Varada's Kitchen and Garden

Weekends are usually savored for the downtime from the mad week day rush. The menu on weekends is different from week nights but is usually simple. For years Friday night was pizza night. It would be movie night if we wanted to watch a good movie. Other weekends it would be game night where we played strategy and board games like Settlers of Catan. For the last few years Friday night has become the night to catch up on sleep for my high school going daughter. She has a quick dinner and sleeps for 12 hours straight. This pizza is a throwback to quieter Friday nights that were all about family time. My daughter loves pineapple on pizza. I know this is not an authentic pizza topping but after years of eating it I have to say I like it too. There is something about the pineapple and the tomato that just go together. This pizza has a sourdough crust but would taste great with regular pizza crust too. You will need Pizza dough made as per  this recipe Pizza sauce  Parmesan cheese a

I had bought a packet of Udon noodles a few weeks back and knew it was still sitting in the pantry. I also had some left over zucchini and yellow bell pepper. My husband was travelling over the weekend so I thought I would make noodles for our weekend lunch. I had saved a really nice noodle recipe posted by Pavani but I could not find it in my bookmarks. I searched and found the recipe I was looking in her blog  Cook's Hideout . We loved the noodles. Pavani used Hakka noodles and I used Udon. Except for that I followed her recipe as best as I can follow a recipe. I am bad at following recipes and never make the same dish twice as I tweak something or the other. My daughter asked if I could add eggs to the noodles so I cracked a couple eggs on the side in the pan and mixed in the scrambled eggs. The base recipe is true to the source and it was very tasty. I love roasted vegetables. Zucchini, bell peppers and onions release their flavors but retain their shape when roasted.

Portobello Mushroom are large and have a lot of meat. When grilled they turn juicy and flavorful so they make ideal candidates for burger pattis. We first made the mushroom burgers on the grill years ago when we lived in Arizona. I make these on lazy summer weekends when were are hanging out in the backyard by the pool. This is one of those meals that can be cooked on your grill and eaten outdoors. I made the burger buns without eggs and with 100% whole wheat because I did not have a recipe for that combination on my blog. I have my foolproof sourdough burger buns and the regular burger buns . Any of the recipes would work perfectly with these mushroom patti. You will need (for 4 burgers) 4 burger buns, eggless recipe here, other recipes available here and here 4 portobello mushrooms salt and pepper to taste 1 tsp. oil 2 tbsp. mayonnaise slices tomatoes, as needed lettuce, as needed onion cut into rings, as needed ketchup and mustard as needed You can make the burger

Burgers are a favorite in my house as soon as they temperature begins to rise. They are quick to put together and can be cooked outside. Summers are too nice to spend the time indoors. This year just as the temperatures began to go up in early March Mother Nature decided to hit us with three winter storms in a week. The snow, ice, schools were closed and everything was a mess. We were waiting for the temperature to go up again. As soon as it did I celebrated with burgers. While the burger patti is a post for another day I am posting the burger buns today. I found baking in warmer weather a pleasure. The dough is easier to work with and it rises a lot quicker too. It is amazing how everything living responds immediately to warmer temperatures. I have two burger buns recipes on this space. The first is a sourdough burger bun and the second is a regular burger bun . These buns are made with 100% whole wheat flour and are eggless. I used flaxseed instead. The recipe is very simi

After a long winter we had almost two weeks of rain. Then the rain stopped and we are left with hot muggy weather. To think this is just spring and summer is way out there is not a pleasing thought. Just the thought of something cool is refreshing. This watermelon cooler with a hint of lime does the trick. I had bought a huge watermelon and cut it up. It was cooling the refrigerator. Then my husband bought grapes, raspberries and blueberries. With all that fruit I knew I had to make something. So I made this cooler with the watermelon. I used my Vitamix blender and it blended the juice into a very smooth mixture. The lime was infused in the watermelon giving the drink a refreshing hint of freshness in every sip. You will need 4 cups watermelon cut into cubes 1 lime 3 tbsp. sugar 1/2 cup ice Put all the ingredients in a blender jar and blend until smooth. Taste the mixture. Adjust the tart and sweet taste using lime juice and sugar. Pour into glasses. Enjoy! This i

Trying different parathas is almost my hobby. I have a lot of paratha or stuffed roti recipes in this space. The other day I had zucchini in the refrigerator and nothing else that I usually cook with it. I also had a little spinach leftover. So I decided to mix it all together and make parathas. I added a bunch of different spices and flavors to the mix. The end result was a soft and delicious paratha. Perfect as packed lunch. Packed lunch is a beast. You need something that will satisfy everyone, taste great even if eaten cold, will not smell too strong and will not be too messy. And you need something five days a week. When my daughter was in middle school there were 300 children in the school and four lunch breaks. While there would be a line for use of the microwave, it was possible to occasionally expect her to heat up the food. Now she goes to a very large high school and it is just impossible to heat up lunch. So every weekend I have to come up with suitable options that w

Tomato Panzanella is one of the most flavorful salad you will have. I made it using a day old loaf of ciabatta. I baked the ciabatta for this salad the night before I needed it so I would have a day old loaf. Ciabatta is very high hydration bread and it is one of the lightest loaves I have ever baked. It was perfect for this salad. If you do not wish to bake the ciabatta, though I would highly recommend you do, you can use a store bought loaf. The day I made this salad my daughter was out for the evening at a friend's house for a project. I made the salad, clicked the pictures and handed the plate in the picture to my husband. He has taken a liking to salads lately but he likes gourmet ingredients. He took one bite and was hooked. Unfortunately for my daughter I had mixed the whole batch for the pictures so by the time she got home the salad was not very crisp. If you plan to eat some of the salad later mix it up in batches. This week I am showcasing seasonal fruit and ve

A trip to any grocery store will show you how popular ready made spice mixes are. It takes the guess work out and it is convenient. There was a time when the basic spice mixes were family secrets passed down through the generations. Unlike pickles that were made to last a year spices mixes were not made in large quantities. The idea was to use them before they lost their freshness. If you choose one thing to continue making at home choose spice mixes. The fresh ground spices will add a fantastic flavor and aroma to your food. This is my mother's recipe for garam masala. Actually it was my grandmothers recipe and she passed it down to my mother. Spicy curries were almost never cooked in the house when I was growing up. But this masala or spice mix was a staple. I took the picture at night and it did not come out very well. The color of the masala is brownish but the pictures shows it as yellow. I will click new pictures and update this post. You will need 500 gm coriander

Mexican cuisine is very loved in my house. Though the green sauce or verde sauce  is preferred in my house I sometimes make this red enchilada sauce. It is very easy and has a surprise ingredient - cacao, that gives it a very distinct taste and color. It is very easy to make and stores well for a couple days in the refrigerator. My daughter gives it two thumbs up. You will need 4-5 ripe tomatoes 1/2 cup water 1 tbsp. basil 1 tbsp. oregano 1 Serrano pepper, diced fine 1 tsp. red chili pepper powder 1 tbsp. cacao shavings salt and black pepper to taste Dice the tomatoes and keep aside. Mix the spices except the cacao with the water. Bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes and the chocolate. Cook until the tomatoes are softened. Add salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and let it cool. Run the mixture through a blender until smooth. Use in your recipe as needed. Enjoy!

My mother used to make the best porridge. She did not make it often but I loved it every time she made it. Back then I did not know if it was easy or difficult to make the porridge. All I knew was that I loved the sweet creamy goodness. Today I made this porridge for breakfast for my daughter. Like my mother I do not make it often. I prefer oatmeal. But just like me my daughter enjoys a warm cup of porridge. I like a moderately thick porridge. Adjust the ratio of semolina to milk based on whether you like the porridge runny or thick. You will need (2 servings) 2 cups milk 1/2 cup semolina 2 tbsp. sugar (adjust to taste) Warm the milk and keep aside. Roast the semolina in a pan over medium heat. When there is a very slight change in color add the sugar and the warm milk. Bring it to a boil and turn off the heat. Enjoy! Sending this to the  Kid's Delight event  hosted this month by Mireille who blogs at  Chef Mireille's East West Realm . This is my entr

Food is such a basic need and we eat so many different types of foods through out our life. There is food we grew up eating, food we cook in our own homes as adults, food we have tasted in a restaurant, food that entices us with a look at a picture, food we taste on our travels, and so on. And then there is that small collection of recipes that does more than nourish our body, it wraps us in this cocoon of comfort and takes us back to a safe happy place. Today I will present one such recipe. This is the recipe my mother used to make when I recovered from an illness and had no taste for food. Sabudana lapsi would bring a smile to my face and I would do my best to finish the bowl. The recipe is nothing special but it is comfort food. I rarely make it but today I was thinking of all the recipes I used to love as a child and wondered how many of those I have made for my daughter. And I remembered this. So I made a small bowl full. You will need 1/4 cup sabudana/sago 1 cup milk

With summer right around the corner all the cold comfort foods are making their way back into the menu. It was when I was planning ahead for the week that I realized I did not have a recipe for mousse in this space. The light and airy foamy dessert is perfect for a hot summer day. I had some crushed pineapple in the refrigerator so I decided to puree it and made pineapple mousse. I used agar agar to thicken it and heavy whipping cream as the base. Since the pineapple was not sweetened I used a little sugar. The end result for so light and creamy! I liked the mildly sweet taste. My daughter on the other hand said she would have preferred chocolate mousse. You will need 3 cups crushed pineapple in juice or cubed pineapple 3/4 cup cream (I used heavy whipping cream) 2 tbsp. sugar (adjust to taste) 1/2 cup water 2 tsp. agar agar Puree the pineapple chunks and keep aside. Heat the water and add agar agar. Stir to dissolve and turn off heat. In a separate bowl whip the cream an

I love to bake. I love baking bread, dinner casseroles, desserts and traditional recipes. Though I like to bake cakes and cookies my real passion is trying out Old World recipes using my natural levain also sometimes called a sourdough starter. During the month of April a group of blogger friends got together for a baking event we called Fire up the Oven. As part of this event I showcased baked recipes using a different theme each week. The first week I had recipes that were fun to bake. The second week was sourdough breads. The third week was baked hor d'oeuvres. The last week I posted one dish from each course ending the week and the month with a dessert. Here is a recap of everything I baked. Everything is better and more fun with friends and this was no exception. It was nice to chat and plan with friends. Showing off your special pictures and admiring the pictures shared by friends ahead of time made the whole journey enjoyable. Check out the Bloggi