Cinnamon Raisin Cookies

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup raisins

 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cream together the sugar and the butter. Mix well and then add in the eggs. Combine the flour, cinnamon and baking soda and then add to the creamed mixture. Last, stir in the milk and raisins. Drop by spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-13 minutes. Cool.

Tilapia - the American way

It's okay to pamper yourself once in a while with foods that crash all calorie count. Especially when its done with fish, there's nothing called as diet guilt.

Oven temperature - 400 degrees F
Preparation time - 15 mins
Cooking time - 20 mins

Ingredients:

4 oz lean white fish fillets ( I prefer tilapia)
Paprika (per taste)
Cooking spray
2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp finely chopped rosemary
1 medium lemon
Salt (per taste)
Pepper (1-2 tsp)
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley.
1/4 cup butter ( I use a bit lesser)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with foil and lightly coat it with some cooking spray.

Arrange fish in a single layer and lightly sprinkle paprika, salt and pepper. Lightly coat fish with some cooking spray and bake uncovered for 12-15 mins.

In the meantime in a small bowl, combine butter, thyme, rosemary, 1/4 tsp salt. grate 1/2 tsp of lemon rind and add to the butter mixture. Cut the lemon in 4 wedges and serve squeezing lemon juice over each fillet. Sprinkle evenly with the parsley and spoon equal amounts of the butter mixture on top of hot fillets.

Yummy blueberry muffins

Baking time: 20-25 mins
Preparation time: 15 mins
Oven temperature: 400-425 degrees F.


Ingredients:

2 cups – blueberries. (Rinse them well at the nodes.)
2 ½ cups – all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
¼ cup butter (melted at room temperature) and ¼ cup veg. oil
2- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cup sugar plus 1 tsp
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp brown sugar.

Getting blueberries ready:
Step 1: In a small saucepan set over medium heat, combine one cup of blueberries with one teaspoon sugar. Bring it to a simmer. Stir frequently while cooking until berries have broken down and mixture has thickened. Notice the quantity reduces to about 1/4 cup. Remove pan from heat; set aside and let cool to room temperature.
Step 2: Sprinkle a scant tbsp of all-purpose flour over remaining the other cup of blueberries and toss to coat; set aside.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Now, in a medium bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs until mixture is pale yellow, thick and fluffy. While whisking, slowly pour in melted butter and oil and mix well. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until completely incorporated. Make sure you don’t whisk too long. It’s ok if you find lumps here and there. Using a spatula, gently fold in the egg mixture and the flour coated blueberries (of Step 2) into flour mixture until just incorporated. Do NOT overly mix.

Now in a standard 12 cup muffin pan, place the muffin cups/papers and start distributing the batter. Make sure the batter just fills in the cup without mounding since the next step would be to place a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture above the batter in 12 cups. You could either mix the berries with batter or have them just as topping. Sprinkle just a pinch or two of brown sugar as the final topping.
Place in oven and increase temperature to 425 degrees F. Bake muffins. Depending on how long you took to prepare the batter, it can take anywhere between 20-23 minutes for the muffins to bake. As usual, prick a toothpick into the center of muffins to test if they’re done. Ready muffins will leave no trace on the toothpick. Take them out and let cool.