Gouda Macaroni And Cheese

I have a lot of recipes that have been sitting in my “drafts” folder for over a year now, which I’m hoping to clear out in the coming months.
This is a recipe I first tried out last winter inspired by what I saw here.

Ingredients:
1 cup pasta (pipette/elbow macaroni)
1 Tbsp butter
½ onion, chopped finely (optional- I only used this since I had a small piece in the refrigerator)
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped up
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups milk (I only buy 2%, so that’s what I used)
A sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped
1 cup Gouda cheese, freshly grated (I used this)
½ – ¾ cup breadcrumbs

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with foil and grease with oil/butter.

I had a lot of stale Italian bread and decided turn some of it into bread crumbs. For this, just place bread in a food processor, and pulse a couple of times to get coarse crumbs.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente. Drain off excess water and rinse under cold water.

Meanwhile, melt butter in another pan over medium heat. Add garlic, chopped onions, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Cook till onions soften.

Add the flour and cook till its raw smell disappears. Gradually add milk, chopped rosemary, some more salt and pepper, stirring constantly until blended. Cook on medium heat for a while until the roux thickens Add cheese; stir until melted.

Add cooked macaroni to the cheese sauce, stirring until well blended. Pour the mixture into the baking dish. Top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350° F for 12-15 minutes or until bubbly. Serve hot.

Savory Semolina Cake

Since I rarely plan meals ahead of time, I am usually at a loss for what to make when it’s time to get started on my cooking for the day. It was one of those weekend mornings when I was stumped, as usual, on what to make for breakfast. I turned to my bookmarks folder for help and inspiration came in the form of this recipe that I’d bookmarked ages ago, from Arundathi’s blog. The original recipe is Anjum Anand’s, and here she demonstrates how the cake (I like to call it a baked rava upma ) is made.

Ingredients:

1 cup semolina/rava/sooji/cream of wheat

1 cup plain yogurt

1/3 cup water (somewhere between ¼ to ½ cup of water – use just enough to make a thick batter)

½ tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp roasted cumin powder

1 tsp baking soda

Salt

Also required are:

2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

2-3 finely chopped green chillies

5-6 curry leaves, finely chopped (kasuri methi would work too, for a different flavor)

½ tsp ginger paste

½ onion, finely chopped

¼ red bell pepper, chopped

¼ cup frozen peas

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 F and grease a loaf pan.

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, green chillies, chopped curry leaves and ginger, followed by the vegetables in quick succession. Cook for a minute or two, stirring frequently.

In a large bowl, mix together the semolina, yogurt, water, the contents of the pan, and salt to make a fairly thick batter. Add more water if required, to bring the batter together.

Stir in the baking soda and immediately pour the batter into the loaf pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is golden-brown. Mine was almost done in 30 minutes; so I turned off the oven and just let it sit inside for another 5 minutes or so.

Remove from the oven and cool for a bit. Slice and serve.

Baked Potato Wedges

I like potatoes in all forms, but if I had to pick a favorite, this baked version would easily be it by far.
Potatoes have been getting a bad rap in “healthy-eating” circles these days, and rather unfairly so. Potatoes are good for you as long as they’re cooked in a healthy manner. For those of you who are interested in learning more, do check this out.

I made some baked fries the other day. I usually season it in one of two ways: either using a lemon pepper blend , or using whatever fresh herbs and spices I have on hand.

This is what I did recently.

Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes, peeled and washed
3 Tbsp olive oil
Garlic powder
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper
A sprig of rosemary, chopped finely

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Slice the potatoes into even wedges and place in a large bowl with all the other ingredients. Toss well to coat the potatoes with the herb-spice mix.

Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet (I line mine with some foil and grease it for easy clean-up later) and bake at 375 degrees F until lightly browned on the bottom and tender, about 35-40 minutes. Serve hot.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

I have recently begun to enjoy making muffins and I make a batch of some kind of muffin almost regularly. There’s something very magical about the whole muffin-making process. It is amazing to see that just by addition/substitution of fruits, nuts, and/or chocolate chips, the basic muffin can be transformed into a delicious treat. I just love the smell that wafts through the entire house when the muffins are baking and I am pretty sure that this is what heaven would smell like.

Dry ingredients:
1 ¾ cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Wet ingredients:
1 egg
½ cup oil
¾ cup milk
¼ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 tsp pure orange extract

For folding in:
½ cup almonds
½ cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, chopped

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well till the whole batter comes together. (Too much stirring/mixing will result in muffins that are too dense/heavy.)

Fold in the strawberries, chocolate chips and almonds. Spoon the batter and place in each paper-lined muffin cup till it is two-thirds full.

Bake for 25 minutes or so till the tops are nice and brown or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

This recipe yields 12 muffins.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

I have recently begun to enjoy making muffins and I make a batch of some kind of muffin almost regularly. There’s something very magical about the whole muffin-making process. It is amazing to see that just by addition/substitution of fruits, nuts, and/or chocolate chips, the basic muffin can be transformed into a delicious treat. I just love the smell that wafts through the entire house when the muffins are baking and I am pretty sure that this is what heaven would smell like.

Dry ingredients:
1 ¾ cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Wet ingredients:
1 egg
½ cup oil
¾ cup milk
¼ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 tsp pure orange extract

For folding in:
½ cup almonds
½ cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, chopped

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well till the whole batter comes together. (Too much stirring/mixing will result in muffins that are too dense/heavy.)

Fold in the strawberries, chocolate chips and almonds. Spoon the batter and place in each paper-lined muffin cup till it is two-thirds full.

Bake for 25 minutes or so till the tops are nice and brown or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

This recipe yields 12 muffins.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes

Apple Cake

Apple cake

Banana Walnut Muffins