French Baguettes

Baguettes are difficult to reproduce at home as they require a very hot and steaming oven. However by using less yeast and triple fermentation method, you can get more better baguettes than the mass produced one. Traditionally baguettes are made with only white bread flour, since I'm trying to avoid the white flour I used whole wheat and rye. Which tasted still good.
   These baguettes can be used for garlic bread, or with soups. I love these baguettes with fresh salad, chicken and cheese as a sandwich.

Preparation Time: 1 hour+ rising time
Cooking Time: 20 to 25 minutes
Makes about 3 loaves

Ingredients:
Wholewheat flour- 400 g / 16 oz
Rye flour- 200 g / 8 oz
Salt- 1 tsp
Dried yeast- 2 tsp
Warm water- 525 ml

Method:
Sift the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast and warm water mix it well. Gradually add half of the flour mixture to the water to make a batter. Cover with a cling film and leave it in a warm place to rise for about 3 hour or until trebled in size and starting to collapse.
  Then add the remaining flour and beat with your hand to make a smooth dough. Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl and cover with a cling film. Keep it in a warm place and allow it to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
  Divide the dough into 3 equal balls and stretch into a length of 15 cm. Shape each piece into an oblong. Pleat a floured dishtowel on a baking sheet to make 3 moulds to hold the dough. Place the loaves between the pleats to help hold their shape while rising. Cover with a lightly oiled cling film and leave it in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour.

 Mean while preheat the oven to 230 degree celsius. Boil water in the kettle and pour it in a ceramic bowl. Place it in the bottom of the oven to generate steam inside the oven. Take the raised dough, roll it gently into a baking tray,  slash with a knife diagonally several times. Bake it in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Serve the bread with soup or use it for sandwich.

This recipe goes to Champa's Bake off, yeastspotting and AWED- France hosted by Priya started by DK of Chef In You.
Along with this I'm also sending my mini brioche and mini apple croissant to AWED France

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Pear, Chocolate and Almond Crumble : Sweet Punch for December 2010

This month our challenge is to make Pear and Chocolate crumble. A hot bowl of soup and a warm dessert is something perfect to enjoy for this snowy winter. A very simple and easy to make which makes you feel satisfied. I always like to enjoy these warm dessert with some cold ice cream, you can also have with some custard. Thank you Sweet Punch team for this delicious punch.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients:
Pears- 2
Brown sugar- 2 tbsp
Lemon- juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
Plain flour- 75 g
Blanched and toasted almonds- 1 tbsp
Butter- 30 g
Milk or plain chocolate- 50 g

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degree celsius.
Peel and chop the pears and mix it along with the juice and zest of lemon. Also add the brown sugar and mix well.
Mix the plain flour and butter with your finger tips until it resembles like a bread crumbs, then add  the sugar and chopped almonds and mix well.
Take two tea cups, add the pears and 2 to 3 pieces of chocolate in each cup. Top it with the crumble topping and add the another 2 to 3 pieces of chopped chocolate on top of it. Bake it in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until it looks golden brown on top.
Serve warm with ice cream or custard.

Note:
You can also increase the measurement and use a large size bowl to make the crumble, in that case it might take longer time to cook.

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Oats Paniyaram and Oats Murukku : Tried and Tasted from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

This time Tried and Tasted is from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes. Like most of you I too have a long list to try from Priya's  recipes. Priya  is  known for her quick, easy and innovative recipes with all healthy ingredients. Although I have a long list to try from her recipes, this time I'm posting this oats paniyaram and murukku for the event hosted by Seduce your taste buds.
    Both tasted absolutely delicious and easy to make too. You can view the original recipes of Priya from here and here.

Oats Paniyaram

Preparation Time: 20 minutes+ Soaking Time
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Makes about 15 paniyaram( might vary according to the pan size)

Ingredients:
Raw rice- 1 cup
Rolled oats- 1 cup
Jaggery- 1/2 cup ( I used black jaggery)
Grated coconut- 1/4 cup
Banana- 1
Cardamom powder- 1/4 tsp
Bicarbonate of soda- 1/4 tsp
Ghee or oil for frying

Method:
Soak the rice in water for 2 hours. Grind it to a smooth paste by adding little water. Soak the oats for 10 minutes. Add it to the the rice mixture and grind well. Finally add the banana, coconut, jaggery and cardamom powder, grind well again.
  If the batter is too thick add some water to make a drop consistency. Add the bicarbonate of soda and mix well. Heat a paniyaram pan, add oil or ghee in each round. Drop a spoonful of batter in each round, cook in medium to low heat . After 2 or 3 minutes, turn to the other side. When it's cooked, drain from oil.
Serve warm.

Note :
If you don't have a paniyaram pan, just deep fry it in the normal kadai.


Oats and Coconut Murukku

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Makes about 20 to 25 murukku

Ingredients:
Rice flour- 2 cups
Roasted split gram dhal / Pottukadalai- 1/2 cup
Rolled oats- 1/2 cup
Roasted Urad dhal- 1/4 cup
Butter- 1 tsp
Sesame seeds- 1 tbsp
Nigella seeds- 1/2 tbsp
Coconut milk- 1 cup
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Powder roasted gram dhal, rolled oats and urad dhal separately into a fine fine powder. Sieve the urad dhal powder to make it fine. Heat the coconut milk and butter just under a boiling point. Mix all the powder, rice flour, salt and seeds in a large bowl. Add the heated coconut milk mix together to make a smooth dough.
  Put a ball of dough into the murukku press and press as murukkus in a greased plate or aluminium foil. Heat oil in a pan. Put the murukkus one by one at a time in the hot oil. Cook on both sides until the oil stops bubbling. Take it out from the oil. Store the murukkus in a air tight container.

Both paniyaram and murukku goes to Tried and Tasted Recipes hosted by Seduce Your TasteBuds originally started by Zlamuska and now carried on by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles, to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Priya and Aipi.

Paniyaram goes to Veggie/ Fruit A Month - banana hosted by Aipi started by Priya and Celebrate Sweets- Sugarless sweets hosted by Sara originally started by Nivedita.

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Sfeeha with Soya mince

Sfeeha is a meat pie, traditionally made with bread as a base and meat filling. To make it more heart friendly I have used here soya mince. Soya mince is nothing but the crumbled dried soya chunks. You can use this various purposes like curries, burgers etc... Since soya is a very good source of protein, it's a good alternative to meat.
You can find my Sfeeha with meat filling recipe here.

Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
For the dough:
Whole wheat flour- 300 g
Warm water- 120 ml
Dried yeast- 1 tsp
Olive oil- 2 tsp
Honey- 1 tsp
Salt- 1/2 tsp

For the filling:
Soya mince- 150 g
Onion- 1 chopped finely
Tomato- 1 chopped finely
Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Garam masala- 1/4 tsp
Oil- 1/2 tbsp
Tomato puree- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:
Prepare the dough:
Sift the flour in a large bowl, add the salt, yeast and mix well. Make a well in the center, add the oil, honey and water little by little to make a smooth dough. Place the dough in a clean and oiled bowl. Cover with  a cling film and allow it to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Prepare the filling:
Soak the soya mince in warm water for 2 or 3 minutes. Drain the water completely. Heat the oil in a pan. Add ginger garlic paste and onion. Fry well until becomes light brown in colour. Then add the tomatoes and stir well. Cover the pan and cook until the tomatoes get mashes up. Now add all the spices and mix well. Finally add the soya mince and stir well. Cover the pan for few minutes until all the water evaporates. Switch it off and take it out from heat.
Prepare the sfeeha:

Divide the dough into lemon size balls. Roll out the dough into a oval shape. Place a big spoonful of filling in the middle and fold the edges to make a triangle shape. Cover and leave for another 5 minutes.

 Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200 degree celsius. Bake it in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until it looks brown on the sides.
Serve with minted yogurt or babaganoush and salad.

Note:
Soya mince doesn't stick to the bread dough like meat, if you feel that it's too crumbly add some grated cheese along with the soya mince.



This recipe goes to my own event Eat Well Live Well, Champa's Bake Off and yeastspotting.

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Bread Baking Day # 35 - Breads with Dry Fruits : Event Announcement

I'm in immense pleasure to host bbd # 35 in my blog. Bread Baking Day was originally created by Zorra of Kochtopf , in which every month under a specific theme we bake bread. This is the successful 35th series of bread baking day. Zorra also hosts World bread day every year in which you can find extraordinarily different and lovely breads from all over the world.
   I have been following this bread baking day for a long time and spend hours in going through all the recipes. I never thought I'll be hosting this event, to be honest I never thought I can bake breads. Thank you Zorra for giving me this golden opportunity.
 Last month bread baking day 34 was hosted by Zesty South Indian Kitchen with Breads with grains as the theme. You can check out the last month roundup from here. This month being festive season for most of the people, I have chosen breads with dry fruits as theme. I'm sure everybody will be busy baking in this season for your friends and family, happily bake it with lots of love and don't forget to send it bbd# 35. 
Here are few breads baked by me using dry fruits
Fruit and Nut Tea Ring

Hazelnut Bread

For more recipe refer the previous bread baking events from here
Criteria for the event:
1. Create any yeasted bread with dry fruits .
2. Post it in your blog from now till Jan 1st 2011, link to this announcement page and Zorra's announcement page.
3. Please include the logo in your recipe.
4. There is no limit to the number of entries, you can send as many entries as possible.
5. Your recipe has to typed in English please.
6. I request you not to send any recipes with alcohol.
7.Mail the following details at ayeesha.riaz@googlemail.com
    Name:
    Name of your blog:
    Recipe Name and Url:
    Picture re sized to 300 px
8. Non bloggers can also participate in this event, mail me your full recipe with a image of your recipe to
    ayeesha.riaz@googlemail.com


If you have any doubts or concerns feel free to leave your comment below this post.

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Simple Broccoli Rice

Ever since I knew about the extremely good quality of this vegetable, this has a become star vegetable in our home. There are times when I use  only a  few vegetables in the market and  ignored the remaining completely. That too when It comes to broccoli I never turned to that. Now I just look for broccoli in the shop and try to include this almost in our everyday meal.
   Broccoli is packed with nutrients than any other vegetable. It's high in vitamin C, A, D and also many other health benefits in broccoli. Broccoli can also be given as a calcium substitute. Broccoli is also known for it's cancer fighting abilities, it also reduces the cholesterol level in your body. What else a vegetable need other than this. Read more about broccoli from the link here.
  This is a very simple recipe with broccoli which can be made in minutes as a quick lunch box treat or even a easy lunch at home.
Tips to cook broccoli:
  Whenever you cook broccoli do not over cook it.  If it's over cooked and becomes mushy, it not only loses it's flavours, it also loses it's nutrients. Either steam your broccoli or stir fry for 3 minutes on medium heat. You can use in your soups, dosa batter, pancake, hummus, omelet, idli batter, paniyaram etc....

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
Basmathi rice or Brown Rice- 2 cups
Broccoli florets- 1 cup
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp
Onion- 1 chopped medium sized
Cinnamon stick- 1/2 inch
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Garam masala- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves- 1/2 tbsp chopped finely
Oil- 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:
 Wash the broccoli florets well and immerse them in hot water for 2 minutes. Remove from the water and wash immediately with cold water. Heat oil in a pan, add cinnamon and cumin seeds. Then add ginger garlic paste, onion and fry well till the onion becomes lightly brown in colour. Add turmeric and garam masala, mix it well. Finally add the broccoli and stir well for 1 minute. Switch off the flame.
  Add the washed rice, broccoli mixture, salt in a cooker and cook till the rice is done. Finally add the chopped coriander leaves.
 Serve the rice warm with any veg or non veg curries.

This recipe goes to my own event  Eat Well Live Well- Heart Friendly recipes, Only Green event hosted by Sara's Corner originally started by Pari of Foodelicious.

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Potato Pinwheels

I saw this recipe in Pari's Foodelicious as potato crispies, the moment I saw that the flavours in the crispies tempted me a lot. I followed her same recipe for the filling but I changed the pastry , since I baked it. This goes great with tea as a snack, you can also take these crispies for picnics in summer, since the weather is cold I'm sure we can't think of any outdoor picnic now. Any way you can find the original recipe of Pari from here.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes + resting time for the pastry
Serves 4

Ingredients:
For the pastry:
Plain flour or wholemeal flour - 120 g
Butter- 60 g
Egg yolk- 1
Baking powder- 1/4 tsp
Ice cold water- 1 to 2 tbsp
For the filling:
Potato- 3 medium sized cooked and mashed
Onion- 1 medium sized finely chopped
Garlic- 3 pods finely chopped
Chat masala- 1 tsp
Chilli powder- 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
Oil- 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste
For the topping:
Egg white- 1 beaten lightly
Sesame seeds- 1 tsp( optional)

Method:
Prepare the pastry:
Sift the flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the butter to the flour and gently work with your hands until it resembles a fine bread crumbs. Now add the egg yolk and bring the dough together. If it looks too crumbly add 1 tbsp of cold water to bring the dough together. Wrap the dough in a cling film and keep it in the refrigerator for minimum of 2 hours.
Note:
Don't work too much on the dough it might harden the pastry.
Prepare the filling:
Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds. Then finely chopped garlic and onion. When the onion becomes  transparent, add all the spices and stir well. Finally add the mashed potatoes and mix well. Switch off the flame and let it cool down for a while.
Prepare the pinwheels:

Take the dough out from the refrigerator, roll it out between two sheets of cling film. Spread the filling on the pastry. Roll it like a swiss roll. Wrap the pastry in a cling film and keep it in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200 degree celsius. Take the pastry out, cut it into 1 inch pinwheels. Brush the top with beaten egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place it in a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake it in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Serve the pinwheels warm with tomato ketchup.

This recipe goes to Champa's Bake Off.

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