Get a day off and you would think the whole day is yours and yours only, may be somewhere I had this little teeny weeny bit in my heart saying No no.., everything won't turn out as you want, I always go straight to my conservatory with my cup of tea Mmm..., and the plants I adore trying to save them from this cold winter, a pity I don't have a heater in my conservatory which would have made my plants have a warm surrounding, but poor little darlings have no such luxury, everyday I pray please don't die on me, I talk to each one of them, that's started my day off, checking all the plants, cleaning around picking around the withered leaves do you want to see my conservatory garden you can have a look at it.. here it is ....
I have got a few more this is just a sample.., they are not doing very well now especially my Doddapatre..:(

I had planned to bake a cake and got all the ingredients ready but everything got haywire, Once I started I couldn't stop picking around the kids clothes sorting out their rooms, trying to wake up my daughter asking her to get ready for her driving lessons, the time just flew, I remembered I had to do some shopping it is so cold, days are getting colder and colder walked down to a little town nearby to go to my favourite shop its a health wise shop I get lot of organic goods from there, I couldn't walk back as did a bit more shopping than I intended to and waited for the bus to turn up but incidentally it didn't turn up it was getting late and there was this kind gentleman who dropped us off near our house. Bless him, came home and had to cook something quickly as it was arrival time and they come home hungry.
I had some puy lentils which I had soaked earlier, and some thawed short cut pastry, this was quick one I could muster up right at the time they knock the door !!.
Here is how I stirred this up...

PUY LENTILS AND VEGETABLES HOT PIE
Recipe : own

INGREDIENTS:

Short cut / Puff Pastry Block (use as required )
100 grms Puy Lentils
2 Onions
3 to 4 Garlic
1" Ginger
2 Cups of assorted vegetables
( Carrot, Green, yellow and Red peppers, Potatoes, peas, broccoli)
1 tsp Chilli powder
1/2 tsp Pepper powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Cumin powder
1/4 single cream
Salt as required
1/4 cup of grated cheddar cheese
2 tbsp Butter

Cook the Puy Lentils with enough water with little salt in a Pressure cooker.
In a large wok heat 2 tbsp of butter, add chopped ginger, garlic and onions saute them until they sweat and become soft and translucent to this add the  masalas chilli powder, pepper powder, coriander powder, cumin powder then add the cooked puy lentils and chopped vegetables add required amount of salt and close the lid and cook for few more minutes around 10 to 15 minutes until all the veggies get properly cooked to this add single cream and grated cheese mix well and switch off the stove.
Allow it to cool completely,

pour them on to a buttered dish,

take thawed short cut pastry or puff pastry cut them for the three buttered dish press them on to the dish make three slits and brush them with milk, bake them in a pre heated oven for 30 minutes to 40 minutes until you see the pastry nice and golden in colour.

doesn't it look good, for a winter evening a one pot meal.

Sending this off to Bake-a-thon event started by champa, here is entree...

Hi everybody, Hope you are all doing fine, enjoying the three days of pongal, I have loads of posts to post, starting you will be seeing two posts today..., Enjoy them...
Here is the first one, the first is for Baking Partners, this month swathi of Zesty south Indian kitchen gave us two pies one was an Apple Pie and the other one is Sun Dried Tomato Tart, Of course you would know which one I would choose, my kids love anything spicy than sweetness, and this Tart was perfect for me to bake, when my kids come home from college hungry and they love to eat something like this, I made 4 Tarts. Individually and they love it for their snack time.
This is how I made it...
This Tart was suggested by samantha, so, thanks to both of you we loved it..

SUN DRIED TOMATO AND ONION TART
Recipe Source: Martin Picard's Sundried Tomato and Onion Tart

INGREDIENTS:
1 Roll of Ready made Puff pastry
2 Medium Sized onions
6 tbsp of Sun dried Tomato Pesto (Home made)*
Chives and Onion flavoured Red Leister Cheese
few Basil leaves
1 tbsp dried Italian Herbs
salt to taste
1 and 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard powder
1 and 1/2 tbsp Double cream

METHOD:
Thaw Puff pastry as indicated in the pack
Take a Large Pan heat 2 tbsp of Olive oil to this add chopped onions and saute until it turns translucent, add a bit of salt which helps to cook quickly.
Then add Tomato pesto, dried Italian herbs some more salt ( required quantity beware you have already added some salt to the onions and also you have some salt in your pesto )
Add chopped some fresh Basil leaves
In a bowl mix mustard Powder and fresh cream and keep it aside
Meanwhile  Cut your Puff pastry into 4 squares, press them on to the tart tins and cut the extras and keep them aside in the fridge until needed.
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180 degrees
Prick the bottom of the pastry and bake them in a preheated oven until the bottom becomes slightly brown. Take them out and leave it to cool.
Meanwhile your onion and Tomato filling would be cooled as well.
Fill the tarts with Sun Dried Pesto and onion filling to this add the double cream sauce into the four tarts.
Grate the cheese and top each of them with it.
Now take the cut out pieces from each tart, make them into long roll twist them to give a design join both the ends together and place them on each of the tarts and bake them now for around 20 to 25 minutes until they puff and start turning to golden brown.

Take them out once well done, on to a cooling rack, after 5 to 10 minutes slowly push  the bottom and release the tarts carefully and serve them on individual plate sand serve with some salad leaves and sauce or ketchup of your choice.
Totally awesome and my kids just loved it...
Will post my Home made Sun dried Tomato pesto Recipe soon..., stay tuned ...

This is Challenge # 6 Baking Partners

Days are becoming gloomier and the rain making the days much lengthier telling us winter has stepped in :(, The other day we had this heavy rain fall poured suddenly when we were Windsor Castle, with loads of Hail stones, giving us shivers around shoulders and  palms, Weather turned so cold, I cursed myself not taking gloves and rain coat nor an Umbrella. I usually never go out without my umbrella. In UK it is one of the most important thing we need to carry as we never know what the next few hours of weather we would be having :)), some of my plants have found their way into my conservatory, we had a horrible frost as well, worried they might kill my plants. what have you done ? Do you have some precious plants you don't want them to die, what plans do you have to protect them.
Oh! wondering why I am here today, as I am not blogging regularly these days as I already told I have been really busy as my Mom is visiting me, and blogging is lagging the attention it needs.
An other month and An other SRC already. this month Suzanne my hostess assigned me to Le Ann's blog who blogs at Highlands Ranch Foodie.  Ranches, Cow Boys, Texas, Cattle Ranching was all those things I used to read when I was a young girl in books and wondered Wow what a life.  Reading Le Ann's blog I found that she lives in a place which used to be a place where they had cattle Ranches and she talks about it in her space. She says that she loves preparing authentic Mexican food and recipes that reflect the flavours of the west.
I was looking for something to bake, and this recipe caught my eye I have also book marked an other two recipe, I loved this one as it was Healthier and made with Linseed/Flaxseed, my daughter loves eating cheese and this would be a perfect one for her munching tidbits.  I just made little changes to the Original recipe.

FLAX SEED, CRUSHED PEPPER AND SUNFLOWER SEED CRACKERS
Adapted from : Highlands Ranch Foodie 
Preparation : 15 minutes
Baking time : 20 minutes
Yields : 9 Crackers

INGREDIENTS:
3/4th Cup Whole wheat Atta
1/4 cup Oats powdered
2 tbsp Butter
1 tsp crushed pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp ground Flax seed meal
2 tbsp whole Linseed / flaxseed
1/8th tsp baking soda
2 tbsp thick yogurt/curds
2 tbsp water

METHOD:
In a large bowl take all the Ingredients except water and mix them well enough until they are well blended, to this add water as needed and make it into a nice firm dough.
In a baking sheet spread the dough in a rectangular shape, top sunflower seeds on then then as a topping, using Roller pin roll them once again with the toppings.
Cut them into 9 equal pieces with the help of a pizza cutter, keeping them apart, separate them out and bake them for about 20 minutes in a preheated oven  just 10 minutes before.
Remove them on to a cooling rack, they just slide off easily and here you are with your crackers.
Enjoy topping it with some cheese and some salsa.

Make it Vegan : By substituting butter with oil and yogurt with just water :))

Quiche is spelled as keesh, which is said originally derived from french meaning a ''Little cake''. but some say that it is something which the German chefs baked 'Kuchen'' meaning a little cake in a shell.

SO, WHAT EXACTLY IS QUICHE?
It is a French Tart consisting of Pastry Crust usually filled with savoury fillings! Like custard, cheese, meat, Seafood or Vegetables.  It is a French dish, but is said that eggs and cream in a pastry is an English Cuisine!
In French Quiche is named descriptively like for example :

Quiche au fromage ( quiche with cheese )

Quiche aux champignons ( quiche with mushrooms)

Quiche with florentine (Spinach) and Provencale (Tomatoes) 

When and How do you serve? 
Quiche is such a versatile recipe can be served anytime of the day,  Serve it hot or warm.  It is a party food, serve along with Roast potatoes and cooked green peas, roasted and sautéed with spices. I usually serve it as breakfast on weekends or when my kids come back from school like a snack!!, Quiche is something made with eggs, dairy and cream cheese combination to a custardy consistency baked in a shell.
Quiche was something I came to know only after coming to UK, I started baking quiches with eggs when I started to learn baking, as my kids and Husband loved it. After I started baking Eggless I started experimenting to substitute eggs in all the recipes I baked.  Savoury bakes are my family favourite and I love to substitute Eggs in every recipe I make. 

Eggless Baking!
When Gayatri  asked us to bake quiches for Eggless Baking Group this month, I was into it completely because I keep baking quiches quite often as my family love it.   I have been trying new ways to substitute eggs to do quiches, tarts and pies which are our favourite savoury baking.  My family likes savoury bakes than sweet bakes, which you might have noticed in my blog.

Let us get to the recipe...
This recipe was adapted from Martha stewart using her pie - dough recipe.. here it is how I have changed the  original recipe.  I have substituted Eggs and whole meal flour and added extra veggies in it..

This will be a very long post bear with me....EGGLESS WHOLE MEAL SPINACH, MUSHROOM CHEDDAR QUICHE

BASIC PIE DOUGH
Adapted minimally from Martha stewart
Makes 9 inch crust

INGREDIENTS:
1  and 1/4 Cup Whole meal flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
100 grms ( nearly 1/2 cup ) butter
6 tbsp ( nearly 1/2 cup around 100ml ) Cup cold water

METHOD:
Mix the flours, sugar and salt well together.
Chop the cold butter into pieces, mix them in a food processor, as I do not have one I used my spatula ( a hard one ) and mixed them as much as possible, you can even use your hands and flour resembles like crumbles to this dough start adding cold water I started of with 1/4 cup and then started adding tbsp of cold water until the flour became a dough!.  Do not handle the dough too much.
Place this dough in a plastic wrap and chill it again in your fridge for at least an hour, so the butter firms  up again. ( you can even keep it overnight )
After an hour or so, take it out, I used a cling film, I  first spread it on my table top then placed this firmed up dough  on top of it placed an other cling film covering it, so I won't be touching the dough, and rolled it thin as I needed an 9 inch crust, I had to take them out of the cling film as it was not big enough and rolled them again a bit more from the middle rolling it around for an even base.  Or you can lightly flour the surface and roll out the crust, as I did not want to add more flour I made it this way.

Butter the tart case thoroughly, Sprinkle some corn meal on the base. Lift the dough carefully and place it on the tart case and press them completely and trim of the edges if any.
Prick the base with a fork this makes the dough not puffing up then place a baking sheet and put some baking beans ( or Rice ) on top of them, then put it back into the fridge for an other half an hour to firm the butter again or until you make the filling.
Blind Bake this case in a oven at 190 degrees/ Gas Mark 6 for 20 minutes you can see the crust turning gold at the edges.
Remove it from the oven and place it on a wire rack,
I learnt a trick from a book that if you add hot oil ( olive or any oil ) on the base of the pie crust immediately after taking it out of the oven the  crust will not become soggy and firms up.., I can't remember which book, anyway I added 2 tbsp of hot oil on to the crust immediately after taking it out of the oven after removing the baking beans, then put it back again in the oven reducing the temperature to 180 degrees/ Gas mark 4 for a further 5 minutes ( you can even skip this and just add the filling and bake your quiche )
Check out this website for some cool ideas on how to bake a perfect pie crust with lot of variations

SPINACH AND MUSHROOM WITH CHEDDAR FILLING

INGREDIENTS:
250 grams Spinach
150 grms Mushrooms
2 Onions
2 garlic pods
1 tsp of Pepper powder
1/2 tbsp Italian dried herbs
1 and 1/2 tsp of Salt
1 Cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Creme fraiche
1 tbsp Chia seeds ( + 3 tbsp of Hot water )
1/2 Cup Milk
1 tbsp Arrow root powder

METHOD:
First step Soak Chia seeds in hot water for few minutes.

Next chop onions and  garlic.  Heat  2 tsp of oil add all the chopped ingredients and saute them.  Meanwhile wash and dry out the spinach with the help of a kitchen towel spreading the washed spinach on a towel, then chop them and chop Mushrooms too.., Once the onions become translucent add spinach and mushroom and saute them on a medium to high heat until they wilt away then sprinkle pepper powder, salt and Italian dried herbs mix well, and saute them. As veggies sometimes release water try to Sauté until it evaporates, actually it doesn't completely evaporate so not to bother.  Once done you can add 1/4 Cup bread crumbs, so it will absorb all the water. Take it out and allow it cool.

Meanwhile mix milk and arrow root powder and put it in a pan and cook it until it starts thickening, remove immediately when it is almost semi thick like a  sauce.
In a blender take  chia seeds, creme fraiche , and the above said sauce, blend them all well together, until it becomes like a thick creamy sauce.
Add this creamy sauce to the cooked spinach mix well, pour this onto the pre baked crust, add grated cheese on top of it and put it back in the oven and bake the quiche for a further 30 to 40 minutes until the quiche has a golden top.
Take out the quiche when done, leave it on a wire rack to cool down a bit then cut them out and serve them warm to enjoy with some salad leaves, Roast potatoes with ketchup or what ever you like.

Little Tips:
Take out the quiche when the middle is still soft this makes the quiche looks creamy custardy texture.
Check out Gayatri's Baking Eggless group round - up in her blog for a variety of baking eggless Quiches!