Showing posts with label pumpkin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pumpkin. Show all posts

20.3.15

Kokharu Khatta (Pumpkin Chutney Odiya style)

Growing up I wasn't ever allowed to snub off any curry or veggie that was served. The house rule was you eat whatever is given, no excuses and no special meals for anyone. That forced my dad to try the dishes that mom grew up eating, mom learnt to cook the dishes dad grew up eating and I in turn got a peep of whatever both my grandma's cooked for my parents and their siblings.

29.10.13

Spiked Pumpkin Bread & Savory Pumpkin Dip Recipe for Halloween and Weekly Menu Plan

Hi ! How are you ? Is it cold in your corners yet ? Here in LI, it is getting a bit chiller by the evening... but the mornings are gorgeous. Bright and sunny !  Our New Hampshire trip, followed by the trip to my cousin's place and then the preparations for the toddler's  birthday party had thrown me off my routine. but after a lazy week at home, I am back on track. Totally charged up for Halloween and Diwali. 


This will be my first Halloween and Diwali here. Actually my second one.. but the first one doesn't count since it was within weeks of the toddlers birth... and i was still recovering from the C-section. In any case I am excited. We haven't yet zeroed on any costume for the toddler...but with this bandana in mind, we are thinking along the line of pirates... 




that is if he obliges... we'll see....

Now about my Spiked Pumpkin Yeast Bread. In my post on Pumpkin Yeast Bread, I had mentioned that I had been playing around with the recipe. What I actually did was that I spiked it up the dough with Pumpkin Ale. I substituted the milk and water in the recipe with an equal amount of beer and baked my first batch the same way as the Pumpkin Yeast Bread... except that I baked it in the form of a Savory Pull Apart Loaf and 4 buns.


The buns were nice and soft and were perfect for sliders. The Pull Apart Bread was also good..  but I wouldn't really recommend it in the form I made. The bread was good and the pumpkin dip that I had slathered on the rolled out dough was also good and the two tasted good together. but it would have been better if I had baked the loaf by itself and served it with the dip.  the dip somewhat made the moist loaf soggy... and texture-wise less appealing. it was however yummy !

Anyways having learnt my lesson, I ditched the idea of a pull apart bread and decided to try out a beer glazed bread for my second batch. Again I did this in two ways. With the Dutch Crunch topping in mind I prepared a mixture with beer, yeast, rice powder, maple syrup and oil . Then shaping the dough into 6 buns and a 6 inch round loaf, I glazed the spiked loaf and 2 buns lightly with the solution and spooned some of the beer and rice flour mixture over two other buns and left the remaining two un-glazed. I baked the un-glazed buns for 20 minutes at 375 degrees F and the others 425 degrees F.  Initially I was quite excited with how they looked. specially the ones with crunch-topping...


But as they say... All that glitters is not gold. While the un-glazed buns, the loaf and the lightly glazed buns were moist and super-flavorful, the buns with crunch topping were terrible. I could not eat those beyond a bite. it was that BAD. I am not sure what the problem was... but since it looked good I have decided to try it again soon. Will let you know it if and when it works out. For now here are the recipes that worked... the Spiked Pumpkin Yeast Bread and the Savory Pumpkin Dip...

Spiked Pumpkin Yeast Bread (Bread Machine)
Adapted from my Pumkin Yeast Bread
 Preparation Time : 2 hours                                                                                         Baking Time: 30 mins
 Yeild: a 9x5 inch loaf + 4 buns or a 6 inch round loaf and 6 buns 
 Ingredients


  • for the dough
    • 1/3 + 1/4 cup Harpoon Brewery's Pumpkin Ale (UFO)
    • 1/4 cup yogurt +1/16 tsp baking soda (as a substitute for 1 egg)
    • 3/4 cup pureed pumpkin, fresh or canned(I used canned)
    • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
    • 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
    • 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
    • 1/8 cup light brown sugar
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
    • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
    • 1 tbsp bread machine yeast
  • for the glaze
    • 20 ml Harpoon Brewery's Pumpkin Ale (UFO)
    • 2 tbsp rice flour
    • 1 1/2 tsp instant year
    • 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
    • 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
-
 Instructions
  1. Put all the dough ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order specified by the manufacturer and set it to the dough setting. 
  2. When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle, turn the dough into a lightly oiled surface. Shape it into a loaf or a loaf and 4-6 buns and place the loaf it in a well greased 9x5 inch  loaf pan or 6 inch round pan and the buns on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover the loaf with a greased plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled 30 to 45 minutes. 
  3. In the meantime preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and mix all the ingredients of the glaze and let it stand for about 15 minutes. 
  4. Once the dough doubles, lightly glaze the loaf and the buns with the beer and rice flour mixture and transfer the pan/ baking tray to the preheated oven. Bake the buns for 20 minutes and the loaf for 30 minutes. Immediately afterwards remove the loaf from the pan, cool the buns and the loaf on a wire rack, then slice and enjoy with savory Pumpkin dip or otherwise...


So that was all about my experiments with pumpkin bread recipe.  Do let me know if  you have any pointers about the Dutch crunch topping. I'll be happy to work on your suggestions.

Sending the first photographs "Spirit of Fall"  The Colour Me Photography Challenge Series" ~ Colour Me Orange , a photography event  at Priya's  place The Humpty Dumpty Kitchen.


Now this week's Menu at Ma Niche


This Week's Menu Plan


SundayChicken Fry,  Leftover Lentil curry with veggies and rice

Monday

Moussaka with Radish Salad
Pasta with yogurtCheese Omlet and boiled carrots for the toddler

Tuesday

Carrot and Pea Stir Fry, Gatte ki Kadhi and Roti,
Deconstructed Oliver Salad and Teff Crepes for Toddler

Wednesday 

 Hurry up and Wait Roast Chicken  and Roasted Potatoes

Thursday

 French Onion Soup and Vegetable Sandwiches


Friday

 Dinner Rolls with Japanese Cream Stew

Saturday

 Masoor Dal and Briami with Steamed Rice



                                       and Meal Plan Monday at The Diary of a Real Housewife.

Yeastspotting the loaf. Also sharing it at the following weekly parties..

20.10.13

Pumpkin Yeast Bread # Baking Partners October Challenge

With the pumpkin season upon us, this month +Tamy Bollar of 3 Sides of Crazy challenged the Baking Partners to bake a pumpkin loaf. The suggested recipes were
As tempting as both the recipes were, I decided to bake the yeasted loaf first and then got stuck at trying few variations of the original recipe. While I am itching to tell you about my experiments and will eventually write about them over the week,  for this post I'll just stick to the version that is closest to the original.


It is a fairly simple bread to bake in case you are using a bread machine or a food processor to knead the dough... and it tastes wonderful. It is soft and moist and is great with both butter and jam. Though we ate most of this loaf with butter or jam for breakfast, recounting from my experience with the other variations, I can assure they'll be great in sandwiches too.

As always, I tweaked the original recipe and substituted half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour and added an extra helping of ginger powder to the dough. Also, I made an eggless loaf since I had run out of eggs on that particular day. Using some of the bread recipes from Gayathri's Cook Spot as a reference, I used 1/4 cup yogurt plus a 1/16 tsp baking soda as a substitute for 1 egg. It worked really well. In fact I did not notice any difference in texture between this loaf and the other loaf that i baked with eggs. Though a topping or a glaze was not recommended, I decided to add both.... and I am actually quite happy with the way the loaf turned out.  The maple syrup lent the loaf a lovely hue and the pumpkin seeds added a nice crunch to the bread. So all in all this loaf was a winner at our table...


Now the recipe...
Pumpkin Yeast Bread (Bread Machine)
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
 Preparation Time : 2 hours                                Baking Time: 30 mins                                        Yeild: 9x5 inch loaf 
 Ingredients

  • for the dough
    • 1/4 cup warm water
    • 1/3 warm milk
    • 1/4 cup yogurt +1/16tsp baking soda (as a substitute for 1 egg)
    • 3/4 cup pureed pumpkin, fresh or canned(I used canned)
    • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
    • 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
    • 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
    • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
    • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
    • 1 tbsp bread machine yeast
  • 2-3 tbsps pepitas for topping
  • for the glaze
    • 1 tbsp maple syrup
    • 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
-
 Instructions
  1. Put all the dough ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order specified by the manufacturer and set it to the dough setting. I have listed the ingredients in the order that is specific to my bread machine. 10 minutes down the line check the consistency of the dough. The dough should be soft and smooth. If the dough feels too tough add a teaspoon or so of oil. If the dough isn't stiff enough add a tbsp of flour at a time until the dough attains the correct consistency. I have a Sunbeam bread machine and the measurements given above worked perfectly in it. 
  2. When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle, turn the dough into a lightly oiled surface. Shape it into a loaf and place it in a well greased 9x5 inch  loaf pan. Cover the loaf with a greased plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled 30 to 45 minutes. (I had kept the shaped out dough in the sun and it doubled in 30 minutes but it might take a little longer in  general.)
  3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F while the dough is rises the second time (I say second time since the first rising happens in the machine).
  4. Once the dough has doubled, mix the maple syrup and oil in a bowl, glaze the dough with half of the mixture, sprinkle the pepitas on top and then brush the surface lightly with the remaining syrup-oil mixture.
  5. Now transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Immediately remove the bread and cool it on a wire rack to prevent the crust from becoming soggy.
  6. Slice and enjoy after the loaf has cooled down completely. 


This loaf stays fresh without refrigeration for up to three days and I believe it will stay good for a longer time if refrigerated.

More on my experiments soon. Stay warm and have a great week... Cheers !



Yeastspotting this loaf. Also sharing it at the following weekly parties..

10.10.13

Pumpkin and Cheese Donut Cakes # Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge

Ahh... the pumpkin season is in and everyone everywhere is cooking and baking with pumpkins... I too have been trying out dishes with pumpkin, some of which I feel are share-worthy. but lately time has been a bit of a constraint for me and I have been finding it difficult to sit and jot down the details before i forget them. anyway i do remember my take on this lovely Pumpkin and Cheese Spice recipe which lead to these little donuts cakes.. 


these donuts are pretty gorgeous with their blend of spices. they are soft and fluffy and a real delight with a cup of 'masala chai.' agreed that they do not look as tempting and irresistible as i am describing them to be... but my impatience with creaming the cheese is to be blamed for that rather than the recipe. the recipe is full-proof and wonderful and really deserves better photographs to testify how good it is. I apologize for the poor pictures and promise to upload better ones when i make the next batch.... but for now these will have to do... since today is the reveal date of Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge and for this round Sheryl chose Pumpkin and Cream Cheese as the star ingredients...


now a few things before i go on to the recipe.... the original recipe was for mini cake loaves which were baked at 350 degrees F. since I was a keen on trying the cold oven method, I baked them at 325 degrees F. I am not sure if or how that might have altered the texture of the cake, but I am pretty satisfied with the way it turned out... so i guess i'll stick to the cold oven method for these donuts... but if you feel otherwise do as the original recipe says... and bake the donuts at 350 degrees F.

Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Donut Cakes
Adapted from An Edible Mosaic 
 Preparation Time : 15 minutes                                                                       Cooking Time : 20 minutes

 Yield : 6 mini donut cakes + 5 mini cupcakes or 10 mini donut cakes

 ingredients
  • for the cheese batter
    • 4 oz cream cheese
    • 1 small egg, room temperature, lightly beaten
    • 1/8 cup confectioner's sugar
    • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • for the pumpkin cake batter
    • 3/8 cup light brown sugar, packed
    • 1 large egg
    • 3/8 cup pumpkin puree, homemade or canned (I used canned)
    • 1 tbsp canola oil
    • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
    • 5/8 (80 gms) cup all purpose flour
    • 5/8 tsp baking powder
    • 1/8 tsp baking soda
    • 1/8 tsp salt
    • 3/8 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
    • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • butter to grease the pan
-
 instructions

  1. preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease the mini donut/muffin pans with butter. 
  2. for the cream cheese batter, soften the cream cheese in the microwave(I did not do this but I think this step is important for a smooth cream cheese batter.) then using a electric handmixer, beat all the ingredients until a smooth and creamy batter is obtained.
  3. sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices and keep aside.
  4. in a separate bowl, whisk the brown sugar and the egg until light and fluffy. 
  5. stir in the oil and vanilla extract. then gradually fold in the dry ingredient mixture, taking care not to over-mix.
  6. finally spoon 11/2 tbsps of the batter into each of the mini donut/muffin molds, distributing as evenly as possible pour the cheese batter on top and bake the donuts/muffins in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or a tooth-pick inserted comes out clean.
  7. allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to complete cooling. 

now that the donuts are ready, make some masala chai and enjoy !



I shall be sharing this with the following food events...

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