Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish omelette)

Tortilla de patatas (Potatoes omelette). We first tried this in a tapas bar in Granada, Spain. It was refreshing, I have to admit the potatoes really blended well with the eggs. And we had it as a sandwich with a nice refreshing tomato mayonnaise sauce. It was yummy and hence worth a try! Hope you all enjoy this easy recipe!

Ingredients:

Serves around 4 people

3 eggs mixed in with chicken/vegetable stock

1 large onion, finely chopped up

1 potato, either shred it into long pieces like what I did or into nice thin rounds (the latter is better)

Salt and pepper to taste

Cilantro for garnishing

Low fat mayonnaise and ketchup sauce for dipping

Saute the potatoes on low flame till it loses it's starchiness and starts to brown a little

Beat in eggs and chicken stock and to that, add salt and pepper

Add in the onions and cook till they brown slightly

Beat the eggs and stock mixture!

Let the tortilla cook on both sides just like a regular omelette. Fear not, it'll turn out fine and will be edible!

A few pictures from my vegetable and herb garden, something that has kept me busy the last couple of  weeks and explains me missing out on the blogging.

See I got distracted a bit, these little babies of mine do make me forget everything else. Anyways, another picture of the tortilla de patatas garnished with fresh cilantro. Enjoy it for breakfast, lunch or dinner! 

Cinco de Mayo celebrations at home!

A little too delayed for this post, but I've been busy around the house and garden after work, that I'm trying to make time...excuses, excuses! Believe me, I'll post pictures of what I've been upto lately.

Back to the post:

As always, I have these craving for chipotle burrito bowl and often I don't need an excuse to eat one. However, it was Cinco de Mayo last thursday and I was looking forward to have my bowl. Fortunately, yes fortunately, I didn't have one because I decided to make everything at home and as they claim their food is 'healthy and organically grown'. I decided to say mine was 'homemade and healthy. I don't have the best pictures of the different pieces/items that go into the burrito bowl, but here's what the result looked like and it wasn't too bad. I guess it's bye bye chipotle for me from now onwards.

Guacamole

Fajitas

Home-made salsa

Corn

Chicken

Black beans (not refried)

Cilantro-line rice

Bowl 1

Bowl 2

Can't seem to fit it in a bowl, use a plate instead!

Sorry, no pictures of the strawberry mint iced tea that I served. The mint used was from my kitchen garden. Will post recipe of that soon!

Birthday cake for my bff!

White cake with strawberry frosting. Hydrangea flowers decorations on top and adorned with edible pearls on the side!

Cheesecake recipe

Yum!! I like certain kinds of cheesecake, especially the ones that have a nice caffeine kick to it. So to prepare for a get together, I decided to bake a nice cheesecake. I have no problems saying that I won't ever have to visit cheesecake factory to grab a bite of their cheesecakes. Like them a lot, but if a similar kind can be made at home, then why bother. Unless of course I'm busy and tied, because it took me a good half day in making the cheesecake. Nevertheless, it was a fun process indeed. A lot of research went into preparing the pan, the water bath and also understanding the science behind the process of baking cheesecakes. Yeah right, for the last one!! ;)

Here's the recipe for a yummy cheesecake:

For the crust:
1 9-ounce box of chocolate wafer cookies or Goya chocolate wafers
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs

Make crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Wrap outside of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with double thickness of foil. Spray bottom of pan with vegetable oil spray. Finely grind wafer cookies in the processor. Add room temperature butter and process until blended. Press mixture onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

Make filling: Combine cream and coffee powder in medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until coffee powder dissolves. Reduce heat to low. Add chocolate; whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Cool 10 minutes.
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in cornstarch. Add sour cream and vanilla; beat well. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Whisk 1 cup cheese mixture into chocolate mixture. Return chocolate mixture to remaining cheese mixture; whisk until smooth.
Pour batter into crust. Place springform pan in a large baking pan. Add enough hot water to baking pan, atleast reaching the mid-section of the springform pan. Bake cheesecake until softly set and slightly puffed around edges, about 1 hour. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven 45 minutes. Transfer springform pan to rack and cool. Cover; chill cake overnight.

Kalakand burfi (ricotta cheese sweet)

This recipe is courtesy showmethecurry.com. I made my own variation - excluded the rose essence and included more chopped almonds and pistachios.

Time: 18 min
Prep Time: 5 min
Setting Time: 1 hr
Makes: 20 pcs (approx)

Ingredients:
Ricotta Cheese – 15 oz
Condensed Milk – 14 oz
Rose Water – 1/4 – 1/2 tsp (or 2-3 drops of Rose Essence)
Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp
Chopped Pistachios – 1/2 tbsp
Chopped almonds – 1/2 tbsp

Method:
1. In a microwave safe square or rectangle dish, mix the Ricotta Cheese and the Condensed Milk well.
2. Mash down all the lumps with a help of a whisk.
3. Cook in the microwave for 5 minutes uncovered.
4. Take out and mix well. Make sure that you loosen the edges.
5. Back in the microwave 3 more minutes, uncovered.
6. Take out and mix.
7. Microwave for 2 minutes, covered. Take out and mix.
8. Microwave for 2 minutes,cross covered, take out and mix.
9. Microwave for another 6 minutes, uncovered taking out and stirring every 2 minutes.
10.Once done, mix well.
11. Add in the Powdered Cardamom and Rose Syrup/Rose Essence and mix well again.
12. Press down and flatten the mixture.
13. Sprinkle chopped Pistachios and Almonds on top and press them down to help them stick.
14. Cover and allow to set either in the refrigerator for an hour or on the counter-top for a few hours.
15. Cut into desired shape and serve.

Chocolate Butterscotch walnut Brownie cookies...

So how about combining brownies and cookies together? trust me it works and it works really work if you're craving for something chocolaty! Is that a word really??

In process...recipe to follow!!

You can handle a couple of tablespoons of Grand Marnier Liquor, right?

Brownies in action. Oops, I meant brownie cookies!

Tada, crunch of a cookie and chewiness of a brownie...