NO BAKE WAYS TO SPEND SUMMER DAYS

In summer’s wake, don’t make the mistake to bake. Instead, counter the heat with a treat that’s not oven-tweaked. Okay, we totally get that it’s not the right time to rhyme! But we don’t lie when we cry that we do try but God knows why this habit refuses to die. So sorry for the trouble, and before it becomes double we’ll just begin with the dishes everyone wishes to savour in summers. For in summers, sweat and heat take away all the fun in the kitchen and since lengthy dishes drive you mad, everyone considers baking bad!

Chocolate Chips Cookies

 This cookie is something every rookie can make. Here’s what it will take:

Butter                             ¼ cup

Milk                                ¼ cup

Sugar                              1 cup

Chocolate chips           ½ cup

Peanut butter               Optional

Oatmeal                         1½ cup

Vanilla                            1 tbsp

Once all this gathers, let’s arrange them in the way it matters.

• Put oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chips and vanilla in a mixing bowl.
• Combine butter, milk and sugar in a saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until boiling. Let boil for 1 minute.
• Pour hot mix into the oatmeal mix and stir well. Drop spoonfuls onto wax paper and let harden before eating. Freeze to harden faster.

Butter Pecan Toffee

Biscuit is the secret behind this toffee. Read to find out what you will need.

Butter                                       1 stick

Sugar                                        ¾ cup

Corn syrup                              1 tbsp

Tea biscuits                              20

Toasted pecans (Chopped)  For garnish

Here’s how to make something worthwhile out of this pile:

• Combine butter, sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan over medium heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until brown.
• Arrange tea biscuits side by side on a large buttered, foil-lined baking sheet.
• Pour the sugar mixture on top and sprinkle with chopped toasted pecans.
• Chill until firm; break apart. Your dish is ready to be eaten.

Peanut Butter Pie

This sweet is a treat you will repeat week after week. Gather the ingredients:

Powdered sugar                         1 cup

Peanut butter                            1 cup

Cream cheese(softened)        225g

Condensed milk                       400g

Whipped topping (thawed)   340g

Graham cracker crusts            340g

Chocolate sundae syrup          20 tbsp

To be muted with the sweetness of this reputed dish, follow the instructions:

• Combine powdered sugar, peanut butter, and cream cheese in a large bowl.
• Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.
• Add milk; beat until combined. Fold in whipped topping.
• Divide the mixture evenly between crusts; chill 8 hours or until set (a soft texture).
• Cut into wedges; drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Golden Oreo Truffles

 Availability of just these 3 things will bring anybody on the brink of ecstasy. Here they are:

Cream cheese (softened)                     225g

Golden Oreos or Regular Oreos           430g

White chocolate                                 340g

Now time to put some effort to make this yummy dessert.

• Process the Oreos in a food processor or blender. Pulse until crumbs are formed.
• Beat the Oreo crumbs with the cream cheese until combined. The mixture will be thick and sticky.
• Roll into 30-35 balls. Place balls on two large plates, a parchment paper lined baking sheet, or a silicone mat-lined bake sheet. Freeze the truffles for about 30 minutes.
• Coarsely chop the chocolate and melt according to package directions. Working with 1 truffle at a time, coat in chocolate.
• Top with sprinkles while the chocolate is still wet.
• Refrigerate truffles for at least 10 minutes so the chocolate sets. Truffles must always be chilled and will stay fresh for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

So, give baking a miss, and take a brisk frisk, thanks to these crisp ideas. Enjoy your summers not in the kitchen but under air conditioners and coolers; try these simple dishes while we try to make our rhyming stop! Wait! Our rhyming… Make – our – rhyming – stop… We don’t rhyme anymore, guys! We don’t! Those rhymes won’t be repeating in the next meeting. Wait! Oh great!

Master This Holi With Masterchef Dishes

‘Anyone can cook.’ Ratatouille.

For those who don’t know, Ratatouille is a movie that can make you fall in love with cooking. But if you already are, and that masoor ka tadka makes your heart beat faster than the pados ka ladka, today is your lucky day. Because as Holi comes closer and preparation of delicacies takes the center-stage, we have some professional recipes to help your dishes shine out. This Holi, when the guests greet you with the best of wishes, serve them with the best of dishes that have appeared on MasterChef.

Check out these easy and amazing recipes from MasterChef India and MasterChef Australia.

The Curious Case of Strange Sweets

Are you aware of the desserts eaten by the saints in the mystical caves of the Himalayas, by the tribesmen in African rain forests and by Bear Grylls in his non-working hours? Well, we aren’t either.

However, we do know about desserts that are just as good as the conventional ones, made highly sought after due to their rarity. Check them out.

PREPARE SMART, PARTY HARD!

We are those people who party at everything from birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, job, salary to India defeating Pakistan in a cricket encounter. We don’t even need a lavish one! A plate of food and a friend will do. And with such a lifestyle, anyone can guess we are on constant lookout for excuses to party. Well, how about ‘I got to know these amazing party hacks and I wanted to try them out ASAP!’ for an excuse?

Try these simple ideas to enhance your experience if you are a party lover. And try them out one at a time if you are a party freak!

THE SUPERB SALI CHICKEN

If you have ever bemoaned the lack of anything exciting ever happening in the Delhi food scene, you should giddy up and visit Soda Bottle Opener Wala.

Soda Bottle Opener Wala (SBOW) is a quaint Bombay Irani Cafe serving Parsi/Irani cuisine and a bit of Bombay street food. Vintage Parsi in a new and exciting style, the café boast of two branches in the NCR – one in Cyber Hub, Gurgaon and the other in Khan Market Delhi.

Times Food & Times Night Life Awards included the SBOW in its list of finalists due its authentic Parsi cuisine and an ambiance that takes you back to the Iranian cafes of yore.

While its menu is as much of a mouthful as its name, there’s one special dish that would forever imprint itself on your taste buds. The incredibly delectable Sali Chicken is a culinary masterpiece conceptualized by the restaurant’s head chef Anahita and every amateur cook should his hand at least once preparing it.

To prepare this gem of a dish, you’d need a variety of ingredients. However, if you live in and around Delhi, you can order all of them with a single tap on Pepper Tap.

Participate in the Meet the Chef Contest 

By trying your hand at preparing the succulent Sali Chicken, you have the opportunity of meeting the winning chef at the Times Food and Times Nightlife (TFNA) Awards 2016 on 3^rd March, 2016.

Presented by PepperTap in association with Cook Fresh, the contest gives you the opportunity to meet the winning chef at the prestigious award ceremony. Simply order the ingredients hamper of your favourite recipe from Gourmet Box to be automatically be nominated for your participation in the contest.

If your name comes up in the lucky draw you’d be invited to the Times Food and Times Nightlife Awards, where you’d get a window to chat with the winning chef.

Click here to order the ingredient’s hamper from Pepper Tap.

Ingredients:

Refined oil                             (as required)
Ginger Garlic paste            1\2tbspn
Sambhar masala                1\2tbspn
Chicken boneless                100gms
Red chilli paste                    1tbspn
Degi mirch                            a pinch
Kolah vinegar                      5ml
Jaggery                                  5gms
Cumin and coriander powder        a pinch
Water                                    (as required)
Chopped tomatoes            500gms
Salt                                        to taste
Sali                                        15gms

Method

• Soak jaggery in the kolah vinegar.
• Heat oil, add ginger garlic paste and saute the mix.
• Add onions and saute till they go light brown.
• Add degi mirch powder, cumin powder and coriander powder. Cook the spice mix.
• Add chopped tomatoes and cook they are tender. Then add warm water, boil, blend and strain into tomato puree.
• Now add chicken and cook with gravy.
• Add sambhar masala, jaggery vinegar and mix well.
• Garnish it with sali and serve hot.

You’ll be amazed to find out what a delicious result this simple recipe results in. The folks at SodaBottleOpenerWala understand cooking is not all about exotic ingredients and time-consuming procedures, it’s about finding the perfect combination. Visit their widely spread chain of cafes to explore other beauties of cooking.

GUPPY BY AI’S PERFECT HOUSE SALAD

For a chef who takes pride in his craft; for a chef who has the culinary chops to turn food into fine art; for a chef who has made it his goal to add a Michelin star to his name – the Times Food & Times Nightlife award 2016 was the place to be.

Hailing the best restaurants and eateries across Delhi, the award highlighted the diverse food culture of Delhi and gave us a chance to explore some of the truly innovative in-house recipes of the chosen restaurants.

FARZI RASMALAI TRES LECHE

The word ‘Farzi’ has a number of colourful connotations, but enter Farzi Café and you’ll know that this chic gourmet diner prides itself for creating an illusion with its cuisine.

Farzi has its own unique take on the modern Indian Bistro, which is best described as a gourmet experience amalgamating traditional global cuisine, with Indian influences, contemporary presentations, culinary styles and ambiance.

Times Food and Nightlife nominated  Farzi as one of Delhi top cafes for its sheer alchemy of flavours it presents its patrons with. Their food is the ultimate gastronomical illusion and this is best represented by the melt-in-your-mouth Rasmalai Tres Leche. 

THE PERFECT SORBET OF CUCUMBER AND LIME

Summers are around the corner and nothing beats the heat like a truly chilled out thirst-quencher. And while you may already have several that fit the bill, we’d like to introduce you to a drink that would be your One-Sip-Trip to the heavens.

It’s tart. It’s Sweet. It excites and it soothes. It’s the amazing Mixed Herb Sorbet – the culinary conception of Chef Pankaj at Dramz Whiskey Bar and Lounge. Conveniently located in one of the most beautiful locations of Mehrauli near the Qutub Minar, Dramz is one of its kind Single Malt Whiskey bar & lounges in New Delhi.

Get High Without Getting Drunk with These Five Mocktails

Let’s get a clear insight into the mind of a teetotaler person attending a get together overflowing with booze. His priority is to not have his well-meaning buddies shove booze down his throat. But how can he do this when he’s the only one drinking something as staid and boring as lemonade. What he needs is a glass that’s complete with a twisty straw, a miniature umbrella, a wedge of pineapple and all the visual trappings you can dream off.

For the sober drunk, here are some lip-smacking mocktails that will get you in the mood and keep your buddies happy.

MICROWAVE HACKS

While almost every household today boasts of a microwave, most of us rarely put this versatile machine to its full potential. While it’s more than capable of heating up dinner, brewing hot beverages and making a delicious plate of Maggi in two minutes; with a little bit of ingenuity and some culinary inspiration, you can use the microwave for some quick and easy culinary shortcuts.Here are some easy and may we say delicious microwave hacks to get you started:

Here are some easy and may we say delicious microwave hacks to get you started: