QDOBA - Mexican US Chain !

ok.. so here Iam Updating my retsaurant review.. US in general is not only about KFC McD Wendy's BurgerKing or PizzaHut. The Mexican Food here is quiet popular too, I happened to land in one during my visit to Kalamazoo.The QDOBA where i tried was on Westenedge Avenue.

This one is called as QDOBA .. its a take away type food chain where in you can find items like a Burrito, Fajita or a Gumbo. Nw since I am a vegeterian person I tried Veg version of all these dishes in couple of my visits..

Burrito is no more than a Veg Role the major difference is in Shape where in they wrap the tortila(Chapati) around the stuff( Rice, Sauces,Vegetables etc) in a rectangular shape ours you see is a Cylindrical one :). Gumbo on the other side is Rajma Chawal.,, not as delicious as the one we get in India but ya anyone feeling like eating Rajma Chawal can give Gumbo a try. Along with it they give you an option of unlimited Fountain drinks for I guess $ 1.99.. On an overall sclae a worth trying restaurant especially when you are getting a chance to try different cuisine.

The Rates are anywhere in between 5.99$ - 8.99$.

Pind Baluchi Gurgaon

Unlike Delhi the food at Pind baluch looks like , the same being served in a village ambience. but it doesn't taste that well fo rme.

Near to "Bikanerwala" outlet in sector -29 Gurgaon.I will say one of the best ambiance in NCR region and I think that is the reason they charge more, cosidering the food to be average.




Piece of wood kept on your table would be the menu, .They serve veg as well as non-veg food. . They have some not-so-common items available like - Kurkuri Bhindi, Aam Panna etc to name a few.The taste of the food has suited every pallette that I personally know off. They serve liquor / beer as well. I am a non-drinker so no review on this part.
The Price: As I said earlier, this is not an expensive eating joint. This can be compared to Dana Choga in terms of prices and value for money. In groupf of 3-4 people, a veg dinner / lunch would cost around Rs 150-200 per head, while the carnivores may need to shell our another Rs 50 - 75 per head. No advice for drunkards for reasons already cited. Don’t forget to add the Rs 10 you spend on the parking and some sundry expenses if your kid finds some street vendor selling toys amusing.

Pros:
1. Ok food (Both veg as well as non veg)
2. Good Ambience
3. Well groomed and polite staff.
4. Very affordable prices.
5. Sometimes, good music.
6. No intrusion of privacy
Cons:
1. Relatively slow service - maybe due to the staff diverting some of their attention to their attirte.
2. Presence of slight smoke everywhere as the tandoors are open for public view.
3. It does not have separate alchol and smoking sections.
4. The road near the restaurant are in a bad shape - God forbid if you visit during monsoons.

Macaroons from My Valentine

Last week, I saw a video on Desserts Magazine about how to make French macaroons and it left me wanting to make a batch of those addictive little cookies soooo badly.  But after my first and second attempt at making them, I just knew I didn't have the patience to make them from scratch.  So I just watched the video to learn the proper technique and admired the French dialogue.  Maybe I'll make them again when I'm not in such a hurry to devour them. Quick confession: I understand very little French and speak even less. Oh but I"m trying.  I do have the best intentions to learn more; I have a stack of books and cds to prove that. Je parle francais..someday.


Anyway, I still wanted some macaroons. So what's a girl to do? Well, there's only one place I know of that has French macaroons here in San Diego. Opera Cafe and Patisserie offers a gorgeous selection of French desserts and pastries as well as a delicious breakfast and lunch menu.  And best of all, they have a beautiful assortment of macaroons that come in adorable pink boxes.  They sell them for $10 a dozen and you get six flavors in each box.  Whenever I have a craving for macaroons, this is where I go. 
I actually interned at Opera for a short time when I was a pastry student.  I guess my instructor, Chef Yves, thought it was the perfect place for me to go since I'm such a francophile.  Thierry and Vincent were great teachers and it would've been nice to learn more from them. Too bad I didn't get to watch them make macaroons.  I would've loved that!



Since Valentine's Day was coming up, I decided to drop a few hints and told Hubby that I would LOVE some Parisian macaroons. No roses. No chocolates. Just macaroons, s'il vous plait. And thank goodness he got me some.  Oh...have...mercy!  



Just in case you're looking for Parisian macaroons, I stumbled upon a list of where to find macaroons around the world over atSerious Eats.  If you have a favorite place to buy macarons, please feel free to share it.  You might be helping out someone who's searching for them in your town.  Let's spread the love for macarons!

Egg-Free Fresh Fruit Cake

For this Valentine's Day, I decided to draw inspiration from another one of my favorites from Hans and Harry Bakery. On a previous post, I shared my homemade version of their famous fresh fruit strudel. This time around, I've created an egg-free version of their equally popular fresh fruit cake.  It's a rich vanilla butter cake layered with Bavarian cream and topped with fresh fruit.

You might have noticed the even though the recipe makes two cake layers, I only have one layer in the photo. My son was hovering around me, smacking his lips and eagerly waiting for this cake.  So I just quickly arranged the fruit on top and let him eat his Valentine's Day cake :-)



Here's another variation of my fresh fruit cake with only strawberries (see, I got to use two cake layers for this one). Feel free to use any fruit you'd like and it doesn't necessarily have to be fresh fruit either.  Sometimes I use frozen fruit (like blueberries or raspberries) and canned fruit (like pineapple and peaches).



Happy Valentine's Day!

Egg-Free Fresh Fruit Cake
Makes 2 layers (6 1/2 cups of batter)
Allergy Note: contains wheat and dairy ingredients

cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 cups butter, melted
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups warm milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

cream:
1 box instant vanilla pudding mix
1 pint whipping cream
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon flavored liqueur (optional)

cake syrup:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam 

strawberries, cut in half
mandarin orange segments or peaches
blueberries

for the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, combine butter, vegetable oil, milk, vinegar and vanilla extract. Add to the dry ingredients. Mix till smooth. Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool completely. Level and trim the top of the cakes.

For the cream:
Using an electric mixer, whisk together instant pudding mix, milk and whipping cream (and flavored liqueur) together until thickened.

For the cake syrup:
Combine ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 to 2 minutes on HIGH. Stir till the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool.

To assemble the cake:
Drizzle a little bit of cake syrup over the cake. Spread half of the seedless raspberry jam over the cake.  Spread half of the cream over the cake. Repeat for the second cake layer. Top with fruit. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

Egg-Free Blueberry Muffins

My son has these books written by Laura Numeroff and one of them is called "If You Give a Moose a Muffin." It's such a sweet and silly story about a boy who gives a moose a muffin and the adventures that ensue. We have so much fun reading it and I always kept it in the back of my mind that someday I will come up with an awesome egg-free muffin for him.

After fine-tuning this recipe a few times, I think I finally got a winner. The proof? My son gave me two thumbs up after gobbling up a muffin. And another. And another. These muffins are so delicious fresh out of the oven. They're practically bursting with wild blueberries and I'm pretty sure they would taste great with some blackberry jam on top :-)



Egg-Free Blueberry Muffins
Makes about a dozen muffins
Allergy Note: contains wheat and dairy ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 cup blueberry yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries *

*I recommend wild blueberries. They're smaller but more flavorful. You can find frozen organic blueberries in the freezer section of most grocery stores or supermarkets.

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

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix together butter, milk, yogurt and vanilla extract in a small mixing bowl. Pour into the dry mixture and mix till combined. Gently fold in the blueberries. Using an ice cream scooper, divide the batter equally into the muffin pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Quick and Easy Crema de Fruta

My dad asked me if I could come up with a quick and easy recipe for Crema de Fruta so he could try his hand at making it. He's gotten the baking bug recently and wanted to start out with some simple recipes first then work his way up to more challenging ones. So I experimented with a few ingredients and came up with an incredibly effortless version.

As I mentioned on a previous post, crema de fruta is a Filipino dessert that is very popular around the holidays. The traditional version that I posted last year was made with sponge cake and stirred custard. This quick and easy version that I created for my dad is made with vanilla cake mix and instant vanilla pudding mix. Yes, you read that right. Now how can you get any simpler than that?

A lot of my friends and family have quickly embraced this easy recipe because it's pretty much foolproof to make. I have a feeling a lot of them will be making this for their family gatherings in the next couple of weeks. The best part about this recipe is that it will fill two party trays. Hooray!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Quick and Easy Crema de Fruta
Makes about 24 servings
Allergy note: contains eggs, wheat and dairy

cake:
1 box white cake mix
1 cup milk
1 cup oil
4 large eggs

crema:
2 boxes Jello instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups milk
2 cups whipping cream

fruta:
2 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin (1/4 ounce each)
1/2 cup water
2 30-oz. cans fruit cocktail in heavy syrup (DO NOT drain the syrup)


cake:
Mix together cake mix, milk, oil and eggs. Pour into two rectangular aluminum pans and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

crema:
Using an electric mixer, whisk together instant pudding mix, milk and whipping cream together until thickened. Pour over cake and spread evenly.

fruta:
Sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over the water. Let the gelatin absorb the water and expand. Microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute until the gelatin melts. Mix into the fruit cocktail and pour over the crema.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Ambrosia Salad

We're going to my in-laws tomorrow and since they're not really big on desserts, I thought I'd bring them a fruit salad. My version of Ambrosia Salad has coconut milk and instant vanilla pudding mix as a base. It's light and not too sweet, so I hope they like it :-)


Ambrosia Salad
Makes 16 servings
Allergy Note: contains dairy ingredients

1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 14-oz. can coconut milk
1 box Jello instant vanilla pudding mix (5.1 0z.)
1 16-oz. jar maraschino cherries, drained
2 20-oz. cans pineapple chunks, drained
2 11-oz. cans mandarin oranges, drained
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

In a large mixing bowl, whip together heavy whipping cream, coconut milk and pudding mix until thickened. Mix in cherries, pineapple, oranges and shredded coconut. Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.