Honey Chocolate cupcakes

My 6 year old came up with this recipe all on her own. She's the opposite of me - I need a recipe to make food, bake bread, desserts - atleast for the first time. She does not want the recipe. She refuses to use it and went ahead and made this with some basic knowledge of baking.

It was delicious. Do try it and let me know what you think! (this is the recipe in her words)

K's Honey Chocolate Cupcakes

(makes 3 cupcakes)

1 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Sugar
1 Egg
1 tbsp Honey
1 pinch Baking Soda
1 pinch Baking Powder
2 tbsp Chocolate, melted
4-5 Chocolate Chips
1 tbsp All-Purpose Flour

Preheat oven to 200 deg C.

Mix the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix everything together. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and eat warm (with vanilla ice cream).

Wild Rice Salad

I love the flavor of wild rice. It's nutty and soft and delicious. In India we use rice mostly as an accompaniment to curries and vegetables. But for a rice that's as flavorsome as wild rice, it needs to shine on its own.

Here's a simple recipe for a wild rice salad, the inspiration taken from many recipes around the blogosphere.

Wild Rice Salad 

2 cups wild rice, cooked
3/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 cup peas, cooked
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Dressing: 
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp English mustard (English mustard has more zing than regular mustard. If you don't have English, just use regular mustard)
1 tsp Green onion, chopped

Cook the rice. While the rice is still warm after cooking, add the dried cranberries so they plump up. Keep aside. Mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Mix the salad ingredients in another bowl. Combine the salad and dressing ingredients just before serving.


Obviously this recipe is very forgiving. Go ahead and substitute the nuts or use raisins or other dried fruit instead of cranberries. Skip the peas altogether if you don't like them. Go ahead and give it a shot. I made this for a light summer lunch and it was very well appreciated. Enjoy!

Truffle Cheese Straws

When I read a post about Gorgonzola Cheese Straws on one of the best blogs out there, Love and Olive Oil, it was 7pm. I had just made a vegetable and macaroni bake for the kids for dinner. I was waiting for them to finish a bath, and decided to catch up on my blog reading.

This post caught my eye on Feedly (have you tried Feedly, BTW? Its quite the best!). When I read it and realized I had everything on hand - and my oven was already pre-heated. I literally jumped up off the chair, iPad in hand, and headed to the kitchen. Got the ingredients together in about five minutes. Put the ingredients together in another five minutes. Rolled out dough, cut and in the oven - 3 minutes. Baked for 20 minutes.

The cheese straws were ready in 35 minutes (from the time I came across the recipe!), and we ate it with our dinner. Now that's what I call a perfectly quick recipe! And we loved it so much that I'm writing about it at ... um... 8.40 pm. Now that's called enthusiasm.

I made a couple of changes to the original recipe, but mainly substituted Truffle Cheese (i.e. Cheese with Truffles) for the Gorgonzola.

Truffle Cheese Straws

(Original recipe, Gorgonzola Cheese Straws here)

1/2 cup Truffle Cheese, grated
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
5 tablespoons Butter
1/4 tsp Salt (I used a little less salt, since the cheese is super salty)
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (yes, we like our cheese straws spicy)
2 tbsp Milk
1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Mix all the ingredients together. (I was supposed to mix the milk in the end, but forgot and just put all of them together. I don't think it affected the straws). The dough will be crumbly but smooth enough to roll into a ball.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle, about 1/4" thick. Cut the dough into 1/2" strips. Carefully transfer the strips onto a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden and slightly puffy. 

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in jars. Okay, if there is anything left over. We ate it off the wire racks. As I said, gone completely! Sorry for the bad photograph. Also, I know they don't look perfect but it was because I was not being too precise while cutting the strips. Some of them broke off while transferring from the baking tray to the wire rack. Next time I'll make them thicker. But that's the only thing I will change, because they were Perfect!!

Thanks, Love and Olive Oil, for a fabulous recipe. My family thanks you too.

Hokkaido Milk Bread

We love breads from Asian bakeries at home. And the kids and husband love sweet, soft bread. So this bread was so up our alley!

For the third installment of our Knead to Bake group, we got this amazing recipe that was super simple and yet the bread tasted quite complicated - that is, with loads of flavor.

 Anyone who has been wondering if they should or could bake bread at home, try this recipe. Its not complicated and delivers a perfectly soft bread. Do let me know how it went!

Hokkaido Milk Bread

First you make a tangzhong which is a simple roux - a combination of flour, water and milk.

Tangzhong:
1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Milk

Put all three ingredients into a pan and whisk until smooth. Place the pan on the stove over a medium heat and stir until slightly firm and lines begin to form in the roux as you stir (or the temperature of the roux reaches 65deg C). Take off the stove and allow to cool. Cover and set aside for at least two hours (or overnight in the refrigerator), but not more than 24 hours.

Then you make the bread.

Dough:

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
3 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Powdered Milk
2 tsp Instant Yeast (I used Active Dry Yeast)
1/2 cup Milk
1/8 cup Cream
1/3 cup tangzhong (about half of what we made above)
25g Butter (unsalted, softened)
Toppings, as desired (I did not use any toppings, but next time I'm going to make a savory version filled with cheese, or topped with herbs, or a sweet version filled with melted chocolate!).

I used my Kitchen Aid food processor to make the dough, and I would recommend using some kind of food processor. The dough is quite sticky until it starts coming together, and if you are kneading by hand you might tend to add flour to stop it from being sticky, which is not recommended. So if you are kneading by hand, be patient.

Those with the food processor, go ahead and add the flour, salt, sugar, powdered milk and yeast in the bowl. Pulse to combine. In another bowl, combine the milk, cream and tangzhong until smooth, and add to the dry ingredients in the processor bowl. Run on a slow speed until you see the dough coming together. Add the butter and keep processing on a slow speed until you have a smooth and elastic dough.

 Form the dough into a ball and place in a well-oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover with a muslin cloth and keep in a warm place and allow the dough to rise for about 45 minutes. 
Now take out the dough, flatten and form into a desired shape: you can make traditional loaves, rolls, or even some cute animal shapes for kids. This dough is so easy to work with that kids might love shaping it with you and enjoy making their own bread.

To make a loaf, divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll out each piece into a rough oval. Now fold the shorter sides of the oval down to the middle, where they slightly overlap. Roll this folded dough with a rolling pin so the unfolded edges are stretched out to form a rectangle. Roll the rectangle from one short edge to the other, pinching the edges to seal well (if you are adding a filling, do so at this stage, and then roll up the rectangle). Do this with each of the three pieces and place them, sealed edges down, in a well-oiled loaf tin.

Cover with a muslin cloth and let rise for about 45 minutes in a warm area. You can add toppings to the dough at this stage before baking. Brush the tops of the dough with cream and bake the bread at 170 deg C for about 30 minutes and browned on top.

Remove from the oven. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, remove from pan and place on a wire rack and allow to rest.

Serve warm or cool. Slathered with butter, or straight from the pan! Its delicious any way you try it.

Thanks Aparna for this fabulous recipe!

Za'atar and Goat Cheese Pull-Apart Bread

It's been about two years since I posted here. I've been super busy with kids, work, home, and more kids, work and home. I've missed baking tremendously. I've also not baked because my crappy OTG has given up on me. It's a temperamental little fellow. Soon I'm going to be the proud owner of a new oven (not an OTG, an actual oven) and I can't wait.

Aparna, a dear friend, has started a new group and I jumped at the opportunity to become a part of it. We are the

We Knead to Bake group. This is so totally up my alley, that I forgot about my OTG-troubles, signed up for the group, kept my fingers crossed and just baked my first pull-apart bread. I just hoped it would turn out somewhat close to Aparna's Herb and Cheese Pull-Apart Bread!

Za'atar and Goat Cheese Pull-Apart Bread

For the dough:
1/2 cup Warm Milk
1 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast (I used Flieschmann's)
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
25g Butter, softened
1 tsp Garlic Paste
3/4 cup Milk (and a little more to brush over the bread)


For the filling:
3/4 cup Za'atar
1 cup Goat's cheese, grated
1/2 cup Pine nuts, toasted
2 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper, or Chilli Flakes (optional)

Combine the warm milk, sugar and yeast together in a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.

Meanwhile, combine the flour, salt, butter and garlic paste together, to form a dough. Add the yeast mixture, and the milk and knead until it becomes a smooth, silky dough (add a little bit of flour and knead until it stops being sticky!).

Shape the dough into a rough ball and place in a well-oiled bowl. Make sure the dough is lightly coated in oil as well. Cover with a cheese-cloth and keep in a warm area. Let rise for approximately an hour until dough becomes double its size.

Now, flatten and deflate the dough. Roll out into a square as large as possible. Spread the top of the dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the za'atar all over the butter, followed by the cheese, the nuts and the chilli flakes. Try to press the nuts in a little into the dough, so they don't fall out while baking.

Now cut the square into even strips. Lay one strip over the other (filling side up), until you have one long rectangle with even layers. Cut the rectangular stack vertically at even intervals until you have 6 or so square stacks.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Grease a loaf pan. Layer the square slices, cut side down into the loaf pan. Cover and let rise again for about an hour. Brush the top of the loaf with melted butter or milk.

Bake at 180 deg C for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven. Enjoy.

My bread deflated in the OTG because of uneven heating inside. It got quite brown and stuck to the bottom and we couldn't get it out. So we ate it from the loaf pan!!!

It tasted great, but looked terrible. I'm posting the photo here, but please don't judge the bread by its appearance! :) Do try it - it tastes delicious.

Thanks Aparna for including me in this group, for making me blog again after 2 years and most importantly, for getting me back to baking!

Pesto

Pesto has got to be one of the most versatile spreads in the world. And so easy to personalize. Pesto is just a combination of greens/ herbs, nuts and cheese with a wonderful addition of olive oil.

Here is a wonderfully easy recipe for pesto. Feel free to use any combination of greens/ herbs and nuts. Some good ideas are spinach, basil or even sun-dried tomatoes. And any nuts at all. I like to go with a sharper cheese, and hard cheeses seem to give it a nice texture, but feel free to use a creamy cheese (like goat's).

Pesto

2 cups Herbs/ Greens (I used cilantro)

1/2 cup Cheese (I used Parmesan)

1/2 cup Olive Oil (I used extra virgin)

1/3 cup Nuts (I used walnuts)

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

Salt + Pepper, to taste

Pulse the cilantro and nuts in a mixer. Add garlic and pulse. Pour the oil into the mixer in a constant stream while continuing to pulse. Mix in the cheese and pulse until thoroughly combined. Add salt and pepper at the end.

Use the pesto as is. Mix it with some hot, cooked pasta. Spread it on toast. Use it as a base for pizza. Or eat it by the spoon! Some recipes that use pesto from this blog:

Pesto & Garlic Bread, Gnocchi, Pizza, Mushroom Soup and Pesto Toast and Bites of Toast.

Spinach Rice

I recently went to a modern Andhra restaurant, Maya, in Chennai. Andhra Pradesh is a small state in southern India, whose cuisine is typically very spicy and loaded with masala, tamarind and ground spices.

This restaurant surprised me though. The food was mild, full of subtle flavors and delicious. The one dish that really stood out to me was the lovely spinach rice. I asked my waiter if he could give me the recipe and he, very graciously, told me the ingredients. So I made an attempt at it, and thankfully, it turned out exactly how I'd hoped. (I've added peas to this rice, in order to get in more veggies, but the original recipe didn't have it, so feel free to leave it out).

Spinach Rice (with Peas)

2 cups White or Brown Rice, cooked and cooled

4 cups Spinach, cleaned and washed

1 tbsp Mustard Seeds

1 tbsp Urad Dal/ Bengal Gram

1 large Onion, peeled and chopped fine

2-3 Green Chillies, slit (optional)

1/2 cup Green Peas, cooked (optional)

2 tsp Sesame Oil

Salt, to taste

Heat the oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds and urad dal and stir until mustard seeds begin to pop. Add the onions and green chillies and cook until the onions are transparent. Now add the spinach. Continue stirring/ cooking until wilted.

Mix in the cooked rice, peas and salt and fold until fully combined with the spinach mixture.

Delicious! Even my I-won't-eat-anything-green daughter ate it without a complaint!