Veg Noodles

My mom makes the best egg/veg noodles....yes she does...I have never had better noodles even at any of the best Chinese restaurants in Bangalore (not exaggerating)

  Moms noodles were pretty popular in college.........I remember taking it to college one day,and my friend Vidhya just could not wait to open it at lunch time.......we opened the lunch box eagerly,we just had two bites and to our horror the whole box toppled and fell on the floor..........I can still remember Vidhya's expression ,it was like the biggest disaster ever.........Both of us were just staring at the noodles on the floor,we were mourning for it...........For a minute I thought Vidhya might just pick it from the floor........Thank god she did not :)

Ingredients 

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• 2 packets egg or plain noodles
• 2 medium carrots (finely sliced)
• 1/4 kg beans (finely chopped)
• 1 capsicum (finely sliced)
• pepper and salt to taste
• 3 tbsp soya sauce or more
• 1/4 cup spring onion (chopped)
• 3 tsp vinegar
• 1/4 cup bean sprouts (optional)
• 3 tbsp oil
• 4 eggs (optional)

Method

1. Heat water in a big vessel,when water comesto boil,add salt and 1 tsp oil.Drop the noodles into the boiling water and cook till almost done or should I say Al dente like the Italians say.(the quality of the noodle matters a lot,I have used a local brand noodles,its works out perfect for me)
2. Pour the water and noodles into a large strainer and drain all the water.Place the noodles under running water to cool it down and stop the cooking process.Place this aside.
3. In a vessel place carrot ,beans and capsicum and less than 1/4 cup water and salt.Cook the vegetable until almost done.(This is not how its done in restaurants,in Chinese restaurants the flame is 20 times more powerful than the house flame,vegetable get cooked fast there,but I prefer my veggies well done,if you have noticed in restaurants ,the veggies in the noodles are usually under cooked,you can skip this step if you want to ,cook the veggies on high flame)
4. Place a wok on high flame,add 1/2 tbsp oil,when hot fry the cooked veggies for a minute,sprinkle little pepper and salt ,remove from wok and keep aside.
5. Add oil to wok and fry the noodles in 3 batches adding soya sauce,pepper,salt and vinegar.
6. Place all the noodles on one side of the wok,add oil and break eggs ,add little salt and pepper and scramble the eggs.Mix in the vegetable ,beans sprouts and noodles.Stir for 2 minutes.
7. Sprinkle spring onion.
8. Serve with chilli chicken or Prawn in garlic sauce

Herbed Garlic Knots - Project Lavonne

Last but not least....Herbed Garlic knots.....

In the end...what tired me was the kneading....Chef Vinesh is particular about kneading till perfection...(this was when I backed out from the bread making course :).

All together an awesome course and worth every penny.....you get your own workstation and a course completion certificate and I got to make a lot of good friends who share the same passion.....the only complain few of us had was.....there were no chairs.....we had to stand throughout...to which Chef Vinesh rightfully said...... "A chef never sits"......Amen to that :)

Baked Vanilla Yogurt with Strawberry Coulis - Project Lavonne

Very simple dessert.....blend of  yogurt, milkmaid and cream and vanilla baked in a water bath and served with strawberry coulis.

It tasted like dense vanilla shrikhand......out of 5 dishes that I learnt at Lavonne, I have to say this was my least favorite......but my family enjoyed it.........maybe I prefer lighter desserts like Vanilla Panna cotta.

Recipe for Strawberry coulis

• 1 cup Strawberries, chopped
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Cook the strawberries with sugar and lemon juice, bring to a boil. Serve as it is when cooled or puree in a blender, strain , cool and serve.Can be stored in a sealed container up to a week in refrigerator.   

French Baguettes

Hmmmmm..............I have nothing to say.

Ingredients

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• 450 grams minus 4 tablespoon All purpose flour (maida)
• 4 tbsp Gluten Powder(optional)
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp Salt
• 7 grams Yeast
• 325 ml lukewarm Water (little more if required)

Method

1. I have used bread flour for this recipe, you can use all purpose flour just by skipping the gluten.To make bread flour - from 450 grams of all purpose flour remove 4 tbsp of flour and replace it with 4 tbsp of gluten.
2. Sift flour,gluten and salt into a bowl (if you think your yeast is very reliable you can go ahead and mix the yeast in the flour and make a dough using the water.....otherwise follow the next step) 
3. In a bowl combine lukewarm water sugar and yeast and mix. Keep in a warm area for few minutes. Once you see the bubbly froth in the yeast water mixture pour into the sifted flour and stir with your hands until it leaves the side of the bowl.(add little water if required)
4. Transfer the dough onto a clean surface and knead for 10 minutes or till smooth and elastic.Once kneaded place the dough in an oiled bowl cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm area for 1 hour or till the dough doubles in size.
5. Meanwhile prepare the baking tray, I wanted the exact baguette shape for which I used the cardboard roll of the kitchen towel roll as a partition (you can use anything you want...maybe a long glass jar...just brainstorm)...see picture below.

I covered the roll with butter paper (u can skip that step). Oil the bottom and sides of the pan and place a butter paper or parchment paper on the baking tray including the cardboard roll(the butter paper should cover the whole tray and more coz when you place the rolled dough an each side the butter paper will sink in on both sides and will take shape.

Preheating the oven:- Keep a small vessel of water inside the oven and preheat at the highest temperature (mine is 210 degree C) for 30 minutes.

6. Getting back to the dough ,punch down the dough and remove all the air.Divide into two equal balls, keep one aside. Place the dough on a lightly floured flat surface and roll out into a rectangle (remember the longer side on the rectangle should fit into you baking tray...so make it little smaller than your baking tray).

7.Once you have rolled out your rectangle, place the longer side towards you and roll (like a swiss roll....make sure the end of the roll comes underneath).Once you have rolled the dough you have a long log. Now for the smooth round end...on both corners pull the top layer of the roll and cover the endings with it,that is how you get a smooth round  end.

8. Roll the dough on little flour to get a rustic bakery look (you can skip this), and place the dough on one side of  the prepared baking tray. Repeat the same with the remaining dough and place on the tray. Cover the tray with a damp cloth and place in a warm area for 30 to 40 minutes or till it doubles in size.

9. Once the rolls have doubled its time to make the slits on the dough. Dip a sharp serrated knife into water and and keep the knife in a  slanting position on the dough and make four slits as fast as you can (don't stop in between, move your hands quickly while making the slits)

10. Place the tray in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes or till the top turns golden brown.Last few minutes of baking time remove the rolls from the tray and bake again on the wire rack for 5 more minutes to crisp up the bottom of the rolls.

11. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Fresh Fruit Pastry - Project Lavonne

Soft sponge cake soaked in syrup and layer with fresh cream and topped with fresh fruits.....At Lavonne we made this with egg less sponge cake....but I have used this recipe.....very refreshing dessert.

Chef Vinesh topped the cake with beautifully carved fresh fruits.....mine looks more like a scene from the game.......Fruit Ninja.

Apple Jalousie with Almond cream - Project Lavonne

Chef Vinesh is 'THE' man of Lavonne......Young ,talented and super witty and its a pleasure learning under him....looking forward to more classes...

I had once declared in one of my old posts that ....ME......self proclaimed lazy......would never attempt to make puff pastry sheet from scratch....well guess what.....I proved myself wrong.

Thin layer of puff pastry sheet (made from scratch....mind it) topped with yummm almond cream which is topped with  apple or pineapple cooked in caramel syrup and finished with another layer of puff pastry sheet (mind it).....and baked to perfection......awesome awesome awesome...

Want the recipe?........Visit Lavonne.

Chocolate Truffles with Kahlua - Project Lavonne

I read somewhere.."I would rather do nothing and be happy than do something I know I don't love ".......and I am sooooo loving this.

I love to bake.....you give me a choice between making a simple meal of dal and rice or bake a cake....I would without a doubt on my mind.....bake a cake....I would go to an extent of baking two cakes just to make my point that I rather bake.....for me the end result of baking is the most satisfying feeling ever..

I have been wanting to do a baking course for a very long time.....not coz I don't know to bake , I just wanted to learn more and that is when I  came across Lavonne Baking Academy.....I was so excited looking at their website that I wanted to do every course that they offered.....I did not waste any time.....my husband always says that my attention span does not last for more than 5 seconds.....so I left immediately to Lavonne which is in domlur.....The whole place excited me.....I felt like I was in my comfort zone.

After looking around for few minutes I spoke to the management and when he asked me "which course do you want to attend" ......I was so excited that I told him "every course"......so he advised me to try out one course and see how is goes and that the next course was Eggless baking......I just stopped to think for a second....coz I seriously like to bake with eggs.....eggs and baking go hand in hand.....then again I could hear my husband's voice echo in my head "attention span of 5 seconds......attention span of 5 seconds"......then I just went for it and registered for the eggless baking course and when I left that place....believe me.....I felt sooooo damn good.......

 I will try to make every dish I learnt at Lavonne and share it with you through my blog........I am calling it 'Project Lavonne' (I have a thing for silly titles like 'Mission Toscano')...I won't be sharing the recipes coz I am really not sure if I can do that......So here it goes....I tried out the easiest first.... Chocolate truffle (I know it does not come under baking....but this was taught along with few other)....Its super simple ganache recipe that has been coated with compound chocolate (you can use tempered chocolate....I totally suck at tempering).....I have coated few truffles with cocoa powder.

More to come :)

Egg less Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are super simple choco chip cookies........perfect treat for kids and...... ME......don't forget to add loads of chocolate chips.

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Ingredients

• 8 tbsp Butter (113 grams) softened
• 1//2 cup Icing Sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence
• 1 1/4 cup All purpose flour
• 1/2 cup or more Semi Sweet Chocolate chips 

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 170 Degree C. Line baking sheet with baking paper and keep aside.
2. Beat together 8 tbsp butter ,icing sugar, vanilla and salt for 2 minutes on high speed with a hand electric mixer or a whisk.
3. Add the flour and beat on low speed and then increase to medium high.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Using a small cookie scoop or in my case 1 tsp measure , heap the cookie dough in the spoon and roll the dough into balls, and place 1 inch apart on a baking tray.
6. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, remove from the oven and flatten the cookie slightly using back of a small rounded measuring tsp.
7. Pop the cookies back into the oven and  bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges turn light brown.
8. Allow the cookies to cool slightly before transferring onto a wire rack.
9. Once the cookies cool down completely, store in an air tight jar.