Strawberry crisp

Dear foodies,

I saw some really red and juicy strawberries at the store today and got reminded of the dish I made numerous times over the summer. When my parents were here, we went to a strawberry picking farm close by and bought a couple of small tubs filled with the best fruit we could lay our hands on. My father loves strawberries and we picked up a pack of them every time we went to the store irrespective of whether the previous batch was done or not. So well, that left us with quite a few berries at home sometimes and I was looking for a few easy recipes that would use them up in bulk. That's when I saw Suganya's recipe for a crisp. My hunt ended right there!

I have tried it with rhubarb, with strawberries alone, added blueberries and blackberries once. I also changed up the topping each time based on what I had, sometimes it was pistachios/ almonds & hazelnuts/ walnuts / walnuts & almonds. Brown sugar when I had it or jaggery the rest of the times. But no matter what I used, the end product was always the most glorious dessert. Eaten warm or chilled it was exquisite. The strawberry reduces into a thick jelly and is yummy against the crunch from the topping. I made it about 4-5 times in a month and a half. I am making another batch right now for a friend who is visiting. Manisha made a apple crisp a few days back and here is a recipe using peaches that I tried and liked.

And since we are heading to Suganya's blog, here is another one of my most favorite recipes from her blog. Potsickers!
This was my goto dish last winter. I quick stir fry of the veggies I had, again not sticking to the entire recipe but going with what was available and what I was in the mood for, and some wanton wrappers, dinner is ready! Her dipping sauce is a simple yet very tasteful combination of ingredients that goes perfectly with these potstickers. You just can't go wrong with this recipe. this is another one I am going to make this weekend. Do give them a try and I am sure you will enjoy them as much as I do.

Enjoy your weekend!

Food Charmers' Treasure Trove # 1

Dear Foodies,
I have been filling up my Treasure Chest from the day I got introduced to blogs, now its time to show you a few that came out of it and landed on my kitchen stove :-)

Below are pictures of the dishes I tried to re-create. Each one of them has been a success and have found a cozy place in my every day menu. I would recommend all these dishes to you guys if they havent yet landed on your plate :-)

I tried out two splendid recipes from Vaishali's Happy Burp

Mirchicha Chatka


Since it was my first trial at this dish, I took her advice and used lesser amount of chillies and dunked them in lots of yoghurt :D , but I must tell you it was lovely with the paratha's, it added a spicy zest to the boring store bought parathas.

Gajbaje

Sorry for the terrible picture !! This dish I should say is a bundle of surprise to your taste buds. It was the simplicity of the recipe that tempted me to try it out, and also the unending packets of mixed vegetable in my freezer :-P. This recipe does not call for any spices, but the harmony of flavors in the end product in unbelievable. And its too darned simple to make, soo simple that the egoistic cook in you will want to churn out another dish to compensate for its simplicity !! :D

Did I say two splendid recipes from Vaishali's, but I just tried another one yesterday !!

Didir Dosa

Her Didir dosa is really quick, dhideer means sudden/without prior notice in Tamil. Though this recipe does not compete with the speed of Rava dosa's or Besan Cheela's , it is a quick recipe for our regular dosa, skipping the soaking & grinding of the rice and dal. All you need to quench your cravings for some nice crispy dosa's is to stock your kitchen with some Urad dal flour and Rice flour at all times and you can have a lovely breakfast anytime :-)

Peanut chutney


To complete the brilliance of the dosa's I made some Peanut chutney to accompany them, and where did I look for an authentic recipe ? Where else but at the wonderful, peanut loving Indira's Mahanandi. Its a very simple recipe and the chutney holds a warm place in every Telugus' heart. I can assure you that a plate of crispy hot dosas, a dollop of peanut chutney and a spoon og allam pachadi (ginger pickle) will surely buy you a free roundtrip to Heaven !!

Now, once I got back to Earth, we were hungry again and it was time for the irresistible Dhansak.

The moment Nandita of Saffron Trail, posted her Parsi dhansak, I knew I had to try it. I was sincere in buying the pumpkin but after that the enthusiasm died down a bit, but then Shammi of Food, in the Main came up with her recipe (the recipe for the dhansak masala is her previous post) for it too. After that there was no more delaying :-)

A few days back, the passionate cook Nabeela who is currently treating us to her Iftar recipes everyday, made some roasted potatoes.

Roasted potatoes

I just bought my first can of olive oil and was eager to experiment with it. This was the perfect starter recipe for a starter :D. The potatoes look oily, but I used just a teaspoonfull of EVOO for 3 potatoes !! I was not sure about the amount of time that I had to leave them in the oven, and I guess I took them out a bit early. I would have liked them crispier, better luck next time :-)

Now its time to close the treasure chest with a dessert.

Eggless chocolate cake

This is from Priya's Kitchen. A wonderful eggless chocolate cake to dig into after a wonderful dinner. The pic is from my second attempt. The first time I tried I found that the 6tsp of cocoa powder mentioned was too less for the chocolately taste to stand up and dominate, probably because of a 'big cup-small spoon' measurement :D . So this time I increased it to 8 tsp for 3 cups of flour. I baked it for a friend's B'day this weekend, and we all enjoyed the cake. I added some icing on top too and used some ready made chocolate icing to decorate the cake. I scooped a lil into a ziploc bag and made a cone of it for decoration.

Thanks to all of you for sharing such delightful recipes !!

I am off now, the treasure chest will pop open more often from now on. I already have a few more waiting to show themselves to you guys :-)