Mexican Bulldog Margarita

Today, Its Anirban's birthday!! so its time to partyyy!! I wanted to try a new drink and this came up on my search! Its a margarita with a corona and its awesome.

So, this is what you need to make four drinks.

4 fluid ounces of silver Tequila
2 1/2 fluid ounces of Grand Marnier
4 fluid ounces of simple syrup
4 scoops of ice
1 fluid ounce fresh lime juice
3 fluid ounces of orange juice (you can add just 1 1/2 - 2 fluid ounces! I like my drink a bit orangey)
4 beers, Corona baby!

You will need a blender to make this drink!! A simple shaker won't do!

Add taquila, grand marnier, simple syrup, ice, lime juice and orange juice to your blender and blitz.

Take a tall glass and salt rim it. throw a lime wedge into the glass and add about half a glass of  margarita mixture, quickly drop the Corona into the glass and voilà your amazing drink is ready.

Thanks for stoppin by!! have a gday!

Heart Healer.

I've  been thinking of healthy drinks for a while and I thought its high time I should try one. So I went on the internet and searched for some veggie drinks. This drink came up in search and luckily I had all the ingredients for the drink. 

The Heart Healer is a veggie juice with powerful antioxidants and properties that improve heart function, hence the name :)

- Tomatoes are rich in the heart protecting and cancer preventing antioxidants. 

- Carrots adds a sweetness to the juice and many more antioxidants. 

- Celery helps reduce high blood pressure and improves heart health. 

- Kale is a nutritional powerhouse.

Ingredients:

2 medium tomatoes

4 carrots

4 stalks of celery

4 branches of kale.

Super easy juice, just add everything to the blender and press start.

PS: To be honest, I didn't like the juice as is! so I cheated, ask me how???
Well I added 3 table spoons of sugar, haha. I wanted to add honey but unfortunately I didn't have honey at home! 

Mediterranean Omelette

Today, I woke up to the text message informing that my group meeting was cancelled!! OKAY!! What should I do -  let me treat myself by indulging in an amazing omelette.

So, to make this omelette all you need is couple of eggs, one cherry tomato, half onion, some spinach and Parmesan cheese!

To make this amazing dish, you need to saute your veggies. In a medium skillet, saute your quartered cherry tomatoes, minced onion and diced spinach. You want to cook your fillings before you add them to your omelette because they wont cook further! Add some oregano if you'd like, I didn't! why?? I didn't have any in my kitchen! Add a pinch of salt and pepper! Take them off the heat and put them into a bowl after the tomatoes are broken down a little bit, make sure they are not completely mushed.  Add about 2-3 table spoons of Parmesan cheese to this mixture.

Next, your omelette! take two eggs, whisk them. Add salt, pepper, 2 tea spoons of milk and whisk them again. Pour the liquid on to the skillet, once the edges are set; use the rubber spatula to push the edges in and allow the uncooked egg to come in around the edges! By doing this you will form curds in your omelette! When you believe your eggs are set, add your filling. Just put it over half your omelette! slide your spatula underneath the uncovered part of the egg and flip it over! And there you have it, a delicious Mediterranean omelette! Perfect if I do say so myself!

Thanks for stopping by! have fun! cheers!

Spicy Sriracha-Glazed Chicken wings!

Yeahhh! I know for all those sriracha lovers like me, this sweet, spicy and tangy chicken wings is a superbly easy, must try and an amazing dish.

Its a one pot winning dish, you make a marinade, you marinate and you bake it, all in the same pan!

First thing you need is one quarter cup of soy sauce, add  it to your baking pan. Next add two to three table spoons of white vinegar, this gives the tangy-ness to the wings. Next add a table spoon of sriracha sauce, and then 2 tea spoons of toasted sesame oil. Also all one table spoon of sugar, for that asian zing add 2 tea spoons of grated ginger. Wisk all the ingredients together and add 1.5 pounds of chicken wings. Mix the chicken in the marinate, cover your baking pan with a plastic wrap and throw it in the fridge for about 8hrs. Thats it!! you are done with all your preparation!

Once your 8 hrs are up, pre-heat your oven to about 375F an put your baking pan into the oven. Bake the chicken wings until the glaze is reduced and the chicken is cooked through! it will take about 45 to 60 minutes!!

The chicken wings are glazed like crazy!! dont trust me, check it out yourself!

These wings are spicy, they are salty and they are sweet and they are completely additive. These wings disappeared just like that!!

Thanks for stopping by! have fun and happy cooking!
Cheers!

Beer-Can Chicken - Yummm

Aright, this kick-ass dish is amazing! everyone's gotta try this at least once! It doesn't matter if you drink alcohol or not, you really cant tell a difference.

It all started on a lazy Sunday in the lab, I was searching for easy chicken recipes for dinner and I found this amazing video - Chef Frank Miller - Beer-Can Chicken. This video basically took my breath away and I immediately called Anirban and asked him to see the video. After seeing the video he said one word - "FUCK"! I knew he was gonna say that.

So, anyways we decided to do this the next weekend.

We went to the store and got all the ingredients needed. Both me and Anirban like Guinness beer, so we decided to cook the chicken with Guinness.

Its actually a pretty easy recipe! First off, wash the chicken and apply some olive oil over it, after that sprinkle some seasoning( I used old bay seasoning - recommended by Chef Frank Miller). I coated the chicken with the seasoning, both inside-out. In the mean time, drink 1/3 of the beer off the can and add butter, jalapenos, garlic and couple table spoons of seasoning to the can. If you are using Guinness, make sure to remove the widget inside the beer-can.

Chicken coated with old bay seasoning and beer with all the ingredients ready to go.

Chicken placed over the Beer-Can - Oven, here I come. 

Preheat the oven to about 400 degree F, and put the chicken inside the oven. 

Let the chicken cook for about 90 to 120 min and Vola, you are done. 

Chicken cooked for about 120 min, notice the color!! 

Next, its time to make the sauce! For the sauce, use the Beer inside the Can and add worcestershire sauce, molasis and tomato ketchup. keep stirring until the sauce thickens.

Anirban stirring the sauce on medium heat. stir and stir until the sauce is thick. 

pour the sauce on the chicken and you are ready to dig in!! 

Man, gotta tell you! the chicken is so tender, its basically melting in my mouth!! Everyone should try this at-least once!

Im sorry for making your mouth watery  :P 

That's it for today and as always, thanks for stopping by!

Adios. 

  

Masters Graduation and Trip to Nor-Cal with Mom and Dad.

Graduation!!! yay yay!! well technically I graduated in December. Anyways mom and dad came to the US of A to see me walk for my graduation. Mom and Dad came to US on 10th of June(2014). This year is the 50th anniversary for UCI and President Obama was invited as the guest speaker. I guess Dad was most excited about this than me or mom :)

Since Obama was speaking to the whole school, we had 2 grad walks! One for the whole school(June 14th) and the second one was for Engineering alone(June 15th)

I always like it when pictures do the talking so I'll do just that.

So first off, here are some graduation pictures.

June 14th - Thanks to Sagar for taking some amazing shots :)

me, prith, ppr and ap walking in the chaos! initially around 15 of us started walking together but by the time we entered the stadium there were only 4 of us!! people went missing randomly. lol.

Some of the pics taken by Sagar. I've uploaded the once I like the most.  

Angels stadium Anaheim, although i would have liked it to be Dodgers stadium ;)

Obama addressing Class of 2014!

you can see the whole ceremony in the below link

July 14th UCI Commencement Ceremony.

Jump to 1:35:00 for Obama's Speech. 

Achi and Vikas wishing me!! Thanks Guys!

Pictures after the June 14th commencement ceremony! With Achi and Vikas. 

With Shashank(stunn) and Venkat aka yenkoo :)

June 15th commencement! (Engineering Commencement)

Stage is set!

Dean Washington speaking to the class of 2014

photo courtesy Shashank!

Sagar - Thanks :)

With Mom and Dad

with stunn and yenkoo!

With stunn doing the ZOT!

with vikas doing the ZOT!

The classic graduation photo + macy's bag :)

Pete the Anteater!

See the commencement ceremony in the link below. Skip to 17m7s to see me :)

June 15, 2014 UC Irvine Commencement - 9:00 AM

Moving on to the actual trip! 

I planned the trip for 4 days, I started at Irvine and went to Yosemite (day1), Mono lake and South lake Tahoe on day 2, San Francisco on day 3 and finally finished off with San Jose and 17 mile drive on day 4 before heading back home. 1300 Mile (2100 Km) road trip with mom and dad :) 

We started at 6am in the morning (June 16th) drove all the way to Yosemite. We went directly to Glacier point and Badger pass here are few pics from glacier point.

View from the Glacier point.

Mom and dad! 

mommy and me. 

 After visiting the glacier point we headed down to Oakhurst, I made a reservation in one of the RV camper-van. Mom and Dad liked the new experience.

Mom and Dad relaxing in the RV.

View of the RV (Night 1)

 Day 2:  We  made breakfast in the RV and later headed north into Yosemite. we stopped at couple of view points to take some photos.

Majestic Yosemite Falls (the tiny thing in the background)!! Its summer what do you expect!!

Mom and Dad in Yosemite Valley. 

On the road - Constant supply of food from the back. Perks of having Mom in the back seat!

Tioga Lake!

 After Tioga lake and Tioga pass we went to Mono lake! one of the largest shallow saline soda lake.

Mom and Dad in mono lake. 

Mono Lake. 

After seeing Mono lake we headed off to Lake Tahoe. The biggest fresh water lake in the US.

@ Lake Tahoe. 

Mommy dear - Bond, the names James Bond. 

We spent the night in south lake Tahoe in one of the casinos(Montbleu Resort and Casino) and later next day we headed off to San Francisco. we came in from the north so we saw the Golden Gate bridge first and later saw downtown San Francisco. Pictures, Pictures.... but first let me take a selfie!! lol!

Selfie with mom and dad @ golden gate!

Golden Gate!

Golden Gate!

After golden gate we went into the city and basically saw all the touristy spots - Lombard Street aka crooked street. 

At Pier 39, San Francisco Bay. 

Pier 39!

After pier 39 we walked and walked for miles to reach Ghirardelli Square.  I basically made my parents earn every ounce of that ice cream :D

Mommy and Daddy having a feast. 

After eating we left SF and headed to San Jose. we went to Venkat's place and spent some time in his house. Later in the night we went to Anjappar (one of the best birayani houses in US). Next day before heading home we went to the famous 17mile drive along the pacific coast. 

!7 mile drive. 

Came back home after the 17mile drive!! all in all it was an amazing trip and nice family holiday!