Torcettini di Saint Vincent # Breast Cancer Awareness Fund Raising Event

Torcettini di Saint Vincent,  meaning small twists of Saint Vincent made their round in the blogosphere a few months back when Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen chose it for April challenge of We Knead to bake. The cookie instantly reminded me of the pink ribbon, the international symbol for breast care awareness and I saved the recipe for October.  I actually had these I had these cookies in mind when I told Anu that I will send an entry for her "BCAM" Breast Cancer Awareness Month - PINK RECIPES EVENT. However the internet connection at home had been acting funny so I could not post it in time. Never the less the Pink Ribbon Cookies are here today to remind you about the BCAM Fund Raising Event at Anu's Healthy Kitchen... that I made mentioned a couple of weeks back.....

As the name suggests, these cookies are originally from the town of Saint Vincent in Valle d'Aosta, a small mountainous region in North-Western Italy. They are however well known through out the Piedmont region. The Torcettinis are yeasted cookies that are rolled in granulated sugar(not necessarily pink sugar) for their sweetness. Apparently they have descended from Grissini (or breadsticks) and hence have a very similar texture. They are crunchy outside and have bread-like texture inside. Their texture however changes radically with the absorption of moisture. Though we enjoyed them later, we thought the freshly baked ones with their distinct citrusy fragrance tasted the best.

Now the recipe... I followed the recipe for the cookie dough from My Diverse Kitchen and found this video helpful for coloring the sugar pink. Though you do not need to color the sugar for this particular cookie, it might be helpful to know that coloring sugar at home is actually quite simple and inexpensive. All you need is gel coloring and your regular sugar...  Just put the required amount of sugar in a ziplock bag. Using a toothpick stain the wall of the ziplock bag with gel coloring of your choice. Then zip the bag and roll the sugar over the gel stains till the sugar in the bag is uniformly colored. The whole process takes only a few minutes but saves quite a bit of money.  Also coloring your own sugar give you the freedom to mix and match and create a riot of colored sugar.. Anyway that is how I colored the sugar for these Pink Ribbon Cookies.... 

Torcettini di Saint Vincent (Bread Machine) Recipe Source : My Diverse Kitchen
Preparation Time : minimum 2 hours 15 minutes                               Cooking Time: 25 minutes                      Yeilds: 24
Ingredients 1/2 cup warm water 2 1/2 tbsps unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp lime/lemon zest or crushes anise seeds 1 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast 1/3 cup granulated sugar (pink color is not mandatory )  Instructions Put all the ingredients other than the granulated sugar in the bread machine pan in the other specified by the manufacturer and program it for the dough cycle. Stop the machine in 7-10 minutes, when the ingredients come together to form a soft dough. Now place the dough in a well greased bowl, cover with a greased plastic cling wrap and let it double over the next one hour. Once the dough has doubled punch it down, cover it with greased cling wrap and chill the dough for at least one hour or up to 24 hours. When ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 325 degress F, line two cookies trays with parchment paper, pour the sugar in a flat surface and start working on the chilled dough. Roll out the dough into a 6 inch square. Using a pizza wheel cut the dough into 4 strips of equal width. Then cut each strip into 6 equal pieces thereby making 24 pieces of the dough. Now roll each piece into a pencil thick rope about 5-6 inches long. Uniformly coat the ropes with sugar by rolling them over the granulated sugar. Then twist them into a loop resembling a ribbon and let them rest on the prepared baking tray for about 20 minutes.  Once they have noticeably puffed, bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Then cool them on the racks, munch a few and store the rest in air-tight containers at room-temperature.

These cookies are being  yeast-spotted. 

I shall be sharing this at the following parties.

Monday : Mix it up Monday, The Scoop, Made with love Monday, 
Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks, Melt in your Mouth Monday, Inspiration Monday Party Sharing Monday, 
Inspire Me Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop,Maniac Monday Linky Party, Random Recipe Link Up @ Sara Howe

Meatless Monday:Meatless Monday My Sweet and Savory

Tuesday : Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations, 
Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home , Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings, 
Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles,  Tasty Tuesday @ Anyonita Nibbles,  
In & Out of the Kitchen @ Feeding Big & More, Tuesday's Table @ Love in the Kitchen, 
All my Bloggy Friends @Love Bakes Good Cakes

Wednesday : What's Cooking Wednesday @ Buns in my Oven, Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain, 
Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom, Wine'd Down Wednesday, 
Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ All She Cooks Wednesday, Whatsit@White Lights on Wednesday, 
Wednesday Extravaganza @ Hunger Little Girl, Create & Share @ The Trendy Tree House,
What I Whipped Up Wednesday @ Sugar & Dots Look, What I Made @ Creations by Kara

Thursday: Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive, Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs, 
Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity,  Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage , 
 Freedom Friday @ My Turn,  Thursday's Treasures @ Food Done Light,Pin it Thursday @ Sweet Bella Roos

Friday : Foodie Friday @ Simple Living and Eating,  Friday Linky Party @ The Pin Junkie, 
Get Him Feed @ Anyonita Nibbles, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home,  
Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm, 
Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts, 
Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club, The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog Recipes

Spinach Fatayer

Off late I have been cooking a lot of Middle eastern food. All from Sally Butcher's book The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian, the: Modern Recipes from Veggiestan. I borrowed it from the library a month ago and have been meaning to tell you about it but didn't know where to start. The book is divided into ten broad sections. bread, salads, soup, rice, vegetables, pickles and so on.. and i have been religiously cooking my way through them throughout the month. while the rice dishes and the street food sections are our favorites, we also fell for this stuffed bread last night. Spinach Fatayer. 

In the book Butcher credits the recipe to Mrs Haddad who is her Lebanese bread supplier. Apparently it is Mrs Haddad's family recipe. While the original recipe with sumac and pomegranate paste must be brilliant, I had to make do with substitutes like capers and chana masala in my version. Nevertheless we loved it. It made a happy meal along with a bowl of Mediterranean Chickpea Salad and yogurt seasoned with mustard and green chillies. Think Mr MN liked them much for he even took some for lunch today. I suppose the little one also liked them for he kept juggling between his kichudi and the Fatayer throughout dinner last night.

Spinach Fatayer Adapted from New Middle Eastern Vegetarian, the: Modern Recipes from Veggiestan

ingredients        for the dough 1 1/8 tsp bread machine yeast 1/2 tsp sugar 2/3 cups warm water 1 cup all-purpose flour 2/3 cups whole wheat flour 1/2 tsp salt 3 tbsp, olive oil 2 tsp lemon juice for the filling 10 oz spinach(i used frozen) oil for frying 1 medium onion chopped 1/4 cup pine nuts, chopped 1 tbsp capers, chopped 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 1/2 tsp chana masala salt and pepper to taste for glazing 1/2 tbsp lemon juice 1/2 tbsp olive oil salt to taste -   what i did for the dough, i stirred in the yeast and sugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and set it aside for 10 minutes. once the yeast solution became foamy, i sifted the flours and salt into a big bowl, added the yeast solution and 1 tbsp of oil to it and tried kneading with my hand. at this point the flour mixture flour mixture felt very dry. so i added the remaining water and oil to the bread machine pan along with the flour mixture and set the machine on dough cycle.  15 minutes later, when the dough looked smooth and felt soft, i switched off the bread machine and turned the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. then covering the dough with a plastic cling wrap i put the bowl in a warm corner of the kitchen and let it double itself. it took the dough about an hour and quarter to double. in the meantime, i made the filling. for the filling, i heated the oil in a saucepan and added the onions to it. once the onions softened, i added the spinach (thawed and drained), capers and the nuts to the pan and cooked for about 4-5 minutes. i then added the chana masala and lemon juice to the spinach, seasoned it to taste and let it cook for a few minutes more till the spinach was well cooked.  switching off the heat, i then set it aside. once the dough doubled, i preheated the oven to 375 degrees F, lined 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and working with little portions of it at a time, i rolled it into a 1/8 inch thick ovals. the dough was soft. so to ease the rolling process i dabbed it with enough flour before rolling. then using an upturned glass i cut out 7 cm circles off the dough, placed 1 tbsp of the filling in each of them and folded the sides to meet in the center like a pyramid pastry. then placing the pyramids in the lined baking trays i baked my first batch of small Fatayers for 22-25 minutes, until they were lightly browned. the Fatayers did not grow too much in size after baking, so using a upturned bowl, i cut out 10 cm circles out of the remaining dough, placed 2-3 tbsp of the filling in each of them,  then folding them as before and glazed them with the solution of lemon juice-oil and salt and baked them for 28-30 minutes, until they were lightly golden. then transferring the Fatayers to a bread basket, i covered them with a cloth and left it that way till dinner time.

Though this recipe was fairly simple to work through, I kept longing for the ladies in the house while i was stuffing the dough. because, somehow even a tedious task as stuffing  the dough becomes fun when you do it midst your sisters and friends..

I am sharing the Fatayers with Bread Baking Day #61. Bread Baking Day is a monthly event created by Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte aka kochtopf and Anusha of Tomato Blues is hosting it this month and she has chosen Stuffed Breads. as the theme for the month. 

Also Yeastspotting this and sharing it at the following weekly food events

These nibbles were featured in...

Recipe Sharing Monday #57 

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop 160: 7/15/2013  

Made with Love Mondays , Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks, Meatless Monday @Veggie Mama's,  Meatless Monday My Sweet and Savory, Just Another Meatless Monday @ Hey What's for Dinner Mom, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Mop It Up Monday, Mealtime Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Maniac Monday Linky Party

Tuesday Food:  Tempt my Tummy @Blessed with Grace, Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations,  Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home,  Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings, Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop 

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 Mom, Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Home Take 2, Seasonal Celebration @ Natural Mother's Network
Thursday Food:Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive, Creative Thursday @ Michelle's Tasty Creations, Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs, Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity, Freedom Friday @ My Turn, Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage  
Friday Food: Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club,  The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  Recipes

Plantain Oatmeal Bread with Walnuts & Strawberry Jam

The other day I spotted plantain at the local grocery store. Excited at the prospect of making some plantain chips I picked up a packet and the following day tried baking chips. Oh God ! that was such a mistake ! With my first batch coming out of the oven I realized that things weren't going so well so readjusting the oven temperatures i put in the next batch. only to realize minutes later that  certain savories are best enjoyed when dipped in copious amounts of sin.  else you end up chewing leathery chips rather than crunching them. so i left the rest of the plantains just like that planning to come back to them in a few days. and when days rolled to weeks the plantains became too ripe for chips and had to be used up in other recipes.  and since it was my bread-baking day i decided to use one of them in place of banana in Banana Oatmeal Bread while i saved the other for a recipe i had bookmarked. 

Last Saturday, following the recipe from Beth Hensperger's Cookbook The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook, I had made the Banana Oatmeal Bread with Macadamia Nuts(Pg 444).  We really enjoyed that bread. so I naturally turned to that recipe for the Plantain Bread. I made a few minor changes here and there keeping the basic recipe intact. however I would like to mention here that when baking the bread with plantain it is fine if one uses less yeast because this loaf swelled up a lot more in comparison to the banana bread and therefore that noticeable dip that you can see in the picture below.  This is a sweet loaf and its slices are best enjoyed when microwaved for 20 seconds and served with butter or jam. We tried it in cheese sandwich too, but that didn't work so well. so essentially this is a breakfast bread.. 

and since we were at the breakfast table i thought i'll share my jam recipe as well. Its a strawberry jam that i made last week using Ina Garten's recipe as a guideline.. I used jaggery instead of sugar and a hint of salt . and that kind of signatured a Grandma's Home-made  label on the Jam :) 

 i now the recipes....