Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)

Tags

Baked Foods, Blogging Marathon, Greek dishes, side dishes

Spanakopita is a famous Greek Pie. It’s flaky on the top with a delicious spinach, feta cheese filling. Pastry sheet gives a nice crispness to the dish. This can be served as a side dish with meat or a main dish with some salad.

I called a friend when I chose to do Greek dishes as she always made her family Greek dishes for potlucks. She shared me this delicious recipe.

Simply replace egg with flax meal to make this a vegetarian dish. (1 tablespoon flax meal and 3tablespoons water for each egg)

Sending this recipe to our BM #109, week 3 day 2 under Countries by Alphabet where I’m doing Greek dishes.

Preparation Time: 2o minutes

Cook Time : 1 hour

Makes : 6 pieces

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

Puff Pastry sheet : 1 package thawed

Extra virgin Olive oil : 1/2 cup

For Filling:

Baby Spinach : 2 cups

Parsley : 1 cup finely chopped

Onion : 1 large finely chopped

Garlic : 2 cloves minced

Extra virgin olive oil : 1 tablespoon

Eggs : 3

Feta Cheese: 1 1/4 cups crumbled

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, add all the ingredients listed under for filling and mix well to combine.

Unroll the pastry sheet, roll it a little. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and place the pastry sheet in the pan, apply olive oil generously, evenly spread the filling over the sheet. fold rest of the sheet and cover the filling.

Gently press the sheet to close the edges. Bake for 1 hour or until the crust is golden. Let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

Serve immediately. The left overs can be refrigerated for 2-3 days.

 

 

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#109

Chocolate cup cakes

Tags

Baked Foods, cup cakes, desserts

These chocolate cup cakes are simple to make yet delicious. I’ve made these cup cakes so many times, don’t know why I didn’t get a chance to post it on the blog. It’s one of my kids and their friends favourite cup cake.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Bake time : 25 minutes

Makes : 12 cup cakes

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter : 4 tablespoons

Vegetable oil : 1/4 cup

Water : 1/2 cup

Instant coffee : 1 teaspoon

All purpose flour : 1 cup

Sugar : 1 cup

Unsweetened cocoa powder : 1/3 cup

Baking soda : 3/4 teaspoon

Salt : A pinch

Egg : 1 large

Buttermilk : 1/4 cup

Vanilla extract: 1 teaspoon

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place paper lines in a 12 cup muffin tray.

In a medium sauce pan, melt together butter, vegetable oil and water.

In a large bowl, add all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt. Add the butter mixture, coffee powder and beat with a hand mixer until it’s well combined.

Add eggs, buttermilk and beat well to combine.

Pour the batter into the muffin tray and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

Let the cup cakes cool for 10 minutes before serving. Cool completely to store in an air tight container.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken Parmigiana

Tags

Baked Foods, Chicken Recipes, Italian

Chicken Parmigiana/ Chicken Parmesan is a dish that has breaded chicken bread covered  in pasta sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. It’s a popular dish in the Italian-American cuisine. It’s often served as a main course with a side of, or on top of pasta.

I used chicken thighs as my kids are not a big fan of breast pieces. But, originally the dish is made with breast pieces. Breast pieces are a little chewy compared to the thigh pieces.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 60 minutes

Serves : 2

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken thighs: 4 pieces (If using breast pieces, 2 pieces halved)

Egg : 1 large beaten

Bread crumbs : 1/2 cup

Spaghetti sauce : 2 cups

Shredded Mozzarella : 1/2 cup

Parmesan cheese : 1/2 cup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Take the beaten into a medium sized bowl and the bread crumbs into another bowl.

One at a time, dip the chicken pieces into egg and then into the bread crumbs and place them in a lightly greased baking pan and bake for 40 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink.

Once chicken is done, remove the chicken into a plate, pour half of the sauce into the pan, place the chicken back into the pan and cover it with rest of the sauce. Add mozzarella and parmesan cheeses on top and put the pan back into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Take it out of the oven and serve immediately as is or on top of cooked pasta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C- Caprese stuffed Chicken

Tags

Baked Foods, Chicken Recipes, gluten free, Italian

Caprese  is a simple Italian salad made of sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, sweet basil, oilve oil, salt and pepper. It’s a refreshing and filling salad.

This caprese stuffed chicken is made with sweet basil pesto, fresh mozzarella and tomatoes stuffed in the chicken breast and seasoned with Italian seasoning. You can just use sweet basil, Pesto is not necessary, I used it to add more flavour to the dish.

Made this as part of our A to Z series where I’m doing 30 minutes or less meals. Today is letter C.  BM#108, week 3, day 3.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves : 3-4

Ingredients:

Chicken breast : 4

Basil Pesto : 1 cup

Fresh mozzarella : 4 slices

Tomatoes : 2 sliced

Italian seasoning: 1 1/2 tablespoons

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut a pocket into each chicken breast, stuff them with pesto, mozzarella and tomatoes. Close them using a toothpick. Season the chicken with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

In a large pan, heat oil and sear the chicken until golden, 3 minutes per side.

Transfer into a oven safe pan and cook until the chicken is cooked for about 15 minutes.

Remove the toothpicks and serve hot with the pan juices and veggies. I served it with avocado.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Tags

Baked Foods, snacks, Starters

Mozzarella sticks are normally deep fried but I made a baked version which is similar to the cheese bread. It’s cheese sticks stuffed in the pizza dough. The cheese is nicely melted and serves delicious with some marinara sauce.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Bake time : 8-10 minutes

Serves: 15 sticks

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough : 1/2 this recipe

Mozzarella string cheese or sliced cheese : 15

Olive oil : 2 tablespoons

Italian seasoning : 2 tablespoons

Marinara sauce : 1 cup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once the pizza dough is ready, dust the surface with some flour and roll the dough into a rectangle shape.

Cut them into 2 inch ribbons, place the cheese sticks in between and close each ribbon.

Brush with olive oil, sprinkle the Italian seasoning and bake for 8-10 minutes until the sticks are golden brown.

Take the sticks out of the oven, cut them into pieces and serve immediately with marinara sauce.

Creamy Parmesan Chicken

Tags

Baked Foods, Blogging Marathon, Chicken Recipes, Italian

This creamy Parmesan Chicken is a very simple to make dish yet delicious. Sauce made with Parmesan cheese, fresh cream and garlic adds a lot of flavour to this dish. I used chicken thighs but chicken breast can be used too.

This chicken goes well with salads, rice or pasta. Both my husband and my little one cleaned the plate without any complaints. It was an instant hit.

Sending the recipe over to our annual baking event, Bake-A-Thon 2019.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time : 10 minutes

Bake Time : 15 minutes

Serves : 2-3

Ingredients:

Chicken breast or Thighs : 4

Extra virgin olive oil : 1 tablespoon

Garlic cloves : 3 minced

Vegetable or chicken broth : 1 cup

Heavy cream : 1/2 cup

Dried Thyme : 2 teaspoons

Red pepper flakes : 1 teaspoon

Chopped sun-dried tomatoes : 1/2 cup

Grated parmesan cheese : 1/4 cup

Pepper : 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat olive oil in a pan on medium heat, add chicken, salt and pepper. Sear until golden brown on both sides. Each side should take about 3-4 minutes. Take the chicken onto a plate and keep aside.

In the same pan, add garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute.

Add Chicken or vegetable broth, heavy cream, sun-dried tomatoes, salt and parmesan cheese. Stir well and bring it to a bring it to a simmer. Add the chicken pieces and stir.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Transfer chicken and sauce into a oven safe pan and bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.

Serve immediately with pasta, rice or roasted vegetable salad.

 

 

 

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Buttery Chocolate Cookies

Tags

Baked Foods, Blogging Marathon, cookies

These buttery chocolate cookies are rich and chocolaty. Definitely for those chocolate lovers with all the chocolate in the recipe. With all the butter in the recipe, the dough needs to be refrigerated so the cookies don’t come flat. So, make these cookies at leisure. Found this recipe in a Newyork times news paper couple years back. I made minor adjustments to the original recipe after couple tries.

Made these cookies for a friends daughter to take it to her school for a potluck and the poor little girl got just a half a cookie to taste. So, I had to make another batch so they can enjoy at home.

Sending this recipe to our bake-a-thon 2019 event.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Chilling time: 30 minutes in the freezer + 2 hours in the fridge

Bake Time : 15 minutes per batch

Makes : 24 cookies

Ingredients:

All purpose flour : 1 cup

Good quality cocoa powder : 3/4 cup

Salt : 3/4 teaspoon

Baking powder : 1/2 teaspoon

Baking soda: 1/2 teaspoon

Unsalted butter : 10 tablespoons

Dark brown sugar : 3/4 cup

White sugar : 2/3 cup

Egg : 1 large

Vanilla extract: 2 teaspoons

Mini chocolate chips : 2 cups

Method:

In a medium bowl, add flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda and whisk them together.

In a large bowl, cream butter and both sugars until the mixture is very light and fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla and beat until it’s combined.

Add the dry ingredients mixture and beat until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix a little.

Press plastic wrap towards the dough and chill it for 30 minutes in the freezer and for 2 hours in the fridge.

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a cookie sheet, make 24 small dough balls the size of a lime and press them a little to make a disc and bake for 15 minutes.

Transfer the cookies to the cooling tray and rest them for 10 minutes. Serve cookies warm with milk or store once they are completely cool in an airtight container.

 

 

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Coffee Cake

Tags

Baked Foods, Blogging Marathon, cakes

Coffee cake is a breakfast or snack time cake that has no coffee added to it. It goes well with some hot coffee or tea. This is a pretty simple recipe which hardly takes 15 minutes to prep. The cake is really fluffy and will melt in your mouth. It sure will be a crowd pleaser.

You can prepare batter the night before and refrigerate it and bake it in the morning for breakfast too. I tried baking immediately and after resting the batter overnight and both turned out delicious.

Sending this recipe over to our annual baking event bake-a-thon 2019.

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Bake Time: 35 minutes

Makes : 13×9 cake

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter : 3/4 cup softened

Sugar : 1 cup

Eggs : 2 large at room temperature

All purpose flour : 2 cups

Baking soda : 1 teaspoon

Ground nutmeg : 3/4 teaspoon

Salt : 1/2 teaspoon

Sour cream : 1 cup (can substitute with 1 cup yogurt + 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda)

Brown sugar : 1/2 cup

Ground Cinnamon : 1 teaspoon

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium size bowl, add butter, sugar and cream them till light and fluffy.

Add one egg at a time and beat till combined.

Add all purpose flour, baking soda, ground nutmeg, salt, sour cream and beat to combine.

Grease and flour a 13×9 pan and pour the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar and ground cinnamon. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out Clean.

Cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serve with some hot coffee or tea.

 

 

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Buttermilk Biscuits

Tags

Baked Foods, Blogging Marathon, Breakfast dishes, eggless, side dishes

These buttermilk biscuits are soft, buttery and flaky. Serve them with some jam, honey or any other topping of your choice. This biscuit dough works well as a topping for pot pies.

I always used to buy the refrigerated dough for biscuits when I lived in US, but I couldn’t find that in India. So, I tried several recipes to make them but not every one suited the kids taste buds. After so many alterations, I was able to get a recipe that they loved. My friends loved these flaky biscuits too.

Couple tips to get perfect tips is you should be working with cold butter and buttermilk. Do not over mix. Only use hands to make the dough. The faster you work, the better the texture of the biscuits will be. As, this helps the butter not to melt (especially during hot weather).

Sending this recipe to our annual baking event bake-a-thon 2019.

Preparation Time: 8 minutes

Bake Time: 15 minutes

Makes : 12 biscuits

Ingredients:

All purpose flour : 2 cups

Baking powder : 1 tablespoon

Baking soda : 1/4 teaspoon

Salt : 1 teaspoon

Sugar : 1 tablespoon

Unsalted Butter : 6 tablespoons cold diced

Buttermilk : 3/4 cup cold

Method :

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Line a cookie tray with parchment paper and keep aside.

In a large bowl, add all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and butter. Gently mix everything to make a crumble where butter is still pea sized.

Add buttermilk and fold everything gently. Take the mixture onto floured surface and pat to 1/2 inch thickness. Fold it twice and pat to 1/2 inch thickness again.

Now cut the dough with a cookie cutter and place them on the lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

Once the biscuits are out of the oven, brush them with melted butter. Serve hot with any topping of your choice.

 

 

 

 

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Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Tags

Baked Foods, Blogging Marathon, Breakfast dishes, muffins

These Apple Cinnamon Muffins has pieces on apple and buttery cinnamon in each and every bite. People who are not a big fan of muffins will quickly change their mind and will love these flavourful muffins. I made these muffins several times and every time, the entire batch is gone within 15 minutes.

Made these muffins as part of our bake-a-thon 2019 event.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Bake time: 30 minutes

Makes : 12 muffins

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter : 1/2 cup at room temperature

Sugar : 1 cup

Eggs : 2 large

Cold Milk : 1/2 cup

Vanilla extract : 2 teaspoons

All purpose flour : 2 cups

Baking powder : 1 1/2 teaspoons

Salt : 1/2 teaspoon

Ground cinnamon : 2 teaspoons

Coat the apples:

Apples : 2 cups diced

All purpose flour : 2 teaspoons

Ground cinnamon : 1/2 teaspoon

For the topping:

Butter : 1/2 cup melted

Sugar : 1/4 cup

Ground cinnamon : 1/4 cup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line the muffin tray with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon powder and sift them and whisk together. Keep aside.

In a small bowl, add the ingredients listed under coat the apples and mix to combine.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and make sure to mix well before adding the second one. Add the milk and mix.

Gently fold in the dry ingredients mixture to the butter mixture and stir just to combine. Fold in the apple mixture and scoop the batter into the muffin tray and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

In a small bowl, add the ingredients listed under for coating and mix well.

Once the muffins are out of the oven, cool them for 10 minutes and brush the coating onto the muffins and serve.

 

 

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