Veggie Chickens!

Aren't they cute??? These 'Veggie Chickens' are cute, easy to make and tasty too!!
It was Easter Egg hunt party and these made up one of the many treats for the kids. The base is bread with veggie cream cheese, topped with streamed sweet corn, olives for eyes,tomato for nose, strawberry for the tuft and carrots for the feet!!!

Method:
1) Cut the bread into circles with cookie cutter.
2) Spread a spoonful of  veggie cream cheese on the bread slice
Veggie cream cheese Recipe:
(Adjust the quantity as per how many slices you want to make.(You will approximately need 1tsp cream cheese per slice)
http://my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/2012/06/appetizers-red-bell-pepper-and-broccoli.html

3) Spread steamed sweet corn kernels on top

4) Place the olive rings, strawberry cut into tufts and carrot slices cut like chicken feet on the slice.
Keep chilled till served.

Oh..what looks like a 'plant in the pot' next to the chicken is actually...a Basket full of  Eggs;) Kiwi slice makes the pot and carrot slices with cream cheese make the eggs!

"Aroma from a Guest Kitchen"- (Guest Name:Narendra Vaidya)-Sweet corn and Roasted Poblano soup in a Bread Bowl with chopped Scallions and Chipotle lime sour cream

Today's Guest: Narendra Vaidya
Naren and I studied in the same college in Pune,India.But the weird part is, even being in the same college, we did not know each other then.Then after about 10 years, we get in touch with each other due to....GUESS WHAT??
YES.....LOVE OF FOOD!!!!
It has been great reconnecting with Naren and sharing and learning new recipes from him!
Recipe Naren Shared:
Sweet corn and Roasted Poblano soup in a Bread Bowl with chopped Scallions and Chipotle lime sour cream

Here is the recipe in his own words:

I was always a huge fan of the sweet corn soup we get in India. A few days back I came home from work and felt like eating a soup. Just made up this recipe by myself,(my fiancee was away in Boston) so I was not worried even if it turned out bad, I was the only one eating it anyway. So here it goes...

Ingredients:
2 poblano peppers , roasted, deseeded and diced
1-1/2 bag of corn kernel, store brand works just fine.
3 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup water
1/2 th cup half and half
about 1-1/2 cups of milk
2 tablespoon oil
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1-1/2 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
1 medium onion diced
chopped scallions
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 table spoon lemon juice
About a 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder or buy dried chipotle (smoked jalapenos) and run them through a blender
Bread boule/bowl ( find them in the bakery section of the store) - if you are lucky you might find flavored ones, like rosemary-garlic or Parmesan
Salt and black pepper according to taste

Method:
1) Heat oil in a pot and add ginger and garlic to it

2) Let it cook for a while then throw in the onions

3) In the meantime, roast the poblano peppers in a pan with little bit of oil

4) After the onions are translucent add the corn, water and the vegetable broth

5) Let it cook for a few minutes, in the mean time deseed the peppers and dice them

6) Add the poblano peppers,half and half and milk

7) Bring the soup to a boil, after 2-3 minutes turn off the heat, boil for a bit longer if a thicker consistency is desired

8) Use an immersion blender or a regular blender to puree this mixture

9) Move it back to the pot, turn on the heat to a low setting to keep it warm

10) Add salt and black pepper, keep in mind that the broth has salt in it so taste before you add anymore salt

11) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

12) Carve out bread bowls out of the bread boules using a bread knife (sounds funny when you say it out loud....)

13) Stick these bread bowls in the oven with the carved out pieces of bread for about 8 minutes, depends on the kind of oven though, if you have a fairly new oven it might need less time.

14) The bowls should be warm and a bit crispy/crunchy on the outside

15) In the meantime, while the bread is warming, instead of flipping aimlessly through TV channels, chops some scallions for garnish

16) Also, mix the sour cream, chipotle powder, lemon juice and lemon zest into a smooth paste (a fork works well for this)

17) To serve, ladle the soup in the bread bowls, garnish with chopped scallions and a few dollops of the chipotle-lemon sour cream

Enjoy!!

"Everyday Cooking"- Sweet Corn Soup

This whole week 'E' has no school....you know what that means? Where to start......that means..constant need of attention, many water color paintings gone wild,crayon wrappers peeled and thrown all over, shoe closet coming down four times a day, searching for tiny cars all around the house, beeping of 'Choo-choo train' non stop, making and breaking LEGO cars, hearing 'mumma mumma' after every minute, reading all the books over and over again and answering same questions over and over,and..........................
 the list goes on.....
Since he started school, I have noticed, he is demanding more attention from me when he is at home. At school they constantly engage them in activities and play.So he has gotten used to being 'busy' and playing with others.So at home....it all comes down to me! I have to play, jump, read, sing.....all when he wants!
Haha....that's the fun of being a mom! I love it ....but you know sometimes....I feel exerted due to this 'NON STOP' action mode!!!
So today, since it was 'Veterans Day' holiday for all schools, we had arranged a playdate for 'E' and couple of his friends. Just imagine that.....3 toddlers running around the house and having a 'gala' time! God save us!
For lunch I had planned a simple menu of Sweet Corn soup, Vegetable fried rice and some Samosas (filling and dough left over from yesterday). The kids loved the soup....especially because of the 'sweet corn' .
The samosas did not come out as crispy as the other day.Don't know why?
Here is the recipe for Sweet corn soup:
Ingredients:
2cups Whole Sweet Corn kernel (frozen)
2tsp Corn starch mixed in some water to make paste
2tsp Soy sauce
1/4tsp Black pepper
1/4tsp Ginger garlic paste
1/4tsp Red chili paste
1/2tsp Sugar
1/2tsp Maggie hot and Sweet sauce
2tbsp Green onions + leaves sliced diagonally
1tsp oil
Salt
3-4 cupsWater

Method:
1) Heat 1 tsp oil,fry the ginger garlic paste for few seconds,Add the frozen corn kernels.Saute for 2 mins.
2) Add water,let it simmer
3) Add the corn starch,black pepper, all the sauces, sugar, salt etc.Let simmer till the soup thickens a little due to corn starch.The soup should be semi-transperant and taste mildly hot and sweet at the sametime.
4) Turn off the heat.Add the green onions and leaves.
5) Serve hot and enjoy the UMAMI!