Spicy Chicken Pizza

Who doesn’t love pizzas? You just can’t go wrong with pizzas. So with weekend coming around and if you’re leaning towards ordering from Dominos or Pizza Hut, how about whipping up your own masterpiece for half the cost and with all the toppings you love! Sounds delish right?

Now to simplify things, of course I’m using store-bough pizza crust. Wait, wait before you kill me, I’ve included a link below to a beautiful homemade pizza crust for you supermoms and dads that want to do this extra step J. But as for me being the lazy person I am and wanting to get out of the kitchen ASAP, I don’t see the harm in using a store bought one. I think it tastes just as nice and no one I’ve ever served this to have complained. I’m sure you can think of 101 reasons why I should make my own dough, but for now let’s just agree to disagree, OK? J J

As for the toppings, oh my, that’s just a whole new world of exciting flavors and combinations waiting to be explored. You can put in as much or as little toppings as you want. You don’t have to even use my recipe. I’m just putting this out there so you know you can do it this way too. Mr. R and I like our pizzas a little spicy whereas Isaac prefers them milder and very cheesy. So I usually make 2 of them and then add in more sauce if anyone wants them.

Like I said your options for toppings are endless but we love chicken with mushrooms & capsicums and sometimes a little bit of red onions too. There are a few steps I do to get the chicken and the toppings ready but trust me it is so worth the effort. And I’m one of those people who never have any leftover cooked chicken I can use, so I have to cook up a batch. But if you do have some shredded chicken you can use then lovely!

So let’s get to it shall, we?

Spicy Chicken Pizza with Mushrooms and Capsicum

Ingredients:

Pizza Base, 2

Mozzarella or any other cheese, as needed

Chicken thighs, 3

Soya Sauce, 2 teaspoon

Vinegar, 1 teaspoon

Black Pepper, ½ teaspoon or as needed

Turmeric, a pinch, optional

Capsicum, 1 medium, diced or sliced

Button Mushroom, 200 grams, sliced

Tomato Sauce

Mayonnaise (mild) or Chipotle Southwest Sauce (spicy)

Salt, as needed

Italian Herbs, optional

Olive Oil, 1 teaspoon

 Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. If you have a baking stone, place it in the oven to pre-heat.

2. Marinate the chicken with the soya sauce, vinegar, ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder, and a pinch of turmeric. Keep for 10-15 minutes. Cook the chicken in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles.

3. Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, shred the chicken and keep aside.

4. Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in another pan. Add your mushrooms and capsicums and quickly stir fry on high heat for a couple of minutes. You don’t want the vegetables to brown, just to wilt a bit. 

5. Now reduce the heat to medium flame and add in the shredded chicken and season with some salt & pepper. Stir until well combined. 

6. Drizzle a bit of hot sauce here if you like. Mix well and take the mixture off the heat.

7. Now to layer the pizza. First top the crust with some mayo or the chipotle southwest sauce.

8. Then some tomato sauce. You can go as heavy or light as you want; there is no right or wrong amount. 

9. Next add your chicken mixture.

10. Top liberally with mozzarella or any cheese of your liking.

11. Sprinkle some Italian herbs, more hot sauce if needed.

12. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until dough is crisp and cheese is melted. Repeat with remaining dough for second pizza, or bake the pizzas side-by-side if your oven is big enough.

13. Serve while hot. Yummy pizza ready!

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Simple Batman Cake

How To Make a BATMAN Cake

My eldest son turned 4 this week. Where has these 4 years gone I don't know! I can still vividly remember the sleepless nights, the feeding time tantrums, those cheeky heart-melting grins and his first words.. It seems like just yesterday Issac was still crawling around in diapers, but now he's turning into a young man!

As I look at him now I sometimes have to take a second glance because he has changed so much. My baby boy is turning into a young boy. He is always so curious and so talkative! I have to pinch myself still that I was so blessed to have such a sweet and healthy child. Yes--he has his moments but what child doesn't? He is always telling me, "I love you Amma" .Oh how I love to hear these words. It just melts my heart!

So my little man asked for a batman cake this year. To be honest, I’ll surely be glad when we are over this Super Heroes phase cos all the remaining super heroes he could ask for look darn hard to do! But for the record this Batman cake has to be the easiest cake I’ve done so far. All the frosting and decorating took me about 3 to 4 hours tops. And as soon as Issu saw the cake he said, "Wow, this cake is beautiful. Thank you Amma!" Oh, I almost hugged him to bits then & there. He was so proud of the cake that he readily posed for pics with the cake without me even asking him to.

I baked the cakes a day before and kept it in the fridge so that made the whole process a lot easier. The cake & frosting recipe are from Sweepolita. All the cakes I’ve tried from her blog have turned out perfectly and the fudge frosting was perfect, not too sweet. The cake & frosting recipe can be found here. For the decorations, I bought pre-colored fondant so this process was way easier than making my own. I got the pintables off the internet and just used them as stencils.

 I’ll give you a brief outline of the steps I did to bring this cake together but I’m sorry I don’t have any step by step pictures this time. 

First bake the cakes and allow them to cool completely. I prefer to bake the cakes a day or more ahead and refrigerate them so there are fewer crumbs when we apply the frosting.

Make the fudge frosting and fill and layer your cooled cakes. Apply your crumb coat and chill in the fridge for at least 20 mins. Apply your next layer of frosting and smooth it out as best as you can. Keep it back in the fridge to chill or just set aside while you prepare the fondant decorations.

My cakes were only an 8 inch cake so the batman logo pretty much covered the width of the cake. So I decided to cut out the yellow fondant in a circle the same diameter as my cake rather than the usual oval yellow shape the batman logo nests in. I just used a cake board I had which was the right size to cut out the circle.

Roll out a lemon size chunk of fondant and roll it out like a chappathi J. Print out the Batman logo, cut carefully around the logo. Place fondant on a sheet of baking paper, place batman logo on top of the flat fondant. Use a sharp knife to cut around the edges and remove the excess fondant. I dipped a little paint brush in some water and brushed the top of the fondant to clear away corn starch residue and also to give it a glaze. Set aside to dry.

Now repeat the same with the yellow and red fondants. For the callouts I used the template from here. 

I cut out the “Happy 4 B’day” and “Issac” from some bright orange fondant I had using the fondant alphabet cutters.

Add the shapes to the cake, pressing into the buttercream. I used a bit of edible adhesive to stick on the red callouts as I was scared they would just slide off. To stick the alphabets on I used my yet brush again to wet the underside of the alphabets and stick them on.

Chill until ready to serve. Voila! I told you it was easy JJ

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Spicy Chorizo & Spinach Pasta

This is a tasty and filling pasta dish with chorizo, spinach and whole lots of pasta! It’s quite simple to throw together for a yummy dinner and it’s also great for next day leftover lunches for the office. The whole deliciousness of the sauce lies in its spiciness, so just this one time cook something else for the kids so that doesn't stop you from going crazy with that Cajun spice! J

If you don’t have Cajun spice in your pantry you can still just use chili powder, black pepper or some chili sauce for the heat. It’s a very versatile and forgiving dish so you can experiment with different spices and sauces to flavor it and I promise it will still turn out pretty good. 

Spicy Chorizo & Spinach Pasta

Adapted from: Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

6 Chorizos, cut into bite sized pieces

3 teaspoons Cajun Spice, more to taste

250 grams macaroni or any pasta of choice

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Butter

3 cloves Garlic, Minced

1 tomato, diced

2 cups of fresh Spinach

2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth

1/2 cup White Wine

1 cup Heavy Cream

Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Method

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain when pasta is still al dente; do not overcook!
2. Sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun spice over the chorizo. Toss around to coat. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy skillet over high heat. Add the chorizo and sauté for a couple of minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a clean plate.
3. Add the remaining olive oil and butter. When heated, add onions, and garlic. Sprinkle on remaining Cajun spice, and add salt if needed. Cook over very high heat for 1 minute, stirring continuously so they don’t burn. Add tomatoes and cook for an additional 30 seconds.  Add in the spinach and stir until just wilted. Remove the vegetables from the pan.
4. With the pan over high heat, pour in the wine and chicken broth. Cook on high for 3 to 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Reduce heat to medium-low and pour in cream, stirring/whisking constantly. Cook sauce over medium-low heat for a few minutes, until cream starts to thicken the mixture. Taste and add freshly ground black pepper, and/or salt to taste. Sauce should be spicy!
5. Finally, add the chorizo and vegetables to sauce, making sure to include all the juices that have drained onto the plate. Stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until mixture is bubbly and hot. Add the drained pasta and toss to combine. Bon Appetite! J

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Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache

For those who have never baked before, baking can seem very daunting. I know it was for me. I did not know where to start or what to do. Even most of the recipes that were said to be simple just looked scary with all the random ingredients and instructions a page long. Today’s recipe is a good one for beginners. It’s a basic moist and delicious banana cake recipe with an even simpler chocolate ganache. There are no surprise ingredients in here, just your everyday ones and the instructions are fairly simple to follow.  For anyone who is going to try their hand at baking for the very first time, here are a few tips that I wish I had known before I started baking.

1.      Read a recipe completely. No skimming or scanning. Go through the whole recipe ingredient by ingredient, step by step at least twice. This is so you don’t get halfway through the recipe and realize you've accidentally overlooked a key ingredient or tool needed.

2.      Always bring your standard ingredients like eggs, butter and milk to room temperature unless the recipe specifically calls for cold ingredients. In case you forget this step to quickly bring eggs to room temperature just immerse them in a bowl of warm water. And I've also read somewhere to soften butter quickly, grating the butter will help.

3.      Always preheat your oven. Almost every recipe has this as the first step for a reason!

4.      Always using proper measuring tool unless specified otherwise. Use the liquid measuring jars for liquids and the nested measuring cups for dry ingredients.

5.      Sifting your flour and baking soda and baking powder does really make a positive difference to the texture of the cakes.

So now that’s out of the way, here’s yet a banana cake with chocolate ganache recipe that you are going to love. It is super simple and easy to follow. And of course, the end result is yum! With regards to the ganache, don’t let the fancy name put you off. It’s even simpler to make than it sounds. It requires just two ingredients- chocolate and fresh cream and voila you have a decadent frosting to top your cake with. Please do try these recipes out and I’d love to hear how it turned out for you. Also feel free to send me pictures of your cakes too J

Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache

For Cake

Recipe Source: Bakericious

Makes two 8 inch cakes 

Ingredients 

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp baking powder

250g salted butter (at room temperature)
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
4 eggs (at room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 tbsp milk
1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 bananas)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Grease and line two 8 inch round baking tins with baking paper.
2. Sift together the plain flour, baking soda and baking powder. Keep aside. 
3. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
4. Add in eggs, vanilla essence and milk and mix well.
5. Add mashed banana into the mixture and mix well.
6. Finally add in sifted flour and mix well and pour into a prepped cake tin.
7. Bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top layer turns brown after 15 minutes, cover it with a piece of aluminium foil and continue to bake.
8. Cool cakes in the pan for 10 minutes then move onto a cooling rack.

For Ganache

Ingredients

400 grams dark chocolate, broken into pieces

250mls fresh cream

Method

1. Pour the cream into a medium pot and heat it until it is almost but not quite boiling. You’ll know it’s ready when bubbles start to form around the edge of the pot. 
2. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate.Let it sit undisturbed for 2 minutes, then stir until the chocolate is fully melted into the cream. 
3. Whisk until smooth and glossy. When you start to stir it, you think it won’t come together, but it will.
4. Allow to cool slightly before pouring over a cake. For fluffier icing, allow to cool until thick and then whisk until light and fluffy.

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Homemade Plum Jam - No Pectin

A friend of ours stopped by with a bag full of beautifully ripened plums just picked from her trees a couple of weeks ago. Instantly I knew I had to make some jam because there was no way I could eat through that whole bag myself as neither my husband or kids were too fond of fresh plums. I chucked the bag in the fridge and forgot all about it until recently. I finally got up the courage to make my own jam. This is the very first time I made my own jam so wasn't sure what to expect. But let me tell you the process is really simple and the results delicious!

This is the perfect way to make some of your own homemade pectin free jam and I promise it tastes much better that the store bought one.  All you need is fruit, or in this case plums, sugar, and a squeeze of lemon. That is it. Pretty easy, right? This recipe is a bit of a cross between plum jam & plum preserve I think. It still has some fruit chunks in it but it still spreads nicely onto the breads and pancakes.

You really don’t need any special jam making equipment here. I was only making one bottle, which by the way turned out too big though. Well, now I know for next time to get a smaller bottle. J The only pain in this process was sterilizing the jar for the jam. I washed it in hot soapy water, rinsed and dried in a low oven at around 120C until I was ready to bottle the jam. I did not do the whole water bath canner process as I was going to make only one jar of jam and intended to use it immediately and not store it for later. 

Let the jamming begin!!! J

Homemmade Plum Jam

Recipe Source: Rhubarb & Rose

Makes about two 500ml jars

INGREDIENTS

1kg plums

Juice of one lemon
750g caster sugar

METHOD

Rinse the fruit in running water.  You want to start with really clean fruit because we won’t be removing the skins. The skins mostly kind of dissolve during the cooking process and are almost unnoticeable in the final product.

Put 1-2 small ceramic plates in the freezer. This plate will be used to check the jam is cooked enough to set or not.

 Halve and de-stone the plums and juice the lemon.  Mix the plums, lemon juice and sugar in a heavy bottomed, large saucepan.

Cover and leave to macerate for at least an hour to allow the sugar to extract some of the juice. I left mine for over 5 hours. 

Heat the plum mixture over medium-high heat, stirring as needed to prevent sticking, until jam starts to foam & boil, about 15 minutes. 

Continue to cook, stirring minimally and lowering the heat if necessary to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of your pan, until foaming has subsided, about 15 minutes longer. Scrape any foam off jam surface with a stainless steel spoon as needed.

Continue to cook after foaming has subsided until bubbling has slowed and jam looks glossy, 5 to 15 minutes. The color of the plum will turn darker when they cooked.

You can pick up and discard the skins with a fork, if desired. Or be lazy like me and just stir them in, and be happy that you are reserving all that nutritional value of the fruit into the jam! 

When the plum halves have broken down and jam has thickened, begin testing for doneness: Get the plate from the freezer and place a bit of the jam over it. Again, put this plate in freezer for a minute and then remove from it. Test the jam, run a spoon or your finger through the jam and if it leaves the track clear, it is ready. If jam is too runny, return to heat and cook, stirring frequently and repeating the spoon test every 5 minutes, until jam passes test.

Remove pan from heat and allow mixture to rest for 1-2 minutes. Pour the jam into the sterilized jar/s and put the lid on while it is still hot. The jar should also still be hot, or at least warm. I let the jar cool down on the bench and then stored it in the pantry. Store the jam in the fridge once you've opened it.

This explains the testing of doneness for jams a bit more and has pictures to help you understand.

Enjoy!

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Masala Dosa

Dosa. That just says it all, doesn’t it? I’m yet to meet a South Indian who doesn't love dosa and the 100’s & 1000's of varieties of it. Almost every household would have this for breakfast at least twice a week. My mom used to make them small and thick and fluffy and that’s how we loved it whereas at my husband’s house they love it big, thin and crispy. I love both versions and never can have enough.

For those of you who have never heard of dosa’s before, as per the Wikipedia definition “Dosa is a fermented crepe made from rice batter and black lentils. It is a staple dish in South Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. It is also popular in other parts of India, and other countries like Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Nepal, Malaysia and Singapore.”

Today’s recipe is one of the numerous varieties of dosa that’s out there – Masala Dosa. This is simply a thin and crispy dosa stuffed with a beautifully spiced potato filling. Did you know that Masala Dosa was listed as one of the World's 50 most delicious foods compiled by CNN Go.com?? I didn't but then there are some many things in this world I don’t know, so let’s just not go there! Anyways, this dish is a deliciously healthy and fulfilling meal and is quite simple to make if you ask me. It is a bit time consuming but the wait is definitely worth it!

The dosa batter recipe can be used as your base to make your everyday dosa's be it thick and soft & fluffy or thin and crispy, anyway you like it. The basic process is the same; the difference is in how you make the actual dosa. Mine is a very basic recipe and the very first time I've attempted this so I’m putting a disclaimer here. If I've made any mistakes or if you know of a way I can make this better, please feel free to pen your comments and I’ll gladly take them into account next time I make these. And yes, you can be certain there will be a next time! 

Please see my notes below for some handy tips.

MASALA DOSA

Dosa Batter

INGREDIENTS

2 cups uncooked Rice (refer notes)

1 cup Urad Dal (Uzhunnu)

1 cup Cooked Rice

1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds (Uluva)

Water as required

Salt as required

METHOD

1. Soak the raw rice, urad dal and fenugreek in enough water for at least 4-5 hours. I left it overnight.
2. Once ready to grind, wash and rinse the rice and dal mixture and place in a blender/mixie/grinder.
3. Add the cooked rice, just enough water and grind until smooth.
4. Add salt, pour into a pan. Cover and let the batter ferment for 8-9 hours. I again left it overnight in the oven(refer notes).
5. After it is fermented, the batter will rise and your dosa batter is ready to use.

NOTES

• I've used basmati rice for the batter but you can also use parboiled rice or idli rice.
• I used my Philips Mixie as I do not have a grinder and the dosas came out perfectly.
• If you are living in Christchurch or somewhere similar that is cold, you can add a pinch of baking soda to aid the fermentation. I didn't need to add this time but might need this in winter.
• I kept the batter in my oven, switched off & light on. You can also leave it on the water heater but I haven’t tried it.
• Use a reasonably large container to put the batter so it has room to ferment and rise. No need to use air tight container.
• This batter can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. Just leave outside for about 15-20 minutes if using a refrigerated batter.

Right, now while that is fermenting away you can make the potato masala filling for the dosa.

Potato Filling

INGREDIENTS

3 big Potatoes

1 medium sized Onion  

1 Carrot, grated               

 2 Green chilli

1 tblsp ginger paste (refer notes)

¼ tsp Turmeric powder

Salt

To temper:

3/4 tsp Mustard               

1 tsp Uzhunnu/Urad dal

5 Cashew nuts

Curry leaves

METHOD

1. Wash and pressure cook the potatoes with enough water to immerse them completely for about 3 whistles. Peel off the skin and mash it well. Keep aside.
2. Heat a pan with oil and temper with the items given under ‘to temper’. Let the cashews turn golden but take care not to burn.
3. Add the ginger paste, green chilli, onion, carrot and sauté well until the onion is translucent and soft. No need to brown the onions.
4. Add 1/4 cup water and turmeric and stir.
5. Add the mashed potatoes and mix well. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, add oil if needed.

NOTES

Of course fresh ginger would certainly taste better here, but me being the lazy me opted for the quick and easy option to use ginger paste! J

Preparing the Masala Dosa

Heat your non-stick pan. No need for oil on your non-stick. But if using an iron skillet/tawa spread some oil to prevent the dosa from sticking.
Spread the dosa batter in a circular motion on the pan getting it as thin as you can. Work from the inside to out of the circle, thinning it as you go. 

Drizzle some oil or better yet ghee when the edges start browning and is cooked.
There’s no need to flip the dosa, just spread a ladle full of masala prepared in the middle and fold.

 

You can fold into half or as a triangle, your wish. Repeat with the rest of batter.

Take off the heat and serve hot with some chutney or sambar. Yum!!

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