Cookie n Cream Cheesecake by Neha Deepak Shah

I generally am very fond of cheese cakes :P Its very simple to make them and they look superrrrrly Trendy. They are generally a 'HIT' whatever be the occasion. BTW this an Eggless and No - Bake one. (cheat cheese cake) :P

INGREDIENTS

CRUST (This Crust has 3 different layers - Cracker, Praline, Crumbled Chocolate)

1st Layer
Finely Ground Graham Cracker / Digestive Biscuit - 10 biscuits
Melted Butter - 1/2 Cup

2nd Layer
Ground Praline - 1 Cup
Melted Butter - 1/4th Cup

3rd Layer
Melted Chocolate - 100 g
2 string Sugar syrup / Glucose syrup - 2 tbsp


COOKIE AND CREAM CHEESE CAKE LAYER

Your Favourite Cookie - I used Oreo because I love them, Ground - 10 No.
Cream Cheese (Philadelphia)  - 1 cup
Non Dairy Cream / Fresh Heavy Cream - 1/2 Cup
Sugar - As desired

TOPPING

Whipping Cream - 1/2 Cup
Oreo - To Garnish

Method

You can start off doing this recipe either in the Pie dish or small glasses. The way you like to present.

CRUST
1) Start of making all the three crusts by mixing the respective ingredients.
2) Layer all the three mixtures and press them hard so that they set. Freeze them for about 20 minutes

CHEESE CAKE LAYER
1) Whip the cream with a double beater and add cream cheese and sugar to it. ( Please be cautious as non dairy cream already has sugar so add accordingly)
2) Add the cookies or biscuits.
3) Spoon this mixture on to the crust and set it in the refrigerator for about 2 hours

TOPPING
Top the cream cheese layer with some whipped cream and garnish with Some Biscuit / Cookie Pieces and you are ready to go :) :)

I hope you enjoy making this :D :D 

Jowar & Paneer Chillas with Spicy Green Chutney by Trusha Shah

(Healthy Milo & Cottage Cheese Pancakes with Spicy Cilantro Dip)

After reading about the nutritive qualities of milo (Jowar) in my local daily newspaper, I immediately ordered some jowar flour from the local grocery. Jowar is very high in phosphorous content which, along with calcium, form essential part of our teeth and bones. It is also present in all our body cells, and is essential in helping the body release energy by breaking down food and “burning” the fats and sugars, influencing the functioning of our hearts and kidneys, and forming a part in the proteins responsible for cell growth and heredity.

 I was trying to think of different ways of using the jowar flour in my recipe, instead of simply making jowar bhakhri, which is the most common way of consuming jowar in the state of Maharashtra in India. That’s when I thought of making these pancakes. I have also added cottage cheese or paneer to make them extremely soft & more nutritive. Paneer also adds up to the protein and calcium content of the whole dish, not to mention the rich taste. You may even add grated lauki or bottle gourd to make it even healthier. You may create the batter well in advance and cook when your guests arrive. These pan cakes come out to be soft and fluffy and taste best when eaten freshly cooked. I hope you enjoy the taste and the nutrition of the dish.

Ingredients

For Pancakes or Chillas

1 cup Jowar or Milo Flour (available easily in local grocery store)

½ cup Rice flour

½ cup Urad dal or split black gram flour (Can be avoided if not available)

½ Rava or Suji or semolina

3-4 Spring onions, both whites & greens finely chopped

½ cup Paneer or Cottage cheese, grated

1 tbsp Green chillies, finely chopped

2 tbsp Curds

Salt, to taste

Water for batter

1 tbsp oil for cooking

For tempering

1 tbsp Oil

2 tsp Jeera or cumin seeds

Pinch of hing or asafoetida

1 tbsp Cashew nuts, chopped

1 tsp Black til or sesame seeds

1 tbsp Curry leaves, chopped 

Method

In a medium sized mixing bowl, add jowar flour, rice flour, urad dal flour, rava, paneer, spring onions, green chillies, curds & salt. Add water to make the batter of coating consistency (which means it should coat your spoon or ladle). It should not be too watery else your batter will spread unevenly on the pan. Rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

In a small pan, add oil for tempering. When oil is slightly heated, add cashew nuts and fry continuously for 10 seconds. Now add jeera & sesame seeds and stir till they crackle. Add asafoetida and finally add curry leaves. Add the tempering to the batter immediately.  This process has to be very quick, while stirring continuously, else the cashew nuts may burn. Mix well.

Heat a broad non-stick pan and brush with very little oil. To the pan, add batter in small rounds and spread lightly.  Cook on medium flame till brown on one side. Sprinkle very little oil on the top of pancakes and turn carefully. Cook till brown on other side too.

In the serving plate, place pancakes, topped with green chutney & some grated paneer. Serve immediately! This recipe has loads of nutrients and minimum calories! Eat guilt free and enjoy alone or with your favourite soup.

Recipe by Trusha Shah (Ex-MasterChef India 2 Contestant )

Rugelach by Amrita Sodhi

by Dorie Greenspan
These crescent shaped cookies will not fail to impress your friends and family.
You can fill these with different filling like chocolate,cinnamon sugar, nuts, flavored cream cheese........the possibilities are endless

For the Dough
4 ounces Cold Cream Cheese, cut into 4 pieces
4 ounces cold unsalted butter (if using salted butter omit the 1/2 teaspoon salt)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt


For the Filling


2/3 cup Raspberry jam, Apricot Jam or Marmalade
2 tablespoon sugar ( i used brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds)
1/4 cup plump, moist dried currants
4 ounces chocolate


For the Glaze


1 large egg
1 teaspoon cold water
2 tablespoon sugar


To make the dough: 
Put the flour and salt in food processor , scatter over the chunks of cream cheese and butter and pulse the machine 6-10 times.Then process, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, just until the dough forms large curds - don't work it so long that it forms a ball on blade.
Turn the dough out, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each half into a disk, wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 1 day. (Wrapped airtight, the dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.)

TO MAKE THE FILLING: Heat the jam in a saucepan over low heat, or do this in a microwave, until it liquefies. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.

Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. (Silicone baking mats are great for rugelach.)

TO SHAPE THE COOKIES: Pull one packet of dough from the refrigerator. If it is too firm to roll easily, either leave it on the counter for about 10 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 11- to 12-inch circle. Spoon (or brush) a thin gloss of jam over the dough, and sprinkle over half of the cinnamon sugar. Scatter over half of the nuts, half of the currants and half of the chopped chocolate. Cover the filling with a piece of wax paper and gently press the filling into the dough, then remove the paper and save it for the next batch.

Using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 wedges, or triangles. (The easiest way to do this is to cut the dough into quarters, then to cut each quarter into 4 triangles.) Starting at the base of each triangle, roll the dough up so that each cookie becomes a little crescent. Arrange the roll-ups on one baking sheet, making sure the points are tucked under the cookies, and refrigerate. Repeat with the second packet of dough, and refrigerate the cookies for at least 30 minutes before baking. (The cookies can be covered and refrigerated overnight or frozen for up to 2 months; don't defrost before baking, just add a couple of minutes to the baking time.)

GETTING READY TO BAKE: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

TO GLAZE: Stir the egg and water together, and brush a bit of this glaze over each rugelach. Sprinkle the cookies with the sugar.

Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until they are puffed and golden. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

Apple and Walnut Whole Wheat Bread by Amrita Sodhi

Let’s begin with something sweet. Why sweet because this is the first recipe of this blog and in India we have a tradition to start everything new with something sweet.

I love baking and try to come up with healthy recipes, so that I don’t feel guilty every time I indulge.

This is a quick Apple and Walnut Whole Wheat Bread with goodness of oats.

Inspired by Joythebaker

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup oat flour

3/4 cup brown sugar (can be substituted with white sugar but as I said healthy baking)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup grated apples

1/2 cup coarsely chopped apples

1 tablespoon flax seeds (optional)

3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, divided

Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2.Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, oat flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract.

5. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add the grated apples, chopped apples,flax seeds and half of the chopped walnuts.  (Don’t over mix)

6. Spoon batter into prepared pan and top with granulated sugar, cinnamon and the rest of the walnuts.

7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

8. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes then invert onto a cooling rack to cool before wrapping.

9. I enjoyed mine with a cup of ginger tea.