Turkish Toast

We made a trip to Turkey few years back and food was certainly one of the main highlights of the trip. I was so excited about the food that after I got back, I threw a house warming party with all food Turkish.

Finger Sandwich - Avocado & Strawberry

I am fond of the concept of an English tea party. Sipping tea with scones and finger sandwiches in a relaxed environment is such a treat.  I like finger sandwiches as they are very simple to put together. It is obvious that the bread and ingredients need to be fresh and tasty to enjoy these delicacies.

 I attended a fund raising event with the theme of English tea party couple of years back and had lots of fun.  About 10-15 tables were arranged by volunteer's who brought tea sets and plates from their own collection. Everything looked so darn pretty. Here are two pictures from the party:

Polenta Tart/Pizza

I am excited about this post for two reasons.  First, this is the last post for the year and also 52nd post on this blog which started in 2010. I am happy that I could post one recipe on an average per week.  At times I got lazy, others overexcited but overall I really enjoyed this hobby:)

Whole tomato bruschetta

We went to Hawaii earlier this month.  I was wondering how different would it be considering we live in Santa Barbara which is on the coast.  It is so beautiful!  For me the temperature of water and snorkeling almost everyday were enough reasons to go to Hawaii. I have never spent so much time splashing in ocean water; it was a great feeling.

Sooji Dhokla (Semolina /Yogurt Steamed Cake)

If I have to pick one "goto" dish which is tasty, repeatable and presentable, it would be the Sooji dhokla by Isha of Intrepidcook. It is easy to make "hard" dhokla - believe me I have done that so many times until this superb recipe came along to make the softest dhokla ever.

Khandvi - Chickpea flour cigar's

Khandvi (Chickpea flour cigar's  - as referred by Raghavan Iyer) - is a very popular Gujarati dish which is quite easy to make (well ..almost other than spreading the batter). These delicious cigar's can be  a show stopper for your finger food  party.   Like all the other dishes,  there are slight variations in the quantities and the sequence in which ingredients are added for Khandvi recipe.   Here is my take on the recipe :)

Vols-au-Vent

When I am looking for something new to bake, I enthusiastically search on the Daring baker's site for the challenges that were rolled out before I joined this group. Usually these recipes are very reliable and most of the times fun to work on. The Vols-au-Vent challenge was rolled by Steph of a wish and a spoon in September 2009 which looked particularly interesting as they can be twisted towards savory or sweet mood/need.

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:)

Pizza

In memories of uncountable pizzas from Conte's (Princeton) and Giafranco (Philly)!

Falafel from scratch

Maoz falafel were haunting me since we moved from Philly. Dede's recipe for hummus was amazing and her falafel recipe was on the "try out" list for a long time. Ankita and Neha were visiting us for the long weekend and it seemed perfect to try out Falafel from scratch while remembering Philly:)

Falafel adventure led to many more where Sid, Ankita, Neha and I ended up spending a lot of time in Kitchen & watching classic movies in breaks (or vice versa) with numerous thanks to stormy SB weather! The other adventures were Crossiant, Mapo Tofu and Shushi and will be posting them soon.