8 ways to better your grilling

1. You need to cook your food perfectly every time:  Everything else is just frosting over the cake. If the steaks are not properly cooked, they are not worth eating.  Although everyone has their own liking but generally for burgers and steak it should be medium - rare, a little beyond medium for pork and fishes and chicken until the pink color disappears.  Flip Burgers Once and Only Once. Cook 2 minutes per side for rare, 3 for medium-rare, 4 for medium, and 5 for well-done. Keep grill at a steady heat.

2. Apply salt strategically: One way is to cure the meat by seasoning salt overnight. Sat will slowly extract water from meat thereby concentrating its flavors. The other way is to treat the meat, especially pork and poultry with brine water. This imparts moisture and flavor to the meat. Although it is used by cold cut manufacturers and high end restaurants, you must give it a try. I bet you will be highly satisfied. (Will give the basic brine recipe in the next post).

3.  Have hotter and cooler side of the grill:  Build your charcoal fire and once the charcoal is burned, its ready for grilling. Then move all the charcoal to one side of the grill and just very few on other side. This way we can grill big meat on slow side of the grill covered. Small meat can go on the higher heat side.

4. Smoke effect: You can give the smoke effect by adding small wood-chip tray to the grill setup. Charcoal grill can take wood chips directly but electric grill can have small wood-chip box or a packet.

5. Spices give life to grilling: Have your own blend of spices to add flavor to the meat. as much possible make spice blend from scratch and not use the store bought ones, which are no match to home made ones. It can be slat, pepper, cumin powder, cayenne pepper, crushed fennel, coriander seeds, etc are some examples.

6. Home made sauces are the best: Make sweet sauce with ketchup,honey, brown sugar. Salty by soy sauce, peanut butter. sour with vinegar, lemon, orange juice and spicy with chili sauce, Dijon mustard, etc. Thick sauce is good for small pieces of meat but thin sauce can be coated to big meat pieces that are slow cooking.

7. Mopping is essential: Basting over open flame with liquid constantly is important to tenderize the meat. It can be any liquid you can imagine like beer, booze, oil, juice, etc.  I generally use Worcestershire sauce for beef, vinegar for pork and orange juice for chicken.

8. Don't waste the heat: Instead of wasting the big heating surface with just a few pork chops or sirloin, try to add skewers of mixed vegetables, fruits (grilled) for desserts, etc. It will help us save money and time too.

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Bruschetta

Thanks to the Italians who gave us this 'Ready in 10 mins' appetizer which is as easy as a pie and has flavors that are simple yet delightful. Also thanks to people who added so many kinds of variations to the toppings. Ideally Italian bread should be grilled over hot coal to get real Italian flavor, but in regular homes bread is toasted or broiled to make it. I am gonna write my recipe here:


Ingredients:

1  can Italian Diced Tomatoes
6 cloves Garlic
4 TB Olive Oil
3/4 cup basil
1 long french bread

Method:

1. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix right before serving.

For easy bread pieces to go with the bruschetta, here is what to do:

2.. Buy french bread loaf. Cut in slices and place on a cookie sheet.

3. Butter slices and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Broil on HIGH for 2-5 minutes (dependent on how fast and hot your oven is).

4. Serve the bread pieces with your bruschetta.

It is a family favorite that can be made so easily and tastes so good!

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Double Chocolate cake

Ingredients:

 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
 1 1/2 cups white sugar
 2 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, melted
 2 eggs
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1 cup milk
 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
 1 teaspoon salt
 1/2 cup butter, softened
 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
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Method:

1. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt together into a large bowl.
2. Add the butter or margarine, milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients in the bowl. Beat for 300 strokes, or for approximately 2 minutes at low speed with an electric mixer or with hands upto 15 mins.
3. Add the eggs, melted chocolate, and red food coloring to the batter. Beat an additional 300 strokes or 2 minutes at low speed or with hands 15 mins.
4. Pour into two greased and floured 8 inch layer pans. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes, or until done.

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Black Forest Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup neutral vegetable oil, such as canola, soybean or vegetable blend
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Toppings:

1 lb fresh or frozen dark sweet cherries (I used a jar)
1/2 cup kirsch
3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
chilled chocolate curls

1. Refrigerate cherries and kirsch ahead of time. Refrigerate for several hours or up to several days. Before use, drain the cherries well.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of  9-inch round/square cakepans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

3. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine them well. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Divide among the 3 prepared cake pans.

4. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Let cool in the pans for about 20 minutes. Invert onto wire racks and let cool completely.

5. In a large chilled bowl with chilled beaters, beat the cream until it mounds lightly. Add 1/4 cup sugar and the vanilla and whip until the cream forms peaks.

6. To assemble the cake, place cake on a cake stand or serving plate and sprinkle 2 to 3 teaspoons of the reserved cherry brandy evenly over the top to moisten. Cover the cake with 2/3 cup of the whipped cream, spreading it all the way to the edge. Arrange half of the cherries on top of the cream. Cover the cherries with another 2/3 cup whipped cream.

7. To decorate, gently scoop up the chilled chocolate curls with your hands and press them into the sides of the cake, covering them completely with curls. Decorate the top, if desired, with rosettes of whipped cream and some extra cherries.
8. Refrigerate the cake for few hours before serving.

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Ice cream Sundae

Summers are not easy without Ice creams and Sundaes, especially in Texas :).  I usually make this real simple dessert to sooth the sweet tooth after dinner.  This is the right season to share it with you :)

Ingredients: 

1 cup fruits like cherries, grapes, berries. Some more for garnishing.

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

4 scoops nonfat vanilla Ice cream (you can use yogurt as healthy option)

strawberry syrup or chocolate syrup

Method:

Puree fruits with sugar and lemon juice in a blender. Serve over frozen Ice cream and top with fruits and syrup of your choice. Well I was serious when I said that its easy!!!!

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Bhatura Panjabi style

 Bhatoora is a fluffy deep-fried bread from North India. It is often eaten with chickpea curry, chole or channe, making the traditional dish chole bhature.  This is a combination of may recipes I researched over the internet. The best part is that it uses more of whole wheat flour than all purpose flour. My family liked it, so thought of sharing with you :)

Ingredients:

21/2 cups atta or whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt or as required
1 tbsp oil or ghee or butter
½ or ⅓ cup warm water
vegetable oil for deep frying
¾ cup yoghurt
½ tbsp sugar
½ tsp baking powder
¾ cup all purpose flour/maida


Method:

1. In a bowl take the yoghurt, sugar, baking powder and all purpose flour.
Mix well for overnight fermentation.

2. If the yogurt is thick, then to thin the batter, add ¼ cup water.
Cover the bowl with a cloth and set it aside in a warm place overnight or for 8 hours to allow natural fermentation to take place.

3. The next day you will see tiny bubbles on the surface of the mixture. The mixture is ready for the next step when tiny bubbles appear on the surface.

4. Take another bowl, mix together the wheat flour with salt and rub the ghee or butter into it with your fingertips. Into this bowl, add the fermenting mixture and the warm water. Form a dough with these two mixtures.

5. Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes or until it is silky smooth. Add a little flour if it is too wet. Gather the dough into a compact ball and cover it with a damp cloth. Again set it aside in a warm place for 2 hrs.

6. Knead the dough again.

7. Form it in to 15 balls and roll them into 5-6 inch discs. Heat oil or ghee and deep fry the bhaturas. 

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Tomato Chutney for Dosa, Idli

Its a very spicy Tamil style chutney :)

Ingredients:

Tomato - 1 / 4 kg
Onion - 200 g
Garlic - 5 pallu
Ginger - 1 piece
Red Chilli – 3
Broken urad Dal - 2tsp
Toor Dal (Lentil) – 2 tsp
Coconut - 1 / 2 cup
Salt - the quantity

Merhod:

1. Take a pan and pour oil. Heat oil, fry Toor Dal and  Urad Dal.

2. Fry on medium heat until you get the pleasant aroma of the grains.

3. Add onion, fry until it becomes golden brown. Then add ginger.
Add garlic and dry red chillies. Fry for a minute. Now add the chopped tomatoes.

4.Fry the tomatoes until the raw smell went off. Keep in low heat for ten minutes.

5. Add required salt and leave it for a minute, switch off the stove and add the grated coconut.

6.Leave it to cool and grind, should not grind it way to smooth paste.
Tomato chutney is the best side dish for idli, Dosai and  masal dosai.

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Pickled Jalapeneo

First I would like to show you pictures step by step, to make it really clear to you guys :)

Ingredients:

Jalapenos - 3 cups, sliced nacho style

Salt – 1.5 tbsp

Asafoetida - 3 pinches(optional)

Lemon Juice - 6 tbsp

White Distilled Vinegar – 1.5 tbsp

Vegetable Oil - 3 tsp

Bay Leaf 1

Method:

Wash the Jalapenos and slice them.

Put the Jalapenos in a clean, dry jar.

Add the Salt, Bay Leaf and Asafoetida and mix well.

Keep aside for 4-6 hours and let the spices seep into the

jalapenos.

Next add the Lemon  Juice, Vinegar and  Oil.

Cap the jar and give it a really good mix.

Keep aside for a day but don’t forget to keep mixing the

pickle every once in a while.

After a day, it is ready to eat. Store in the refrigerator after

that.

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Tortilla wrap Roll-ups

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 24 oz. container sour cream
2-3 T taco seasoning
10-12 large tortillas

Toppings

Peas
Diced carrots
Diced green peppers
Chopped green onions
Finely grated cheddar cheese
cucumber slices
chopped mushrooms

Be creative with what you like!
Its just that tomatoes can make the wrap soggy so may be you should not add them :)

Blend cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Mix in taco seasoning.

In the center of each tortilla, put a small stripe of refried beans. On the rest of the tortilla spread the sauce making sure to get the edges. You want a decent amount to make sure all your toppings will stick. Sprinkle with toppings and roll up. Tuck in the ends and wrap in plastic wrap, but don't overfill. Refrigerate over night.
Slice before serving and serve with salsa.

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Spicy or Masala Kaju (cashew nuts)

Here is another desi snack with Cashew nut :) Easy n royal, what can you ask for more????

Ingredients:

amchoor or dry mango powder     tsp 1/4
black pepper powder  tsp 3/4
cashewnts about 1 lb
chat masala tsp 1 1/2
garam masala 1 tbsp
red chillies powder 1/2 tsp
Clarified butter or desi ghee  1 tbsp

Method:

1. Mix all masala together and keep ready. Heat 2 cups oil for frying. reduce heat. Add kajus and stir fry continuously till they start changing colour and turn light golden. Take it off from stove.

2. Immediately sprinkle the masala while the kajus are still hot. mix thoroughly with the fingers. mix again after 2-3 minuties. let it cool down.

3. When cool, store in air tight container. Serve with drinks.

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Aaloo Gobhi Bhurji

Aaloo Gobhi Bhurji

Ingredients: 

1    Medium size head of cauliflower

1 medium potato

1    Medium size onion – fine chopped

2    Cloves of garlic- minced (2 teaspoons

       minced)

1    Tablespoon fresh grated ginger

1    Medium green chili – fine chopped

2    Teaspoons coriander powder

½   Teaspoon red chili powder

½   Teaspoon turmeric powder

1    Teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)

1    Teaspoon cumin seeds

1    Pinch of asafetida (Hing)

3    Tablespoons vegetable oil

1    Teaspoon salt or to your taste

2    Tablespoons chopped coriander 

      leaves

Directions:

1.  Cut the cauliflower in small florets and potato into small cubes.

2. On medium high heat add 2 tablespoons oil in a  pan, add cumin seeds and asafetida, and fry them for 2 to 3

    minutes, or till cumin seed become brown.

In a pan add cumin seeds, asafetida & oil and fry

3.  Add chopped onions and minced garlic, sauté them for 5 to 6 minutes or until onions

     become light brown.

4.  Add coriander powder, red chili powder and turmeric powder and mix and fry for

     few seconds. 

5.  Add grated cauliflower and potatoes, sprinkle salt and mix with masala, cover the

     pan and let it cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until cauliflower and potato become

     tender.

6. While cooking with the spatula periodically stir'

7.  Add grated ginger and chopped green chilies, mix and cook. If there is water in the

      bottom then turn the heat high so that all the water evaporates quickly. Once the

      water dries up turn the heat down to medium. 

8.  Sprinkle mango powder and 1 tablespoon oil, with the spatula mix everything

     together and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, keep turning the cauliflower upside down,

     once masala becomes brown turn the stove off.

9. When ready to serve transfer bhurji in to a serving dish'

Cauliflower bhurji is ready

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