Canned biscuit pretzel bites

 It was the Super Bowl Sunday.  There are those who love this day for the game, those are those who love it for the commercials and there are those who love it because of the yummy spread of finger food. This was one of the easiest and delicious finger foods.

Canned biscuit pretzel bites

Canned Biscuit pretzel bytes

Ingredients:

1. 1 tube of biscuits
2. 1 teaspoon baking soda
3. 1 egg beaten
4.  Everything bagel seasoning (optioal)

Separate the biscuits and roll them into a 4 inch roll. Cut it into 4 pieces and roll it into small balls if desired or leave it as is.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Boil water in a deep dish and add the baking soda.

Add the pretzel bites and boil for 30 seconds or until they float to the top.

Put the bits on a prepared baking sheet and brush with the egg wash. Add the bagel seasoning if using.

Bake 12-15 minutes until they turn golden brown.

Enjoy with your favorite mustard sauce or cheese sauce

Banana Pancake Bites

 This is super delicious. A bit of a work to make but its delightful to see all the people's happy faces when they discover the secret after the initial happiness of seeing tiny pancakes

Banana Pancake Bites

Banana Pancake Bites

Ingredients:

1. 1-1/4 cup pancake mix
2. 2 medium sized bananas sliced into 1/4 thick rounds
3. butter for frying pancakes.

Mix the pancake batter little thicker than usual. Heat a griddle and spread butter all over.

Add few pieces of bananas into the batter and flip them so that they are covered in batter on both sides. Using a fork drop each banana piece and some batter onto the griddle and fry for 1-2 minutes. Flip and cook 1 more minute. Add some more butter if needed. Enjoy as is or with maple syrup

Rolled Oat Crackers

This is an awesome snack and quite easy to make also. Since the snacks you get from outside last only so long when everyone is staying home all day long and all week long and every month long :(

Rolled Oat Crackers (Savory Baked Crackers with rolled oats )

Crackers with rolled oats

Ingredients

1. 3/4 cup Rolled oats
2. 1 cup all purpose flour + more for kneading
3. 1/8 cup finely chopped onion
4. 1 green chilli finely chopped
5. 1 tablespoon each of finely chopped Coriander leaves , mint leaves
6. Plain yogurt 1/3 cup
7. 2 tbsp Butter softened
8. 1 teaspoon each of Salt, cumin seeds, carom (ajwain) seeds
9. 1 tablespoon Sugar 
10. 1/4 teaspoon Baking soda
11. Water as needed

Mix all the ingredients except water and add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. Knead the dough for 2 minutes. Roll the dough into 1/2 cm thick disk on a floured surface and cut it into 1-1/2 inch squares or the shape of your liking. 

Pre heat oven to 300 degrees F and place the crackers on a prepared sheet.

Spray the top of the crackers with vegetable oil and bake for 30 minutes. Let them cool completely and enjoy

Spinach dip Christmas tree

Its always a great day when the whole family, both your childhood family and your grown up family comes together. It is always great if you can sit with people with whom you have shared the childhood and grown up. You know exactly what was funny in those days. What annoyed who and its amazing to see the young cousins playing together. Some day they will come together for holidays and cherish "this day" which will be long past.

The original recipe called for a pizza roll but I did not have it and all I had were Pillsbury Crescent rolls. So I used them. The original recipe is from itsalwaysautumn.com

Spinach dip Christmas tree

Ingredients

1. 1 can chopped baby spinach, squeezed out of water, as much as possible
2. 6 oz cream cheese softened
3. 2 bug garlic cloves chopped fine
4. 2 tablespoons onion finely chopped
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, chilli powder
6. 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
7. 1/2 cup your fav cheese grated
8. 2 tablespoons butter
9. 1 tube refrigerated thin crust pizza or crescent roll

Mix all the ingredients together until creamy and smooth.

Unroll the crescent roll or pizza crust. Cut it into a triangle. Spread the spinach dip .

Lay the 2 pieces of triangles cut upside down and lay on it to cover the spinach dip.

Cut 1 inch strips leaving 1 inch in the middle intact.

Bake according to the package directions + 2 minutes. Enjoy

Deep fried Cod fish

I usually do not prefer deep fried fish. It feels very oily no matter what. But this recipe of deep fried
cod fish has no egg in  the batter and I really like it.
Serve it with coleslaw and you have a delicious dinner.

Deep fried Cod fish 

Deep fried Cod fish 

Ingredients:

1. 3 cod fish fillets cut into 2 inch pieces (about 12)
2. 1.5 cups all purpose flour
3. 1 teaspoon baking powder
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, pepper
5. 1/2 to 3/4 cup milk to make a thinner pancake like batter
6. Oil for deep frying

for sprinkling over fish: 

1. 1 teaspoon each of salt, lemon pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

Wash and pat dry the fish. Mix the ingredients for sprinkling and sprinkle it over the fish on both side andset aside.
Mix all the ingredients for the batter and set aside for 15 minutes.
Heat the oil. Dip the fish in the batter and drop into the hot oil carefully. Fry for 5 minutes on medium and flip and fry fry few more minutes until the fish is nice and golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and enjoy with tartar sauce or ketchup

Chicken 65

This Chicken 65 recipe is super simple to make and super delicious and it will fly off the table like a bird with wings

Chicken 65 Dry (Shallow fried chicken)

Chicken 65

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into small cubes

2 tablespoons corn starch

2-3 tablespoons rice flour

2-3 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon each of vinegar, soya sauce

Handful of curry leaves

2 big or 3 medium garlic pods chopped

2 thai green chillies or serrano peppers chopped

Red onions chopped (optional)

Ingredients for Marinade:

1 heaped teaspoon ginger garlic paste

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

½ teaspoon each of turmeric, lemon pepper or regular pepper, red chilli powder

¾ teaspoon salt

Marinade the chicken with the ingredients in marinade and set aside for for atleast 45 minutes. Add the rice flour and corn flour and stir to coat well .

In a non stick pan heat the oil and add the chicken in one layer and on medium low flame fry the chicken  for 10 minutes. If using onions add onions around 7-8 minutes. Add the garlic, chillies and curry leaves and stir well and fry for 1 more minute. Add vinegar and soya sauce and  stir well. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy immediately

Blueberry cheese pancake balls

Long time ago I got a pan which is very popular for making Danish puff pastries. What many people do not know is, this dish is also popular for making Indian  dishes. So, anyway, I have made this breakfast balls...pancake balls before but I never b-logged it. So here it is. Eaten warm with coffee these are the most delicious pancake balls

Blueberry cheese pancake balls 

                    Blueberry Cheesecake Pancake balls
Ingredients:

1. 2 cups Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake mix
2. Philadelphia cream cheese cut into 3/4 cm cubes
3. blueberries
4. sugar
5. butter
6. maple syrup or powdered sugar for serving

Roll the cheese cake cubes in a tablespoon of sugar and set aside

Mix the pancake mix as directed. Heat the Danish puff pastry pan. Spray with nonstick spray. Add a tablespoon of batter to each hole. Cover and cook for 60-90 seconds. Turn half way the batter and add a cheese cube and blueberry to each hole and turn completely. Add little cubes to butter to all holes. Cook for 60-90 seconds. Serve hot/warm with maple syrup or powdered sugar

Pumpkin spice snowballs

I was searching for recipes for Christmas and I stumbled across this and the recipe is great. The taste is super delicious but the only issue I had is, my snow won't stick to the balls. Next time I will do more research and update the blog


Pumpkin spice snowballs 

Pumpkin spice snow balls

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
1/2 teaspoon each of nutmeg, ground or fresh grated ginger and allspice, salt

Preaheat oven to 375°.
Mix the butter with 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and vanilla  until fluffy. Add flour, salt, and all the spices.
Scoop 1 heaped teaspoon dough and make it into a ball and place on prepared cookie sheet.
Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes until bottoms are just slightly brown. Remove from oven and cool for just a few minutes, until you can handle them.
Fill a small bowl with the remaining 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and roll each cookie in the sugar until coated. Place on a rack to cool.  (Once cookies are cooled, you may want to re-roll them in more powdered sugar.)
Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days or freeze for up to one month. (If you freeze them you’ll need to re-roll them in powdered sugar after defrosting.)

Chicken Taquitos

Taquitos are my kids favorite Mexican items to eat

Chicken Taquitos

Chicken Taquito Dinner

Chicken filling for Taquitos

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups cooked chicken either cubed or shredded (I got rotisserie  chicken from Kroger)
2. ½ cup each of plain cream cheese, shredded Mexican three cheese blend, ½ up red or green enchilada sauce (store bought)
3. 2 tablespoons taco seasoning

Tortillas for taquitos (I used 4 medium sized flour tortillas and 10 street size corn tortillas*)

Mix all the ingredients (except tortillas) together till well incorporated and set it in the fridge until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (Mine was dark baking sheet, so I preheated to 400 degrees)

Lay foil on a baking sheet and spray with non stick cooking spray. Add 1-2 tablespoon of chicken filling to each tortilla and roll into less than 1 inch roll and put it seem side down on the baking sheet. Spray with some more cooking spray on top of the taquitos and bake for 10 minutes. Roll them to a different side and bake for 10 more minutes. Serve with beans, rice and salsa or enjoy as a snack

*Cover the tortillas in a paper towel and add some water on top and bottom of it and heat for 15-20 seconds. This will help in the tortillas not getting torn while rolling

Cheese Corn balls

I was surfing on the web and I found this random post about corn cheese balls and they looked so super delicious that I had to try them. And I had that page open on my phone for the longest of times and finally I got a chance to make it. but ofcourse I had to change the whole recipe and make it my own.

And here is the recipe for corn cheese balls

Corn Cheese Balls (Fried fritters made for corn and cheese)

Corn Cheese balls

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 can creamed corn
2. 1/2 cup Mexican cheese blend
3. 1/2 cup all purpose flour
4. 1 tablespoon corn starch
5. 1/2 teaspoon each salt, fresh ground black pepper.
6. 1 cup bread crumbs or upma ravva
7. Oil for deep frying

Mix all the ingredients except the bread crumbs/upma ravva. Make into gold ball sized balls. Heat the oil in a pan. Roll the balls in bread crumbs or upma ravva and fry till golden brown. Drain and serve with ketchup. 

Don't serve them immediately. Let them cool a bit and serve else the cheese is very hot and the kids will burn themselves

Yaya's tomato balls

I was watching the "carnival Eats" program on tv and I don't remember which state's fair it was but one of the most popular item there was Yaya's tomato balls and they seemed pretty interesting . And it was the perfect occasion today...the 50th super bowl.

One great super bowl dish. It was super yummy

Tomato balls ( tomato balls with bread crumbs)

Ingredients:

1. 2 Roma tomatoes chopped

2.2-4 medium mushrooms chopped ( optional)

3. 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper

4. 1 heaped tablespoons all purpose flour

5. 1 teaspoon garlic powder

6. 1-1.5 cups bread crumbs ( I used home made wheat bread crumbs)

Oil for deep frying

Mix all the indri ends with a light hand until you cN make balls 1-1.5 inches in diameter .

Heat oil in a deep pan and fry the balls for about 4-5 minutes. Serve with tatziki

Southwestern roll

So, this was before Christmas and I went to attend one of neighbor's kids' birthdays and it was a huse family gathering. My neighbor's sis-in-law was there and she made these amazing egg rolls that I devoured. They were just super delicious to pass on.

Ofcourse the recipe is from food networks website and if you have read any of my posts you would know that I never made any recipe exactly. I HAVE TO CHANGE IT

With my Christmas potluck party just days away, I decided that these will be my contribution. And boy oh boy, they flew off the plate like they have wings. You need some effort to make them but the results are a whole lot of compliments

South Western Eggrolls (Eggrolls with black bean filling)

South Western Eggrolls

                                             

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
• One 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 of canned chopped spinach, squeezed of all the water
• 2 tablespoons pickled jalapenos
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 1 teaspoon each of ground cumin, coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
•  2 tablespoons plain cream cheese softened
•  2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• One 16-ounce package egg roll wrappers
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• Dipping Sauce:
• 
  1  clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoons pickled jalapenos, 
• 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves and stems, finely chopped
•      1 small ripe avocado or 1/2 if big avocado, 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon chopped mint
  
  
  
  
  

  Directions

  For the egg rolls: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet generously with cooking spray.
  In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and Stir together, making sure to break up the clumps of spinach.
  Have a small bowl of water ready for moistening your fingers.
  Lay one egg roll wrapper out on a work surface and moisten the edges with your finger. Scoop 1/4 cup of the filling into the center of the wrapper; mound into a 1-inch wide log arranged diagonally across the wrapper, with about an inch of space to the corners. Fold the corners over the filling, gently pressing down on either side to secure the fold. Then, starting at one of the unfolded corners, gently but firmly roll up the egg roll. Place on the prepared baking sheet and repeat until all of the filling has been used.
  Brush the tops and sides of the egg rolls generously with beaten egg. Bake until golden brown all over, 15 to 20 minutes.
  For the dipping sauce:  In a food processor grind all the ingredients into a smooth paste. The consistency should be thick enough to stick to the back of the spoon. It is a dipping sauce afterall.
  
  

  
  
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Hasselback potato chips

See, the jewelry at the top of the page, I made those but the app was supposed to be 2x2 inches box. And it is occupying a whole lot of page and spoiling the whole purpose of this blog. Google needs to fix it and I am so sorry because those jewelry pieces are soooo in your face :(

Anyway, this hassel back potatoes are so nice to look it but it is quite a bit of work and you have to serve it as immediately as possible after you bake it. Otherwise they become hard

The photo does not do any justice

Hasselback potato chips

Hassel back Potato Chips

Ingredients:

1. 3 or 4 russet potatoes scrubbed well
2. Handful of garlic peeled and sliced length wise into thin slices
3. 1 teaspoon of salt
4. Oil as needed
5. Pepper or any other seasoning you like

Slice the potatoes into 1/8 inch thick slices being careful to leave the bottom intact. Insert a slice of garlic between two slices of the potato. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Drizzle oil and sprinkle with salt pepper and any other spices you like. Bake for 50-70 minutes. Serve immediately with Ketchup or anyother dipping sauce like tzatziki

New year eve appetizers

Such an eventful year and it is at an end. I rise the bubbly to an year where many many things which took years in the making finally happened. Today is a day to celebrate and say good bye to a happy year and pray and hope the coming year would be equally, if not more successful. Happy new year to you

Egg stuffed chicken kabobs

Ingredients

1. 2 lbs ground chicken ( if you can use lamb, it is the best)

2. 8 eggs hard boiled, peeled and cut into quarters length wise

3.  1 teaspoon salt

4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin powder, coriander powder, chili flakes 

5. 1 teaspoon grated garlic

6. 1/4 cup very finely chopped onions

7. Oil for shallow frying

Mix all the ingredients and set aside until ready to use

Apply oil to both your palms. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Take a small egg sized meat mixture and flatten it. Put an egg quarter on it and roll the meat so that you cannot see any egg. Fry on medium low heat for about 10 minutes. Turn the kabobs every 4-5 minutes until you do not see any raw meat. Serve with tatziki or ketchup