Sour Cream Pancakes

So the little one decides to sleep early today, giving mummy some selfie time :)
This awesome recipe is a must try....made these perfect pancakes for breakfast a couple of days ago...very quick and by far the best pancakes I've made....and the husband agrees :)
I had some sour cream left from baking a Banana Bread loaf (recipe will be coming up soon) and so decided to use it and mdke pancakes ... I'm so glad I did...original recipe from :  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/04/edna-maes-sour-cream-pancakes/

 

You need :

1 cup sour cream
7 tbsp. all purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
some butter for greasing (I used non-stick pan)
butter and honey to serve

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
In a separate small bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Add dry ingredients to sour cream until just barely combined (don't overmix.) Whisk in the egg mixture until just combined.
Heat a pan over medium-low heat and melt some butter in the pan. Drop batter by 1/4 cup servings onto the pan. Cook on the first side until bubbles start to form on the surface and edges are starting to brown. Flip to the other side and cook for another minute. The surface will be golden.
Serve with some butter, honey or maple syrup.

Indian Style Chicken Mushroom Pasta

Bored with the usual tomato based pasta sauce? Here's one with a touch of spices to give it a new taste altogether....not as easy as opening a bottle n warming up the sauce but surely worth the extra effort..

You need :

Pasta (shell type / macaroni / bow tie pasta) - enough for 3 - cooked, drained and kept aside

1 small boneless, skinless chicken breast - cut into bite size pieces
5-6 button mushrooms - sliced
1 onion - sliced thinly
1 tomato - sliced thinly
a little turmeric powder
2 sprigs curry leaves
salt to taste
coriander leaves - garnish

For masala :

coriander seeds - 2tbsp
black peppercorns - 1 tsp
3 green chillies - chopped
5-6 garlic cloves - chopped
1 tsp olive oil

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and roast coriander seeds, peppercorns, garlic and green chillies. Let it cool and later grind the ingredients together till it makes a smooth paste by adding some water.

Next heat olive oil in pan, sauté onions till soft, add in chicken, mix well...later add in tomatoes, mushroom. Cook till tomato is soft. Add in ground masala, curry leaves, turmeric powder, salt and some water. Stir well and cook till chicken is cooked and gravy is a little thick.
Then, add in the cooked pasta and stir well. Taste and add in salt if needed.. Mix till well combined. Serve hot with coriander leaves as garnishing.

Blueberry Cheese Butter Cake

I made this when my aunt invited us for her Diwali open house....It makes a 9 inch round / square cake..buttery with a lovely combination of juicy blueberries and cheese..makes the ordinary butter cake extra special...worth the try..

You need :

250 gms butter
3/4 cup fine sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 medium sized eggs
250 gms cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 rd cup milk
2 1/4 cup self raising flour
150 gm fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 160C.  Beat butter and sugar till fluffy using paddle attachment. Add in vanilla. Add in the eggs, one at a time..beating well between each addition.
Change to whisk attachment and add in cream cheese and milk. Whisk till batter is smooth. Add the flour and whisk till combined. Using a spatula, fold in the blueberries.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes or till skewer inserted comes out clean.
Place on wire rack to cool before removing from pan.

Mini Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

It's been sometime since my last post...well, looking after a little one is not a piece of cake and though the laptop is set up in the next room from where she sleeps (with the idea of updating my blog during her sleeping hours), the temptation to grab some sleep myself always seems to be winning...

Hmm...now for this particular recipe...I came up with the idea of baking a mini cheesecake..Firstly, coz there's only the 2 of us and importantly, it's a way of avoiding myself from over indulgence (guilty feelings aside).

So here goes....a perfectly baked, creamy cheesecake which is just the right size as a dessert and has a crust made with Oreo cookies, giving it a kinda balance I love....Made this for our 3rd Wedding Anniversary which was last week (12.12.13) ;)...As usual, earned me some awesome remarks from the husband and also some lucky friends who got to taste it for breakfast the next day...

The recipe makes about 6 medium cupcake liner sized cheesecakes

I used :

1 block Philadelphia cream cheese (250 gm)
1/3 cup fine sugar
1 egg
juice of 1/2 orange and rind of 1 orange
5 tbsp. whipping cream

For the crust :

1/2 packet of Oreo cookies (cream removed)
3-4 tbsp. butter (softened)

Preheat oven to 180C...Line a muffin pan with 6-8 cupcake liners (depending on size).
Crush the Oreo cookies and add in the butter and mix..(oreo crumbs should be sticking together).
Take a tbsp. of mixture and press down onto the cupcake liners and press with the back of a teaspoon until smooth. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat cream cheese, fine sugar till well mixed, smooth and creamy. Add in the egg and beat till well combiner. Add in orange juice, orange rind and cream. Mix well. Divide micture evenly into the cupcake liners with Oreo base.

Bake cheesecakes for 18-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool before refrigerating and serving. Serve cold.