Avocado and Chicken Rolls

I love avocados for their subtle buttery taste and goodness. I add them to rotis, dosas, salads, wanna try Cham's avocado cake recipe I am even thinking of trying a mithai with it ...cant have enough.

Do you love avocados? Then you will love the new Avocados From Mexico recipe website "Recipes From Avocado Lovers", where you can submit your favorite avocado recipes and share you avocado love with with other foodies like you.

This recipe is an amazing appetiser, the original recipe is from Guy Fieri , I have tweaked it to my taste. One thing I have realised is Avocados go great with chicken, try them together.

Ingredietns:

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 cup finely minced red onion

2 tablespoons minced ginger

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

2 cups chopped chicken breast

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 cup julienned green cabbage

1/2 cup shredded carrots

4 cups canola oil, for frying,

12 egg roll wrappers

2 avocados, sliced into 24 pieces

1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk

Jarred sweet chili sauce, for dipping

Method:

In a saute pan over high heat, add canola oil. Saute red onions until translucent. Add ginger, garlic, celery, chicken, and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Deglaze pan with soy sauce. Cool mixture.

In large bowl combine cabbage, carrots and chicken mixture.

In medium saucepan, heat canola oil to 350 degrees F. Oil needs to be deep enough to keep egg roll from touching bottom of pan. Add more oil, if needed.

To roll egg rolls, layout egg roll skin with corner facing you, place approximately 1/12th of mixture on roll and place 2 pieces of avocado on top of mixture. Fold corner over mixture, and then fold outside corners over the mixture, making a roll, 4 to 5-inches wide. Roll firmly, being careful not to tear wrapper, and seal the final edge with egg wash.

Dredge the egg roll in egg wash, allow excess to drain off and submerge egg roll in oil. Fry until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on sheet tray lined with a cooling rack.

*This sponsorship is brought to you by Recipes from Avocados From Mexico who we have partnered with for this promotion.

Miami Farmers Market and more Warmth

During our last winter break, we decided to go to Miami...I know, this post is long overdue...we were there until the New Years eve.

It was wonderful to have the warmth of the sun (it was more than the warmth, the temperature was in the 80s) , the beach, the layered-clothing-free walks, all of this in December (considering we live in Boston). Add to it the wonderful food and the company of old friends...all in all we had a blast !!!

The best part was I got to visit the local Farmers market one of those days, totally unplanned. Its refreshing to see fresh fruits and vegetables and flowers on a hot summer day, for me they have a certain coolness to them.

How could we not try the fresh coconut water, nature at its best. We (especially my son,) love to eat the tender coconut after slurping on the amazingly sweet and delicious water. What a treat !

I thing which always makes it to my "must do in Miami" list is to have Samosas (served with hot sauce/sambal olek) and Kabab rolls at Asia Grocery. I used to have them every week when I lived there, now going back to Miami and having them brings to me lots of memories and smiles.

Now back in Boston , trying to warm up my kitchen I made this simple and basic white bread one day. Nothing compares to a freshly baked bread and if its homemade you have the kitchen filled with warm aromas as a bonus.

The following recipe was very easy to make, not to messy either but the bread I thought was very dense, not as light and airy as the regular store bought sandwich bread, it was great for dipping and we enjoyed having it soaked dipped in extra virgin olive oil.

Basic White Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons whole milk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons sugar

One 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast

5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fine salt

Oil as needed

Method:

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, butter, and the sugar. Place over medium-high heat and cook, stirring, until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat and cool to about 110 degrees F. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the milk. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt and set aside.

Pour the milk and yeast mixture into the bowl of flour and mix until a soft, ragged mixture is formed.

Transfer the flour mixture to a well-floured work surface and knead until a soft elastic dough is formed, about 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and place in a warm spot in the kitchen, until puffed and doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Transfer the dough to the work surface and, using your hands, gently flatten into a 10-inch-long oval shape. Fold the dough into thirds lengthwise, overlapping the sides in the center. Press down on the overlapping side to seal and make a seam. Place seam side-down in a buttered 9x5 loaf pan, cover with a kitchen towel, and return to the warm spot until the dough has just risen about 1 1/2 inches over the top of the pan, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Brush the top of the dough lightly with warm water and, using a sharp knife, make 1/4-inch-deep slit down the center. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Remove the loaf from the pan and place in the center of the rack. Continue baking until the loaf sounds hollow when rapt lightly with your knuckles, on the bottom and top, or an instant read thermometer inserted in the center registers about 190 degrees F., about 15 minutes.

Transfer the bread loaf to a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing

Do you have good recipe to make bread you would like to share? Which one is your favourite ? Whats your bread baking story ? tell me ...

Magnum Ice Cream



Image Source- Magnum Website


















As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, this time, I got to try out Magnum Ice Cream. I liked it sooo much that I actually want to thank Foodbuzz for introducing me to Magnum. I get a box of these everytime I do the groceries and it does not take us long to empty it (hopefully tht explains why I did not post my own pic of the icecream bar :) n had to turn to their website). The quality of chocolate used and the ice cream itself is outstanding, way too good for a supermarket find. 

If you like your ice cream on a stick, this is made Just For You !

I personally like the Magnum Almond, I like my chocolate with nuts, but I am on the lookout for the Magnum White, which by the way looks pretty good.

Since I tried Magnum, I have turned my back to what used to top my list for store bought ice creams, n if you have not tried Magnum yet, you should !!! 

Have a  happy weekend !

Of Alexia, flowers and a small Giveaway!

Weeks ago, as part of the Foodbuzz tastemaker program, I opted in to try out products from Alexia Foods. Very soon I received a beautiful package with a chic apron and a coupon to try any one product from their  variety of all-natural appetizers or side dishes. Unfortunately for me, it was not as easy to find the product I liked, so finally I bought what I could the Alexia brand Classic french rolls. The first thing that came to my mind was a very yummy tomato basil soup to go with the rolls, but what I am posting here is a very traditional n super hit combination of bread with akhni.

Akhni -- a preparation of meat on which the rice is layered in dum biryani, or you could just say its the base of any biryani dish, is fondly eaten with bread in many Muslim households in India. So when I was making biryani one Friday I thought , freshly baked, warm n crusty bread would be just the perfect thing to have with akhni. So in came the Alexia French Rolls, from the packet to a baking tray into the oven and out came nice n brown n warm rolls which we could not wait to dig into. The rolls were crusty on outside n very light and airy on the inside. 8 of them, I mean the rolls, just vanished within seconds between the two of us (me and my husband)

So its official, I "heart" Alexia, would recommend it to anybody n have my eyes on their new , soon to be in market, Parmesan Lemon Russet Potato Fries... sounds yummy... to you too?


Last weekend was a very pretty one here in Boston, decent weather and a flower show at the Seaport World Trade Center. The flower show was going on for the whole last week but we went there on Saturday with one of our friends, who is a regular visitor there. It was a very fun, learning and beautiful experience and we look forward to going to the next show and the next and the next...

Here are just a few glimpses of the exhibits and flower arrangements

Coming to the giveaway...this is a very first giveaway to my dear readers, thanks to CSN who is willing to give a $40 gift card to any one reader of Lazzat (from USA and Canada only) CSN is an online superstore boasting over 2 million products, from adjustable bar stools to luggage and bedding ....they have it all.All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and consider yourself enrolled. I would love to know if you have tried your luck or won on other sites for the same. What can $40 get you at CSN ? ...chk this out ... or this ...n this n this n....well, there is a lot ! So hope for the best and good luck

The winner will be announced on weekend of April 9th.

Vegetable Qorma

This is another semi home made recipe for a quick qorma. I mean seriously, all I did was saute some chopped veggies till they cook slightly and then open up a jar of pre made qorma sauce . I used potatoes, carrots, peas and beans but you could use any of your favourite veggies. Just before taking the qorma off the heat I topped it with lots of fresh coriander leaves n closed the lid.

Seeds of Change has a variety of organic Indian sauces, but so far I like the Korma sauce the best. Apart from vegetables it also goes well with chicken, pan fried paneer and boiled eggs. Visit their website for coupons and more recipe inspirations.

This is my entry for the Semi Homemade event hosted here at Lazzat.

Nature's Pride

I recently got a chance to taste the Nature's Pride breads through the Tastemaker program offered by Foodbuzz. Once I opted in for the offer, I received these two loaves- 100% whole wheat and 12 Grain.

Years ago, I did try to switch to multi grain and whole wheat breads, but was discouraged by what I ate....I dint like them at all....in fact I found them hard to swallow ... yes, and I did get back to my favourite brand of "not so natural" white bread.

So when I received the very same varieties of Nature's Pride breads my first taste test or challenge was going to be how the bread tastes by itself. I treated each slice differently to find out what would be the best way to eat it ,so the bread got toasted, grilled , dipped, sandwiched, I also tried a slice of each of the breads by itself , and I just loved it, every time. It passed all the tests in flying colors. Of course I could not click all the images but the one you see is that of a grilled cheese sandwich, in here I used the whole wheat bread with some Manchego cheese.

There is no doubt in my mind that Nature's Pride is the next best thing to home baked breads as suggested by the blog 'my kitchen addiction '. For me this one is a keeper, healthy and tasty, and guess what ? its less expensive than some of the other brands. So next time you wanna buy a loaf , give Nature's Pride bread a try , it wont disappoint you.

Check out their website for nutritional information.

Greek (Yogurt) Goodness

Few days back, Kristina from The Stonyfield farm emailed me asking if I would like to try their Greek yogurt. And since I have been using and loving their products for quiet some time now I was only happy to oblige. So they sent me this wonderful package full of coupons, info and a cute little hand bag.

Oikos Organic Greek yogurt can be used in a variety of ways while cooking – in baking, as a substitute for sour cream, and mayonnaise, to create tasty low-fat dishes. Greek yogurt is strained, making it thicker and more versatile in recipes than regular yogurt. Oikos is organic, which means it's made without artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners, and it's made from organic milk produced without the use of toxic persistent pesticides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, or artificial growth hormones (rBST).


I could not wait to try it. The yogurt comes in different flavors like vanilla, blueberry and honey . The honey yogurt has a beautiful n delicate golden layer of honey at the bottom n the blueberry flavoured yogurt has kinda like a blueberry jam... so try emptying these containers upside down on a platter for a lovely presentation. I blended the vanilla with some rose syrup and sugar to make rose lassi served with some grated nutmeg, just whipped the honey yogurt and tossed in some toasted walnuts to spread on the breakfast toast , blueberry smoothie was the quickest and refreshing with a hint of mint. I also enjoyed the eating spoonfuls of the plain Greek yogurt, and used the rest to marinate chicken kebabs, the recipe I intend to post soon.


Thank You Kristina for introducing me to these delicious treats ,these will be a staple in my kitchen from now on. Meanwhile for more recipe inspirations using Greek yogurt you can check this out.

Food Finds !

Over the labor day weekend we went to Bar Harbor, Maine. It was a lot of fun, we stayed in a small, cozy, oceanfront cottage, went hiking, explored the Acadia National Park etc... Of our 4 day tour we spent a day in East Boothbay village of Maine. Almost at all places we were fortunate to find good food at unexpected places. No research involved, we would eat when we were hungry and which ever place we were at.

Like, We ate this Italian Veggie sandwich, in a general store ......ya...you heard me right ....a local corner general store in East Boothbay, and it was the best veggie sandwich I ever had. The pesto used was just perfect :P


After the first day of hiking in the Acadia National Park, which was an easy one, all we needed to cool down, was this Wild Blueberry Crisp a la mode at the Jordon Pond Restaurant located in the park ...well, Maine is all about wild blueberries afterall (they even have a wild blueberry soap! :))


Talking about blueberries, We had the most delicious wild blueberry pancakes, a local favourite, here at Jordans Restaurant in downtown Bar Harbor (or should I say BA HAA BA:)). I could not take decent pictures of the restaurant due to the traffic situation on the main street, this one is taken from the parking area :)


Nothing could be a perfect treat to end our trip than the Maple Walnut Ice cream (...yum) . Though we went to the Ben n Bill's Ice cream place in downtown Bar Harbor almost everyday and tasted their specialty flavor .....any guess ? .....ya right .....wild blueberries:), I personally liked the maple walnut flavor, my hands were smelling maple walnut for two days even after we came back ... it was a sweet ending to our short and sweet vacation.


We now intend to go and relive the experience more often , the mountains , the ocean, the calm, its all very inviting.