Tomato Pasta Sauce

Tomato - 10

Olive Oil - ¼ cup

Onion - 1, chopped

Garlic -4 cloves, minced

Thyme - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

Pepper - 1 tsp

Red Pepper Flakes - 1 1/2 tsp

Balsamic Vinegar - 1 tsp

Salt

Basil leaves - 6

Boil water in a pot and drop the ripe Tomatoes in the boiling water. Boil for half a minute to a minute. Peel the Tomato skin and cut the Tomato into half. Remove the seeds and let the juices through a strainer. We will be using the juice later.

Puree the Tomatoes in a food processor. Set aside.

Heat Olive oil in a pan and add in chopped Onion, minced Garlic and Thyme.

Cook the Onions until soft and translucent about 3-4 min in medium flame. Add in Tomato puree along with the strained juices.

Add a teaspoon of Sugar. Pepper, Red pepper flakes along with Balsamic Vinegar and required Salt.

Simmer the sauce for 10 min in medium flame until a thick sauce forms.

Switch off the flame and tear some fresh Basil leaves and add it to the pasta sauce.

Pasta sauce is now ready. You can store this sauce for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Smash Burger Quesadilla

For the Special Sauce:

Mayonnaise - 6 tbsp.

Ketchup - 2 tbsp.

Pickle relish - 2 tbsp.

Sugar - 1 tsp

White vinegar - 1/2 tsp

For the Quesadillas:

Kheema - 20 oz

Oil - 2 tbsp.

American cheese - 16 slices

Flour tortillas - 8

Onion - 1, chopped

Pickle chips - 24

Lettuce - 1 cup, shredded

Salt & Pepper

In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, ketchup, pickles relish, sugar, and vinegar. Set aside.

Portion the ground beef into four 5-ounce balls, pressing together just until the meat holds its shape without falling apart.

Add oil to a 12-inch skillet and heat until smoking. Add one of the meatballs to the skillet and, using a wide, stiff metal spatula, press down on it until it is roughly the diameter of the tortilla. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook undisturbed until a dark brown crust forms, about 2-3 minutes. Carefully flip the patty over, using the edge of the spatula to scrape up all the browned bits.

Top patty with 2 cheese slices and cook for 30 seconds, then add 5-6 pickles and 1-2 tablespoons of onion.  Add a tortilla and press down firmly using the spatula to make sure the cheese adheres.

Using your spatula, flip the patty over again, adding 2 more slices of cheese, and place the second tortilla on top. Press to adhere. Flip once more and cook briefly to allow the extra cheese to melt, about 30 seconds. Remove from the pan and repeat the process with the remaining balls of meat, tortillas, and toppings. 

 Slice each quesadilla into 6 equal triangles. Top with shredded lettuce, if using, and drizzle with special sauce or serve it on the side for dipping.

Pecan Pie Cookies

Pecan pie filling:

Brown sugar - ½ cup

Heavy whipping cream - 2 tbsp.

Egg - 1

Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp

Maple syrup - 1 tbsp.

Salt

Pecan - 2/3 cup, chopped

Cookie dough:

Butter - ½ cup

Sugar - ⅓ cup Brown sugar - ¼ cup

Egg yolk - 1

Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp

Milk - 1 tbsp.

AP Flour - 1 ⅓ cup

Baking soda - ¼ tsp

Baking powder - ¼ tsp

Salt

For topping:

Pecan - ¼ cup

Dark chocolate - 4 oz

Make the pecan pie filling. Combine all ingredients except for pecans in a small 1-quart stainless steel saucepan and whisk to combine. Add the pecans and place over medium heat. Cook while whisking constantly until it just begins to bubble and thicken, then let it bubble for 30 seconds. This will take 5-7 minutes. Immediately take it off the heat and pour it into a clean bowl. Let it cool completely and then refrigerate for about 1 hour until thoroughly chilled.

Make the cookie dough. Combine softened butter, sugar and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand with a wide rubber spatula using the "creaming" method, or use an electric hand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla and mix well. Mix in milk until combined.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to blend well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and fold it in until evenly incorporated and the dough is smooth.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate, or (here's what I like to do) turn the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap and shape and roll it into a log that's about 10-inches long. Use floured hands to handle the sticky dough. Wrap it well and refrigerate for 1 hour or place it in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

If you kept the dough in the bowl, use a 1-oz cookie scoop to scoop up about 2 tablespoon of dough and roll into smooth balls. Make sure you divide the dough evenly to make exactly 13 cookies. If you shaped the dough into a log, slice it into 13 equal portions. Roll each portion into smooth balls and place on prepared baking sheets spacing them 3 inches apart.

Press a 1 teaspoon measure spoon down in the center of each cookie to create a deep divet. Push the sides up or squeeze the cookie towards the center just a bit to contain it as you make the divet. If the cookie dough cracks, just press it together. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of filling right into each indent. You will not use all the filling, and reserve the rest of the filling for finishing the cookies after they've baked. Place the trays in the fridge for 15 minutes while the oven preheats.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake the cookies 8-10 minutes until the cookies are nicely golden brown around the edges and the filling starts to bubble. Transfer trays to a wire rack and let cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring individually to the rack to finish cooling.

Once cool, spoon a bit of the remaining filling on top of each cookie and sprinkle more chopped pecans on top if you'd like. I like to also drizzle with melted dark chocolate, but this is optional.