All about baking

[RedPepper]

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My oven's repaired! Now, I can bake!!!!!

but alas the cake button is not working. So, I'll have to put it for more time.

What is the cake button? What kind of oven do you have?

[Alan]

Its a Sanyo-a family had got it from the Gulf. I bought a secondhand one from them. Gave it for repair & now its ok.

[RedPepper]

Its a Sanyo-a family had got it from the Gulf. I bought a secondhand one from them. Gave it for repair & now its ok.

Oh OK. Its a microwave, right? I thought you were talking about a conventional oven. Thanks

[Alan]

Can someone tell me how to boil 'Nenthra pazham' in the microwave? How many minutes?

[rain]

hi red pepper,

i got around to making the oven rasmalai and it came out very well.it was so simple and good.had it over 2 days ! one things sure i won't be going back to any tinned varieties in a hurry, if i can make it this fresh thanks a lot for the recipe.

btw,in the recipe wud it be better if u take the dish out after the bubbling stops? i took out while it was still bubbling as it had started to brown.the only variation i did was to boil the milk till almost half,cool it and then poured into the pcs for a cremier texture.

i do hope to try out lasagna,spinach or eggplant next.never tried them at home so will sure welcome any suggestions,if u have tried any on these too.

regards,
rain

[RedPepper]

Hello rain

Glad to know that you liked the rasmalai. I took it out of the oven when it just started to turn golden color. I didn’t wait until it got brown, but made sure it was cooked by doing the toothpick test. If you want a creamier texture, you may also use half and half instead of milk.

I do make lasagna and I am glad to share the recipe I use.
I have used food TV’s Giada De Laurentiis’ recipe which includes the home made tomato sauce as well. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/reci..._22896,00.html

This is too much work unless you have previously made the tomato sauce and froze it. Later I have tried variations to this recipe by adding Organic Ragu instead of home made tomato sauce and not using the béchamel sauce, or by adding one layer of thinly sliced zucchini instead of ground meat. Sautéed mushrooms, broccoli, yellow squash etc. are some other thoughts. I have yet to try the eggplants, but I think it will be great. I always add one layer of sautéed spinach because this is the only way my daughter eats spinach (hidden inside a lot of other stuffs!!) Its all about making layers of pasta, lots of cheese, tomato sauce and vegetables and/or meat. Hope this helps.

hi red pepper,

i got around to making the oven rasmalai and it came out very well.it was so simple and good.had it over 2 days ! one things sure i won't be going back to any tinned varieties in a hurry, if i can make it this fresh thanks a lot for the recipe.

btw,in the recipe wud it be better if u take the dish out after the bubbling stops? i took out while it was still bubbling as it had started to brown.the only variation i did was to boil the milk till almost half,cool it and then poured into the pcs for a cremier texture.

i do hope to try out lasagna,spinach or eggplant next.never tried them at home so will sure welcome any suggestions,if u have tried any on these too.

regards,
rain

[RedPepper]

Can someone tell me how to boil 'Nenthra pazham' in the microwave? How many minutes?

Alan,

I don’t usually boil the plantains in the microwave. I normally cook them in a steamer for 10-15 mts. But once or twice when I was hungry and lazy I tried it in the microwave. Since I was in a hurry to eat, I didn’t try it with the skin on as I do in the steamer. I peeled the plantain and sliced into round pieces. I microwaved it with a little water for 2 minutes. Then I checked it, it was only ¾ done. So I microwaved again at 30 seconds intervals ( I had to do it for 2 more minutes I guess, so a total of 4 minutes for me). Hope this helps. You can always cook for one or two mts, then check and cook again until it is done.

[Alan]

Thanks a lot, Redpepper!

Should I neccessarily cut them into pieces? Isn't it k to just slit them into half, peel & immerse in water? For 4 or 5 minutes? What say?

[RedPepper]

Thanks a lot, Redpepper!

Should I neccessarily cut them into pieces? Isn't it k to just slit them into half, peel & immerse in water? For 4 or 5 minutes? What say?

Of course you can cut into half and cook it, then it will take longer to cook. I cut them into pieces to hasten the cooking process because I needed them in a hurry.
You don't need to fully immerse it in water I guess. Also you can cook them with the skin on, which will be tastier. Thats what I do when I cook them in the steamer, hope it will be fine with the microwave too. I don't have a ripe plantain in my kitchen right now otherwise I would have tried cooking one in the microwave and tell you the exact time, how much water etc...

Recently I have tried a recipe for baked whole plantains stuffed with a mixture of cashews, raisins, and coconut fried in ghee with sugar and cardamom added. That was delicious.

[Alan]

Thanks RedPepper. I boiled Nenthra Pazham today. It took 6 minutes. I had peeled, cut into half & put it in a bowl of water.

Well, the microwave is the kind that decides how much time the food should cook, depending on the size of the vessel & quantity of food.

The time setter is like

A-1
A-2
A-3 upto A-12.

A-1 is 1 minute to 12 minutes. So, when I put it at A-1, it took 6 minutes to boil the bananas. It came out yummy - just right! When I put it on the Steamer ( I still don't know how long it should actually take), even after 20 minutes, it used to come half done.
Microwave is man's gift to men & women!