Gutti Wonkai - Andhra styled Stuffed brinjal in a tangy sauce

     Brinjal is not so pampered member of our kitchen.  They are utmost relished as spicy biriyani rice or as an curry.  They were in need of an desparate lift and this is why I bumped into one of my precious collections, 'The Essential Andhra Cookbook' by Bilkees I. Latif.  This book has various dishes as Hyderabadi and Telangana specialities.

So browsing under the vegetarian section, I got this Gutti Wonkai.  The ingredients were as simple, as to find in any South Indian Kitchen.  With sambhar and rice made, I moved on to make these.  Green chilly and coriander imparted an nice flavour to the brinjals.  And they tasted great with rice, though recipe suggested with roti.  After an good review from my mate, this is going to be an regular menu at our kitchen. Let's move on to the recipe.

Zebra cookies

   I was completely fascinated, when I found these cookies from the book, "100 BEST DELECIOUS CHOCOLATE".  The entire concept was fun, and reminded me of an long gap from my last baked cookie.  These striped cookies were very easy and required an total whisk with each and every ingredient.  You need chocolate buttons though, I did pipe few, a day before and that came in handy with the presentation and saved an lot of time.

I made these with milk chocolate, dark chocolate is also preferable.   This zebra cookies are very kid friendly and can be tagged as an party food too.  Dough can be kneaded in advance, because more the refrigeration, more the flavours enhance within these.  Fresh out of the oven, they had an crisp edges with an chewy middle.  With an ongoing monsoon, these cookies did an good pair with hot tea. Do try and let us know.   

Salted caramel pots de creme

Hi all, yes my summer vacations are over and here I am back to my pevilion :)   I did quite an few relaxed baking though, those, will try updating to you guys soon.  Back to Baking partners challenge, this month - Tamy had suggested us two wonderful custard based recipes.  I had choosen, this salted caramel pots de creme. 

Pots de creme, is an french based dessert which refers to an pots of custard or cream.  They are prepared with egg yolks, milk, cream and an flavoring (which here, is caramel).  The mixture so obtained, after straining  are baked in waterbath, cooled  and are refrigerated overnight for an firm custard.   These pots looked gorgeous after an sea salt sprinkle, would have be better with an whipped cream as well.  The firm crusted top with an gooey filling was like chewing into an toffee. The sea salt complemented very well with caramel filling and gave an crunchable texture to pots de creme.   At home, everybody enjoyed and licked the  ramekins clean  :)  Thanks to Tamy and Swathi for such an wonderful challenge.  Nothing would have cheered my family better :)

Chocolate banana muffins

   Chocolate is our all-time-favourite  food.  Whether, that's an cake, or candy or ice-cream they are relished with glee.  So, this time when I found some unattended bananas lying on the table, I decided to make chocolate banana muffins.  Though, I am going to add banana, I drizzled them with syrup and chocolate vermicelli for an extra chocolate crunch :)

These muffins were soo delecious and surpassed my expectations.  Chocolate and bananas complemented each other very well.  That said, these muffins are going to be an regular menu at our home.  The muffins were very moist and every bite had its own history of melting moments :)  

They required lesser time to prepare, but I suggest you to use fully ripe bananas in this recipe, otherwise you will not be getting this moist texture.  I took them for my neighbourhood potluck party and everybody enjoyed them.  Especially I got an greater credit from kids :)  

Classic Cheesecake

 Cheesecake is  made of three or more layers.  They are supported with the crunchy crust of cookies and butter at the bottom.  The middle layer is soft  because of cream cheese and easily melts in your mouth.  Finally, they are topped with fruit compotes or any syrup/freshly cut fruits.  That said, it is an explosion of flavours and textures in one bite.     This is really a much-relished treat, for any season, though they are feasted a lot on summer.

They can be baked in an oven or can exist as non-baked as well.  Here, we are going to how they are baked, using a water-bath.  It's always best to use springform pan when making these, otherwise, they may get messy, when removing  from pan.

I topped them with strawberries and they were total yum.  Not only did they taste great, but also instantly melted in your mouth. This soft consistency comes from the lightness of cream cheese and also because of the fact that they are baked with a water-bath.   But, please opt if and only if you prefer a heavy dessert.  These are not for any light takers. 

On the whole, we had a hearty dessert, that completed our weekend.  Hope you tried the same and let us know :)