Banana Walnut Bread Pudding

This bread pudding is amazingly simple to make. Nothing fancy, just a basic bread pudding recipe with a few additions. To make it more tempting for my two lil' monkeys, I have added walnuts and bananas.

I made this pudding with the sweet braided bread that I baked yesterday. This bread already had a lot of sugar and butter so I added just 1/2 cup sugar (1/4 cup white and 1/4 cup brown), skipped the butter, and used 2% milk to cut down the calories. To make this richer (if you don't mind the calories), add the butter and use whole milk and heavy cream (1 cup whole + 1 cup heavy cream).

Make this pudding with any 1-2 day old bread you have on hand. 1 day old French or Vienna loaf tastes great in this pudding (no, don't use the wheat bread). For a non-sweet bread, increase the sugar by 1/4 cup.

Banana Walnut Bread Pudding

Ingredients

White bread (About 6 slices cut in to small cubes/ apprx. 6 cups).
2 cups 2% milk
3 eggs
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup crushed/chopped walnuts
2 ripe bananas, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla essence
2-4 tbsp melted unsalted butter (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the bread cubes in a baking dish. If using the butter, pour it over the bread. Mix rest of the ingredients and pour them over the bread. Let it stand for a few minutes till the bread absorbs all the liquid. If the mix is too watery, add some more bread. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 - 50 mins. Serve warm topped with whipped cream. For a more custard like texture increase the milk by 1/2 cup and add an extra egg.

"MINE"

The Bread Maker and homemade bread

I gave in. I am now a proud owner of a Bread Maker. I have always wanted to bake bread at home but those bread recipes which require endless kneading are a little intimidating. But wait! now all I need to do is measure the ingredients and add them to my bread maker and in 3-4 hours I'd be feasting on warm bread. Yum!

My first attempt was making a wheat bread. It tasted great. I even liked it toasted the next day. My second attempt was making a braided bread with orange zest and anise seeds. This one tasted even better! The house smells heavenly (sweet freshly baked bakery bread smell). The braided bread turned out humongous (see pic). I wish the recipe (taken from the bread maker manual) mentioned how big the braided bread would be!!

I would like believe homemade bread is healthier (without all those preservatives, additives and colors). But it does get stale within a day or two. I need to figure out ways to keep it fresh longer.

The Wheat bread

The Humongous Braided Bread

Shrimp Curry

This is my mom's shrimp curry recipe. Tastes great with hot rotis.




Ingredients

1 lb shrimps
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 green chillis, finely chopped
Salt


Heat oil in a sauce pan. Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 mins. Add the onions and tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes and add rest of the ingredients. Cover and cook on low heat till the shrimps are cooked. Add a cup of warm water and simmer on medium heat for about 30 mins. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Chicken Sandwich with Ranch-Mayo Dressing

This is a hot sandwich made with garlic bread. The garlic butter is made fresh and adds an extra zing.




Ingredients

Loaf of Vienna (or your favorite) bread
2 chicken breasts cut in to thin strips
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 cup oil

For Garlic Butter mix
1/4 cup softened butter
1 tsp grated garlic
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp oregano

For Ranch-Mayo dressing mix
1 tbsp Ranch
3 tbsp Mayo
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper

Salad mix or lettuce

Sprinkle the chicken strips with salt and pepper. Add the flour to coat the chicken strips.
Heat oil and fry the chicken strips till golden brown. Drain and let them cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Cut the loaf in half and butter both the side. Bake for 5-10 mins with buttered side facing down. Remove and flip them over. Add the mozzarella cheese and bake for
3-4 mins till the cheese just melts. Remove and add the chicken and ranch-mayo dressing. Add the salad mix or the lettuce. Enjoy it warm!

Tilapia Curry

Tilapia Curry

Ingredients

1 lb tilapia fillet
2 large onions, finely chopped
3 tbsp garlic minced
1 tbsp ginger grated
1 medium potato peeled
1/2 cup peas
1tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin/jeera powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp hing
1 tsp jeera seeds
1 tsp methi seeds
1 tbsp crushed red pepper (or more)
1/3 cup oil

Heat about the oil . Add jeera and methi seeds. When they brown, add the onions and saute for 10 mins (do not brown them). Add all the ingredients and salt and mix well. Simmer covered for 45 min on a low-medium flame. Add water if needed.

Chaat

Chaat

Ingredients for the beans salad
1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp chaat masala
Salt

Toss the above ingredients together and set a side.

Ingredients for the potato wedges
2 medium potatoes, cut in wedges
Salt
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 cup oil

Nuke the potato wedges for 2 mins in the microwave. Toss with the remaining ingredients and shallow fry in the oil till they turn golden brown.

Ingredients for the yogurt sauce
1cup yogurt
1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tbsp sugar
salt

Blend all the ingredients to make the yogurt sauce.

To make the tortilla cups
Preheat the oven to 350F. Make fist size balls with aluminium foil and place the tortillas over them. Spray with olive oil. Bake for 6 - 8 mins.

Fill the cups with the bean salad, potato wedges and top with the yogurt sauce.

Super Spicy Shrimps

Super Spicy Shrimps

Ingredients

1 lb shrimps
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
3 cardamons
2 tbp tumeric powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp crushed ginger
5 red chilis
1 green pepper, finely chopped
3 tbsp sour cream
4 tbsp oil
1 cup fresh coriander, chopped

Heat the oil and add red chillies, cloves, cinnamon, cardamon and onions. When the onions turn brown, add tomatoes, garlic (save the ginger for the last), cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric and curry powder. When the tomatoes are cooked, add the shrimps, green peppers and salt and cook covered for 30 mins, stirring often. Stir in the sour cream and ginger and cook for another 5 mins. Add the coriander before serving.

Baked Tilapia Fish

We (kids included!) love this baked tilapia recipe.

Baked Tilapia Fish

Ingredients

1 lb Tilapia fillets, thawed and patted dry with paper towels.
1 cup mayo (I prefer Hellmann's)
2 cups Panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Paprika, black pepper and salt to taste
Olive oil spray


Mix the panko bread crumbs with the parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the tilapia fillets with salt, black pepper and paprika and marinate for 10 mins or so. Dip the tilapia fillets in Mayo and then in panko bread crumbs + grated parmesan cheese mix. Spray with olive on both sides. Bake at 420F for 20 mins or till done.

Spicy Tomato Chicken

This recipe comes very close to the tomato chicken my mom would make many years ago. Mom doesn't remember the original recipe. This spicy tomato chicken is just right for the cold weather!

Spicy Tomato Chicken

Ingredients

2 cups coconut milk
6-8 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 lb chicken breasts, diced
3 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
3 cardamons
2 tbsp red curry powder
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
2 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp crushed ginger
3 red chilis
3 green chilis
1 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
2-4 boiled eggs (optional)
4 tbsp oil
Salt

Brown the chicken in the oil and set aside. Add the cloves, cardonam, cinnamon stick, green and red chilis, garlic, ginger and onions and saute for about 5 mins. Add the tomatoes and coconut milk. Bring it to a boil and add the remaining spices and salt. Add the chicken and eggs and cook covered on a low flame for 1 hr. Add the coriander before serving.