Tomato Souffle

Happy Eid-ul Adha to all my friends !! And Phew !!!After much procrastination, I finally managed to write this post, which was for sweetpunch-November as I had mentioned in my previous post.... I had made 2 dishes for this month and I was supposed to post this last week..but never got time to do so. But I finally managed to post it today :)

A souffle is a light and fluffy baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with other ingredients and served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert. But I had always seen and tasted souffle as a dessert. So, When I saw this recipe from Maria's Menu, I really wanted to give it a try and I must say it was a very tasty savoury Souffle. And I would definitely make this again and again. so, without further ado, goes the recipe for this tasty Tomato Souffle.

TOMATO SOUFFLE
(Recipe source : Australian Woman's Weekly via Maria's Menu)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup bread crumbs – firmly packed
45 gm Butter
1 medium Onion –finely chopped
2 tbsp Plain flour (maida)
1 cup milk
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp fresh Basil –finely chopped (optional)
3 Eggs –separated
1/4 tsp pepper powder
Grated Cheese (mozzarella)– a handful

Method:

Grease 4 souffle dishes (1/2 cup capacity), sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Melt butter in small saucepan, add finely chopped onion. Stir over low heat for 2 mins ( or MW on HIGH for about 2 mins). Cook until onion is soft, it doesn’t have to become brown.
Stir in flour and stir over medium heat for a minute. (or MW on HIGH for a min). Remove from heat, gradually stir in milk, bring back to heat and stir over high heat until mixture boils & thickens & reaches a thick sauce like consistency. (or MW on HIGH for about 3 mins).

Transfer to large bowl, stir in tomato paste & basil leaves. Cover the dish & let it stand for 5 mins. Beat egg whites in a small bowl until soft peaks from. Add egg yolks to the onion & milk mixture & mix well. Fold the egg whites into the mixture in 2 batches. Pour the mixture evenly into the prepared dishes. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Bake in the preheated oven at 350 F/175C for 20- 25 mins or until lightly browned. Serve hot with garlic bread or soup.

Healthier version:

Use brown bread crumbs & low fat milk. Also use yolks of only 2 eggs & white of 3 eggs. Use only lesser qty of butter, I used only 20 grams of butter.

Notes:

The above qty serves 2 adults (main course) served with garlic bread or soup. Souffles can be baked in any oven proof dish or for individual serving, use ramekins. I baked them in small ramekins and some in an oval oven-proof dish.

The Souffle looks very puffed up wen comes out of the oven and it falls rather very quickly.So, its better to serve it hot ..just right out of the oven with some warm soup.

Verdict:

My Family just loved this to the core...specially my kid loved this. coz from past few weeks(after starting school) he has stopped eating spicy food and is always asking me to cook something less spicier than our usual India food. He was soo happy after eating this that I heard him telling his dad that night '' Dad.. I want to grow as tall as you (that would be 6.3'') so that I can beat some eggs and make tomato foushlle( for Souffle) with mommy in the kitchen :)

Instant Eggless Chocolate Mousse

Back with yet another punch, seems like just few days back I posted Molten Lava Cake and here comes another choclatey post - an instant and eggless Chocolate Mousse.Yes !! Instant Chocolate Mousse... coz it tastes only 1 hour to set unlike the version with eggs , whick takes atleast 7-8 hours to set.

This month we were given 3 recipes to choose from..One of them was this easy peasy Eggless mousse and there other options were Chocolate mousse(with Eggs) and a Savoury Tomato Souffle. I chose to make this recipe and also tried my hands at Tomato Souffle (wil post it next).

Now this recipe need only 5 ingredients and the main ingredient that helps this mousse set is Marshmallows. As marshmallows contain gelatin, I had a hard time searching for Halal Marshmallows...but finally found them in an asian store and was soo happy to try this eggless version of mousse which I had bookmarked loooong back from Nigella Lawson's website.

EGGLESS INSTANT CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
Recipe Souce :Nigella Lawson

Ingredients:

150 gms Mini marshamallows (you can use regular marshmallows too)
50 gms Butter- softened
250 gms Chocolate( preferably dark Chocolate)-chopped into small pieces
60 ml Hot water
284 ml Cream and
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Method:

In a heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the marshmallows,butter,chocolate and water together, stirring every now and then, till evrything melts to form a smooth sauce. Let the Chocolate cool while you are whipping the cream. Meanwhile, whip the cream with vanilla until thick (firm peaks).

Fold the whipped cream into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth mixture. Pour or pipe into individual ramekins or glasses and let it set in the fridge for about 1 hour. Serve with whipped cream and or with strawberry / raspberry. Or just sprinkle some grated white chocolate :)


Verdict:
A smooth and divine Mousse which you will definitely fall in love with. We just loved indulging ourselves in this dessert . And this is a very easy and eye-catching dessert for any party. So do try it and see for yourselves :)

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Tawa Pulao

First of all A very happy Diwali to all the readers !! Coming to today's recipe...its a very easy and yummy rice , which can be ready in few mins if you have cooked rice or left-over rice at home..There days when I crave for pure vegetarian food for my lunch..and thats possible only when hubby dear is out of town, because even if I cook vegetarian main dish, there has to be atleast 1 non-veg side dish with it for him. So, on one such occasion, when my better half was out of town for few days, I decided to make Tawa pulao which I had bookmarked from DK's Chef In You. Though I had tried this recipe from her blog almost 2 months back, never got a chance to post it here (as you all know how busy or rather lazy I have been past 2-3 months)

And fortunately when Priya of Priya's easy n Tasty Recipes announced that she has chosen Chef In You as the blog for this months Tried and Tasted-an event started by Zlamuksha and taken over now by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles , it gave a a perfect opportunity to post this recipe.

I must admit that this pulao was soo yummy and flavourful that I have sooo fallen in love with its taste and have cooked this many times after that day. I sincerely thank DK for sharing with us this tasty recipe.

I have followed her recipe except for some changes here and there..like I added some own spices because I didn't have Pav Bhaji masala at home and instead of using both butter and vegetable oil, I used only vegetable oil. For original recipe hop over to her lovely space here .

TAWA PULAO

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups of cooked rice
1 1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil,
1 large onion-chopped,
2-3 tomatoes- finely chopped,
1/2 red bell pepper(capsicum)-chopped,
1/2 green bell pepper- finely chopped,
1/2 cup frozen green peas,
2-3 green chillies,
1 tsp ginger paste,
1 tsp garlic paste,
1 tsp cumin seeds,
1/2 tsp fennel seeds,
1/4 tsp turmeric powder,
1/4 tsp garam masala powder,
1/4 tsp amchoor(dry mango) powder,
1/4 tsp of red chilli powder,
1/4 tsp black pepper powder,
Cilantro for garnishing and
Salt to taste

Method:

Heat the oil in pan or kadai and add cumin seed and fennel seed. When they splutter, add the chopped onions, salt and green chillies. Saute for few minutes and add ginger- garlic paste and saute for 5 more minutes . Now add the chopped tomatoes and the capsicum and cook till all the tomatoes are cooked and the oil separates from the pan. Add all the dry spices and stir well and lastly add the green peas, cooked rice and chopped cilantro. Toss it to coat the rice completely with the spices and cook for further 2-3 minutes on low flame. Serve hot with raita or any vegetarian side dish. I had made Bhindi Do pyaza (recipe to coom soon).