Baking is therapeutic. Nothing can beat the self satisfaction that you feel when you see that bread or cake puffing up and getting that golden brown color. Not to forget the aroma of that fresh baked goodie wafting throughout your house. I have never been a part of any foodie groups and so when I first saw Priya akka's open invite for a baking challenge, I so wanted to join... Its all about baking, simple honest baking and that made me join the Home Baker's challenge, a group of friends who love baking, who have joined hands to learn and excel in baking, helping each other.. I am not sure how far I can journey with them but till now I am trying my level best to keep up with em.
For the first month's challenge, we were asked to make pizza. We were given recipes, we asked questions, there were friends to help us out and now everyone has come up with a gorgeous pizza creation. Just when I was all set to bake my pizza, my oven decided to give up on me and rather than me giving up on the pizza making part, I started browsing for stove top versions. After seeing this, I was confident enough to go on and so I made a stove-top pizza.
As for the toppings, I used some kidney beans, seasoned them with some italian herbs and pepper, mashed them really well and spread the mash on top of the pizza. I picked the idea from a tv cooking show, originally it was used as a filling for enchiladas. The topping was good, and paired well with all that cheese... On the whole the pizza was a hit, appa gave a thumbs up and so did amma. We had it for dinner, a medium sized pizza each with some cold mango juice.
~*What U Need*~
Recipe adapted from here
For Pizza dough
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Active dried yeast - 1 tsp
Warm water - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Canola / olive oil - 1 1/2 tbsp
Seasoned kidney beans mash:
Kidney beans - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1/2 cup, finely chopped
Green chilli - 1, finely chopped
Chopped garlic - 1 tbsp
Pizza sauce - 1/4 cup
Italian seasoning - 1 tsp
Pepper, salt - to season
Oil
Other toppings
Onion, tomato rings
Corn kernels - 1/4 cup
Pizza Cheese - 1/2 - 1 cup
How I Made it:
The Pizza dough:
Mix the warm water and yeast in a small bowl to blend. Let stand until the yeast froth and gets activated, about 5 minutes. Mix the flour and salt, add oil and mix well. Add the yeast and mix till you form a dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat with the oil.
Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and set aside in a warm area until the dough doubles in volume, about 1 hour. Punch the down dough and divide into 2 equal balls.
Seasoned kidney beans mash:
Soak the kidney beans overnight. Cook till soft, about 3 whistles in the pressure cooker. Heat oil in a kadai, add the chopped garlic. When the raw smell leaves add onion and saute till brown. Add the cooked kidney beans.
And followed by the pizza sauce and then the italian seasoning. Now start mashing it, if needed add a splash of water. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat a tawa till it is hot, then reduce the flame to low. Roll pizza dough and then transfer the hot tawa, cook covered for 5-7 mins till brown and crisp. Flip and spread the pizza sauce, kidney beans mash, veggies, cheese and cook covered for another 5 mins till the cheese is all melty and bubbly. Remove, slice and serve.
Serve warm with some aerated drink.
** Notes:
** The dough can be used immediately or stored airtight in the refrigerator for 1 day.
** You could keep the pizza simple by just topping it with onions, tomatoes and other veggies.
** Skip the veggie part, add two types of cheese of choice for a kids friendly margherita pizza.
** Sky is the limit for the list of toppings that can go on a pizza, so innovate.
Thanks to all who took time to wish for the kid's birthday. It was so kind of you and IWe love you all for that. It was a great day for me and the party was a big hit. The theme was blue and everything from the cake to the decorations to the party wear were shades of blue. People loved it and the kid enjoyed getting pampered. We were showered with love and blessings and thats what mattered the most. Post party cleaning was a big pain and I am taking it slowly. Almost everything has been tidied up and life is slowly coming back to normal.
The kid is one year old, its as if only yesterday we were blessed with our prince. Time is running real fast and before we could even realise, hes gonna grow up really big, throwing crazy questions at us leaving us speechless. I am so looking forward to those times. Now that he naps less and walks, I am not sure how I am gonna keep up with the monthly bake here after. If not a bake atleast a sweet or dessert will be made on the 22nd of every month and shared ofcourse.
Coming back to the post, I have become lazy post his birthday and have not cooked anything new. These calzones were made some time back for our breakfast as I had some left over sweet corn and quarter of a capsicum. The stuffing made up for only two calzones and so for the remaining one I scooped a tbsp of nutella and some strawberry preserve. Believe me we loved the later. It was sweet, chocolaty and tart which made it all the more tempting...
~*What U Need*~
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1/4 - 1/2 cup
Active dried yeast - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Warm water - 1/2 cup
Filling:
Sweet corn - 1/2 cup
Capsicum - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1/4 cup, finely chopped
Salt, pepper - to season
Italian Seasoning - 1 tsp Pizza sauce - 1 tbsp
Mayo - 1 tsp
Cheese, grated - 1/4 cup
How I Made it:
Mix everything under filling and set aside. In a small cup, mix lukewarm water, sugar, oil, yeast and salt. Let rest till frothy for 10 mins. In a mixing bowl, add whole wheat and all purpose flour.
Add the yeast mixture and knead to a soft, non-sticky elastic dough. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with damp cloth and allow to rise for 45-60 mins.
Once the dough had risen, punch down the air and divide into 3 equal balls. Take one ball, on a well floured surface n using rolling pin roll into circle. Add the filling in the center, fold the filling using the other half and press the edges using finger or with fork. Make sure u have sealed the edges tightly and properly. Make 2-3 slits on top and brush the top with milk or egg wash and place it on iron pan or greased baking tray.
For the nutella calzone, add 1 tbsp nutella and 1 tbsp strawberry preserve in the center and repeat as above. Bake at 375F (190C) for 25-30 minutes. Serve hot.
Serve warm with some freshly squeezed orange juice...
** My Notes:
** These make a healthy and great breakfast option.
** Add more vegetables to make it more heavier.
Adapting world cuisine for our breakfast has become common these days. What with the bread being a staple in my pantry or the life-saver oats porridge which we have every alternate days or the kellogs which we have with fruits and nuts. You know I have advanced by getting the family pack of Kelloggs x2 for a month these days. Thats how often we have that. But its not only with my household, I have seen many friends of mine who stack breads, jams and peanut butters to have a fuss free breakfast.
One such thing that has been adapted by most of the Indians are Pancakes. I thought that Pancakes were quintessential to the Americans only. But wikipedia proved me wrong. They have been roaming around as early as the 5th century BC. How ancient is that!!! Read more here if you are interested.
Pancakes are easy to make and makes up for a tummy filling breakfast... you can make them with eggs or eggless, use whole wheat flour or oats to make them healthy and flavor them anyway you need depending on what your pantry holds. I had some wilting bananas in my fruit basket and the banana bread seemed to repeating a lot, I have made them twice in two weeks time. So I settled for these pancakes. They were flavorful, protein packed and made up for a filling morning breakfast.
~*What U Need*~
Bananas - 2, large
Sugar - 2tbsp
Egg - 1, large
Milk - 1 cup
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
For peanut butter sauce
Creamy peanut butter - 2 tbsp
Heavy cream - 1 tbsp
Brown sugar - 2 tsps
Milk or cream - to bring to sauce consistency
How I Made it:
Blend the bananas along with sugar. In a large bowl, whisk the egg, milk and banana.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk the dry into wet mixture until the batter is smooth.
Drop by 1/4-cupfuls onto an oiled skillet. Cook until brown underneath and dry on top with tiny bubbles. Flip to brown the second side. Repeat with remaining batter.
Mix everything mentioned under sauce till smooth. Pour over pancakes.
Disclaimer: This is gonna be a lengthy post so please bear with me.
Like all the food bloggers out there, I wanted to end 2012 with a recap, a thankyou note and a wish. But then the kid never allows me to sit in front of the laptop these days. As soon as the welcome screen pops live, he comes crawling at jet speed out of no-where. And then it is literal banging to the screen... oh, I don't know till when the lappy is gonna last and its just been out of service. That said, I just couldn't find time to browse through recipes and put down those recipes that the readers loved as a post. The lappy remains closed all through daytime and I sit to compose a post or trim a pic only when the kid has been rocked to sleep. And at times, I just give up and crash on the bed.
So giving up on the replay post, I moved on to other thoughts. A whole lot of ideas have been going through my mind on what to post on new year's eve. Orange curd tartlets or a chocolate mudcake.. why not butterscotch blondies (..oh the blondies have been in my to-do list for a long time) or nutella brownie bites. Ideas seem to come pouring. But I just couldn't bring myself together to bake something. The idea of celebrating a New year without the huss is weighing me down and is making me sulk. And just like a booster, came by the FB msg from Karthi. She wanted another guest post for her beautiful blog and the theme was Xmas and new year. Since I had already posted a Christmas fruit cake for this year, I took up the theme of New Year. Not wanting to do an elaborate bake, I wanted to keep it simple and when I saw a fully riped pineapple sitting on my kitchen counter, I knew what the recipe was going to be. Its a simple but elegant dish and is best served hot, topped with a dollop of ice cream and drenched in chocolate sauce. Do hop over to Sumanarthy's kitchen to know more. She hasn't posted it yet so do give it sometime.
Talking about this year, its been quite adventurous and I can describe it as a wholesome package of joy. We took a step ahead in life and ventured into parenthood ~ entered our god-sent-gift on the month of April and ever since he has been keeping us on our toes. Its been a roller-coaster ride, I would say. But end of the day, when I see him cuddled next to me, his tender hand resting peacefully across my bosom, my heart feels like bursting with love and happiness.
On the blogging front, I would say I have my own milestones. Done with my 200th post (..ok I know it is too slow, but I am happy that I could get there), my blog has got 300+ followers and am planning to open my FB page (... I didn't till now, becos I know me and I know I will not be actively maintaining it), announced my first event, had a winner for that and got done with a giveaway. Started with posting the cake that I bake for my kid's monthly birthday on the 22nd of every month which has got many readers attention and comments. And yeah, I thought of giving up blogging with the entry of the kid, but I was reluctant to do so. But thanks to DH and amma, I am in full form till now. Lets see what the future holds.
On the personal front, I have seen F.R.I.E.N.D.S sitcom for the 3rd time, completed all the seasons, finished reading the whole Harry Potter series for the 7th time and am reading more articles on food photography (I know my photos donot reflect anything of that kind but I am still on the READING stage). Added to that I never miss an episode of GREY's ANATOMY and now I have two dream boys added to my list... McDreamy and McSteamy.
When I was thinking that the year was coming to a peaceful end, (...yeah the Mayan calendar was proved to be wrong and we still live, thanks to that) the whole world was shook first by the Connecticut shooting and then by the Delhi r**e. No-one in their right mind would attempt to do something like that and still the sinners live. A friend of mine posted this on her wall:
Rightly said... No action has been taken till date that would make the victim's family happy. No action has been taken by the government to assure the citizens that they are in safe hands and sins like this will not be tolerated. Days after this incident happened, I came across another article: read this and this. Where has humanity gone, where has law gone, where has social dignity gone, where is the world going to end up. Lets wake up, lets stand up and fight for our rights. I know nothing can be done against the government and these ill mannered men but atleast we can ensure our own safety.
** Stand up when you see a b*****d rubbing against a woman
** Call back and I say use words, when you see a group teasing a girl
** Shout when you see someone verbally assaulting a lass
** Have a pepper spray in hand or atleast a compass, believe me it comes handy
** Protect your children, have an eye on them anytime, anywhere. Donot trust anybody, your father, your brother, your FIL even your huss, when it comes to your child.
** Talk to your child, let them know what is bad touch and good touch. Make them talk about their day and you will know if anything has gone wrong.
Do share the below pic in your space if you wish to.
Okay I know I have mouthed penned many of my thoughts here and am putting an end to it. All I wanted to tell is Stay safe, be safe and Play safe.
WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY AND SAFE YEAR AHEAD. And thanks to all my dear readers who have taken their time throughout the year to stop by and say a Hi through your comments. Do visit more often.
Updated on 26/1/2012 with the full recipe
~*What U Need*~
For the chocolate sauce/gravy
Butter - 2 tbsp
Unsweetened cocoa powder - 1 tbsp
Flour - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Vanilla - 1/2 tsp
How I Made it:
Heat butter in skillet. Stir in flour, cocoa powder and sugar and continue to cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the milk slowly say 1 tbsp at a time, whisking till incorporated. Cook for another 2 minutes, until thick. Add vanilla and remove from flame.
Store in air tight containers...
~*What U Need*~
For the Grilled Honey Pineapple
Pineapple slices - 4, fresh or drained
Honey - 2 tbsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
How I Made it:
Heat butter in a grill or griddle. Place the pineapple once the grill is hot, drizzle honey around the sides and cook for 3-4 mins till nice and caramelized. Flip, drizzle more honey and cook again. Once caramelized remove from pan.
Serve hot, with a dollop of icecream (..which I missed) and drizzled with chocolate sauce.
** My Notes:
** Use fresh pineapple or canned ones. If using canned drain the juices fully.
** Using a grill gives the beautiful lines, but since I didn't have one, I used a griddle. But I highly recommend using a grill.
** You can also add 1 tsp of lime juice and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon. ** I used Cadbury's cocoa powder and hence skipped the vanilla.
** Cook till forms a thick custard and if it is too thick, dilute using milk to the desired consistency
** The sauce can be stored and used within 2 days. Serve as a dip for fruit bites or breads.
So bye guys, See you next year... Have fun and enjoy life. and do check out this video which I found quite useful..
I first heard about this dip from George Calombaris during his Masterclass in Season 3. I was so hooked to this recipe or rather the name of the recipe. It had a cute ring to it and I was jotting down the ingredients list as usual on the daily newspaper. As time went by, I forgot the date on which the recipe was jotted down and the paper heap found its way to the local newspaper-wala. Though the paper was lost, never did I forget the recipe. I did not have exact measurements but then I was confident to go with my intention. So one day, as George said I grated the cucumber, sprinkled a dash of salt and dumped it in the fridge to leave its water. And there it sat for the rest of its life... I forgot the whole episode and after 2days when I was cleaning the fridge, I found it hidden behind the preserved vegetables. Left with no other option, I had to dump it into the dustbin and with that went in the tzatziki recipe. I didn't want to waste another cucumber.
After months or rather say an year, the dip started popping around my head from time to time and so thought of giving it a go. This is not George's recipe but has been heavily adapted from here. The original recipe called for dill leaves but I replaced it with mint leaves. The dip was perfect to have with our Sunday Biryani.
P.S: I will be trying George's recipe soon... its still registered in my mind.
~*What U Need*~
Makes - 1 cup
Greek yogurt / Hung curd - 1 cup
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Garlic clove - 1
Cucumber - 1, deseeded and diced
Mint leaves - 1 handful
Salt - to season
Black pepper - to season
How I Made it:
Strain plain yogurt in a cheesecloth overnight. Peel cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Discard seeds. Slice cucumbers, put in a colander, sprinkle some salt, and let stand for 30 minutes. This step is to draw out the water from the cucumber. Drain well and wipe dry with paper towel.
Blend together garlic, lemon juice, mint and cucumbers. Season with pepper powder. Give a few whizzes until fully blended. Whisk yogurt till smooth.
Stir the cucumber mixture into the yogurt. Season with salt as needed. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving so that the flavors can blend in.
Serve with pita breads or biryanis or pulao varieties.
Pizza sauces are easy to make and so are pizzas. Truth unveiled yesterday. Yes, you heard made right. I made a pizza yesterday and that too from scratch. No store bought pizza base or pizza sauce. Made everything from scratch... High five to me.
I first thought of dedicating only one post for the whole episode but then the post went on and on.. so have put up the making of pizza sauce in this post and the pizza post is coming up.
Fresh tomatoes sauteed with basil leaves and reduced to a flavorful sauce
I didn't have mixed herbs in hand and hence threw in few basil leaves to get that beautiful flavor. The sauce was just perfect to be topped on a pizza and that is what I did!!! This makes 3 tbsps of pizza sauce. You increase the quantity as needed.
How I Made it:
Make 2-3 slashes in the skin of the tomato. Bring water to a rolling boil. Place the tomato in water for 30 sec. Remove the tomato and peel off the skin. Chop the tomatoes finely and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add the finely chopped garlic and saute. Now add the chopped tomatoes and mix well. When half done, add the basil leaves, vinegar, sugar, pepper powder and salt. Cover and cook until the tomato is completely cooked and mashed up.
Allow to cool.
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