My Food Blog

We Knead to Bake: Bialys

2013-05-26T11:39:00.000+05:30

Aparna challenged us to make Bialys this month on our fabulous bread baking group, We Knead to Bake. Bialys are a kind of bagel, but not quite since they have the onion topping and don't really have the center hole. But they are chewy and delicious exactly like bagels. I quite loved them. The only thing I would change is the onion filling - wasn't a big fan of that. So I tried to make it more like a bagel by adding everything bagel toppings such as sea salt, sesame etc.

Anyways.

I've tried the recipe three times this month to get it to look perfect. But mine just won't. They refuse to look picture perfect. The center kept rising, even though I slashed the center many times. I really don't know why. The other thing that went wrong was that, in the second rise, the exterior kept drying out. I tried covering the rising dough with a wet cloth and then a wet cloth covered with cling wrap but nothing worked. Hence, in the end, the baked bialy had a kind of chipped exterior. Quite sad really, since it tasted fantastic.

So.... despite all these things, I will make them again and again until it is perfect. Because something that tastes this good cannot look so different from the original.

(The bottom one is the traditional Bialy with the caramelized onion topping. The top one has a traditional bagel topping.)

Bialys

(Adapted from King Arthur Flour) http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/bialys-recipe

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1 tbsp sugar

1 1/4 cup water

3 cups all-purpose flour (use bread flour if you can find it or all-purpose flour + 1 tbsp vital wheat gluten)

1 tsp salt

Milk for brushing the dough

For the Onion Filling:

1 tbsp oil

3 medium onions, finely chopped

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

3/4 tsp garam masala

Salt to taste

Make your own topping!

Method:

Put the yeast, sugar, salt and flour in the food processor bowl. Pulse a couple of times to mix and then add the warm water in a steady stream. Knead until the dough comes together as a mass and then let the dough rest for 10 minutes. This will help the dough absorb water. Knead again, adding a little more water or flour (not too much) if you need it, until your dough is smooth and elastic but not sticky.

Shape it into a ball and put it in a well-oiled bowl, turning the dough till it is well coated. Cover and let it rise till about double. This should take about 2 hours. If you’re not making the Bialys right away, you can refrigerate the dough overnight at this point. When ready to make them, keep the dough at room temperature for about half an hour and then proceed with the rest of the recipe.

In the meanwhile, make the filling. Heat the oil in a pan, and add the cumin seeds. When the crackle, add the onions, and sauté over low to medium heat. Sprinkle a little salt and continue sautéing until they become soft and turn golden brown in colour. Add the garam masala and stir well. Keep the caramelised onions aside to cool.

Sprinkle your work surface lightly with flour and place the dough on it. Divide it into 8 equal pieces and shape each one into a roll by flattening it and then pinching the ends together to form a smooth ball. Place the rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet and cover them with a towel. Let them rise for about one hour (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for refrigerated dough) till pressing with a finger on the top leaves a dent.

Work on one piece at a time, while you keep the others covered so they don’t dry out (this part just didn't work for me - they kept drying out.) . When the rolls are ready, pick them up one at a time and using your fingers, form the depression in the middle. Hold the roll like a steering wheel with your thumbs in the middle and your fingers around the edges. Pinch the dough between your thumb and fingers, rotating as you go and gradually making the depression wider without actually poking a hole through.

Remember not to press on the edges, or they will flatten out. Once shaped, you should have a depression about 3” in diameter with 1” of puffy dough around the edge, so your Bialy should be about 4” in diameter. Prick the centre of the Bialy with a fork so the centre doesn’t rise when baking (I poked all over with a fork, slashed with a knife and kinda destroyed the center and it still rose, so don't worry if it does rise - it still tastes great!).

Place the shaped dough on a parchment lined (or greased) baking tray leaving about 2 inches space between them. Place the caramelised onion filling in the depressions of each Bialy. Brush the outer dough circle with milk.

Bake the Bialys at 230C (450F) for about 15 minutes till they’re golden brown in colour. Cool them on a rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

The Bialys tasted best straight out of the oven and warm. If you're keeping them overnight, do try to lightly toast them before serving.

We Knead to Bake: Torcettini di St.Vincent

2013-05-26T10:38:00.000+05:30

As the 3rd installment of the famous Knead to Bake group, Aparna gave us the task of baking a lovely Italian yeasted cookie, Torcettini.

I've never made cookies with yeast and was quite looking forward to it. These are a famous variation of the regular Grissini or bread stick. Its really a grissini twisted into a pretzel-like shape and rolled in sugar.

I made mine into chocolate torcettini by adding cocoa into the flour. But I'm guessing the original tastes as good.

Torcettini di St. Vincent

(Adpated from A Baker’s Tour by NickMalgieri)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water, about 110F

1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (or 1 tsp instant yeast)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder (if making chocolate torcettini)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp lime/ lemon zest (replace with orange zest for the chocolate version)

40gm unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

about 1/3 cup sugar for rolling the cookies

Preparation:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, in a small bowl and keep aside.

Put the flour and the salt in the food processor bowl (or a largish regular bowl if kneading by hand) and pulse a couple of times to mix. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the butter is well mixed and the flour-butter mixture looks powdery.

If making chocolate Torcetti, remove 2 tbsp all-purpose flour and add the 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder mentioned in the recipe. Don’t add the lemon zest/ anise. Use orange zest and maybe add 1/ 2 tsp instant coffee powder with the flour.

Add the yeast-water mixture and pulse till it all comes together as a ball. Do not over process or knead. Place the ball of dough in a oiled bowl, turning it so it is well coated with the oil. Cover the bowl, and let the dough rise quite a bit.

This dough does not really double in volume, but it should look “puffy” after about an hour or so. When you pinch off a bit from the top you can see the interior looking a bit like honeycomb. Press down the dough and deflate it, wrap it in cling warp and refrigerate it for at least one hour or up to 24 hours.

When ready to make the cookies, take the dough out and lightly roll it out into an approximately 6” square. If the dough feels sticky, scatter a little sugar on it. Using a pizza wheel cut the dough into four strips of equal width. Cut each strip into 6 equal pieces, by cutting across, making a total of 24 pieces. The measurements are not very critical in this part because this just makes it easier to have 24 equal sized bits of dough, as compared to pinching of bits of the dough.

Roll each piece into a pencil thick “rope” about 5” long. Sprinkle a little sugar on your work surface and roll the “rope” in it so the sugar crusts the dough uniformly. Form the “rope” into a loop crossing it over before the ends.

Place the Torcettini on parchment lined baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2" between them. Leave them for about 20 minutes or so till they rise/ puff up slightly. Don’t worry, they will not “puff up” much.

Bake them at 160C (325F) for about 25 minutes till they’re a nice golden brown. Cool the cookies completely, on a rack. Store them in an air-tight container at room temperature. Although, I found them best the day they were baked. This recipe makes 24 biscuits.

Honey Chocolate cupcakes

2013-04-17T21:23:00.000+05:30

My 6 year old came up with this recipe all on her own. She's the opposite of me - I need a recipe to make food, bake bread, desserts - atleast for the first time. She does not want the recipe. She refuses to use it and went ahead and made this with some basic knowledge of baking.

It was delicious. Do try it and let me know what you think! (this is the recipe in her words)

K's Honey Chocolate Cupcakes

(makes 3 cupcakes)

1 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Sugar
1 Egg
1 tbsp Honey
1 pinch Baking Soda
1 pinch Baking Powder
2 tbsp Chocolate, melted
4-5 Chocolate Chips
1 tbsp All-Purpose Flour

Preheat oven to 200 deg C.

Mix the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix everything together. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and eat warm (with vanilla ice cream).

Wild Rice Salad

2013-04-12T21:13:00.000+05:30

I love the flavor of wild rice. It's nutty and soft and delicious. In India we use rice mostly as an accompaniment to curries and vegetables. But for a rice that's as flavorsome as wild rice, it needs to shine on its own.

Here's a simple recipe for a wild rice salad, the inspiration taken from many recipes around the blogosphere.

Wild Rice Salad

2 cups wild rice, cooked
3/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 cup peas, cooked
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Dressing:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp English mustard (English mustard has more zing than regular mustard. If you don't have English, just use regular mustard)
1 tsp Green onion, chopped

Cook the rice. While the rice is still warm after cooking, add the dried cranberries so they plump up. Keep aside. Mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Mix the salad ingredients in another bowl. Combine the salad and dressing ingredients just before serving.

Obviously this recipe is very forgiving. Go ahead and substitute the nuts or use raisins or other dried fruit instead of cranberries. Skip the peas altogether if you don't like them. Go ahead and give it a shot. I made this for a light summer lunch and it was very well appreciated. Enjoy!

Truffle Cheese Straws

2013-04-08T21:02:00.003+05:30

When I read a post about Gorgonzola Cheese Straws on one of the best blogs out there, Love and Olive Oil, it was 7pm. I had just made a vegetable and macaroni bake for the kids for dinner. I was waiting for them to finish a bath, and decided to catch up on my blog reading.

This post caught my eye on Feedly (have you tried Feedly, BTW? Its quite the best!). When I read it and realized I had everything on hand - and my oven was already pre-heated. I literally jumped up off the chair, iPad in hand, and headed to the kitchen. Got the ingredients together in about five minutes. Put the ingredients together in another five minutes. Rolled out dough, cut and in the oven - 3 minutes. Baked for 20 minutes.

The cheese straws were ready in 35 minutes (from the time I came across the recipe!), and we ate it with our dinner. Now that's what I call a perfectly quick recipe! And we loved it so much that I'm writing about it at ... um... 8.40 pm. Now that's called enthusiasm.

I made a couple of changes to the original recipe, but mainly substituted Truffle Cheese (i.e. Cheese with Truffles) for the Gorgonzola.

Truffle Cheese Straws

(Original recipe, Gorgonzola Cheese Straws here)

1/2 cup Truffle Cheese, grated
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
5 tablespoons Butter
1/4 tsp Salt (I used a little less salt, since the cheese is super salty)
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (yes, we like our cheese straws spicy)
2 tbsp Milk
1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Mix all the ingredients together. (I was supposed to mix the milk in the end, but forgot and just put all of them together. I don't think it affected the straws). The dough will be crumbly but smooth enough to roll into a ball.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle, about 1/4" thick. Cut the dough into 1/2" strips. Carefully transfer the strips onto a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden and slightly puffy.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in jars. Okay, if there is anything left over. We ate it off the wire racks. As I said, gone completely! Sorry for the bad photograph. Also, I know they don't look perfect but it was because I was not being too precise while cutting the strips. Some of them broke off while transferring from the baking tray to the wire rack. Next time I'll make them thicker. But that's the only thing I will change, because they were Perfect!!

Thanks, Love and Olive Oil, for a fabulous recipe. My family thanks you too.

Hokkaido Milk Bread

2013-03-27T22:56:00.001+05:30

We love breads from Asian bakeries at home. And the kids and husband love sweet, soft bread. So this bread was so up our alley!

For the third installment of our Knead to Bake group, we got this amazing recipe that was super simple and yet the bread tasted quite complicated - that is, with loads of flavor.

Anyone who has been wondering if they should or could bake bread at home, try this recipe. Its not complicated and delivers a perfectly soft bread. Do let me know how it went!

Hokkaido Milk Bread

First you make a tangzhong which is a simple roux - a combination of flour, water and milk.

Tangzhong:
1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Milk

Put all three ingredients into a pan and whisk until smooth. Place the pan on the stove over a medium heat and stir until slightly firm and lines begin to form in the roux as you stir (or the temperature of the roux reaches 65deg C). Take off the stove and allow to cool. Cover and set aside for at least two hours (or overnight in the refrigerator), but not more than 24 hours.

Then you make the bread.

Dough:

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
3 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Powdered Milk
2 tsp Instant Yeast (I used Active Dry Yeast)
1/2 cup Milk
1/8 cup Cream
1/3 cup tangzhong (about half of what we made above)
25g Butter (unsalted, softened)
Toppings, as desired (I did not use any toppings, but next time I'm going to make a savory version filled with cheese, or topped with herbs, or a sweet version filled with melted chocolate!).

I used my Kitchen Aid food processor to make the dough, and I would recommend using some kind of food processor. The dough is quite sticky until it starts coming together, and if you are kneading by hand you might tend to add flour to stop it from being sticky, which is not recommended. So if you are kneading by hand, be patient.

Those with the food processor, go ahead and add the flour, salt, sugar, powdered milk and yeast in the bowl. Pulse to combine. In another bowl, combine the milk, cream and tangzhong until smooth, and add to the dry ingredients in the processor bowl. Run on a slow speed until you see the dough coming together. Add the butter and keep processing on a slow speed until you have a smooth and elastic dough.

Form the dough into a ball and place in a well-oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover with a muslin cloth and keep in a warm place and allow the dough to rise for about 45 minutes.
Now take out the dough, flatten and form into a desired shape: you can make traditional loaves, rolls, or even some cute animal shapes for kids. This dough is so easy to work with that kids might love shaping it with you and enjoy making their own bread.

To make a loaf, divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll out each piece into a rough oval. Now fold the shorter sides of the oval down to the middle, where they slightly overlap. Roll this folded dough with a rolling pin so the unfolded edges are stretched out to form a rectangle. Roll the rectangle from one short edge to the other, pinching the edges to seal well (if you are adding a filling, do so at this stage, and then roll up the rectangle). Do this with each of the three pieces and place them, sealed edges down, in a well-oiled loaf tin.

Cover with a muslin cloth and let rise for about 45 minutes in a warm area. You can add toppings to the dough at this stage before baking. Brush the tops of the dough with cream and bake the bread at 170 deg C for about 30 minutes and browned on top.

Remove from the oven. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, remove from pan and place on a wire rack and allow to rest.

Serve warm or cool. Slathered with butter, or straight from the pan! Its delicious any way you try it.

Thanks Aparna for this fabulous recipe!

Za'atar and Goat Cheese Pull-Apart Bread

2013-01-31T12:21:00.002+05:30

It's been about two years since I posted here. I've been super busy with kids, work, home, and more kids, work and home. I've missed baking tremendously. I've also not baked because my crappy OTG has given up on me. It's a temperamental little fellow. Soon I'm going to be the proud owner of a new oven (not an OTG, an actual oven) and I can't wait.

Aparna, a dear friend, has started a new group and I jumped at the opportunity to become a part of it. We are the

We Knead to Bake group. This is so totally up my alley, that I forgot about my OTG-troubles, signed up for the group, kept my fingers crossed and just baked my first pull-apart bread. I just hoped it would turn out somewhat close to Aparna's Herb and Cheese Pull-Apart Bread!

Za'atar and Goat Cheese Pull-Apart Bread

For the dough:
1/2 cup Warm Milk
1 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast (I used Flieschmann's)
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
25g Butter, softened
1 tsp Garlic Paste
3/4 cup Milk (and a little more to brush over the bread)

For the filling:
3/4 cup Za'atar
1 cup Goat's cheese, grated
1/2 cup Pine nuts, toasted
2 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper, or Chilli Flakes (optional)

Combine the warm milk, sugar and yeast together in a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.

Meanwhile, combine the flour, salt, butter and garlic paste together, to form a dough. Add the yeast mixture, and the milk and knead until it becomes a smooth, silky dough (add a little bit of flour and knead until it stops being sticky!).

Shape the dough into a rough ball and place in a well-oiled bowl. Make sure the dough is lightly coated in oil as well. Cover with a cheese-cloth and keep in a warm area. Let rise for approximately an hour until dough becomes double its size.

Now, flatten and deflate the dough. Roll out into a square as large as possible. Spread the top of the dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the za'atar all over the butter, followed by the cheese, the nuts and the chilli flakes. Try to press the nuts in a little into the dough, so they don't fall out while baking.

Now cut the square into even strips. Lay one strip over the other (filling side up), until you have one long rectangle with even layers. Cut the rectangular stack vertically at even intervals until you have 6 or so square stacks.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Grease a loaf pan. Layer the square slices, cut side down into the loaf pan. Cover and let rise again for about an hour. Brush the top of the loaf with melted butter or milk.

Bake at 180 deg C for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven. Enjoy.

My bread deflated in the OTG because of uneven heating inside. It got quite brown and stuck to the bottom and we couldn't get it out. So we ate it from the loaf pan!!!

It tasted great, but looked terrible. I'm posting the photo here, but please don't judge the bread by its appearance! :) Do try it - it tastes delicious.

Thanks Aparna for including me in this group, for making me blog again after 2 years and most importantly, for getting me back to baking!

Pesto

2011-10-11T11:01:00.002+05:30

Pesto has got to be one of the most versatile spreads in the world. And so easy to personalize. Pesto is just a combination of greens/ herbs, nuts and cheese with a wonderful addition of olive oil.

Here is a wonderfully easy recipe for pesto. Feel free to use any combination of greens/ herbs and nuts. Some good ideas are spinach, basil or even sun-dried tomatoes. And any nuts at all. I like to go with a sharper cheese, and hard cheeses seem to give it a nice texture, but feel free to use a creamy cheese (like goat's).

Pesto

2 cups Herbs/ Greens (I used cilantro)

1/2 cup Cheese (I used Parmesan)

1/2 cup Olive Oil (I used extra virgin)

1/3 cup Nuts (I used walnuts)

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

Salt + Pepper, to taste

Pulse the cilantro and nuts in a mixer. Add garlic and pulse. Pour the oil into the mixer in a constant stream while continuing to pulse. Mix in the cheese and pulse until thoroughly combined. Add salt and pepper at the end.

Use the pesto as is. Mix it with some hot, cooked pasta. Spread it on toast. Use it as a base for pizza. Or eat it by the spoon! Some recipes that use pesto from this blog:

Pesto & Garlic Bread, Gnocchi, Pizza, Mushroom Soup and Pesto Toast and Bites of Toast.

Spinach Rice

2011-10-06T15:46:00.000+05:30

I recently went to a modern Andhra restaurant, Maya, in Chennai. Andhra Pradesh is a small state in southern India, whose cuisine is typically very spicy and loaded with masala, tamarind and ground spices.

This restaurant surprised me though. The food was mild, full of subtle flavors and delicious. The one dish that really stood out to me was the lovely spinach rice. I asked my waiter if he could give me the recipe and he, very graciously, told me the ingredients. So I made an attempt at it, and thankfully, it turned out exactly how I'd hoped. (I've added peas to this rice, in order to get in more veggies, but the original recipe didn't have it, so feel free to leave it out).

Spinach Rice (with Peas)

2 cups White or Brown Rice, cooked and cooled

4 cups Spinach, cleaned and washed

1 tbsp Mustard Seeds

1 tbsp Urad Dal/ Bengal Gram

1 large Onion, peeled and chopped fine

2-3 Green Chillies, slit (optional)

1/2 cup Green Peas, cooked (optional)

2 tsp Sesame Oil

Salt, to taste

Heat the oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds and urad dal and stir until mustard seeds begin to pop. Add the onions and green chillies and cook until the onions are transparent. Now add the spinach. Continue stirring/ cooking until wilted.

Mix in the cooked rice, peas and salt and fold until fully combined with the spinach mixture.

Delicious! Even my I-won't-eat-anything-green daughter ate it without a complaint!

Banana Apple Muffins

2011-10-03T15:17:00.004+05:30

I'm always looking for fun and healthy food to bake with my daughter. When I came across Divya's post in her blog, Easy Cooking, on Eggless Apple Banana Muffins, they sounded perfect. I was fine with using eggs, but decided to just follow her recipe. I made a couple of changes though, I added some chopped walnuts, and a small fistful of chocolate chips.

Banana Apple Muffins (without eggs)

(from Easy Cooking blog)

3 ripe Bananas, chopped (OR 1 egg + 2 Bananas)

1 cup Apple, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup Butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1 1/8 cup All-Purpose Flour

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp Brown Sugar

3/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Cinnamon Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

1/8 cup Walnuts, chopped

1/8 cup Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 180 deg C.

Mix together the mashed bananas, sugar and vanilla until the sugar is well blended. Whisk in the melted and cooled butter.

Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, apple and salt). Fold in the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Spoon the batter into a greased and lined muffin pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

The muffins are absolutely delicious. And both my daughters ate them as they came out of the oven!

Thanks for a great recipe, Divya. And I'm excited this is my first eggless muffin recipe, and it's already a keeper.

Ebleskivers

2011-08-26T21:25:00.001+05:30

An ebleskiver is a traditional Danish pancake, in the shape of a sphere. They taste like American pancakes, but are light and fluffy. They are made in special pans, which have several hemispherical indentations. In India, we use an ebleskiver pan to make kuzhi paniharam, and I've made an egg curry with it too. It's an extremely versatile pan.

A friend recently gave me an ebelskiver cookbook, Copenhagen for Dessert. I was delighted to find that they are simple to make and very easy to personalize.

I made two kinds - one with chocolate chips and another like a jelly doughnut (with jam in the center).

The basic batter is the same for both. I used a plain batter for the chocolate chips and a vanilla batter (that is, basic with vanilla) for the jam version.

Ebleskivers

For the Batter:

1 cup All-Purpose Flour

1 1/2 tsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

2 large Eggs, separated

1 cup Whole Milk

2 tbsp Butter, melted and slightly cooled

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract (optional; for the vanilla batter)

6 oz Chocolate Chips (if using)

1/2 cup of your favorite Jam or Preserves (if using)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk, melted butter and vanilla extract (if using). Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and, using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.

In a clean bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry and peaks form. Using a spatula, fold about a third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest of the egg whites (and chocolate chips, if using) just until no white streaks remain. Use the batter right away.

To make the Ebleskivers:

1 tbsp Butter, melted and slightly cooled

Brush the wells of the pan with some of the melted butter and place over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add about 1 tbsp batter to each well. If adding the jam: Working quickly, carefully spoon about 1 tsp of the jam into the center of each pancake. Top each with another 1 tbsp batter.

Cook until the bottoms of the pancakes are lightly browned and crisp, 3-4 minutes. Use 2 short wooden skewers or dessert spoons to turn all the pancakes and cook until lightly browned on the second side, about 3 minutes longer.

Transfer the finished pancakes to a platter or keep warm in the oven. Serve right away.

(that's my daughter, who can't wait to get her hands on them!)

Can't wait to make a savory version!

Apple Salad

2011-08-20T19:36:00.001+05:30

I was asked to bring a salad to a dinner last night. My family and I brainstormed on a fun new salad. Someone first suggested zucchini and cucumber together because of the similar textures and flavors. Then green apple and green bell pepper for crunch and color. I have a good yogurt dressing recipe, so decided to go with that. And for extra crunch, we decided to add peanuts. In the last minute I added some crushed red pepper for extra zing. It was a true culmination of ideas.

It reminded me of a video of chef Grant Achatz coming up with ideas for new dishes - something called Flavor Bouncing. Watch the video - it's very cool. How exciting to be doing this for a living!!

(As the salad was fast disappearing, I had to take a photograph quickly with my phone camera, so excuse the photo!)

Apple (and Bell Pepper and Zucchini and Cucumber) Salad

1 cup Apple, preferably green apple, peeled (optional) and chopped

1 cup Green Bell Pepper, seeded, cored and chopped

1 cup Cucumber, peeled and chopped

1 cup Zucchini, chopped

Dressing:

1 cup plain Yogurt

2 tsp Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Vinegar

A pinch of Salt

Garnishing:

2 tbsp Mint Leaves, chopped

1/4 cup Peanuts, crushed

2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper, or to taste (optional)

Heat a pot of water to boiling. Drop in the bell pepper and zucchini, and quickly blanch for a minute and drain. Cool completely.

Store the chopped cucumber and apple in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Combine all ingredients for the dressing (except for the mint), keep aside. Just before serving, toss the salad with the dressing, garnish with the mint leaves and serve.

Sit back and enjoy the compliments! :)

This is a forgiving recipe. Feel free to use substitutions, or leave out any of the vegetables you don't enjoy. Also a nice touch would be to cut the veggies into long strips. The dressing is a keeper recipe though.

Dates & Chips Biscotti

2011-08-15T22:18:00.003+05:30

So you might have seen my first attempt at biscotti, Nutella and Chocolate Chip Biscotti. The recipe is so great and so flexible. Someone gave me some fresh dates, and I couldn't pass up using them in the biscotti. While looking through some ideas on the reliable Food Blog Search, I came across an interesting combination - banana chips and dates - on one of my favorite blogs, Apple and Spice.

The chips gave it that much-appreciated crunch and saltiness. The dates made it sweet and flavorful.

Dates & Banana Chips Biscotti

(loosely adapted from Apple & Spice, and Baking Bites)

1 1/8 cups All-Purpose Flour

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

3 Eggs

1/2 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Banana Chips, crushed

1/4 cup Dates, fresh or dried, chopped

Preheat oven to 180 deg C.

Sieve all the dry ingredients together and keep aside.

In another bowl, whip the eggs with an electric blender until frothy. Add the sugar and beat again. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Fold in the chips and dates. Pour the batter into a rectangular baking pan.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and turn the oven down to 150 deg C. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake into long strips. Turn the strips over onto their side, arrange on the baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Turn the biscotti onto the other side and bake for a further 12 minutes.

Remove from oven, and cool completely on a wire rack.

Mushroom Risotto

2011-08-08T21:33:00.001+05:30

We were recently invited to a cook-out by some good friends. A cook-out is exactly what it sounds like - gas stoves and pans set up outside in the garden. The kids played frisbee while the men cooked. It was a perfect summer evening.

One of my friends made the most amazing mushroom risotto. Who knew that risotto was so simple to make. I came back feeling completely inspired to make it at home the next evening. Thanks, Vedant, for showing me its easy to make risotto!

Vedant's Mushroom Risotto

For the Broth:

3 cups Mushrooms, try to use different types of mushrooms to get that depth of flavor

3-4 liters of water

To make the broth, cook the mushrooms in the water on low heat for about 20-30 minutes. Do not strain. Take off the heat. If using the next day, let the broth cool completely and store closed in the refrigerator.

For the Risotto:

1 cup Onions, chopped

3 cups Mushrooms, again, a variety of mushrooms would be a good idea. I had only button, so I went with that.

2 Green Chillies, chopped fine

Salt, to taste

1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice

Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil. Add the mushrooms, and let cook until tender.

Add the onions and chillies. Keep stirring until onions are soft and well cooked. Now add the rice and let cook until slightly toasted and the water has been absorbed.

Now begin adding ladlefuls of the broth, one at a time, each time making sure the broth has been fully absorbed before adding the next. Keep adding until the rice is cooked but still has some bite, and is al dente.

Vedant pooh pooh-ed recipes. He cooks by instinct, so I have given approximate quantities here too.

Enjoy the risotto!

Hara Bhara Kabab

2011-08-04T21:03:00.004+05:30

I recently got a wonderful cookbook called Complete Book of Indian Cooking by Suneeta Vaswani. Its filled with 350 delicious recipes and beautiful photographs. This one was particularly good. And quite healthy too.

Hara Bhara Kabab

(Spinach and Potato Patties)

2 Russet or gold potatoes

2 cups Spinach, cooked and squeezed dry

1/4 cup Peas, cooked and coarsely mashed

1.5 tbsp Green Chillies, chopped

1 tbsp Ginger, finely chopped

3 tbsp Cilantro, chopped

2 tbsp Cornstarch

1 tbsp Chaat Masala

Salt, to taste

3 tbsp Oil

In a saucepan of boiling water, cook whole potatoes until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain, peel and mash.

In a bowl, mix together potatoes, spinach, peas, chillies, ginger, cilantro, chaat masala, cornstarch and salt, until well blended. Divide into 12 portions. Form into 2-inch round patties.

In a large non-stick skillet, heat 2 tbsp of the oil over medium heat. Add 6 patties at a time and pan fry on both sides until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot with chutney or ketchup.

Nutella and Chocolate Chip Biscotti

2011-07-07T14:55:00.003+05:30

Here's the next installment of the newly-formed Baking Club. Last month, we made mango pound cake and this time we decided to try something none of us had baked before, Biscotti. I was a bit apprehensive. I've tasted bad biscotti - too dense or too eggy. I was hoping mine would turn out well the first time and then I could be confident to try other recipes. Well, this turned out just perfect.

I followed the recipe from Baking Bites, making a few adjustments along the way. All the recipes on that blog are just amazing and fail-safe.

Biscotti are easy to make. And if I'm saying that, let me tell you, its really very easy. You mix all the dough ingredients together, shape into a 1/2" thick rectangle and bake. Remove the baked log, cut into strips, turn the strips over onto their side and bake again. Now remove and turn the strips over onto their other side and bake again. There is not much more to it. Absolutely perfect biscotti.

Biscotti

(recipe adapted from Baking Bites)

I got about 14 biscotti, but maybe I should've cut them thinner?

1 1/8 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 tbsp Cocoa Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

3 Eggs

1/2 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Nutella

1/4 cup Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 180 deg C.

Sieve all the dry ingredients together (that is, the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder).

In a separate bowl, whip the eggs in an electric blender until frothy. Add the sugar and beat again. And the nutella and beat. Now fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Since I'd used the same number of eggs, but halved the other ingredients, my batter was runny, and I couldn't shape it. So I poured the batter into a small rectangular baking pan and hoped for the best.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and turn the oven down to 150 deg C. I took out what resembled a crumbly cake. Using a serrated knife, I cut the cake into long strips. Turn the strips over onto their side, arrange on the baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Turn the biscotti onto the other side and bake for a further 12 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack. You could also dip the biscotti into melted chocolate to get a triple chocolate effect. Or you could add nuts, orange peel... the possibilities are endless with biscotti. I cant wait to try other variations. But I know that I'll never need another recipe. This one was perfect!

Check out the biscotti from my fellow Baking Clubbers: Arundati, Arundhati, Nandita and Aparna.

Cheddar Cheese Pies

2011-06-13T20:29:00.000+05:30

My daughter has a lovely Angelina Ballerina book, and it had this one recipe. She insisted we try it, and though I didn't think it would turn out great, we gave it a shot. These were some of the best pies I'd tasted!

Goes to show, the best recipes come from the most unusual sources!

Cheddar Cheese Pies

1/2 liter Milk
90g Fresh Breadcrumbs
225g Cheddar Cheese, grated
4 Eggs
1 tsp French Mustard
Salt and Pepper, to taste
12 Muffin Tins

Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan. Place the breadcrumbs in a bowl and carefully add the hot milk. Then mix in the cheese.
In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add them to the milk and breadcrumbs and stir in the mustard. Season with salt and pepper.

Butter the muffin tins and pour in the batter. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until lightly set and golden.

These are delicious hot or cold.

Fish Cutlets

2011-06-10T20:05:00.000+05:30

My daughter just loves these! Sorry for the terrible photographs though...

Fish Cutlets

4 Fish Fillets
2 large Onions, minced
3 Garlic pods
3 Garlic pods, minced
5-6 Curry Leaves
1 tsp Pepper powder
2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, minced
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Oil2 Eggs, well beaten
2 cup Breadcrumbs
Salt, to taste

In a pan, cook the fish fully submerged in hot water, with 2-3 garlic pods, salt and the curry leaves. Boil the fish for 10-12 mts.

When boiled, strain the fish and discard the garlic, water and curry leaves. Mash the fish into crumbs.
Heat the butter in a pan, add the minced onion and garlic and saute for 3-4 mts.

Add the crumbled fish. Saute for another 3-4 mts. Remove from heat and transfer to another bowl. Add more salt, pepper and 1 cup breadcrumbs and mix together.

Shape into balls and flatten slightly. Heat a pan with the oil.

Dip the cutlets into the beaten eggs, and then into the remaining 1 cup bread crumbs. Coat well.

Put the cutlets onto the heated pan and allow to brown slightly and then flip over, until both sides are a golden brown.

Mango Pound Cake

2011-06-07T10:03:00.004+05:30

When I was a student, I really didn't have time and didn'tknow how to cook well! I just kinda heated up soup every now and then, but most often I ate cereal. Well, one weekend a friend of mine many miles away suggested we cook together and make lasagna. It was quite an adventure for me, so all set with my groceries, I prepared to cook over the phone with my friend. It was so much fun that we ended up making a regular saturday morning thing, and the food would last us all week, which is excellent when you are a student, and you have time only to reheat.

Well, many years later, I heard that my two namesakes, Arundati and Arundhati, were cooking "alongside" each other. I remembered those lovely saturday mornings and couldn't wait to join their little group. And others wanted to join too, both excellent bakers with excellent bloggers, Aparna and Nandita. Not easy. This group is quite intimidating. Just see their blogs to see how adept they all are. So here we are, The Baking Club (yeah, we're kinda basic in our name. We'll try to come up with something a little more innovative soon?).

As its summer and mangoes are everywhere in abundance, we decided to bake lovely mango pound cakes. My family really enjoyed it, and my daughter helped me bake it and she had lots of fun. Its a simple, fun recipe from Parita's Kitchen that really showcases the mango. Since I didn't make any changes, you can check the original recipe here with step-by-step photos too!

Enjoy the lovely summer and look for more from the cool baking club!

Idli

2011-06-05T19:29:00.001+05:30

Idlis are a huge south Indian favorite! Steamed flour and lentil dumplings are a lovely comfort food for breakfast, lunch, a snack or even dinner. Usually the idlis are eaten with a spicy chutney, milagai podi (a spicy blend of roasted spices) or sambar.

Its difficult to find perfectly soft idlis, even in the heart of southern India. Here is a sure-fire recipe to get that perfect texture.

Idlis

(makes approximately 20 idlis)

2 cups Idli Rice. This is a special kind of rice, available in most Indian supermarkets.
3/4 cup Urad Dal
2 tbsp Rock Salt, or ordinary table salt.
Soak the rice and dal separately for 2 hours each.Strain and wash the dal well. Grind with minimal water for about 45 minutes, sprinkling water every 10 minutes and scraping down the sides. The dal will double in volume. Keep aside.

Now strain and wash the rice well. Grind with minimal water for about 30 minutes, sprinkling water every 10 minutes and scraping down the sides. The ground rice will have a coarser texture than the ground dal.
Mix the ground rice and dal together and add about 2 tablespoons of rock salt. Mix well while simultaneously dissolving the rock salt in the mixture.Keep aside covered in a warm place for about 8-10 hours, depending on the warmth. Warmer the better. The batter will double in volume.

Heat a deep steamer with about 2 inches of water at the bottom. Oil the idli plate (see picture), and add one ladle of batter for each idli. Place the idli plate into the steamer, making sure the water doesn't reach the pan. Close and steam for 10 minutes or until idlis are firm (when a skewer is inserted into the middle of the idli, it comes out clean).

Scoop out the idli with a spoon after it has slightly cooled down.
Enjoy with your favorite accompaniment.

Apple Pachadi

2011-06-02T22:45:00.001+05:30

In the hot summer in India, there's nothing nicer than these cool pachadis. Pachadi is an Indian term for plain yogurt, mixed with fruit or vegetable and seasoned with spices. The most common ones are cucumber, onion and tomato. Apple pachadi is quite unusual but its absolutely wonderful!

Apple Pachadi

1 Apple, cut fine
2 cups plain Yogurt
2-3 Green Chillies, cut fine
1 tbsp Ground Coconut
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Urad Dal
2-3 Cilantro Leaves, chopped fine
Salt, to taste

Grind the coconut and green chillies together.

Mix together with the yogurt and the apples.

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and urad dal. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add to the yogurt-apple mixture.

Sprinkle with cilantro leaves and add salt to taste. Mix together.

Honey Bread

2011-05-31T19:45:00.005+05:30

Here's another really easy bread and tastes of sweet honey goodness!

Honey Bread

1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Sugar1/2 cup Honey
2 2/3 cup All-Purpose Flour, sifted with 3 tsp Baking Powder
1 Egg
2/3 cup Milk

Preheat oven to 180 deg C.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add honey and cream again.
Add the egg, beat well. Now alternately add the flour and milk, starting and ending with flour. Beat well.

Pour into a buttered loaf pan. Bake for an hour until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the loaf. Enjoy.

"Almost" BBQ Chicken

2011-05-06T20:47:00.000+05:30

Okay, a recipe couldn't get any easier. I got this from a weight watcher's recipe a long time ago. Its a really easy recipe, and quite a favorite at home. The sauce tastes like an imitation barbecue sauce and gives it a great flavor.

Diet Coke Chicken

1/2 cup Ketchup

12 oz Diet Cola (one can)

2 Chicken Breast halves, skinless

Brown the chicken with some cooking spray. Mix the cola and ketchup and pour over the chicken.
Cook, covered, on low for about 25-30 minutes. Remove the chicken breast, increase the heat to medium high and cook till sauce thickens.

Serve the chicken with the sauce spooned on top.

Cheese Balls

2011-05-03T12:49:00.000+05:30

Hmm. Actually these should be called Potato Balls - they're made from potato and have NO CHEESE. But we've always called them cheese balls. I have no idea why!

They are ridiculously good - and filled with everything scrumptious - ghee, potatoes, salt - and then deep fried. No, they are not healthy, I won't even pretend they are. But when you are having people over for and want to serve something which people will be reaching for the entire time, this is it! Or, hey, if you've been really really good with working out and eating right all week, maybe its just time to have one or two or three...

The oil that I used got too hot, and thats why these are darker than usual, but still taste so good!

Cheese Balls

1/2 cup Ghee (Clarified Butter)
1/2 cup Water
2 tbsp Wheat Flour
4 medium Potatoes, boiled, skinned and mashed very well
Salt, to taste
Oil, for deep frying

Heat the oil on low for deep frying in a shallow, flat-bottomed pan.

In another pan, heat the ghee and water together. When it starts to boil, remove the pan from heat.

Slowly - VERY slowly - add the flour a little bit at a time, whisking furiously the whole time, so lumps don't form. After all the flour has been added, add the mashed potatoes and salt and stir/ mash to combine completely.

Make little marble-sized balls from the potato mixture.

Slowly lower 4-5 balls at a time into the oil and fry until golden brown or darker. Drain on a tissue-lined colander. Serve warm with ketchup or chutney.

So so good!

Rasam Powder

2011-04-30T20:28:00.000+05:30

Rasam, a lovely blend of spices, tamarind and lentils is a favorite in southern India. Usually mixed with rice, rasam also makes a great soup. I've posted the recipe for my favorite rasam earlier, and a simple rasam as well. This is the basic spice mix used to make rasam.

Rasam Powder

1 cup Coriander Seeds

1 cup Toor Dal

1/4 cup Black Peppercorn

1/4 cup Cumin Seeds

15-20 Dried Red Chillies

1 cup Curry Leaves

Roast the coriander seeds, toor dal, peppercorn, cumin seeds and red chillies.

Separately roast the curry leaves.

Grind together to reach the consistency of semolina (a coarse grain).

This powder can be stored in an airtight container for up to 6 months.