfast as kids were these chocolate chip cookies and milk. My partner can just go on eating cookies anytime, anywhere, i call him 'The Cookie Monster'.

The best part of making a cookie is it can be stored for a long period of time(atleast for a month or more!). And also the process doesnt need much whisking. The recipe below will make atleast 3 dozen

The making:

Ingredients:

• Unsalted Butter- 1 Cup(225gms)

• 3/4th Cup (150gms)- Granulated white sugar
• 3/4th cup(160gm)- Light brown sugar
• Egg- 2 large
• Vanilla Extract- 1 1/2 tsp
• 2 and quarter Cup(295gm)- All purpose flour
• 1 tsp- Baking soda
• 1/2 tsp- Salt
• 1 Cup- Semi Sweet/dark chocolate

Procedure:

1. Pre Heat oven at 190 degree celcius
2. Prepare a baking tray with greased butter paper
3. In a bowl with hand mixure, beat the butter until smooth & creamy
4. Add white and brown sugar, beat until fluffy.
5. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
6. Add the vanilla estract and beat it to incorporate completely
7. In a separate bowl, combineflour, baking sods and salt.
8. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mix and beat until incorporated, adding the chocho chips.
9. You could either use a spoon or an ice-cream scoop to pour in the batter in the tray
10. Bake for about 12-14 mins or till the edges are golden brown.

Enjoy!

Egg White Frittata

Frittata is an italian make of omlette basically. Frittatas can be cooked with veggies of your choice. Unlike omlette, fritatta is usually divided into slices like pizza. It could be served hot or cold, but i prefer the hot one :) Fritattas can be best complimented with Salads. I learnt this recipe from a local chef when i was touring Italy in 2010, and believe me the recipe very simple, quick and yummy!

The Making:

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs(medium)
• 10 egg whites
• 1 red bell pepper- cut into small cubes
  
• 1 green bell pepper- cut into small cubes
  
• 1 small tin of corn kernels
• 100gm cherry tomatoes- halved
  
• 2 spring onions(sliced)
• 100gm low fat feta cheese
• Black pepper(grounded) and salt to taste.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree C
2. Lightly grease a baking dish.
3. Beat together eggs and egg whites for 2-3 mins on a minimum speed.
   
4. Combine all the veggies, half the feta and some ground black pepper
5. Pour the veggie mix into the tray then pour over the egg mix. Give the tray a shake to even out the mix
6. Sprinkle over the rest of the feta so its on top
7. Bake for about 20mins.
   
8. Remove and place it on a hot grill wire so that the top puffs up and becomes golden.

Enjoy!

Basic Sponge Cake

Sponge cake is the basic of all the cakes. Its got the minimum ingredients required. My earliest memory goes down the lane when i was a kid and we were treated with this cake made by mom. Then slowly a slice of this cake arrived in the market for only Rs 2! I use to buy a slice and share it with my brother or friends on our way back from the school.

This was my very first attempt to make a sponge cake......infact the very first dish out of the oven! I was nervous yet confidant about the recipe. This recipe was given to me by a dear friend from Netherlands.

The trick is to keep it quite light and fluffy so that it could be rolled into a swiss roll.

The Making:

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour- 1 Cup (Approx 125gm)
• Baking Powder- 1tsp(5gm)
• Butter(unsalted & melted)- 1/4th cup (31.25gm)
• Eggs- 7 yolks(medium sized)
• Sugar- 1 cup
• Milk(room temp)- 1/2 cup
• Vanilla essence- 3/4th - 1tsp(you need this much so as to conceal the smell of eggs)

Procedure:

1. Pre heat the oven at 180 Degree celcius for about 15 mins(dont overdo as the results might differ)
2. Grease a baking tray/tin(rectangular or round). You could also put a butter paper at the bottom.
3. Sieve the flour and baking powder together.
4. Add the butter & vanilla essence to the milk.
5. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks till thick, if you are using the hand blender beat it in medium for about 5-7 mins and is using the whisker beat it for 20 mins. Add the sugar slowly and beat it for another one minute till it becomes a homogenous mixture.
6. Pour the egg mix into the flour, fold it couple of times very gently then pour in the milk mix, and fold for couple of times to make a smooth paste.
7. Pour into the prepared tray/tin.
8. Bake for about 30-35 mins at 180 degrees
9. Cool the cake in the tin on a wire rack for about 10 mins.
10. Remove from the tin and cool completely.
11. You could decorate your sponge cake with icing sugar or home made whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Getting Started!

I got my very first OTG(24L) on 28th May'11 ! Gawd im so much excited! Finally i can bake my urge! The interest was always there so back in 2008 i got a microwave(convection cum grill) but was quiet unsuccesful in baking or grilling :( Then decided to get an OTG for real...but something or the other didnt have that perfect opportunity to get one.

Moving to Netherlands in 2009 was a great way to study the different ingredients used for baking, man the west compared to India not only have a rich collection of baking equipments but also the perfect ingredients. There i was an active member of a baking club for the amatuers. One of my friends was trained in baking from France, so got to learn some french delicacies starting from the pound cake :) but....alas our apartment didnt have an oven and i use to go to my friends place to experiment.

Came back in 2011 and whatever was the size of my kitchen i was not going to compromise for my OTG! And yes i have one now!

I'm searching for a baking partner to again start off.....do let me know if anyone is interested in joining me with the experimentation process.....

Till my next post Ciao and happy Blogging!