Baked Soft Tacos

There are days when my daughter feels like playing chef in front of her friends when she have them over. She will then pester me till I allow her to do something. As she is only 9, I am not that comfortable with her doing the real cooking ,so I let her help me put this together. I will make the filling before her friends come and when they are almost ready to have lunch Aishwarya gets to don her apron and little chef's hat and fill this tacos, roll them up and sprinkle the cheese and I help her with the baking. She gets the satisfaction of being the chef and her friends that of having a nice meal; and I get the satisfaction of seeing her happy. Those of you who have little girls and boys who like to play pretend chefs can try this out. This is so easy for even a 2 year old to help with. So go ahead and try this with your little one and enjoy a wonderful meal with the added satisfaction of involving your little ones in the cooking.

Ingredients:
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons canola oil
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 (6 inch) flour tortillas
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
Method:
In a nonstick skillet, saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the beans, tomatoes, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3-5 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Spoon about 1/2 cup off center on each tortilla; sprinkle with cheese. Make a roll to close. (Do not fold ends in.) Lay rolled tacos, seam side down, in a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish. When all tacos are in dish, spread remaining shredded cheese on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes, until tops are turning golden and filling is hot and bubbly. Serve hot with sour cream, shredded lettuce,avocado and diced tomatoes.

Sending this over to "Cooking with your Little Sous-chef "Event at Sugar 'N Spice.


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Curried Pizza

For this month's Sweet Punch challenge, our host Divya chose Pizza by  Pioneer Woman. The topping was to be of one's own choice. So for the topping I used my mushroom fry and curried soy. It was well liked and enjoyed to the last bite.Those of you who love spicy pizzas do try this combo.
Recipe source - Pioneer Woman
Ingredients:
For the crust :Makes 2 crusts
 Active Dry Or Instant Yeast-1 teaspoon
All-purpose Flour-4 cups
 Kosher Salt-1 teaspoon
 Extra Virgin Olive Oil-⅓ cups
Method:
Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you need it. ***It’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.
For the Topping:(for 1 crust)
Curried Soy Granules Ingredients:
Soy granules Morningstar meal starters-1 cup
Onions-1/4 cup
Tomatoe paste-1tbs
Ginger garlic paste-1/2 teaspoon
Meat masala-1tsp
Cheese-1/2 cup
Mushroom Fry-1/2 recipe
Method:
Heat a pan and add 2 tbs oil to it add the onion and ginger garlic paste when the onions turn light brown add the tomato paste and saute for another 2 minutes.Add meat masala to this and saute till the oil oozes out .Add the Soy granules(meal starter) and saute till well combined ,add salt to taste!
To make the Pizza
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Drizzle olive oil on a large baking sheet and use fingers to coat thoroughly. Remove HALF the pizza dough from the bowl. Stretch pizza dough into a large rectangle, pressing with fingers to finish forming. Dough will be very thin.
Lightly drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and use fingers to spread.Apply a little bit more of olive oil over the surface of the dough. Spread mushroom fry and curried soy granules all over the pizza. Sprinkle cheese on the top .
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Remove from pan and slice with a pizza cutter. Serve immediately!
Sending  this to  Pari’s ONLY FUSION event  Guest hosted by Priya.

Red Velvet Bites

Today is one of my friends birthday and she loves anything coconut so I thought of making these bite sized cakes with coconut topping for her special day. My original plan was to make these like little lamingtons, but I was short of time, so this is how it ended up.
Recipe Source:Joy of baking
Ingredients:
Sifted cake flour-2 1/2 cups
Salt-1/2 teaspoon
Dutch-processed cocoa powder-2 tablespoons
Unsalted butter, at room temperature-1/2 cup
Sugar-1 1/2 cups
Eggs-2 large
Vanilla extract-1 teaspoon
Buttermilk-1 cup
Liquid red food coloring-2 tablespoons
White distilled vinegar-1 teaspoon
Baking soda-1 teaspoon
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.To make this cake I used a sheet pan.Butter the pan and line with parchment paper and then pour the batter into it and bake for 25 minutes or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.Once the cake cools frost it using the cream cheese frosting and top it with coconut flakes
For the frosting:
Ingredients:
Cream cheese, softened-1 (8 ounce)
Butter, softened-1/4 cup
Sifted confectioners' sugar-1 1/2 cups
Vanilla extract-1 teaspoon
Sweetened coconut flakes.
Method:
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.
Sending this over to A week long sweet celebration event by Magpie

Kinnathappam-Thrissur Style

This is what we used to call Kinnathappam, and I know that kinnnathappam tastes and looks different in North Kerala. But since this is the only name for this dish that I know of, I am sticking to this name. If anyone else know any other name for this please let me know.
Unlike my maternal grandmother, who loved cooking, my paternal grandmother hardly ever cooked.This is one dish she used to make, and this used to be a favorite of mine. Now this is Aishwarya's favorite too. In fact, she loves making this with me. She does most of the work, except for the frying the coconut pieces and doing the final steaming. She would do all the measuring and mixing. This is one dish where I don't have to worry about her taking a lick of the batter also. Since she is allergic to raw eggs, I don't usually let her help out with most of the other dishes because of this. But licking this batter is compensation enough as this is such a tasty batter. If you are someone who likes licking the batter for cookies and cakes, you would simply love this batter too! And you can take a lick of it or have your little ones lick it without a worry, as there are no raw eggs here.  So whatever be the name, I would like to share this with you all.
Ingredients
Roasted Rice flour -1cup
Coconut milk-3 and 1/2 cups
Sugar-1/2 cup ( to your taste)
Honey-2tbs(optional)
Coconut pieces or cashew nuts-2tsp
Ghee-1 tbs
Cardamom-6 Powdered fine
Method
Heat a pan and add the ghee and sliced coconut pieces and fry till coconut pieces turn golden. Leave it aside to cool. Now mix the rice flour with the coconut milk,honey ,sugar  and cardamom add the fried coconut along with the ghee. Consistency of  the batter should be that of  dosa batter, a little lighter than the cake batter.To get the desired consistency you can add additional water if needed ,do this little by little.Now to a  greased plate  pour the batter about 1/2 " amount .Place this in a steamer and cook for about 10 minutes.You can check the doneness with a tooth pick ,if the tooth pick comes out clean when inserted in the cooked appam then its done Now remove from the steamer .When cool cut into desired shape.
Sending this over to  Walking Through The Memory Lane, Kerala Kitchen EventCelebrate Sweets-Sweets with Rice by Nivedita hosted by Priya"Cooking with your Little Sous-chef "Event at Sugar'N Spice