Saturday 9 August 2014

Vegetarian Burgers with Walnuts

Continuing with Burgers this is the second one i made the next day for dinner which was liked by everyone in the family as well .

Ingredients

6 plain buns with sesame
2 oz walnuts
3 oz Colby or Cheshire cheese
2 carrots
1 large zucchini
1 bunch chives
6 tbsp heavy sour cream or soft cream cheese
1 cup fresh soyabean sprouts
1/3 cup olive oil
6 tofu burgers
salt, milled pepper

Method
  • Crush the Walnuts coarsely. Grate the cheese
  • Peel the carrot and cut it into thin strips. Wash the zucchini and cut it into thin strips.
  • Chop the chive. Mix them with the sour cream or cream cheese in a bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper.
  • Plunge the soybean sprouts into a saucepan of boiling salted water to blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water.
  • Heat 3 tbsp of the olive oil in a wok and stir fry the carrot, zucchini and soybean sprouts over high heat for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Heat the remaining oil in another skillet and fry the tofu burgers for 2-3 minutes on each side. Keep hot.
  • Cut the buns in half. Spread the chive and sour cream/ cream cheese mixture over the base of each. Place a layer of the vegetables on top, followed by a tofu burger. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Close the buns and serve immediately.


Tuesday 5 August 2014

Burgers Galore Part One

Past week i made Burgers for dinner back to back. I found a book on Burgers in my local library and found two vegeterian recipes and so i made them. They looked pretty easy to follow and i think they were quite different to what i have eaten so far. The name of the book is "Burgers" by Valery Drouet and Pierre -Louis Viel.
The first recipe i tried was " Burgers with Mozzarella and Bell Peppers".

Ingredients
6 ciabatta rolls
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 onion
3 tbsp olive oil
12 pitted green olives
6 tbsp (50 gms)pine nuts
generous 1lb smoked mozzarella
6 tbsp prepared pesto
generous 1 cup arugula
salt
milled pepper

Method

  • Seed the bell peppers and cut them into thin strips. Peel and slice the onion.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and fry the onion for 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 15 minutes.
  • Chop the olives and toast the pine nuts in a non stick skillet with no oil for 2-3 minutes
  • When the bell peppers are tender, add the olives and pine nuts. Mix well.
  • Preheat the broiler.
  • Cut the mozzarella into 6 thick slices. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Cut the rolls in half and toast them lightly in the broiler.
  • Spread the pesto over the cut surfaces of the rolls.Distribute the arugula over the base of each roll, cover with a layer of the bell pepper mixture and top with a mozzarella slice.Close the rolls and serve immediately.

Wednesday 1 January 2014

The List - December 2013

This is the first time i am doing this list inspired by Nupur's Lists of One Hot Stove.I usually write everything in my diary and try to incorporate everyday events in it.

Reading - This month has been the best month in terms of reading books as i read 5 books which is truly amazing by my standards.
I read "Cocoa at Midnight" by Kathleen Clifford;" Apron and Sliver Spoons" by Mollie Brown. These two books were a easy read. They are real life accounts of domestic servants and their hardships in pre war era.
The next book was very romantic novel by Jojo Moyes "The last letter from your lover". The book was hopelessly romantic and spanned two time lines - one from 1960 and other from present day.
Other books were "No time to say Goodbye" by Linwood Barclay - a thriller with a twist.I was so engrossed in reading the book that wanted to finish it soon.
And ended the year with Penny Vincenzi's " Love in the Afternoon and other short stories". I have never read her books before and did not find the book very interesting. The short stories were very predictable and short of any twists.

 Watched " 12 Dates of Christmas " -  a romantic movie where the girl keeps reliving Christmas Eve 12 times and must break the cycle for her blind date.
Another one was " Cast Away" - A Tom Hanks movie - quite a depressing movie where he is stranded on an island for 4 years and comes back to find that her girlfriend is now married and has her own family.
This is the first time i bought Whats on TV - Holiday TV watching guide. I am so deprived of watching any Television or movies that this year i am quite keen to watch some good television.Top on my list to watch is " Downton Abbey" and "The Great British Bake Off."

Had a busy month in terms of Socialising.Attended Christmas Drinks with my ex - colleagues or golden oldies as they say. Also a Birthday Party of a 3 year old and ended the day with tea and some mince pies at a friends place.Christmas Day evening was spent with a family of four serving them  M&S Party food.Invited for lunch by a friend ( N and A ) at Langley.Just before the year ended i invited one of our friends for lunch who were visiting from Glasgow over holidays. I made Amritsari Chole , Delicate Korma with Apricots / Paneer Maalvani / Rice / Paneer and Pineapple Salad / served all with parathas and ended with tea and pistachio ice cream. New Year's Eve was spent with another set of friends and had such a pleasant time serving them Nachos with cheese / Mix Pakoras - Potato / Paneer / Cauliflower and Chillies/ Garlic Bread and Pizzas.

My son had a busy time over the month as well. Started with Christmas Fayre in school where he met Father Christmas and got presents. Took part in Christmas Raffle.We attended his first ever Christmas Concert. I don't think he was really into singing and was just interested in waving us.
His most busiest day was when he had Christmas lunch at school / Christmas party in his class/ School Disco and Christmas Party in his drama class.He also came to my office on Christmas Eve and got Face painting done.

The biggest high this month was that my son learnt to write his name - it was an amazing feeling to know that he is growing up and a first step of sorts for future.