Braided Pizza Bread

Bread is one of those staple foods I have not had much success with so far. Searching high and low, trying out different recipes with variable results - I had almost given up. That's when I came upon this amazing recipe like the proverbial 'hit rock bottom before achieving a high'. It is deliciously easy to make and believe me, will be gone from the table before you know it.

Without further ado, here's the recipe

Ingredients -

For the Bread
1 ½ cups All purpose Flour
2 ¼ tsp Instant dry yeast
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Sugar
¼ cup Milk
¼ cup Water
2 tbsp Olive Oil + a little extra
Garlic Oil to drizzle [To make garlic oil - warm 4-5 tbsp Olive oil, drop 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic in it and let steep]

For the stuffing -
1 Onion chopped fine
1 Tomato chopped fine (without seeds)
1 Capsicum chopped fine
½ cup Corn Kernels
1 tsp dried Basil
1 tsp Chilli Flakes
1 tsp Italian mixed herbs
1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
¼ cup Pizza Sauce
Garlic Salt to sprinkle (Sea Salt/Rock salt is a good option too)
Salt to taste

Method -Preheat oven to 200⁰C (190⁰C for a fan forced oven)

For the bread –

Add the flour, salt, sugar and yeast to a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the milk and water (both lukewarm). Mix to form pliable dough.  At this stage the dough could be sticky. Add the oil and knead for 5-7 mins. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, coat it liberally with oil, cover with a damp cloth and set aside till it doubles in size.

This will take about an hour (depending on how hot / cold the room temperature is in your kitchen)

Punch down the dough and knead well for 2-3 mins. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangle making sure it is not too thick. This could be done on a ‘flour dusted’ clean work surface or on a sheet of baking paper.

For the stuffing –

Heat oil in a pan, add the onion and sauté for 2 mins or just enough to get rid of its raw smell. Add the remaining vegetables and cook on high flame for 2-3 mins. Remove from heat, add the herbs, chili flakes and salt and mix well.

To put them all together –

Longitudinal, along an imaginary center line spread some pizza sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella so as to cover the pizza sauce.

Top it with the prepared vegetable mixture. Sprinkle once more with mozzarella and herbs.

Score the dough with a sharp knife starting from the stuffing, radiating outwards at an angle.

Bring in the slit strips alternating from both sides to give a ‘braid’ like appearance.

Brush the prepared bread with the garlic oil, sprinkle lightly with some garlic salt, herbs and some mozzarella.

Cover with baking paper and let rest for 15-20 mins.

Bake in the oven for about 30 mins or till the top is golden brown.

There you have one delicious home baked bread ready to serve.

Enjoy!!

............................................................................................................


This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience.The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Peach Cobbler

A 'Cobbler' finds it's origins in the British American colonies of old. There are several different variations of this dish depending on the region it is made in.
The recipe here is from the 'deep South' (USA), the Southern classic Peach Cobbler. The southern people are quite generous with their Cobbler recipe serving it with a dollop of Vanilla Icecream!!

Ingredients -
113g unsalted Butter
1 cup all purpose Flour
2 cups Sugar
1tbsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
1 cup Milk
410g Canned Peach slices
1tbsp Lemon juice
Ground Cinnamon or Nutmeg

Method -

Melt butter in a 13"x 9" glass baking dish.
In a bowl, combine the flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the milk, stirring just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Pour this batter gently over the melted butter. Do not mix it up.

In a pan, add the remaining sugar, canned peach slices along with it's juice and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over high heat while stirring continuously. Once it is boiling, remove from heat and gently pour over the batter in the glass dish. Again, important - Do not mix it up.

Sprinkle with cinnamon / nutmeg. Bake in a preheated oven at 1900C for 40-45 mins or till the top looks golden brown.

Serve warm with a dollop of Vanilla Icecream or whipped cream and garnish with roasted chopped Hazelnuts.

This dish is best eaten warm with the cold icecream or whipped cream. Having said that it can be served cold as well

Notes : During the baking process, the fruit along with the juices, sinks down to the bottom of the dish and the batter layer rises to the top. Therefore it is important to not mix the layers.

When serving the cobbler, cut a piece and turn it over when plating up so that the bottom layer consisting of the fruit is now the top.

............................................................................................................


This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience.The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Panforte di Siena

Panforte is an Italian fruit and nut dessert not unlike the traditional Christmas fruit cake. The origins of this dessert go back to the Tuscany region of Italy (so I understand from Wiki!) It is quite a dense cake made almost entirely with fruit and nuts. A little flour binds the whole dish. The spices lend a deliciously heady aroma.

Ingredients –

250g Figs or Pitted Dates
50g Honey
100g Soft Brown Sugar
½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp Ground Clove
½ tsp Ground Nutmeg
½ tsp Ground Cardamom
½ tsp Ground Black Pepper
250g Candied Fruit
50g blanched Almonds
50g toasted Hazelnuts
4 tbsp sifted Plain flour
50ml Vin Santo dessert Wine or Rum
Icing Sugar for dusting

Method –

Preheat oven to 150^oC. Line a 25cm round or 20cm square cake tin with baking paper.

Mince the figs / dates and put them in a pan with just enough water to cover the fruit. Add honey, sugar and spices.

Cook gently for about 10 mins and then transfer to a bowl. At this stage the fruit mix should be soft and sticky but not wet.

Add the candied fruit and the nuts. Mix well. Then add the flour and wine and mix to a sticky mass. Spoon mixture into prepared tin and bake for 30-40 mins.

Take out from the oven and let cool in the tin. When cooled take out of the tin. Sprinkle generously with icing sugar and serve with a glass of your favourite bubbly!!

Transfer to an airtight container. It does have a long shelf life provided there is any leftover!

bon appetite!

............................................................................................................


This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience.The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

2 minute Chocolate Brownie

We came back from school this afternoon to the clap of thunder. The house was cold and the general feeling was one of doom and gloom. The hour between 3pm and 4pm is also the proverbial witches hour with the rush for after school snacks, recounting all that happened at school and such. After-school snacks are always tricky because they need to be easily accepted by the girls at the same time not too sugary and relatively quick to fix. To my utter amazement I came across just such a recipe earlier in the day!! 

Ready in under 2 mins, chocolatey and as a bonus it went down a treat with the girls as well as the Mister :-) Couldn't ask for more!

This is a recipe for individual brownies made in ramikins or like I did, in Tea cups. The measures therefore are for one serve only. Also it is a 'hold your breath' a microwave recipe which you could whip up in 2 minutes if unexpected guests arrived. 

Anyway so here's the list of ingredients for one serve - 

1/4 cup Self raising flour
1/4 cup Caster sugar (plain sugar is ok too)
2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
2 tbsp Vegetable oil
3 tbsp water
Icing Sugar for dusting

Method -
Take a microwave safe bowl (cup or whatever container you are going to serve the brownie in - cook and serve in same container!!)
Add the flour, caster sugar, cocoa powder, oil and water to the bowl. Mix well to get a smooth mixture.
Place the bowl in the microwave and cook on high power for 1min 20secs. My microwave is 1200 Watts. You will need to adjust cooking time accordingly. 

Remove from microwave and let rest for 2-3 mins. Dust some icing sugar over the top and the brownie is ready to be served. If you like your brownie to be moist, some warm chocolate sauce on the side will do the trick.

Easy as 1,2,3!! 

Enjoy!!

............................................................................................................


This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience.The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Kaju Kand - Cashew nut Fudge

Food is the defining characteristic of every culture, every region, of every people! In line with that, certain ingredients become a staple in kitchen pantries. Rawa (semolina) is one such ingredient that is almost certainly found in every Maharashtrian kitchen. 'Rawyache ladu', 'rawyachya wadya', 'rawyacha sheera', 'rawyacha upma', the list goes on. 

My aaji (maternal grandmother) has always been the expert in 'rawyachya wadya'. Growing up, I remember spending summer vacations at her house. Each day we would wake up, in anticipation of a special treat that aaji would make for us. Anna as our grandfather was called, was her cheer leader when she was cooking up her special treats.  He would hang around the kitchen, in his words, as a taste master, to ensure the dish was coming along well. There is a tradition in Hindu culture to offer the first morsel of a sweet dish to God. In aaji's house, there was a tradition of first two morsels being earmarked, one for God and the other for Anna. Those carefree days it never did occur to me to observe aaji when she made her yummy treats. Now I wish I had!! She is getting on in years and is not as active in the kitchen anymore. Fortunately my mum is almost as good as her mum and she gives me tips as and when I get stuck in the sticky stuff!!

In this age of web information, novice cooks have a lot of help out there and I make the most of it. This recipe is my take on the 'rava kaju barfi by Veginspirations.com'. The way I cook it (I have a longer cooking time) gives it a fudge-like texture, which is why I call it Kaju kand - Cashew nut Fudge.

Ingredients : 

1/2 cup Semolina (fine)

1/2 cup Cashew nuts, roasted and powdered fine

1/4 cup Coconut (fresh or frozen)

3/4 cup Sugar

1/3 cup Water

2 tsp Everest Milk Masala

1 tsp 'Icecream' Essence (optional)

2 drops Red/ Pink food colour (optional)

2 tbsp Ghee / Clarified Butter 

Butter for greasing tray.

Method : 

Dry Roast the semolina in a heavy bottom pan till it releases its aroma. Transfer to a bowl and add the roasted, powdered cashew nuts, milk masala, and the coconut. Mix it through.

Grease a slice tin or tray with butter or ghee and set aside.

In the pan, mix the sugar and water. Set the pan on medium heat/flame and stir continuously till the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar dissolves, turn down the heat to low and let cook till the syrup starts to thicken. Check for consistency of the syrup. Put a drop of the syrup on a cold plate and let cool. Dip the tip of your index finger in the drop and gently pull your finger away. If the syrup is ready, it should form a thin single string. This is  refered to as the 'ek taari paak' or literally translated, one string consistency.

Once the consistency is right, add the contents of the bowl, the ghee, the essence and the food colour to the syrup and mix well. Now this next part requires a bit of elbow grease. Keeping the heat low, continue stirring / mixing the contents of the pan. This has to be done continuously. There comes a point during all this stirring, when the mixture begins to come off or separate from the sides of the pan. It begins to come together as a ball. 

Remove pan from the heat. Transfer contents to the prepared tin / tray and spread it out evenly using the back of a 'katori' or a piece of baking paper. Let it cool to room temperature and cut into pieces of desired shape. 

The pieces I made were about 1"x1" and about 1cm in thickness. Makes about 20 pieces depending on the thickness and size of each piece. 

The extra stirring makes the coconut and semolina come together such that they loose their grainy and stringy textures. They become what we say in Marathi 'ek-jeev'. And that my friend, is where the fudge-like texture comes from. Without that extra stirring, it is your normal barfi, which retains the coarse textures of the semolina and the coconut.

You can use plain or salted cashew nuts for this recipe. I used salted ones because it improves the overall taste of the preparation.

There, my kaju kand - Cashew nut fudge! I hope you enjoy making it just as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you.

If you try out this recipe do leave me a feed back with your preparation picture, would love to see it.

Happy cooking!!

............................................................................................................


This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience.The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Taste or waist dilemma with Bhindi Masala

A plate of food needs to be appealing to the eyes before it even has a chance to be tasted!! We do eat with our eyes first. Bhindi (Okra) for example, tends to be quite slimy when you chop it up. Doesn't look very inviting. Dress it up as Bhindi fry or Bhindi masala and it goes down a treat.

Here's where the 'dilemma' makes it's entrance. Popular bhindi preparations tend to be heavy on oil. The taste goes straight to the waist :-) I had stopped cooking bhindi. Nobody in our house liked the traditional maharashtrian style 'bhendi chi bhaaji' because it tends to be very slimy. The non-slimy version (fried!!) uses way too much oil, though is mouth watering. 

Just the other day, a childhood friend suggested I try her recipe. She said it was tasty and crispy but did not need much oil. So now I totally refused to believe it. I mean, tasty-crispy is directly proportional to oil, right? Anyway I decided to try it out and see it for myself. 

Here's what the end result looked like

Ingredients: 

Bhindi (Okra) 500gm

Turmeric Powder

Red Chilli Powder

Coriander - Cumin Powder (Dhane-jeera powder)[You can get ready Dhane-Jeera powder in most Indian spice stores or make your own in 2:1 ratio of Dhane:Jeera]

Amchur Powder 

Coarse ground peanuts(Danyache Kut)

Salt

sugar

Cooking oil spray

Chopped coriander leaves (Optional)

Lime Juice (Optional)

Method : 

Wash and pat dry the bhindi. 

Remove the tops and tails and cut bhindi length wise. 

Spray an oven-proof dish with cooking oil. Spread the cut bhindi, evenly in the dish. 

In a bowl combine the spices, ground peanut, salt and sugar. Taste the dry mixture and adjust the spices as required.

Sprinkle this spice mixture over the bhindi and toss it to combine. Make sure that the bhindi get coated quite evenly.

Spray once more with cooking oil.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C(fan-forced). Put the bhindi in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes. 

You do need to check the bhindi and 'stir' it around every few minutes just so it does not burn on one side while remaining under cooked on the other.

Once done, the bhindi will have a hearty brown colour to them. 

Remove from the oven, drizzle lime juice and sprinkle some chopped coriander,  if you like.

This bhindi is very crispy, almost like eating 'Bhindi chips'. And with just a couple sprays of oil, the 'Taste to Waist' dilemma is also taken care of.

This goes very well with Dal-fry and Jeera Rice; it is the 'Mister's' favourite food combo at the moment!!

Enjoy!!

............................................................................................................

This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience.The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners. 

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Stuffed Capsicum (Bell Peppers)

A complete meal in a couple capsicums!! I like 'stuffed capsicum' for two reasons. One is pure convenience, each stuffed capsicum incorporates all the food components. The second reason is that the flavours are utterly irresistable :-)

As per my promise, an easy to follow recipe, minimum preparation with maximum result. 

Ingredients :
4 Capsicums (Bell Peppers) in your colour of choice
1 cup Cooked Rice 
2 tablespoons finely chopped Onion 
1 clove finely chopped Garlic
350-400g of Tomato puree (If not available use finely chopped tomatoes)
3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese (or whichever cheese is available easily)
Dried Basil, Chilli flakes and Salt as per taste.

Method : 
Wash and pat dry the capsicums. Cut a thin slice from the stem end of each capsicum. Hold on to these 'caps', set them aside.
Remove the seeds and empty out the capsicum of all the membranes. Stand the capsicums in a plate / tray. If they tip over, cut a thin slice off the bottom so that they are able to stand without tipping over. This is important for when the capsicum is stuffed. Set these aside.
In a wok/pan/skillet, lightly spray some cooking oil (or about 1/2 a teaspoon, if you don't have a spray). Add the onion and garlic and cook on medium heat, stirring occassionally, till the onion is lightly brown. 
Next add the cooked rice, tomato puree, dried basil, chilli flakes and salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes, just so the added ingredients warm up.
Remove from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C (Fan-forced). In a glass baking dish (I used a Pyrex roaster) stand the capsicums. Spoon the rice stuffing firmly into each capsicum, fill it to the top. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the stuffing.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes or till the cheese shows a pale brown. The capsicums too will show hints of brown near the top edge. 
Remove from the oven and let stand for a couple minutes. Garnish with some more cheese and some dried basil.

The capsicums will have a little bite to them when you cut them open. Place the cut tops back on the capsicum when you serve them :-) They look so cute and when you take your first bite, it's all 'yummy'ness :-):-)

For a non-vegetarian option you could add your choice of meat along with the onion. 

Enjoy!!

............................................................................................................


This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience.The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Pistachio-Almond and Chocolate cookies

Going along the thread of the basic butter cookie, here are two different flavours you can try. The outer ring of cookies are a combination of Pistachio, almonds and cashewnuts. The centre is a chocolate cookie.

Incredibly easy to make, once you have the basic butter cookie recipe :-)

Ingredients :
1 measure Basic Butter Cookie dough recipe 
2 teaspoons 'Icecream' essence or Vanilla essence
2 tablespoons crushed mixed nuts (Pistachio, almonds and Cashewnuts) [For those with access to 'Everest' brand milk masala, you can use this in place of the crushed mixed nuts. The flavour is amazing]
1 teaspoon cocoa powder 

Method : 
Make one measure of the basic butter cookie dough. Add the essence to the dough. Knead the dough just enough so as to incorporate the essence. 
Divide the dough into two portions. 
To one portion, add the crushed nuts and ensure the nuts get spread evenly through the dough.
To the second portion add the cocoa powder ensuring an even colour. If the cocoa does not mix through evenly, fret not, the cookies will have a beautiful marbled look.
Divide the two doughs into small equal sized balls. Flatten each ball on the palm of your hand while leaving it about 1/2 centimeter thick. 
Space the cookies out on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C (for a fan-forced oven). Place the tray in the middle rack of the oven. It will take between 20-25 mins for the cookies to be done. 
We are looking for a 'gold - just a hint of brown' colour for the pistachio-almond cookies. For the chocolate cookies, it is difficult to note any major colour difference. They will take the same amount of time as the other cookies if they are being done together. 

The cookies will be 'soft touch' initially when you remove them from the oven. Transfer them to a cooling rack. As they cool, the cookies will loose the 'soft touch' and become crispy. 

Same as the Basic Butter Cookies, this recipe makes 84.

Notes : You can add chocolate chips to the chocolate cookie dough and make double chocolate cookies.

Add a dash of pink food colouring to the nuts cookie dough and make 'special' cookies for kids! I used a butterfly cookie cutter for these ones and the girls had a ball, decorating them.

Let your imagination run wild!!


............................................................................................................


This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience.The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Basic Butter Cookies

Here is a recipe for basic butter cookies. This one is my trusted recipe which I always keep handy. It's versatile, in that if you make one measure of this cookie dough, you can make several different flavour combinations. 
As you can see in the picture, these were for a birthday hence the writing and smiley.

Ingredients :
250g Unsalted butter
1 Cup plain sugar
2 1/2 cups All purpose flour / Maida
Salt to taste

Method : 
Cream the butter and sugar till the butter changes colour (looks paler than when you started)
Add the flour little at a time making sure the batter is getting mixed as you go along. Add the salt. 
As you add the flour, the batter will thicken and you will need to use your hands to mix it. Ensure that all the flour gets incorporated. The result should be a soft pliable dough. 
Divide the dough into tiny balls about 1 inch in diameter. Gently flatten them on the palm of your hand while leaving them about 1/2 centimeter thick.
Line a baking tray with baking paper. Space the cookies about 2-3 centimeters apart, just so they don't stick together once they get cooking.
Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (if using fan-forced oven). Check the conversion for temperature in degrees F and for gas mark.
Make an imprint on the surface of each cookie (I have used a fork) so that the cookie doesn't puff up. 
Place the tray in the middle rack of your oven. 
The time required for the cookies to get done will vary from oven to oven. It will take between 20-25 mins. Go by the colour though. A 'gold - very pale brown' colour is what we are aiming for. Once you have got that, remove the tray from the oven and transfer cookies to a cooling rack. 
At this stage the cookies may feel slightly soft to touch. As they cool down they loose the soft touch and become crispy. The colour also darkens a little once the cookies are out of the oven (hence the 'gold-very pale brown')

This recipe makes about 84 cookies. 

Hope you enjoy making them as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you!!

............................................................................................................


This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience.The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.