Sugar Cookies

Another recipe I got from Elise of Simply Recipes!

Cookies:
3 cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soft butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 tbsp cream
1 tsp vanilla (can substitute almond extract)

Sift dry ingredients, cut in butter and add other ingredients. Blend thoroughly; chill for several hours. Break off a piece of dough the size of an orange and pat it flat in your hand.

Using a rolling pin, roll on dough on floured board (best to use a 2/1 ration of flour/sugar - 4 Tbsp flour mixed with 2 Tbsp sugar) or between wax paper. (It helps if you flour both sides of the dought.) Roll out to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out and put on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 5-8 minutes at 400 F. Remove the cookies from the oven as soon as you see them turning color at the base of the cookie. Let cool completely.

Banana Bread

I really, really dislike anything to do with bananas. I even hate their smell. Alas, my mum really loves banana bread, so I make it for her. This is a gorgeous recipe by Momal Sharif which turns out perfect and gets rave reviews every single time!

2 Eggs
4-5 Bananas [mashed]
1/3 cup Oil
3/4 cup Sugar
2 cups all-purpose Flour
1 level tea-spoon Baking Soda

1. Beat the eggs until fluffy.
2. Slowly beat in the oil, and then the sugar, until dissolved.
3. Next, add the bananas and beat to incorporate.
4. Seive together the flour and soda until well combined, and add to the egg mixture.
5. Pour into a greased, paper lined loaf tin and bake in an oven at about 170 degrees C, until tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean!

Apple Cinnamon Cake

I tried an apple cake recipe once before, to abysmal results. This recipe by Elise, of simplyrecipes.com, seemed very simple. More importantly, the reviews were good, and it doesn't use any fancy expensive ingredients I would be scared of wasting! =D Turned out well, though next time, I will double the batter for a 'higher' cake.

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup whole milk
1 medium apple, peeled and sliced

1- Set the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with or pie pan a 4-cup capacity.

2- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.

3- In a bowl, combine 1/3 a cup of the sugar with the cinnamon, set aside.

4- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Beat in the egg until blended. Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk, beating until just combined.

5- Spread half the batter in the baking dish. Lay the apple slices on the batter so they just cover the batter (you may have to overlap some slices). Sprinkle the apples with half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Spread the rest of the batter over the apples. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar on top.

6- Bake the cake for 25 minutes or until it is golden brown and apples start to bubble at the edges.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

I get these food obsession phases, where a certain type of food, or a specific dish, becomes all I think about. I can spend hours researching recipes and book-marking them, or just looking at the photographs! And then I absolutely HAVE to get cooking. =D

As the weather gets cooler, soup is what I'm obsessing over. Creamy, rich, or thin, clear... what ever, which ever, soup is what I crave! So I spent two days browsing through countless recipes, before hitting jackpot at simplyrecipes.com with a cream of mushroom soup, which I adapted to suit pakistani taste buds! =D

Maryam Masud's Praline Delight

This isn't a very appetizing picture, but then, those of us who cook at all know that food in the making is rarely appetizing =D

Maryam Masud makes this astoundingly simple, yet supremely impressive dish, and she shared the recipe with us. The first time I made it was when my grandfather, who is notoriously difficult to please, came to visit. If it impressed him... well. It's very, very good. =D

The uber simple dessert requires:
A tub of Praline Ice-cream
1 cup milk + a pinch of sugar
1/4 tsp instant coffee
1 packet chilled cream
Rusks: the flat, rectangualr variety
Assorted nuts [optional]

And this is how you make it:

• Leave ice-cream at room temperature to sofetn slightly
• Mix the Coffee in the milk. Pour into a shallow dish.
• Dip rusks in the milk, just enough to coat both sides, and layer them in a serving dish. Do not soak them too much, they get soggy too quickly.
• Drizzle with cream.
• Spread a layer of ice-cream on top. Just enough to cover. Sprinkle chopped nuts if so desired.
• Repeat with layers of rusk, cream and ice cream.
  The top-most layer should be ice cream.
• Put it in the freezer to set. Decorate with sprinkled coco/milo/ovaltine, or bunties, chocolate sprinkles, etc. Serve chilled!

I think this would also taste fantastic with hot fudge topping =D

My spin on Shepherd's Pie

So I don't use ground beef for my Shepherd's Pie. Chicken and mushrooms, in white sauce, are way more tempting [the green is from bell peppers that I threw in on a whim] =D This is what the mixture looks like before the mashed potato covering. Just to give you an idea of the consistency of the mixture.

I don't use an exact recipe, so I won't be able to give you one. But I'll up the general instructions soon!

Amna J's Microwave Brownies

I was a tad skeptical about these, primarily because the recipe calls for a whole cup of oil. That's more oil than I've ever used in a single cake! But these are very dense, fudgy brownies, and done in five minutes! For variations, you can add m'N'ms, assorted nuts, etc. You can also reduce the sugar a bit: more than 3/4 and less than a whole cup. Experiment! Happy Baking! =D

[Photographs coming soon]

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup coco powder
1 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup sugar

1. Beat eggs until fluffy.


2. Add sugar and oil, beating until the sugar is dissolved [you may grind the sugar just a little bit, to make this step easier]


3. Sieve together the flour and coco powder, twice


4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, beating well.


5. Pour into greased microwave safe dish, and microwave for 3-5 minutes on a medium-high setting according to your machine [check after thrid minute]

Does not require topping, though a little extra chocolate never hurt anyone. Nutella? *hinthint* ;) You may sprinkle it with dessicated coconut, if you like the flavor!