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.

Murgh Malai Kabab Bites

A very Happy and Healthy New Year to all my readers and fellow bloggers !

Haah ! Its so good to see you ...

The new year has begun and I am glad I checked out one of my resolutions already :) posting here, before the first month ends that is.

A lot happened since we last met in Oct 2010. All of it involved a lot of cooking, some hits and some misses, and a lot of eating out too !

Lets see....we bought our first house, then came the moving , then it was eid-ul-adha (bakri eid), then we were settling down, we had friends visiting us, then the house warming, then of course we were travelling and shopping. Throw in few snowstorms and there you go, 3 months of madness in less than three sentences  :)

Now, as we are still settling ...(yeah...thts right... slowly but surely...) I am kinda trying to get back into the blogging mode, catching up, see all the deliciousness I have missed, welcome new friends, which reminds me , I wanna thank all of you who emailed me, left their comments, sent their wishes, Thank You very much , I am trying to reply all the comments / questions/ suggestions ASAP.

Coming to the recipe, when I say bites its not exactly an amuse-bouche, the kababs are may be 2 or 3 biters, but they are super delicious ...try any size ... I marinated the chicken overnight but half hour should also suffice.

Ingredients :

2 C Chicken breasts, cubed

1 tsp.ginger paste, 

1 tsp. garlic paste,

1/2 tsp. chili pdr or to taste,

1/4 tsp. turmeric

1/2 C cream,

salt, to taste

1.5 tsp. dhania pdr

1/2 C panko (optional)

olive oil, for shallow frying.

Method:

Combine all the ingredients except panko and oil and let it marinate at room temperature for at least half an hour, or overnight in the refrigerator. Heat oil in a pan , dip the chicken pieces in the panko/bread crumbs and shallow fry on medium heat until both sides are golden brown. Drain on a paper towel/ tissue. Serve hot / warm.

I am sending this to the Ramadan Friendly Recipes event at "the halal foodie" blog

Enjoy!

Basic Chicken Stock

It happens to me all the time ...Taking a break from blogging is easy, getting back into the blogging mode really takes time. Before every vacation I feel excited about all the possible things I would like to blog about after coming back, till date it has never happened :) 

Nevertheless, while I am still struggling to get out of this, I thought may be I could share a simple recipe of how I make my basic chicken stock, may be some soup made using that would do the trick, may be I could post about the soup as a follow up. Well, though the later two still seem distant, let me tell you how I make the stock...

Where I live (in the suburbs)  we don't find halal chicken stocks at the stores (I mean the desi grocery where we buy our halal meat), so I usually make my own. I think a good stock can add loads of flavour to any thing you make out of it  and it sure is a very good thing to have in your pantry / fridge.  

Tender stalks of cilantro



I take 1 cup uncooked bones of chicken, its OK if they have some meat on it, you could shred it and use it in your sandwiches or soups. Add 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp. whole black peppercorns,  one small onion chopped, 2-3 green cardamoms, 1/2 " stick of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, 3 and half cups of water and cook on high uncovered for a few mins. Chop off the tender stalks of a small bunch of cilantro/coriander and add it to the stock. Season it with salt and let it cook until it reduces to half or a little over half. Your Chicken stock is ready to use. 

To store, let it cool and then store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 15 days. You can also freeze it in ice trays and store it for up to a month. I don't keep it that long and use it within a week in all possible ways, soups, rice, dal, to knead parathas,  curries, etc... etc. 

The recipe is pretty simple, I don't add the veggies or spices or even oil, which makes it very versatile and pretty basic, hence the name. 

By the way, Ramadan was the best part of the year as always and I thank you all for your Eid wishes. 

See you soon !

Update:

I am trying to catch up with all the new visitors to my blog, for those who did care to comment I add you to my Fellow Bloggers List. If you don't see your name in the list, plz, plz, plz let me know. 

Thanks!