Strawberry and Apricot Shake

Blend together strawberries, a handful of apricots, honey, milk, yogurt, and a splash of vanilla extract for flavor. Chill. Serve.

I'm sending this across to the Happy Cook for her event, Strawberry Feast.

Potato Gratin

A few days back, I prepared a potato gratin to go with our salad. It’s pretty simple to put together and extremely tasty too. This is, perhaps, one of the most satisfying dishes that I’ve posted on this blog.

Potato gratin is known by various names. In North America, the dish is referred to as scalloped potatoes. In French-speaking Canada, the dish is referred to as pommes de terre au gratin. The dish may also be known as gratin dauphinois, pommes de terre dauphinoises or potatoes dauphinoises depending on where it's from. (Source: Wikipedia)


Here’s my recipe for a low-fat potato gratin dish that is rich in flavor, but not in fat and calories.

Ingredients (recipe adapted from here)
In a skillet:
1 Tbsp butter
1 big onion, sliced thinly
3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped finely
Salt and pepper

In a pan:
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk (I used 2%)
1 tsp red chilli flakes
Salt & pepper
4 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly (approximately 1/4 inch rounds)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter an 8x8 inch baking dish.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook slowly until caramelized. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, in another pan, prepare the bechamel sauce/white sauce by melting the butter, blending in the flour & adding the milk gradually while stirring constantly till the mixture thickens, 3-4 minutes. Add salt, pepper and red chilli flakes and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Arrange half of the potato rounds in a layer, in a slightly overlapping fashion in the baking dish, and season with generous amounts of salt and pepper. Spoon half of the onion mixture over the potatoes. Repeat to make a second layer with the remaining potatoes, season, and sprinkle the rest of the caramelized onions over the top.

Pour the white sauce as evenly as possible all over the potatoes.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed, potatoes are tender and the surface is golden/lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.


The gratin had a wonderfully rich and creamy texture even without any cheese or heavy cream. This one’s definitely a keeper!


This is my entry for Dhanggit's Perfect Party Dishes.

Mixed Berry Shake

Ingredients:

Strawberries

Blueberries

Milk

Honey

Vanilla extract

Blend everything together. Serve cold.

Grape Smoothie

There’s really no need for a recipe for this one!
I just threw a whole bunch of grapes into my blender along with some milk, yogurt, a tiny bit of honey and some vanilla essence.
Blend everything together until smooth and frothy. Pour into your favorite glass and drink!

While the smoothie may not be much to look at, it certainly is simple, filling and tasty.
I saw this on one of my favorite blogs- Vaishali’s Happy Burp. Sadly, her blog has not been showing any signs of life for almost a year now.

Off this goes to Sig who is hosting the March edition of Monthly Blog Patrol.

Mango Milkshake

Ingredients:

1cup mango pulp ( I used something I got from the Indian Store)

2 cups ice-cold milk

A pinch of cardamom powder

Sugar to taste

Method:

Pay attention here as this bit is very complicated.

Place all the ingredients in the blender & blend away to your heart's content !!!

Enjoy!