Year-end Wrap-Up: Top 10 lessons I learnt in 2012

1. I enjoy cooking! Not everyday cooking, but trying out new, interesting recipes that make people’s jaw drop in awe. This was a year when I tried some great new dishes, and  all of them turned out really well. So well, in fact, that it can serve as an alternate career! From yummy pastas to baked fish and roast chicken, I served it all on the table with elan.

Image courtesy: Jamie Oliver

2. I’ve got no head for finances, or rather, for tracking investments. I’ve let things slide too long, though. Next year, I’m going to work on changing that for sure.

3. It is easy to hoard and difficult to purge. Just the thought of having to go through boxes and boxes of stuff is enough to make me want to raise my hands above my head and run screaming! But I also have some serious tenacity when I choose to exercise it, and so I’ve been chipping away at the mess bit by bit.

4. I enjoy having friends over for lunch or dinner. One, it’s a great excuse to clean up the house. Two, I quite enjoy the menu planning. Three, and most importantly, I love playing host to good friends…the laughter and conversation are balm to my soul.

5. I can bake! After all the heartbreak, this was the year when I finally managed to bake not one, but two different cakes, and both of them turned out yummy! The Nutella cupcakes were heavenly, and the one-pan fudge cake was so soft and moist that I could probably eat all of it in one go, just from sheer gluttony!

6. I like my solitary Saturdays…not for too many Saturdays consecutively, mind, but I love having the entire day to myself – to cook, to read, to blog, to just be…

7. I enjoy Twitter. Finally, after such a long time being on the platform, I “get it”! I enjoy my interactions with fellow tweeps, I like sharing interesting articles I read, and I love all the amazing articles, tips and thoughts shared by the wonderful people I follow. And of course, the highly enjoyable Sunday Book Club – TSBC!

8. A floor-to-ceiling bookcase looks good, but is a pain to clean. It took me 3 days and a major headache to get this monster cleaned, but now I know, too, that it’s a job that should be done every month if I am to retain my sanity the next time I am bitten by the cleaning bug.

9. I love traveling, and when I don’t travel enough, I get cranky. Enough said.

10. Beautiful blue skies (and this is a very specific kind of sky) make me happy. They really do! We don’t get too many of those here in Delhi, but on the days we do, nothing – and I mean NOTHING – can make me unhappy!

Over to you! What was the one biggest lesson you learnt in 2012?

Recipe: Simple, 3 ingredient Nutella cupcakes

I’ve been doing quite a bit of cooking these days, shocking, I know! I guess it’s a sign of growing old or something, but I’m enjoying it. I still refuse to cook regular Indian meals – the thought of that continues to make me want to cry. There’s too many different things to be made, and it’s all just too boring. Besides, I’m not terribly fond of Indian food despite having grown up on it. I’d rather try new flavors and new cuisines – sailing onwards on uncharted territories!

Now that the dramatics are out of the way – let me tell you what’s been bubbling away in the kitchen. A lot of interesting pastas (none with white sauce though, I never did like those much), a couple of chicken dishes (including a chicken curry, which for me is exotic since it’s a traditional Muslim recipe and yummy), a few rice-based delicacies and some baking (which for a change has been turning out right!).

I used to bake as a kid, back when mommy was around to supervise and check that the temperature was right and the timing perfect. Left to my own devices,, my cakes have typically burnt on the top, sunk in the middle and crumbled to the touch, leaving me in a flood of tears! But I’ve had two wins now, and since I’m still a little surprised about just how well they have turned out, I will share with you a super simple 3 ingredient Nutella cupcake recipe. If I can do this to perfection, anyone can!

So, without further ado, here we go:

Simple, 3 ingredient Nutella cupcake recipe

Ingredients:

1 small bottle of Nutella
1 large egg
5 tbsp maida (all-purpose flour)

Method:

1) Heat the oven to 150 degrees C. Line a 12-cup mini muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2) Whisk Nutella and egg in a bowl until smooth and well blended. Add flour and continue to whisk until blended.
3) Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins (about 3/4 full).
4) Bake until a pick comes out with wet, gooey crumbs, about 16 minutes. Set on a rack to cool completely.

They’ll keep for up to 3 days at room temperature – if they last that long!

Notes:

1) Microwave the Nutella for a minute; it will make it flowy and easier to mix.
2) I baked mine in a star shaped silicone muffin pan; no need to grease.
3) Push out the cupcakes after about 30 mins, else they’ll come out 3-4 tiny pieces – not good!

Enjoy!

Got any Nutella recipes of your own? Do share in the comments!

My favorite things…

My favorite things is back…after almost a year! I’m so excited to start this series once again. No fixed days or schedule, just a bunch of beautiful, drool-worthy things shared with you as the inspiration strikes.

With the summer sun blaring down on us here in New Delhi, all I have on my mind is ice-cold drinks and easy to cook food.

Nothing beats the heat like a nice, tall glass of ice cold latte. If you consume copious quantities of this refreshing drink, head on over to Pioneer Woman and find out how to make a ice latte concentrate that you can store in your fridge.

Heavy food during summer is a complete no-no, so why not try this yummy fruit salad (recipe by Jamie Oliver)

or try out these really interesting watermelon balsamic cubes (recipe by ShowFood Chef)

If it’s cake that you fancy, but can’t bear the thought of standing in a hot kitchen whisking and beating, try this super simple, totally yummy 1-Pan Fudge Cake (recipe by Ovenhaven)

And finally, if only some desert will do, try out this yummy No Bake Orange Cheesecake (recipe by Modern Gypsy)

What are your favorite summer recipes?

Here are a few more of my other favorite things.

Pasta in tomato sauce

A friend recently gave me some pork ravioli that she bought on her trip to Europe. Since the hubby doesn’t eat pork (something about not liking the thought of eating a pig), I decided to make it on Friday as the hubs was travelling, and it turned out SO good!

Ingredients:

1 bowl uncooked pasta
4 tomatoes, diced
1 medium-sized onion, cut in thin long slices
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped fine
100 gm cottage cheese, cut in thin long strips.
2 tbsp olive oil
Herbs – thyme, parsley, oregano and basil
Salt to taste

Method:

First, fill a big pot with about ½ a litre of water, a pinch of salt and some oil. Bring it to a boil and put in the pasta. Cook until al dente. Drain and set aside.

In a non-stick cooking pot, pour in the oil. Once it’s hot, throw in the garlic and sauté until light brown. Then add the onions and cook until translucent.

Add in the tomatoes and salt. Mix well.

Now add in the herbs. I generally sprinkle them in without measuring (one of the very few recipes where I don’t actually hyperventilate if I don’t have the exact measure), but I’d say about 1 tsp of each should be just right.

Turn the gas to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes, while you read a book or watch some TV, though you might want to check on it in about 10 minutes. In case the water has evaporated, add in some more, mix and cover.

After 20 minutes, the sauce should be ready. Tip in the pasta and the cottage cheese (keep the gas on low flame), mix well and cook until the pasta is heated through.

Serve!

Bon Appétit!

Express Prawn Paella

The hubs is out for the week, which means I have some “me” time. This is also my favorite time to cook, strangely. For one, I can eat the food that I like and the hubs hates. I can also experiment with new recipes and dishes without the hubs turning up his nose at the result and saying it the look of a particular dish doesn’t match his “mental image” of what it would like! I mean, honestly, have you heard of a stranger excuse for not trying new dishes?

One of the dishes I made was a dish I love – and the hubs, of course, doesn’t – an express prawn paella.

This recipe uses a non-traditional method – the pressure cooker – to come up with a meal in a jiffy. It may not be as elaborate as other, more traditional paella recipes, but the result is yummy! So, without further ado, here’s how you make…

Express Prawn Paella
Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1 large tomato, skinned and diced
1 cup rice
250 gm shrimp, peeled and devenined – I use the frozen variety
3 cups chicken broth
¼ tsp saffron
¼ tsp ground cumin
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Salt
1-2 lemons

Method:

1) Thaw prawns; squeeze some lime juice on them, mix, set aside

2) In a pressure cooker, sauté the onion and bell pepper until the onion is tender.

3) Add the tomato and cook for 5 mins.

4) Add the rice and sauté until translucent.

5) Pour in the broth, shrimp, saffron, cumin, pepper and salt. Squeeze juice of half a lemon. Stir.

6) Close the pressure cooker, bring to high pressure on medium heat, and cook for another 3 mins.

7) Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with lemon wedges and serve!

Tip: Make sure you actually squeeze some lemon over the rice – it really brings out the flavor and tastes.

Bon Appétit!

Also see:
Soul food: Prawn rice

Linking up with Foodie Wednesday at Daily Organized Chaos.