Deviled Eggs for Easter

It's Easter time again and I have been looking for something different and in theme to make for our Easter family lunch! We came up with these adorable little hatching chickens and bunny rabbits; a great way of producing artistic deviled eggs in sync with the Easter theme.

Deviled eggs - hatching chickens

Deviled eggs - bunny rabbits and chickens

Ingredients:
11 eggs, hard boiled
1 green coconut, grated (only the white part) taking care to avoid the skin
1 cup grated cheese
1 big onion, finely cut into bits
1 big tablespoons full mayonnaise
3 small boiled and mashed potatoes

A pinch of salt
A pinch of pepper powder

For decoration :
1 carrot
1 capsicum
A few pepper corns

Method:

• Cut the eggs horizontally for the hatching chickens in the first picture and vertically for the bunny rabbits and the chickens in the second picture.
• Remove the egg yolks from their white shells and mix with all the other ingredients.
• Put the mixture in a piping bag, and pipe it out into the empty egg whites as seen in the pictures.
• Cut out the beaks and feet for the hatching chickens using the carrot.
• Cut bunny ears, nose and whiskers from carrot and capsicum.
• Cut some grass for decoration from the capsicum for the hatching chickens.
• Serve as a snack.

PIZZA BASE

If you have been looking for a Pizza Base recipe then I am sharing mine with you. This one is from the British "Girl" magazine that I had got from a cousin who was down from Kuwait when I was a kid. It works pretty well and so if you have been looking for how to make pizza bases you have indeed arrived at the right place. This pizza base recipe yields 30 small ones.

Ingredients:

600 gms maida/all-purpose flour

3 level tspns sugar

3 ¾ level tspns salt

75gms ghee/butter

5 level tspns dry yeast

300 ml warm water

Method:

• Dissolve sugar in water. 
• Add yeast and dissolve it. 
• Sieve the flour, add salt. 
• Then run in the ghee. 
• Add the yeast liquid. 
• Knead well. 
• Leave to rise for 7 hrs. approximately in a bowl coated with a little oil & sealed with a plastic bag & rubber band. 
• Knead dough once again.  
•  Make round chapattis (use steel tiffin for cutting). 
• Keep for 15 mins. before putting topping. 
• Bake for ½ hour.

Home-made Crackers

Making canapes can be a tedious process if it is for home consumption so my sis had this bright idea of making crackers using the same ingredients of the canape recipe or forminhas recipe that I put up on this blog earlier. Then she rolled the dough out into a thin sheet just like for the canape recipe but cut them out into rectangles and pricked them with a fork before she deep fried them. So much easier and less troublesome. Besides, they will taste just the same! ;)

How to make crackers at home

Topping these home-made crackers with a Russian salad makes for a quick snack so next time you are ravenous, try this out. :) It will definitely help if you make some crackers and keep them ready for use or you could use some toast or store bought Cream crackers.

How to make a quick snack with home-made crackers and Russian salad topping

Rissóis de Camarão (Shrimp Turnovers)

If you have ever wondered how to make rissois the camarao, there is no need to wonder any more. The recipe for rissóis de camarão or shrimp or prawn turnovers is one we Goans have inherited from the Portuguese. It is a great melt in the mouth treat if made correctly and a hot favourite at parties and wedding receptions. As an appetizer, you can make the rissóis small but if they are going to part of your supper then you would do well to make the rissóis de camarão a bit larger; it will also save you the trouble of all the extra work if you make them large. This rissóis de camarão recipe makes about 3 dozen small rissois or 1.5 dozen large rissois. Note that the singular of rissois is rissole 'cos I find a lot of people referring to a single one as rissois! When I tried this recipe the first time, everybody liked them and my mum, she doesn't care for the ones from Dom Pedro any more... A little bit of trouble but they are simply worth every bit of effort you put in. Make them and treat yourself and your family!

How to make rissois de camarao

Ingredients:

For the pastry
2 cups maida / all-purpose flour

2 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter
a pinch of salt

For the filling
1/2 cup prawns or shrimp, peeled and deveined, cooked with a pinch of salt and a little bit of water till done and dry and coarsely chopped

1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon coriander leaves, finely chopped

Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, preferably white
2 tablespoons corn flour
2 tablespoons water

For the frying
2 large eggs, beaten 

Fine breadcrumbs or semolina (I normally prefer breadcrumbs but I didn't have them in my kitchen when I made this lot).

Oil

Method:

Make the filling

• Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until it turns a light golden.
• Turn down the heat to low, pour in the milk, and heat to just before boiling point. Add the chopped coriander leaves, salt and pepper.
• Mix the corn flour with the water. Add to the milk mixture and simmer over low heat, stirring continuously till it thickens, should take a minute or 2. Add the chopped shrimp, let heat through for a minute, and take off heat. Keep aside to cool completely.

Make the pastry 

• In a saucepan, place the butter, milk and salt. Warm until the milk just about reaches boiling point. Then reduce the heat to low.
• Using a spoon, stir the flour vigorously into the milk. Continue stirring over low heat till it forms a dough. When the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the saucepan and turns into a ball, take off stove.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Knead the warm dough until smooth and the dough springs back slightly when pressed with your finger. Divide the dough into two balls, and keep one covered under an inverted bowl to keep warm.

Assemble and fry the pastries

• Take the other half of the dough and roll it out to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a cutter, cut disks that are 3.5 to 4 inches in diameter (these work well for home consumption but you can make them smaller if you are making these as appetizers for a party). Knead the remnants into a dough and make more circles till all the dough is exhausted.
• Place 1 teaspoon of the prawn filling in the center of a circle. Fold the dough circle over to form a half circle, pressing the edges together after applying a dab of water to the edge. Keep aside on a tray or plate. Repeat until all the dough and filling are used.

Getting the prawn rissois assembled

Prawn rissois ready for frying

• Dip each rissole into beaten egg with one hand and then drop it into the breadcrumbs. With the other hand, turn it over so as to coat it well with the bread crumbs. Otherwise, you end up getting a lot of bread crumbs into the beaten egg. Set aside.
• Put 2 or 3 inches of oil in a deep skillet on medium-high heat till the oil is hot or until a bit of the pastry sizzles when you drop it into the oil. Fry the rissóis, a few at a time so that there is no overlap, until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towel.
• Serve hot or at room temperature.
• You can also freeze the rissóis on a sheet pan in a single layer without overlapping and covered with a plastic wrap. Rissóis stored in the freezer can make for a quick snack if you have some good friends or relatives visiting unexpectedly.
• Enjoy!