Fettuccine Alfredo

I am here with yet another post...its been long since I posted recipes in a row...that shows my lazyness right....But suddenly there has been a spurt of activities going on in my kitchen - "the monotony" started getting on me I guess...and hence this week am back with recipes from different cuisines..it is not just blogging but trying out new recipes is actually making me feel better ...enjoying savoring different cuisine at home every other night....I always stick to South Indian food for lunch though! Having poured my thoughts  and also happy at the turn out of this pasta...my fav is alfredo sauce and I generally use it with "penne"..       H always keeps pulling my leg that I do not bother to try out anything else but alfredo sauce even when we dine out. Today I am happy that I was able to recreate it and planning to enjoy my dinner in my sofa with focaccia bread! How much better can it get right??

Ingredients:

1/2 Packet Fettuccine Pasta
1 TBSPN Olive Oil
Veggies - shredded lengthwise - Zucchini, Bell Pepper. You may even add Asparagus, Green Beans etc
1/2 TBSPN Butter
1 Cup Milk
1 TBSPN All Purpose Flour
2 TBSPN Finely Chopped Onions (used this since I do not use garlic at home. You may substitute garlic instead of onions)
Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese ( I did not use but it still turned creamy)
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Water

Method:

Take water in a big vessel and bring it to a boil. Add Pasta and cook it Al Dente.  Add salt to it inorder to prevent stickiness. Drain the water and keep it aside (reserve the water..in case you are not serving it immediately it will be useful to use this water while reheating the pasta). I break the fettuccine into half before cooking (leave it to your choice). I recommend following the instructions on the package for making the pasta.

Side by side - Take a skillet or a pan and saute the veggies in olive oil. Do not let it over cook.
Add salt and pepper and turn it off. You may also transfer the veggies on to another plate and use the same pan for making the sauce.

Heat the butter. Add the chopped onions (or garlic if you use it) and saute it. Add the flour and saute it till the raw smell leaves. Add the milk and allow it to thicken. Add the cheese at this stage. Add little bit salt and ground pepper.

Add the pasta to the sauce. Mix it and add the vegetables. Voila! Fettuccine Alfredo is ready to be served.
It does not use too much of oil or butter or cheese....you can enjoy it guilt free.
I am planning to serve it with focaccia bread. Enjoy!!

Baked Potato

In continuation with my previous post of Eggless Pancake...

I made this along with the pan cake for last night's dinner. I made this couple of years ago while we were in the UK..I used to find potatoes "marked for baking" but here it is made with russet potatoes...my feeling is you can make it with any kind. i tried it with the Idaho potatoes yesterday. Actually its been a long time since I had it too...probably couple of years ago I ate it at Habaneros but I prefer the one made at home...tastes a lot better...the best part was my son tried the pan cake as well as the baked potato...in general he likes to have rasam mammu only all the time! I am glad he tried it..
Lets get to the recipe:

Ingredients:

Potatoes  (used 2 big and one small )
Olive Oil
Cheddar Cheese
Jalapeno (always use "Mission" sliced Jalapeno peppers)
Dorito Chips
Diced Bell Pepper
Sour Cream
Salsa
Cilantro
Salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 Deg F.
2. Wash and scrub the potatoes and make sure the mud is not sticking on to it. Dry it well.
3. Pierce them with a fork on all sides for it to absorb the oil.
4. Rub the potatoes well with oil and salt.
5. Bake them at 375 deg F for about an hour or till you are able to slice it easily. If you are baking more than 3 or so extend the baking time by another 15 or half an hour.
6. I add the diced bell pepper to the oven just before switching it off (less than 5 min) ..I like to add it this way...if you prefer you can use raw diced bell pepper.
7. Slice the potato in the middle as this helps to easily fill whatever you want to.
8. Add the salsa, sour cream, cheese, jalapeno, bell pepper, chips and cilantro...(you may also add greek yogurt to it....add whatever you like)..I have not mentioned the quanity for these add more of less of these items as per your taste.

Yummy baked potato is ready to be served.....it is so easy to prepare and comforting to eat! Try it out sometime...Enzoi!

Eggless Pan Cake (or Waffles)

I was bored of eating roti and sabzi again and again...this is kind of my staple dinner. I wanted to make pasta but did not have lot of ingredients to make it hence I resorted to something simpler yet comforting! I have been flipping through a baking book for months but never ventured to make anything from it ...it is about eggless baking although I eat the cakes and other stuff bought from the store containing eggs..I can never thinking of using that at home....the link for the book "Baking without Eggs".

That book is quite interesting to see so many tried and tested recipes. I have recommended the same for couple of my friends too. I am not a big fan of pan cakes but always wanted to try it out at home but wherever I looked they had eggs in it. I came across the recipe for eggless pan cake in that book...although I have been reading this book I never actually went till the fag end of the book..I was always browsing through the cakes and cookies section of it....there it was hiding in the "special and miscellaneous recipes section"...and luckily I had all the ingredients listed in it...although it is a breakfast item....I thought so what...lets make it for dinner....Thanks to "Rosemarie Emro" the author of the book....even though it did not have eggs it came out soft and fluffy. All of us thorougly enjoyed it! The recipe is same for making waffles too...since it was a maiden attempt I cut the recipe into half. Planning to make waffle this Saturday using the same recipe given below. I would also like to add a note from the author that these can be frozen too.....so enjoy!

Ingredients (in the book it is mention that it makes about 8 medium sized pan cakes..but I was able to make 6 pan cakes of the size shown in the picture with half of the recipe mentioned below)
2 Cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used the bleached one only)
2 TSPs Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Salt (optional)
3 TBPSN Sugar
2 Cups Buttermilk
4 TBSPN Oil or Apple Sauce (I used oil)
1/4 Tsp Vanilla Extract (optional - I did not use it)
Butter for cooking

Method:

In a bowl, combine all the items listed above except the butter until they get smooth. The batter consistency is that of oothappam's consistency.

(Since I cut the recipe by half and tried I actually used 3/4th cup of a yogurt and added 1/4th cup of water and used this instead of using 1 Cup of buttermilk..You may try this too)

Heat a skillet or non stick tawa to medium heat. Melt the butter and pour the batter. When this top side appears cooked (i.e. it will be as same as making othappam) and when you try it flip it if it comes easily and appears slightly brown. Flip it on to the other side and add butter. Take it out when it turns brown.

Serve it with dollop of butter and maple syrup!

Voila! yummy pan cakes are ready...you may add strawberry, blueberries to it and make them too...will update about making waffles after trying it this weekend. Want to try the same with wheat flour....will try it out sometime. I also made baked potato along with this...will post that too.