Lavash Crackers & Avocado-Mango Salsa

Once again, it is time for the revelation of this month's Daring Bakers Challenge. For this challenge, the choice went to an Alternative Daring Baker, Natalie from Gluten A Go Go, and Shel of Musings From the Fishbowl co-hosted it. They chose something savory for the challenge this month - Lavash Crackers with our personal choice of vegan toppings for the challenge from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice (pp 178 - 180). The challenge was special in that it was to be a vegan and/or gluten free challenge. It happened to be my first savory DB challenge and needless to say I was excited. I decided to go just vegan (and not gluten-free too!) with this challenge, choosing the non-gluten free cracker method. The choice of topping was very simple this time with just white sesame seeds for the lavash topping and Avocado - Mango Salsa as the dip.

Recipe (Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers) :

Unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend - 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz)
(If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
Salt - 1/2 tsp (0.13 oz)
Instant yeast - 1/2 tsp (0.055 oz)
Agave syrup or sugar - 1 tbsp (0.75 oz)
Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp (0.5 oz)
Water - 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz), at room temperature

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

or

2. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

or

4. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper. Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper. Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt - a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

What I did:

I finally got around to making the crackers yesterday. Everything went fine and the dough turned out to be smooth, soft and just right. I divided the dough in half before rolling it out. I rolled out the dough and cut them into rectangles, moistened the surface and sprinkled sesame seeds over them. Just to make sure that the sesame seeds stick, I gently pressed them onto the surface. (I also sprinkled a bit of cumin seeds and a pinch of chilli powder over my second sheet of crackers). My first sheet of crackers were fine (eventhough I didnt have to bake them even for 10 minutes), but the second sheet was browned too quickly. So I reduced the temperature of the oven to 300F. Even then, some pieces turned out too brown for my likes. So I reduced the baking time to about 6-8 minutes, and managed to salvage some lightly browned pieces, which were really crisp nonetheless. I made an Avocado - Mango Salsa from scratch to go with the crackers. The recipe for the salsa is from allrecipes.com.

Avocado - Mango Salsa :

Avocado - 1, peeled, pitted and diced
Lime - 1, juiced
Mango - 1, peeled, seeded and diced
Red onion - 1 small, chopped
Habanero pepper - 1, seeded and chopped
Chopped fresh cilantro - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

Place the avocado in a serving bowl, and mix with the lime juice.

Mix in the mango, onion, habanero pepper, cilantro and salt.

Tips:

1. I omitted the habanero pepper. Jalapenos would be a nice substitute to the habaneros. Or else, add some chopped red bell peppers to the salsa.
2. I added one tomato, diced, to the salsa.
3. I also added a tbsp of chopped green onions.

Hope everyone loved reading about this DB challenge and checking out the pictures. I cant wait for the next DB challenge! Dont forget to check out the wonderful crackers and toppings of the other DB-ers, here. Enjoy!!

Date-Nut Bread

Welcome back to Tasty treats! I know I was not actively blogging over the past few weeks. I am sorry for the inactivity on my blog and I would like to thank everyone who extended their support and wishes to me over the last few weeks. Eventhough I am not posting on the blog, I still do try out recipes occasionally and am reserving them for sharing with all of you later on. One of the recipe I tried recently is the Date-Nut bread which I made after weeks of drooling, on coming across the recipe! ;-) Just like expected the bread was fantatsic, with lots of dates and nuts in each mouthful. It sure was soft, moist and flavorful. We had it with a bit of chocolate syrup drizzled over the slices and it was simply out-of-the-world! Yum-yum!!! Do try this out and you wont be disappointed! Dont forget to let me know your thoughts and suggestions!

Recipe (Makes 1 loaf):

Chopped pitted dates - 1 1/2 cups
Butter or margarine - 6 tbsp, cut up
Boiling water - 1 1/4 cups
All-purpose flour - 2 cups
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1 large, lightly beaten
Walnuts - 1 cup, coarsely chopped



Method:

In a medium bowl, combine dates and butter, stir in the boiling water and let stand until cool.

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Grease a 9" by 5" metal loaf pan.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Stir egg into the date mixture.

Now, stir the date-egg mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened.

Stir in the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Cool loaf in the pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.

Remove the bread from the pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Source: Great Baking from Good Housekeeping.


Tips:

1. I used about 1 cup (8 oz) of chopped pitted dates.
2. Instead of walnuts I used about 1/2 cup of slivered almonds with a few sliced almonds on top.
3. I baked the bread for about 1 hour 10 minutes. It is advisable to check the doneness around the 1 hour mark.
4. Variations of the recipe include prune bread (using 1 1/2 cups of coarsely chopped pitted prunes instead of dates) and fig bread (using 1 1/2 cups of coarsely chopped dried figs instead of dates).

Hope you all are having a great time, and see you all real soon!!

Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé

There it is - my third Daring Bakers Challenge and my first attempt at the delicious French pastry - Chocolate eclairs (mine is a Chocolate - Glazed White - Chocolate Mousse Eclair). And to think that I almost didnt do it!! I know mine arent the best eclairs in town, but I am proud of my accomplishment with just a day to spare! The story goes like this...

When I first saw that Tony Tahhan and Meeta K have chosen "Chocolate eclairs" as the challenge for the month of August, I was ecstatic. First, because it would be my initial attempt at this decadent dessert and second, because it sounded much simple and quicker than the previous two DB challenges. But since I have my in-laws with us, I was occupied most of the time. Last week we went on a ten-day road trip after which we were all pretty tired. So I almost gave up on the thought of making these tasty treats! But still I couldnt leave it alone, and finally I started and completed my challenge on Friday!

The Chocolate Éclairs consist of 3 elements Pâte à Choux, also known as Choux Pastry or Cream Puff Dough, Pastry Cream and Chocolate glaze. We were allowed great flexibility by the hosts who suggested that we keep atleast one chocolate element from the recipe given to us. I chose to keep the chocolate glaze and substituted the chocolate pastry cream with home-made white chocolate mousse using the Chocolate mousse recipe that I had tried earlier from Meeta's blog itself. I did screw up the chocolate mousse a bit, so it didnt set properly into a thick foam, but was a bit runny. But eventhough the filling didnt turn out as I had expected, the "Cream-puff Goddesses" smiled upon me, and the Choux pastries turned out perfectly baked - all golden brown, puffed and firm. The glaze was also smooth, gleaming and quick. The filling did ooze out a little and none of us did mind! I wanted to do a few kinds of decors on top of the glaze, but since I couldnt plan elaborately, I had to do with what had. A few are decorated with almonds and a few with chocolate chips. Others just have a bit of glaze drizzled on them.

I did make a few round eclairs, but filled them with plain whipped cream and drizzled the tops with the chocolate glaze. We thoroughly enjoyed the eclairs and I am glad that I went through with the challenge. So once again, I am hollering out that I am proud to be a "Daring Baker"!!

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé (makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk

• ½ cup (125g) water

• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

• ¼ teaspoon sugar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour

• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to mediumand start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using yourhandmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time youhave added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed below.

Notes:

1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé (makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds bypositioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets withwaxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total bakingtime should be approximately 20 minutes.Notes:1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Chocolate Glaze Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé(makes 1 cup or 300g)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:

1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly
 in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé (makes 1½ cups or 525 g)

• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:

1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.

2) This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

Chocolate Pastry Cream Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk

• 4 large egg yolks

• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted

• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted

• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat). Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Notes:

1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze

• Chocolate pastry cream

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside thebottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops ofthe éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottomswith enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry creamand wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:

1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Thanks for visiting me today! I am sorry for the reduced activity in my blog nowadays and I promise I will be getting back to active blogging soon! Thanks for all your support and love. Have a great day. Dont forget to visit the masterpieces of my fellow DB members.

Check out my previous two challenges :

Danish Braid and Filbert Gateau

Banana Icecream, CLICK and some awards!!

After my experiments with the Cheesecake icecream, I made this Banana icecream, quickly followed by the Strawberry Icecream. I had already posted the other two icecreams, so I thought of this when I wanted to post a dessert! Again, I've made this icecream without an icecream maker, so it lacks the smoothness and fineness in texture that an icecream maker would impart. The flavor of bananas were strong and I had thrown in a few white chocolate chips which was enjoyable. It didnt turn out as creamy as the strawberry icecream did, probably because I was careless!! I just covered the bowl with plastic wrap (silly me!!). It sure was creamy and delicious when I whipped it. Anyways, I hope you all would give this a try. I am certain that banana lovers would looooove this icecream. For the picture, I've poured a bit of melted chocolate over the scoops of icecream with a cherry on top, and a banana split lengthwise on either side. Enjoy!!

Recipe ( Makes 1 quart) :

Bananas - 3, very ripe
Whipping cream - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Eggs - 2
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup, optional

Method:

In a blender or processor, puree bananas and cream.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Source: The Donvier Icecream Dessert Book by Anna Creery.

Tips:

1. I dont have an ice-cream maker, so I used a handmixer to whip the icecream every hour for 3 hours.
2. Store in an air-tight freezer-safe container.

The Banana Icecream is on its way to the "Icecreams and Milkshakes" event at Srilekha's Me and My Kitchen along with my,

Cheesecake Icecream
Strawberry Icecream
Carrot Milkshake
Cappuccino Shake
Sharjah Shake

"CLICK : August 2008 Citrus" entry:

The first picture of Petite Orange Cake that I made earlier on is my entry to "CLICK : August 2008" themed Citrus! What could be more cirtus-y than a sponge cake which is orange flavoured with orange cream cheese frosting and topped with a slice of mandarin orange and a drizzle of melted dark chocolate!? It sits on a puddle of chocolate sauce to form a perfect, delectable and irresistible dessert. Dont forget to check out the recipe for Petite Orange Cakes.

Awards galore:

Vani of Illatharasi , EC of Simple Indian Food and Trupti of Recipe Center passed the "Brilliant Weblog" Award to me.

Brilliant Weblog is a prize given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design. The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogsphere. Here are the rules to follow :-

When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in their content or design. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with ‘Brilliant Weblog’. Show a picture of those who awarded you and those you give the prize (optional). All the bloggers have wonderful work and content in their blog and all deserve to get this.

I am more than happy to pass this onto,

Laavanya of Cookery Corner
Madhuram of Eggless Cooking
Sukanya of Hot n' Sweet Bowl
Trupti of Recipe Center
Sujatha of Spicy Khazana
Maheswari of Beyond the Usual
Rachel of Tangerine's Kitchen

Trupti of Recipe Center and Sireesha of Mom's Recipes passed on the "Beautiful Site" Award and "Zpremios Dardo 2008 Best Blog Darts Thinker" Award to me.

I would love to pass these onto,

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner
Bhags of Crazy Curry
Sia of Passionate about Life n' spice
Cham of Spice-club
Laavanya of Cookery Corner

Thanks to everyone who thought about me while passing on the awards and congrats to all who received it! Enjoy your awards, girls!!

Stir-fried Chicken and Broccoli with Noodles

Hey Friends, hope you all are having an awesome time! I have missed quite many wonderful posts and milestones of you all, but I hope I will be able to catch up on everything soon. My family and I are really busy going on small outings everyday with my in-laws and we also have a major trip in the making! Eventhough I hoped that I would be able to post as frequent as earlier, I understood that it would not be the case. But still it really is hard to stay away from the blog, without interacting with all my friends!!

Anyways, coming to the recipe, this is a stir-fry that I made from a cookbook that has become my favourite in no time. This was actually a stir-fry with pork, which I adapted to be made with chicken. My vegetarian friends can do without chicken/meat and add other veggies like snow-pea pods, mushrooms, carrots and onions along with broccoli to make an delicious and healthy meal. This recipe is distinct in that the cooked noodles are pan-fried with garlic which imparts a delicate flavor and texture to the noodles. The stir-fry also has a very balanced flavor, the white wine lending a unique and extraordinary distinction to the dish. It is kid friendly too. I have used dried (and not fresh) egg noodles, which was cooked to perfection in boiling water. My lil one and I thoroughly enjoyed it for lunch and JM, for dinner. It simply was perfect! Hope you all would give this a try! I will be back with another recipe soon. Until then, have a great time and enjoy!!

Recipe (Serves 4) :

Chicken (Beef/Pork) - 6 oz
Salt - 1/4 tsp
White pepper - a pinch
Cornstarch - 2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp, divided
Broccoli - 10 oz
Oyster sauce - 2 tbsp
Dried egg noodles - 8 oz
Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp, divided
Minced garlic - 2 tsp
White wine - 2 tbsp
Chicken broth - 1 cup
Green onion - 1, shredded

Method:

Cut the chicken into thing strips and mix with salt, pepper and 1/2 tsp cornstarch.

Cook the fresh florets of broccoli in boiling water for a minute and drain.

Immediately rinse in cold water, drain well and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 2 tbsp cornstarch, oyster sauce and 2 tbsp water.

Cook the egg noodles in a pot of boiling water until just al dente (about 5 minutes for dried noodles and 3 minutes for fresh noodles).

Drain well and set aside.

Heat a non-stick skillet over high heat.

Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil, garlic and noodles and pan fry until both sides are browned (about 2 minutes). Keep aside.

Add the remaining 1 tbsp vegetable oil to the skillet.

Toss in the marinated chicken and stir-fry until the meat is cooked (about 1 minute).

Pour the white wine and stir well.

Add the broccoli and chicken broth to the meat and heat to boiling.

Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring constantly until thickened.

Pour the chicken and sauce over the noodles.

Garnish with the shredded green onion.

Serve immediately.

Source: Everyday Chinese Cooking by Leeann Chin and Katie Chin.


Tips:

1. Fresh egg noodles (14 oz) can be used instead of dried egg noodles.
2. I used frozen broccoli and cooked it slightly in the microwave.
3. Vegetarians can adapt this recipe by omitting the meat and adding a bit of their favorite veggies. Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
4. The picture shows a garnish of green onions and red hot chilli peppers.