Its has been a hectic summer with travels and summer camps. In a week or so life will be normal with schools reopening. Though it is back to school time I have been busy de-cluttering big time and getting ready for the new school year. With all the clearing out, my kitchen benefited the most. I was able to find things that were left unused and I had to either come up with something interesting to do with the left over things or give them away. Last week I made dosa batter with wild rice, I thought it turned out fine,then I found two cups of solidified bournvita chunk. Had to do something with it because nobody wanted to have some hot chocolate. So decided to make a fudge out of it. The fudge took me 5 minutes to prepare and the end result was yummy. More than the taste the texture of the fudge really impressed me. It was soft, chewy and almost resembled a brownie. I decided to blog about it because the next time you find yourself in a similar situation with boost or any such drink instead of junking it one can use it to prepare something delicious. This fudge was not too sweet so if you want to make it very sweet add more brown sugar to it. The fudge scored an 8.5 from my daughter and husband which I thought was great for a left over bournvita.

Gadgets:

Heavy Bottom Vessel

Measuring cups and spoons

Spatula

Tray 

Knife

Ingredients:

Bournvita solidified

Hot Water - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 1/3 cup

All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 cups

Butter - 1/4 cup

Sugar - 1 tbsp to sprinkle

Preparation:

1. Heat water and pour over solidified bournvita. It makes a very thick chocolate syrup of 1 cup.

2. Heat the heavy bottom vessel and add butter and allow to melt.

3. When it turns into ghee or burnt butter add APF(all purpose flour) and roast it well to remove the raw smell.

4. Add the chocolate syrup and brown sugar and mix well to form a soft dough. The mix should come together.

5. Transfer into a buttered tray and spread it out with a buttered hands and pat it flat.

6. Cut into pieces and sprinkle with sugar and place in the fridge for it to set. 

Ever since I tasted the Israeli couscous at Trader Joe's a year ago, I have been making them more often. Sometimes I try out new flavors with it apart from the recipe on the back of the box. For dinner I used the couscous with Indian spices and made a nut and fruit garnished pulao. What I love about this pulao is that,it has a crunch from the nuts, a sweetness from the raisins, a salty and spicy taste from the couscous which comes together in perfect harmony.

Gadgets:
Cutting Board
Knife
Heavy bottom pan
Measuring cups and spoons
Spatula

Ingredients:
Israeli Couscous - 1 1/2 cups
Vegetable Broth - 1 3/4 cup
Onion - 1
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic Powder - 1/2 tsp
Mint Leaves - 1/4 cup chopped
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cloves - 3
Cardamom Pods - 2
Salt
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp
Almonds - 1/2 cup
Slithered Raisins - 1/4 cup
Butter - 2 tbsp
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Heat the heavy bottom vessel with 1 tbsp of butter. Lightly roast the almonds and remove it from the pan and place in a bowl.

2. Add another tbsp of butter, olive oil and diced onions to the pan and cook the onions until it turns transparent. Add the ginger, garlic powder, cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, mint, turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt and pepper and cook until all the flavors are infused.

3. Add the couscous and roast it until it looks slightly toasted. Add the vegetable broth and raisins, turn the flame to med low, cover and cook until all the liquid is absorbed.

4. Serve with warm as a part of a meal or you can feast on the couscous alone like I did.

These days I have been preparing a lot of Mexican food inspired by Chef Rick Bayless. It calls for preparation of all sorts of sauces from that cuisine and I love the chipotle sauce that I made a week ago. Using fresh tomatoes and a can of chipotle peppers the sauce turned out to be very spicy. I had some left over chipotle sauce and I decided to use it to create a new kind of hummus. If you are a big fan of spicy food, then this might be the kind of hummus that you might enjoy. For lunch yesterday I prepared a pita wrap filled with roasted garlic hummus, chipotle hummus and sauteed veggies topped with sour cream. It was so perfect and light and had the perfect marriage of flavor. It has become a very popular hummus in our household.

Gadgets:

Cutting board
Wok
Heavy bottom pan
Spatula
Knife
Blender
Griddle
Bowls
Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients:

Pita Bread - 4

Sour Cream - 1/2 cup

Roasted Garlic Hummus:
                                                   
Garbanzo Beans - 2 cups soaked and pressure cooked or cans
Garlic - 5 pods
Green chilies - 1
Salt
Tahini Sauce - 3 tbsp
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Water - 1/2 cup


Chipotle Hummus:

Roasted garlic Hummus - 1 cup
Chipotle Sauce - 2 tbsp
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp



Sauteed Veggies:

Broccoli - 2 cups chopped into smaller flowers
Onion - 1 medium cut into julienne
Mini Bell Pepper - sliced
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt
Pepper


Preparation:

1. For making the roasted garlic hummus, roast the garlic and green chilies in a wok until you see brown roasted spots on the garlic peal and the green chilies look roasted. Add all the ingredients for the hummus preparation and blend it into a fine paste. Transfer a portion of it into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.

2. To the remaining portion add chipotle sauce to it and blend. Place in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.

3. Heat the heavy bottom pan with some oil . Add onions and cook it until they are transparent. Add broccoli and bell pepper to it and cook it on medium high heat until they look almost cooked. Add salt and pepper in the end and remove from heat.

4. Heat up the griddle and warm the pita bread. spread half the pita with roasted garlic hummus and the other with chipotle hummus. Add the sauteed veggies and top them with some sour cream. Roll them and serve them warm. 

This afternoon my daughter was asking me for a snack and I kept offering her junk snacks like chips to very healthy dry fruits. She was not too happy with the various choices offered to her. Just then looking into our fruit basket I found some super ripe mangoes. I suggested making her some mango lassi which she was very fond of. But, she wanted something different and suggested that we make mango slushy. Hence we created our own version of the slushy. We loved it and she suggested that I blog about it. I am enjoying it as I blog about it today. It is such a perfect thing to have on a warm summer day. Slushy or Slurpee is usually prepared with carbonated drinks. But today we made something without it and still loved it.

Gadgets:

Blender
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Cutting Board
Knife

Ingredients:

Ripe Mango - 2 pealed and cubed
Brown sugar - 2 tbsp
Ice - 2 cups

Preparation:

1. Add the ice and mango along with sugar into the blender and blend until the ice is fully crushed. Transfer into a glass add a straw and you are good to go.

Note: If you have time freeze the mango and then add, it helps to keep it in slushy form longer.