Apple Crumble

Well, I don't really have a sweet tooth and I rarely, if ever, have desserts/ sweets.  But I do like to have something sweet once in a while.  The other day I had apple crumble at a friend's place and liked it so much that I decided to try it at my place... And it turned out that I really liked it.  And that's how this recipe has come to you.

Ingredients:

- 6 apples

- 150 gms brown-coloured sugar
- 150 gms wheat flour (maida)
- 125 gms butter
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder (dalchini)
- 1 packet of vanilla flavoured sugar

-  50 gms powdered almonds
- juice of one lemon

Preparation:

Preheat the oven at 210°C.
Peel the apples.  Remove their middle part cut them in big cubes.

Spread them in a baking dish.

Pour lemon juice, cinnamon powder and vanilla flavoured sugar on the apples.

Take a big bowl / salad dish / paraat (Indians) and mix wheat flour and brown-coloured sugar.
Then add cubes of butter and mix it so as to obtain a lumpy mix.

Spread this flour-mix on the apples so as to cover the same.

Put in the oven for half an hour (30 minutes).

Serve warm alone or with whipped cream or vanilla-flavoured ice-cream or all three of them.

Spinach roll pizza

Sometimes we try to make one thing and end up making something else…  Mostly it’s a disaster but sometimes it comes out well, probably even better than what we intended to make.  Here’s one such recipe that I tried and the result was not what I expected and I still loved it.

Ingredients:

½ Tb. Sp.              Olive Oil

1 Tsp.                    Cumin
10 gms                  Spinach (finely cut)
Salt (according to taste)
1 pinch                   Red chilli powder (according to taste)
Coulomniers cheese

1 sheet                   Puff pastry dough
1 Tsp                     Flour
Water

Procedure:

1.                   Take out the Puff pastry dough from the fridge at least 30 minutes before you start cooking.

2.                   Wash spinach.
3.                   Heat oil in a pan.
4.                   Add cumin to it.
5.                   Once it starts spluttering, add salt and red chilli powder.
6.                   Add spinach and mix well.
7.                   Cover and let it cook for 4-5 minutes.
8.                   Once cooked remove from fire and let it cool.

9.                   Preheat oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.

10.               Roll out the puff pastry dough.

11.               Spread a thin layer of coulomniers cheese on the puff pastry dough sheet except the sides.

12.               Now, spread the cooked spinach on it and add some cumin on top.

13.               Make a thin paste with flour and water. 

14.               Put it around on all sides of the puff pastry dough where you've not spread the cheese.

15.               Now make it into a roll.

16.               Cut the roll into 1 cm thin pieces.

17.               Put these pieces in a baking dish lined with butter or baking paper, put it in the oven and leave for 20 minutes at 180 degrees. 

18.               Once it’s cooked and golden brown take it out, let it cool a bit and serve.

Here’s to yummy disasters!

And if you place them a little further from each other you'll have small pieces perfect to be served to guests.  Have fun!

This dish can be eaten during Navaratri by those who avoid onions, etc., during this period.

Simply delicious

The other day I bought some precooked frozen vegetables.  These had been advertised as Chinese wok-style vegetables and were so tasteless that I didn't know what to do.  I didn't want to throw it all.  And I was actually considering that when I had an idea and as it turned out this simple idea saved the day for me. 

The vegetables were finely cut and I think that they hadn't added anything.  I guess some supermarket giants think that we vegetarians will eat anything.  Please note that this is not the case and we do deserve well cooked food.  And if you are like me and can't eat anything that's bland and tasteless, here's what I did to make it eatable.

Ingredients:

1 cup   Precooked frozen vegetables (finely chopped)

1 Tsp   Mustard seeds

2          Whole red chillies

Curry leaves

Oil

Salt (according to taste, please taste the precooked vegetables and adjust accordingly)

4 Tsp   Grated Coconut

Procedure

Heat oil in a pan.

Add mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. 

Add Salt and mix.

Add Grated coconut and mix.  Lower the flame.

Add precooked frozen vegetables, mix.  Cover and leave for 2-3 minutes.

Serve with rice and lentils.

It took me 5-6 minutes and I didn't have to throw the whole thing out and had a delicious meal.  I hope that you'll enjoy this recipe.