Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

  • ½ cup all-natural tomato sauce
  • ¼ tsp. dried oregano leaves
  • ¼ tsp. garlic powder
  • 6 oz. raw chicken breast, boneless, skinless
  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • ¼ cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (1 oz.)
  • 2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
  • 3 cups spinach, fresh, steamed

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. Combine tomato sauce, oregano, and garlic powder in a small bowl.
3. Place chicken breast in baking pan lightly coated with spray; top with tomato sauce mixture, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle and cheese is bubbly.
5. Serve with spinach.

Nutritional

Calories: 393
Total Fat: 14 g
Saturated Fat: 6 g
Cholesterol: 135 mg
Sodium: 658 mg
Carbohydrate: 14 g
Fiber: 4 g
Sugar: 6 g
Protein: 53 g

Japanese Purin Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 250ml milk
  • 3 tbsp. sugar

If you need caramel, mix 2 tbsp. sugar and 2 tbsp. water in a saucepan by tilting the pan. Simmer until the sauce is browned. (Do not mix with a spoon or the sugar will recrystallize.) Add 1 tbsp. water to stop hardening.

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients in a spouted measuring cup or a bowl. Add vanilla extract if you prefer.
2. Strain through a strainer into the cups.
3. Cover with aluminum foil (or plastic wrap is ok).
4. Add water in the pan (just about a half-inch across the bottom of the cups).
5. Cover the pan and bring to a boil. When it becomes to a boil, turn down to low and cook for 10 minutes. Stop the heat (do not open the lid) and steam for 10 minutes with the remaining heat.
6. If you need caramel, you can put it on top then put in the fridge until cold.

 

Chana Chaat Recipe

Ingredients

  • Boiled and pressure cooked kala chana/chickpeas
  • 2 boiled potatoes
  • 2 finely chopped onions
  • 2 finely chopped tomatoes
  • sliced ginger
  • 1 slit green chilli
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/2 tsp chaat masala
  • Cumin powder
  • Coriander powder
  • Red chilli powder
  • Mint/pudina leaves
  • 2-3 tbsp of tamarind chutney
  • coriander leaves

Instructions

  1. Pressure cook the chickpeas and add salt to it.
  2. Drain out the excess water.
  3. In a bowl add chickpeas, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, ginger, green chilli, salt, chaat masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, mint/pudina leaves,tamarind chutney and coriander leaves.
  4. Chana Chaat is ready to be served.

 

Puff Pastry Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 1/2 cups (320 grams) all-purpose white flour
  • 2 1/4 sticks (255 grams) butter
  • 3/4 teaspoon (4 grams) salt
  • 2/3 cup (160 ml) very cold water

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Bringing the Ingredients Together

1- Puff pastry is all about butter… a lot of butter! Cut the butter into small cubes, place in a bowl, cover with a plastic wrap, and put it in the freezer for 1 hour before using it. We need frozen butter!
2- This is regular all-purpose flour that I am placing on my kitchen counter – you need some space to handle the puff pastry. Add the salt to the flour and mix well.
3- Now add the frozen butter cubes and mix them with the flour until they are covered.
4- Make a well in the center of the flour and pour about two-thirds of the water – remember, the water has to be very cold! Gently and slowly, mix in the flour with the water.
Note: Notice, I am doing minimal work – just making sure that the flour is absorbing the water. I am also squeezing the butter so it starts breaking a bit.

Step 2: First Dough Ball

1- I am using a pastry scraper to mix the dough – it’s a really nice baking tool! But if you don’t have it, you can use a spatula instead. With the scraper, bring in the flour to the center and cut through the butter with the scraper, very gently.
2- You don’t want to overwork this dough. Now add the rest of the water, and continue to mix gently the butter and flour using the same technique, until the they are lumped in together in a rough ball.
3- At this point, we are going to change the way we mix in the dough. Cut through the ball with the scraper and place one half of the dough on top of the other, and squeeze them together by pushing from the top with your hands.
4- Do it a few times times, until you get a dough ball that holds itself. Notice that there are still big chunks of butter in the dough ball – and that’s exactly what we want.

Step 3: First Rolling

1- Lightly flour your work surface, the top of the dough, and also your rolling pin. Press the dough with the rolling pin and shape it into a rough rectangle.
2- Fold the dough in thirds in the width, folding the bottom third up, towards the center, and the top third down, on top of the folded bottom layer.
3- Wrap in a plastic sheet and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Step 4: 5 more rolls!!!

1- Clean your surface with the pastry scraper and go do something fun until the next step
2- Here we go again, 30 minutes later, this is the 2nd roll.
3- Lightly flour your work surface, the top of the dough, and also your rolling pin. Press the dough with the rolling pin and shape it into a rectangle – around 6 by 18 inches. Use the scraper or spatula to smooth the edges – so you have a perfectly shaped rectangle!
4- Fold the dough in thirds in the width, folding the bottom third up, towards the center, and the top third down, on top of the folded bottom layer.
5- Now, mark the dough with your fingers – make 2 prints – it shows that you rolled the dough 2 times already. That’s because we have to do it 6 times!!! But I promise, this trick will help, because you will forget where you stand.
6- Place the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
7- Clean your work space – wait, and do it again. The third time. Then to the fridge.
8- The fourth time, Then to the fridge. The fifth time, then to the fridge.
9- And finally here is the last time. You notice that the dough is smooth, it actually has a really nice texture when you touch it. Roll as you did before and that’s it! We are done!

Step 5: Final steps!

1- Wrap the dough in a few layers of plastic wrap so it does not create a crust when refrigerated.
2- If you want to use it the same day, leave it in the fridge for 1 hour before using it.
3- If you want to use it later, you can freeze it for up to 2 weeks. Just move it from the freezer to the fridge the night before and roll it out. Now enjoy it in croissant, pies, cheese twists, or many other recipes!