Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

Simple & Delicious Crunchy Choc-Chip Cookies

Choco-chip cookies have to be the most popular type of cookies in the world. After all, who doesn’t love biting into bits of chocolate in a delicious butter cookie.  Would you believe that the chocolate chip cookie was discovered by accident when a few pieces of chocolate added to a regular cookie did not melt.

This is a very simple and basic chocolate chip cookie recipe. You need to add both brown and white sugar in this cookie for the right colour and taste; however I had ran out of brown sugar and used only the white which got me crispy cookie (See Tips below). Also instead of store-bought chocolate chips, I just cut up some cooking chocolate to create chunks. I simply love Walnuts and I add it everywhere I get a chance. I have added Roasted Walnuts to this mix for a nice crunch. You can skip it for a traditional chocolate chip cookie.

Makes around 26 medium sized cookies

What you need:

Butter - ½  cup
Brown Sugar – ½ cup
White Sugar – ¼ cup
Eggs – 1
Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp (You can also use Caramel or Almond Extract)
All Purpose Flour – 1 ¼ cups
Baking Soda – ½ tsp
Salt – a pinch
Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate Chips or chunks – 1 cup
Roasted Walnuts (Optional) – 1 cup chopped

How we do it:

Preheat oven to 190^o C. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or aluminium foil.

Melt the butter in a big bowl. Add the sugar and blend together. Now add the eggs and extract and mix together.

In a separate bowl sift the flour and baking soda. Add to the wet mixture in batches stirring gently until well combined.

 

Finally stir in the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts.

 

Drop small balls of dough on the cookie sheet. Leave enough space in between for the dough to spread  and evenly cook. Do not cook too many cookies at the same time; do small batches.

 Bake for 11-13 minutes until the sides of the cookies turn lightly brown. The cookies will still be soft when you take them out of the oven. Do not push the panic button. Just let it cool on a wire rack while you work on the next batch.

 

Enjoy slightly warm with a glass of cold milk.

Yummm!!!!

Tips:

• Always bake on parchment paper or foil, this way you can slide off the cookies as soon as they are out of the oven, this way they won’t continue cooking on the hot cookie sheet.
• Just adding a pinch of salt will balance out the sweetness. You can increase it to a teaspoon if you like to have a sugar-salt combo.
• To get a caramel flavour, you can brown the butter on a pan before you add the sugar.
• The sugar used can determine the texture of your cookie. Complete or higher white sugar will make your cookie crunchy and crisp. A higher brown sugar ratio will make the cookie more soft and chewy. I like to use equal amounts of brown and white sugar to get a cookie that is crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.
• For a fully chocolate cookie, add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder to the flour.
• You can also eliminate the Vanilla extract and add ¼ tsp of Cinnamon for a unique flavour.
• Use an ice cream scoop to drop the balls of dough. This will ensure equal sized cookies.

 

Love to hear what you think!

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Short Story Without Title - Help!!!

This short story was written as part of a writing exercise at the College of North Atlantic - Doha. The Conditions: Less than 500 words; Story to end with the sentence provided. I may have got the ending right but have missed out on the beginning. For the life of me, I cant think of a Title to match the story. Would really appreciate if you could help me out and suggest a suitable title.  :-)

Joy looked at her watch again, for the umpteenth time in the last five minutes. He was late. Something was wrong; the whole plan was going to fail. She started to panic. Stop It! She commanded her mind. This was not the time to fall apart. She had to be strong. If she wanted to pull this off, she had to be brave and patient. The plan was simple and that was why she was so sure it would work. It all depended on Adam now. She wondered again if she was right in trusting him for the job. She looked at her watch once more. Her trusty Timex appeared to be mocking her impatience.

 

Joy thought back to her first few days in the city when she spent most of her time in the museum, studying historic art. She didn’t remember when it was that the idea first formed in her mind, but once it did, she couldn’t block it out. It was a fortuitous meeting with Adam, the museum custodian at the local bar that further cemented the idea in her head.

 

Convincing Adam that she loved him and then making him a co-conspirator in her master plan had been a cakewalk. With her knowledge of antiquities, it was even easy forging those rare coins. All Adam had to do was switch off the alarms for a few minutes after the museum closed for the night, do a quick switcheroo and he could easily leave at the end of his shift with half a million riyals in his pockets. No one would notice the forgery until they were safely out of the country. And once she handed over those coins to that private collector, she could easily get rid of Adam.

 

Joy began to dream of what she would do with all that money, when the phone rang, jolting her out of her reverie. Who could be calling at this time of the night? She almost let the call go to voice mail, but picked it up at the last minute.

“Hello” she said carefully.

“Joy, this is Deena from the museum. I have bad news. They caught your boyfriend Adam trying to steal some antiques. I guess he wasn’t aware of the additional security they recently installed. He came clean about some accomplice; the police are on their way to catch them. I’m so sorry. I know you loved him. Who would have thought....”

Joy cut off her friend midway and replaced the phone in its cradle. She stood motionless for a few seconds, fear gripping her heart, then deciding to make a quick getaway; she grabbed her bag and rushed towards the door.

Just then the doorbell rang.

Love to hear what you think!

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Bhindi Fry – Indian Style Fried Okra

Simple and Easy Crispy Okra with Fried Onions

Okra is loved by my household and is a staple in my kitchen. This method of making okra is simple, uses very few ingredients and is simply delicious. Frying the okra beforehand helps remove the sliminess of okra and adds to the flavour of the dish.

What we need:

Okra – ½ kg

Onions – 2 nos sliced thinly
Garlic – 4 cloves sliced thinly
Chillies – 5-6 (I used Thai red chillies)
Cumin – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Chili powder – ½ tsp
Cumin powder – ¼ tsp
Asafoetida – a pinch
Oil – 4 tbsp
Salt – as required

How we do it:

Wash the okra well and once dry, chop them up. Okra gets slimy on contact with water, so if you chop up the okra while it’s still wet, the chances of it getting slimy are higher. I always ensure its properly dry before I chop my okra.

Add 2 tbsp. oil to a pan and heat. Add the chopped okra to the hot oil. Add salt, chili powder, asafoetida, cumin powder and ½ tsp turmeric to the okra and mix it well.

Keep stirring the okra on medium flame until it gets nicely fried. Initially when you add the spice powders, the okra will start to get slimy but keep cooking on a lower flame and the slime will dry up and the okra will start to get crispy. Once done, remove the okra onto a clean and dry bowl.

In the same pan add the remaining oil and first add the cumin, once it sputters fry the garlic and chilly.

Then add the onions and fry until it turns a golden brown. Add more salt as required and the remaining turmeric powder.

 

Once done, add the crispy okra to the pan and mix well with the onions. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes and take it off the pan.

Serve hot with roti or parantha.

 

Love to hear what you think!

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Olive & Garlic Focaccia

Flat Bread with Herb Topping

 

Focaccia is an Italian invention very much like the Pizza but with fewer toppings. It’s easy to make and you can mix and match your herb toppings. Here I have gone all the way and have mixed olives, garlic and herbs on to my Focaccia. It can be a perfect side for your meals or as a sandwich bread. On a previous post I have explained more about yeast and how to make the best bread. Click here for my bread making tips.

 

What we need:

Active Dry Yeast – 1 tbsp
Sugar – ½ tsp
All-purpose flour – 2 cups
Warm water – ½ cup
Salt – ½ tsp  
Olive Oil – 4 tbsp

For the topping:
Olives – any kind – about ½ cup - roughly chopped
Garlic – 2 tbsp – finely chopped
Herbs – 2 tsp (I used a combination of thyme, basil, oregano and red chilly flakes)

Olive oil for drizzling  
Salt for sprinkling

How we do it:

Line a cookie sheet with aluminium foil/parchment paper and grease it with a little oil.

Take half a cup of lukewarm water and dissolve the sugar in it. Add the yeast and stir till mixed. Leave it for 10 minutes. The yeast water will get all frothy.

Mix the flour and salt in a kneading bowl. Add the yeast water knead it till a rough dough is formed. Add more warm water if required. Now add the olive oil and keep kneading until the dough becomes soft and elastic.

Coat the dough and the inside of a bowl with a bit of oil and cover with a cling film/moist towel and let it rest for about an hour.

 

After the dough has risen

Once the dough has risen to almost double the original size, punch a few holes in it and knead it again for a few minutes.

Divide dough in half and roll each half into a large, thin oval/rectangle.

 

Sprinkle the olive and garlic on top of the dough and lightly press it into the dough using the back of a spoon. Transfer to the cookie sheets, cover with plastic wrap and again rest for an hour. The dough will rise again and be puffy.

 

 Drizzle the olive oil, sprinkle the herbs and salt.

 

Preheat the oven at 180^oC and bake for 20 minutes or until Focaccia is golden brown.

Cut into half and serve while still warm.

 

 

Love to hear what you think!

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Apple Pie From Scratch - The Easy Way

I haven't posted anything for quite some time now. And for all of you who have asked me the reason for my vanishing act.. Well, my excuse is an old-fashioned one, same as my recipe today. I was just too lazy. :-)

Anyway, I decided to come back with a timeless and very popular dish. Apple pie is one of my all-time favourite desserts. I just love the flavour of apple and cinnamon in this classic popular pie. 

 

This recipe will give you a buttery flaky crust with a delicious mushy filling that is best enjoyed warm with ice-cream on the side.

What we need:

For the Pie Base:  Follow my Perfect Pie Crust recipe for a six inch pie-dish.

For the Filling:

6 large apples
Sugar - 2/3 cups
All Purpose Flour – 3 tbsp
Cinnamon – ½ tsp
Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp

Egg Wash:

One Egg well beaten

How We do it:

Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. You can use any one type or mix up two different kinds of apples for a more interesting flavour.

 

Combine sugar, flour and cinnamon in a large bowl. Now add the sliced apples and mix with your hands until the apples are well coated with the mixture. Finally add the vanilla.

 

Take the prepared pie base out of the refrigerator and spoon this mix into it evenly. This would settle after baking, so make sure the mix is a little over the dish.

 

Now take the second dough ball that you have set aside for the top crust. Roll it out and cut into equal 1 inch strips. Make sure it is long enough to cover the diameter of the pie. Place these strips one by one over the pie filling and gently seal the ends to the pie base.

 

Brush the egg wash on the top crust of the pie.

Preheat oven to 220^oC. Place the pie dish on the centre rack and wait till the crust turns golden, approximately 20 minutes. Now take the pie out and cover the top with an aluminium foil, so as not to burn the sides. Reduce the temperature to 180^oC and bake for another 30-40 minutes. At this point, if you take the top foil out, you should be able to see the juices bubbling inside. This means the pie is done. Take it out of the oven and let it cool.

 

The pie looks and smells so delicious at this point that it is highly tempting to cut a slice immediately. But patience is key and cutting it now will only cause the bubbling fruit filling to burn you. It needs a few hours for the filling to completely cool and settle down.

Enjoy warm Pie à la Mode with a scoop of ice cream or like I had, with a glass of Merlot. Pure Bliss!!!

 

Love to hear what you think!

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The Perfect Pie Crust – Easy as Pie

Home-made Easy Pie Crust

I love pie. I love to eat them and I love to make them.

The first few times I baked a pie, I made it with store bought ready crusts and while they turned out fine, it just never gave the pleasure that I usually get from my baking. But I always hesitated to bake my own crust as I thought it will be difficult and I may not get the right results. And at first it didn’t. But then I looked up a lot of recipes, did my own tinkering and finally came up with this fool-proof recipe that is not only easy but results in a delicious flaky-crumbly-buttery pie crust.

The same recipe can be used for sweet and savoury dishes. You just need to skip the sugar if you are making a savoury recipe. I use this recipe for my Easy Apple Pie Recipe.

I prefer to make the pastry dough on the food processor as its fast and does not create a mess. But you can use a stand mixer, hand-held or use your hand. After all, people have used their hands to mix pastry crust dough for ages. You need to follow the same instructions.

What you need:

Flour  - 2 cups (all purpose or cake flour)
Salt – ½ tsp

Powdered Sugar - 1 tbsp
Cold Butter - ¾ cup
Ice water - 6-7 tbsp
How you do it:

Combine together the flour, salt and sugar. Pulse for a minute, if using a food processor. Or else blend together using a whisk.

Now add the cold butter and mix it in.

This part is easy when you have a food processor. A few minutes and you have a crumbly batter that represents bread crumbs.

 

If using your hand, Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour. Make sure there are no large lumps of butter remaining. Work quickly so that it does not become greasy. It might be slightly more time consuming to do this with your hand and a spatula. But you can get better results because your hand will not break up the butter as much as a food processor will and thereby you get a flakier crust. But lazy folks like me stick to the machines.

Next step is to add the water. Make sure your water is Very Cold. Now, add it 2 tablespoons at a time and pulse the processor until the dough forms into a ball. 6 tablespoons usually gets me there. But it might take one or two more spoons. Even when mixing by hand, add the water gradually spoon by spoon. As too much water can ruin the dough.

Once your dough has formed a rough ball. Take it out and lightly knead it with your hands to smooth it out and make it shiny. Now divide the dough into two parts and wrap them separately in cling film and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

 

Take one of the dough balls out and roll with a lightly floured rolling pin. The rolled dough should be two to four inches more than your pie pan.  

Now carefully roll it over your rolling pin and lightly lift and place and unroll on your pie pan.

Without stretching the dough, press the pastry into your pan with your fingertips. Lightly trim off the extra dough from the edges. Cover over any imperfections using the extra dough.

 

And poke a few holes using a fork into the base of the pie. Your pie crust is ready for its filling.

Repeat steps with the other dough ball for the top crust.

Remember to refrigerate the bottom crust when rolling the top crust or when making the filling.

Once the pie is filled with your favourite filling, place top on top of filling, tuck the top under the base and lightly seal it in.

Bake pie according to recipe.

 

 

Love to hear what you think!

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