Mango Bread-n-Butter Pudding

Although one day late , here I am as promised with the recipe for Mango Bread and Butter Pudding.The Mango flavour is just a twist on the classic Bread and Butter Pud which is a favourite in the UK. It's quick to prepare and delicious to taste. I made mine with Brioche rather than ordinary bread because I had some leftover Brioche, but ordinary white bread is fine too. Butter both sides of the bread slice if using plain bread. For Brioche you do not need to butter it as it already has a  lot of butter in it. As a variety Croissants can be used too .


Ingredients:
8 slices of Brioche/ or plain white bread
2 cups whole milk
3 eggs
handful of raisins
1 cup and a little more mango pulp (use canned or fresh) .If using fresh just blend the pulp to a smooth consistency  before using
2/3 tspns sugar (more if using plain bread)
2 tspns vanilla essense
Ground nutmeg to sprinkle on top (optional)


Method:
Preheat oven to 175deg C
Mix well together the milk ,eggs, sugar, vanilla, and mango pulp
Grease a baking dish and lay out the first layer of brioche slices. Sprinkle the raisins over the brioche.
Now lay out the second layer of brioche, and make sure all the raisins are covered under this layer, so they don't burn when you bake the pudding.
Pour the custard mixture over  the top now making sure to cover all the bread slices thoroughly.
Press down gently so the lower layer also soaks up the custard.
Bake for 25 to 30 mins or until the pudding is golden and puffed up.
Serve with fresh mango slices, warm custard, or  cream

ENJOY!!

P.S. For those of you who haven't yet read the round-up of Mango Moods just scroll down to the next post.

Mango Bread and Butter Pudding and Round-Up : Mango Moods

OK People ! Thanks a ton for being ever so patient while I was roudning -up all the gorgeous and lip-smacking  that were sent by you all to make Mango Moods a super duper success. We have 28 entries from 17 blogs and they are all just mind-blowing. So without much further delay here's presenting the Grand Mosaic of Mango Moods

I have lined up all the recipes below . Follow the pics row by row from left to right and you will find the corresponding recipe in the list below. My contribution to the event is at the very end of this post. Hope you like it. Thanks once again for your very enthusiastic response. Enjoy the Round up.

1.Eggless Mango Custard by Pavithra of Binge On Veg

2.Mango Mousse by Jayashree of Spice and Curry

3.Mango and Banana Bake from Guyana by Bala of  A Life Journey Together

4.Mango Puree Coconut Cream Panacotta by Lakshmi of Palate Desires

5.Mango Swiss Roll also by Lakshmi of Palate Desires

6.Paneer Burrito again by Lakshmi of Palate Desires

7.Coconut and Mango Agar Agar by Lakshmi again !! Yes from Palate Desires!!

8.Mango Chutney from Nayna of Simply. Food

9.Mango Bread by Rachana of Sizzle N Spice

10.Mambhazha Kuzhambu by Nithu of Nithu's Kitchen

11.Nuts and Fruits Dessert another yummy creation by Nithu from Nithu's Kitchen

12.Mango Dessert : A third delicious recipe by ...yes  Nithu again from her kitchen

13.Ripe Mango Chutney : The fourth fantastic dish by Nithu.... Looks like all the mangoes in the market are going to Nithu's Kitchen

14.And to top all that we have a Spicy Fruit Salad yet again from Nithu's Kitchen

15.A beautiful Mango Trifle by Cooking Foodie  from 365 Days of Eating

16.A spicy hot entry from Pranis Kitchen is her Kadu Mango Pickle

 

17.A very exotic Prawn with Mango Curry comes from Sudha of Malaysian Delicacies

18.Beat the heat with Lalaine's cool Chamango

19.Priya of Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes very proudly sends Aam ki Launji  

20.Sisters Harini and  Jaya of Tamalapaku have teamed up to send not one but three great
recipes : First one is Bisipinakaya (Rasa Gaya)

21.Next from them  is Mango Palak Carrot Chapati

 

22.Priya  from Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes sends her Mango and Chocolate Chips Bread


23.The delectable Mango Muffins are from Neeta of Chatak Matak

24.And the third tasty dish from Harini and Jaya is Raw Mango Rice

25.Ayeesha sends her fabulous Mango and Cardammom Gateau from Taste of Pearl City


26.Divya of Divya's Kitchen has made a beautiful looking Mango Sesame Curry

27.The Mango Sesame Chutney is another creation again from Divya


28.Priya from Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes has sent us Multi-grain Mango Scones which look and sound just absolutely gorgeous.

And now for my entry to the event. This must be the quickest pud I have ever made. And surprise surprise it turned out great. But recipe will be posted tomorrow. Promise!!  So keep watching this space.

If I have missed any entries do let me know as I am quite a scatter-brain about things like this and absolutely unorganised. 


Leaving you all for now. Will be back tomorrow.

Yummilicious Cinnamon Toast (An awesome treat for a lunch box)

Call it Cinnamon Toast, French Toast , Eggy Bread or anything else it is just as delicious and you cannot just stop at one. At least I can't. I have loved this bread snack since I was about 9 or 10 and now that my son loves it just as much I am glad to make it for the two of us (or sometimes even for hubby if we leave any for him) on a Sunday morning or sometimes as a lunch box treat.


It's the easiest thing to make, almost embarrassingly easy actually to blog about but I love it so much that it has to have a place on my blog. You can make it as simple or as rich as you like. And make it with plain bread or a speciality bread, the choice is yours.


This time I used Brioche instead of plain ordinary white bread. Brioche is a sweet buttery french bread that tastes awesome even when eaten all by itself with a strong cup of coffee or it is one of the  best bases for something like this Cinnamon toast or a rich Brioche Butter Pudding. It's available easily in the bakery section in the form of a loaf or there are packs of 6 small brioche loaves.


I used a combination of Cinnamon and Vanilla in my toast which went beautifully together, but to give it an Indian touch you could use Cardammom or Nutmeg  powder and a bit of Saffron essence. These spices taste great too. My mom used to make it with Cardammom.




What you need:
6 thick slices of Brioche
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup milk
4 to 5 tspns sugar
1/2 tspn cinnammon powder,
1 tblspn vanilla essence
Some sugar to sprinkle on top
Butter or oil for lightly frring the toast


Method:
Mix together the milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla  and pour this mixture out into a  shallow dish . This makes it easy to dip the bread slices into the batter and soak the mixture.
Heat a frying pan or a skillet or tawa and  coat it generously with butter or oil.
When the pan is hot, dip  a slice of bread on both sides into the egg milk mixture  and put it on the pan. The pan should be hot enough so that there is a sizzling sound . Lower the heat to medium after a minute so that the bread cooks to a beautiful golden colour without burning.
Turn the toast over to the other side and cook this side until golden and crisp as well.
Do all the slices in the same way.
While each toast is still hot sprinkle sugar on it.


That's it . Your Crispy Golden Cinnamon Toast is ready for you to enjoy.

Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes

A  very BIG  HELLO to all of you after almost  a million years. Yes that's what it feels like to me today. Last post I put up was in October last year and after that I have kind of gone into a winter sleep where blogging is concerned. But that's only where blogging is concerned. A lots happened since then. The first break happened because my parents were here to visit us and ofcourse with them here obviously blogging was the last thing I could find time to do. They had a great stay and we did the touristy trips with them all over UK.


After they left I got a job. YES A JOB!!!! Isn't that great?  I now work in a Primary School as a Learning Support Assistant and I am happy with  my job. That's the second reason why I am not actively blogging. I am ofcourse cooking and entertaining but I now cook mostly in the evenings and my food pics taken in the evening are horrible. I have to also admit that many a times the food is eaten and polished off before I can photograph it. So no blog posts!


Then in Dec I went on my annual trip to India for 5 weeks. I spent the most fabulous 5 weeks there eating everything that I had missed in the last one and half year. It was  simply great being back in Pune and riding my Honda Activa and driving the Santro.  We had a blast and my son loved it. In his words "Aai INDIA ROCKS". What else did I need to hear.


But now I have been back since one month and things have fallen back into a routine with school and office and other activities and I am definitely back on the blogosphere.


A week back I baked these little cakes from a recipe from one of my most used books and that is The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking by Tarla Dalal.  Now in the book these cakes are called Madeleines, but I prefer to call them just "little cakes" as traditionally a Madeleine is a  shell shaped cake eaten at tea time and which is baked in special shell shaped moulds, so for me these are just small cakes or cup cakes which have a delicious coating of strawberry jam and dessicated coconut. These cakes come out beautifully each and every time and no matter how many I make they are never enough.


Note: These cakes need to be ideally baked in individual cup cake moulds, but I do not have those and baked them in a muffin tray which worked just fine


I have followed the recipe from the book word to word, and here it is for you.


Ingredients:

• 115 gms sugar
• 115 gms butter
• 2 medium eggs
• 115 gms self-raising flour
• 1/2 tspn lemon or vanilla essence (I used vanilla)
• 1/2 tea cup milk approx
• red jam (I used strawberry jam)
• dessicated coconut

Method:

• Sieve the flour
• Cream the butter and sugar very well  until light and creamy
• Beat the eggs well
• Add a little of the egg mixture to the butter and sugar and beat well. Gradually go on adding eggs beating well  all the time. If the mixture curdles, add a little flour ,mix well and then continue adding the eggs.
• Add the sieved flour and enough milk till the batter has a dropping consistency.
• Add the essence.
• Grease and dust your muffin tray or the cake moulds and fill upto 3/4 with the cake mixture.
• Bake at 400 deg F for around 20 mins.
• Cool the cakes
• Warm the jam and brush the cakes  with the melted jam.
• Roll the cakes in dessicated  coconut.

The cakes are now ready to eat. Try these they are simple to make and taste awesome

Very wholesome Chapati and Egg Rolls

Come summer and my mind goes into the "Quick Recipes Mode" or the QRM as I like to call it. I mean it's simpy impossible to toil over the hob for hours at a stretch to cook elaborate meals . And the weather in UK being so kind for once , you just have to make the most of it and spend time outdoors as much as possible rather than in the kitchen.

So currently I am constantly on the look out for recipes requiring minimum time but with no compromise on taste and full flavour. As you must have derived by now from my previous posts I fancy all kings of wraps. I just love making wraps. They are quick and easy to make , delicious and a single wrap can hold the nutrition of an entire balanced meal. And most important of all is that in my family all three of us like them just as much. So everybody is happy.

Yesterday I made these chapati and egg wraps for my lunch and they tasted so good I just have to share them with all of you.

What you need is:

• 2 chapatis (homemade or readymade store bought)
• 2 eggs
• 1 spring onion finely chopped,
• 1/2 cup fresh sweet corn kernels,
• 2 mushrooms finely chopped (I used chestnut mushrooms),
• 1 tblspn grated cheese,
• salt and pepper to season (you can replace pepper with chilly powder too),
• Oil to cook
  
  Method:
  In a pan heat the oil and gently saute the spring onions , mushrooms and corn for a few minutes.


• Crack the 2 eggs in a large bowl and beat lightly.


• To the eggs add the sauteed spring onions ,mushrooms and corn.


• Add the grated cheese and season with salt and pepper.


• Beat the mixture gently together and make 2 omelettes .


• After the omelettes have cooled a bit lay out one omelette on each chapati , dot it with your favourite sauce, and roll up tightly.


• Cut each roll diagonally into two pieces .
  
  Your lunch is ready. These are awesome also in a lunch box or to carry on a picnic. Enjoy with a salad accompaniment or a glass of juice.

Fritatta

Fritatta is something I have always been fascinated with but never cooked. For that matter until a few days back I had not even tasted a fritatta. But somehow it just always managed to catch my attention from pictures in food magazines and food blogs and of course food shows on TV. On one of my shopping trips I even bought a oven proof pan particularly with the intention of making a fritatta. I just loved the idea of eating a big fat omellete filled with all kinds of delicious veggies, cheeses and mushrooms.

Well last week I was at the surgery (that's what a doctor's dispensary is called in UK) to see my GP . ( Reason for which was I had a nasty fall 2 weeks back and have been making quite a few trips to the doctor's for treatment on my leg which I hurt very badly.) So while I was sitting in the waiting area for my name to appear on the electronic display I was browsing through a magazine and once again my attention was drawn to a very yummy pic of fritatta. I memorised the ingredients and the method of cooking and decided there and then that I would make a fritatta before the end of the week and I did.

What's the verdict? Well all three of us loved it. Infact each of us could have done with one more helping but there wasn't any left. It was delicious , very filling and very easy and quick to make. Despite having bought a pan specially for that purpose I ended up using a oven proof Pyrex glass dish because as it turns out the pan is not big enough to cook a fritatta for three people. So what do i do with that pan now? Ohh I am sure I will find some use for it.

The ingredients for a Fritatta for 4 people are:

6 eggs

6/7 chestnut mushrooms (or any other)

1/2 a bellpepper (any colour of your choice)

approx 7 tblpns of grated cheddar

1 cup of finely chopped spinach,

8 to 10 leaves of fresh basil (chop these just before adding to the eggs)

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 200 deg C

In a bowl break the eggs and add all the other ingredients to it. From the cheese add only half of it and keep the rest for spreading on top. Season well with salt and pepper

Grease a oven proof glass dish and pour the mixture into it. Place in hot oven. It takes about 20 minutes to cook . After 20 minutes (or when the fritatta has begun to set) open the oven door, partially slide out the dish and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Return the dish to the oven and cook further until the cheese melts and turns slightly golden.

Let it cool slightly before cutting it into triangular wedges. This dish can be eaten at breakfast, lunch or supper. It can even be carried on a picnic.

Try it ! You will love it!

Mini Egg Rolls (Perfect for the school lunch box)

It's been quite a few months since I shared any lunch box ideas so when I made these mini egg rolls for my son I knew they would make an appearance on my blog. But what put me into action sooner was my 6 year old . He had the egg rolls at school and liked them so much that when I asked him if he had enjoyed his lunch ,he said" Aai they were so good , you must put them on your blog".

So here they are. Basically a sandwich but put together in a more interesting way. I occasionally buy these cute little wholewheat rolls in a pack of 6 from M&S. They are healthy no doubt as they are not only wholewheat but also seeded and secondly just the correct size for little hands to hold. Plus they appeal tremendously to children as avery welcome change from the normal sandwich.



Though my son is very comfortable with most foods it is my constant endevour to get more and more veggies into him. So to make the rolls healthier I had a handful of chopped frozen veggies to the egg mixture. I also made mini omelets the same size as the rolls so they sanwiched perfectly in between .One large egg makes 3 mini omelets.
Let me tell you these rolls went down a treat.

Here's in short what I did:
For the omelets:
1 large egg,
a handful of chopped mixed veggies (carrots, sweetcorn, peas and beans)
1 tblspn grated cheese
salt to taste,
and I used a pinch of chilly powder rather than pepper because I feel that makes an omelet tastier.

Method:
Beat all the ingredients together and cook small omelets rather than one large one.
Butter the rolls and warm them a little
Sandwich one omelet in each roll, top with a dollop of ketchup and they are ready to be packed. Pack each individual roll in grease proof paper so they don't come apart.

Try it out and tell me if your child liked the idea.