Christmas Sugar Cookies
Wish you all a Merry Christmas!!! Sugar cookies are easy to make and is the highlight of Christmas. Try this cutout sugar cookies at home and use your imagination and decorate the cookies with your family. You can also check the recipe for Royal Icing which is used for icing the cookies. Preparation time: 45 minutes (resting time: 10 hours) No. of servings: 12 pieces Ingredients: Unsalted butter – 1 cup (2 sticks) Sugar – 1 cup One large egg Vanilla extract – 1 tsp Lemon extract- few drops All purpose flour – 3 cups (375 gram) Salt – 1/2 tsp Method of Preparation: Cream butter in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer or a hand mixer. Add sugar and beat until creamy and fluffy. Beat in the egg,vanilla and lemon juice until mixed. You can substitute...
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Royal Icing Recipe
Royal Icing is a white icing which quickly hardens and is used for cakes and cookie frosting. It is very easy to make this icing and takes a few minutes if you have the ingredients handy. Royal icing is prepared using two methods, one using egg whites and the other using meringue powder. If you do not want to use raw egg whites, you can use pasteurized egg whites available at store or just the meringue powder method. You can make decorative flowers and other figures using this icing. If you want to decorate your cookies using Royal Icing, you need to prepare two different consistency of icing. One for piping and the other for flooding. When you pipe a border around the edge of a cookie it is easy to fill icing inside (flooding). So for piping we need a...
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Dry Fruit Cookies
Dry Fruit Cookies are very easy to make and they taste so good. And this is perfect for the holiday season. You can make the dough ahead and cut it to pieces and just throw it in the oven, cookies are ready. I adapted the recipe from Ina Garten’s recipe and tweaked it according to my taste. You can add any dry fruits or nuts of your choice. This is a perfect snack with tea or just by itself. If you don’t want to use the alcohol for soaking, you can substitute it with apple juice or orange juice or both. These are not too frutti, it’s perfect. Try this and enjoy with your family and friends. Have a wonderful Christmas and New year. Preparation time: 45 minutes (resting time: 10 hours) No. of servings: 12 pieces Ingredients: Candied fruits (tutti...
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Reminder of our Christmas Giveaway
Check out our Christmas giveaway and win Dave Lieberman’s cookbooks. Just follow one of these simple procedures and be a lucky winner. Entering the giveaway is very easy. You just share this giveaway article on Facebook, Twitter, subscribe to the RSS feed and leave a comment. Each action will get you entries to the giveaway. Doing all actions will give you that many more entries. Here is how you can enter: Share this post on Facebook and Like SpicyTasty– 2 entries Share this post on Twitter and follow us on Twitter – 2 entries Write about this post on your blog – 5 entries Leave a comment naming your favorite recipe on SpicyTasty.com – 1 entry (also mention if you shared this post and liked our page on Facebook/Twitter/your blog and you can get all 10 entries) For more...
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Kale and Cheese in Puff Pastry
Kale and Cheese Puff Pastry makes a wonderful appetizer. You can also have it for breakfast with a glass of orange juice. This is easy to make and you can substitute the Swiss cheese with Gruyere cheese or any other similar tasting cheese. And I have used kale here. You can also try spinach or any other leafy vegetable of your choice. Try this for this holiday season and let me know how it turns out. Preparation time: 45 minutes No. of servings: 12 pieces Ingredients: One package puff pastry (2 sheets) Kale – a bunch (or 3 cups chopped) Garlic cloves – 2 Swiss cheese – 1/2 cup Dijon mustard – 1 or 2 tbsp (adjust to taste) Parmesan cheese – 1/4 cup Fresh or dried oregano – 1/8 tsp Crushed red pepper – 1/8 tsp Pepper powder...
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Rich and Creamy Hot chocolate
Hot Chocolate is a delicious chocolate drink and you can make a lot of variations in the procedure which can make it more delicious and rich. It is rich in antioxidants and is a comfort drink during this cold weather. You can prepare hot chocolate with semisweet, dark chocolate or bitter sweet chocolate. I like the semisweet and that is what I have used in this recipe. You can prepare this as a welcome drink for your family and friends during the Christmas or New year eve. Try this and enjoy. Ingredients: Semisweet chocolate – 1/4 cup Store bought hot cocoa mix – 1 packet (or 2 tbsp) Whole milk – 2 cups Heavy whipping cream – 3/4 cup Instant milk powder – 1/2 tsp (optional) 2 drops of vanilla essence Sugar – 2 tbsp a pinch of ground...
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Stuffed Karela Fry – Stuffed Bitter Gourd Fry
Karela or pagarkai (tamil) is Bitter Gourd. Stuffed Karela Fry is bitter gourd stuffed with spiced vegetable such as potatoes, carrots or mixed vegetables. I have used spiced potatoes today. Though you are not a huge fan of this vegetable due to its bitterness, try this recipe, your opinion may change just like mine. And for bitter gourd lovers, this is a treat. So try this at home and let me know your comments. Ingredients: Bitter gourd (Karela) – 4 Tamarind juice – 1 cup (from a marble size tamarind) Lime juice from half lime Salt – 1/2 tsp For Stuffing: Oil – 2 tsp Chopped onion – 1/2 cup Green chilies – 2 Fresh grated ginger – 1 tsp Fresh grated garlic – 1 tsp Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp Chili powder – 1 tsp Coriander powder –...
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Homemade Fruit Cake
It’s Christmas time. Are you ready to make your Fruit Cake? Fruit cake is a tradition in most of the families during Christmas. My friend’s mom make it every year and distribute it to her family and friends. It’s my favorite. This year I want to try it myself for my family and friends. I adapted this recipe from Food Network’s Free Range FruitCake by Alton. And I used my own techniques to obtain a soft and moist cake. The secret of this recipe is addition of molasses and honey which gives a nice color and a moist texture. This cake can be made in advance, say before 2 weeks to one month and stored in a dark cool place or your refrigerator. You can also make two and store one in the freezer for later use. Before freezing...
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How to make Ghee or Clarified Butter?
Ghee is clarifies butter and is commonly used in South Asian countries such as India. It all begins by boiling cow’s milk and removing and collecting the thick layer formed on top of the milk. The thick cream is refrigerated and churned using a wooden whisker or an electric whisker until sticky and creamy butter is formed on top and the rest becomes a thick and creamy buttermilk. Straining it gives you the butter. This butter is refrigerated and ghee is prepared out of it. You can also buy unsalted butter from store and prepare ghee. Ghee is used in the preparation of gravies, curries, pulao/ghee rice. Also used for seasoning and spreading on rotis. I hope the step by step instruction will help you to prepare ghee at home which is tasty and economical. Ingredients: Butter – 2...
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Avarakkai Paruppu Usili – Lentil Fry
Paruppu Usili is a South Indian dish prepared by steaming lentils and cooking along with vegetables such as beans, cluster beans, broad beans, cabbage. This is one of the favorite dishes that my mom makes. I like it even without the vegetables. It is so simple to make. You can serve it as a side along with white rice and rasam or sambar. Try and let me know how you like it. Here you go… Preparation time: 40 mins No. of servings: 4 Spice level: 2.5 out of 5 Ingredients: Avarakkai or broad beans – 10 to 15 Toor dal (split pigeon peas) – 1/3 cup Channa dal (Split bengal gram) – 1/3 cup Dry red chili – 2 Garlic cloves – 2 (optional) Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp Salt Asafoetida Cooking spray or oil For seasoning: Oil –...
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Jigarthanda – Simple Cold Drink
Jigarthanda is a popular cold beverage in Madurai, Tamilnadu. I had this drink in Chennai at Murugan Idli Shop and I just loved it. I watched them made it step by step but was not sure what was in the bottom of the drink which was delicious. And then she said it is badam pisin (almond tree gum) which is available in herbal medicine shop (Naatu marundhu kadai) or in some grocery shops. It is good for health. I bought it and tried it at home and it came out so good. Hope you all enjoy this drink. Ingredients: Badam pisin (Almond tree gum) – 1/4 cup Vanilla ice cream – 2 scoops Whole Milk – 3 cups Sugar – 1/3 cup (adjust to taste) Nannari syrup – 2 tbsp Rose essence – 4 tsp Slivered pistachios for garnishing...
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Vazhakkai Kootu – Plantain Curry
Plantain or Vazhakkai is used widely in South Indian cuisine. The raw vegetable is used from preparing fritters to curries. Today I am going to share a wonderful recipe for preparing Vazhakkai kootu, which is a curry made of lentils, plantain and spices. You can serve it with white rice and rasam with papad or just with white rice. Try this and let me know your comments. Ingredients: Raw plantain – 2 Tamarind juice – 1 cup Toor dal – 1/4 cup Chana dal – 1/4 cup Oil – 1 tsp Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp Chana dal – 1 tbsp Urad dal – 1tsp Dry red chilies – 6 Asafoetida – a pinch Frozen or fresh shredded coconut – 3 tbsp Turmeric powder – 1 tsp Salt to taste For seasoning – Oil, mustard seeds, urad dal –...
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Classic Three Cheese and Vegetable Lasagna
Lasagna is a wide and flat type of pasta. This Lasagna is filled with various vegetables, pasta sauce and three types of cheese. If you are looking for a simple and delicious recipe for lasagna, you are at the right place. Specially for the vegetarians and veggie lovers. Try this recipe for a special occasion or a weekend dinner and enjoy. Preparation time: 60 minutes No of servings: 10 Spice level: 2.5 out of 5 Ingredients: Lasagna noodles – 9 Chopped onion – 1/2 cup Chopped vegetables – 1/4 cup each (mushroom, red peppers, green peppers, zucchini, broccoli) Chopped oregano – 1 tbsp Chopped basil – 1 tbsp Frozen spinach – 1 cup (thawed) Ricotta cheese – 8 oz Parmesan cheese – 1/2 cup Shredded mozzarella cheese – 2 cups All purpose flour – 3 tbsp Butter- 2 tbsp...
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Red Velvet Whoopie Pie
From Wikipedia: The whoopie pie (alternatively called a gob, black-and-white, bob, or “BFO” for Big Fat Oreo) is an American baked good that may be considered either a cookie, pie, or cake. It is made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, or sometimes pumpkin or gingerbread cake, with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them. Whoopie pies are considered a New England phenomenon and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition. Today I have made a Red Velvet Whoopie pie filled with delicious cream cheese frosting. This is a big sandwich cookie and may be you need someone to share it with or may be not :). Make these delicious cookies for the Thanksgiving and share it with your friends and family. Preparation time: 45 minutes No. of servings: 12 Ingredients: All purpose flour – 2 cups Unsweetened cocoa...
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Cinnamon Roll
Cinnamon Roll is a sweet pastry made of yeast dough and filled with sugar, cinnamon and raisins and finally sprinkled with vanilla glaze. The smell of cinnamon bun is so refreshing that you can never say no to it. This is a simple eggless recipe which can be easily. Prepare this dish for the Thanksgiving and enjoy your holidays. Preparation time: 2 hours No. of servings: 12 Ingredients: All purpose flour – 2 1/4 cups Active yeast – 1/2 pack (1/8 oz) Warm water – 3 tbsp Sugar – 1 tsp Baking soda – 1/2 tsp Baking powder – 1/4 tsp Salt – 1/4 tsp Butter milk – 3/4 cup Oil – 1/4 cup For Filling: Light brown sugar – 1/2 cup Ground cinnamon – 1/2 tsp (If you want less cinnamon add 1/4 tsp) Butter – 1/4 cup...
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Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie is my favorite among cookies. This recipe makes chewy, soft cookies filled with oats, raisins and walnuts. This makes a healthy breakfast or a perfect snack in the evening with tea. Kids will love it. You can make the batter in advance and refrigerate it for a few days and can prepare the cookies whenever you want. Make these cookies for this Thanksgiving and enjoy. Preparation time: 25 minutes No. of servings: 22 cookies Ingredients: Unsalted butter – 1/3 cup (room temperature) Light brown sugar – 1/2 cup Large egg – 1 (room temperature) Pure vanilla extract – 1 tsp Instant cooking rolled oats – 3 cups All purpose flour – 1 cup Baking soda – 1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder – 1/4 tsp (optional) Salt – 1/2 tsp Chopped walnut – 1 cup Raisins – 1...
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Grilled Veggie Cheese Sandwich
Grilled Veggie Cheese Sandwich is my all time favorite sandwich. This version of sandwich is loaded with vegetables and some cheese. So this is a healthy and yummy sandwich and you should definitely try it. Kids will love it. I have used ciabatta bread to make this sandwich. You can substitute it with any bread such as Italian or french loaf, etc. I bought this bread from Panera Bread company. You can also check your local bakery or grocery store. Preparation time: 30 minutes No. of servings: 4 sandwiches Spice level: 2 out of 5 Ingredients: Ciabatta bread – 1 big loaf Thinly sliced onions – 1/2 cup Half red bell pepper, cut into thin strips Half zucchini, thinly sliced Tomatoes – 2 (thinly sliced) Arugula – 1 cup Garlic – 3 pods Mozzarella cheese – 4 slices White...
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Seppankizhangu Kara Kuzhambu – Colocasia Spicy Curry
Seppankizhangu Kara Kuzhambu is a popular dish in South India. It is spicy and is a great combination with white rice and papad (sutta appalam). It can also be served with dosa or idli. If you do not have colocasia at home, you can also make this kuzhambu with eggplant, drumstick or just shallots. I adapted the recipe from Jacob’s kitchen show from a popular Tamil TV channel. This is a wonderful dish. Try this at home and let me know your comments. Here you go… Ingredients: Cubed Colocasia (seppankizhangu) – 2 cups Mustard seeds – 1 tsp Urad dal – 1 tsp Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp A pinch of asafoeida Chili powder – 3 tsp Coriander powder – 3 tsp Ghee or clarified butter – 2 tbsp Sesame oil – 2 tsp Tamarind juice – 1 cup...
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How to cook Brown Rice?
Brown rice is high in nutrition since it is partly milled rice. A few information about brown rice from various other sources: Brown rice (or “hulled rice”) is a kind of whole, natural grain. It has a mild nutty flavor, is chewier and more nutritious than white rice, but goes rancid more quickly because the germ—which is removed to make white rice—contains fats that can spoil. Any rice, including long-grain, short-grain, or sticky rice, may be eaten as brown rice. When only the outermost layer of a grain of rice (the husk) is removed, brown rice is produced. To produce white rice, the next layers underneath the husk (the bran layer and the germ) are removed, leaving mostly the starchy endosperm. When the bran layer is removed to make white rice, the oil in the bran is also removed....
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Kathirikkai Gothsu – Eggplant Chutney
Kathirikkai Gosthu or Eggplant Chutney is an Indian condiment served along with Idli or Dosa or Upma or Pongal, etc. This method is a bit elaborated but the taste is just awesome with the flavor of moong dal. I will also post another version of this dish soon. I hope you all try this dish and send me your comments. Here you go… Preparation time: 60 minutes No. of servings: 6 to 7 Spice level: 3 out of 5 Ingredients: Big regular eggplant – 1 (or small Indian eggplant – 5) Chopped onion – 1 cup Tamarind juice – 1 cup (prepared from 1 and 1/2 tbsp tamarind) Moong dal (split mung bean) – 3 tbsp Sesame oil – 4 tbsp Asafoetida Mustard seeds – 1 tsp Urad dal – 1 tsp 6 to 7 Curry leaves For masala:...
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