Chicken and prawn in scampi sauce

It was time to come up with a new recipe for 13 years of Baketales.

Yikes, I have a teenager on hand!! Luckily, this one does not throw tantrums or answer back...hee hee 😜

What's scampi?

I always thought scampi was a kind of seafood. I wasn't too wrong for that's a species of lobster, also known as langoustine. It's also the name of a dish made with this lobster.

The recipe I had for the scampi also had chicken. My fish shop had no langoustine nor lobster and I had no intention of keeping this recipe on hold till the right ingredients happened. That's when I found that prawns were a great substitute for this dish.

There are just a few ingredients to make this dish and luckily, everything was readily available.

My recipe for chicken and prawn scampi yielded a delicious sauce, slightly tangy, garlicky and aromatic with herbs. The first time, I served it was with home made rolls and the second time, with pasta. Maybe it would have been great with spaghetti but fusilli was all I had on hand. It's a great accompaniment with bread (the sourdough variety), buns or pasta. Something that can mop up all that delicious sauce.

So here goes -

Chicken and prawn in scampi sauce

Ingredients
250 gm boneless chicken cut in small cubes
250 gm shelled and deveined prawns
1 onion, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, peeled and chopped fine
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp paprika
a sprig of thyme
1 tbsp chopped parsley (or 1tsp dried)
2 tbsp tomato paste
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup stock (or water)
1/4 cup cream
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
3- 4 fresh basil leaves

Grated parmesan cheese

Method
Season chicken and prawns with a little salt.

Heat oil and butter in a skillet, sauté chicken and prawns till prawns turn pink, remove and keep aside.

Sauté chopped onion till they are golden around the edges.

Toss in garlic, and thyme, stir and just before it turns colour, add in tomato, seasoning, cayenne, paprika and parsley.

Allow the tomato to turn mushy, add stock (or water) and tomato paste.

Return sautéed chicken and prawns into the sauce, add in the cream.

Check seasoning and just when the sauce begins to simmer, remove from heat. 

Serve with any kind of pasta, bread or rolls, sprinkle parmesan cheese over to finish.

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Spinach and three cheese muffins

What is the difference between a cupcake and a muffin? 

A lot, apparently! 

The ingredients are similar but it's the method of mixing that sets them apart. While muffins can be sweet or savoury, I don't think there are savoury cupcakes, unless someone forgot to add the sugar to the batter!

To go back to the question, cupcakes are light and fluffy mini cakes made by the creaming method. Many of them are frosted to add to the visual appeal and taste. Muffins are classified as quick breads, contain more baking powder and baking soda in the batter which helps them rise. Dry and wet ingredients are measured separately and when combined, the mixing is minimal, often done with just a spatula. The finished batter might even look lumpy.  Overmixed batter will result in dense muffins with tunnels. Savoury muffins do not have any sugar in them.

For the 11th year of Baketales, I decided that a vegetarian recipe would be nice for a change. Those of you who have ordered from me know that I try to avoid baking anything vegetarian. It's a baking block that I have, the equivalent of a mental block. But blocks are meant to be surmounted.

My favourite taste tester was in the midst of Lent when I decided to experiment with no egg muffins. There would be spinach, corn and the non negiotable addition of cheese. Heck! Make it with two kinds of cheese or, while we're at it, even three!

Equal portions ensure even baking

Thus was born this recipe for Spinach and three cheese muffins. Fresh out of the oven, the muffins tasted delicious. Soft, tangy, textured and wholesome. I've seen muffins slathered with butter but these muffins need no such embellishment. 

Perfectly baked muffin

These muffins are perfect for breakfast or teatime, great for packing in lunchboxes or to just to graze on. They store well in the fridge, can be eaten hot, warm or cold and in fact, taste better after a few days when the flavours mellow and meld.

Corn, sundried tomato, spinach, crumbled feta, garlic

There were a couple of additional ingredients too - garlic and sundried tomato. I think they do enhance the overall taste.

Once made, the batter needs to be portioned and popped into a hot oven immediately. Do make sure all the ingredients are on hand before you start.

To prepare the spinach, remove stalks from the leaves and wash well to remove grit.
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Prepare a bowl with cold water and ice cubes in it.
When the water boils, add in spinach leaves.
Push the leaves into the water with a pair of tongs for about 30 seconds. Drain the water through a colander and lift out the leaves and plunge them into the cold water bath.
Gather the leaves and squeeze them to remove the water.
Chop the leaves and keep them aside. 

It's a rough & lumpy batter

Spinach and three cheese muffins (makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients

(Dry ingredients)

250 gm plain flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

(Wet ingredients)

330 ml milk at room temperature 

90 gm melted butter at room temperature 

1/4 cup yoghurt at room temperature 

Other ingredients 

150 gm spinach, blanched and chopped

60 gm corn kernels, steamed

100 gm feta cheese, crumbled 

50 gm grated cheddar cheese

50 gm sundried tomato, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C, line a12-cavity muffin tray with paper liners and keep aside.

Sift all the dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl.

Make a well in the centre with a spatula and add in the chopped spinach, corn, sundried tomato, garlic, feta and cheddar cheese. Give it all a quick mix.

Pour the milk, butter and and yoghurt into a large cup, mix with a whisk and pour it over the flour mix.

Fold everything together, making sure to mix as little as possible.

Use a scoop to portion the mix equally between the muffin cups to ensure even baking.

Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the tops and bake for about 25 minutes or till done.

When they are baked, they should be golden. Test with a toothpick to ensure that the batter is cooked through.

Healthy, savoury muffins

So there you have it - 12 golden, all veg, easy to make muffins that I'm sure you will devour in no time.  

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Stuffed eggs

During the lockdown last year, we were gifted some duck eggs. While I do like to eat eggs, I'm rather finicky about how I like them cooked - well done to the point of springy. And they shouldn't have that eggy smell. Well, that's just me; for the men in the house, the runnier the better!! Duck eggs have a strong flavour and smell rather fishy so that ruled out the usual egg curry. 

Eons ago, I used to watch my mum make stuffed eggs. I do remember even helping her make them and so, with no recipe in hand but a vague memory of how it was done, I set out to make my version of stuffed eggs. Today, on the 9th birthday of Baketales, I decided to share with you all the recipe and especially because they turned out so good.

The first step is to hard boil the eggs. In case you're wondering how to do that, put the eggs into a large pot with enough water to cover them. Bring the water to a boil while gently stirring the eggs around. This step is mandatory as it ensures the yolks remain centered. As the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat till the water is barely simmering. You can stop stirring the eggs at this point. Allow the eggs to cook for 10 minutes.  At the end of the cooking time, remove the pot from the heat, drain the water and rinse the eggs a few times in cold water. When they are cool, shell the eggs and slice them lengthwise using a bit of sewing thread. Remove the yolks carefully, keep the whites intact and keep aside.

Chop the onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic finely. 

Heat a little oil in a frying pan, sauté the chopped ingredients and a sprig of curry leaves till golden brown. Grate in the egg yolks, remove from heat and mix well. Add salt to taste. 

When the mix has cooled down, divide into 12 and use it to fill the cavity of each egg white. Beat up the white of 1 egg, coat each filled "egg" and deep fry till just golden. That's it. 

You can make this recipe with chicken eggs too. It tastes just as good.

Stuffed eggs (makes 12)

Ingredients

6 duck (or chicken) eggs, boiled and shelled. Slice them into halves and carefully remove the yolks. 

2 big onions, diced fine

1" piece ginger, diced fine

6 cloves garlic, crushed and minced fine

2 -3 green chillies, chopped fine

1 sprig curry leaves 

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Salt to taste

A little vinegar 

Oil

1 beaten egg white

Method

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan, sauté diced onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies and curry leaves till just beginning to turn a light brown. 

Remove pan from heat, grate in the yolks. 

Mix it all together with salt to taste, half a teaspoon of vinegar and coriander leaves.

Cool and divide into 12 portions, discard the curry leaves. 

Shape each portion into a round and fill the cavity of the egg white.

Heat oil in a pan, dip each stuffed egg into beaten white of egg and put into the hot oil, stuffed side down.  

When they turn golden, turn them around and repeat. 

Scoop out and remove onto paper towels. 

Serve with a tomato dip and enjoy stuffed eggs as an appetiser.

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Broccoli cheddar cheese soup

These days, my most favoured piece of kitchen equipment is the immersion blender. Cooking during a lockdown is indeed challenging for whomever is in charge of the cooking me  so we have soup for dinner most nights because a) it's light and b) I need only warm it just before we sit down for dinner. So yes - I do make it whilst I'm cooking lunch and chill it till dinnertime. Of course, it's not really soup weather these days but who cares when it's a matter of convenience.

It's April and at this time of the year, I'm usually busy rummaging through recipe books to find an apt recipe to celebrate the blog's birthday. Yes, we're 8 years old today.
However, this year, with the lockdown in place, I wanted to make something that was simple and which didn't need too many shmancy ingredients. What would be simpler than a soup?

I usually start by sautéing some onion, making a roux and then throwing in a few veggies along with stock, milk or water. Once the veggies are cooked, the immersion blender does its job and that's it.

So a broccoli and cheddar cheese soup was on my mind for some time and as luck would have it, the day before the lockdown, I got the husband to pick up a broccoli for me. Of course the man finds the biggest one possible and brings it home. Looks like he had broccoli cheddar soup on his mind too so no complaints.

 I followed my usual soup formula using broccoli florets, chopped onions and garlic, a carrot, some chicken stock, a little milk and lots of water. At dinnertime, after the soup  was warmed, some grated cheddar cheese was stirred through. My my...excellent potage! And you don't really need anything to serve it with. It's pretty filling on its own.

Broccoli cheddar cheese soup

Ingredients
1 small onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced (optional)
500 gm cleaned broccoli florets, include the stalk too
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

2 tbsps butter
2 tbsps oil
3 tbsps plain flour (whole wheat is also fine)
1 cup stock - chicken or veg
1 cup milk
1 cup water
Salt and pepper to season
100 gm cheddar cheese, grated

Method
Heat butter and oil in a large pan.
Sauté the diced onions and when light golden, add in the garlic and celery.
Stir in the flour and when it no longer smells raw, pour in the stock, milk and water.
When it starts to boil, add in broccoli florets and carrots.
Turn down the heat and cook it for about 15 -20 minutes with the lid off until the veggies become tender.
Adjust seasoning, add lots of pepper if you like more spice.
Remove the pot from the heat and when it cools a little, put your immersion blender to work and blend the mix. 
It's nice if the soup is not over-processed, a few chunks here and there give it more body.
Warm the soup before serving, stir the cheese through and check seasoning once more.

Don't boil the soup after adding the cheese - it might curdle.
If you like the soup hotter, sauté a couple of green chillies along with the onions.

Stay safe y'all. 

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Mayonnaise with wasabi

Ever made mayo in a roomy bowl with just a wire whisk? Boy, was I happy when we could finally afford to buy a food processor. No more watching beaten eggs fly out of the bowl or after minutes of whisking, ending up with curdled goo and stiff arms. Of course, it became even simpler with the advent of stick blenders. A whirrr, blupp and presto! - mayo is ready!! (and I don't really care what old school chefs think about this.)

A lot of stuff can be added into mayo, mine had wasabi paste. The stuff in tubes is potent so proceed with caution. Here's how it goes:

Mayonnaise with wasabi

Ingredients
1 whole egg
275 ml oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard paste
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon wasabi paste (or as needed)

Method
Break the egg and gently slide it into the jar of the blender.
Add in all the other ingredients.

Slide whole egg into the jar, add in other ingredients

Position the dome of the blender just over the yolk.
Switch on.

Switch on and lift up the stick

Wait for the whirr and blupp, lift the stick a bit as the contents start to thicken. That's it - your mayo's ready.
Check seasoning.

Remove half the mayo, add wasabi paste into the remainder and blend again.

Pungent and creamy wasabi mayo

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Pull-apart ham and cheese loaf with wasabi mayo

Hello!
Nothing like a warm crusty bread to start the new year with, particularly one that involves a bit of pulling and sharing.

Isn't it amazing what you can do with bread dough - other that shaping it into a loaf of bread? Pull-apart breads, also called tear and share breads, are undergoing a revival of sorts these days. They make great conversation topics when you have a bunch of people over for a meal or are just the thing to serve with soup at a quiet family dinner. That's how versatile they are.

Cheese & chives

It was a day when I had some chives on hand. Usually I have no chives on hand. In fact, I've never had chives in the house. Never ever. Tried to grow them too but no luck. Anyway, the previous day, I had gone to the veggie store and seen this huge bunch of chives that had been grown somewhere in western India. It must have come to Chennai by air in business class as it was priced at some astronomical amount. Still, it looked fresh and green and the cashier was willing to sell me a small handful for 20 bucks.

A pull-apart loaf, or two, was what I had in mind; one with ham and cheese the other with just cheese and chives. Classic combinations, right? And wasabi mayo from scratch to dip it in. The dough for the loaf is simple to make, and it just so happens to be a no-egg one. Just bung all the ingredients into the bowl of your planetary mixer, food processor or on the countertop and mix and knead into a smooth dough. While it is rising, chop up the ham, the chives and grate the cheese. And oh... make the mayo (recipe here). The tools you will need are a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, a rolling pin, a brush, pair of scissors (or a pizza cutter) and a 3" round cutter.

When you've made your dough and the first proofing is over, divide it into 2 and roll out each into a 12" circle. It doesn't really matter if your circle is not really a circle, aim to have both somewhat the same shape and size.

There's mayo, ham, chives and cheese on this half

On one of the circles, spread a thin layer of mayo, leaving 1/2" of the rim plain. Sprinkle over the ham, cheese and chives, brush a little water over the uncovered rim and place the other circle over.

Ensure that the circles are more or less in position and stick the edges together. Transfer the roll onto the parchment-lined baking tray. Place the round cutter in the middle and mark a circle. Use the scissors or the pizza cutter and cut the dough into quarters and each quarter into half. You are now looking at 8 sections. Don't cut into the centre of the dough.

Mark off sections before slicing

Cut each of the 8 sections into 3, making a total of 24 sections. (In case your oven is too small to hold this size of loaf, make 2 smaller loaves and slice each into 16 sections.) Hold each section and twist it twice and place it down. Just make sure all the sections are twisted in the same direction.

...and twist into shape

This is how the finished loaf should look like. Brush a beaten egg all over and scatter a few black sesame seeds over the centre and leave it to rise for about 45 minutes or till doubled in size. Pop it into a hot oven and bake for about 25 minutes or till golden brown, whichever happens first.

Ta-da!!!
No wonder it's called a sunflower loaf.

You could stuff it with anything from nutella to brown sugar, butter and cinnamon, chopped nuts, cheese and chillies or pesto with minced meat, finely diced and cooked veggies or even garlic butter. Do remember that if you're doing a sweet version, skip the mayo.

Pull apart ham and cheese loaf

Ingredients (for 1 loaf)
350 gm plain flour
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon milk powder
1 teaspoon gluten
50 gm soft butter
About 200 ml water

Filling
1/2 bunch chives or spring onions, chopped
3 slices ham, chopped
100 gm cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg, beaten
Black sesame seeds

Method
Place all the ingredients for the bread, except for the butter and water, into the bowl of a planetary mixer.
Add in half the water and turn on the motor.
Add in the butter and enough water to form a soft dough. This should take about 10 minutes.
If you prefer to knead by hand, you could follow the instructions here.
Cover the bowl with a lid, leave to rise for about an hour or till the dough is double in size.
While the dough is rising, chop the chives and ham and grate the cheese.
When the dough has proofed, push down to expel the air and briefly knead it.
Divide into 2 and place one half on a worktop dusted with flour.

Almost the same shape and size

Roll out the dough into a fairly thin 12-inch circle, repeat with the other half of the dough.
Spread a thin layer of mayo all over one circle, leave 1/2 inch of the rim plain.

Chop the filling fine

Scatter chives (or spring onions), ham and cheese evenly over the circle.
Wet the rim and place the second circle over it, tug lightly to align the edges.
Press the edges together and place on the lined baking sheet.
Place the round cutter in the middle and mark a circle.
Use the scissors or the pizza cutter and cut the dough into quarters and each quarter into half.
You should now have 8 sections. Don't cut into the centre of the dough.

Cut into 8 sections

Cut each of the 8 sections into 3, leaving you with a total of 24 sections. (In case you are making a smaller loaf, slice it into 16 sections.)

Almost there...

Hold each section and twist it twice and place it down. Just make sure all the sections are twisted in the same direction.
Brush beaten egg all over and scatter black sesame seeds over the centre.

And done...

Leave the loaf to rise for about 45 minutes or till doubled in size.
Pop it into a preheated 190°C oven and bake for about 25 minutes or till golden brown.
Remove the baked loaf onto a wire rack.
Serve with mayo or wasabi mayo.

I made a second batch of dough and stuffed it with just cheese and chives.

Mark, slice & twist

Ready for 2nd proofing

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Hydroponically yours - sambal kangkong

A friend's friend rang me in the morning, promising to drop off some basil and water spinach on his way home in the evening. By afternoon, the sky turned black and huge raindrops began to fall. Well, that seemed to be the end of my vegetable story.

I had underestimated Anandh's zeal. He called at about 6 pm to ask for directions to my place. He had brought with him packs of Thai and Italian basil as well as a couple of packs of kangkong (water spinach) which he had harvested a couple of hours earlier. The leaves were clean and green. All the produce had been grown hydroponically.

Thai basil; kangkong; Italian basil

Anandh Ranganathan runs *Ranga Farms at Chennai where greens are grown without soil. In all 3 samples he gave me, the leaves were unblemished and the flavour and aroma of both kinds of basil were incredible (as I write this, I'm enjoying my bowl of pasta with pesto). There was just enough  of stem on the greens to keep the leafy bunches intact and thus, practically nothing to waste!

Smooth pesto with pasta

Hollow stems

Kangkong is also known as water convolvulus, water spinach or morning glory (not the flower!) The leaves are arrow-shaped and the stems are hollow as it is a semi-aquatic plant. It's packed with vitamins, iron and minerals. I had always thought kangkong was an urban legend in Chennai - heard it's available but never seen it!! And now, finally, it was in my kitchen and I had to make my favourite sambal kangkong with it.

Separate leaves from the stems

Separate the leaves from the stems and keep them whole (discard any tough stems). Cut the stems into 3-inch lengths. For the spice paste or rempah, grind dry red chillies along with garlic, dry prawns and shrimp paste. If you want to make it completely vegetarian, do omit the prawns and shrimp paste. The kangkong has to be cooked over high heat.

Sambal kangkong

Sambal Kangkong  

Ingredients
350 gm kangkong, separate the leaves, cut stems into 3" lengths
3 shallots
3 cloves garlic
5 dry red chillies soaked in hot water to soften (you could also use a mix of fresh and dry chillies)
1 tbsp dried prawns (wash and soak in warm water for 15 minutes)
1 tsp shrimp paste
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons oil

Method
Wash the spinach, drain in a colander.
Grind together shallots, garlic, chillies, dried prawns and shrimp paste (add just enough water to keep the blades moving). Keep it aside.

Remove the leaves when they wilt a bit

Heat a large wok, put a third of the leaves into it and stir it around till it wilts. (If you are using a smaller quantity, you could do it all together.)
Remove and repeat with the remaining leaves.

Fried spice paste

Heat the oil, sauté the spice paste on a low flame till it is dry and oil starts to separate.
Transfer the paste onto a plate and keep aside.

Cut stems into 3" lengths

Heat the wok till it is very hot, sauté the stalks for about a minute or till just soft.
Add the fried paste and mix well.
Add the leaves and about 3 spoons water.
Sauté well, dish out and serve with steamed rice.

For a completely vegetarian dish, omit the prawns and shrimp paste.

*Anandh can be contacted at anan12@gmail.com

Yummy sambal kangkong

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