This is an awesome recipe with awesome results! Its sweet, soft, crunchy and delicious, all in an oatmeal chocolate chunk cherry cookie. With all our Shelter in Place right now I am watching way more TV than I usually do and Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa is one of those shows I’ve been watching a lot lately to get inspiration for delicious feel-good recipes. I may have mentioned before that though her recipes are predominantly meat-based, I try to improvise and substitute her meat ingredients with vegetarian substitutes. However when it comes to Ina’s desserts I just follow her recipes as is, just as I did with this one. These oatmeal cookies are the best I’ve ever made! Soft, with crispy edges, chocolatey with tangy fruit flavor these cookies are deliciously good! Continue reading Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cherry Cookies
Category Archives: From the Kitchen
Polenta with Braised Greens and Stir Fry Asparagus
I had received my farm box last week and in it were beautiful veggies such as chard, turnip greens and a big bunch of asparagus. I usually like to make pasta or risotto with these veggies to show off their delicate flavors, but this time I wanted to try something different. I remembered having polenta with wilted greens at a restaurant a while back (though that dish lacked flavor), it gave me an idea to make something similar with lots more flavor and more veggies. Polenta with greens and asparagus is the dish I came up with to use these springtime vegetables. Continue reading Polenta with Braised Greens and Stir Fry Asparagus
Nasturtium Blossom Hummingbird Cake
Here is a delicious cheer me up sweet and gorgeous cake to celebrate spring and all things beautiful. Nasturtium blossom hummingbird cake is a recipe I posted a long while ago that I made again recently. Where do I start to tell the tale of this cake – the cake or about the blooms? Let me start with the cake. I first had this delicious piece of cake at our local Peets coffee shop called hummingbird cake that was moist and light, chock full of nuts, with a soft cream cheese frosting. I assumed it was called hummingbird cake because of all the nuts in the cake because it reminded me of a birdseed mixture, but as it turns out what I found out is that the reason it is called a hummingbird cake is because it tastes so good that it makes people hum 🎶🎵🎼🎼🎶🎶🎵. We sure can use some humming right now 😚🎵🎼🎼🎶. I figured with all my nasturtiums blooming right now I might as well add these hummingbird loving edible flowers on the cake. Hummingbirds really love nasturtium blossoms! Continue reading Nasturtium Blossom Hummingbird Cake
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Biscuits – ANZAC Cookies.
Let’s call this a ration recipe – a new term that I learnt recently from my daughter Anjali. Seems like a good time as any to share this wonderful recipe again especially as many of us seem to be in a rationing type of mode lately. Continue reading Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Biscuits – ANZAC Cookies.
Mash up of Mediterranean and Indian Pilaf. Cauliflower Rice with Artichokes
Hi folks. Is it just me who has become a little lazy because of this quarantine? Perfect example is how I came up with this recipe last week. I needed to pick up a few ingredients for a lunchy type of meal but honestly I was being lazy – I didn’t want to bother going to the grocery store if it meant wearing a mask, standing in line, and then wipe down everything when I came home, so what did I do? I rummaged in my freezer for ingredients on hand and found cauliflower rice, frozen artichokes and quinoa and used these three to make a mash up of Mediterranean and Indian flavors. Continue reading Mash up of Mediterranean and Indian Pilaf. Cauliflower Rice with Artichokes
Vegetable Lasagna
Lasagna is one of those classic decadent pasta dishes that everyone loves, interestingly however it never appealed to me much as the veggie version always seemed overly stuffed with cheese that even when it was called a veggie lasagna there was very little vegetables in it. I’ve tried over the years many veggie lasagnas and have come to the conclusion that restaurants don’t do vegetarian lasagna very good. Their meat based lasagnas are always a hit (or so I hear), but veggie lasagnas? Not so. Consequently I never bothered making lasagna at home, having not had anything worthwhile at restaurants, I really didn’t have any incentive to try and replicate a cool veggie lasagna recipe. That is until I saw this post from my friend Padmini on her Instagram feed plates.by.patty. Continue reading Vegetable Lasagna
Yogurt Cake with Toasted Almonds
All this Stay at Home mandate is making me stir crazy that I am definitely baking more than I should, and normally do. You see my allergies are so aggravated lately that when I go for a walk outside I have come home with the worst allergy attack with itchy watery eyes, scratchy throat, cough, and sinus headache from all the pollen out there, so I’ve been staying in the last week and just venturing into the garden instead. Not being able go out and do much else, leaves me with plenty of time on my hands that even a simple recipe on the back of a sugar package seems enticing to bake! Continue reading Yogurt Cake with Toasted Almonds
Chili Mint Paneer
Today I would like to share a recipe from a lunch I hosted a while back – months before our Shelter in Place took place. Let’s call this a Throwback Thursday type of post.
I had friends Shalini and Rose over for a casual lunch a while back and I can honestly say that when the three of us get together time just flies. Shalini and Rose are two of my very dear friends, not only can we spend hours together chatting, both these ladies are amazing cooks. Rose is a baker aficionado, and my friend Shalini is a fabulous Indian cook. In addition to being awesome cooks, they are both health conscious and their foods are mindfully made. Naturally, when these ladies come over I have to up my game, especially my culinary skills. Continue reading Chili Mint Paneer
Cherry Blossom Pound Cake
It’s cherry blossom season, and I know it’s hard to get out there and enjoy nature’s annual show right now, but in leu of an actual visit how about celebrating it with a delicious cake? With cherries no less!! I found this recipe called cherry almond pound cake from blogger Jenny Steffens on Instagram. and she described this pound cake as an ode to a cupcake she had in Washington DC during their cherry blossom festival last year where at Sprinkles in Georgetown she had a cherry cupcake. She says she liked the cup cake so much that immediately after returning home she made a similar cake with cherries and almond favoring. Though Jenny calls her cake cherry almond pound cake, I renamed it Cherry Blossom Pound Cake. Well it does have cherries. And it is cherry blossom season, so why not? Continue reading Cherry Blossom Pound Cake
Pasta with Buttery Caramelized Onions and Braising Greens
This recipe is one that I got in a newsletter from Nickel and Nickel Winery in Napa during our Shelter in Place time, and the recipe wasn’t even a complete typed up recipe. It was more of a narrative on what the vintner had for dinner. All it said was ..
“Last Wednesday I opened a bottle of Merlot and made buttery papparadelle pasta with pork, garlic and braising greens. Short on pork? Caramelized onions make a rich, satisfying substitute.”
That’s it! These words leapt off the screen and I made the pasta that same evening! Continue reading Pasta with Buttery Caramelized Onions and Braising Greens
