Thursday, February 03, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookies


My Son loves chocolates a lot and me too :-). I was thinking about making these chocolate chip cookies from a long time, but didn’t get a chance. I remember making it once when I first came to the US and when Anush was not born, I don’t remember what exactly I did but, it didn’t turn out well, cos all the chocolate chips melted and I didn’t give much space b/w the cookies so it was a mess. This time it came out very good and perfect. I was so happy and my son also liked them a lot.
I now people don’t let their ids to eat chocolate, but I sometimes encourage him to eat ‘Dark Chocolate’ and too lie them a lot more than the ordinary chocolates. As I don’t prefer eating too sweet sweets or chocolates, I started eating these dark chocolates.
While we are speaking about dark chocolates, I would like to share some good aspects of eating dark chocolate.....

Chocolate is a range of products derived from cocoa, mixed with fat (i.e. cocoa butter and/or plant oils) and finely powdered sugar to produce a solid confection. There are several types of chocolate according to the proportion of cocoa used in a particular formulation.
Swiss Dark Chocolate
"Dark chocolate", also called "plain chocolate" or "black chocolate", is produced by adding fat and sugar to cocoa. It is chocolate with zero or much less milk than milk chocolate. The U.S. has no official definition for dark chocolate, only "sweet chocolate", which requires a mere 15% concentration of chocolate liquor. European rules specify a minimum of 35% cocoa solids. Dark chocolate can be eaten as is, or used in cooking, for which thicker, more expensive baking bars with higher cocoa percentages of up to 85%, or sometimes 99%, are sold. Dark is synonymous with semisweet, and extra dark with bittersweet, although the ratio of cocoa butter to solids may vary.
Now the recipe for my chocolate chip cookies....



Ingredients:
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  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Method:
---------
1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. 
 Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Its an Award!!

My third award and second one this year..I am so excited..I came home after a very busy and hectic day at school. I just sit to check and drool over some yummy recipes that my fellow bloggers have posted..I am In for a surprise award!! Vidhya from Sugar'N Spice has shared this award with me and 14 other beautiful bloggers..I thank Vidhya so much for honoring me with this award and would love to pass it on to a few other lovely bloggers.


Raji - Raks Kitchen
Preetha Karthik - Preethi Bhojan
Pushpa - Taste as you cook
Chitra Hegde - Chitranna
Divya  Vikram - Dil Se
Savitha Ramesh - Savitha's Kitchen
Rupali - RecipeGrabBag
Priya Mahadevan - Now Serving
Premalatha Aravindan - Prema's Thaligai
Priya - Priya Easy n tasty recipes
Swathi - Zesty South Indian Kitchen
Pia - Cook Healthy
Satya - Super Yummy Recipes
Jeyashri - Jeyashri's Kitchen
Reshmi Mahesh - Easy Cook


I am very happy to share this with you all, please accept this rolling award.

Rules:
1.Accept the award. Post it in your blog with the name of the blogger who has given u this award with a link to his/her blog.
2.Pass it on to 15 other blogger friends.... to keep the ball rolling.
3.Let the nominated blogger know about their award [leave a comment in their most recent post].rs, I am v

Vazhaipoo Vadai / Banana Blossom Vada | Indian Appetizers



Vazhaipoo / Banana Blossom / Banana heart is the flower of the plantain tree. It is commonly used in many south-asian dishes steamed, fried or cooked in curries and stir fries. It is healthy and has a great taste. The most common dish prepared with banana heart at our home is vadas.






Ingredients:
Vazhaipoo / Banana blossom - 1 - Cleaned
Chana dhal - 1 small cup - Soaked for 2 hrs
Chopped