30.3.13

Stuffed Whole Wheat Naan

I made these whole wheat naan a week back. Had planned to put it on the blog sooner.. but this week everything just went out of sorts. anyway... now that i am here let me quickly tell you what i did. how they were. and how well they compared to their bread flour(BF) counterparts. 

Adapting the recipe from Beth Hensperger's Bread Lover's Bread Machine CookbookI made the dough for the naan in my bread machine and stuffed it with mashed potatoes and spinach. then buttered them generously and baked them in the oven. even though wheat is considered a healthier choice, in our opinion the BF ones taste much better. however with the stuffing these taste pretty good with a side of dal and yogurt. like their BF counterparts these are quite heavy, so unless you have a big appetite you'll probably not manage beyond one and a third for a meal. at least i find it difficult to have more, though Mr MN chomps down at least three every time i bake them..

29.3.13

White Chocolate- Blood Red Orange Brownie Bars topped with Lemon Mousse (A Cake A Week #5 )

So this week's cake is coming in a little late. in fact i did not bake a cake this time. i baked brownies. Blood Orange White-chocolate Brownies topped with Lemon mousse. and it was all eggless. the brownies were inspired by the white-chocolate lemon brownies, that i had baked many moons ago and the hope that the blood red oranges would share some of their gorgeous red with the brownies. but they did not. so i whipped up some mousse, colored it orange and topped the brownies just so that they look handsome and taste awesome. and that they did. even without that extra scoop of whipped cream that i put on the side just for the photograph..  :) 

First let me tell you about the Eggless White Chocolate Lemon Mousse. It is lovely as a topping and even otherwise. i smudged my brownies with some and enjoyed the rest chilled in a bowl. The recipe is adapted it from Sangtheetha's guest-post in Cook Like Priya and this is what i did... 

Ingredients
1 cup Mini Marshmallows     
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened 
2/3  cups white Chocolate chip    
20 ml Boiling water                
1/2 cup whipped light cream 
Juice from 1 lemon, freshly squeezed    
1 teaspoon blood orange zest     
orange food coloring

what i did. 
  • i chopped the marshmallows in halves. then put them in a large saucepan along with the water, butter and white chocolate chips, and melted the contents by putting the pan over medium-low heat and stirring them occasionally. the marshmallows were the last to melt.once all the marshmallows melted i stirred the lemon juice and orange zest into it, then switched off the heat and set the mixture aside to cool. 
  • next, in a separate bowl i added the food coloring to the whipped light cream. then folded it into the cooling lemon-white chocolate mixture until the two were well combined. 

then refrigerate and enjoy it in a bowl or use it as a topping for a citrusy brownie like these.... 


Blood Red Orange Brownie Bars

Ingredients 
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup Hershey's white chocochips
1/2 cup sugar 
1/2 cup soft tofu pureed
juice of 2 blood red oranges 
2 teaspoon orange zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups all purpose flour

what i did.
  • i preheated the oven to 350 degrees F ; greased and floured a 8x8-inch baking pan;  sifted the flour and salt together and kept it aside.
  • next i combined the butter and  sugar in a microwave safe bowl and microwaved it for 45 seconds. then i added the chocochips to the butter-sugar mixture and whipped the 3 ingredients together. with the whipping I had expected the mixture to become smooth and creamy but it this point the mixture looked curdled and it remained that way even after being whipped for sometime. i remembered that this had happened earlier when i was trying some other cake so without loosing hope i added the pureed tofu to the batter and whisked the batter. soon enough the batter became creamy and i was happy :) 
  • i then added the orange juice and the zest and whisked. at first the batter became pink and i got excited thinking that my brownie would actually be pink in color. but with the whisking the pinkish hue subdued and by the time i started adding the sifted flour mixture to the batter, the pinkish tinge had almost vanished. anyway adding a little at a time, i folded in the flour mixture into the batter and whisked till all the ingredients were well combined.
  • then transferring the batter to the prepared pan, i baked it for 25-27 minutes, till the surface looked firm.  ( the usual doneness test of an inserted wooden toothpick coming out clean does not work in this case. even when done, a toothpick inserted in a tofu-brownie comes out with moist crumbs and not totally clean.) anyway once it the brownie was baked, i left it to cool overnight. and next morning i cut it in 16 small squares and smudged each with some Lemon White Chocolate Mousse, drizzled some grated almond on top and served. 

Enjoy !!! it is the perfect summer treat ! 


Sharing these with   
Iron Chef Mom~ Battle Peeps (or Marshmallows)
Spring Desserts ~Saturday dishesTasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations
Bon Vivant #13 - Kids Delight @ Sumee's Culinary Bites,  Bake Fest #17 @ Cooks Joy hosted by A Homemaker's DiaryCook Like a Celebrity Chef @ Food 


    27.3.13

    Wordless Wednesday






    Happy Holi !  

    Delicious Italian Easter Breads

    Italian Easter Breads in preparation...
    and afterwards...

    prepared with flour, eggs, butter and love 
    and 
    Dorothy's Bread Machine recipe of her Grammy's Italian Easter Bread.

    If you are in search of that perfect bread machine recipe for Italian Easter Bread... then look no further.  Hop over to 
    Shockingly Delicious and get started on your bread. 

    Sending the first photograph to Black and White Wednesday, a photography event started by 
    Susan of  The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar and 
    hosted this week by  The Well-Seasoned Cook.

    Greek Inspired Meatless Monday : Pasta with Yogurt and Mushroom-Fenegreek Fritters

    Pasta with yogurt is what we had for dinner last night. and we LOVED it. it was so delicious and went so well with the mushroom-fenugreek fritters that i had made to go with it. both the preparations were inspired by Greek recipes from the book The Glorious Foods of Greece ~ Diane Kochilas that i had picked up from the local library last Saturday. The recipes that inspired our meal were
    Wild Mushroom Fritters Seasoned with Cumin from Masari in Rhodes.


    Just to adapt to our food habits I slightly modified both the recipes and the result was DELICIOUS. I had ever imagined that i'll sing such praise for a  non-cheesy pasta-dish. but this one was so good that i had to share...   

    22.3.13

    Savory Couscous with Salsa Verde

    I hadn't cooked with couscous or eaten any until recently. but Chef Giada's gorgeous couscous salads tempted me to grab a packet from the grocery store... and that is how couscous entered my kitchen. though salads were the motivation behind getting couscous home, the first recipe i tried was my own. i puffed the couscous in Lucinda's Minestrone. and it was healthy and YUM.... with the italian flavors doing their thing in the background,  the couscous turned out really well. for dinner i served it along with blood orange chicken and a minty green salsa.. and the next day i had it for lunch just like that. frankly speaking, i enjoyed it a lot the next day. unclouded by the flavors of the chicken and salsa, the real taste of the dish came out  and i relished it so much.. Mr and baby MN liked it too. that night baby ate his dinner without much fuss and husband enjoyed his dinner too.. 

    Petite Treats for the Easter Bunny..

    I am really excited to share today's recipe with you. The Petite Treats for your Easter Bunny inspired by Starbucks Petites. aren't those miniature treats absolutely adorable. i love them and think they are a smart way to enjoy sweets without over-indulging in them. so the other night when i had planned to cook some Gajar ka Halwa for us, to ration the servings and ease on the sweetness that is customary of all halwas i had decided to serve it in petite oat-cups. but cooked in unsalted butter without a hint of khoya and pistachios, my carrot halwa could not match the deliciousness of the traditional halwais halwa. so on my second attempt, working with the limited list of ingredients at hand, i decided to improvise my recipe as i went along.  and the outcome was this light, slightly spiced and not overwhelmingly sweet carrot dessert that is sure to please your family and friends and specially the carrot-crazed cute Easter bunny. 
    now the recipe... 

    ingredients
    for the oatcups
    3/4 cup baby carrots
    1/3 cup ground walnuts
    2 tablespoons light brown sugar
    3/4 cups oatmeal
    1/4 cup all purpose flour
    1/4 teaspoon baking powder
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1 tablespoon oil
    warm water 

    for the carrot filling
    1 1/4 cup grated baby carrots
    2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    1/4 cup light brown sugar
    11/2 tablespoons evaporated milk
    1/4 heavy whipping cream
    1/4 cup walnuts
    5 cloves of cardamom
    2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
    1 teaspoon ginger powder

    for garnishing
    cashews 
    1/4 cup white chocolate chips

    what i did

    for the oatcups, 
    • first i preheated the oven to 350 degree F
    • then put the baby carrots, walnuts and brown sugar in the blender and grated them together. 
    • next i combined the carrot mixture with the remaining ingredients adding a little water at a time and kneaded the mixture to form a dough soft enough to work with. 
    • after letting the dough rest on the kitchen counter for about 10 minute, i rolled it out on a floured surface, about 1/2-3/4 cm thick. then pressed pieces of the rolled out dough against the walls of a 6 cups of a mini muffin pan and baked them for 18 minutes. 
    • i made oatcakes out of the remaining dough in the same way as the apple-walnut oatcakes.


    for the carrot filling, 
    • in a saucepan i melted the butter, added the grated carrots in it and sauteed them till the color  changed. then added in the sugar and evaporated milk and stirred for sometime. 
    • next i ground the walnuts and cardamom together in the coffee grinder and added it to the carrots along with the cinnamon powder and ginger powder. i let the carrots cook in the spices for about 5-7 minutes.
    • at this point i felt that a little more fat was required. so i added in the whipping cream and let the spiced carrots cook in it, until the mixture carrot mixture began to leave the sides of the pan. 

    for the garnish,

    i melted the white chocolate chips, then piped out the bunny face and feet on a parchment paper as shown in the picture below and let the dry on the kitchen counter overnight....
    this picture was taken when i attempted a finer bunny with features. this did not work out too well.  the outline was too delicate to be stable. so on my second attempt i filled out the faces and the feet outline and as you can see that worked out pretty well...
    assembling the dessert
    • once the oatcups cooled down i filled them with the carrot filling and just before serving planted the chocolate bunny face and feet on top of the carrot heap.
    • For Mr MN, a piece of roasted cashew was enough. so on 2 of the cups i simply perched pieces of cashew on top of the carrot heap...
    and tadaa... dessert is ready to serve..
    Happy Cooking and happy Friday and for some more treats check here.

    Will be sharing my treat with

    Meatless Monday:
    Tuesday Food:
    Hearth & Soul Blog Hop @ Premeditated Leftovers
    Tempt my Tummy @Blessed with Grace
    Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box
    Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time CreationsTraditional Tuesdays @ Cooking Traditional Foods
    Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful HomeTuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training
    Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug BlessingsShare it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles
    Wednesday Food:
    What's Cooking Wednesday @ Confessions of Overworked Mom
    Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain  Wednesday Whatsit @White Lights on 
    Show and Share @ Semi Homemade MomWonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Home Take 2Seasonal Celebration @ Natural Mother's Network
    Thursday Food:
    Link it Up Thursday @ Seven AliveCreative Thursday @ Michelle's Tasty CreationsFantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs
    Thriving on Thursdays @ DomesblissityTasty Thursdays @ The Mandatory Mooch
    Thursday's Treasures @ Chocolate, Chocolate & more
     The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  RecipesFresh Bites Friday @ Real Food,

    Heavenly Treats Sunday

    20.3.13

    Love my Oatcakes Green and fruity sometimes..

    Sometime back I had pinned two recipes from Confessions of an Overworked Mom which i thought would complement each other well for a weekend breakfast. Irish Oatcakes and Strawberry butter. but as i was measuring out the oats for the oatcakes i decided to add in some more flavors to it. so in went some thawed fenugreek leaves and some crushed garlic. sure enough the end result wasn't very Irish but they were so perfect for a light Saturday brunch of fenugreek oatcakes  and yogurt..
    in case you are interested, this is how i made these fenugreek oatcakes.....

    ingredients
    ¾ cup oatmeal (not instant)
    ¼ cup whole wheat flour 
    ½ cup frozen fenugreek leaves, thawed
    1 tablespoon oil
    2-3 tablespoons of warm water
    ¾ tsp salt
    what i did
    • i mixed all the ingredients together and kneaded them till they formed a dough soft enough to work with.
    • once the dough was formed, i wrapped it in a cotton cloth and kept it aside to rest for 10-15 minutes.
    • after that i rolled the dough out on a floured cutting board about ¼ inch thick and cut out triangle shaped pieces of the oatcake.
    • i then cooked these triangles on the griddle pan until both sides became golden brown. then served them with a light spread of butter on one side.

    next i wanted to bake my oatcakes instead of cooking them on the griddle pan. and that led me to this recipe of Nutty oatcakes. here again i thought it would be nice to add in some grated fruits in the dough. so in went some grated apples. the result was nice. but unlike the oatcakes cooked on griddle, the baked ones had the texture of crackers. they tasted good. and i quite enjoyed them with the peach butter that i had made to go with it. however Mr MN did not like it much. said it was ok and did not go for a second one. and for baby MN these were far too hard. so will i can these again. mostly likely i will .... when i am in the mood for a quick cracker with my afternoon tea...
    Recipe for Apple and Walnut Oatcakes
    ½ cup whole wheat flour
    ⅓ cup coarsely ground walnuts
    ½ cup grated apple
    ¼ teaspoon baking powder
    1 tablespoon oil
    ¼ teaspoon salt
    2-3 tablespoons of warm water

    what i did
    i preheated the oven to 350 degrees F, kept a dry baking sheet ready, then sifted the flour, baking powder and salt together and kept it aside. then i repeated the first three steps of the fenugreek oatcake recipe and finally put the cut out triangles in the prepared baking sheet and baked them for 15-18 minutes.

    while the oatcakes were baking i busied myself into making the peach butter. for this i almost followed the recipe of the Apricot Cashew Butter, except that i substituted the apricots with peaches, cashews with almonds and added a bit of butter and orange zest for smell and flavor. so my end result wasn't vegan. but it did taste good.

    Peach Almond Butter
    ingredients
    2 fresh peaches, peeled and diced
    1 tablespoon sugar
    3/4 cup water
    ½ cup raisins
    ½ cup almond, ground (i ground them in my coffee grinder)
    2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    pinch of orange zest

    what i did

    i simmered the diced peaches, along with the sugar in 1/2 cup of the water till almost all the water evaporated. while the peaches were cooking, i covered the raisins in warm water and left them to become plump, about 10-15 minutes. once that was done, i put all the ingredients along with the cooked peaches and plumped raisins into the blender and pureed it till it it attained a smooth butter like consistency. and once the oatcakes were baked and cooled i dipped them in this butter and enjoyed it with my tea.


    Wordless Wednesday

     

    and a (not so) Wordless Wednesday here.

    shared with Wordless Wednesday Bloggers, Mama to 3 blessings, Fresh Mommy blog.com, peek a baby

    Jamaican Banana Fritters...

    Jamaican Banana Fritters. filled with the goodness of oats and banana, these fritters make the perfect breakfast bites. for the recipe hop over to Sumee's Culinary Bites and delight your family with milk and fritters at breakfast today...

    Sending the photograph to Black and White Wednesday, a photography event started by 
    Susan of  The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar and 
    hosted this week by Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu.

    19.3.13

    GYCO Reveal ~ The Loaded Rib Cage..

    Two weeks back, while making my usual rounds around my favorites in blogosphere, I stumbled upon this fun competition...  

    Get your Chef On-Beer

    Without thinking any further I simply signed for it... and then spent a good deal of time thinking what to cook ?? Considering the fact that I don't drink at all, coming up with a recipe that included beer seemed like a real challenge. and that is when Mr MN came into the picture and suggested a few combos. he said  " try beer bread or  a beered tandoori chicken. those combos go well.. " so i sat over his ideas for a while and then googled a little, landed on this awesome blog and thought of...... TADAAA... 

    THE LOADED RIB CAGE


    The experiment a super-duper hit. Mr MN and i LOVED it and we thank the host  

    Jen @ Four Mars and One Venus 
     Julie @ White Lights on Wednesday  and
    Co-Host Paula @ Call Me PMc 

    for bringing home the GYCO - Beer Challenge that brought the chef out in us and made us create a hell of a recipe !
    now ready to get a little tipsy... read and try this recipe along with me...
    ingredients
    for the rib cage (i used 1/2 of the dough to make a 15 inch long rib cage)
    3/4 cup Guinness Draught Beer
    2 large eggs
    3 tablespoons vegetable oil
    3 cups bread flour
    2 tablespoons sugar
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    2 1/2 teaspoon bread machine yeast 

    for the chicken filling
    3 tablespoons oil
    3/4 cup finely chopped onions
    1 cup Guinness Draught Beer
    1 1/2 tablespoon Swad Tandoori Masala
    3 mushroom heads thinly sliced
    1/2 cup frozen peas 
    4 chicken tenders, and marinated
    salt to taste

    for the chicken marinade
    2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste 
    2 teaspoons vinegar 
    1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce 
    1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 

    1/8 teaspoon salt
    1 tablespoons of cornflour

    what i did.
    • as with all my chicken preparations, 4 hours prior to cooking i cleaned and chopped the chicken tenders into 1/4 inch pieces , whisked the ingredients of the marinade in a bowl, poured it into a resealable plastic bag and added chicken pieces coating them evenly with the marinade. then sealing the bag i marinated the chicken in the refrigerator till i was ready to cook.
    • making the dough for the rib cage was easy. i simply put the ingredients into the pan of my bread machine and programmed it on the dough cycle. 
    • while the dough was being kneaded i began cooking the chicken. to begin with, I heated 2 tablespoons of the oil in my large iron skillet, then added the chopped onions in it. Sauteed the onions for  about 5 minutes, then added 1/4 cup Guinness to it, simmered until most of the liquid  evaporated, then repeated this three more times.
    • once the onions were caramelized in the beer, i added in the tandoori masala, mushrooms and peas and let it cook till the raw smell of the masala was gone, about 4-5 minutes. then i added in the marinated chicken and salt and cooked it with the rest of the ingredients for about  8-10 minutes. i then removed it from the heat and covered it and kept aside.
    • in 1 1/2 hours when the dough cycle completed, I divided the dough into 2 halves. then rolled out a 15 inch by 9 inch sheet out of one half of the dough and using the pictorial guide here, i loaded my dough with the chicken filling and braided close the open rib cage, covered it lightly with a plastic wrap and left it on the kitchen counter to rise for the next 45 minutes...

    • 15 minutes before baking, i preheated the oven to 350 degree F, and once that was done, i put my loaded dough in the oven and baked it for 35-37 minutes. 
    the bread seemed a little hard when i took it out from the oven. so i wrapped it in a kitchen towel and left it that way on the kitchen counter. 10 minutes when i unwrapped... i was excited with how soft the bread was... and don't even get me started on the chicken filling... it was AMAZING... my only regret is that i forgot to egg wash the dough surface before putting it in the oven. as a result it did not look as glazy as i would have wanted it...but with a baby clinging to your feet, such details often escape you at the right moment.... so don't hold me for that... this recipe is a real winner and you HAVE to try it to know that :)

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