Pasta Shells in white sauce with Sausage, Mushrooms and Peas!

This is a really simple and easy Pasta recipe. I've always enjoyed the Chicken Alfredo pasta served at Restaurants. Manish wasn't a huge pasta fan until I started preparing Pasta at home. Initially I used to flavor it with Indian spices and slowly progressed it to proper Italian flavored Pasta dishes and now Manish too loves Pasta prepared any style ! :-)

I wanted to have some restaurant style pasta at home one day, so simply searched few online sites and recipe ideas and finally decided on making this. Must say, it came out pretty well but I would have liked to season it a bit more. For seasoning ideas, you may add red chilli flakes or dried oregano to the mushroom, sausage and peas mixture. Or you may add seasonings to the white paste sauce.

I took the pics in a hurry, so that I could eat while the pasta was still hot :-) , so please bear with my pics.
My white sauce is not exactly an Alfredo sauce , so I'm just going to refer to it as white sauce. To prepare Alfredo sauce you should skip the all-purpose flour in the preparation. But it tasted really good nevertheless.

Pasta Shells in white sauce with Sausage, Mushrooms and Peas Recipe
Recipe source : My own
You'll need
Shell Pasta  - 2 cups ( or you can use any kind you like)
Water ( enough to boil pasta)
Sausages - 2 ( I used chicken franks)
Mushroom - 2 cups ( sliced)
Green peas - 1 cup
Red Onion - 1/2 cup ( chopped into small cubes)
Olive oil - 3 tblsp
Salt - to taste
For White Sauce:
Butter - 2 tblsp
Heavy Cream - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup ( or you may substitute both cream & milk with 1cup half and half )
All purpose flour - 2 tsp
Parmesan cheese - 2 tblsp (grated)
Salt - to taste
Pepper powder - a pinch
Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp


Directions
1. Boil water and once it starts bubbling , add salt and then the Pasta Shells. (add enough salt such that the water tastes salty, this will help flavor the pasta)
2. Add 1 tblsp of olive oil in the water ( this helps the pasta from not sticking to each other )
3. Meanwhile , in a frying pan heat 2 tblsp of olive oil. Cut the sausage into small cubes and fry the sausages.
4. Keep aside the fried sausage cubes and add onions into the pan and saute them till they turn pink.
5. Add the mushrooms and green peas and some salt to taste.
6. Once the mushrooms are mildly cooked add the sausage cubes, mix well and keep aside.
To prepare the white sauce:
1.Heat a nonstick pan and melt the butter.
2. Add the all purpose flour and keep stirring to avoid any lumps being formed.
3. Reduce heat and add the cream and milk or half n half and keep stirring till the sauce thickens, then add the freshly grated parmesan cheese. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder up to your taste.
4. Once the Pasta Shells are cooked al dente ,meaning , pasta should still be slightly chewy and not overcooked) drain the excess water and add the pasta into the white sauce. (The all-purpose flour in the white sauce tends to thicken the sauce )
5. You may add some pasta water if required to loosen the pasta-sauce mixture and keep on low heat.
6. Mix in the sausage, mushrooms and peas. Mix well and turn off the heat.

I did not coat the pasta with too much white sauce, but it tasted great just the same. You can mix more sauce if you'd like. Its best served hot.
Manish really enjoyed having this and I was just so glad it turned out well. :-)

Enjoy your Holidays!!

-Manju

Spicy Tuna Fish Cutlets

Hello there...I know I haven't been blogging much these days and I haven't had much time to blog hop either. There has been so much going on the past few days that I honestly haven't had much time to spend on my lappy :-)
As I had mentioned in my earlier post here, we had lot many celebrations lined up and we had quite an eventful weekend with lots of celebrations , food and sweets!

It was our Wedding Anniversary on Dec13th and these cutlets were my special treat to Manish who loves Tuna. And we both love Cutlets...we atleast I know that I could eat them all day! And these came out just so perfect that we were literally sad when it got over. :-)

Cutlets are nothing but croquettes made of meat/chicken/fish/veggies. They are usually deep fried, but I prefer to shallow fry depending on the thickness. Its a lovely appetizer, crunchy and spicy and finger licking good. These Cutlets are my own recipe and it takes hardly 30mins to prepare them.

I made few heart shaped cutlets, special ones for my sweetheart. I also prepared small cute round ones. They were crunchy on the outside, smooth on the inside, with a nice spicy flavor that will keep your tastebuds running even after you finish eating them. TRUST me!!!

Let me take you through the recipe with some step-by-step pics which will definitely make it easy for you to understand how this delicious appetizer is prepared! :-)
This recipe made about 10 small round cutlets and 4 medium sized heart shaped ones.

Spicy Tuna Fish Cutlets Recipe
Recipe source : My own
You'll need
Canned Tuna - 2 tins , 5oz each ( I used Light tuna)
Potato - 2 medium ( I used Russet)
Red Onion - 1/2 large or 2 medium ( diced into thin and small cubes)
Green chillies - 1 or 2 (thinly sliced)
Ginger - 1 inch or 1 tblsp (diced well)
Garlic - 2 (diced well)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Corriander powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
To coat the cutlets:
Egg - 1
Breadcrumbs - enough to coat ( Approx 2 cups) - I used store bought ones
Canola oil - for frying

Directions:
1. Dice and chop the red onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic and keep aside.
2. Boil the potatoes with some salt and mash them well and keep aside to cool.
3. Open the tuna cans and drain any excess oil or water and keep aside.

4. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat, add 1 tblsp canola oil and add the Ginger, Garlic and Green chillies and saute until the ginger-garlic turns mildly brown.

5. Add the Red Onions and and add some salt and cover and cook until the onions turns soft and mild and mildly carmelised, stirring occasionally.

6. Now add all the spices ( Red chilli powder, turmeric powder, corriander powder and garam masala) and mix well.

7. Then add the tuna chunks and mix well and such that each tuna piece is coated well with the spices and onions. Cover and cook for 2-3minutes and turn off the heat and let it cool.

                                  

8. When cooled , add the mashed potatoes and mix well. [ Its best to use your hands at this point :-) ]
9. If making heart shaped cutlets , take a large handful of the tuna-potato mixture and pat it down on a plate or board and then cut into it using the cookie cutter, or you could shape it by hand. ( I used cookie cutter)

10. You can also prepare small flat and round cutlets by taking small tennis ball sized tuna-potato mixture and gently pat it to form a disc shape of even thickness.
11. To coat the cutlets, beat an egg in a bowl and in a separate plate place the breadcrumbs.

12. Gently dip each cutlet into the egg and place it on the plate with the breadcrumbs and coat it on both sides with the breadcrumbs. Do this one by one.

13. You can deep fry or shallow fry the cutlets as per your wish. Fry until the cutlets looks brown and crunchy.
14. Serve hot with ketchup ...yummm!!

Suggestions:
a. You can substitute the Tuna for shredded Chicken/Beef.
b. Vegetarian variations could include mixed veggies like carrots, peas, baby spinach, paneer etc.
c. You could flavour your breadcrumbs instead (if you do not like all that spice ) with some garlic powder, red chilli flakes , dried oregano or some italian seasonings etc.
(The Potato helps to bind the mixture together and helps keep the cutlet intact while frying.)

Make these next time you have guests at home and they are going to be begging you for the recipe! :-)

Have a great day!!

Sending this post to:
1. Snacks Mela hosted by Srivalli

2. Christmas Delicacy event hosted by Julie.

-Manju

Crispy Veggie Samosa

I love Samosa , its my favorite, infact everyone in my family loves it! Its a very common Indian snack item and can be found in almost all bakery shops across India. Even at the restaurants here we get Samosa. :-)
The most common stuffing used is spiced Potatoes , sometimes green peas is also added.

Samosa is a stuffed and deep fried , mostly triangular shaped pastry shell made with all-purpose flour. The stuffing can be as per individual preference. Veggies (could be Potato/Green peas/Carrots/Paneer/Tofu) , Chicken , Meat, Egg , even fruits can be used for the filling .
I have also heard of Chocolate filled Samosas...mmmm....that would just taste so heavenly!! I should definitely try making that sometime!
Also recently I have seen several recipes where the Samosa is baked. I'm sure it would taste just as good and that is noted down in my 'must-try-next' recipe list

My sis-in-law had come over to visit us recently and she wanted something homemade to take back to her friends and instantly Samosa popped up in my head :-) Its not very difficult to make and the filling is your choice. I prepared an easy Potato, grated carrots and peas filled stuffing and used some typical Indian spices for a spicy taste. I have also flavored the pastry shell with some cumin and carom seeds and a pinch of red chilli powder.

This recipe prepares about 18-20 small samosas.

Veggie Samosa Recipe
Recipe source: My own
You'll need
For the pastry shell:
All-purpose flour -  2 cups
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Ajwain seeds (Carom seeds) - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - a pinch or 1/4 tsp ( optional)
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Oil - 1 tblsp ( Canola or vegetable oil preferred)
Salt - to taste
Warm Water - 1cup ( or enough to make a smooth dough)
For the filling:
Russet Potatoes - 2 large
Onion - 1 large (Chopped finely)
Green chillies - 2-3 (sliced thinly)
Carrot - 1 large (grated)
Green peas - 1/4cup
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tblsp
Garam masala powder, Turmeric powder, Red chilli powder , Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp each
Oil - 2tsp (for tempering)
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Ajwain (Carom seeds) - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying

Directions
1. In a deep bowl mix the all-purpose flour, cumin seeds, ajwain seeds, oil , red chilli powder (optional), baking soda (optional) and salt with warm water and make a smooth dough and brush some oil over the dough and keep aside covered by a damp cloth for half an hour.
2. Boil the potatoes and peel off the skin.
3. In a pan heat 2 tsps of oil and crack the cumin seeds and ajwain seeds and add Onions, Green chillies and ginger garlic paste and saute until onions turn pink
4. Add the Carrots and Green peas and saute for another 2mins.
5. Now add the Garam masala powder, Turmeric powder, Red chilli powder and Corriander powder and Salt and saute for another 2mins and turn off the heat.
6. Mash the potatoes and add it to the veggie mix and combine it all together well. Check if the filling is seasoned well.

7. Take the dough and make small 'tennis ball sized' balls. (You may make larger balls depending on the size of the samosa)
8. Roll each ball into a circular shape with a rolling pin and cut it into half (almost a semi circle)

9. Make a cone shape by joining both the ends of the semi circle and pinch it together with the help of some oil or water.

10. Add 1tsp of the potato-veggie into the cone and fold in the end and again pinch it so that it is tightly closed.

11. Heat some oil in a deep pan and add the samosa, few at a time and fry it until golden brown.

Suggestions: If you do not want to add all that spice, you can prepare the filling without adding any of the spice powders. The green chillies would provide a mild spice to the filling.
If you'd like , chaat masala powder can be added which will provide a tangy yet mildly spicy flavor.

They taste great when served hot with some mint chutney or tomato ketchup. Spicy snacks always go well with a nice hot cup of sweet tea or coffee too. These turned out crispy and spicy and was over within seconds of me having kept my camera down. :-)

I'd love to share with you all the Award I got for participating in the event Love Lock with Sweets. Thank you so much Vidhya.

Sending this post to:
1.  Christmas Delicacy event hosted by Julie.

2. Jingle All the way event hosted by Kavi.

3. Snacks Mela hosted by Srivalli

Enjoy your day!

- Manju

Mocha sponge cake with Mocha cream

It was Papa's birthday on Dec 2nd and Manish requested that I bake a cake to celebrate. Well the hidden reason behind the request was also that he could have some cake himself :-) Papa is Manish's father and my sweet sweet father-in-law. I know I'm a bit late in posting this, but better late than never right!!

This year's December is full of celebrations for us. Papa's birthday, my Moms birthday, our Wedding Anniversary , our little baby's Choroonu (Annaprastha- the day that first solids are given to baby), then Chrsitmas , New Years Eve etc etc. Also Appu as we call our baby at home, turns 5month old this month - how time flies!! All in all several reasons to celebrate. I'm hoping I'll be able to celebrate each special day atleast by making one special dish.

So starting with Papa's bday cake :-) Both my parents-in-law love to have coffee. I guess in Kerala every house would have a coffee tree and they gather the coffee seeds and grind, roast and brew their own coffee and I must say that that fresh coffee tastes much better than our instant versions.
Thats when I thought maybe I should make a Coffee flavored cake with some chocolate in it, a combo that would suit my love of chocolate and their love for coffee.  :-)

Now I read several sites online and it states that Mocha or Mocha Latte is a combination of half espresso and half chocolate added to steamed milk. That's how I came to naming the cake as Mocha cake. Also the whipped cream topping flavored with Coffee and Chocolate gives an almost exact flavor of a Mocha latte.

I made a simple mocha flavored sponge cake and topped it with Mocha flavored cream and decorated with some chocolate flavored whipping cream. I used store bought whipped cream - Coolwhip , but you can use regular whipping cream and beat the cream until soft peaks appear. I gave the frosting on the cake top a swirly look instead of a smooth finish.
It wasn't a thick cake as I made just enough batter so that it gets over quickly :-) As we have lots of events to celebrate this month , I want each item to be enjoyed well, but at the same time it should get over too you know.
You can adjust the sponge cake recipe with my Mango Gateau recipe for a bigger sponge cake.

Mocha sponge cake with Mocha cream
Recipe source: My own ( decided after checking various websites for measurement)
You'll need
For Mocha sponge cake :
All-purpose flour - 1cup
Granulated sugar - 1cup
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Eggs - 3
Cocoa powder - 2 tblsp
Instant coffee powder - 1.5 tblsp ( I used Bru coffee)
Salt - a pinch
For moistening the cake:
Water - 3 tblsp (use warm water)
Instant coffee powder - 1 tblsp
Sugar - 1tblsp
For whipped cream topping :
Coolwhip - 2-3 cups
Melted chocolate - 1tsp (use semi-sweet chocolate chips)
Instant coffee powder - 1tsp
Powdered sugar - 2 tsp (optional)

Directions:
For Mocha sponge cake :
1. Preheat your oven to 350F and grease a 9" round baking pan with butter and keep aside.
2. Using an electric or hand beater, beat together the eggs and sugar for 8-10 minutes without stopping until a thick consistency is obtained.
3. Sift together the dry ingredients - all purpose flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, instant coffee powder and salt.
4. Add the sifted ingredients into the beaten egg-sugar mixture slowly and fold the ingredients together until incorporated well.
5. Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a fork inserted in the cake comes out clean.
6. Let the cake cool for about 30minutes.
For whipped cream topping:
1. Soften 1 tsp semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave.
2. Add the melted chocolate to the coffee powder and mix very well, it will form a thick paste.
3. Take some whipped cream and mix it with the coffee-chocolate paste.
4. Slowly fold in the rest of the whipping cream with the coffee and chocolate mixed cream and add powdered sugar as needed to sweeten the cream.
( As I haven't added water while mixing the coffee, the coffee will remain like little specks in the cream, if you do not like the bitterness of the raw coffee, then melt the coffee in little warm water before mixing with the melted chocolate)
5. Refrigerate for 15mins before frosting as the Coolwhip may start to thin out.
For assembling the cake:
1. Once the cake is cooled, using a sharp serrated knife , cut a thin line around the circumference of the cake and cut the cake slowly making two halves.
2. For moistening the cake, mix together the water, coffee powder and sugar and using a pastry brush, slightly rub this liquid inside the cake halves.(This will help to moisten the cake and also infuse further coffee falvor in the cake.You can moderate the taste depending on how much coffee flavor you'd like)
3. Get your cake stand ready and apply a little cream in the centre to avoid the cake from moving.
4. Place one half of the cake in the middle of the stand and add 2-3tblsp of mocha cream on it and smoothen in over the entire cake ( I used a butter knife to smoothen). You can add as much cream as you'd like depending on how thick you want your filling to be.
5. Place the other half over the cream filled half , and use the rest of the Mocha flavored cream to cover the rest of the cake , on the top and around the sides.

Suggestion: You can decorate with some chocolate flavored whipping cream if you like as I did. Just melt 2-3 tblsp of semi-sweet chcoclate chips or add cocoa powder and some powdered sugar and gently fold into the whipping cream and refrigerate for 20 mins before using. I used a star shaped Wilton cake decorating tip for the decoration.

Half the cake was over before I could take a snap of a slice to show you how it looked :-) We loved the cake , it had a really good taste and smell of coffee and the chocolate added an awesome richness. We made our little Appu cut the cake...he enjoyed cutting it I think ;-)
The cake was a bit chewy like a brownie though. I'm not a cake expert so I'm not really very sure what caused that. If you have suggestions definitely do let me know. Nevertheless it was a hit at home!!

Have a lovely December :-)

(Updated on Dec 8)
Sending this post to:
1.  Christmas Delicacy event hosted by Julie.

2. Jingle All the way event hosted by Kavi.

3. Bake with your Heart event hosted by Khushi.

4. Bake Fest # 2 , being hosted by Sangee Vijay , started by Vardhini of Zesty Palette.

-Manju

AchingaPayar Mezhukuperatty ( YardLong beans Stir Fry)

Snow Snow go away ,
    Little M wants to go out and play ,
        Snow snow go away!!
Its been a boring day today. Due to a snow storm here we've been sitting at home and watching TV all day long. Though we have a mall just opposite our apartment we din't want to take a risk by going out with the baby. He wants to play all the time now and simply loves to go out. He knows we are taking him out when we place him in his car seat. The moment he sits in his car seat he starts banging on the seat , indicating us to keep moving. :-)
I wasn't in the mood to cook anything elaborate either. I simply wanted to get done with my cooking and other household chores and sit and be lazy. I made this quick stir fry today for lunch and thought its an interesting recipe to share. Its one of my favorite and a very commonly made item at home.

AchingaPayar or YardLong beans is a very commonly used veggie in various Keralite cuisines. Its made as a stirfry , or is used as one of the veggies added to sambar or avial . Honestly speaking it very recently that I came to know that its even called as YardLong beans :-)
YardLong beans is also known as Asparagus bean or Chinese long beans. It has a lot of health benefits, like being a rich source of Vit A, C , magnesium, manganese, proteins, folate etc, to name a few. You can get more details from here.

I often prepare mezhukuperatty ( pronounced : Me-rhu-ku-peratty) , which is an authentic stir fry preparation in Kerala where the veggies are simply stir fried in few spoons of oil without any tempering. Any veggies like French beans, Carrots, Beetroot, Bittergourd etc can be used . Onions and green chillies can be added for extra flavor and spice. At home we sometimes add few thin slices of fresh coconut or dried coconut (copra) for an added crunch and flavor.
Like I've mentioned in my post on Beetroot thoran , no meal in Kerala is complete without some thoran or mezhukuperatty as a side dish.

This stir fry is really easy to prepare and I love the crunchy texture of these beans even after its cooked.

AchingaPayar Mezhukuperatty (YardLong beans stirfry)
Recipe source: My own
You'll need 
Yardlong beans - 1 lb
Red Onions - 1 large or 2 medium (thinly sliced)
Green chillies - 2-3 (slit lengthwise)
Coconut slices or Copra slices - 1 tblsp (optional)
Oil ( Canola or any Veg oil) - 2-3tbsp
Salt - to taste

Directions:
1. Wash the yardlong beans and cut each bean into 1 inch long pieces.
2. In a non-stick pan, heat the oil and add the cut beans, onions and green chillies and salt and saute for a minute . Cover and cook, stirring occasionally in between.
3. When the beans are almost cooked add the coconut slices and cover and cook for another 2-3 mins.
4. The Onions should get carmelised and the beans cooked well.

The carmelised onions , mild spice from the green chillies , the coconut slices and the mildly crunchy beans makes this an awesome side dish to be served with rice. Give this recipe a try for a healthy and tasty dish that can be enjoyed with any curry and rice or even with rotis.

- Manju