Let’s talk about baking with yeast. For the better part of the past 2.5 years, I’ve avoided sharing any yeast recipes. All of that proofing and rising and whatnot just seemed like too much trouble, too many opportunities for things to go wrong, and so I just kept the blog as yeast-free as possible. Behind the scenes, though, I decided that I needed to just dig in and familiarize myself with this process....

Why Air Fryer Chicken Skewers? These chicken skewers are my answer to delicious kabobs/kebabs on hot summer days when I do not want to use the grill. Also, it’s minimal kitchen cleaning …. you can wash the air fryer basket in the dishwasher along with the prep bowls (total 3-4 things used). Also, they are minimal effort yet packed with flavors, hence a total WIN-WIN recipe ! Ingredients for Air Fryer Chicken Skewers: Chicken Breast – cut into bite-size pieces, you can use frozen-thawed or fresh chicken....

This post contains helpful notes and tips to help you make the perfect dish. However, if you are in a rush, please use the “Jump to Recipe” link above or the “Jump to” links below to get to the section you want. If you have eaten at a dhaba - roadside eateries commonly found along Indian freeways (highways) - it is likely that you have eaten aloo palak, a wholesome blend of potatoes and spinach....

This Indian wrap recipe is commonly known as aloo frankie or potato frankie. A great dish to have in ones repertoire because it is perfect for quick meals and to pack for lunchboxes or even picnics. Also it is a yummy kid friendly dish. About the Recipe I love street food, especially spicy and delicious Indian style ones. Depending on which part of India you go to, the variety of street food varies....

Apple cinnamon no bake energy bites are the perfect solution for those times when you’re craving something sweet, perhaps an afternoon snack or a little nibble of something sweet with your morning coffee. How long it takes: 15 minutes Equipment you’ll need: food processor Servings: makes 30 A serving of two energy bites is only 95 calories and I guarantee that your sweet tooth will be satisfied. While I’m always for an oatmeal cookie or a slice of whole wheat banana bread, these little gems really do compete....

A simple salad dressing that you can whisk up in just a couple of minutes, this apricot vinaigrette is full of happy flavors and goes perfectly with so many salads. How long it takes: 5 minutes Equipment you’ll need: a jar or measuring cup Servings: 4 I like it on a simple green salad with cucumbers, sliced dried apricots, candied pepitas, and a sprinkling of cheese, as pictured. It’s equally at home on a spinach salad with fresh apricots, or a grain salad (quinoa, couscous, or bulgar) with roasted butternut squash and kale....

Country: A for Argentina Dish: Creme Caramel with Dulche de Leche This month, our blogging marathon group is setting off on a culinary journey around the world. I have to say this group is filled with hyper active women who get crazy ideas and thanks to our ever enthusiastic leader, Valli, we are able to channel all our energies into something interesting and exciting at the same time. So after our A-Z Indian cooking series, we started thinking on what the theme for the next mega marathon would be and A-Z International cooking series was the next obvious and logical choice....

The beginning of ashada month (month of the Hindu calendar corresponding to the June/July of English calendar) marks the beginning of the festive season. As we all know, the festive Indian meal is incomplete without a kheer or sweet pudding. So today, I am going to share a popular South Indian kheer recipe, and it’s the flattened rice pudding or the aval payasam. In our house, we always make paal payasam (milk-based kheer), onion sambar, potato curry the day before Diwali....

We make a lot of muffins in my household and everyone loves them. I think the most popular recipe right now is triple chocolate banana muffins but pumpkin chocolate chip muffins run a close second. I almost always have a loaf of whole wheat banana bread around for snacking. How long it takes: 45 minutes Equipment you’ll need: donut baking pan, mixing bowl, sauce pan, wire cooling rack Servings: 12 donuts But a glazed donut?...

Baked Mawa Gujiya For the alphabet “G,” I am going to share a baked recipe from India. It’s the festive special Gujiya. It’s the traditional gujiya prepared in the microwave and conventional oven. I made the inner filling with milk powder, nuts, and condensed milk. The condensed milk glaze adds shine to this baked gujiyas which in turn makes it more inviting and decadent and you won’t even feel that it’s baked....

Sandesh /Sondesh is an Extremely Popular Bengali Sweets The Indian Festive Season is in full swing (started yesterday) and here I’m with my Bengali Sandesh Recipe for you’ll. Every year, end of September or early October marks the beginning of winter Indian festivals and they end by March or April. Being such a large country, every state/region have their own little festivals too and that means that the entire country is completely immersed in celebrations!...

Today’s whole grain of choice is Black rice which I love for its nuttiness and earthy flavor. It has become quite popular in the West recently. This warm black rice and corn salad is hearty, slightly sweet and is great to serve even at room temperature.Black rice is called forbidden rice because in China during Ching and Ming dynasties, common people were forbidden from eating it. It was reserved exclusively for the royals to ensure their good health and longevity....

With just the right balance of sweet, tart, and bitter, this blood orange martini is such a bright and happy cocktail. And isn’t it pretty? How long it takes: just 5 minutes! Equipment you’ll need: cocktail shaker, ice, martini glass Servings: 1 Served perfectly chilled, with a stunning slice of dark red blood orange adorning the glass, you will feel celebrated every time you take a sip. Perfect any time of the year, refreshing in the summer and sunny in the winter, don’t wait — try one today!...

Give me a loaf of bread that’s the perfect balance of crusty and soft, and this bread dipping oil, and I’m a happy girl. Throw in a glass of wine and you’re pretty much making all my dreams come true. I mean, this stuff is absolutely irresistible. Someone asked me to develop a recipe for this, quite some time ago now…and I did…and then I sat on the floor of my studio after I photographed it and ate bite after bite…after bite....

The BEST Butter Pecan Cookies Fans of my recent butter pecan cake will be thrilled to discover these equally buttery, rich, and flavorful butter pecan cookies! These cookies make a great treat year-round (I love bringing them to parties and potlucks!), but I especially love them during the fall when pecans are in-season. Definitely save this one for your holiday baking! What’s to love: Quick: No chilling required and just 25 minutes of prep including the scooping and rolling (if you decide to roll them!...

This post contains helpful notes and tips to help you make the perfect dish. However, if you are in a rush, please use the “Jump to Recipe” link above or the “Jump to” links below to get to the section you want. Fresh peas are great, but I honestly do not go out of my way to buy them because good-quality frozen peas are always available and such a savior!...

The Perfect Chantilly Cake Chantilly cake is a super soft, plush cake (that stays soft, even in the fridge!) filled with a fresh berry jam and cloaked in a whipped mascarpone frosting. I’ve taken my own liberties with this well-loved cake and I think you’ll love this completely from-scratch, irresistible version that’s perfectly sweetened and tempered with the bright flavor of fresh summer berries. I think it’s pretty well documented on the blog that my angel food cake has been my favorite cake for decades, but it’s been replaced by my Chantilly cake....

Includes tips for making in advance so that all you have to do is toss it in the oven when you’re ready to serve. I’ve been all about breakfast foods recently. Today it’s this cheesy hashbrown casserole. Before that was homemade biscuits and sausage gravy, and before that, buttermilk pancakes. Any other breakfast foods you’d like to see?? Considering that my typical breakfast is a granola bar, cheesy/bacon-y breakfasts like this hashbrown casserole are more aspirational than a reflection of my reality, but they do make a good weekend morning/special occasion/holiday breakfast splurge....

An Easy, Hearty One-Pot Dinner Recipe I’ve got an easy, one-pot meal for you today, and it’s truly perfect for this time of year: the literal best chicken and rice soup. Simple and hearty with minimal prep and virtually no clean-up, this recipe comes together in under an hour, so you even have time to whip up a batch of biscuits or breadsticks while it cooks! Today’s recipe combines veggies, spices, chicken, and rice (plus a little bit of cream!...

I love making takeaway food right at home. Here is a delicious Chinese salad that is popular on takeaway menus and takes less than 10 minutes to make. There are 3 kinds of ‘Chinese takeaway’ - Indo-Chinese (like these Hakka noodles), American Chinese and authentic Chinese. Today’s recipe falls under the last group. Traditional Chinese food is very different from what we are used to eating in India and US....