Spinach Quiche

Spinach Quiche

I havent been cooking a whole lot due to my kitchen remodel but this has taught me to innovate dishes which can be whipped up with bare minimum and one such dish that I have been repeating is My Spinach Quiche. So here goes:

Serving Size: 4 people

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1/2 cup of whole milk

Onions chopped -1

Spinach-1/4 cup chopped fresh or frozen

Jalapeno- 1 whole with seeds

Seasoning -I used “Elote” seasoning you can use any

https://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/everything-but-the-elote-seasoning-blend#:~:text=In%20the%20spirit%20of%20our,%E2%80%94minus%20the%20corn%20itself.

Salt to taste

Cayenne powder- 1 tsp

Garlic cloves-4-5

Sour dough bread – 2 slices chopped up

Butter- 1/2 stick chopped into cubes

Pepper jack cheese slices- 2-3

Preparation:

  1. Firstly whip up eggs and milk in a bowl and keep aside.
  2. Sauté garlic, onion, spinach and jalapenos in olive oil for 5 minutes
  3. Sprinkle salt, cayenne and elote seasoning
  4. Start layering your baking dish with pieces of sourdough bread at the base
  5. Then add a layer of sautéed spinach onion on top
  6. Next coat this with a layer of egg-milk mix
  7. Layer with pepper jack cheese
  8. Repeat
  9. Top layer must have pieces of sour dough bread and egg mix
  10. Finally add a layer of cheese and spread the cubes of butter on top
  11. Bake in the oven at 375 C for 20 minutes.
  12. Enjoy with a slice of sour dough bread toast or simply eat it plain!

Make Home Made Gnocchi in 20 minutes?

Credits to this Video goes to my beautiful daughter Ananya Vikram .

I have been getting so many requests from people for short food videos with recipes and finally I decided to give it a shot! I was hesitant only due to the amount of time and effort it takes to put together one of these videos:)

Looking at the bigger picture during lockdown days, I want to be able to contribute to my community and give back even if it is in the most tiniest way possible. So here goes my quick video on how you can cook absolutely pillow soft delicious homemade gnocchi in less than 20 minutes. My recipe is very easy and uses very limited basic pantry items to prepare the Gnocchi.

You may use any sauce with the homemade Gnocchi and it tastes delicious. In this video, I have a basil pesto white sauce combo that my kids love to eat so I have used that. But you can use something as simple as butter and cheese to a marinara or a white sauce depending on your family s preference.

Ingredients for Gnocchi:

1 Large potato

1 Egg whisked well

1/4 cup All Purpose Flour

Salt and Pepper

2 tablespoons of Semolina Flour/ Corn Flour/ AP Flour to roll out dough

Baking pan

Pot of boiling water

For the Sauce:

2 Tablespoons Basil Pesto Sauce

1 Tablespoon of Bechamel or White Sauce

Salt and Pepper

Parmesan Cheese for garnish

1 Teaspoon of EVOO

Preparation:

Microwave the potato for 5 minutes in a bowl covered to cook it completely. I prefer a microwave since it gives me a dry dough or a mash versus a potato steamed with lot of moisture in it.

Peel and Mash the potato well in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add 1 egg that is whisked well to the dough and mix well.

Add 1/4 cup of AP Flour and mix and knead well to form a dough .

Take a baking pan sprinkled evenly with Semolina or Corn Flour. If you do not have either of these you may use All Purpose/ AP Flour.

Oil both the palms of your hands so the dough does not get sticky.

Roll out and spread the dough in the pan. The Semolina flour helps the dough not to stick to the pan and makes it easy to work with.

Cut the dough into 4 strips and chop these strips into small even pieces.

Take a pot of water and place it in medium flame and keep covered till it boils. Add salt to the boiling water.

Now take small pieces of the chopped dough and press down using a fork to give it some ridges. This step is so the sauces gets into the ridges and helps the gnocchi soak up the sauce it is cooked in.

Toss them in the pot of salted boiling water and cook for about a minute or two until the gnocchi rises up to the top of the pot. Now remove the gnocchi floating on top with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a bowl. Keep aside.

For the sauce, take a pan, add 2 teaspoons of EVOO, salt and pepper to taste, 2 tablespoons of Basil Pesto Sauce and 1 tablespoon of bechamel or white sauce. Mix well and add 1/4 cup of water and wait till the sauce simmers. You may use any sauce to cook your homemade gnocchi with.

Gently place the cooked gnocchi in the sauce when it simmers and cook for about 2 minutes before turning off the flame.

Garnish with Parmesan cheese -optional. You may use basil or pine nuts if you have some for the garnish too.

Bon Appetit!

Credits to this Video goes to my beautiful daughter Ananya Vikram .

Inspired by BIBIMBAP!

Inspired by BIBIMBAP!

My kids love breakfast in the morning and look forward to it every morning during these lock down days. It is challenging to get creative at times and so just came up with a breakfast dish very high in protein and good saturated fats (avocados) . This dish was inspired by a korean dish called BIBIMBAP. It is very easy to make. I saute some garlic, onions, red bell pepper, jalapeno’s and black beans with salt and turmeric. My kids love a half fried egg so place that on top with some melted pepper jack cheese and some sour cream and avocados on the side.

Singapore Noodles aka “COVID” Noodles!

Singapore Noodles aka “COVID” Noodles!

I love indulging in a bowl of Singapore noodles. All the goodness of rice vermicelli, julienned vegetables and optional to add some eggs all immersed in turmeric and curry powder in a wok and stir fried, Yum!

Quick pictorial steps of how I made Singapore noodles:

Julienne veggies -any veggies
Throw rice vermicelli noodles for 90 seconds into boiling water and transfer to a vessel and cover with a towel for 2 minutes.
Eggs is optional – sliced lengthwise
Fluff up noodles and break it up for ease
Saute veggies and egg in a hot wok with sesame oil, veggies and eggs with turmeric and curry powder
Rice Vermicelli mixed in and saute
My version of “Huevos Rancheros”

My version of “Huevos Rancheros”

My way of coping amidst this panic of Covid 19 is by cooking. It helps me calm down and release my stress.

This morning I decided on cooking a big breakfast. The thing about Huevos Rancheros is that it is a Mexican dish rich in protein from the beans and the eggs. You may skip the yolk and even make the eggs with simply egg whites if you like.

This recipe is simple yet a bit time consuming in terms of the number of ingredients and plating or layering involved. If you want to make it quick you may skip few ingredients as per your liking.

Ingredients:

Eggs -1

Onion- 1 medium chopped fine

Garlic cloves- 4-5

Habanero lime tortillas from Trader Joes (you may use any brand tortillas or any kind)

1 Can of black beans

1 jalapeno diced

Cheddar Cheese or any mexican cheese blend

Salt to taste

1 avocado sliced

Sour Cream

Salsa -either homemade or any store bought (I use Ghost pepper or Habanero salsa because our family loves spice)

Butter or oil

Cilantro for garnish

Preparation:

Take a pan and place over medium heat, add 1 tsp oil, garlic cloves, onions and black beans along with salt and saute for about 5-10 minutes. Then take another pan and make half fry eggs over medium flame. Toast the tortillas in medium flame and I add some cheddar cheese over the toasted tortilla while its warm so the cheese melts over it.

  1. Take a plate -place the toasted tortilla with cheese
  2. Tranfer 2-3 spoons of the beans with onion and garlic on top of the tortilla
  3. Place the half fried egg over
  4. Add some salsa
  5. Add a dollop of sour cream or more as per your liking
  6. Add sliced avocados
  7. Add jalapenos if you like the crunch and spice
  8. Garnish with cilantro

Layering or Plating:

Tip: I always try to make the yolk runny since that elevates the quality of the dish so much.