Warm Apple Bites

We had one apple staring at us from the fruit basket and I had no appetite and hubby isn't a big fan of them apples. So, what to do? Decided to try my hand at an apple turnover type thing. Was looking on Open Source Food for hours at recipes to try out in my Mom's old tiny oven.
(This thing must be over 15 years old - my grandmother pulled it out of storage and gave it to me and I am still shocked it lights up!)

Anyway, after a lot of yummy recipes, came across one that was easy and simple enough to try out. I love apple pie and this seemed very similar. But alas, I still have to figure out how Mom's old oven works! I put it in to bake and it just wasn't working - so regrettably the lil pies were deep fried. It wasn't too much of a disaster - name one deep fried food that you haven't liked - go ahead! The bites came out delish! Crunchy on the outside and sweet and gooey apple bites inside. Hubby gave his approval of - "not just good, its Great!" - Okay, so I added the capital G and the exclamation ;)

Excuse the poor quality of pictures - had really bad lighting and was just too tired (I made them at 11pm!)

Here is how I made 2 Warm Apple Bites:

















Ingredients

1 apple - diced
4-5 cloves - crushed
1/2 tsp. cinnamon powder
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. honey
2 Tbsp. of clarified butter (knob of regular butter is fine)
1 egg
2 drops of vanilla essence
oil to deep fry
2 pcs of white bread

1. Peel and dice 1 apple. Small bite size chunks are fine.

2. Warm a pan on low heat. Add butter and melt. Add cloves, cinnamon, sugar, honey and apple. Stir and cook till apples are between firm and soft. Think apples from apple pie. Remove from heat and let cool.

3. Take 2 pcs of bread and cut of crusts. Use a rolling pin to flatten each out thin. Split the apple in half and spoon on side of each piece of bread. Fold over each to make two pies. Use egg wash to seal edges. (I added a bit of sugar and vanilla to eggwash).

4. At this point you can put it in the oven and bake. But-I ended up dipping the two pies in the egg like French toast and putting it into the oil to deep fry.

Let it cool and enjoy! Would be great with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!!

Heavenly Divine Breakfast

I am traveling in the states right now and woke up at my mothers craving a big breakfast. With the jet lag and lack of helping hand and the availability of an oven - i felt inspired to try out a recipe I had seen on Nigella Express. Before I get into this recipe - let me explain how lovely this breakfast easy. Its hearty but light and flavors just make a pleasant wake up call. This is a perfect Mother's breakfast if some you are so inclined. Ok here goes - my recipe - as usual is a bit tweaked from Nigella's....

Eggs with Tomato

Will need:
1 deep dish to hold ramekin
1 ramekin (small oven proof bowl/dish)
Butter
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. minced onions
1 tbsp. chopped tomatoes
1 slice of american white cheese (or any cheese you wish)
1 large egg
2 tbsp. cream or whole milk or any type of milk
salt and pepper for taste
a pinch of cayenne

1) Turn on oven and pre-heat to 350. Heat a skillet on stovetop and add about 1 tbsp. of butter. once it starts bubbling sautee the onions and garlic for about a minute or until soft. Add the tomatoes and cook till soft, add salt and pepper to taste. Don't let it melt or get mushy!

2) Boil some water. Prep the ramekins by spreading the sides with a little bit of butter.

3) Place the tomato mix bottom of ramekin. Layer lil bit of cheese, crack the egg on top (careful to not break the yolk!), add the cream/milk, add a little bit more cheese on top, add salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.

4) Place the ramekin in the deep dish. Pout the boiling water into the dish and let it come up half way up the sides of the ramekin. Place the dish in the oven for about 8-12 mins.

5) Make sure to keep an eye on it - you want the yolk to be runny so, try not to over cook it. I overcooked mine first time around.

Pull it out of oven and enjoy with some crusty bread or buttered toast.

I made a concoction of tea and coffee to go with it. to get over the jet lag and becasue I don't like the flavor of coffee.

Boiling water
instant coffee
tea bag
2 cardamoms, pinch of cinnamon, 2 cloves
brown sugar
hazlenut flavored creamer

Just mix 'em all up in a big mug and enjoy!!

Upma

Upma is a healthy south indian breakfast. It is made with suji or semolina or cream of wheat. It is very versatile and you can add any number of veggies you like. I like mine with only tomatoes and a nice dose of mustard seeds. I also enjoy it a little bit spicy and it has been a good alternative to a traditional breakfast.

Ingredients

Suji 1 cup
Onion ½ cup, finely chopped
Green chili 1 chopped coarsely
Tomato 1 small chopped
Cilantro 2 tbsp. chopped finely
Brown Mustard
Seeds 1 tsp.
Sugar 2 tsp.
Salt ¼ tsp. or to taste
Lime Juice ¼ tsp.
Hot Water 1 ¾ cup
Oil 3 tbsp.

1. Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan or a wok. Add mustard seeds. Cook till they start to sputter, about 2 minutes. (be careful, they can hurt if they jump on you!)

2. Add onions and salt. Sauté the onion till the edges start to turn brown.

3. Add tomatoes and green chilis. Sauté about five minutes.

4. Add lime juice, sugar and mix well.

5. Add in the suji. Stir well. Add water and keep stirring. Bring to almost a boil.

6. Simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes or till all the water is absorbed. It shloud be soft and coming off the sides of the pan.

7. Turn off heat and stir in chopped cilantro.

Its done! Enjoy!!