My Food Blog

Mallows and Milanos

2009-07-30T06:25:00.001+05:30

I'm not a huge fan of marshmallows. So when I saw this challenge from the Daring Bakers, making mallows or marshmallows on cookies dipped in chocolate, I was kinda sorta skeptical. But I've always loved the Pepperidge Farm Milanos, and I was excited I was going to be making those at home. Frankly, I never thought I'd see the day when I was making either of these at home!!

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Mallows (Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
3 eggs, whisked together
Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy. Add the eggs and mix until combine. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.

Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
2 egg whites , room temperature
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.

Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

My Notes:
For the cookies, like my Bakewell pastry, even after chilling overnight, the dough was definitely not of rolling consistency. I had to roll small portions into balls and flatten them onto the prepared cookie sheet. It still tasted great though.

I didn't have semisweet chocolate, so I used half regular chocolate and half unsweetened. I liked the marshmallows, they were really a great chewy texture and set beautifully. I just wish I had piped a little more on each cookie, but I kept it to a kiss as the recipe suggested.

To get to the soft ball stage when making the marshmallows, I used this link at Science of Candy as my guide.

I had to chill the cookies in the refrigerator after 2 hours of letting it rest outside because of the intense heat and humidity in Chennai, the chocolate was still very soft. It set up nicely in the refrigerator after about a 1/2 hour.

Now, onto my favorite, the Milanos!

Milan Cookies

Everything came out exactly as I remembered the Milanos. The cookies were fantastic. It's a keeper recipe. The only change I'm going to make next time is to reduce or omit the orange zest from the chocolate filling - it was just a little too intense for me.

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon extract
1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 orange, zested

In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.

With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread. I used a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off, and hence the cookies were a bit uneven.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.

While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).

Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies. Mine were all different shapes and sizes.

Parmesan Walnut Bread

2009-07-23T10:00:00.001+05:30

The first oven I bought was a little OTG (Oven Toaster Griller). It came with a booklet of recipes to be made in the free pan that came with it. I loved the OTG and tried almost all the recipes in that booklet! Surprisingly, every single one was a keeper. The first one was banana bread, that we loved. And I was hooked. Quick breads are fast, delicious and extremely versatile.

This is a wonderful quick bread that I came across at Mary's blog, One Perfect Bite. She's made three wonderful variations. I varied her walnut bread a little to include some freshly grated Parmesan. It was super quick and full of flavor.

Parmesan Walnut Bread
(Recipe adapted from One Perfect Bite)

2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
2/3 cup Milk
1 large egg
3/4 cup Sugar
1 1/2 cups Walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated

Preheat oven to 160 deg C. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the milk and egg. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Stir in walnuts and parmesan. Pour into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Increase the temperature to 180 deg C and continue baking for a further 15 minutes.

Mary recommends letting it rest for 15 minutes and then allowing it to age 24 hours before serving. I did the first 15 minutes. And then another 15 minutes! There was no way I could wait for 24 hours to eat anything that smells as good as this bread!

Other quick breads on this blog: Banana Bread, Chocolate Banana Bread and Mango Bread.

Dal with Fenugreek Leaves

2009-07-05T18:20:00.001+05:30

The first time I had perfect dal was when I met my husband. The two dishes in his repertoire are dal and chicken curry. Since I'm vegetarian, I can only believe that the chicken curry is good. The dal, though, is sheer genius. Filled with protein, lentils are a sure delight for vegetarians.

I found this dal in a cookbook I bought recently, Pure and Simple: Homemade Indian Vegetarian Cuisine by Vidhu Mittal. The book is amazing. Every single recipe is simple and uses ingredients that are usually available in most Indian homes.

Dal with Fenugreek Leaves
(Recipe adapted from Pure & Simple by Vidhu Mittal)

1/4 cup split Green Gram, washed and soaked for 1/2 hour
1/2 cup Bengal Gram, washed and soaked for 1/2 hour
1/2 cup Red Gram (Masoor Dal), washed and drained
2 Tomatoes, cut into cubes
A pinch of Turmeric Powder
1-2 Green Chillies, chopped
1/4 tsp Dry Mango Powder (Amchur)
1/4 tsp Garam Masala Powder
1 cup Fenugreen Leaves, chopped and cooked
2 tbsp Cilantro Leaves, chopped
Salt, to taste

Tempering
1 tbsp Ghee (clarified butter) or Vegetable Oil
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
Red Chilli Powder, to taste
A pinch of Asafoetida

In a pressure cooker or large saucepan, cook all the soaked lentils with the water, salt and turmeric powder. Once cooked and lentils are soft, let simmer for a few minutes.

Add the chopped tomatoes, green chillies, mango powder and garam masala and bring to a boil. Drop in the cooked fenugreek and cook for a minute. Remove from the stove.

Heat the ghee or oil for the tempering. Add all the ingredients and let cook for a minute. Pour the contents onto the cooked dal. Stir. Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Chocolate Orange Drizzle Loaf Cake

2009-06-30T19:42:00.004+05:30

Another winner from Sweet and Simple Bakes! Doesn't just the name of it make you drool? If any of you are amateur bakers, and would like to try out some no-fail recipes, you simply have to come on over and join Maria and Rosie and all the rest of us at Sweet and Simple Bakes. Every single one of their bakes so far (over a year's worth of bakes) have been completely amazing!

In this bake, you first make a simple loaf cake with some orange zest for flavoring. Then you make tiny holes and drizzle orange syrup onto the cake and let it drip down into the cake...mmm!!! Then, if that's not enough to send you racing over to the kitchen, you add a topping of melted chocolate and sprinkles - yes, you simply have to add sprinkles, so that's not optional, though the recipe says it is. So I'm telling you, make this the next time you have company, and you're guaranteed to awe.

(Sorry about the bad photos, but I took these with my phone's camera because my regular one suddenly stopped working as we cut into it!)

Chocolate Orange Drizzle Loaf Cake
(recipe from Sweet and Simple Bakes)

For The cake
175g (6 oz) softened butter
175g (6 oz) caster (super fine) sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
175g (6 oz) self-raising flour, sifted
2 tbsp milk

For The Orange Syrup
Juice of 1 orange
100g (4 oz) granulated sugar

For The Topping
50g (2 oz) dark chocolate or milk chocolate – your choice
Sprinkles of choice (optional)

You will need a 900g (2 lb) loaf tin – greased with a little butter and lined with greaseproof paper or non-stick baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

In a mixing bowl, add the butter and sugar and beat together until light and fluffy in appearance. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well until fully incorporated. Add the orange zest, flour and milk and fold in gently with a spatula or large metal spoon. Turn into the prepared tin (I used a loaf pan that was a little big, so it came out pretty flat looking), smooth the top of the mixture and bake in the oven on middle shelf 35 -45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. When cool make little holes in the cake with a skewer, (this is important for pouring the syrup onto the cake to ensure the syrup soaks in fully.)

For The Orange Syrup

Put the orange juice and granulated sugar into a pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for a couple of minutes. Pour over the top of the cake. When all the juice has soaked in, carefully remove the cake from the tin.

For The Topping

Melt the chocolate by placing a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Once the chocolate has melted, pour over the top of the cake. Either smooth the top over with a spatula or make a little pattern with the prongs of a fork. Add sprinkles if desired, leave chocolate to set before cutting into the cake.

Bakewell Tart

2009-06-27T17:55:00.004+05:30

I've never actually had a Bakewell Tart, though we did make a Bakewell Cake for our Sweet + Simple Bakes challenge a few months ago. The concept is similar, except that instead of the jam being sandwiched between two layers of cake, it's used as a filling in a shortcrust pastry and topped with frangipane.

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart...er...pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

There were several things that went wrong with my Bakewell Tart and it was still scrumptious, so I can only imagine how good it must have been if it had come out well. The frangipane was absolutely amazing, and I used store-bought Strawberry Jam. The two mandatory elements of the challenge were the shortcrust pastry and the frangipane.

My shortcrust pastry was quite difficult. I'm not sure if its the humidity in India, or the intense heat but the dough was impossible to roll out. I had to use my hands to fill, patch and smooth the dough into the tart pan. My oven was also acting up and ended up with a tart that was much darker than I would have liked.

I have to say though, that I loved the taste of the tart. If I only knew the secret of great shortcrust pastry, I would definitely make it again.

Bakewell Tart ... er... Pudding

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup).
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Gingerbread Cookies

2009-06-26T10:45:00.003+05:30

My nephew came over yesterday all excited to make gingerbread cookies. He had his own recipe from a book, but that required a 2 hour wait for the dough in the refrigerator. I quickly checked online to find an easier recipe.

And came across one of the most lovely blogs I have seen. Exclusively Food, a blog by Amanda and Debbie, has great recipes and beautiful photographs. Their gingerbread people are incredibly cute, and thankfully my nephew loved them too.

So armed with their recipe, I had 3 kids making gingerbread cookies. They came out absolutely delicious! We didn't quite get to make people as I don't have great cookie cutters, but we made several different shapes. Our artistic talents were also slightly lacking. And most of the cookies were eaten before we could even get to the icing stage!

Gingerbread Cookies
(adapted from Exclusively Food)

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
140 g Butter, softened
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 large Egg, divided into yolk and white
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1 tsp Nutmeg Powder
3 tsp Ginger (I used ginger paste)
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 cup Golden Syrup

Stir together in a bowl, the flour, baking soda and spices.

In another large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar together. Add the egg yolk and golden syrup and beat together until combined. Slowly add in the flour mixture until just combined.

Preheat oven to 180 deg C. And line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Divide the dough into halves. Roll out one half between two sheets of baking paper or parchment paper. Transfer to the freezer. Repeat for the other half. Let the dough freeze for about 15-20 minutes. This is essential - its really difficult to work with the soft dough before freezing.

Remove from the freezer and cut desired shapes. Transfer to the baking sheet carefully and bake for 10 minutes until firm. Let cool for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack.

While the cookies are baking, whisk together the icing:

Icing

1 1/3 cup Icing Sugar
1 Egg White (the one you saved from the yolk above)

Combine very well until a pale white. Add food coloring if you'd like. Decorate the cookies (I used Ziploc bags with a tiny bit of the edge cut off to pipe the icing onto the cookies) after they have cooled a bit from the oven. And let the icing set completely (of course, we didn't wait at all!).

They were fantastic. Thanks so much for a keeper recipe!!

Adai

2009-06-21T09:00:00.001+05:30

Adai is a form of south Indian crepe, sort of like a dosa, but made with a larger proportion of lentils, and hence far healthier than dosas. Dosas also need to ferment, while adais can be made as soon as the batter is mixed together.

Adai

2 cup Raw Rice
1 cup Channa Dal (split Chick Peas)
1 cup Urad Dal (split Black Gram)
1 cup Toor Dal (Pigeon Peas)
6 Dried Red Chillies

Salt, to taste
Chilli Powder, to taste
A pinch of Asoefetida
2-3 Curry Leaves, chopped fine

Soak the rice, dals and red chillies for 4-5 hours. Drain the water from the soaking mixture, and grind to a coarse texture.

Add the salt, chilli powder, asoefetida and curry leaves to the batter.

Heat a flat pan (such as a dosa pan or an omelette pan). When hot, spread a ladle-ful of the batter onto the pan in a circular motion.

When one side is golden brown, flip over carefully and let cook for a further two minutes.

Serve warm with chutney or jaggery/ palm sugar/ brown sugar.

Chinese Dumplings/ Potstickers

2009-06-14T19:44:00.004+05:30

For the June challenge for the Daring Cooks, Jen of use real butter chose to challenge us to make chinese dumplings or potstickers. I absolutely loved the challenge. I've been on holiday for a month and got back today, the day we were supposed to post the challenge!

I read through the instructions with complete apprehension, thinking I would have to bow out of this month's recipe. But it sounded simple and dumplings are a big favorite at home. So I simply had to try it. And simple it was! Thanks Jen for teaching us this wonderful technique.

I'm simplifying it here, but do check out the other Daring Cooks' for the complete recipe.

Dough

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Water

Mix the ingredients together to form a soft, silky dough. Cover it with a damp cloth and let rest for 15 minutes. Uncover and cut into small portions. Roll each into a small circle. Keep the others covered with the damp cloth.

Fill each circle with about a tablespoon of chosen filling. Close the ends and pleat the edges (as neatly as possible - mine were a little amateur, but I'm sure it'll improve with practice).

Fillings

Jen gave us several options, but I chose a simple vegetarian version with mushrooms, carrots, spring onions and potatoes (yes, potatoes - I chose potatoes to act as a binder, plus I didn't want to go shopping for groceries just then!).

I sauteed the vegetables together and mashed the potatoes with some salt, sesame oil and a little black pepper for some heat.

Now you can either steam, boil or pan fry the dumplings. I steamed the dumplings for 2 minutes and then pan fried them in a little bit of sesame oil.

They were absolutely delicious and I'm having them for dinner right now as a I type. Thanks for a wonderful challenge, and I'm definitely going to be trying this often.

Lemon Curd Muffins

2009-06-01T01:08:00.001+05:30

Sigh. I have a feeling that the bakes from Sweet and Simple Bakes is going to make me gain 10 pounds!

I think this has got to be one of my most favorite bakes so far. Not only were we to make muffins with a to-die-for lemon curd filling, I also got to make my own lemon curd. And I must say, the lemon curd was just... UNBELIEVABLE!! I couldn't stop tasting it and was seriously considering making a second batch!

Lemon Curd
(recipe from S & SB)

55 g/ 22 oz Butter
8 oz Sugar
2 Lemons
2 Eggs, lightly beaten

Grate the rinds of the lemon and squeeze out the juice.

Set up a double boiler with a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. Add the butter and sugar to the glass bowl. Keep stirring until the butter is melted.

Add the rind and the juice and continue stirring for a minute. Now stir in the eggs and stir constantly for 30 minutes, until a spoon drawn through the lemon curd lets you see the bottom of the glass bowl.

Pour into a sterilized jar. It will keep up to a month (sadly I don't have any left!).

Now onto the luscious muffins :)

Lemon Curd Muffins
(Recipe from S & SB)

7 oz Self-Raising Flour
3 1/2 oz Golden Caster Sugar (I used regular caster sugar)
1 large Egg
3 fl oz Oil
5 fl oz Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
12 tsp Lemon Curd

For the Glaze/ Coating:
4 tbsp Lemon Curd
2 oz Caster Sugar

Preheat the oven to 190 deg C.

For the muffins, mix together all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar) in one bowl and the wet ingredients (except the lemon curd) in another. Slowly add the wet to the dry ingredients until combined.

Line a muffin pan. Put a teaspoon of the batter into the lined muffin pan. Top with one teaspoon of lemon curd. Now add the rest of the batter.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

While it is baking, melt the lemon curd for the glaze over the stove top or in the microwave. Spread on the muffins when they come out of the oven and sprinkle with the caster sugar.

Oh goodness they were so delicious!!! And the inside was gooey and just perfect - a lovely combination of tart and sweet!

Thanks, Maria and Rosie for another amazing bake! And for sharing your treasured recipes with us!

Strudel

2009-05-27T04:04:00.001+05:30

Not sure what it is about May, but I joined a LOT of groups! First I joined the Daring Bakers AND the Daring Cooks! Next I joined the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge! I had an extremely busy month and enjoyed every minute.

I was apprehensive about joining the Daring Bakers, but their challenges are always so technique based that I knew I would be learning a lot. I'm glad I did. The first challenge in itself has taught me so much!

The May Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Strudel dough

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (I did the entire thing by hand because I don't own a stand mixer. And everything came out okay!). Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.

Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.

Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

I did two kinds of strudel. One was the traditional apple strudel that was given to us by the Daring Bakers.

Apple strudel

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper).

Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands or a feather pastry brush (I used a regular pastry brush). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-wide strip.

Mix the apples with the raisins and rum, and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

The second one I tried was a spicy vegetable and cheese filling.

Vegetable & Cheese Strudel

1 cup Peas
1 cup Green Bell Pepper, chopped
4-5 Onions, slices
3-4 Carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup Mushrooms, chopped
Crushed Red Pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
1 cup fresh grated Mozzarella

Saute the vegetables together until tender. Add salt and crushed red pepper to taste.

Spread the vegetables about 3 inches from the rolled out strudel dough. Top with the mozzarella.

Roll the strudel as described above. Brush with melted butter. And bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Allow to cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

I actually loved the apple strudel, and a lot more than the veggie version. I'm sure I could've been more creative with the savory strudel. Next time I'm going to try it with mushrooms and feta cheese and maybe drizzled with balsamic...sounds delicious! :-)

There will definitely be a next time. Its far easier than it sounds and a lot of fun to do too!

Thank you for a fun challenge, and excited to be part of the Daring Bakers!

Christopsomos

2009-05-21T16:25:00.001+05:30

As the second bread in our Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge, we were to tackle a Greek Celebration Bread, Artos. There are several variations of the basic bread. One of them is Christopsomos, a beautiful, decorative bread full of lovely flavors! For the recipe, please see Google Books.

We start with a poolish of water, flour and yeast. Allow it to rest overnight for a few hours at room temperature and then in the refrigerator. It will be all lovely and bubbly the next day.

Then add the rest of the flour, butter and lovely spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves), yeast, oil, honey and eggs. I left out the allspice because I couldn't find them in the store, and instead increased the quantity of cinnamon (because I just love cinnamon!).

This is the basic Artos bread. To make the variation, add dried fruit (cranberries/dates/figs/cherries), walnuts and raisins. I used dried chopped dates, walnuts and golden raisins. Be sure to include these in the final stages of kneading the dough before the bulk fermentation.

Allow the dough to double in size (about 90 minutes).

After the bulk ferment, divide the dough into 1/3rds and 2/3 rds. Wrap up the smaller portion and put it away in the refrigerator. The larger portion is shaped into a boule, then lightly oiled and allowed to proof at room temperature for about an hour.

When you are ready to bake the bread, take out the smaller piece and divide into half. Roll each half into a rope. Cross the ropes on top of the boule and let the ends hang down. Split each end and roll up to form a fun decorative pattern. If you're having trouble making the ends stick to the boule, apply a little bit of water.

Bake at 350 deg F for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan for even baking, and bake another 20-25 minutes. While the bread is baking, make a glaze of water, sugar, honey and lemon extract (I left this out because I didn't have it).

Brush the glaze onto the bread after you take it out of the oven and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.

The bread was absolutely delicious. I made it on Mother's Day and my mother loved it. The crumb is soft and filled with the deliciousness of raisins, walnuts and dates.

The crust is sweet and sticky with the glaze and the sesame seeds.

I'll definitely be making this bread again!

Baked "Fries"

2009-05-19T03:40:00.001+05:30

This is one the simplest recipes ever. I make this very often as a side at home and everyone constantly asks me for the recipe. I have a friend who requests this every time we have her over for dinner!

It is also very versatile. Use any fresh herbs that you enjoy. Make it spicy, if you'd like. Use different kinds of oil to see how they adapt - it's totally up to you. But the concept is the same. Here, I used fresh rosemary and olive oil with a touch of crushed red pepper.

Baked "Fries"

3-4 medium Potatoes, cut into wedges or thinner for fries (I used red-skinned, but any kind works fine)
2 tsp Olive Oil (you could also try coconut oil/ sunflower oil/ truffle oil/ garlic-infused oil)
2 sprigs fresh Rosemary, chopped (or basil/ cilantro/ garlic or a combination of dried herbs)
Crushed Red Pepper, or chilli powder (optional), to taste
Salt, to taste

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, rosemary, crushed red pepper and salt. Place in a baking tray, as far as possible, in a single layer.

Bake for 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Halfway through, use a wooden spatula and stir the potatoes around the pan and return to the oven.

Serve warm.

Ricotta Gnocchi

2009-05-14T14:55:00.003+05:30

I LOVED my first Daring Cooks challenge. The gnocchi was light and fresh and full of flavor. And, I have to say it was much simpler than I thought it would be. I've made potato gnocchi before which was also delicious, but this was far better! Also, far richer, but hey, once in a while, this is a great indulgence.

I couldn't find fresh ricotta, so used store-bought. Next time, I think I'll try it with paneer. Maybe it might even work with non-fat paneer? Hmm.

Ricotta Gnocchi
(recipe from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook)

2 cups fresh Ricotta
2 large cold Eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp Butter, melted
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
1/4 tsp Salt
All-Purpose Flour for rolling the gnocchi

Tie the ricotta in a muslin cloth and strain it overnight. It took me the night and the entire next day to finally strain all the water out of the ricotta. I resorted to placing a heavy weight on the muslin cloth, which really helped.

Place the drained ricotta in a bowl and mash slightly with the back of a spoon to make it smooth. Add the beaten eggs and mix thoroughly. Add melted butter, cheese and salt and combine to get a smooth and fluffy mixture. Add any flavorings you'd like, though try to keep it simple since you don't want to weigh down the cheese. I kept it simple without any additions.

Make a bed of all-purpose flour about a 1/4" thick on a baking sheet or tray. Also put a saucepan of water, heavily salted, on the stove and let it begin to simmer.

Take about 2-3 tsps of the mixture and gently push it out onto the bed of flour. With the spoon or the tip of your finger roll the cheese over the flour, so most parts of it get coated with a thin film of flour. Gently pick up the cheese and cradle it in both hands and move it from one hand to another being careful not to squeeze too tight or the gnocchi won't be light. Try to get the gnocchi into an oval shape.

Gently lower the gnocchi into the simmering water. It will sink and then rise to the top. Let it cook for about 3-5 minutes. If the gnocchi falls apart, there was too much water in the ricotta - add one egg white to the mixture and beat it in - that should hold it together.

If it doesn't fall apart (mine didn't), then great. Go ahead and make the rest of the cheese into gnocchi and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let it rest in the refrigerator for an hour and firm up.

Bring the water back up to a simmer and slip 3-4 gnocchi into the water at a time and cook for 3-5 minutes (as in the test done earlier). Remove with a slotted spoon.

Serve warm with your choice of sauce. I really wanted to do pesto, but was afraid it might be too heavy. So I just drizzled with a little bit of olive oil and grated some fresh Parmesan on top with some black pepper.

I don't think there's any doubt I'll make this again. It was simple and delicious and a sure crowd-pleaser. Thanks to Ivonne and Lisa for a wonderful first challenge and I'm excited to be part of the Daring Cooks!

Anadama Bread

2009-05-11T21:26:00.007+05:30

When I first got the book, Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart, I made quite a few of the recipes and every single one of them was fabulous. And then Nicole of Pinch My Salt came up with this idea of getting a bunch of people together and baking all the recipes from the book.

And what a great bunch of bakers - we're from all over the world and have lots of people who've never baked bread before, to people who have been baking bread since they were 10! Check out the other members of the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge.

We're starting with the first recipe and working our way to the end, week by week! So first up is the Anadama Bread. A New England bread, I had never heard of it before. Its made with cornmeal and molasses and has a crunchy, sweet flavor.

Mine didn't come out well! I mixed the cornmeal with water and let it soak for about 8 hours. The next day, I added the molasses, flour and the rest of the ingredients. The dough was soft (except for the coarse corn meal), and it was easy to get to the windowpane stage. I then put it into the refrigerator to proof overnight.

The next day, I left it out for an hour, and then shaped it into loaves. I put the loaves back into the refrigerator for about 6-7 hours. I then took them out and proofed them at room temperature for 3 hours. I should have waited longer, but it just didn't seem like they were going to rise to above the lip of the loaf pans. They were nowhere close! The first proof was beautiful, not sure what happened to the second rise.

Anyway, I then baked the bread for 50 minutes (rotating the pans half way). They came out not looking much like sandwich loaves.

But we sliced, buttered and toasted them and all was well with the world! Everyone at home loved it and we finished the two loaves in 2 days!

Next up in the BBA Challenge: Christopsomos, a Greek Celebration Bread!

Awards!

2009-05-10T13:07:00.001+05:30

I just realized that I totally missed my 100th post. What better way to celebrate than to acknowledge all the people whose blogs are inspiring, funny, lovely and drool-worthy! So here we go!

I want to thank Jamie, Swati, Latha and Siri for giving me the Inspiration Award. Jamie originally started this award - her blog totally rocks and her food is just simple and delicious.
The award is a great idea - your blogs are truly inspirational as well.

Please check out the rules at Jamie's blog. Her blog rocks!!

I also got the Arte Y Pico Award from VegeYum. I am honored - thank you so much!

I want to thank Delhi Belle , Skribles and Gaurav for the Good Chat Blog award. That was really nice of you - I'm glad you enjoy the rants! :)

And I want to thank Ranji and Skribles for the Nice Matters Award.

Madhavi gave me the Blogging with a Purpose Award. Thanks so much Madhavi!

Priya and Jamie gave me the You Make My Day Award. Thanks so much. You made my day!

And thank you Maheshwari, Bharti and Vandana for the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award. You guys rock too!

And thanks, Rekha, Rajani and Maheshwari for the Yummy Blog Award!

Who doesn't need luck? Thanks, Arundati and Sunshinemom, for passing on the magic genie! :)

And thank you, Arundati for the Best Friend Forever award. Its wonderful to have gotten to know you!

Ramya passed on the I'm a Chocoholic Award. Um... How did you know? :D Yup, I Love Chocolate!

Priya passed on several awards to me!! She's so generous. I love her recipes - they're different and simple. She's definitely the Kreativ Blogger!

Rajee and Priya both gave me the Perfect Blend of Friendship Award! I can never say no to coffee! :)

And, finally, I received the Preemio Blogger Award from Holler. Thanks so much!! You totally rock! :)

Thanks everyone!!

Beetroot Rasam

2009-05-08T13:40:00.005+05:30

One of my favorite blogs is Lisa's Kitchen. Her recipes are simple, vegetarian and always delicious - right up my alley! When her blog was chosen for last month's Tried & Tasted, I bookmarked this recipe, but life got in the way and though I made the rasam, I didn't get a chance to write or post about it.

Rasam and rice is my all-time favorite comfort food. It is a south Indian dish made with lentils, pepper and spices, and usually gets its tartness from tomatoes (unlike sambar, which tends to use more tamarind). It is a fluid soup-like dish that is traditionally served with rice, but a lot of people drink it as soup as well. The Anglo-Indian version of Rasam is the famous soup, Mulligatawny (which is actually a combination of the Tamil words milagu (pepper) and thani (water)).

There are many different variations of rasam. My favorite is the tomato, but other popular ones are lemon rasam and pepper rasam (pepper rasam does wonders in clearing up sinuses!). But I think I might have a new favorite!

The beetroot rasam was so delicious, though, that I simply had to post it - even though the event is over. The taste was light and full of flavor and the color is just brilliant! She got the recipe from Chandra Padmanabhan's Dakshin, which is one of my favorite cookbooks, and the only one I had through all my years living away from home.

I'm not posting the recipe here, but I do hope you'll visit Lisa's blog and try this out.

Other rasams on this blog: Mysore Rasam.

Vanilla Cupcakes

2009-05-01T08:00:00.001+05:30

If you haven't heard of Sweet and Simple Bakes, do check it out. Maria and Rosie have started a baking blog for amateur bakers about a year ago. I've tried to take part in almost all their bakes, and they've all been amazing.

This month's bake was no different. I tried them this afternoon and they were all gone in about 2 hours. My daughter and her friends thought they were awesome and literally couldn't stop eating them!

Vanilla Cupcakes
(recipe from Sweet and Simple Bakes)

Supposed to make 12, but I got about 9

6 oz Self-Raising Flour
6 oz Butter, softened
6 oz Caster Sugar
3 large Eggs
2 tbsp Milk
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Buttercream Icing:
5 oz Butter, softened
11 oz Icing Sugar
1 tbsp Milk
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

Mix together the flour, baking powder and caster sugar. Add the butter, eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Spoon the mixture into paper-case lined muffin pans. Bake for about 20 minutes. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile make the buttercream. Beat the butter until soft. Add the icing sugar and combine. Add the vanilla and milk and beat well until light and fluffy. You could add food coloring too if you'd like colorful cupcakes.

Spread the buttercream onto the cupcakes. Decorate as you wish. I used Gems (an Indian equivalent of M&Ms).

Thanks, Maria and Rosie. This is something I've already made 3 times this month, and will definitely make again!

Pretzels

2009-04-29T09:00:00.002+05:30

I wanted to make the German style pretzel with a crunchy exterior and a soft crumb. I think that comes from the water bath you put the formed dough in before you put it in the oven, and crank the oven temperature really high.

Here's my version of the German pretzels. The last time I used baking soda in the water bath, but this time I used brown sugar and I think that made a big difference. What is your trick for getting a crunchy, hard crust?

Pretzels

3 cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 tsp Instant Dry Yeast
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Warm Milk
4 tbsp Brown Sugar (for the water bath)

Mix all the ingredients together. Knead for about 8-10 minutes or until smooth and silky.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a muslin cloth. Let the dough rise for about an hour. Gently deflate and divide into 6 parts.

Bring a quart of water to a rolling boil with the brown sugar. And preheat the oven to 200 deg C.

Roll each part into a long rope (try to get it to about 22" to 24"). Holding each end, twist the two portions of the rope and the fold it back down. Watch this video for shaping instructions.

Gently lift each pretzel with a spatula and lower into the water. Keep it in the water by pushing down on it with the spatula. Let it boil for about 20 seconds per side. You can boil 2-3 pretzels at a time.

Transfer the pretzels to a lightly oiled baking tray. Sprinkle with Kosher salt. Place in the preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes or until a dark golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm with mustard.

This is for Susan @ Wild Yeast for YeastSpotting.

Other pretzels in this blog: Jalapeno Pretzels.

Cinnamon Rolls

2009-04-24T21:24:00.001+05:30

Oh my goodness. Do you have one day that you just want to indulge? Well, this is the perfect food to indulge in. Its absolutely incredible! I think this was an original Daring Bakers challenge, but I found the recipe on Andrea's incredible blog.

Cinnamon Rolls
(tweaked a little from Andrea's Recipes)

6 1/2 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
5 1/2 tbsp Butter
1 Egg
3 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Yeast
1 1/4 cups Milk

For the Cinnamon layer:
6 1/2 tbsp Sugar mixed with 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

For the Glaze:
2 cups Icing Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
6 tbsp Milk

Cream the butter. Add the sugar and salt and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat again.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and yeast. Add to the butter mixture. Stir everything together. Add the milk and mix to combine. Empty the contents onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. The dough was really sticky, and I added at least another 1/4 cup of flour as I kneaded. The dough will become soft and absolutely lovely to work with.

Place in a greased bowl, cover with a muslin cloth or cling wrap and keep in a warm place until doubled in size.

Roll out the dough to a rectangle. Spread the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the rectangle. Roll into a log. I didn't roll it too tight because I didn't want to lose all the lovely texture. Once rolled into the log, cut at about 1" intervals. I got only 6 buns, but maybe I should have cut it thinner.

Place the buns on a greased baking tray. Cover with muslin and let it rise until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 175 deg C. Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. While the rolls are baking, make the glaze.

To make the glaze, just whisk together the icing sugar, milk and vanilla until thick and smooth. Pour over the rolls while still warm out of the oven. Now, I don't know why, but my glaze never ever looks white - I've tried it a few times, and it is always transparent. But it tasted amazing.

Thanks, Andrea, for a fabulous recipe.

Mango Bread

2009-04-22T07:24:00.004+05:30

Mangoes are back in season! Woohoo! The downside is that this means that summer's here in full force - in April! At an average temperature of 95 deg F, Madras is way way too hot! But... you can't be really too frustrated with the heat when you have gorgeous juicy mangoes to fill you up!

Is there anything better than mangoes with vanilla ice cream? Well, maybe this mango bread! Have you ever visited Joy the Baker? Her blog is absolutely incredible with beautiful photographs. Do take a look, if you haven't already.

This recipe was inspired by her Mango Lime Bread. I made a few changes. Actually, quite a few changes - I omitted the ginger and apples and added walnuts instead. It was simply an amazing bread!

Mango Bread

2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
3 Eggs
3/4 cup Oil (try to use a flavor-less oil, like Safflower)
1 1/4 cup Mango pieces (I had to chop up about 1 1/2 mangoes)
3/4 cup Raisins
1/2 cup Walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar and salt. Crumble in the brown sugar. Add the wet ingredients (oil and eggs). Mix till fully combined. This might be a little difficult but keep stirring and it will come together. Fold in the mango, raisins and walnuts.

Transfer the dough to a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Turn loaf out from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Enjoy the wonderful smell in your kitchen!

Ilai Vadam

2009-04-17T17:31:00.001+05:30

India is a caste-ridden society. One of the castes is Brahmins. Traditionally, they were the scholars, preachers and educators. Now, Brahmins make up about 4 % of the entire population. Now, in the Brahmin class, there is a sub-category called Iyengars (pronounced eye-en-gars). Though there aren't many glaring differences between the sub-categories, there are subtle differences. Some of the subtle differences exist in the food.

South Indian food is mostly healthy with subtle flavors, steamed or cooked with a bare minimum of oil. One of the lesser known foods of the Iyengars is Ilai Vadam (Ilai means Leaf in Tamil and Vadam is a crispy snack - but in this case, the vadam isn't fried, but steamed).

It seems to be a dying food (if there's any such thing!). We love it in our house. Its a time-consuming activity, but so worth the effort. Basically, its a batter of rice and sago, mixed with green chillies and cumin. It is ladled over banana leaves and steamed until done.

This is going to be a pictorial explanation of the process.

Ilai Vadam
(Steamed rice flour spiced pancakes on banana leaves)

Makes 25-30, depending on size

1 cup Raw Rice
1/2 cup Sago Pearls
4 Green Chillies
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
15 Banana Leaves, each cut into half (you could also use saran wrap cut into squares or thin plastic sheets that hold up when steamed. I'm sure it's difficult to get banana leaves in most places, so you could use plastic wrap if you must.)

1st Day:
Soak the rice in water for 2 hours. Grind with water to a thick, smooth consistency. Cover and keep aside (leave it outside - do not put it in the refrigerator).

2nd Day Evening:
Soak the sago in water.

3rd Day Morning:
Grind the soaked sago with green chillies and salt to a smooth consistency.

Mix the sago batter with the rice flour batter. (The rice flour batter has been left outside for 3 days now and might have developed some dark spots - this is fine and is expected - it has not gone bad, and you don't have to throw it away! )

Add the cumin seeds and oil to the mixed batter.

Prepare a steamer. I used a tall steamer with about 2 cups of water at the bottom. Then put an inverted plate or bowl or any flat surface at the top. Make sure you have a close fitted lid.

Now spread about a ladle-ful of batter onto a banana leaf (you have to do this one at a time), in a circular motion (like you would for a dosa) and try to spread it as thin as possible.

Carefully lift the leaf and put it on the flat surface.

Close the lid and let it steam for about 2-3 minutes.

There will be puffed up little bubbles all over, which will flatten out after a few seconds.

You could just peel off the leaf and eat it. Or you could roll it up into a cigar-shape. Or, you could add some stir-fried veggies and roll up to make a steamed Indian-style spring roll!

I'm not sure if anyone reading this will try it, but if you do, kudos to you for trying something new. I hope you enjoy it as much as we love it.

This is as traditional an Indian food as you can get! :-) I wanted to tell everyone about it just to spread the word and hope that this beautiful dish doesn't die into non-existence.

Nutella Ice Cream

2009-04-13T09:20:00.002+05:30

Could there be anything better? I doubt I have to sell this one to you - if you like Nutella and ice cream, well, there isn't much else to say, is there?

Nutella is God's way of letting you know there is a heaven! It's a chocolate hazelnut spread (for breads, or just about anything else) that is truly divine. Go, run, to the store and buy some if you haven't tried it.

When I saw the recipe on Sugarlaws, I knew I absolutely had to make it. I'm a Nutella-holic.

Nutella Ice Cream with Roasted Almonds
(inspired from Sugarlaws' Nutella Ice Cream)

1/3 cup Nutella
1/2 cup Cream (I used regular cream, but use heavy cream if you have it)
1/3 cup Sugar
1 cup Milk
1 tbsp Vodka (alcohol keeps ice cream soft. You could leave it out if you want)
1/2 cup Toasted and Slivered Almonds

Mix together all the ingredients except for the almonds. Beat well. Pour into a plastic container (use a shallow container if making by hand). Add the almonds and mix to combine. Close and put it in the freezer. If you have an ice cream machine, follow the instructions.

If not, remove the container every 1 1/2 - 2 hours and churn the ice cream completely. Make sure you get all the frozen parts on the sides of the container. Initially a hand blender would work very well. Repeat the churning about 3-4 times, until ice cream is completely set.

Enjoy. This is truly one of the best ice creams I've ever had.

Similar posts on this blog: Vanilla Ice Cream, Nutella Brownies.

Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

2009-04-11T15:20:00.001+05:30

Or... Mud Muffins. They truly look like mounds of mud. But they are oh-so-delicious. And completely easy to put together. They are great to serve as dessert with ice cream when you need a quick fix.

And they don't have eggs, so you get to lick the spoon after mixing the batter!

Chocolate Muffins
(makes 6 muffins)

1 cup Flour
3/4 cup Sugar
scant 1/4 cup Cocoa
1/2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Buttermilk
1/8 cup Oil
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Chocolate Chips (or a mix of Chocolate Chips and Nuts to equal 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 200 deg C.

Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda and salt). Add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla and stir till combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and/or nuts.

And you can taste the batter because there are NO EGGS!

Divide the batter equally (or as equally as possible) between greased muffin cups (if you're using a non-stick pan, you don't need to grease it).

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Mmm. Delicious!

This is off to Madhuram @ Madhuram's Eggless Cooking for the Egg Substitute Event: Yogurt/Buttermilk.

Cucumber Salad

2009-04-09T06:00:00.002+05:30

In India, these tender cucumbers are common street food - sold cut with a little bit of salt and chilli powder. The cucumber is soft enough to eat without peeling - just wash, slice off the two ends and cut into pieces.

Aren't they gorgeous?

To celebrate these cucumbers, here's a really lovely flavorful and cool salad that's extremely easy to put together and looks impressive. It's a nice addition to a summer lunch!

Cucumber Salad
(adapted from Vidhu Mittal's "Pure and Simple")

2 Cucumbers, sliced thin

Dressing:
1/2 cup Yogurt (I used non-fat, but I'm sure any kind of yogurt will work)
2 tbsp Mint Leaves, chopped
2 tsp Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vinegar
A pinch of Salt

For the Garnish:
1/4 cup Peanuts, chopped

Combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl. Keep refrigerated.

When ready to serve, spoon the dressing over the cucumbers and top with peanuts.

Khara Bread

2009-04-06T07:00:00.001+05:30

In Bangalore there's this bakery called VB Bakery that sells loaves and loaves of this bread. While on vacation in Bangalore, this would be a daily tea time snack - a slice of hot, buttered khara (khara means spicy) bread.

I still bring back a loaf every time I visit Bangalore. I tried to recreate it at home, and it was amazing. The same spicy taste with the incredibly soft crumb.

Khara Bread
(Bread with Chillies, Onions and Cilantro)
Makes 2 Loaves

For the Flavoring:
1 cup Onions, chopped fine
2-3 tbsp Green Chillies, chopped fine
1 cup Cilantro leaves, chopped fine

Saute the onions and green chillies (separately) in a teaspoon of oil. Set aside.

For the Bread
(I used a variation of Peter Reinhart's White Bread from the Bread Baker's Apprentice)

4 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Milk (I used 2% milk)
3 tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Instant Dry Yeast
1 large Egg, beaten
3 1/4 tbsp Butter, melted
1 1/2 cups Water (you might need more as you knead, so keep some on hand)

Mix together the flour, salt, milk, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Add in the egg and butter and mix to combine. Pour in a little bit of water at a time until the dough begins to come together. There shouldn't be any obvious dry spots, and all the flour should be combined. If the dough is dry, add a few drops of water. If its too sticky, add a tiny dusting of flour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and start kneading the bread. Knead for about 8 minutes. The dough will be smooth and soft. Now press the bread out into a slightly rectangular shape. Add the cilantro, onions and chillies in the middle and bring the sides of the dough over the filling to enclose it (I've just found that adding flavoring to dough is easier this way, but you can use any method you want).

Start kneading again for about 2 minutes. As you knead the fillings will get evenly distributed through the dough.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a muslin cloth and leave in a warm area of the house. Allow the dough to double, approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Remove the dough and divide in two. Shape each part into a loaf - I rolled them gently into a log, tucking in the corners slightly. Place them in a greased loaf pans, cover with a muslin cloth and allow to double in size, approximately 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown on top. They should also be brown on the sides, when removed from the pan and make a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.

Remove from pans and allow to cool on a wire rack for an hour (I waited maybe 20 minutes!).

As you can see the crumb was really really soft and lovely.

The small hole in the middle is from an air pocket formed while rising (didn't affect the bread but kinda let some butter drip through when toasted and buttered!).

This is off to Susan @ Wild Yeast for Yeast Spotting.