X'Mas Goodie Bag-Part II

Ok, this and a couple of other posts were scheduled to be posted on blogger which for some reason decided to stay unpublished. This post was the intended Part II of the Xmas Goodie Bag. I was on a commission that required all my attention, hence the trust on blogger scheduler. Now since the dates that these had to be posted have all gone haywire, I have to manually do them one by one!!! Sigh!!!!

The goodie bag that I sent out had a 4" banana cake accompanying the cinnamon cookies. This is a tried, tested and a much appreciated cake, the reason why it earned a place in the goodie bag. The recipe is originally for a banana bread, and since I baked it in a cake pan, I prefer to call it a cake (duh!!!). The batter is on the thicker side and the crust has a lovely colour to it after it is baked. The best part of making this is you don't need to use a mixer, which means lesser washing to do...and not very "Banany" like my neice put it across.

The recipe for the above is as per this. Since the results have always been fantastic, I have never felt the need to substitute any ingredient, except for reducing the amount of bananas used. Most banana bread recipes that I made were either too sweet or had an overpowering taste of banana. This recipe yields a soft, crumbly texture with a mild flavor of banana, very mildly sweet and just right!

That rounds up my goodie bag and A very proseprous New Year to all my readers out there!!!

X'Mas Goodie Bag-Part I

Am back to baking, the first of my baking goods being these batches of cookies specially made to share with friends and family. Whenever I want to bake a cookie, either this or this has always been my reference. I have been baking only for a couple of years now and it is during the christmas season that I long to share a bag of edible goodies with friends and family. These cookies are a part of the several goodies. Other goodies follow soon in this blog.

So like I said, the inspiration for this was The Food Hunter. Cinnamon being a favourite spice, this was the choice. It is a simple recipe with a delicious result. Since my 4 year old daughter's school just closed for X'mas vacations, I sent her off to my mum's place....So with the DH at work and having the entrie kitchen to myself with no interruptions was all that I needed to bake these and the rest. I only wished I had more company to share the cinnamony aroma that filled the house... I followed the exact recipe, the only exception being I chilled the dough and then rolled it out and then cut them out into perfect circles. Theses were baked and then sprinkled with powdered sugar.

These were chewy on the inside, crispier on the outside. Not being overtly sweet was its advantage and this is going to my collection of cookie recipes.Similar to these snickerdoodles I had made, these are the perfect spice and sugar cookies and ofcourse ideal to be gifted.

This cookies are off to the Eat Christmas Cookies Event.

Seasons greetings to all my readers and their family!!!

An experiment with my favourite cheese......

Paneer/cottage cheese is popular at home and luckily for me, when I follow no specific recipe while using paneer, I always end up with good results. I seldom make Paneer at home and I have this habit of picking up a packet of paneer on every visit to the store inspite of it already being there at home..

This paneer recipe has no specific measurements. I just added the sauces etc. to suit my visual judgement and it worked.

What you need are:
Paneer-cut into small pieces
Marinade
salt
white pepper powder
cornflour
AP Flour
egg

Beat the egg and add the remaining marinade ings and stir until there are no lumps. marinate the paneer atleast for an hour.

Deep fry the paneer. Drop the paneer one by one otherwise you are sure to end up with chunks stuck together. A little patience is needed here for you to dig out each piece and drop them in the oil. Remove them when they turn a slight golden brown. Remove and drain the excess oil.

For the stir fry
Bell pepper-chopped
Tomato Sauce
Chilli Sauce
Soya Sauce
Vinegar-optional

Saute the bell pepper ina little oil. Ensure that its crispiness is not lost. Add the sauces and the add the fried paneer. Serve this hot.

A crunchy outer coat with a tender paneer inside and the flavours of each sauce linger in your mouth.

AFAM:Cherry Roundup and the lucky winner!!!

It is way beyond the time that I planned to do the the roundup for AFAM: Cherry. Better late than never applies here!

With concerns from fellow bloggers on where to find cherries at this time of the year, I expected a poor turnaround. However, entries started trickling in by the end of the month, each unique and lovely in their own way. I am thankful to every one of yo who sent in the following gorgeous entries. I did mention I have a surprise that awaits an entry. So scroll down to see who wins the handmade 4-piece kitchen couture.

So here are the entries in a randomn order.

Simran's Cherry Muffins

Priya's Eggless Chocolate Cherry Muffins

Uma's Salubrious Smoothie

Tina's Cherry Tassies

Divya's Cherry Biscuits

Raaga's Cherry Pancakes

Sweatha's Cherry Biscotti

Yasmeen's Healthy Cherry Nut Crescents

Nicole's Cherry Cornmeal Cobbler

Mansi's Cherry Almond Spice Scones

Happy Cook's Cherry & Marzipan Cake

Ten Cherry Recipes by Ramki

Priya's Cherry Clafoutis

Lakshmi's Black Forest Cake

Lubna's Cocoa Cherry Cake

And finally, my Cherry Pudding.




And drum rolls please for the lucky winner of the surprise gift..

The Singing Chef

Note: The winner do mail me your address at tangerineskitchen(at)gmail(dot)com. The sooner the better!

If I have missed out any entry, do let me know and I will include them in the roundup.

And yes, do hop over to dear Siri's place for AFAM: December. Psst! Heard it is a precious fruit!