Chocolate Chip Cookies

THESE melt-in-the-mouth chocolate chip cookies are simply divine. Give your friends a sweet surprise by gifting a box of these home-made cookies for a special occasion like a birthday. But you can also gift them for no reason at all! You bet they'll be appreciated far more than a store-bought gift.

What you need:
250 gm Amul salted butter; 150 gm powdered white sugar; 150 gm brown sugar; 2 eggs; 2 teaspoons vanilla essence; 300 gm flour (maida); 1 teaspoon baking soda; 250 gm chocolate chips; 120 gm chopped walnuts.

Sieve the flour with the baking soda and set aside.

Cream the butter with the sugars till light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well till the eggs are well incorporated into the creamed mixture. Next add the sieved flour, and mix till all of it is moist. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and walnuts. Mix gently. Refrigerate for half an hour. Slide one tablespoon of the dough in the shape of a mound for each, leaving at least 2" space in between rows for the cookies to flatten and spread while baking.

Bake in an oven pre-heated to 170 degrees C for about 12 minutes, or until light brown around the edges. It's important to leave them to cool completely on the cookie tray before lifting them off the tray. They store very well in an airtight container for at least two weeks, but you may need to keep them hidden,even from yourself, if they must last that long!

Yield: About 4 dozen cookies.

PS: If using plain, unsalted butter, add 1/2 a teaspoon of salt while sieving the flour and baking soda.

Macaroni Hot Pot

THIS macaroni hot pot is a wonderful way to use up a can of baked beans left over from breakfast. It's a meal by itself, although you can also serve dinner rolls with a pat of butter alongside, if you wish. Before dropping the macaroni in boiling water, I first blanched the tomatoes in it, instead of boiling water in a separate saucepan. You can also save time by doing your chopping while the macaroni is getting cooked. Hardly takes up any time to rustle up this rather satisfying meal. For a vegetarian dish, leave out the bacon.

What you need:

300 gm baked beans
1 1/2 cups cooked macaroni
2 onions diced
2 capsicums diced
3 rashers bacon, chopped
2 tomatoes, blanched, skinned and chopped
2 flakes garlic, chopped fine
2 teaspoons red chilli powder
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup tomato sauce
Salt to taste
100 gm grated cheese
Capsicum rings for garnish

Heat butter, fry bacon well, then add the garlic and onions. Fry 2-3 minutes. Then put in the capsicum. Fry a little, then add the chilli powder. A quick stir, then in go the tomatoes and the baked beans. Cook for about two minutes and then put in the macaroni and salt to taste. Mix gently but thoroughly.

Spoon into a buttered baking dish, even out the top and sprinkle grated cheese. Garnish with capsicum rings if desired.

Microwave for 5-7 minutes or till cheese melts and turns a golden brown.

PS: I had used Amul mozarella cheese because I like the way it becomes stringy when it melts. The pics (before and after sprinkling the cheese) were shot before it went into the oven.

Healthy Morning Drink

KICKstart your summer mornings with this fresh, healthy and invigorating drink filled with the goodness of vegetables, a hint of mint, lime, honey and ginger. The kids, who otherwise eat veggies not because they love to but because they have to [no choice with mean old mom around:)], surprisingly, look forward to a glass of this mixed veggie juice everyday. That, for me, is the barometer of a recipe's success at home.

Ditch your morning cuppa during this summer and sip on this instead while taking in the day's dreary headlines.

What you need:
1 beetroot
1 carrot
1 big tomato
1 cucumber
5 mint leaves
Juice of a quarter
of a lime
1/4" piece of ginger
1 cup water
1 tablespoon honey

Peel beetroot, carrot and cucumber and roughly chop them and the tomato. Puree in a blender along with all the other ingredients, except the honey. Strain juice. Sweeten with the honey.

Minty Baby Potatoes

WIDELY grown and available throughout the year, the humble potato lends itself to almost the entire gamut of cooking procedures - boiled, mashed, fried, baked, in salads, as chips, french fries, to make aloo bhajias, aloo chaat, as a binding agent for meat or vegetable croquettes, as a stuffing or cooked with meat in a curry and much more. On a TV cookery show, it was even used to make a sweet!

Try cooking baby potatoes in this absolutely delicious minty-spicy-tangy masala. Any which way you choose to serve them - as a side dish with rice or with rotis or eat them straightaway like a snack (as my kids did), you will love them!

What you need:

[tbsp = tablespoon, tsp = teaspoon]

500 gm baby potatoes; 1 packed cup mint leaves; 1/2 cup green coriander; 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste; 1/2 tbsp cumin seed; 1/2 tbsp cumin powder; 1/2 tbsp coriander powder; 1/2 tbsp red chilli powder; 1/2 tsp saunf (fennel) powder; 1/2 tbsp pani puri masala or amchur (dry mango powder); 2 tablespoons cooking oil; 1 cup water; Salt to taste

Boil and peel the potatoes. Grind the mint and coriander leaves into a paste.

Heat the oil in a pan and sprinkle the cumin seed. When it crackles add the ginger-garlic paste, fry nicely and add the cumin, coriander, red chilli and fennel powders. Fry for half a minute then add the ground paste and salt to taste. Allow to cook a little. Toss the potatoes in. Keep frying and stirring for about 5 minutes. Use the water to rinse your blender and add the water and the pani puri masala or amchur and continue cooking till a little dry.

PS: If you're using large potatoes, boil and dice them for use. Add a little salt to the water while boiling potatoes.

Summer Salad

HERE we go again with another salad for the summer. Lovely, light, fresh, crisp and crunchy with all the colours of the rainbow in it....well, at least it's got more than a combination of four colours you need for good health - red, purple, orange, green, yellow, white... Toss with a dressing of your choice and tuck into this healthy, refreshing salad this summer.

What you need:

Half a small red cabbage
1 small cucumber
1 carrot
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 big tomato
5 button mushrooms
Salad dressing

Shred the red cabbage (called red, but it's actually purple), and thinly slice the carrot and cucumber and mushrooms. Cut the peppers in diagonals. Chop the tomato. Toss together with salad dressing just before serving, else the salad will turn limp.

You can also add either a chopped apple or a couple of chopped pineapple slices, or fresh pomegranate to the salad, as well as a handful of chopped walnuts if you have them handy. A handful of fresh sweet corn kernels thrown in are also lovely.

PS: I used a shop-bought Italian salad dressing, but if you don't have that, a simple home-made French vinaigrette is just great! Here's how to make it:

In a small empty jam bottle, pour about a tablespoon of white vinegar, a dash of pepper and salt, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, two cloves of crushed garlic and two tablespoons of salad oil. Screw cap tightly on bottle and shake vigorously to blend all ingredients together. Ready for use.

And if you don't even feel up to making that, a loving squeeze of fresh lemon and a dash of salt is good enough.

Bow Tie Pasta Salad with Chicken

THIS satisfying salad is ideal for a light lunch. Also ideal to carry as a packed lunch, or as a dish to take along for a potluck. My kids love it. Try it for a change. This quantity is for three servings but that depends on the size of appetites. Vary the quantity proportionately to suit your taste and needs.

What you need:

1 1/2 cups bow tie pasta
2 boneless chicken breasts
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2 tomatoes
2-3 tablespoons
of basil pesto (see
recipe under Labels: Italian)
1 tablespoon olive oil
100 ml fresh cream

Cook the pasta as per instructions on the pack, drain and drizzle the olive oil on it. Cook the chicken breasts, char grill the peppers and deseed the tomatoes. Dice all these ingredients and combine with the pasta. Add the pesto and cream and toss to coat.

PS: Cook the chicken in two cups of water to which you can add a chopped onion, a tomato, a small piece of ginger, a little green coriander and salt to taste. Reserve the chicken stock to make a light soup.

On the Wild and Wacky Side

Left: AN invitation to join the Mad Hatters Tea Party. Tea pigs anyone? Bath, UK.







Below: WHAT'S so wicked about purely divine milkshakes? Chester, UK

Left: A tribute to Shakespeare?
Stratford-upon-Avon, UK.














Below: Green is in! Cambridge, UK.