30.11.13

Eggless Slovak Easter Bread - Paska

Hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving with your dear ones. Now that Thanksgiving is over it is time for everything Christmas-y. But. Oops ! I have a East European Easter Bread for you today. As a compensation I decorated it to look more Christmas-y.. with leaves and berries just so that you do not think that I forgot about Christmas all together and jumped to spring..


I baked this Slovak Easter Bread as part of Gayathri's Baking Eggless Challenge wherein the challenger presents the group with a eggilious recipe and challenges everyone to convert it into an eggless one. This month Gayathri of Gayathri's Cook Spot challenged us with this sweetish butter bread East European Bread. The original recipe was for 3 7 inch round loaves and used 3 large eggs. I decided to make 6 peeps and a 6 inch round loaf and so made only one third of the recipe using whole wheat flour and all purpose flour in 1:1 ratio and yogurt + a pinch of baking soda as a substitute for one egg. The whole wheat made the bread slightly dense, nevertheless it was tasty. We had it with spicy curry for Thanksgiving and enjoyed it much. 


With its buttery deliciousness this loaf will look grand at any holiday table. Be it Christmas or Easter. The peeps of course look more Easter-y so its best to reserve them for spring...




27.11.13

Brown Sugar-Raisin Bread

Food gawker and Taste-spotting are pretty addictive... don't you think ? Once your first photograph gets accepted you want all your food photographs to appear there.  One.It invites traffic. Two. It is strangely satisfying to know that a group of experts consider your food to be as gawk-worthy as you thought it was... But with that first acceptance comes the next stage in a bloggers life .. the big chase... the one that sets a blogger running from one window to another  for that perfect streak of light. The frustration grows when the sun refuses to budge and finally the blogger has to settle for less. It was like that for me yesterday. It was raining cats and dogs and I just could not manage a well-lit-gawk-worthy shot... frustrated, I called up mom and she reminded me of this Brown Sugar-Raisin Bread.....


Back in October, I had baked this loaf along with Joyce, Lena and Zoe. It turned out great. Pretty. Soft and fluffy. We loved it. So I made a second loaf for my sister. Her in-laws were visiting at that time and they were pretty impressed by it. Her mother-in-law immediately took the recipe from me and in one of the recent family gatherings told my mother what a good baker I had become :)  It felt good to be complimented by an ace baker as her..  so I thought it wouldn't be such a bad idea to publish this recipe even though the photographs aren't so great....

Now the recipe that won me praise.... Brown Sugar-Raisin Bread... a bread that is great for gifting, or sharing at festive breakfasts or brunch. The original recipe is from Wiiliam-Sonoma. I tweaked it to bake an eggless loaf.


26.11.13

Chocolate and M & M studded Malted Milk Cookies
& Weekly Menu Plan

Hi ! How was your weekend ? Mine wasn't very eventful though we did go thrifting and returned back satisfied. I bought a few pieces of kitchenware, little boy got a BIG car carrier and husband a bunch of music cds. Other than that we did very little...just the regular cleaning, grocery shopping and of course..... I baked these malted cookies and a lovely holiday bread. Will tell you more about the bread soon....but right now  its cookie time...


I had bookmarked these malted cookies from Bake for Happy Kids. The recipe there is an adaption of Pioneer Woman's Malted Milk Chocochip Cookies. Like Zoe I used Horlicks in place of malted milk powder and then tweaked the original recipe further by substituting all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour and the chocochips with an assortment of M & M's and pieces of dark chocolate. The final cookie was nice, snappy and addictive. They were a hit even with my toddler and our friend's preschooler so can safely be labeled as kid-friendly !



24.11.13

Mangalorean Goli Bajje # South vs North Nov' Challenge

This month Priya Suresh of Priya's Versatile Recipes challenged the Northern Group of SNC team to make Goli Bajje.


These deep-fried snacks are a specialty of Mangalore in Southern Karnataka. Unlike most other deep-fried snacks from South India, these are not made out of urad dhal. So no soaking or grinding is required for them. Traditionally these bajjes are prepared from an overnight-fermented-batter. However I did not plan them well in advance so ended up making them with a batter that had rested only for an hour. Though we enjoyed them as they were, I am pretty sure that overnight fermentation would have accentuated the flavors of these Bajjes.


Typically Mangaloreans enjoy Goli Bajjes with tea. We however  had some of it as a side for lunch with Gujrati Kadhi and Aloo-methi and thought they complimented the meal very well.

23.11.13

Spanish Chicken Rolls with Olives

Are you still on the look out for something delicious to serve with that glass of chilled white wine or sherry ? Something to nibble between the sips and the conversations... then try these Spanish Chicken Rolls with Olives. They are pretty awesome !


It is a recipe inspired from the book Tapas.  While I had heard the word Tapas before, till sometime back I did not know where it came from... Here is what I learnt from the book.
The word Tapas comes from tapa,  a Spanish word for lid - specifically the "lid" created by the slice of bread that an innkeeper would thoughtfully place on top of a customer's wine glass to keep out the flies and dust between sips. The Andalucians then came up with the idea of balancing a morsel of something tasty on top of the bread to nibble on..... and a new Spanish institution was born.
Interesting right ?

I have been trying out little nibbles from this book ever since I borrowed it from the library. While most of them are nice, this one is special.  It looks pretty and tastes gorgeous... the perfect package for entertaining family and friends... also it is fairly easy to prepare. You can serve it hot or at room temperature... but how ever you do, try and serve them in pretty plates with bright colors in a typical Spanish style....

22.11.13

Salty-Sweet Potato Far # French Fridays with Dorie

Bacon, Eggs & Potato baked into a cake with prunes and raisins.... 


now what can there be not to like about this dish... I had thought while reading the recipe... but somehow it did not appeal to me much. It was different and tasted nice with the simple chicken stew I had prepared to go with it.  However it wasn't great. Definitely not as good  as Dorie has described it to be. 

I had halved the recipe but did not adjust the baking time. Neither did I tent the far with a foil while it was baking. All that might have contributed to its browned surface and crusty edges... but that part did not bother us at all. The only complain my husband had was about the raisins. Though I had put the full measure of bacon in half the measure of batter, my husband thought that the raisins were overpowering the taste of bacon. He said that he would prefer the far with less or no raisins. I did not mind the raisins or the prunes... they were okay.. though I think I might like them better in this sweet version of potato far.


Overall this dish was a bit too French for us. I had been intrigued by the name and the list of ingredients in the far and I am glad I tried it once... but I will probably not bake it again.

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this "savory far".

 For the recipe order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.

21.11.13

Pataquetas # Baking Partners November Challenge


With only a week to go most of you must have roughly decided on what to prepare for this Thanksgiving. Perhaps the family favorites and some exquisite recipes that you had pinned, tried and enjoyed. But just in case there is a place in the table for a delicious and handsome bread... try Pataqueta.


These traditional Spanish bread rolls from Valencia's Orchard, with crusty exterior and chewy crumb require very little work. Yet they taste awesome when served with chicken sausages and a dash of mayo and mustard sauce. Shaped into smaller crescents and stuffed appropriately, these rolls will make great appetizers for any dinner party...



This month, a fellow Baking Partner, Marisa of Thermofan suggested that we bake this crescent shaped traditional Spanish bread for our Baking Partner's November Challenge. Apparently this bread is known to have been baked since 17th century. The inhabitants of the Valencia’s Orchard used to eat this bread everyday when they went for work. Nowadays, however they are not as frequently baked. People book in advance to get one. Most of Valencia’s bakers usually bake these in March every year for their main regional festival, "Falles".

Like Ciabatta, these bread rolls are steam-baked and are prepared with a cold ferment. Hence texture-wise they are very similar to Ciabatta... chewy crumb, and extra-crispy crust . The dough is however much easier to handle and  so you really do not have to be a expert bread maker to get these right. Simply follow the recipe and you'll  be rewarded heartily.....

19.11.13

One minute Nutella Cake & Weekly Menu Plan

I have tried making cakes in the microwave before. They are never the same as proper oven baked ones. They are not fluffy and airy... somewhere along the line they stop being cake-y and become more 'halwa-y'. So I usually prefer the 20 minutes baking time over instant microwave-ing... unless there is a terrible time crisis or an exceptional  recipe like this one.... With only 5 plus 1 ingredients in the batter, it gives you a perfectly crumbly chocolate cake. The kind that'll make you happy in a minute...... 


Add another tablespoon of Nutella to the batter and you'll have a delicious fudgy Nuttela brownie in a cup. That one is rich and gorgeous and though we both love it, today I went for the chocolate cake. Light, fluffy and delightful !  

16.11.13

Kiwi and Apple Jam

These days I push my luck with fruits. Husband buys relatively unripe ones in bulk and puts them on the kitchen counter to ripe. We then conveniently forget to eat the fruits and one fine day realize that we need to eat them right away or else  they go to the bin. It is then that jam recipes like this one come to rescue and brighten our days :D Though husband and I both like Kiwi, we thought it tasted even better when jammed up with apples....



Pear Chestnut Soup # French Fridays with Dorie

Delicious and Sublime !!  that is exactly what I thought about this Pear Chestnut soup.


Had it not been for French Fridays with Dorie, I would have never known how delicious this combination can be. And the likes of my husband and son, who prefer to eat their fruits and nuts as fruits n nuts and not cooked and pureed into a soup... will probably never know how good this combination is. 

Being well aware of their preferences, I cooked only a sixth of the recipe for lunch today and really enjoyed it with a slice of bread slathered with butter. I generally have very high regard for Dorie's recipes and this one did not disappoint me. In fact I could get used to having it for lunch every single day of fall.. or till the flavors begin to tire my taste buds. 

I guess by habit I cooked the onions, leeks  and celery to the point of caramelizing the onions. My soup therefore looks browner than it should be. However  it tasted brilliant with the hint of thyme lurking in the background and that slice of pear on top. The flavors came across just right and I loved it. I'll probably cook it the exact same way next week when I make a bigger batch for my lunch. 

So much today. Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this soup.

You can find a version of the recipe here .  I almost used the same measures except that I used roasted chestnuts instead of vacuum packed ones and a slice of pear as garnish instead of a dollop of cream. For Dorie's original recipe and more such delicious ones order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.

15.11.13

Teff Crepes # World Diabetes Day

Yesterday was World Diabetes Day. I wasn't aware of it till Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen asked me the other day if I wanted to join her and few other bloggers to spread awareness about diabetes. Though I immediately agreed to join the rest of them, I wasn't sure what to write... I am not a diabetic and thankfully no one in my family is... My father has high blood sugar but he isn't a diabetic. So I couldn't really appreciate the need for a World Diabetic Day until a Google search showed up some alarming facts and statistics associated with diabetes.

Did you know that....
Diabetes affects more than 250 million people worldwide
and experts say that by 2025, that number will soar to 380 million.... 
Apparently...
There are 23.6 million children and adults in the United States who have diabetes.
5.7 million don’t even know they have the disease !
 &  the disease kills one person every 10 seconds.
While the numbers are alarming, one might take some solace in the fact that though not curable, this disease is not a death sentence right away. In many cases type 2 diabetes formerly known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes or adult onset diabetes  is preventable and type 1 diabetes formerly known as insulin-dependent or juvenile onset diabetes is manageable. Studies have shown that a change in diet, increase in physical activity and a change in lifestyle can affect the incidence of this disease on individuals. For this reason the UN resolution designated November 14 as World Diabetes Day. The idea was to make people aware of this growing epidemic and motivate them to change their eating habits and lifestyles before the disease gets to them. 

It certainly would have been wonderful to observe World Diabetic Day with a walk or a bicycle ride campaign. But since such an exercise routine did not work out for us, we decided on a diabetic friendly dinner. For dinner today we had Teff Crepes with a side of Mushroom and Spinach and a Mushroom Salad. In case you do not know, Teff is the smallest grain in the world with several nutritional benefits. It is known to serve as a complete source of protein. Also the high fiber content of teff is believed to help in dealing with diabetes and assisting with blood sugar control. So Teff Crepes it was for us today... 


The recipe is pretty simple.. the usual eggs, milk and flour with a pinch of salt and sugar. I often make this for breakfast too.. but then i serve it with applesauce and on special occasions with a filling of cottage cheese, sour cream, chopped cucumbers, tomatoes and a sprinkle of Herbs de Provence..


14.11.13

Maple Glazed Pear Jam Doughnut Muffins
# Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge

Its time for another round of Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge. This month Sheryl challenged us to prepare a dessert with pear and maple. With my spiced pear jam in hand I knew exactly what I wanted to prepare...Maple Glazed Doughnut Muffins with Pear Jam filling...


I had booked this recipe by Nigella a while ago. The muffins looked cute and attractive and I was certain that my son and husband would like it ... Well. I was partially right about that. Husband loved it. So did I. But our son refused to taste... which meant more fluffy yummy muffins for us :D...  We enjoyed them with our evening tea, then at midnight with some hot milk and again for breakfast the following day. Thankfully I had made a small batch or else we would still be feasting on them and then felt guilty about eating so many muffins at a go.....

11.11.13

Spiced Persimmon Bread with Bourbon Dates and Walnuts
& Weekly Menu Plan

Happy Monday !! How are you ? Around here, its been getting chillier even by the day. So the oven is on full time. well almost. and I have been baking and eating lots of breads, cookies and cakes. Also roasting a lot of root vegetables and loving it all. I am specially in love with this sinfully delicious Persimmon Bread... with Bourbon, walnuts, dates and the chilli flakes.. Yes chilli flakes. Do I see some brows frowning over that ?  Oh please don't. It really is wonderful.


The original recipe is by James Beard. I found it in David Lebovitz blog, made an eggless version of it and spiced it a bit with red chilly flakes.  I borrowed the idea of adding chilli  flakes from a Turkish Persimmon Bread recipe and I am so glad I did. The Bourbon, the dates and the chilli flakes are such a riot of flavors.. and yet so rich and gorgeous. Ever since I made this bread, I have been looking for more sweet bread recipes where I can fit these flavors in. I have found some recipes... will soon let you know how they go. 

This sweet bread is perfect for the season. Its great with tea as well as coffee. also great for pacifying the late afternoon or late night sugar craze (in case you like to give in to that sometimes). So if you are in the mood to indulge yourself bake this delicious Spiced Persimmon Bread with Bourdon Dates and Walnuts  right away.. You'll love it ! 


Spiced Persimmon Bread with Bourbon Dates and Walnuts 
Minimally adapted from David Lebovitz
 Preparation Time : 15 minutes                    Cooking Time: 60 minutes                      Yields: 1 9x5 inch loaf 
 Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter(1 stick of unsalted butter)
  • 1/2 cup yogurt (as a substitute for 2 eggs)
  • 1/3 cup Bourbon
  • 1 cup persimmon puree (scooped out from 2 medium sized squishy-soft Hachiya persimmons)
  • 1/3 cut walnuts, chopped
  • 1 cup pitted dates, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
-
 Instructions

  1. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan and line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.
  2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  3. Sift together all the dry ingredients except sugar into a large mixing bowl and keep it aside.
  4. Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan. 
  5. Switching off the heat beat the sugar into the melted butter. 
  6. Once the sugar has been well incorporated, beat in the yogurt, Bourbon and persimmon puree and beat till all the ingredients have been well incorporated. 
  7. Make a well in the center of the sifted flour mixture. Pour in the liquid bourbon-persimmon puree mixture into the well, then add the chopped walnuts and dates and chilli flakes and using a wooden spoon mix everything well.
  8. Now pour the cake batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheat heated oven.
  9. After 25 minutes reduce the heat of the oven to 350 degrees F and continue baking for another 35-40 minutes till a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
  10. Cool the loaf completely before slicing and enjoying.

While we'll enjoying this spiced up sweet bread for breakfast and tea... these are the dishes we have for dinner this week....

This Week's Menu Plan


SundayHomemade Chicken Noodle Soup & Apple Pie from the Bakery

Monday

Crepes with and Refried Beans with Pumpkin


Tuesday
Rice, Dal, Fish,  and Steamed Beans for toddler

Masoor Dal, Roasted Roots Vegetables with Sauteed Baby Spinach,  Rice. 

Wednesday 

Pear and Chestnut Soup, Colcannon, Chicken Breasts with Herbed butter

Thursday

Beet Thoran, Moong dal with Peas and Cauliflower, Egg Curry and Rice


Friday

Magic Chicken Biriyani and Raita

Saturday

Leftovers for lunch, Pasta with Beet Greens and Onions for dinner


I shall be sharing this at the following parties.




10.11.13

Eggless Piña Colada Cake

Its been a while since I baked with Gayathri's Baking Eggless Group.  The August challenge was difficult and September challenge had too many steps. I couldn't get them right, so saving the recipe for later I decided to move on.. In October  Meena Thenappan of Chettinad Fiesta challenged us to bake this beautiful Pina Colada Cake.


According to me, the real deal of the challenge was to make an "eggless sponge cake" and then infuse it with the flavors of Pina Colada. While I have baked many eggless cakes before,  I hadn't yet tried a eggless sponge cake, so I took this challenge seriously. Initially I tried tweaking a couple of standard sponge cake recipes but that did not go too well. So finally I had to resort to a tried and tested recipe. I chose this eggless sponge cake recipe from My Diverse Kitchen, adapted the methods slightly and viola... I had a lovely moist eggless sponge cake in hand !

Once the cake was made impregnating it with the flavors of Pina Colada was an easy job. I simply sliced the cake in half, soaked each half in a coconut cream solution, sandwiched a pineapple-coconut layer between them, then slathering the cake generously with Cool Whip whipped cream, I sprinkled coconut powder on top and thats it... my Pina Colada Cake was ready to go... The final product was really delicious. I can easily imagine myself making this cake for special occasions. It is a lovely dessert that is sure to please everyone.

9.11.13

Compote de Pommes # French Fridays with Dorie


My son loves apples. He also loves applesauce and occasionally likes to have some with his morning toast. Toast and applesauce ? Though the combination might sound a little weird, it works for him.. So we always have a supply of Musselman's Applesauce at home. But I guess making applesauce the French way  is as easy as opening a jar of store-brought applesauce. well almost...  Just peel the apples, chop them, simmer them in a container with water, sugar, vanilla extract and some butter. 20 minutes later mash the contents and spoon out a bowl of fresh and delicious applesauce. YUMMM....


As a member of french friday's with Dorie I am not supposed to post the recipe on the blog. You can however find the recipe here. I almost used the same measures except that I used 3 tablespoonss of sugar instead of 1/4 and 1 tablespoon of butter instead of 2. For more delicious recipes order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.


7.11.13

Chicken Meatballs Salad with Mediterranean Flavors

So what salads have you been enjoying lately ? Lavish ones with creamy dressings or simple ones with lots of veggies, fruits, greens and a simple citrusy vinaigrette. We here have a new favorite.  This Chicken Meatball Salad .....


Like our other favorite,  Wheat Berry and Chickpea salad, this salad is inspired by a recipe from Around the French Table, Salade Niçoise. Back in October, the Doristas made Salade Niçoise for French Fridays with Dorie. I too had assembled the salad for myself.  However substituting the canned tuna and anchovies with Mediterranean Chicken Meatballs, I prepared this version for my non-fish-eating husband and then tasted a spoonful of both and thought... hmmm.. "the Niçoise salad is good but this is DELICIOUS !" Ever since the has become a staple for Sunday lunch and each time we seem to enjoy it even more.. 

The salad is actually quite simple to prepare and gets done in no time provide you have the meatballs ready. The first time, I had prepared the salad with leftover chicken meatballs  from the previous day. But it is worth the effort to make these meatballs just for the salad...  Here is how I make them...

Mediterranean Chicken Meatballs
Recipe Adapted from The Kitchn
 Preparation Time : minimum 1 hour +10 minutes                   Cooking Time: 22 minutes                        Yields: 20 
 Ingredients

  • 1 cup cooked black or green lentils (see notes)
  • 3 tbsps Port wine
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 clove of garlic grated
  • 1/2 pound ground chicken
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2/3 cups bread crumbs (see notes)
  • 1/4 cup feta cheese
  • 1 small onion, chopped (and caramelized if you have the time)
  • 8 black olives, chopped
  • 1 tbsp capers, chopped
  • 4-5 strings of cilantro, trimmed and chopped
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp dill
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground pepper
  • oil for glazing
-
 Instructions
  1. Put all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix them well. I use my hands for mixing. You can however use a wooden spoon if you like. 
  2. Let the mixture rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
  3. When ready to make the meatballs,line 2 baking trays with parchment paper, center a baking rack and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 
  4. With well oiled hands, shape the refrigerated mixture into 2 inch round balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Since the balls do not spread much you can place them close by.
  5. Now transfer the trays into the preheated oven and bake for 20-22 minutes until the meatballs are golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before proceeding further....
-
 Notes : 
  • I have this recipe with both  green lentils and black masoor . I my opinion the one with green lentils taste better. If using black masoor, use only half the quantity as they tend to make the meatballs very dense.
  • To make fresh bread crumbs, toast a day old bread in the oven at 400 degrees F for 8-10 minutes. Then pulverize in the food processor till you have the bread crumbs. 

The chicken meatballs are delicious appetizers by themselves. So if you are not a salad person, you can skip all the veggies, greens and vinaigrette (basically, the rest of the post) and enjoy the meatballs as appetizer with Tzatzaki  or bake it in yogurt sauce and enjoy it with stuffed Naan, the way we did till the salad happened... 

In case you are a salad person then read on....

Mediterranean Chicken Meatballs Salad
Inspired by Salade Niçoise from Around the French Table
 Preparation Time : 30-45 minutes                     Assembling Time : 10-15minutes                                Serves : 2 
 Ingredients

  • 8 Mediterranean chicken meatballs, quartered (prepared as above)
  • 6 small potatoes
  • 1/2 cup green beans, trimmed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 big tomato, cut into 16 parts
  • 1 medium sized onion, chopped
  • 8 black olives, halved or quartered
  • 4 oz baby spinach, chopped
  • for the vinaigrette
    • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
    • 1 tsp Dijon mustard (you can use more or less according to taste)
    • 3 tbsps extra virgin oil
    • 1 tbsp capers, crushed or finely chopped
    • 1 clove garlic, grated (optional)
    • salt and pepper to taste
-
 Instructions
  • Prepare the vinaigrette by mixing all the ingredients and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

  1. You can either boil the potatoes in salted water or  roast them in the oven. We like the taste of roasted potatoes, so if I have enough time in hand I roast it. To roast the potatoes, peel them and soak in water for at least an hour. Then toss them in oil, sprinkle salt and pepper and bake in oven at 450 degrees F for 20-22 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
  2. Cut the green beans into 3/4-1 inch long pieces. Toss them in a pot of boiling water. 6 minutes later drain the beans and run them under cold water. Pat dry and keep aside.
  3. In case you do not mind the boiled yolks, hard boil the eggs and slice them as you please for the salad. We do not like boiled yolks, so I separate the egg white and the yolks, save the yolks for later and boil the eggs whites using the method for Ruffly Poached Eggs
  4. To assemble the salad, toss the greens in half of the vinaigrette and lay it on the plate. Then place the quartered meatballs, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, onions and olives in any fashion you like. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle the remaining vinaigrette on top. Now serve, dig in and enjoy !

I shall be sharing this at the following parties.





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