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Lets Learn the Best Food Ideas You Can Make
There are several online sources that you can refer to for some great food ideas; you can also search for delicacies or food items to cook, by the occasion. Just remember that if you are learning to cook, then you may want to opt for single things rather than take on complicated dishes which can be a lot to process by any amateur. The first thing that you can do is to use the online search engine such as Google, to search for easy to cook food ideas. The results should display various food items, complete with their recipes that you can cook in a jiffy. Check them out.
How to Make Nut Brittle
This is one of the easiest desserts that you can cook; it involves sugar, corn syrup, along with some toasted and crushed nuts. What makes this food perfect is the fact that you can make this particular item with ease in less than 5 minutes and gift it to others. Nut brittle makes for the ideal gift irrespective of the occasion.
These are the Ingredients That You Need.
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 11/2 toasted and crushed nuts (you can choose as per your wish, but we suggest macadamia, pine and corn nuts)
To start with the recipe, you need to take 1 cup sugar, 1 cup light corn syrup, and take a flat bottomed pan and heat the mixture in the same. You have to keep stirring at low heat until all the sugar is melted and the mixture has turned amber which is approximately for 10 minutes. You need to cook until you observe small bubbles in the mixture. Then add the crushed nuts to the mix, stir some more and then pour the dough onto a baking pan (pre-greased). Please wait for it to cool, and then break it into pieces, which you can then pack into attractive boxes to gift to others.
Candy Cane Hot Cocoa Spoons
This is indeed an exciting dish to cook and one that your kids would go crazy about. You are taking candy canes and using it to fashion a new type of delicacy, one that your kids would want more.
These are the ingredients that you will need for the recipe.
- Non-stick cooking bottom
- 120 gms of bittersweet chocolate, 120 gms of semi-sweet chocolate, 120 gms of White chocolates
- Marshmallows for decoration
- White Chocolate chips
- Crushed Candy Canes for decoration
Start by preheating the oven at 275 degrees F. Prepare your baking sheet beforehand by using a parchment paper. The next step is to bake the candy canes until they are soft and pliable. Then spray some cooking spray on the spoons and shift the candy canes on the spoons. Mold the candy cane into the shape of the spoon. Additionally, mold the straight part of the candy cane to the handle of the spoon. Let the molds to cool and then you can go ahead with the next batch. Now melt the chocolate in a separate bowl at 50 percent of power at 20 seconds interval until it melts. Now dip the melted candy canes into the melted chocolate. Also, add some melted chocolate in the middle of the spoon. Decorate it with marshmallows, chocolate chips and refrigerate them.
Coconut Ragi Ladoo
One of the reasons most experts stay away from making ladoos is that you have to get the sugar string consistency just right. However, the good news is that this happens to be one of the few ladoo recipes that anyone can tackle with ease. Check out the recipe.
You would need the following ingredients, to prep the ladoos
- 1 Cup Finger millet flour (ragi)
- 1/4 cup Jaggery, powdered
- 1/4 cup Peanuts, roasted
- 1/4 cup Coconut, grated
- A pinch of salt
Start by mixing the flour with salt and add water in intervals. Try to break it into crumbs while mixing the water. Add the coconut and stir for around 10 -15 minutes. Let the mixture cool down for some time. After it has cooled, add the jaggery with peanuts to the mixture. Roll them into small balls and enjoy them. You can even refrigerate them in the fridge and preserve it.
Kulkuls
This is a great sweet Christmas time snack to make; you can also make it into a savoury, but it is your choice. It is very easy to make as well, check out the recipe
Ingredients –
- 2 cups (240 gm) maida
- 1/2 cup semolina (Suji)
- 2 Tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
- 1/8th tsp salt
- Oil for frying
- 1/4th cup (60 ml) coconut milk/plain milk
- 1/4th cup (60 g) sugar, powdered
Start by mixing the flour and semolina. Then add ghee to the mixture. Finally add the salt, sugar and milk to the mixture and knead it into a dough and rest it for an hour. Mold them into marble-sized rounds and shape them with a fork. This will look like ridges. Deep fry the molds in medium heat until it is a deep brown. Serve when the kulkuls are cooled down.
Healthy Oatmeal Muffins
If you love muffins, you would definitely want to try out oatmeal muffins. For starters, they are quite healthy and taste just exquisite. Check out the recipe.
Ingredients –
- 2 ½ cups oats (1.5 cups ground, 1 cup whole)
- 2 Tbsp crushed oats for muffin tops
- 2–3 large overripe bananas
- 2 large eggs, (lightly beaten)
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 tsp real vanilla
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat the oven at 325° F and toast the baking sheet for an additional flavour. Grind the 1.5 cup oats using a blender. Further, mash the bananas and make a mix of eggs, honey, milk and vanilla, now add the oats to the mixture. Also, add the other ground and whole oats to it. Grease your muffin tins and add the mixture to it. Finally, sprinkle some crushed oats for decoration purposes. Finally bake the muffins at 350° F. Before bringing it out, insert a toothpick in the middle to check if it's cooked through. If the toothpick comes out clean, remove, else let it bake a few minutes more.
Quick Mohanthal recipe
It is one of the most natural sweet delicacies that you can prepare in under half an hour. It makes for a perfect gift as well, for some of the essential occasions of the year.
Ingredients-
- Gram Flour (250 gms)
- Milk 3 tablespoons
- 50 gm Khoya
- Ghee 150 grams
- Sugar 200 grams
- Green cardamom powder
- Almonds blanched
- Pistachios blanched
You need to take some sugar and half a cup of water, heat it until the sugar dissolves. Simultaneously in another container, you need to melt ghee, add some khoya until it is crumbly and now add the gram flour. When it is evenly cooked, you need to remove this from the heat, add the syrup, add cashew, cardamom and mix well. Now pour it into a baking dish and let it cool, then cut it into small pieces and that's it. You can gift this to others by packing the small fragments into airtight containers.
Chocolate Gujiya
This is more of a modern take on a traditional sweet, and the great part is that it is easy to make as well. Just check out the recipe,
Ingredients-
- 1 Cup Flour
- 3 Tbsp Ghee(clarified butter)
- Salt
- 1 Cup Water
- 2 Cup Mava (condensed milk)
- 2 Cup Sugar
- A pinch of Cardamom powder
- 1/2 Cup Chocolate chips
- Pan for frying Oil
- Sugar syrup to dip the gujiyas
- 250 Gram Cream
- 250 Gram Fine chocolate
- 50 Gram Cardamoms
You need to add flour, salt, and ghee, mix them thoroughly, and add some water to the mix, and knead it into the dough. In another container cook the mava for a few minutes. Now add some cardamom and the chocolate chips to the mixture and stir it until the chocolate melts. Now take small pieces of the dough, shape it with a fork, fill the insides with the chocolate mix, and fry the same. This is a lovely gift, but when gifting to others, use a waterproof and airtight container.
Brownies in a Jar
Everyone has their version of a brownie; it is quite easy to make and one that you can enjoy for all seasons. But nothing beats the delicious smell of brownies baking in the oven or the taste of freshly baked brownies. So why not gift the best of both things - a ready brownie mix in a jar that the recipient can make within minutes.
Ingredients-
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 95 g plain flour
- 35 g cocoa
- 75 g plain flour
- 135 g brown sugar
- 150 g sugar
- 100 g chocolate chips
- 100g white chocolate chips
- 50 g walnuts or pecans (optional)
What you need to add:
- 150g melted butter
- 3 beaten eggs
We suggest that you layer the ingredients in a jar- for our special Brownie in a Jar. The special tip to follow is that you press after pouring every ingredient so there are even layers, making the jar look more like a gift and less like a bunch of ingredients tossed in a jar. As per the list, we suggest that you start right from the top. Start with baking powder and flour and press it in layers as the list refers one after the other ingredient.
- Add a little note to the jar with the ingredients they will have to add to make the brownies, along with the instructions below:
- Then combine the jar contents with eggs and melted butter beat them well and pour it into 9x 9-inch tin. Then bake the tin at 350 F for 25-25 minutes.
- Your fresh and tasty brownies are ready to be eaten!
Bacon-Peanut Caramel Corn
Now, this is not an item for vegetarians, but as for the item in question, it happens to be quite easy to make. Just check it out.
Ingredients-
- Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup Popping Corn
- 2/3 cups Corn Syrup
- 1 cup Peanut Butter
- 2 cups Sugar
- 11/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 cup Honey Roasted Peanuts
- Cooked bacon chopped into small pieces.
Preheat the oven at 250-degree F. Now for the popcorns, add the popcorn kennels and salt and let it pop on medium heat. The next step is to prepare caramel, let’s start by combining oil, corn syrup, peanut butter, sugar and salt. simmer and cook it for approximately 6-7 minutes. Now in a separate bowl mix vanilla and baking soda until smooth, mix this foam batter to your earlier mix and coat the popcorn. Now bake the popcorn for 15 minutes until golden brown. After cooling the popcorn mix the popcorn with honey peanuts and bacon pieces.
Gingerbread Men for Kids
We will need the following ingredients for the gingerbread men
- 100g butter
- 250g honey
- 100g brown sugar
- zest of 2 lemons and 2 oranges
- 500g flour (can be 250g of spelt and 250g of plain flour)
- 25g baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tbsp. mixed gingerbread spices (ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, star anise, nutmeg and cardamom)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk mixed with a tablespoon of olive oil to glaze (optional)
Start the recipe by heating up the pan with butter, honey and brown sugar. Then cool the mix to room temperature. Now add all the other ingredients in a bowl and add the honey mix to it and rest the batter in the fridge overnight. Now the next day preheat the oven at 180° F. Sprinkle a little flour and knead the dough and roll out the mixture with a rolling pin. Now cut them into your favourite shapes and bake them for 5-10 minutes. You can choose different options to decorate them either with icing or glaze.
Why Gifting Food Is a Great Idea ?
Food is one of the most effective ways through which we can communicate our love and understanding of each other. Nature has indeed blessed our country with a variety of food which we have used to create different flavours and cuisines. Moreover, in the last few decades, we have even come up with innovative ways of preparing it. There is so much variety in the range of flavours that they make for perfectly lovely gifts for your loved ones.
Whether you happen to be a vegetarian or a meat lover, you have a huge variety to choose from. But what makes gifting food to your loved ones a good idea is a fact that they would appreciate the thought and the effort behind it, more so than they would with any other sort of gift.
Joyous Way of Gifting
Food gifts are often the perfect gifts that you can give to your colleagues, friends, and loved ones. The fact is that everyone eats and gifting others with a gift hamper of delicious gourmet food would be a definite hit. For starters, it won't be considered as a generic gift, and the recipient is sure to appreciate the effort that you had put into the same.
There are lots of reasons as to why you may want to gift someone a food hamper as opposed to a generic gift. One of the primary reasons is that everyone enjoys good food, and it happens to bring people together. So irrespective of the occasion, a food hamper would make for a perfect gift, and the more delicious it is, the better of the award would be.
Great Way of Conversation Starter
It may come as a surprise, but a gift of well-cooked, gourmet food is often a conversation starter. For one, the recipient would want to know whether you had bought the hamper at a store or prepared the food on your own. And if you happen to confirm that you had indeed made it, they would value the gift all the more.
For example, you can cook your version of some homemade delicacies and gift them to your friends and loved ones. And naturally, they would be all the more appreciative for a handmade gift always trumps anything else that you may have bought at the store.
Something Which Is Eaten and Loved
Since time immemorial, food is often considered to others on essential occasions; for example, wedding receptions often included throwing a buffet for the guests to enjoy. You may think that this is a new cultural habit, but you would be surprised to learn that throwing a feast for wedding guests actually predates Christianity itself and is quite common across various cultures as well, from Ancient Romans, Indians, Assyrians, Egyptians, and the list goes on.
The fact is that everyone loves a tasty feast, and throwing one on important occasions brings together the whole society. They can taste, well-cooked gourmet food, and enjoy themselves in the process.
Crafted with Love
When it comes to food, you should know that every item is ready. Each food item is prepped, cooked to perfection, and at the right temperature, and then, it is all about the final presentation touches. The result is well-cooked food, something that is bound to be a hit with everyone. And that is why you would want to go ahead with gifting food hampers to others. For they are sure to understand all the effort and hard work you had put into the same, and naturally would appreciate your gift all the more.
Personal Touch
One of the reasons that a food hamper makes for an excellent gift is that it is often homemade and one that you would have slaved over; moreover, you would be adding your personal touch to the present in question. Your gift will beat any other generic gift that you can purchase at a store by a league and a mile. There are several food items that you can cook with ease at home; you need to figure out what sort of a delicacy or food that you plan to cook, then search online for the recipe and start cooking.
Right Time to Gift a Home Made Food Gift
Now the major question is when to give such food gifts? India is a land of festivals. Thus festivals are the best time to share these sweet mouthful delicacies with your friends and family. Additionally, birthdays and weddings are also quite an appreciable time to share such hand made heavenly gifts. These festivals are time to share and spread love. Also if you feel the time is right, go ahead and make a call for sure.
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Ask About Food Allergies or Preferences.
Half of the people ask about allergies or food preferences… which is definitely super thoughtful. Another idea — if you forget to ask — is to include the recipe (or at least the ingredients) with the food you deliver. This way, if anyone in the family is allergic to something, they’ll know what foods they need to stay away from.