Homemade Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

 

Homemade Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

 
If your favorite childhood memory is of dunking chocolate sandwich cookies in a glass of cold milk, get ready to make some awesome new memories with our copycat recipe we call Homemade Chocolate Sandwich Cookies.

Yields: 24 cookies

Cooking Time: 10 min   
 
What You'll Need:

 CHOCOLATE WAFERS    

    1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour   
    1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder   
    1 teaspoon baking soda   
    1/4 teaspoon baking powder   
    1/4 teaspoon salt   
    1 cup granulated sugar   
    1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened   
    1 egg   
    
CREAM FILLING    

    1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened   
    1/4 cup vegetable shortening   
    2 cups confectioners' sugar   
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract   

What To Do:
 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
     
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, make chocolate wafers by mixing together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Beat in 1/2 cup butter and egg until dough comes together. Drop 48 rounded teaspoons of dough onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Slightly flatten dough with fingers.
     
Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies look set. Let cool.
     
In a medium bowl, make cream filling by combining 1/4 cup butter and shortening. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until filling is fluffy. Place a teaspoon of filling onto center of one chocolate wafer and lightly press another chocolate wafer on top until cream comes to edge. Repeat with remaining wafers.
 
Serve immediately or store in an airtight container.
 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake - Recipe

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

 
Makes: 2 cakes, 6 to 8 servings each

Cooking Time: 30 min

What You'll Need:

    2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
    4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
    1 (20-ounce) can pineapple slices, drained
    10 cherries
    1 (18.25-ounce) package yellow cake mix
    1 cup water
    1/4 cup vegetable oil
    3 eggs

What To Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
     
Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over bottom of two 8-inch round cake pans and pour butter evenly over sugar.
     
In each pan, arrange pineapple slices in a single layer over sugar and place a cherry in center of each slice.
     
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil, and eggs; beat until well combined.
     
Evenly divide batter between the two pans and bake 30 to 33 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of each comes out clean. Let cakes stand 5 minutes.
     
Loosen gently with a knife and invert onto 2 platters. 
Serve warm, or allow to cool completely before serving.

Fried Cabbage-Recipe

Fried Cabbage

Just turn up the heat and start the fryin'. 

Serves: 6

Cooking Time: 40 min

What You'll Need:

1/4 pound bacon
1 head cabbage, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup (½ stick) butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

What To Do:

In a large pot, cook bacon over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pot and crumble; set aside. 

Add remaining ingredients to pot. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 30 to 35 minutes, or until cabbage is tender, stirring frequently. 

Sprinkle with crumbled bacon, toss, and serve.

(Note: you can even garnish it with sliced carrots to give it a colour and taste - Joy)

Mexican French Toast-Recipe

Everyone loves French toast, so here is the recipe for Mexican French Toast.

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 20 min

What You'll Need:

2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 (10-inch) flour tortillas (Tortillas - Equivalent to Indian Chappati's but a little thicker)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
 

What To Do:

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla until well blended.

Cut each tortilla into quarters then place in egg mixture. Gently stir to completely coat tortillas. Allow to soak 10 minutes, or until softened.

In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Add 4 tortilla quarters and cook 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden, turning halfway through cooking. Drain on a paper towel-lined platter. Repeat with remaining butter and tortillas. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately.
 

Note:-
Either fresh or thawed frozen strawberries are the perfect topping, along with real maple syrup.

President's Chicken - Recipe

President's Chicken

This quick and easy chicken dish is so special-tasting, it's fit for your most important guests. President's Chicken will surely earn you mealtime raves.

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 40 min

What You'll Need:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (Ajwain)

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

What To Do:

Preheat oven to broil. In a large skillet, mix together sauce ingredients; cook over low heat until butter has melted. 

Place chicken breasts in a shallow baking dish; pour sauce over the chicken. Broil for 30 to 35 minutes or until done, turning chicken occasionally to coat well with the sauce. 

Notes

Serve over rice or noodles and drizzle with the pan drippings for a delicious flavor boost. You can use chicken breasts with the bone-in and even leave the skin on; but remember to cook them a little longer.

Kokkisan/Roce Cookies/Rose Cookies

Kokkisan/Roce Cookies

Yield 33-35 cookies

You Need:

§ 150gm raw rice cleaned & soaked for 2-3 hours

§ 3/4th cup (100gm) maida 

§ 1 egg

§ 2 tbsp sugar

§ 1/4 tsp salt

§ 1/2 coconut or 1 packed cup grated coconut

§ 3-4 cardamoms without skin

You also need

§ Roce cookie mould/metal form * see notes

§ a wide & shallow mixing bowl (without tall sides)

§ a wide heavy bottomed kadhai

§ slotted ladle

Method:
Extracting the coconut milk
Coarsely grind the grated coconut & cardamom seeds using a little less than 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Transfer the contents onto a muslin cloth spread over a vessel. Make a bundle of the cloth & its contents and gently squeeze out the coconut milk. Cardamom flavoured thick coconut milk is ready.

Preparing the batter
Drain the soaked rice & grind it along with 1/2 cup of the thick coconut milk and salt to a fine paste. Retain the remaining coconut milk aside
Add the sugar and the flour (maida) and stir it gently to avoid any lumps and pulse the mixer grinder again for a few seconds till well incorporated. Transfer the contents into the bowl & add the egg & mix it gently (if you beat the mixture too much the egg will turn frothy & the batter will incorporate air bubbles which result in cookies with bubbles on their surface which we want to avoid) - see pics
The batter should be of dosa batter consistency. Not too stiff & thick and neither runny & thin. Adjust the consistency by adding a teaspoon of the reserved coconut milk at a time and mixing the better well till incorporated.



Frying the rose cookies
Heat oil for deep frying in the kadhai. Add enough oil so that you are able to fry at least 3-4 cookies at a time. Let the oil heat up on a medium high flame. Dip the mould in the hot oil for a minute or two - Don't skip this step - it is important for the mould to heat well else when you dip it into the batter, the batter wont stick to the mould.
Dip the mould carefully into the batter until the batter coats the mould but does not cover the entire mould - take care to see that the batter does not cover the upper surface of the mould - this is very important as your cookie-making programme will end up in a disaster. Also, do not leave the hot mould dipped for too long into the batter as the heat from the metal mould will cook the batter in the bowl. So be quick and do the drill - dip mould in the batter & dip it in the hot oil and shake the mould as if you are tapping the mould into the hot oil in quick progression. This helps the batter to release itself from the mould & float in the hot oil after which the process of frying continues.

         Just in case you want to know what happens if you drown the entire mould in the batter!

Above Pic: Cookie mould was completely covered in batter as a result of which the cookie could not release itself from the mould (true story!)

Repeat another two or three times till you have 3-4 cookies frying at a time. Fry the cookies till they start to look pale pink-golden. Flip over & fry the other side as well. Do not allow them to turn brown as the colour should be a pale pinkish golden (rose colour).
Flip the cookies back to the right side facing up and using a slotted ladle fish out the cookies one by one, drain them gently against the side of the kadhai & transfer onto an absorbent kitchen tissue to drain off the excess oil.

Stepwise:

Pic1: Place the mould in the hot oil for 2-3 minutes

Pic2: Dip the mould gently into the batter (the upper surface of the mould should be seen)

Pic3: Transfer the mould immediately into the hot oil

Pic4: Shake the mould continuously to release the cookie batter

Repeat the process of frying till all batter is finished. Towards the end, gently tilt the bowl it so that the mould has enough batter to dip into - but take care again not to allow the batter to overlap the mould. 

Stepwise:

Pic5: Continue to shake the mould until the cookie releases itself

Pic6: Cookie has released itself into the oil

Pic7: Fry until pinkish brown. Fry on both sides

Pic8: Flip over & drain using a slotted spoon

Storing the Rose cookies:
Once the cookies have completely cooled off, store them in an airtight container. They keep well for 2-3 weeks

Notes:
1. The Kokkis mould is available in most steel crockery shops in Mangalore. I bought mine from Bharat Steel, Market Road (opp to M.D Souza bakery before it closed down). The mould cost me around Rs 75.

(F.Y.I. The mould is available in most of the Mangalore / Canara Stores in Mumbai)

2. Make sure that the consistency of the batter is just right so you get the best quality of kokkis. Do not beat the egg too much as it will turn frothy & form bubbles on the cookies as you see in my pictures - lesson learnt!
3. Some recipes do not ask for maida to be added - however these make the cookies extra crisp and easy to bite.

Coconut Ice Recipe

Coconut Ice Recipe

Coconut Ice Main Ingredients:



1 Cup Soji/Rava/Semolina
1 Cup Milk
Less than a Cup of Ghee
200 - 220 Gms Scrapped Coconut
2 & 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Ground Cashews
1 Table Spoon Butter
1 Tea Spoon Both Almond & Coconut Essence
Small Quantity of Cochineal or Red Colour



Procedure:

All the main ingredients have to be mixed together, you start off by heating the ghee and rava.


Make sure your flames on the lowest possible flame, add the sugar and ground cashew to the coconut ice mixture as well.

You can either do this step earlier, that’s grind the coconut and milk together to get coconut milk.

Once your coconut milks ready you can add it to the mixture.


Now comes an essential part in most Goan sweets, stirring on a slow flame. Fast flames never get the desired result, patience is the key.

Keep Stirring the mixture, soon you shall see all the ingredients fusing together.

It changes texture and looks like what it does in the picture below.

Its not yet close to done, so change your stirring hand and go on.

As it thickens the stirring gets tougher, but it’s a good sign, the sweet is getting done.Once you notice the sweet beginning to leave the sides of the dish, it’s time for you to add the cochineal or red colour.

The trick to getting the right colour is to always add less, on adding more you can’t get the colour you want back if you put in too much.

Once you add the colour, stir it to check and see if it’s enough.Add some more if the colours too pale.

Once that’s done add the tablespoon of butter don't forget that you still need stir it a little more.Check the consistency in water, you pour some normal room temperature in a small bowl.
Add a small ball of the mixture in it, if it hardens your Coconut Ice is ready.
If the ball is soft, it still needs to be cooked for some more time.
Add the almond and coconut extract at this time, and remove the mixture from the dish.

You need to place the mixture on a greased surface, we use the granite platform itself, since its stone its cooler enabling faster cooling of the dish.

Once it’s out, flatten it, first with your hand and then with a baton to get an even surface.

Make sure it’s got the right thickness as well, that you would like.
Give it a little time for it too cool off and once that’s done you can now cut your coconut ice.

We cut it into simple diamond shapes, which we have for other sweets as well.
Hers some of the coconut ice all cut up.

All the best with your Coconut Ice, I'm sure this coconut ice recipe will help you turn out another delicious goan special.

   

Walnut Drops Recipe

Walnut Drops Recipe


Ingredients:

1 Tin Condensed Milk
1 Cup Fresh Milk
1 ½ Cup Sugar
½ to 1 Cup Walnuts
2 Table spoons Cocoa Powder
1 Table Spoon Butter
A Cap full of Vanilla Essence

Procedure:

Put the fresh milk on the fire and let it boil till half.

Add the sugar and stir occasionally till it dissolves.

Once all the sugar has dissolved add the condensed milk.


Stir continuously till you find the mixture nice and thick.

Add the cocoa powder to the mixture and stir till its mixed evenly.


After its evenly mixed you can add the walnuts.


Just before taking the drops off the fire add some vanilla essence and one table spoon of butter.


Drop spoonfuls of the mixture on a greased tray.


Leave it overnight or as required till they dry.


Eat them or pack them everyone’s going to enjoy them!