Hazelnut

This picture is my entry for the colorful event hosting by Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi .

Event details HERE

Turnip Tofu Gravy

Ingredients:
Turnip - 1 no,washed,peeled,chopped,pressure cooked with half a tspn of salt & sugar.
Tofu - 1 block of organic tofu
Onion - 1 no,chopped
Tomato - 1 no,medium size
Red chilli pwd -11/2 tspn
dhaniya pwd - 1 tspn
Turmeric - a pinch
garlic - 2 pods,crushed
ginger - 1/2 inch,grated
Bay leaf - 1 no
Golden raisins - 5 or 6 no
cloves - 4 no,crushed
Milk - 1/2 cup
Curd - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 tspn
Jaggery - 1 tspn
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking
Mint leaves for garnishing

Preperation:
Drain water from tofu and cut into desired shape.
Heat 2 tspn of oil and fry the tofu on both sides until crispy and golden color.Remove from pan and place on a paper towel.
Cook chopped turnips in a pressure cooker for 10 to 12 minutes.
Heat the pan with a tspn of oil .Add crushed ginger ,garlic and stir for a light brown color.Add bay leaf,chopped onions,golden raisins fry for 2 minutes.Add chopped tomatoes, raisinsdhaniya pwd,red chilli pwd,turmeric and stir well .Sprinkle 2 tspn of water and cover with lid and cook until tender.Add fried tofu pieces and cooked turnip pieces and stir well to combine with the gravy.
Add sufficient salt ,crushed cloves, milk, beaten curd , a sprig of mint leaves and stir well.Allow to cook for another 6 to 7 minutes in medium flame until gravy becomes thick.Remove from fire and garnish with mint leaves.
Turnip Tofu Gravy is ready to eat with chapathis or rotis.

See here for Turnip recipes from
Radhi
BEE,
Indira

Turnip Tofu Gravy is my entry for Grindless Gravies event hosted


by Dear Sra of whenmysoupcamealive .

Avocado Dryfruits Nuts Biscotti

Recently, I came acroos with the tv show led by giada de laurentiis(food network star) making wonderful biscotti for holidays.Inspired by Nicky of Delicious days "cantuccicantuccinibiscotti".Thank You Nicky!
Then i decided to make biscotti by adding Avocado(who stares at me always for not using in any recipe.).Biscotti tastes great along with sweet and nutty flavour of avocado and looks colorful with studded gemstones which resembles citrine for apricots,garnet for dates,emerald for pistachio,ruby for cranberries.

INDREDIENTS:
All purpose flour - 3 cups,sifted
LAND O LAKES® Butter - 1 stick
Avocado medium size - 1 no, ripe
Sugar - ¾ th cup
Vanilla extract - ½ tspn
Eggs - 2 no
Baking powder - 1tspn
Salt - ¼tspn
Cranberries - ½ cup
NUTS:
Toasted Pistachio nuts - 1½ cups
Toasted Pecans - ¾ th cup
Dried fruit:
Turkish Apricot - ¾th cup
Dates - 7 no,deseeded and chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 ° F.In a small bowl add sifted flour,baking powder,salt and mix well.
Toast Pistachios,Pecans on a lined baking sheet for 5 to 8 minutes.Remove from oven and cool completely.
In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar, ripe avocado flesh,vanilla into light and fluffy.Add eggs, one at a time,until creamy.Add flour mixture and mix well.Stir in chopped turkish apricots,chopped dates,toasted nuts(Pecans,Pistachio).Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 parts.Shape each part into 9″ into 1½″ log.Place these logs on a lined baking sheet.Flatten the logs gently in this shape.

Bake for 30 minutes and check with toothpick.Transfer the logs on a wire rack and allow to cool for 25 minutes.Reduce the oven temperature to 275°F degrees.Place logs on a wooden board and cut diagonally with a knife to ½ ;thickness.Place the slices on lined baking sheet,cut side down.Bake 8 to 10 minutes until slightly brown at 300°F .Remove biscotti from the oven to wire racks.Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.Biscottis are ready to dunk in a hot cup of coffee.
Recipe Idea :My own experiment using " Avocado " in biscotti.



This is my entry to the event christmas cookies hosting by Dear Susan of Foodblogga.

White and Wild Rice Pilaf

Thanksgiving Meal

Ingredients:
Safeway wild rice - 1 packet
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 3
Cumin seeds - 1tspn
Onions - 1 large
Green chillies - 3
Vegetables - Bokchoy, Capsicum, Carrot
Almonds - 3 tspn slivered
Pepper - curshed ,1 tspn
Ghee - 2 tspn
oil - 1 tspn while boiling rice



Boil water in a vessel and add bay leaf,jeera ,a pinch of salt. Add wild rice, a tspn of oil to it and cook.

Take another pan: Fry onions,green chillies and add chopped vegetables to that.Add salt and stir for a while and sprinkle water and cover with the lid and cook in low flame until crisp-tender.

Mix this into the boiled rice and add enough salt ,pepper ,crushed cloves,sliverd almonds and toss well.

Remove from fire.Ready to serve.

Apple Cranberry Pie

Thanksgiving Meal

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 3 cups,sifted
Sugar - 1/2 tspn
a pinch of salt
Unsalted butter - 1 stick
Ice water - 5 to 6 tbspn
Take a large bowl and add salt ,suagr to the sifted flour.
Cut 1 stick of butter into slices and add to the flour and mix by using fingers.Mix together into coarse crumbs.Drizzle the ice water and make the dough into a smooth ball and make it into a disk.Wrap it in a plastic wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes.
Remove tHe pie dough and divide into 2 parts for the upper and lower crust. Sprinkle flour on the surface and roll the dough into a circle of 1/8 inch thickness.Place the pastry carefully on a pie
pan.Cover with plastic wrap and keep in fridge.Roll the rest of the dough into another 1/8 inch thick circle for upper crust.To make a Lattice :Cut the rolled dough into strips with pizza cutter and weave the strips by placing alternately.See here for how to weave lattice pie top .
See this Peach pie.
Pie filling:
Granny smith apples - 4 no,washed ,peeled and cut into slices
Fresh cranberry - 1/2 cup,washed
Corn starch - 4 tbspn
Lemon juice - 2 tspn
Cinnamon - 1 tbspn
Jaggery - 2 tspn, grated
Sugar - 3/4 th cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tspn
Salt - 1/4 tspn

Egg wash:
Egg yolk - 1
Water - 3tbspn
Optional / Use Milk instead of egg yolk.
Filling:
Mix sliced apples along with lemon juice. Take Sugar into an another bowl and add ground cinnamon,salt,corn strach,jaggery,fresh cranberries and mix well.
Add sliced apples to this and fill the pie pan by layering apples evenly.


Preheat the oven to 400
Place the lattice top carefully and crimp the edges.After crimping I made little flowers by using cookie cutter with the extra dough and placed it on the top of the lattice pie crust.Brush the lattice top lightly with the beaten egg.Cover the rim with aluminium foil to prevent the edges of pie from browning.
Note: Sprinkle granulaed sugar on the top.But i missed this step.
Bake at 375 for 1 hr 15 minutes .Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.Cut and serve with a scoop of icecream.




Recipe source:Martha stewart,Emeril Lagasse