Tiramisu -Daring Baker's Challenge

When I had first made Tiramisu couple of years back, it wasn't remotely close to Tiramisu in looks however it tasted okay. I decided to give it another try when the Daring's Bakers Challenge for Feb was rolled out wherein the challenge was to make Tiramisu including ladyfingers and mascarpone cheese.

Rajasthani Churma

While growing up, I ate this delicious churma made by my mom quite frequently. I have heard stories about how churma's were made either by hand or by huge wooden mortar and pestle when grinder's were not available easily and of course they used to taste so much better.

Nani ki Mathri

My all time favorite snack in Indian cuisine is Mathri and as you can imagine, I have tried to sample them in every possible chance. One can make different variation's of mathri with varying proportion's of all purpose flour(Maida)/oil/water. However, it is indeed quite difficult to make the "soft" mathri's which melt in your mouth. Mathri's made by my naniji-in-law fall in the category of "melt-in-mouth" and are undoubtedly the best I have tried so far. Enjoy this recipe from Naniji:

Chocolate-coated Strawberries

Chocolate coated strawberries are perfect example of "practice makes a man perfect". I first ate Chocolate Coated Strawberries at my PhD Advisor's place and they certainly looked exotic. I was told that they are easy to make. After several attempts, I finally feel that they are easy to make:)

Postdoc Salad

In princeton U. cafeteria, salad bar use to sell salad with title: Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD salad where one could choose 2, 3, 5 ingredients, respectively. The postdoc salad is our own extension of the series with 7 or more ingredients and its eaten quite frequently for lunch during weekdays. Make sure that individual ingredients taste good for a superb salad!

Mexican Tapas: La Super-Rica

La Super-Rica Taqueria is a Mexican shack and probably the most famous restaurant in SB. Several times, I have been to this place two nights in a row. The highlights are the hand made mini tortilla's which form the base for most of the dishes and are made in front of the customers using the poori maker:)

Lemon Squares

If you have a "lemony tooth" and have less than twenty minutes for preparation, you got to try these lemon squares. I usually add a drop of vanilla extract in eggs to dilute their aroma and also reduce sugar by 1/2 cup in the filling. Once you get a hang of the base, you can replace lemon filling with caramelized almonds, pecan meal and many more.