Ina Garten's Grapefruit Yogurt cake with a twist

Hey everyone,

To most cooks and bakers, Ina Garten is the queen. Her food is ridiculously amazing and she always puts forth the most delectable, flavorful, and beautiful dishes. She is a person I look up to (apart from Julia Child of course) and so when Thanksgiving came around, I wanted to do something different and unique and so I turned to Smitten Kitchen's adaptation of Ina's recipe for a Grapefruit Yogurt cake. 

5-year anniversary: Paleo Pancakes with Strawberry Compote sauce

I am amazed to say that five years have passed since I first began this blog. What first began as a curiosity now has become a passion. Baking and cooking has allowed me to be creative with flavors but through the process of learning and feeding people, I have developed many friendships and I have enjoyed every moment of this.

This is one of my to-go pancake recipes which I highly recommend trying. These are Paleo pancakes in that they tend to be more heavy on the protein and less carbohydrates (akin to what is thought to have been the diet in our primitive ancestors). That being said, they were no less delicious than any other pancake - and I found them to be quite filling.

Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies

So I happened to find this post sitting in my drafts! Way back from the holidays - I miss those good times so with the TBT (or throwback thursday) trends, here is a throwback you can do any day! No need for it to be the holidays!

Cast Iron Skillet Chocolate-rich Chocolate chip Cookie (Triple C)

The minutes start to blend into the hours into the days into the months. That is how my life has gone by so quickly over the past six months. First it was my Surgery, then my Medicine, and finally my obstetrics and gynecology rotation. I am happy that I was able to learn a lot, help and care for my patients, and give back.

At the same time, trust me, I am happy that I finally get two weeks off from this hectic schedule I call third year medical school. I intend to use them to watch TV, eat, sleep, bake and repeat.

It was around this time I got a wonderful gift in the form of a 6 inch cast iron skillet pan and I was overjoyed because there is a baked good I have been meaning to make for ages. The gigantic skillet cookie and that's what I did today.

The recipe is simple - it's like any other cookie dough recipe that you would use but instead of many small cookies, you make one gigantic one. I modified the recipe from Bake or Break - a wonderful site with lovely recipes with a few modifications:

1) I replaced a 1/4 cup of flour with baking unsweetened cocoa.
2) I cut the sugar by half
3) I added a shit load of chocolate chips - how can you go wrong?

Everything else was identical to the recipe there.

Easy as pie - or cookie - dump ingredients into the mixing bowl

The dough comes together in a snap

Press the dough in and top it with more chocolate chips

Stare at this gorgeousness that is the cookie :-)

Enjoy this delicious cookie with some mmm... ice-cream. I used vanilla!

This is wonderful to share with your family or with yourself, but since it's the holidays, you probably should be nice (just this time.)

Happy Holidays,

Kartik

Incoming....

Hello fellow bakers,
So what have I been up to you ask? Well medical school kind of took over my life. Not surprisingly. But I still managed to keep on baking. It was my stress relief. It was my love. It was my peace. It was my happiness. And it was my little business :-)

How is that you ask? Well I managed to convince my med school classmates to start purchasing the baked goods and so far I'm proud to say I've sold more than 500!!

500!! Thats a lot of cookies. So I'll start posting recipes soon, but here's a little preview...

See you very very very soon.
Kartik

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

Happy New Year everyone!

It's been a while since I last posted. But you know, medical school, life, studying, and more studying seemed to keep creeping up on me.

I'll keep this short since I'm in the middle of watching Homeland - I love this show! - in the little break that I have.

This is a great recipe especially when you've got left-over red wine lying around. Come on now! You know that moment where you have a tiny bit in the bottle left and you're wondering, is it worth keeping it? It's a day old, what should I do? I know those questions have been running through your mind.

Well, have no fear. Here's an easy recipe to use that leftover wine. I also see no reason you can't use white wine, but use a wine that you are willing to drink. Don't use cooking wines that are terrible. Trust me, that's a bad idea.

I just ended up following the recipe from Smitten Kitchen - my to-go recipe site and it's really easy.

Plus, if you don't like wine or don't drink alcohol, no fears. There's also a simple chocolate cake recipe on the site as well.

Here's a picture with how easy it is:

What are you waiting for? Now's the best time to make it. Surely, you've got a lot of left-over wine to use.

Kartik

Love thyself first!

I'm sure that everyone has gone through break-ups or difficult relationships in their lives. I know I've had my share.

I'm not here to give relationship advice in anyway, nor do my views represent anyone else's but my own, but from my personal experience, our first reaction is to go down an emotional spiral that never seems to end and goes towards paranoia. What starts as self-doubt eventually leads you to start questioning all of your decisions and attacking your own character, integrity, and self-worth.


I tend to put a lot of effort and energy into our relationships because I care about the other person, but that's exactly the problem in my case. I put so much energy into people I care for prematurely that when the person leaves, an emotional void is created that is draining and filled with nothing but self-doubt and unhappiness. I feel drained; I feel angry; I feel sad; I feel hatred; I feel depressed and that destroys me a little at a time.

That happens every time I encounter difficulties in a relationship. I accept that it will take some time and it gets a little easier each time, but the one thing I have learned is that every time I bounce back stronger, it begins when I start loving myself.

Not that I'm saying that eating is the solution to loving yourself (although a cup of icecream might be the way to start), but doing hobbies and activities that you love to do, you begin to realize what an amazing person you are. You are talented, joyful, happy, and complete.

That's exactly what a relationship should be like. Your partner or significant other enriches your life but you don't need him or her to live it. You should not change yourself and you shouldn't force your significant other to do something they are not comfortable with either. You do what's best for you and live your life.

I admit that I still have a long way to go. I struggle everyday with myself questioning what went wrong. That's important because you can only learn from your mistakes. As my close friend told me "a relationship is like putting a mirror to yourself." You see the bad, but remember that there is a lot of good and most of it is good.

For me, the way to love myself is to start doing my fitness classes again, such as Zumba, biking, spending time with closest friends, family, and baking.

In the meantime, please keep on loving, learning, and living.

Thank you for letting me venting my feelings through this blog.
Kartik

(Again, I'm not here to give relationship advice in anyway, nor do my views represent anyone else's but my own.)

Peruvian Roasted Cornish game hen, Brussel sprouts, and Aleppo Sour cream cornbread

What a meal! That's all I can say to describe one of the best dinners I've had in a while.

Good times in Trinidad and oh the food!

So the first part of my trip was to Trinidad and it was absolutely fabulous from the first minute I landed there to the last minute when I left.

Trinidad has a beautiful insignia

The best spring break vacation ever! London and Trinidad

So I just got back from what has been one of my best trips thus far (well to be fair, I haven't had many trips). For the past week, I went to two great places - Trinidad and London - and I got a chance to enjoy the sights, sounds, and food in two completely different cultures.

Over the next few posts, I'll post a ton of pictures of these trips and tell you more about my experiences...

All right, let's head out! 

Packed and all set to go!

The Most Amazing Lemon Cake.... Ever!

Ina Garten has never steered me wrong. From her Date Nut Loaf that clearly won rave reviews from all  of my taste testers to her Orange chocolate cake (which I actually should revisit soon for this blog), she is a culinary great.

I had made her Lemon cake for the first time several years ago, and I am still amazed that I did not post how well the cake had turned out (well it was more my fault - I just didn't realize I hadn't posted it by accident).

White chocolate, walnut, and almond snowball cookies

Hey all,
Apart from candies that I discussed in my previous post, the holidays are epitomized by cookies. In fact most food blogs, including my favorites: Smitten Kitchen, Joy the Baker, and Lottie+Doof, bring forth the deliciousness of the cookie in a variety of ways. Whether it be chocolate, macadamia, chestnut, or any other flavor cookies, they highlight how delicious the holiday season can be.

Thus far, I felt like I haven't yet contributed to this wonderful tradition and that changes today.

That changes today with my white chocolate, walnut, and almond snowball cookies.

Holiday Candy making time! Almond Brittle

Hey all,
So I finally finished my first semester in medical school! What a semester it has been - learning about the cells that make up our body and how they work, seeing patients, meeting my amazing classmates, and having a lot of fun with exploring the city.

I admit that it was stressful, but I enjoyed myself. Still I look forward to the holidays - a time when I can recover with reading novels, listening to new music, cooking, baking, and eating.

When I think of the holidays, one of the first things that comes to my mind is candy. Traditionally, one sees peppermint candy canes, chocolates of various sorts, and boxes of truffles. They make a great gift for the ones that you love (although I'm sure they'd prefer something shiny).

But, what takes it up a notch and trust me will gain bonus points from the people you care about is when they are homemade.

Whole wheat Chocolate Olive Oil cake with Blackberries

Hey all,
The last few months of my first year in New York have been a whirlwind. Medical books, clinical work, parties, and hanging out with friends have been an absolute blast. Dinners, frozen margaritas, and  broadway shows have only made it infinitely better.

But, now and then, when I want to get away from the stress and the busy life, I turn to the little oven in my dorm and try and bake something. Last week, for a mexican fiesta night planned by my friends, I decided to try something a little outside of my comfort zone.

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake topped with little black nuggets of deliciousness - a.k.a blackberries.

I love New York!

Hey all,
Sorry I've been missing for the past few months. It has been insane!

Let me tell you the many many ways that my life has been in constant motion....

1. Packed and shipped everything from California to Michigan
2. Best friend's wedding in Kansas. (I loved my first ever wedding!)
2. Visited family in Michigan
3. Packed and shipped stuff to New York
4. Came to New York
5. Started medical school.

The last part has been intense, but at the same time, I've made so many many friends here that I'm very glad that I'm here in New York. It has also given me a chance to flourish as a person and I'm so excited for the many adventures - both city life and cooking that await me in this crazy yet wonderful city.

I have a New York State of Mind....

Homemade Cocoa Walnut meal saves the day!

Hey all,
Forgive me for this short post. I'm in the process of wrapping things up here in sunny California before I move to New York (exciting!) for the next four years of grueling education in medical school (equally exciting, but daunting as well). So to speed up the cleaning process I'm trying to use up as many ingredients as I can before I move. Especially the ingredients that will spoil in the shipping process - nuts, frozen goods, produce, the usual stuff.

A few weeks ago, I had made those delicious pancakes with the strawberry sauce and the main ingredient in the pancakes was hazelnut meal. That is posted here. Trust me, they are fantastic. In fact, I've made them religiously for the past several weeks, because they are cheap, delicious, and easy to make. When I ran out of hazelnut meal, I turned to the bag of almond meal in my fridge.

So imagine my reaction when I got up this morning only to find that the almond meal was all gone. I smacked my head in frustration. I wondered why the universe was plotting against me. Now what would I use as a dry ingredient that would be tasty (flour is not tasty by itself). The clock said that it was 7 am. Do I really want to wait for an hour for Trader Joe's to open to make pancakes? The answer was an emphatic NO.

Almond and Chocolate chip muffins (my second minor disaster)

Hey all,
So if you look through this entire blog, then you will notice one thing that is missing. All right, well several things, but one thing is muffins. Where are the quintessential little bite size munchies? How can I call myself a baking blog without muffins?!!

That little detail had to be rectified right away. So I went to the store and got myself a muffin pan and a box of paper liners. Proud of my step forward, I started planning what muffin recipe to make and usually I go to my go-to-guides - Joy of baking and 101 cookbooks to get some ideas. Usually all the recipes I'd seen thus far involved way too much sugar than I wanted in my diet.

Then I found THE recipe. Simple, straightforward and not too much sugar. I adapted it considerably and made the Almond and Chocolate chip muffins.

Little did I know about the trouble I was about to have....

Hazelnut Banana Pankcakes with a Strawberry sauce

Summer is looming... and it's glorious!

What do I think when I think of summer? I think of the beach, wearing sandals, drinking a mimosa, hanging out with friends, and the food. Sadly, there won't be any "Glee" during the summer, but now is not the time to dwell on that.

It's hard to believe that May has already gone by so quickly. I finally finished the medical school process and I'm going to Cornell - yes, this fall, I will be moving to New Yotk! But, that will be a story for another day. Apart from that, working day in and day out in the lab has been the norm.

I used to get up every morning and have some oatmeal or muesli and leave for work, until the moment that I was introduced to the simplest, easiest, and most delicious recipe. The bonus is that it's also quite healthy because it uses very few ingredients and takes 20 minutes to make everything, which means that you can stay from that oh-so-attractive donut.

That recipe was the hazelnut banana pancakes with a strawberry sauce....

Random Adorable animal pictures

Hey all,
So I've been away for a little while traveling to New York and I had the opportunity to make amazing friends on my trips there.

One of my (now whom I consider to be one of my) closest friends, Kevin, shared many a hilarious animal pictures with me. Being hungover that day, seeing hilarious pictures of cats and dogs helped lift my spirit as I munched on a greasy egg sandwich to fill my stomach.

A Crustless Spinach and Asparagus Goat Cheese Quiche

Remember when I said that I was going to balance out the sweet dishes with more savory healthy ones? Well I stuck to that promise. I'm not sure for how long that will last, but I'll try hard to stick to that principle.

Today I made something absolutely astounding - A spinach and asparagus goat cheese quiche. But this is no ordinary quiche - it is crustless.