GUEST POST SEASON IS HERE!!!

I am very very thrilled to announce that it is Guest Post Season on this space...my kind blogger friends have graciously come to my rescue...not only to feed my starving blog when I'm busy, sleep-deprived and knee-deep in volumes of finance...I doubly appreciate this wonderful gesture from my friends because they have chosen to come to my rescue in the midst of their own crazy, busy lives...Hats off to them!

Here is a lovely guest post from a blogger, who needs no introduction at all...I cannot say that she specialises in any one type of cuisine:))...because she is so wonderful with presenting foods from just about any kind of cuisine!!! It is Priya of Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes...Enjoy!!!

Recipe for Mushroom Manchurian:

25nos Button mushrooms (small)

1/2cup Rice flour

1/2tsp Baking powder

1/2cup Cornflour

1tsp Garlic paste

1tsp Ginger paste

1tbsp Green chili paste

2-3 Spring onions(chopped finely)

1no Onion(diced)

2nos Capsicum (cut into small square pieces)

2nos Garlic(chopped)

2tsp Soya sauce(dark)

2tbsp Tomato sauce

1tsp Rice Vinegar

1tbsp Cornflour dissolved in water

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying the mushrooms

Oil for sauce

Method:
In a large bowl, combine rice flour, cornflour, baking powder, salt, soy sauce, garlic-ginger paste and green chili paste. Mix well with water to get a batter of medium consistency.

Heat oil in a pan, dip the mushrooms in the batter and deep fry in oil. Drain the excess oil and set aside.

In a flat pan, add some oil and when it smokes add the chopped onions and capsicum and fry till they start becoming translucent.

Now add the chopped garlic,salt, pepper powder and fry for a minute . Add the soy sauce and vinegar and stir for a minute. Reduce the heat and then add the cornflour-water. The mixture will start to thicken, keep on stirring on low heat and when the mixture turns semi thick add the tomato sauce and then add fried mushrooms. Stir continuously for a couple of minute when it becomes soft, take it out from fire.

Garnish with chopped spring onions. Serve hot with noodle or fried rice or as appetizer.

MANGO MADNESS, AN ANNOUNCEMENT AND MORRRRE AWARDS!!!

So I am back with an announcement, which is, that I need the help of my fellow bloggers!! I will not be able to feed my blog with regular posts for the next month or so...(courtesy...a financial analysis exam that is approaching at breakneck speed and I will find it difficult to find time to devote to my beloved blog) That is where, I hope my fellow bloggers will step in to save my blog for the next month...I would like to request my friendly neighborhood bloggers to help me feed my blog with their valuable guest - posts...so I will be approaching you all with requests for precious inputs in the form of guest-blog posts while I am away with my nose buried between huge volumes on finance!

Now that announcement is done, here is another recipe for a delicious dessert bar, sweetened by the use of delectable mango pulp...I have been scouring the web looking for good recipes for this kind of Kalakhand...I saw some good recipes for quick-prep kalakhand on vahrevah.com and even on some wonderful food blogs I regularly  read like Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes...I tweaked these recipes according to my liking, used evaporated milk and almond meal in place of ricotta cheese and added some mango pulp and I am posting that recipe below. The most wonderful part of this recipe is that, it is ready in  about 10 minutes including prep-time...Yay!!! Truly wonderful (and light???) dessert!!

Recipe for Quick N Easy Mango Dessert Bar(Mango kalakhand)

Prep/cook time: 10 minutes

Servings: 15 to 18 pieces according to size of bar

Ingredients:

1 cup mango pulp

1 cup evaporated milk(low-fat)

1 cup non-fat milk powder

1/2 cup almond meal(almonds ground into cornmeal consistency)

few saffron strands

1 tsp cardamom powder

few slices of pistachio/almonds for garnish

Method:

Spray a microwaveable wide dish with cooking spray(to prevent the mixture from sticking) and add all the ingredients one-by-one to the dish(except for nuts which are for final garnish)...mix well till combined. The mixture should be semi-solid, if it seems to liquidy(if that is a word!), you can either add more almond flour or milk powder.

Microwave on medium-high or high power for 2 minutes initially and then take out of the microwave and stir...place the dish back in the microwave and microwave for 2 minute intervals...it took a total of 8 to 10 minutes in my microwave.

When the mixture starts to firm up and becomes puffy towards the center of the bowl...add the nuts for garnish and set aside till the dessert looks firm enough to cut into pieces and serve(takes a few minutes at room temperature)

Serve warm or chilled or at room temperature...by itself or with a little vanilla icecream on the side...heavenly!!!

I would like to leave you with some more Awards that I recently received from my fantastic blogger friends...Thanks, Nithu for the Tag Award! Thanks, Cool Lassie for the Honest Scrap Award!!! Thanks to the wonderful team from Yummy-O-Yummy, Nayna of Simply.Food, Jyoti of PanchPakwan for the Sunshine Award!

I would like to offer these awards to all my blogger friends...please feel free to accept these awards!

                                                     

Also, here are pictures of five of my favorite posts...which I am posting as per the rules of the awards I received previously!

1)Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

2)Winter Delight Clear Orange Soup

3)Southern Indian Curry wih Fenugreek Seeds and Eggplant(Vendhaya Kathirikai Kuzhambu)

4)Chocolate Mousse with Tofu!!!

5)Indianised Spicy Curry Pizza(Pav Bhaji Pizza)

HAPPY MOTHER"S DAY + CHERIBUNDI

On this special occasion of Mother's Day, here is another sweeeet recipe for all the Wonderful Moms out there!!! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MY READERS!!!

So, here is the sweet recipe I was talking about...Chocolate Cake!!!!

What, ANOTHER CHOC CAKE RECIPE??? Like there arent enough of those floating around already??!!! Well, before you yawn, here is the reason for my addition to the choc cake recipe world...first of all, I was very happy to receive this pack of Wonderful Cherry Juice from the folks over at Cheribundi!!! Thanks, Samantha!!!

Next, while trying out this unique cherry juice variety, I wanted to use it in one of my recipes, but not in a smoothie or shake or parfait....I wanted to put it to a different use altogether...now, recently, I have been reading quite a few recipes for cakes sweetened and  lightened up by using fruit juice as an ingredient. That way, the liquid ingredients become lighter in calories (as long as you dont use artificially sweetened juices) and also, the cakes end up becoming quite moist and are naturally sweeter, without the need for too much added sugar...how is that for multiple benefits??

Going onto Cheribundi...its a funny name but a very unique juice!!! According to the Cheribundi website:

"cheribundi™ starts as Montmorency cherries grown in Michigan and New York orchards. They use a proprietary juicing process that was developed with Cornell University to make a drink that retains all the power and benefits of the nutrients and antioxidants found in the little round fruits. cheribundi™ has more disease-fighting antioxidants than other juices and has been tested in the lab and field by athletes and people who just work out. Because cheribundi™ is all-natural and not from concentrate, it's a feel-better and live-healthier addition to your lifestyle."

I received a sample pack with samples of their a)Tru Cherry - which  offers 50 cherries, 2 servings of fruit and an abundance of antioxidants and nutrients(source: cheribundi.com)

b)Skinny Cherry - which offers 40 cherries, 90 calories and all-natural Stevia for sweetening(source: cheribundi.com)

and,

c)Whey Cherry - which offers 45 cherries, and 8 grams of whey protein, a powerful ratio of nutrients, carbs and protein.(source: cheribundi.com)

Verdict of taste-test of the cherry juice - all three cherry juice varieties were very, very flavorful and this juice was especially tasty, since it did not have the overpowering sweetness of  artificial sweeteners...definitely, a refreshing change from the usual juice varieties out there. For my chocolatey cherry cake recipe, I used the Whey Cherry...since I felt it struck a good balance of tartness, cherry content and sweetness.

Do hop on over to the Cheribundi website to find out more about their distinctive cherry juice varieties and to find out more about the many health benefits of cherry juice.

My family loved this light, flavorful and intensely chocolatey cherry cake...very different from the usual choc cake due to the addition of the cherry juice... yet the addition of the fruit juice did not detract from the chocolatey flavor of the cake...all in all, a recipe I will definitely try again with enthusiasm!

RECIPE FOR EGGLESS CHOCOLATEY CHERRY CAKE(using cherry juice from Cheribundi)

Prep/cook time: 45mins-55mins

Ingredients:

2 cups All purpose flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli unsweetened dark cocoa powder)

1/3 cup Cherry Juice ( I used Whey Cherry Juice from Cheribundi)

2/3 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Thick Yoghurt

1/4 cup cherry preserves(or any other mixed fruit jam)

1/3cup melted Chocolate chips ( I used Nestle semi-sweet choc morsels)

1/3cup cooking oil( of course, you could use butter too instead of oil)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2tbsp Flax seed meal

6tbsp warm water

1tsp Baking powder

1tsp baking soda

Garnish: fresh cherries or choc chips or nuts

Method:

Preheat the oven at 350F.

Mix the flaxseed meal with the warm water and set aside for 5 - 10 mins.

Mix the liquid ingredients including cherry preserves(or any other fruit preserve of your liking) and melted choc chips in a large bowl..whisk everything well

Mix the dry ingredients in another bowl.

Add the flaxseed paste and the other liquid ingredients with the dry ingredients, a little at a time and whisk  (by hand or using blender)until well combined into a thick batter

Grease the cake mould and pour the cake batter into it.

Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

When the cake cools down, you could glaze the top of cake with melted chocolate and garnish with cherries or nuts or any other garnish of your liking.

Note: This cake stays fresh for upto a week in the refigerator.

Version with eggs: You could substitute the flaxseed paste with 2 large eggs and whisk that with the other liquid ingredients.

Sweet and Wholesome Indulgences as Thank You! Updated...

Warning!!!! This entire week is going to be exceedingly sweet and indulgent because I have many thanks to give...in the past few months, I have been receiving many Awards from my wonderful fellow bloggers that I have not yet accepted...I could not think of appropriate dishes to offer as treats and thanks to my fellow bloggers...now...I think I do!!! So, here we go...I warn you that the next few posts may be exceedingly sweet!!! I have always been addicted to cacao...look at my posts for molten chocolate lava cake or chocolatey nutella cookies... so what else but chocolate comes to my mind, when I pick treats to share with my blogger pals!!!

But, you know it...always wholesome with healthful elements...like these beautiful yet truly non-fat energy bars/squares!!! After trying these, I might totally avoid the store-bought energy and nut bars...Oh by the way,  dont say I didnt warn you - these are extrrrrremely addictive.

Recipe for Chocolatey Fruit and Oat Squares :

Servings: 16 pieces(could vary depending on prefered size of bars)

Prep time: 15-20 mins

Cook time: 35-40 mins

Ingredients:

1/3 cup rolled oats(I used the old-fashioned kind)

1/3 cup (45 grams) all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 cup crushed nuts(pistachio, walnut, pecans, hazelnuts, and/or almonds)

1 cup dried fruits- apricots/cherries/cranberries/dates/figs and/or prunes (pits

removed and cut into quarters)...I used a mixture of dried fruits

1/2 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate (I used Nestle's choc morsels)

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Have ready an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) square baking pan that has been lined across the bottom and up the two opposite sides with aluminum foil. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder  and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, walnuts, chocolate and dried fruit.

Use your fingers to make sure that all the fruit and nuts have been coated with the oats/flour mixture.

In a separate bowl, beat (with a wire whisk or hand mixer) the egg and vanilla until light colored and thick (this will take a couple of  minutes).

Add the egg mixture to the fruit and nut mixture and mix until all the fruit and nut pieces are coated with the batter. Spread into the prepared pan, pressing to even it out.

Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until the batter is golden brown and has pulled away from the sides of the pan. You could drizzle some melted chocolate over the bar and then let cool.

When cooled, lift the bar from the pan by the edges of the aluminum foil. Use a sharp knife to cut into 16 squares.

Can be stored for about 10 days at room temperature or longer if refrigerated. Makes about 16  squares.

Now, coming to my beautiful Awards: Here are some wonderful awards from some of my greaaaat blogger pals: Priya of Priya's Recipes, Nisha of Nisha's Kitchen, Jay of Tasty Appetite and Priya Mitharwal of Mharo Rajasthan...A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THESE WONDERFUL BLOGGERS...YOU MADE MY DAY!!!

Update: Let me also mention that these awards were also showered on me by Jyoti of Panchpakwan, whose blog features not only recipes from all over the world...but specially, recipes from Karnataka and Maharashtra regions of India.

I would like to share these awards with all my blogger friends...I appreciate all of you and the wonderful efforts you put in every day TO MAKE & PRESENT the most awesome food...do feel free to accept these awards!!!

THERE ARE MORE AWARDS TO COME...MORE LATER!!!

As part of the rules for these awards I need to mention 5 of my favorite posts...which I will, in the next post...