Roma's Space

This was our Sunday morning breakfast. I had a lot of time at hand and techni color vegetables to go with it.  So I thought , why not make something that fills my stomach and my time? My daughter loves eating capsicums, especially if they are of different colors. Thankfully I managed to reserve some for the dish before she crept up from behind and ate it all raw! I used wheat fusilli that my dear neighbor got me from France. Its of fine quality- its firm, yet tender.  Its made of wheat, yet its tasty.

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Mom learnt these at a baking course she took decades ago. On completing her training she started taking Bakery classes at home. She used to stack these cheese straws as they were easy to make, we loved it as kids . Interestingly, they have a shelf life of an entire month! Hmm…thats not a bad thing but will anyone leave them for a month? They are gone in a matter of days and sometimes hours. Read the rest of this entry »

Being a chocoholic by nature I’m always looking for ways to make chocolate desserts and goodies. Bet this wont make my doctor very happy. Anyway, here is the recipe of an almond chocolate fudge that I tried a few days ago. It was so delicious that I started eating it without even allowing it to set completely. Its too long to wait overnight to eat a yummy fudge. I shared this chocolate with a few neighbors and they liked it too. I’m sure this fudge is going to be a regular at our place given that its liked equally by kids and grown ups.

This is my entry to the Color in Food event hosted by EC of Simple Indian Food. Brown is the color of chocolate, which I simply love!

Ingredients :

• Nestle Everyday Milk powder – 1 cup
• Brown Sugar – 3/4 cup
• Unsalted Butter – 1/3 cup
• Cocoa powder – 2 heaped teaspoons
• Water – 3/4 cup
• Milk – 1/2 cup
• Almonds (roasted and powdered) – 2 tablespoons
• Few drops of Chocolate milk essence
• 5-6 Black Raisins (de-seeded)

Procedure :

1. Take Sugar in a heavy bottom pan and add an equal quantity of water.
2. Cook the sugar syrup till a drop of it in plain water does not dissolve. That indicates its tight enough to bind.
3. Reduce the flame. Now Add butter and stir quickly till it melts.
4. Mix in milk powder and milk alternately. Ensure no lumps are formed.
5. In case you find the consistency unmanageable then add some more milk. Ensure the mixture is pasty, not watery.
6. Now turn off the heat. Mix in the cocoa powder, almond powder and raisins. Add a few drops of chocolate milk essence and beat well.
7. Pour out chocolate fudge into a greased plate. Allow it to cool off and then give the fudge any desired shape.
8. Dust it on powdered chocolate biscuits (alternately you can use roasted almond powder)
9. Refrigerate overnight and enjoy chocolate fudge the next day.

Once your kid is above the age of two, you can choose recipes from a wide spectrum of dishes that are nutritive, filling and delicious. Some of the recipes that kids usually like are already available in different sections of the blog.
Here are links to the same :

Fruit Punch
Diet Pakodas
Spring Onion Toasts
Chinese Salad

Please read posts in this section for some more attractive looking food designed specially for kids.

Pinwheel Sandwiches

To consume dinner leftovers the French designed the Pinwheel sandwiches, which they made for breakfast. Although the recipe mentioned below describes the procedure to make the filling you can always fill it up with any sabzi you are left with after your meal.

Ingredients :

1. 2 slices of sandwich bread (large size)
2. 1 tablespoon of cheese spread
3. 5 thin slices of tomatoes
4. 5 thin slices of cucumber
5. Pinch of pepper

Procedure :

1. Cut off the edges of a large slice of bread.
2. Place it on the clingfree side of a clig wrap.
3. Roll the bread flat using a rolling pin.
4. Mix cheese spread with pepper and spread it out on the bread slice.
5. Now arrange the thin slices of tomato and cucumber over the cheese.
6. Wrap up the sheet so as to roll the bread in and finally close the roll like a toffee.
7. Refrigerate for an hour and cut out the pinwheel slices.

Variation

You can even apply a layer of pudina chutney inside the sandwich to make it more chatpata.

Please NOTE :
Sometimes the roll wont stay together on its own in which case you can prick it with toothpicks. This also prevents the roll from bulging and breaking when you are cutting out the pinwheel slices.

Choco Logs

Ingredients :

• Chocolate sponge cake 100 grams
• Plain sponge cake 100 grams
• 1.5 tablespoons Chocolate sauce
• 1.5 tablespoons orange juice
• 1/2 tablespoon mixed fruit jam
• 1 tablespoon roasted Almond/ Cashew nut powder
• Fresh Cream (optional)

Procedure :

1. Crumble chocolate sponge in a mixing bowl. Mix chocolate sauce and jam into it.
2. On clingfree side of a cling wrap spread out the choco mixture.
3. Mix plain sponge cake with orange juice and spread over the chocolate layer.
4. Finally make a layer of dry fruits.
5. Pull up one side of the cling wrap so as to roll the mixture into a log. Set in a fridge for a few hrs.
6. Now you can make lines on the log using cream in a piping bag or you can dip your fork into Choco sauce and make lines on the log to resemble the bark of a tree. Cut the edges diagonally and serve yummy choco logs.

Please NOTE :

1. You can prick the log with toothpicks before cutting to prevent them from bulging and breaking from the sides.
2. If you use cream to make the lines on the log please add sugar and some cocoa powder to it so that the taste of cream blends well with the rest of the log.