Banana Pudding with Custard Powder
Banana Pudding with Custard Powder
Banana Pudding with Custard Powder (with slideshow)
This Banana Pudding with Custard Powder is a perfect sweet dessert made by layering Vanilla wafers, Sliced banana, Whipped Custard-Cream-Cheese and topped with a little fresh whipped cream.
Banana Pudding is another one of those famous Southern American Favorites that just seems ‘timeless’. The older versions used sponge cake in place of the Vanilla Wafer Biscuits. Along with time, the famous recipe was changed a bit here and there with some variations even calling for a meringue top and thus requiring baking time. Nabisco made the use of ‘Nilla’ wafers, commonplace in the making of this Favorite dessert. Seems like everyone is looking for the easiest way to make it, some recipes call for Jello Brand Vanilla Pudding Mix and Whipped Cream from a Can! This recipe makes an easier custard using Birds Brand Custard Powder.
Chunky Beef Stew| Classic American Comfort
Chunky Beef Stew
Chunky Beef Stew
The classic American Chunky Beef Stew is a meal in itself. Tremendously comforting with some homemade bread, buttermilk biscuits or dumplings. I remember having beef stew in the winter months while growing up in Dhahran, where winters were very cold.
Singapore is usually always hot or rainy.. but I do sometimes get a craving for this stew. The kids will eat it up faster than most meals and the hubby loves it too.
Whenever I get really good stewing beef, I always have this recipe in mind. Nope, it’s not a soup, its not smooth or watery..oh and no it’s not a curry either!!! It’s chunky and you have to rummage through the contents to make sure each spoonful has all the elements. The ‘browned’ beef promises a wonderful pearlescent gloss to the gravy. The gravy, that is simply heart warming and delicious. So good for something so simple!
A dutch oven or cast iron pot is traditionally used.. but I have made it in my trusted pressure cooker without any trouble too.
American Potato Salad | Quick Salads
American Potato Salad | Quick Salads with Video
Growing up, I always came home to delicious food every day. My mom will always be the best cook to me.. I admit during my teenage years, I was quite fussy with food.. I had a lot of things that I didn’t appreciate as much as I do now. She always seemed to have time to fix me something that I liked. On the occasion that she would not be home when I came home, she would leave me something in the fridge. I would cleanup and hurry to find out what was in there for me. Cold Potato Salad was one of my favorites. I could have this just on its own or with some of her yummy chicken. This salad is a great side any day! Filling you up well till your next meal.
Bbq Chicken Burger with Homemade Barbecue Sauce
Bbq Chicken Burger with Homemade Barbecue Sauce – is made absolutely from scratch. From the Patties – to the Sauce – to the Bun! Look at those home made buns 🙂
A chicken burger patty with a smoky edge to it. If you really, really love the barbecue flavor, you can make the home made barbecue sauce along with it. Or else, these patties are great with just ketchup and mayo. The key as with all burgers is to never over cook the patties. That goes double when you’re dealing with chicken patties. They should be watched and removed from the grill/ pan as soon as they are done. And these chicken patties cook pretty quickly.
So whats your favorite burger? Do you pick out the pickles? Do you add extra ketchup? Do the toppings fall our of your burger every time 🙂 ? Scroll down for stepwise pictures and Video.
Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca
Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca
Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca is very quick pasta dish to prepare when you are desperate for time, but still want something a little tangy, salty and savory. The typical ingredients are tomatoes, anchovies, capers and olives. (Good to have these in the pantry). Although there are some variations. Some recipes omit the anchovies. Some add raisins or green peppers.
The Puttanesca Sauce or ‘Sugo alla Puttanesca’ in Italian is incredibly easy to prepare for a hearty addition to your pasta. Spaghetti is popular choice but other pasta, like Penne or Linguine may be used as well.
Be sure to rinse the anchovies and capers to avoid too much tartness. When I had Puttanesca for the first time, I wasn’t crazy about it but I found that spicing it up just a bit could do wonders. And it’s so terribly easy that the recipe is quite handy! Serving with grilled Salmon or Shrimp is recommended.
Hummingbird Cake – One Glorious Cake
Hummingbird Cake – One Glorious Cake
One thing is for sure, this cake will make you hum with delight. Is that why it is called the Hummingbird Cake? It was actually named so, in a 1978 edition of Southern Living Magazine. There is however, no explanation offered about the name. Could it be that its moist delicious sweetness attracts you to it like em hummers? Who knows? What is important my dear foodies out there, is that it truly is delicious!
The classic recipe consists of an awesome large 3 tiered cake. Pineapple, Banana, Pecans and Cream Cheese Vanilla Frosting.
There are some theories that the recipe originated in Jamaica : where a recipe was published in 1969 called the Doctor Bird Cake. The ‘Doctor Bird’ is a type of hummingbird, indigenous to Jamaica and is the National Bird of Jamaica. So it is quite fitting. This cake is said to have the same ingredients.
However, having shot to fame in the Southern Living Issue, being one of its most requested recipe. And having won many ribbons at many a country fair – It is one of the youngest members in ‘Southern Cakes’ repertoire. It is indeed famous for being a Southern Favorite!
I have changed the recipe a bit because I truly don’t believe it needs to be as sweet as the original.. it is still very sweet. And delicious… if I didn’t mention that earlier 😉
I love this cake because it is one of those easy stir and bake cakes, you don’t need a fancy mixer or beater for this.
Patatas Alioli – Spanish Tapas
Patatas Alioli – Spanish Tapas
Over the last decade or two, Tapas have gained world wide popularity. These ‘small bites’ of Spanish origin showcase racy and contrasting flavors, a good dose of extra virgin and pure olive oil, obsessive use of salt cod, cured meats and the freshest ingredients.
Being able to try an array of these individual small sized Tapas (Singular – Tapa) is a common mans luxury, inextricably linked to the Spanish way of life.
Patatas Alioli or ‘Aioli’ is great for garlic lovers. The creamy garlic aioli is a mayonnaise like sauce that is great for many seafood and other dishes. The potatoes may be fried, but here I have baked them in the oven till perfectly tender with a crisp bite.
Enjoy the Saucy Potato Bites! Patatas Bravas is another Tapa, which I love – here’s my version.
Palak Chicken Quesadilla – Mexico meets India
Palak Chicken Quesadilla
This Palak Chicken Quesadilla is one of those fusion recipes that work!
If you have left over Palak Chicken or even Palak Paneer, this is a delicious way to re-vamp the dish for the next meal. It’s so yummy you might even want to make it from scratch.
If you’re making from scratch, here’s a super Recipe for Palak Chicken. There’s something about the goodness of spinach, paired with stretchy, gooey cheese all sandwiched in a grilled Tortilla! Something that sends them flying off the platter in no time!
If you’re using leftover Palak Chicken, simply reduce the ingredients accordingly. (For Kids Lunch Box, you will only need 1/4 – 1/2 cup of prepared palak chicken and 1-2 flour tortillas).
Hungarian Chicken Paprikash – Csirkepaprikas (with dumplings)
Hungarian Chicken Paprikash – Csirkepaprikas
Hungarian Chicken Paprikash (Paprikás Csirke) is one of the most popular dishes in Hungary. This Magyar Dish, consists of slowly cooked – ‘bone-in’ chicken. The chicken is cooked in a Hungarian Sweet Paprika and Sourcream ( Tejföl / Smetana) based gravy.
If you can not find Hungarian Paprika, use any other good Sweet Paprika combined with some Cayenne if desired.
This dish is very simple in flavors. There is not a lot of spice. Make sure to add appropriate amount of salt. This is essential for dishes that have very few distinguishing ingredients.
I think Chicken Paprikas gets a lot of criticism from those not familiar to Hungarian Cuisine. If you are one who like a whole lot of bold flavors, this may not be your cup of tea.
I do however, appreciate the simplicity of this dish and all that all it stands for. It’s wonderful to learn how foods came to be in different regions.
In the 16th century when explorers began bringing back new foods from the Americas, food culture was changed immensely all over Europe. Italy and Spain incorporated tomatoes into their cuisine as a staple forever. Potatoes were embedded into Northern European Cuisine. Turkey began growing and exporting red peppers, which Hungarians found to be perfect for their soil as well. Eventually, it became a major part of their cuisine.
Hungarian dishes traditionally did not make much use of tomatoes, which some people like to incorporate these days into their Paprikash. You can use tomato paste or puree as well.
I am sharing the family recipe of my friend Sandra – for Chicken Paprikas with Dumplings. I am also adding a simple way to spice and flavor it up a notch.
Mu Shu Chicken & Chinese Pancakes
Mu Shu Chicken & Chinese Pancakes
Mu Shu Meat dishes are one of the staples of American Chinese Cuisine. This Mu Shu Chicken recipe has chicken stir fried with mushroom, wood ear mushroom (black fungus), cabbage and carrot. You can also use lily buds and bamboo shoots in the stir fry. Traditionally, the stir fried meat and veg mixture is wrapped in the Simple Tortilla style, Chinese pancakes. However, you can also wrap in long lettuce leaves and serve as an appetizer.
This dish is extremely simple to prepare. Both the pancakes and the filling can be made in the same pan – less clean up. Mu Shu dishes gained popularity in the United States in the early 60’s and still remain a popular Chinese American take out item.
