Best Key Lime Pie

This is my recipe for the best key lime pie.

It's made the traditional way with just one additional ingredient.

3-oz of cream cheese to make it extra smooth and creamy.

Key lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, and egg yolks.

 Combine condensed milk, cream cheese and egg yolks.

 Beat for 3-4 minutes until creamy.

Mix in the key lime juice.

You'll need a graham cracker pie crust (HERE)

 Pour filling into crust.

 Bake for about 10 minutes to set up.

Let cool, then refrigerate.

 Serve with whipped cream.

 Tart and sweet.

It's a classic. Perfect with coffee!

   

BEST KEY LIME PIE

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks

3-oz cream cheese

2/3 C key lime juice, fresh or Nellie & Joe's

1 prepared graham cracker crust (my recipe HERE)

Whipped cream for topping to serve

Beat egg yolks, cream cheese and condensed milk
with an electric mixer for about 3-4 minutes
 on medium high until very smooth. 

Reduce speed to low and slowly add the lime juice. 

Beat one minute until thick. Pour into prepared
 pie crust. Bake about 10 minutes at 350 until
filling is just set. Cool to room temperature,
then refrigerate. 

Serve topped with a good dollop of whipped cream.

Enjoy!

also see Key Lime Chiffon Pie and
 Luscious Lime Cheesecake Squares

Links: Somewhat Simple, Remodelaholic,
Savvy Southern Style

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Broccoli and Cheese Soup | Soup Recipes

I have tasted Broccoli and cheese soup only twice so far. The first time I tasted it with much reluctance doubting it to be too cheesy. But it was very tasty and not too cheesy. Since I love broccoli, I enjoyed the tiny pieces of it in the soup. Now I had wanted to recreate the soup very much and was successful in my first attempt. It was a simple process with few easy ingredients and would be ready in under 20 minutes in a microwave. Paired with some bread it makes a wholesome meal in itself. One of the main ingredient, cheese (reduced fat) when used in moderation is an excellent source of protein and calcium. Also broccoli is rich in calcium and milk is rich in Vitamin D which helps in better calcium absorption by the body.

 Ingredients:
I used standard measurements
Serves - 2
Broccoli Florets - 1 cup
Milk - 3 cups
Grated Sharp Cheddar cheese - little less than 1 cup
Olive oil - 2 tbsp (can use butter instead)
All-purpose flour - 2 tbsp
Onion - chopped fine - 2 tbsp
Garlic - 1 clove - finely minced
Salt - 1/4 tsp or to taste
Fresh ground pepper - 1/4 tsp or to taste

Method:

My microwave(MW) is of a 900w power.
Cut the broccoli florets into bite sized pieces and add 1/4 cup of water and cook in a medium MW proof bowl for about 4 mins stirring once in between. When done mash with a fork or a hand blender. I just pulsed in the blender for a couple of seconds. Take another big MW proof bowl and add the olive oil and heat for 30 secs. Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well and cook for 2 to 3 mins stirring once every one minute. The onions would turn soft and translucent by now. Now add the flour and mix well. Pour the milk and stir well so that there are no lumps. Cook for 4 mins stirring once every minute. Now add the cheese, mix well and cook for 3 mins. When done add the mashed broccoli and mix well. Heat further for a minute. Serve hot with bread.

Sending this to MEC-Calcium rich food event by Srivalli and Lakshmi and to Hearth & Soup Blog Hop #49.

Sending this to Srivalli's Soups and Salads Mela

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Announcing "Serve It" Series - Serve It Chilled

I and Denny of Oh Taste N See are college friends and have shared the common interest of food blogging. Denny was one of the motivators for me to start a food blog. I was always inspired by her comprehensive knowledge of world-cuisine. If you have not checked out her site, do check out Oh Taste N See now and guess what she has blogged about 300+ recipes. We had an idea of starting an event for a while now. Well, things got little delayed but we have successfully initiated our new event, given that she is celebrating her first anniversary of food blogging this month.

We are delighted to announce the "Serve It" series, which is going to be a theme-based event for every month. This month the theme is "Serve It - Chilled" and is happening at her space. Do check out the event guidelines at her event announcement page. We hope to receive grand support from you all with your super-cool chilled entries.

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Dum Aloo / Potatoes in Yogurt based gravy | Indian Curry Recipes

I believe quite a few many of us have a list of dishes to try which we have either bookmarked in browser or our mind. We would totally forget about it until we see it again in some other place like another blog or magazines. My bookmarked list is growing and I would want to try everything soon. Dum Aloo was one such dish which is in my "To Do" list. My "To Do" list is something in addition to the bookmarked list :). The other day i saw this beautiful baby potatoes in the market and can't resist but pick them up, since I was planning to make Dum Aloo for a long time now. Dum Aloo literally means Steam cooked  Potato where in the potatoes are cooked with the gravy in a covered pan.

Ingredients:
Serves - 2-3
Baby potatoes - 6-7
Yogurt/Curd - 1/2 cup - smoothened
Milk - 1/2 cup
Onion - chopped finely - 1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 3/4 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Oil
Salt- to taste

Method:

Boil 2 litres of water with salt. Prick the potatoes all over with fork and put them in the boiling water. Simmer for 15 mins and drain. I left the skin on, you may peel if you wish. Heat 2 tsp of oil in a non-stick pan and saute the potatoes until all sides turn brown. Drain in a paper towel and prick all over with fork again. This ensures the gravy to seep well through the potatoes. Heat 2 tbsp of oil and saute the chopped onions until soft and transparent. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry until the raw smell disappears. 
Now reduce the heat to medium and add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder one-by-one, followed by salt. Saute for 2 mins. Now add the milk and then the yogurt. Make sure you stir continuously while adding milk and yogurt. This would prevent the yogurt and milk from curdling from the acidity of the spices. Add the potatoes and give a gentle mix. Cover and cook for 15 mins or until the potatoes are soft but still holds the shape. Serve hot with rotis or flavored rice.

Sending this the Hearth & Soul Blog Hop #48.

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Coffee flavored Wheat & Almond Biscotti

It was one fine afternoon last week, I was munching some almonds and reading when it stuck that I had never really baked anything with almonds. Oh how wonderful it would be to get some baked goodies with almonds fresh from the oven. I tried googling for some butterless recipes since I ran out of butter and came across these wonderful and flavorful Coffee and roasted almond biscotti at Deeba's Passionate about Baking.
Biscotti is an Italian word, which has its roots from Latin biscoctus, meaning 'twice baked/cooked'. These are biscuits/cakes which are baked twice to ensure longer shelf life. These are quick and easy to make goodies which are perfect for anytime munching or for travel.

Ingredients:
Original recipe from here
Wheat flour - 1 cup
AP flour - 3/4 cup
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 1/4 cup (60 ml)
Sugar - 2/3 cup
Eggs - 2 (room temperature)
Instant coffee powder - 2 tbsp
Almond essence - 1 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Almonds - slightly less than 1 cup

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread the almonds on a non-stick pan and roast in the oven for 10 mins. Roasting the almonds or any nuts for that matter, intensifies its flavor. When done, cool and chop into coarse pieces or pulse for 2 secs in a food processor. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 300 F.
Whisk/sieve together the flours, salt and baking powder. In a big mixing bowl, mix the oil and sugar. Add eggs, coffee powder and essences. Beat with a hand mixer or whisk until well combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing with a whisk everytime until blended. Finally fold in the almonds. Divide the dough into two parts and shape each part into a a log of 12" x 3". My log was rather flat. Have a bowl of water to wet your fingers to shape the log, since the dough will be sticky. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 mins and cool for 10 mins. Carefully transfer the log to a cutting board and cut into 1" pieces. A serrated knife works great for cutting. Repeat for the other log. Return the pieces to the cookie sheet with cut side down.
Reduce the temperature of the oven further to 275 F. Bake the cut biscottis for 8 mins, turn over and bake for another 8 mins. Cool in a wire rack and store in air tight containers.

 
Note: I have added more wheat flour than all-purpose flour, although you may use purely wheat flour or all purpose flour. It is just mildly sweetened and perfect to compliment the coffee flavor, you may add more sugar if you like it more sweet.
I am sending this to Tried & Tasted event which features Deeba's Passionate about baking guest hosted by Jayasri Ravi of Samayalarai Cooking is divine, original event by Zlamuska and Lakshmi.
I am also sending this to Drive me Nuts event by Anamika of Taste Junction and to Bookmarked recipes - Every Tuesday event by Aipi and Priya.


Also linking it up to Flavours of Cuisines - Italian event by Julie.

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Kasuri Methi Paneer / Hara Paneer Masala | Indian Curry Recipes

It is so surprising that time flies too fast sometimes and we don't have time to  do whatever we were thinking of doing. It applies very well when it comes to sending entries to food blog events. I will be planning to cook for certain events, do so religiously, but organizing and posting for events on time becomes the challenging part. For this month's Herbs & Flowers - Fenugreek leaves is the chosen herb by Mom Chef of What's Cooking. I love buying fresh greens and regularly buy fenugreek leaves on my trip to Indian grocery. This time I made a simple and flavorful methi pulao. No, I do not have a picture of it here because it was so good (yes, it is true) that I did not even have some left for the clicks. So planned to make a dish using kasoori methi and my favorite paneer for the event.

Ingredients:
Paneer - cut into 1/2" cubes - 1 cup
Onion - chopped fine - 1/2 cup
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Kasuri Methi - 1/3 cup - crushed
Salt - to taste
Onion - cubed - 1 cup
Oil
Marinade:
Oil - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Dry mango powder/Amchur powder - 1 tsp (Can substitute chaat masala - see notes below)
Salt - a pinch

Method:
Mix the ingredients for marinade in a bowl and gently coat the paneer cubes with the paste. Set aside for 1 hr (minimum 30 mins). In a medium non-stick pan, heat 1 tsp of oil and saute the cubed onions until it turns pale brown. Let it cool and blend to a fine paste adding little water. In the same pan, heat a tsp of oil and fry the paneer until light brown in medium heat. This may be done in batches. In a wide non-stick pan, heat 2 tsp of oil and saute the chopped onions. When it turns translucent add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a couple of mins. Add the pureed onions with chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt. Fry for about 5 mins. Add 1/2 cup of water and allow the mixture to boil. Splattering at this stage is possible, take precaution. Now add the paneer cubes and crushed kasuri methi, mix well in fold pattern. Allow it to heat for about 3-5 mins and remove from heat. Serve hot with bread/roti/naan.
Notes:
1. I did not add any tomatoes. You may add pureed tomatoes if desired.
2. If using chaat masala for marinating, reduce the amount of salt, since chaat masala already would have salt in it.
3. Frying the paneer is optional. Marinated paneer can just be added to the gravy directly and cooked. 

Sending this to Herbs & Flowers event by PJ.
I am also sending this and my Honey Brownies to Dish Name Starts with - H event by Akila.

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Sago Kitchdi / Javvarisi Upma | Upma Recipes

Sago is the starchy extract from tapioca. It is also commonly known as sabudhana/Javvarisi/Saggubiyyam in regional languages of India. These are small, dry white balls (about 2 mm or less) which becomes larger, translucent and soft when soaked and cooked. They are mostly used in preparing sweets like kheer/pudding and also savory dishes like upma or fryums. I first tasted this upma when my MIL made. I loved it very much and brought a packet of sago with me during my recent trip to India. I used the smaller variety of sago which is very tiny and called nylon sago. This recipe for sago upma was in the back of the sago packet. This is one simple recipe, which does not require any chopping (even onions) and is ready within no time.

Ingredients:
Pearl Sago - small ones - 2 cups
Moong dhal - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 3 or 4
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsps
Curry leaves - a few
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Chana dhal / Split chick peas - 1 tsp

Method:
Wash and soak sago in water for 1 hr. Drain and set aside. Cook the moong dhal with 2 cups of water with 1/4 tsp of salt until soft but still holds its shape.  Heat oil in a wide bottomed non-stick pan and add mustard seeds. When it pops reduce the heat to medium and add chana dhal and fry until it turns light brown. Add slit green chillis and curry leaves, followed by sago and salt to taste. Mix in cut-fold method until the sago turns shiny and transparent, about 5 to 10 mins. Add the cooked moong dhal, mix well and check for seasoning. Turn the heat off and add the grated coconut. Mix well and serve hot. Garnish with cilantro leaves is desired.

Sending this to Srivalli's Breakfast Mela.

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