Best of 2011

As the year comes to an end, I bid adieu without regrets (even though the list of 2011 Resolutions still remains outstanding!) All I can do now is reminisce about the unexpected, yet joyful year 2011 turned out to be. :-) To start a blog is one thing (I've done that before) but to be committed to it without getting bored is something really new for me! I think this is what inspired action is all about! And it may sound clichéd, but it is you, the reader, who has kept me going on. I sincerely hope that I learn more and more and work towards making the blog more helpful and true to its name:- entertaining. :-)

It is really difficult deciding your best works when you consider each and every dish to be your baby! :-) I ain't a novice when it comes to cooking, but I am also very proud of each and every thing I've ever cooked (which comes to about 160 dishes based on the number of blog posts!) Yet, with a lot of difficulty, I managed to shortlist 10 of the dishes which I consider to be my best works.

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

I finally found a way to use the half a tin of condensed milk that had been sitting in my refrigerator since this post. Since I wanted to start afresh in 2012, I went exploring the net for what I could make with the condensed milk. I found awesome recipes but were too much of a hassle. And some just had too much butter, cream, sugar besides the condensed milk! I drooled every time I saw the pictures & cringed seeing the list of ingredients! Which is exactly why you'll understand my delight when I came across this recipe. I have renamed the dish coz it felt more fudgy rather than brownie-y :-D And they are delightfully chocolaty.

Hot Chocolate Soufflé

 

Visit www.foodomania.com for the recipe & step by step pictures.

Link to this recipe - http://foodomania.com/microwave-chocolate-souffle/

Self Saucing Coffee & Chocolate Pudding

 

Disclaimer - I hated it. But, that's because I hate coffee. The original, unbiased tester of all recipes of this blog, my brother, couldn't stop raving about it. In fact, he was silently praying that mom & dad would hate it too so that he could have it all! :-P So I guess if you are a coffee fan, this one is for you.

Even before starting this recipe, I was sure I wouldn't like it. But I felt that my blog needed a self-saucing pudding, no matter what the flavor maybe. And hence, I wrote the minimum amount of ingredients I could use and set about making it. (And even that yielded about 5 cups! - All of which went into bro's holy mouth :D) I referred to this recipe but made changes to the egg substitute Nags used coz I was still not too sure of using flax seed meal in place of eggs.

And in other news, cakes seem to bake really quickly in my new oven leaving me confused as to why something that should take 20 minutes gets done in 10 minutes. And I am still trying to figure it out. Meanwhile, I can't let the crust of my bakes burn so I'm thinking of covering the baking dish with an aluminum foil next time. (Is it a good idea?)

Vegetable Croquette (Kebab)

 

Continuing my quest for quick and low-fat snacks, I present to you these vegetable croquettes. Croquette is just a fancy name for our Desi kebab. When I had to hop to Neetu's picturesque blog for this week's BHW, I decided to make these. And since Croquette sounds cool, I decided to call it just that. :-D I altered the recipe to accommodate the ingredients I had. You can do so too. 

Cucumber Bread Cups

Days when I am at home studying(?!), I constantly look for something interesting to eat. And chips or fries are not options anymore since they make me drowsy and of course, the obvious reason - they are loaded with empty calories! A quest for tasty yet somewhat healthy snack has led me to discover/invent quite a few interesting and quick recipes. Some work while some flop. This is one of those that has worked.

 

Tomato Soup (Healing Foods)

I usually advocate for eating fruits & vegetables in whole. I hate to see beautiful tomatoes or strawberries ground beyond recognition. But, being teeny bit hypocritical, I (only) love tomato soup. I usually drink this when I'm sick and it is such a comfort during those days when you have a coughing marathon. Adding croutons to the soup makes it filling and tasty. And the best part of this soup is > Almost Zero Efforts. Boil the veggies, throw them in the blender & blend away.