Savory Loaf Cakes: Cheese, Cashewnut and Bell Pepper Cake

Ever since I started watching Rachel Khoo’s television show, I have been going somewhat mad on trying out a few of her recipes. This particular recipe really stuck in my head and I just had to make it the next day. This loaf cake is really nice and what really gets me all zinged are the various savory variations.

Savory cakes are very popular in France, they appear in boulangeries and with a side salad on lunch menus in chic cafés, but they’re most likely to appear at a picnic.

Of course the original recipe makes use of different fillings, but I used whatever left-overs I had in my refrigerator and it turned out just fine. It was a spontaneous decision that became really good. Yummy savory cake filled with cheese, cashewnuts, caramelized onions and bell peppers. It tasted incredible.

The result is an explosion that takes place in my mouth, when I taste this creation. It turned out moist and if made the right way will be nice and fluffy.

I picked this one because it was the perfect Summer like loaf, perfect for the weather right now in Bangalore.

This cake is super simple to make and you can always make a scrumptious loaf cake using all the fresh produce available in the current season. I find this so clever.

I made changes to the fillings using up whatever I had with me. But other than that I kept to the directions. I present to you a wonderful loaf cake adapted from Rachel Khoo’s “The Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo”

I love this cake for two reasons. One it is savory which makes it rather unique. Second, the innovative flavor combinations you can try with whatever that’s left-over in your pantry.

Serve these tasty slices of cake warm (when warm, the cheese will be all melted and delicious) with ham; or a spicy frittata on the side; or some spicy fried chicken; or sautéed spicy sausages; steak and gravy…. anything. Or just munch away just as it is. A definite winner with your kids, serve these up at birthday parties, picnics, kitties or potlucks and you will be a star!

The dish is simple and elegant and can be prepared as a mid-morning meal, evening snack or a part of nice continental dinner.

We are all down with a bad cold, throat pain and what not; but I made this cake nonetheless and served it with some delicious hot Tomato Soup with croutons and spicy fried chicken. We enjoyed it.

Oh and the best news, it tastes better the next day! So bake and store in your refrigerator and cut a few slices when you are hungry!

Ingredients

250 grams Plain Flour

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

150 grams Cheese, cut into small pieces (refer notes)

80 grams Cashewnuts; roughly chopped

100 grams Red and Yellow Bell Peppers; finely chopped (refer notes)

3 to 4 Red Onions; finely sliced

4 Eggs

150 ml Olive oil

100 ml Milk

50 grams Plain Yoghurt

1 teaspoon Salt

Freshly-ground/milled Black Pepper (as per spice tolerance)

Coriander leaves; finely chopped

Method

Caramelize the sliced onions and keep aside. (please refer to the my Pizza recipe for more details on caramelizing onions)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/ and line a loaf tin measuring 22x11cm/8½x4¼inch across the top and 6cm/2½inch deep with baking paper.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cheese, cashewnuts, bell peppers and caramelized onions.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until fluffy and pale in color. Then gradually whisk in the oil, milk and yoghurt. Season with the salt and black pepper.

Fold the flour mixture into the whisked eggs. Try not to overbeat the mixture as this will make the end result tough. (it is better to undermix)

Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Sprinkle on top with fresh coriander leaves.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. (when I say clean knife, please ignore if melted cheese comes on it, that does not mean it is not cooked. If uncooked batter appears on the knife, it needs further cooking.)

Leave to cool in the tin.

Notes:

1. You can use any kind of cheese. I used a mixture of grated cheddar, mozzarella and normal cheese cubes. Also I added a little lesser than mentioned in the recipe. You can even goat’s cheese to make it healthier.

2. If you do not have red and yellow bell pepper, you can always use green bell peppers. The original recipe uses a combination of cheese, pistachios and prunes. So be creative when it comes to the filling.

3. Use a rubber spatula rather than a whisk to prevent overbeating the flour.

Recipe Source: Rachel Khoo’s “The Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo”

Daring Bakers, Say Cheeeese :) Delicious Home-made Pizza

This pizza is heartfelt. It is all about a salute to finding the balance between indulgence and healthy and along the making it as made from scratch as possible. A homemade thin crust pizza topped with shredded spiced chicken, caramelized onions, mozzarella and cheddar cheese and bell peppers is just the perfect, yummylicious weekend dinner or even breakfast, I say!

Who doesn’t love pizza! But, alas, things so good are hardly ever good for you. Now, exactly what about the pizza is bad? Oh, the gallons of grease, and piles of cheese, you say; all good tasting but sadly artery clogging stuff. But, what if you could actually control all that to the normal and acceptable levels? If you could with some extra effort ensure that a pizza slice is as good-for-you a meal as any other that you make at home, would you do it? Of course, without compromising on the flavor etc. etc....

If you are willing to go that extra bit, then you are in for a happy, happy surprise! I made pizza at home. Yes, from scratch. What else did you expect from me?! The base, the sauce, the toppings, the whole nine yards. I really would not have even considered making the pizza base at home if not for browsing some of my favorite food blogs, in particular Sanaa’s ‘Easy Pizza Dough’ recipe on Cucumbertown. She makes bread-making sound so easy that I decided to give it a chance. And it was worth it! Thanks a ton Sanaa. My other inspiration to try out this delish pizza was a fab baking tray gifted by our loving aunt, Mommy. Mommy is an excellent cook (though I haven’t tasted her food yet, maybe the next time you visit us Mommy?) and a beautiful person. The day she gave us the tray I was determined to cook up something interesting using the same. “Mommy, the tray was lovely, thanks to you the pizza turned out extremely well”.

I have not attempted to make any yeast-bread at home at all. Until now... Once I set about it, I was really surprised to see how easy it was. It’s quick to prepare and an excellent on-the-go-meal option and I assure you it is worth every minute. It made me wonder why I thought all this was a painful process in the first place. But, well, happily I have been corrected of my faulty notion. And, from this day forward, I swear to give any other yeast bread more than a passing shot in my kitchen!

So, once the dough was all set, I rolled it out into an oval shaped base, topped it up with some delicious stuff and used very less cheese and hence no grease making it healthy! Simple, rustic and absolutely divine…so what are you waiting for, go ahead and make this scrumptious pizza for your family.

Simple, clean flavors… that's the way I like it...

It was delicious! So, I can really have it more often than before and with my own choice of toppings! Yippee! :)

Ingredients for the Pizza Base

2 cups All Purpose Flour

2 1/4 teaspoon Dry Yeast (refer notes)

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Salt

1/4 cup Water

2 tablespoon Olive oil

Ingredients for the Pizza Sauce

4 large Tomatoes; diced

4 cloves of Garlic; finely chopped

1 small/medium size Big Onion; finely chopped

1 tablespoon Tomato paste

2 teaspoon Oregano; fresh or dried (I used dried)

1 teaspoon Basil; fresh or dried (I used dried)

1/2 teaspoon Pepper; freshly milled (adjust as per spice tolerance)

1 teaspoon Paprika

2 1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil

1/2 to 1 teaspoon Red Chilli flakes (optional)

Salt; to taste

Ingredients for Caramelized Onions

3 to 4 large size Big Onions

1 tablespoon Butter

1 teaspoon Sugar

Salt; to taste

Apple Cider Vinegar or Water; just enough to soften the onions (refer notes)

Ingredients for the Topping

I used 250 grams of shredded chicken sautéed with a few spices like paprika; freshly sliced bell peppers and of course cheese. (a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar) [Please refer notes for more ideas]

Method to prepare the Pizza Base

Dissolve the dry yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water. Let it rest till slight bubbles form. Now add sugar, stir and keep aside for 4 to 5 minutes or till the mixture turns frothy.

Take a wide mixing bowl and add all the ingredients (including the dissolved yeast) into it. Combine all the ingredients and gently knead with fingertips until a slightly sticky dough forms. You don’t have to work your arm by kneading too much. Just get the dough together. Transfer into an oiled bowl and turn the dough so the oil coats it. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let it rise for about 25 to 30 minutes or until doubled in volume.

Method to prepare the Pizza Sauce

Heat the oil in wok and add chopped garlic and onion into it. Sauté till the onions turn light brown. Throw in the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, salt, pepper, spice powders and chilli flakes (optional) and sauté till tomatoes turn soft. Cover and cook for a few minutes till tomatoes turn very soft and mushy and water has evaporated. Cool the mixture and blend to a smooth puree.

Method to prepare Caramelized Onions

Heat butter in a broad pan and when the butter melts add the onions into it. Add enough salt and sugar and sauté on high heat till onions turn a lovely golden brown. Stir continuously to avoid onions sticking to pan. At this time pour cider vinegar or water little by little to soften the onions. This process is called deglazing. Repeat this process till onions turn soft and water has completely dried up. (your onions must be a beautiful golden brown and should be soft and sticky)

Method to prepare the Pizza

Punch down the prepared dough and knead lightly until it forms a ball. Transfer to a floured surface.

Roll the dough into a circle, rectangle, oval or any desired shape, flouring it as you go. Once rolled out to desired shape, transfer the base to a greased baking tray lined with parchment/greaseproof paper (optional). Slather on some pizza sauce and throw in the shredded chicken, caramelized onions, bell peppers and grated cheese.

Preheat oven at 100 degree Celsius for 10 minutes. Bake the pizza in the preheated oven at 200 degree Celsius for about 15 minutes. The base will turn a lovely golden brown.

Sprinkle a pinch of chilli flakes and oregano on top and serve them hot or warm. Yum yum yum…

Notes:

1. If you are using instant yeast in place of dry yeast, just throw it directly into the pizza dough while preparing it, so that makes the process easier. But please don’t go hunting for instant yeast because dry yeast works out just fine and is not difficult at all. Just takes a few extra minutes, that’s all.

2. You can always use cider vinegar to deglaze your caramelized onions but I used water and it worked out just fine.

3. You can use any topping of your choice. Some yummy options are sausage (chicken/pork/beef), pepperoni, chicken franks, beef mince, spinach, basil leaves, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, jalapeno peppers, fresh onions and tomatoes, any kind of grilled or prepared leftover chicken from day before’s dinner or lunch…. Oh the options are too many! Of course cheese goes without a say, anything is ok I guess, mozzarella, cheddar, goat’s cheese, feta, anything really.

Here are a few links that helped me get going to prepare this tasty pizza:

Easy Pizza Dough: http://www.cucumbertown.com/recipes/easy-pizza-dough

How to Quickly Caramelize Onions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt_0e72fs9M

Egg Salad Canapés that taste like Summer...

I have been going through a funny roller coaster ride of emotions, giddy highs and miserable lows. There are days when I can hardly wait to get out of bed to tackle the next chore on my list. Then there are days when I just want to pull the covers over my head and stay in bed all day – handling a 5 month-old baby is not easy! Of course each moment with little Michelle is exciting but it can sometimes tire you out totally!

This little blog space has become my island, where I can come and be creative and share my thoughts regardless of what my mood is and whichever part of the world I am! For this I am happy because I can take you where ever I go! I know that I haven't been a regular blogger these past few months and it may be that way for sometime because managing a baby and home can sometimes get difficult. But I try to share my enthusiasm with new recipes whenever I can steal some time and update you on the latest.

The recipe today is a gorgeous Egg Salad Canapé.

Eggs - Comforting, happy, leisurely, fresh, satiating, rich, whimsical, enveloping, warm.... versatile. That's what I think of and feel when I eat them. What do they remind you of? This is a recipe where the quality of products play a large role so try and get your hands on the yummiest mayonnaise, best herbs and the most fresh bread you can find. You won't be sorry.

Picnics and salads are a great combination. I'm sure all of us have a passion for being outdoors and enjoying our meals in some scenic spot. And what better time to do this but Summers; with kids vacations going on, lovely fun picnics are always on the agenda. How many of you are planning little picnics with family and friends? Isn't it fun to dream of huge theme parties and picnics just as soon as the first warm sunrays strike. I just love spending time with a family and friends, laughing and chatting, the aromas of delicious goodies filling the air. The gentle summer breeze brings the scent of perfumed flowers and the sounds of other people giggling and laughing as they too enjoy their parties and fun trips.

Most people don't waste too much time preparing food for picnics, they simply make a few sandwiches and cut up some vegetables and fruit, take a few bottles of fresh or fizzy drinks and ta-da, your picnic basket is ready. But I believe in just the opposite; picnics if planned with a little care can be both exciting and healthy. Usually for most picnics the spotlight is mostly on the location rather than the food; but it need not always be that way. A picnic with freshly prepared home-made goodies like grilled delicacies, refreshing salads and piquant sauces is so much more fun and appealing than eating all that junk. The food always has to be plentiful because, I do not know about you, but I always tend to overeat at picnics; everything always tastes better.  But when the food is home-made and healthy, why worry if you eat a little extra! I love playing around with flavors for salads, sauces and salsas. Here I took an old salad favorite and gave it a slight twist. Egg Salad – I used very little mayonnaise, a little dijon-style mustard and lots of herbs, making it lighter and slightly tangier in flavor. What makes this salad exquisite is the use of sharp but sweet red onions and the mild heat from the paprika brings about a flavor explosion. The salad works really well as little canapés arranged on tiny pieces of firm bread or crisp lettuce leaves. It can also be spread on a bread of your choice making yummy sandwiches. Whichever way, they taste great and are quick to prepare and make an excellent picnic snack. I have presented them as bite-size canapés today. Simple, easy, home-made....Do try them out.

We also had some for breakfast today; perfect start to the day! :)

Ingredients

3 Eggs

3/4 tbsp Mayonnaise

Boiled & Cooled Water - 1 or 2 tsp (refer notes)

1/2 to 3/4 tsp Dijon-style Mustard (refer notes)

2 to 3 tsp of fresh herb (you can always add more if you like the flavor; refer notes)

1/4 to 1/2 tsp Paprika (adjust as per spice tolerance)

1/2 of a medium size Big Onion; finely chopped

Method

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil; cover, remove from heat, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and chop. Keep aside.

In a large bowl, mix the mayonnaise, water, mustard, herbs, paprika and chopped onions. This is the dressing.

Into this add the chopped egg and combine well by mashing with a fork or wooden spoon.

Chill the Egg Salad in the refrigerator for atleast an hour. Serve cold as canapés or as sandwiches.

Notes:

1. I like my dressing a little runny (of course not too much), so I always add a little water to give it the right texture. That way we don't have to add too much mayo into the dish.

2. In case you do not have Dijon-style mustard in your pantry, you can always use any other good quality mustard.

3. You can use any fresh herb of your choice. Here are a few choices, you can use any one at a time: Dill, Parsely, Cilantro or Coriander and Celery.

Flavours: Mum's Firecracker Open Chicken Sammies

I love getting e-mails (comments) and messages from my readers and blogger friends. I especially love those e-mails telling me that they tried one of my recipes and found it to be delectable.

Today's dish is one of the simplest sandwich recipes you can find. Passed down to me by my mama, this dish is sure to get onto your list of "Simplest Recipes". No creamy cheesy filling, no extravagant ingredients, just pure hazzle-free sammies full of flavour. They are packed with tender shredded chicken breasts, sweet browned onions, ripe juicy tomatoes and spiced with a little green chillies and pepper.

I love all day meals, and sandwiches, I believe, fall in that category. This is a really simple dish which can be prepared in a few minutes. All you need is a little chicken and some bread! Don't you love dishes with just 4 to 5 ingredients?! I absolutely adore them and I'm always ready to make them at anytime. This is an absolute life saver when you have unexpected guests or when laziness creeps up to you!

Kids will definitely enjoy this treat. I have seen so many parents struggling to feed their little ones and I think this dish will be a good idea and you can enjoy seeing them devour it in minutes! Now, won't that be a pretty pretty sight?!! :)

If you are avid picnic goers and are not one of those extravagant picnic packers, these yum chicken sammies will make a perfect dish to go into your picnic baskets. A warm sunny Saturday afternoon with loaded backpacks on mountain bikes, heading off for the afternoon to one of your favourite spots, these sandwiches will be devoured in a jiffy!

You can always be creative with the filling like using vegetables, egg, beef, lamb and chicken. I will try posting some more similar recipes with different fillings in later posts. You could also serve this up as simple wraps instead of sandwiches. Today, I have for you Mama's home-style chicken sandwiches. And what's better? This dish uses very less oil. Less oil, less fatty! And I think healthy eating is so important these days with changing lifestyles.

I prepare these sandwiches quite often but have always failed to take pictures because they were gone before I was able to take pictures! Today, however, I managed a few though and I hope you enjoy them as much we did!

Enjoy these with a bowl of piping hot creamy onion soup, chicken soup, spicy pumpkin soup or any soup of your choice. Happy cooking and happy eating!

Ingredients

Chicken breast (cut into cubes) - 250 gms (refer notes)

Green chilli - 1

Pepper - 2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Big Onion - 2 (medium)

Tomato (finely chopped) - 1 (medium)

Chicken stock - 3 to 4 tbsp

Bread slices - 8 to 10

Oil

Method

Take a pressure cooker and add chicken pieces along with a pinch of salt and pepper and a little water into it. Cover and cook till chicken is tender and juicy. Remove the stock/liquid (you can use this as stock that has to be added later into it) and keep aside. Shred the chicken pieces and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add green chilli and onions and saut'e till onion reduces and turns golden brown. Add finely chopped tomato and saut'e for a few minutes till tomato becomes soft. Add the shredded chicken along with pepper and salt and saut'e for a few minutes. Now add chicken stock and stir on medium flame for a few minutes till all the liquid evaporates. Once done, switch off flame and keep aside.

Lightly butter the bread slices and toast them on the griddle or a frying pan. Place the chicken filling on top. Keep warm in a pre-heated oven. (refer notes)

Serve warm.

Notes:

1. If you don’t have boneless chicken breasts, don’t worry, you can use chicken with bones. But remember to shred the chicken off the bone. Either way, it tastes the same.

2. It isn’t necessary to place the sandwiches in the oven, you can serve it straight from the stove too.

Recipe Courtesy: Mum

Grilled Carrot & Cheese Sandwich

Bread is perhaps the longest running love affair through the ages for chefs and gourmands alike. The feel of biting into a piece of generously buttered bread (if freshly baked, even better!) ... Oh! no pleasure greater for the taste buds! The best thing about bread is it's versatality. Across the world, every culture has some form of it. Bread allows so much of scope to play with different flavourful fillings, spreads and such.

Guess what I have today to make a neat and simple sandwich? Freshly grated carrots and cheese! Well the idea of making these sandwiches was to experiment with flavours that famous street food joints deliver. They have such simple dishes that require absolutely no time at all yet are a treat to the palate. I remember eating yummy grilled mixed veggie and cheese sandwiches sometime back in Bangalore. Oh! they were heavenly. Rich and oozing with cheese!

And today's carrot and cheese sandwiches are a take on those yummy sandwiches I had sometime ago. Oh, boy! never did a spur of the moment idea turn out so well. I haven't added too much cheese just so to keep it light, healthy and fresh. But in case you like your sandwiches oozing and bursting with cheese, feel free to add more! It's well spiced and hot and will go into a wrap or sandwich bread and make a pretty good breakfast, lunch or snack!

This easy and delicious dish can be made in minutes and is the perfect meal.

Ingredients

Bread Slices – 8 to 10

Carrot (grated) - 5

Cheese (grated) - as desired

Tomato (finely chopped) - 1

Big Onion (finely chopped) - 1

Fresh Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 7 to 8 tbsp

Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp to 3/4 tsp (adjust as per spice tolerance)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp (add more if you like the taste)

Butter - just enough to spread on the bread slices

Oil - 1 to 2 tsp

Method

Heat oil in a pan and splutter cumin seeds. Add finely chopped onions and salt and saut'e till onions turn light brown. Once onions have browned, add turmeric powder, chilli powder, and garam masala and saut'e till raw smell disappears. Now add the chopped tomatoes and saut'e till tomatoes turn soft. Now add the grated carrot and cover and cook for 1 minute. After a minute, remove the lid and add freshly chopped coriander leaves (add more salt if necessary) and keep stirring till carrot is cooked well and excess water evaporates. Once done, keep aside.

To prepare the sandwich, take bread slices and lightly butter them.

Place the buttered bread slices on the grill/toaster, spread 1 or 2 spoonfuls of the carrot mixture onto it. (make sure you evenly spread the mixture to all sides of the bread slices) Grate cheese onto the carrot mixture. Place buttered slices of bread on top of the filling and grill for about 3 to 4 minutes (follow your grill/toaster cooking instructions), allowing the cheese to melt and to give the bread slices that extra crisp.

Once done, remove from the grill/toaster and serve with a sauce/ketchup or chutney/dip of your choice.

And there you go, Grilled Carrot & Cheese Sandwiches! Enjoy!

Notes: For the healthier version, you can avoid cheese and have it just as it is.

Cinnamon French Toast

Hey everyone! Yesterday and today are "getting rid of left-overs" day! We are going home to Calicut (Reju's place) for the weekend and so I'm in a spree to finish up food and veggies in the refrigerator. Today's recipe is an outcome of the same. I had some left-over bread in the refrigerator and thus thought I'll prepare a french toast with a twist! I'm sure we all love french toast, I used to love it as a young girl. And today I cooked up a cinnamon flavoured french toast for breakfast. And if you're thinking everyday about what snack to send your lil munchkins for school, here is a perfect snack and an all day breakfast! I assure you that their lunch boxes will be empty in  a jiffy. The ingredients are very simple. This dish is easy to make and yummy to taste!

Weekends and going home always makes me feel upbeat. I hope you enjoy this moist and subtly spiced french toast I have for you today. Have a pleasant weekend my blogger friends.

Ingredients

Bread slices - 8

Eggs - 3 (refer notes)

Milk - 1/4 cup and a little more

Vanilla extract - 1/4 tsp

Sugar - 1 tsp (optional)

Cinnamon (ground) - 1/4 to 1/2 tsp

Nutmeg (ground) - a dash

Butter

Method

In a shallow bowl, whisk eggs until slightly fluffy. Whisk in the milk, vanilla essence, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and sugar. Heat butter in a heavy skillet or non-stick pan over medium-low heat. Dip each slice of bread (one by one) in the egg mixture, turning to coat thoroughly. Let excess drip back into bowl.

Place coated bread slices on the hot skillet or non-stick pan. Cook, turning until both sides are nicely browned. Be careful not to burn the bread slices.

Transfer to a warm plate and keep warm in a 200°C pre-heated oven. Repeat with remaining bread and egg mixture. Serve hot with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top (optional) or with maple syrup, honey or any syrup of your choice.

Notes:

1. For the healthier version, you can use 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites and avoid the sugar because the syrup or honey contains enough sweetness.

2. Warming up the bread in the oven is optional. You can eat it hot directly taken off the skillet/non-stick pan.

Grilled Fish Sammies

We all enjoy a nice grilled cheese sandwich at anytime of the day. Sandwiches are loved by all, be it big or small. Once you factor in the basic requirements of butter, bread and cheese of the classic grilled cheese sandwich, one only needs a little imagination to take these sandwiches to the next level to unleash their true gourmet potential.

I was just thinking about what I could make for dinner today and suddenly I thought of sandwiches. Simple and easy. I love sandwiches for any meal, breakfast, brunch, lunch, snack, dinner....anything!

I had a few pieces of fish left in my freezer and thought why not make a few grilled fish sandwiches! Looking to make something a bit more fancy than your typical everyday grilled cheese?

Here is the perfect dish. It is delicious and filling too.

Ingredients

Fish (Seer fish) - 7 to 8 pcs

Lime - 2 tbsp (or Vinegar - 1 tbsp)

Ginger - a small piece

Salt - to taste

Water - 1/2 to 3/4 cup

Garlic (crushed) - 3 to 4 cloves

Big Onion (chopped fine) - 1

Green chillies - 2 to 3 (as per your spice tolerance)

Tomato (chopped fine) - 1 (big)

Pepper powder - 1 tsp (I add more. You can add as per your spice tolerance)

Cream Cheese (Cheese spread) - 4 tbsp (you can add or reduce as you like)

Oil

Method

For the filling

Cook the fish with Lime juice/vinegar, ginger, salt and water until done. Throw away the piece of ginger and leave to cool. Once cooled, flake the fish pieces into tiny bits and keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok. Add garlic, green chillies and onions and saut'e till onions turn light brown. Then add tomato and saut'e for about 2 minutes. Add the flaked fish pieces along with pepper and salt and combine with the other ingredients. Switch off the flame and keep aside.

For the sandwiches

Take bread slices and lightly butter them. (optional) Take the cream cheese in a bowl and gently whisk it. Add the fish mixture into it and mix. Adjust salt.

Take the buttered bread slices and place them on the grill, spread the fish and cheese mixture onto it. Place another buttered slice of bread on top and grill for about 3 to 4 minutes, just to give it that crisp. And there you have it, Grilled Fish Sammies, ready-to-eat! Enjoy!