Swiss roll

I had attempted making swiss roll once before, however I had failed miserably. So I tried again and atleast sponge wise I got successful. Since my oven is small I was not able to make beautiful long cake, ended up, cutting perfect square cake in rectangular shape and then divide in 2 sheets LOL :D.

So it appear bit mess but it was perfect sponge and delicious. Yeh I admit pattern is mediocre, but given I was very afraid of trying it again, I used my lucky charm, yeah my daughter's name :) I know there are lot expert bakers out there who can mend this recipe more perfectly.

Enough talking here is what I followed:

For pattern:
1 egg white
30 gms granulated sugar, need little more if using powdered sugar
40 gms all purpose flour
20 gms butter

- Mix sugar in egg white with wire whisk or spoon, till its nicely glazed.
- Add in butter and mix well, here you can add any food color.
- Mix in flour to make smooth batter.
- Fill it in piping bag, and make pattern over parchment paper
(If you are choosing some writing as I did, then make sure your writing should be mirror imaged.)
- You can get pattern templates online as well, so you can put them below parchment paper and then simply trace them over parchment paper, make sure parchment paper is greased a bit, this avoid pattern stick less on paper while baking.
- Put tray/paper in freezer for atleast hour before baking. So that pattern shall become hard.

Cake with pattern

For Swiss roll:
5 eggs yolks
5 eggs whites
2/3 cup granulated sugar (Divided in 2 equal portions (i.e. 1/3rd )
1 tsp - orange juice (lemon juice can be substituted)
1 tsp - orange zest (lemon zest can also be used) (If you don't have orange flavor put more zest)
2/3rd cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp melted butter
1/4 tsp salt


- Whisk egg yolks with orange juice and zest, add sugar slowly and whisk until nice and fluffy.
- Whisk egg whites till soft peaks are formed. At this point start adding sugar slowly and continue whisking till hard peaks are formed. At this point whipped mixture shall not fall even if bowl is inverted :D
- Now fold in yolks to egg whites, make sure to fold it gently so that egg whites are not much deflated. Fold in melted butter at this stage.
- Fold in half of flour at a time, till all flour is folded in.
- Bake on flat tray for almost 10-12 minutes on 375 F or 190 C.
- Once baking is done, slowly flip the cake, and take out parchment paper very very slowly, so that pattern shall separate from paper.
- Again flip the cake and let cake cool down a bit, once its cooled down. Put any stuffing you want, I used simple whipped cream, you may use butter frosting or cream cheese etc. and roll cake sheet nice and tight, from the opposite end of pattern, so once you are finished pattern will be on top.

Rolled cake with whipped cream filling 

Enjoy your cake and be creative in patterns :)

Mushroom cream sauce

Mushroom cream sauce is on of my most favorite and easy preparation. Here is how i do it.

Ingredients:

1 cup sliced mushrooms (use any mushroom of your choice)

1 cup cream

dash of white wine

1/4th cup mixture of finely chopped onion, celery and carrots 

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp basil, oregano, rosemary each

salt and pepper for taste

Method:

Saute onion, celery and carrots on butter along with mushrooms till they are cooked.

Add dash of white wine and cook through till it evaporates, this will infuse wine's flavor in all mixture. 

Add cream and mix well, add in herbs, salt and pepper and mix well.

Bring to boil and let it become bit thicker. 

Your sauce is ready, enjoy with your favorite dish or with some meat preparation. 

Enjoy :)

chicken meat loaf

I had watched some recipe for meatloaf on TLC channel, so I wanted to try out something similar but with chicken. So here is my try for the same

Ingredients for meatloaf:
500 gms of boneless chicken / minced chicken.
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumb
1/2 cup diced cheese cubes
1/4th cup cream
1/4th cup spring onion finely chopped
1/4th cup finely chopped carrots
1/4th cup finely chopped celery (optional)
1/4th cup finely chopped tomatoes
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 green chilly in 4-5 small pieces
salt and pepper for seasoning, feel free to add

Method:
- Saute together onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes with ginger garlic paste and rest of ingredients, till they are cooked.
- let it come to room temperature and then make fine paste of it in grinder.
- Mince chicken along with cooked paste.
- Add diced cheese cubes (Once baked cheese just oozes out and taste delicious :) )
- Add egg along with cream to mixture and knead well
- Start adding breadcrumbs to this mixture, here mixture shall start to become thick. Add enough breadcrumb so entire mixture gets bread dough kind of consistency.
- preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius or 350 degree F, grease up loaf pan with little oil
- Put mixture in loaf pan and make sure to spread mixture evenly.
- Bake for about 30-45 minutes until its done, check for internal temperature of 160 F or 70 degree Celsius.
- Meat loaf is done. Cut thin slices and serve with garlic bread and mushroom cream sauce or any other sauce.

Here is my version or how I served it:
Meat loaf slices with mashroom cream sauce with garlic toast and sangria and fruity leafy salad.

Tip:
For a moist meatloaf, put loaf pan in water bath while baking.
If you don't have breadcrumbs, use all purpose flour or corn flour.

Enjoy :)

Sangria cocktail

I tested Sangria first time during a visit to Hyatt regency for a lunch party, and I fell deeply for it.
Here is my version to recreate it.

What you need:
90 ml red wine
15 ml brandy
15 ml orange juice
1 tsp powdered sugar
1 cup small pieces of apple, pear and orange.

How to conjure this tasty potion:
Cut small pieces of apple, pear and orange (with peels) .
Mix all ingredients with fruit pieces and give it a nice stir.
Let is seat in your fridge covered for 12 hours (for best results).
serve with in glass and keep some fruit pieces as is.

Enjoy fruity sangria.

Don't drink and drive though :)