tortellini pasta

Howz it goin guys!!...this recipe which i'll be posting was given to me by a good friend of mine. Amelia Robson, from England... i have tried it out...adding a few ingredients of my own (which i'll be mentioning separately...:P)...nevertheless.....it turned out great!!!....you gotta try this out..:D
"For Amelia's tortellini pasta, you'll be needing:
1 cup dried tortellini pasta

• 2 cups (Mediterranean-style if possible) mixed salad/greens
• 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes (packed/soaked in olive oil), chopped finely
• 1 tablespoon goat cheese, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan, plus more to add as a garnish 
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of freshly ground black pepper

now that u've got the ingredients, lets get started!...

Bring a medium sized pot of salted water to a boil over a high heat. Add the pasta and cook until it's quite tender but is still firm to the bite/jab with a fork, stirring it occasionally for about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, leaving in 1/2 a cup of the water.

Then in a medium sized bowl, mix all the salad greens with the sun-dried tomatoes, the goat cheese, and the Parmesan. Put the salad mixture on top of the warm pasta + 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss to combine and to make the water wilt the greens. Season with a pinch each of salt and pepper, or to taste (whichever works for you guys). Garnish with additional Parmesan (optional), and serve."

the chef's tip: In the pasta i made, i substituted goat cheese with regular cheddar cheese (goat cheese is pretty rare at my place)...and also...to add my own twist to the recipe, i chopped up an onion, a red capsicum, and mixed it up with some sweet corn...stir fried this with the greens that she mentioned for about a minute on a high flame and       then transferred it on to the pasta.....and all i could say was....mamma mia!!.....

(And oh ya...if finding tortellini is very difficult...the only thing which would come close as a substitute is macaroni....)

do let me know how your pasta turned out!!...you can always add responses and comments below

cheers!!

baking an easy apple pie

baking an apple pie aint too difficult...here's how to bake an apple pie in eight easy steps....
first you'll need:
 1) a pie pan
 2)a rolling pin
 3)a clean cloth or a wooden board
 4) an oven

The ingredients:
1) one can of biscuit dough (can be bought from your local supermarket...:D )
2) one tablespoon of flour (its pretty common in indian kitchens...you can also buy it in case you have to..:P )
3) one tablespoon cinnamon (cinnamon shouldn't be too hard to find..go to your local supermarket...or you             can always visit an indian spice shop and ask for daal-chini...)
4) one cup of sugar
5) 5-6 large apples
6) 1/4 cup salted or unsalted butter (unsalted is always preferred...but personally, i LOVE the salted one..:P )

okay....lets get started....
first: preheat your oven to about 350 degrees...and dont change the oven temperature to cook it faster...you'll burn your pie.....
second: spread flour on a wooden board/clean cloth and pour half a can of biscuit dough on it
third: knead and roll out the dough to the size of the pie pan..(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9KX4KFBj5w&feature=related )  <----how to knead dough..then roll out the other half can of dough into a round of equal size....grease the pie pan
fourth: peel, remove the core and slice the apples (slices or cubes....your preference..:D )
fifth: now, place the first round of dough into the pie pan and make sure you avoid wrinkles...after you're done, add the cubed/sliced apples and some butter.
sixth: using a kitchen knife, cut the other half of the dough into half inch strips, arrange them to form a lattice and press the edges together 
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv4809RKhzg&NR=1&feature=fvwp <--vid )....sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on top...
seventh: put the pie into the oven and bake as indicated on the dough can..(be careful to only brown the pie....you do not want a burnt one.....:P )
eighth: allow the pie to cool....bon appetit!! 


The chef's tip: 1) use a little bit of apple cider in the dough to get that extra awesome taste!!....
                      2) serve the pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream....yum yum!!


do let me know how your pie turns out...you can always add your comments and suggestions below


cheers!!!!

summer's heat driving you nuts???...beat the heat with some cooold coffee....:P :D

for an exciting cup of cold coffee, you'll be needing
1) a cup of chilled milk...
2)bout 20 ml of filtered coffee concentrate..
3)2 tb spoons of sugar..
4)crushed ice and
5)hershey's chocolate syrup.
now....hoping those wont be much difficult to find...(or i'll have to provide u a map to the refrigerator....:P )
you have to mix these ingredients in a pitcher....or a jug (the same order as mentioned above....) and top it up with a HUGE scoop of chocolate icecream and an extra serving of slightly heated hersheys syrup......i'll change my name if u dont crave for a second serving..

The chef's tip: add chunks of dark chocolate and shake..(needless to say....with the lid on..:P)
And do let me know how it turns out. post your experiments as well.......cos cooking aint rocket science!!!...

cheers!!!!

first recipe of today....lets make some fried rice!!!!

fried rice is pretty easy and takes about half an hour to make...
well...to start up...lets go with the rice...i would suggest not to use freshly cooked rice as it will not create the fluffy, separated rice that you would expect. Instead, use the leftover rice you might have on hand in the fridge. If you must cook rice for the fried rice recipe, spoon the cooked rice onto a dish and spread it out so it can cool and dry out a bit. You will end up with a fried munch pile if you try to use freshly cooked rice that is still moist and steamy :P...for the vegetables, chop up half a large cabbage into strips ( 1 in x 5 in...just to give u an idea of size...:P)...put aside then dice a large carrot...but dont cut them up too big...u'll be ruining the flavor that way...next you'll have to cut 2 big green de-seeded and de-stemmed capsicums into finger width slices...then chop a mid sized onion into fine pieces...keep these aside...they'll be going in first...mince 3-4 cloves of garlic and these will be going in along with the onions...ha..its now time to move to the stove...on a fry pan take a ladle of cooking oil...heat it on a high flame until it is hot and spluttering...toss all the veggies into it (onions and garlic first..stir for about 10 seconds and all the other veggies go next)...saute' these vegetables for about 3 minutes on a high flame...(leave 'em a bit..raw and crunchy) add salt to taste with 2 spoonfuls of chilli vinegar and soya bean sauce. stir fry for about 30 seconds and add the cooked rice...heat on a high flame and serve hot...


the chef's tip: for a more spicy and indianised version, grind about two chilies and a small piece of ginger to a paste and add this along with the onions and garlic.About 50 grams of green peas can also be added to the vegetables....on experimental basis of course....:P...


do let me know how your fried rice turned out...
cheers!!!