Bread baking tales and recipe for cinnamon rolls

Friday, December 27, 2013

The high point of July was this artisan bread-baking workshop most generously organised by Breadworks Boulangerie. We were hand held (literally) through this process of bread kneading, shaping and baking by master artisan baker, Maurice Chaplais from UK. It was so much fun messing around with flour, yeast, butter and other baking enthusiasts to help with the sticky business. We got to take home the gorgeous stuff we baked-challahs, baps, scottish mist and a most decadent chocolate rum tart. It was also the first time I worked with fresh yeast. You may call it a strong smell, but Ill most definitely call it an aroma, which mellows and infuses every corner of your home as you bake with this.  Call it a stupid coincidence, but I came back home from the workshop and my hands were desperate to get kneading some bread and every batch of yeast at home died on me. I had a painful wait as I ordered fresh yeast online, and the very evening it came home, I got started.


Top L-R: Anadama bread, Whole wheat loaf /
 Bottom L-R: White Sandwich loaf, Fig walnut loaf from Masterchef Australia


Now, the recipes we learnt in the workshop asked for accurately weighed ingredients, while my favourite cookbook-How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman has a section on leavened breads with all metric measurements. So I got started with two sandwich loaves, one white and other, part whole wheat. The next was an Anadama bread, which uses part cornmeal, because in my baking spree, the flour in the bin was all scraped out and I need half a cup more and this recipe fit the bill perfectly.

That was three loaves in two days. 




Yesterday presented me with a perfect opportunity to bake something thats been playing on my mind for a while, the cinnamon roll. We had a farewell tea party for a neighbour and bingo, I wanted to bake these. Again, a Mark Bittman recipe with slight modifications, turned out pillowy soft, just the right amount of sweetness and that hit of decadence from the sugary almond glaze. These were my babies, lovingly baked and of course I loved them. But when my friend, Bharath, who never offers praise unless truly deserved raved about them after taking a bite (in stone cold sober state), that these were the BEST rolls hes eaten, I knew these were deserving of good pictures and then a post with a recipe, may be.




So here goes...

Recipe for Cinnamon Rolls with glaze
Makes 15-16 rolls

Ingredients
3.5 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp fresh yeast or 2 tsp instant dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp butter (soft)
1 cup milk (3% or whole, not skimmed)

For filling
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
2-3 tbsp butter

For brushing
2 tbsp melted butter

For glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tbsp milk
few drop almond extract or vanilla extract


Rolls before baking, after baking and after glazing (Instagram pics)





Directions
In a large bowl, combine flour, crumbled yeast, sugar, salt, butter with your finger tips until they are like crumbs and well mixed.
Make a well in the center, add the eggs one by one, mixing well with finger tips.
Add the milk to this, combining with wooden spoon or fingertips to get the dough together. Once it forms a ball, transfer to lightly floured counter and knead for 10 minutes with heel of your palm, folding it back and again stretching with heel of palm. In the end, make a smooth ball with floured hands. Place in oiled bowl, covered properly, to rise to at least double the size (1-2 hours) in a warm, draught free place.
Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and keep aside.
Butter a baking dish 9X13 inches or use two smaller trays and keep aside.
Once dough has risen to double, remove from bowl on lightly floured surface. Punch down and lightly roll out using a rolling pin, roughly 15 inches in length and 9 inches wide.
Cover the entire surface with the cinnamon sugar, lightly pressing down the coating into the dough with finger tips.
Roll along the length into a tight jelly-roll. Cut into 1" slices, placing them cut side up on the greased baking tin. Keep a little space between rolls, to allow for the second rise.
If you baking in a single large baking tray- place them in 3 rows of 5 rolls to make 15 rolls.
Cover and keep aside for 45 minutes. Or you could place the entire tray inside of a big plastic shopping bag, twist the end and tuck it under tray to have a warm, draught free environment.
Preheat oven to 175 C. Once the rolls have doubled / risen, brush with melted butter and place them in a middle rack and bake for 20-25 minutes until tops are golden.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, milk and extract until you get a glaze of pouring consistency. While the rolls are hot, using a spoon, drizzle the glaze criss cross all over the rolls.
Eat/serve warm straight from pan.

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Fried Rice with Bacon

Thursday, December 26, 2013

This is a moist/soft version of the fried rice. In earlier post I did a Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage, in this version Ive substitute the Chinese sausage for something that is much more likely to be found in an American supermarket, and that is Bacon! This is the first difference, and couple other differences are that the fried rice in this version comes out more moist instead of the crispy texture in the previous version and there are additional mushroom and five spice flavor. Please dont worry if you cant find five spice powder, just half the five spice powder amount called for and substitute cinnamon powder.


Serves 2

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 strips of bacon
5 button mushroom, sliced
1 tablespoon of Chinese rice wine or dried sherry
5 cups of cooked rice, from the day before, loosened by using a spatula
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon of five spice powder, or 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
1 scallion,
green part only thinly sliced

Tips:
  1. Five spice powder or cinnamon powder is very strong, we only want to add a tiny bit to give our fried rice an enhanced flavor and at the same time not overpowering it.
  2. Generally long grain rice are better for making fried rice because it has less moisture than the short grain rice. If you like the crispy texture of the fried rice, please refer to my early post Fried Rice with Chinese sausage.

Instruction:
  1. Separate the egg whites from the yolk, and beat the yolk
  2. In a medium sized pan, heat 1 tablespoon of peanut oil over medium heat, add in the bacon, cook until crispy (about 8 minutes), turning occasionally. Once cooked, place bacon on a paper-towel to drain the grease. Cut length-wise into thin slices.
  3. Discard the bacon grease, put in the sliced onion. When onion is soft (about 5 mintues), add in the sliced mushroom and wine, when mushroom is soft and the wine is almost evaporated (about 3 minutes), then add in the egg white and cook for 1 minute.
  4. Meanwhile, in a wok, heat 1 tablespoon of peanut oil over medium heat, when the oil is hot but not smoking, add in the egg yolk, let it cook in the oil for about 30 seconds, then break it into pieces with your ladle or spatula.
  5. Add in the rice, using the back of the ladle to press the clumps of rice against the wok to break it apart. The goal here is to break up the rice into individual grains. Keep stir-fry and press the rice, and toss the rice and egg regularly to help this process, until rice is sperated into individual grains (about 10-15 minutes) .
  6. Now add in the cooked onion and mushroom mixture into the rice, add in the soy sauce, five spice powder, and salt to taste. Stir fry until everything is mixed together and turn off the heat. Add in the bacon and scallions then serve.
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The Cheltenham Five Part 1 where we eat CAKE!


The best cake plate is an empty one!

The internet is a wonderful place to meet like-minded people and even within the food blogging community you find yourself drawn towards certain peoples blogs and certain conversations on Twitter. Some of those conversations were verging on the smutty and so our hashtag #smuts was born.

There are eight of food bloggers who make up the #smuts, Karen of Lavender and Lovage, Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes, Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog, Fiona from London Unattached, Ros of The more than occasional baker, Sue from Heaven on a Plate, Dom from Belleau Kitchen and me!  After many false start discussions and meetings of two or three at various events, we felt it was time we all met together.  As we are flung to the far corners of the UK and France,  we settled on Cheltenham as a reasonable place that was easily accessible by rail.

Early on in our planning we lost one #smut,  as Jac was off to the sun for a well earned holiday.  Then more unavoidable events meant that Dom and Sue both had to call off almost at the last minute. And then there were five...not of all of those present will be featured in this post, Karen and I dont give a damn so you will see a lot of the two of us!  Fiona also features as long as her hair is okay ;-)

Fiona and Karen came up from London on the train together and I met them at Cheltenham Spa station.    After checking into our hotel, we had a bit of a scout around the sales in Cheltenham including Cath Kidston, Radley and Toast. 

We then headed for our rendez-vous with Choclette and Ros at the Well Walk Tea Room,
Its located in  one of Cheltenhams oldest shops and is a real delight, in terms of decor, customer service and the tea itself.


The shelves are groaning with beautiful vintage china tea sets.

Kitsch cherubs adorned the walls along with  tapestries.

As we were eating fairly early, we were supposed to be limiting our cake consumption, so ordered a Cake Medley a selection of six cakes to share for £10.95.  My favourite was the Cinnamon and Rhubarb Cake which was moist and delicious.  All the cakes were very good indeed, although the Bakewell Tart was a bit too thick for me and not a moist as the other cakes.  The tea flowed freely with lots of top ups and the staff were very friendly and indulgent of our blogging ways.


We couldnt resist some scones with jam and cream as they were straight out of the oven!

Superb!

Bloggers do it with pictures!
Information about the menu and prices is available on the Well Walk Tea Room Menu page.


In the basement, the tea room has a Christmas Shop with vintage style decorations, open all year round.

I can thoroughly recommend the Well Walk Tea Room for a cup of tea and a cake and particularly for their delicious scones.  

I was not paid for this post and received no advantage from writing about the Well Walk Tea Room, I am sharing this review because it was a very good tea.

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Nasi Goreng Piri Piri Lamb and Aromatic Thai Fish Curry

Timing is everything!  As I arrived home from work, a delivery van drew up with a package full of Barts Blends, lovely little tins full of spice blends.  The timing was perfect because I was planning to make a stir fry with some left over duck, there wasnt a lot of duck and it was a case of rummaging around the fridge and freezer to make up the stir fry.  As soon as I saw the tin of Indonesian Goreng Spice Blend, I knew that I would make Nasi Goreng.

Brian and his Nasi Goreng packed lunch
Nasi Goreng means fried rice in Indonesian and the first time we ate it was in Malaysia in 1983.  We were visiting my sister-in-law who was teaching English there, and spent a few days at Taman Negara, a jungle National Park in the centre of the country.  Our packed lunch was provided by the place we were staying in Taman Negara and consisted of cold Nasi Goreng wrapped up in greaseproof paper and newspaper - just like old fashioned fish and chips!

Me on the same log where we ate our packed lunches

Im not going to give you a recipe for Nasi Goreng, I simply cooked some rice and stir fried it with a few bits of cooked duck, a couple of green peppers, a chilli and some peas and I added a teaspoon of Bart Blends Indonesian Goreng spice mix.  It was delicious and the spices really added great flavours to a simple fried rice dish.  Bart Blends Indonesian Goreng can be added during any stage of cooking for a curry flavour with a spicy twist, blending 12 ingredients including paprika, coriander, ginger and galangal.

As well as the Indonesian Goreng I received another four new Bart Blends to try: 

Harissa
  • A dry mix inspired by a traditional Tunisian recipe with a fiery kick, softened by mint and caraway. 

Aromatic Thai
  • Blended to create fresh and fragrant soups and curries, this seasoning blends purple basil with ginger, coriander leaf and chilli.
Pilau
  • A mix of herbs and spices to create an authentic pilau rice in a quick and simple way, combining the fragrance of cardamom and clove with the vivid colour of turmeric. 
Piri Piri
  • Unusually with no added salt, this Portuguese inspired chilli seasoning combines two types of chilli with paprika, lemon, peppers and other ingredients to add excitement to meat dishes.

Another dish I made with the Barts Blends was a Piri Piri Lamb with Orzo pasta and tomatoes.  This time I made a marinade with a teaspoon of the Piri Piri Blend two tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon.  I left the Scotch lamb steaks to marinate for about 3-4 hours, then seared them in a frying pan on a high heat. 

I then cooked an onion and some garlic in a little oil and added a tin of tomatoes, a cup of orzo and a cup of lamb stock, seasoned and left to cook for about 5 minutes, I then added the sliced up lamb and left to cook very gently for a further 15 minutes until the stock had been absorbed.   The lamb was very tender with a nice hint of spice, a little of which also transferred to the orzo.

Finally I made a Barts Aromatic Thai Fish Curry with the Aromatic Thai Blend.  I used some frozen fish fillets I had in the freezer, one hake, one saithe and a couple of trout fillets, but you could use any combination of fish fillets.

Barts Aromatic Thai Fish Curry

4 fish fillets
2 tbsp oil
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1 red chilli
3 tsp Barts Aromatic Thai Blend
A handful of frozen green beans
1/2 a head of broccoli
1 can Coconut Milk
1 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)




1. Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces and covered with 1 tsp of Aromatic Thai blend and leave for 30 minutes while you prepare the sauce.

2. Grind a thumb sized piece of ginger, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 red chilli in a blender or spice grinder with a tbsp of oil.

3. Heat a pan and add the ginger, garlic and chilli paste with 2 tsp of Aromatic Thai blend, cook for a few minutes then add 1 can of coconut milk, a handful of frozen green beans and half a head of broccoli cut into small florets.  Cook gently for about 10 minutes.

4. Add the fish and 1 tbsp of fish sauce (nam pla), cook for about 5 minutes until the fish is opaque. Just before serving, add the chopped coriander.

5. Serve with rice.

If you wanted to make this dish quicker and simpler, you could omit the fresh spices and use only the Aromatic Thai Blend.  You could have it on your table in a matter of minutes.

I have yet to use the Pilau Blend or the Harissa Blend, but I am sure they will be just a flavoursome as the other blends which all  have a really authentic spice flavour and make it really for you to explore authentic regional flavours and easily add character to everyday ingredients.


The new range is available at Ocado and independent grocers and delicatessens, at Waitrose from early November, as well as from the Bart web site, priced at £4.00 per tin.
I was supplied with 5 Barts Blends to review, I was not paid for this post and all opinions are my own. 
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Build Your Own Pizza



BUILD YOUR OWN PIZZA

Carrabbas allow you to choose the following  toppings:


  • Italian sausage
  • pepperoni
  • meatballs 
  • kalamata olives
  • mushrooms
  • sweet peppers
  • onions 
  • tomatoes 
  • sundried tomatoes  
  • eggplant

The pizza shown above has sauteed spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, and grilled smoked eggplant with a touch of sauce.

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Chettinattu Kozhi Kuzhambu chettinad chicken gravy without cocunut

Wednesday, December 25, 2013


Chicken gravy is one item which can be used as a side dish for many food items like chapati, roti, nan, idly or dosa.It will be excellent for rice also. But many of us now dont want to use coconut to make gravy since we grow calorie conscious day by day. Moreover the food items using coconut will not stay good for long. and cannot be stored for a longer period. chettinad dishes usually dont contain too much of coconut.They make tasty gravy without using much coconut.
This recipe of chicken gravy will give you the gravy needed without the use of coconut.Before leaving US I wanted to freeze some food . I did not want to use coconut for freezing. I followed this recipe and the gravy turned out awesome. I come to know that every time they thaw the frozen gravy, It is fresh and good.
For chicken gravy it is always better to use fresh chicken and not the frozen one that people in US get from the stores. When I was there my son-in-law used to get chicken from local Halal shop which was good like the one we get in India. Those who stay abroad can try getting fresh chicken like this if there is a chance to do so.

Ingredients
chicken -2 pounds or 750 gms
small onion-20 or chopped big onion-1
tomato-1 medium size
Garlic-10 pods
Mint leaf-little (if you have stock)
curry leaf-little
Tamarind paste -1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves- a bunch (for garnishing)
For marination
Kuzhambu milagai thool-1 tablespoon or chili powder-2 teaspoon
Coriander powder-1 table spoon
Thick curd-1 tablespoon
turmeric powder-1 teaspoon
ginger garlic paste-2 teaspoons
salt-1 table spoon (as needed)
Masal for grinding
Big onion-2 (US onion-2 Indian-4)
Tomato-2 (Us tomato-2 Indian-4)
green chili-2
Cashews-8
Kas kas- 1 teaspoon or pottukadalai-1 tablespoon
Cinnamon-1 small piece
clove-2
fennel seeds-1 teaspoon
For seasoning
fennel seeds-1 teaspoon
mint leaf,curry leaf -little (if you have stock)
Cinnamon-small piece
bay leaf-small piece
clove-2
Cinnamon- a small piece

Method
cut the chicken into small pieces,wash well and marinate with the item given in for marination and keep aside for an hour. If you cant wait no problem you can start cooking within 20 minutes.
Keep a kadai in the stove. In one teaspoon of oil saute the items for the masal.First add the chili,then cashews, fennel seeds and kas kas , and wait till they turn little red. Now add the onion and then tomato pieces and saute well for 5 to 6 minutes. Allow it to cool and then grind it to a smooth paste in a mixi.
Keep the cooker in the stove.In one table spoon of oil season the chicken gravy with the items given into season. saute the small onion or the chopped big onion and tomato. Add the marinated chicken pieces also and saute well for 5 minutes. Add 3 cups of water . Mix everything well and cook in medium fire for 7 to 10 minutes (cooking time depends on the chicken quality and the fitness of the cooker you use). however dont cook for more than 10 minutes. open the cooker once the pressure goes and add the grinded masal along with the tamarind paste and allow the gravy to boil for 5 minutes. check for the taste.I f anything is missing you can add now.The cashews and the kas kas or pottukadalai in the masal will make the gravy thicker as it boils. Switch off the stove and garnish with coriander leaves (dont add coriander leaves if you intend to freeze the gravy).Coriander leaves will add much taste to the gravy. Those who dont want the gravy to have any sourness,tamarind can be avoided.But tamarind will help the gravy to stay fresh for a longer time. little bit tamarind is enough.

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Recipe for Cranberry Orange Marmalade and 2 preserves cranberry

Do you want to delicious Cranberry meals prepared? Cranberry preserves, cranberry orange Marmalade and Cranberry raspberry preserves are 3 simple, fast and tasty Cranberry recipe-s, your productive juices flowing.

Below are recipe-s, so that you can try at home:

1. Cranberry preserves

Ingredients:

-2 medium-sized apples
-1 Cup sugar
3 / 4 Cup water
-4 1/2 Cup of cranberries
-1 Tablespoon of grated lemon peel
-1 / 4 Cup crème de Cassis

Directions:

-Schälen core and coarse dice you apples.
-Hitze sugar and water in heavy large saucepan over low heat, swirling Pan occasionally until the sugar dissolves.
-Fügen you the cranberries, apples and lemon zest. Bring to a boil.
-Reduzieren heat to medium and cook until consistency of thick jam, stirring often, about 20 minutes.
-Stir in Cassis to taste.
-Kühlen completely before serving (is in the refrigerator for 1 month saved be. available)

2. Cranberry Orange jam

Ingredients:

-2 Cup (1 lb) fresh or frozen cranberries
-1 Cup water
3 / 4 Cup orange juice
-1 / 4 Cup lemon juice
-4 Cup sugar
-2 Bags certo liquid pectin

Directions:

Location cranberries and water in a heavy bottomed out 8-10 qt pan.
-Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and simmer uncovered until berries begin to pop (10 minutes).
Now, make-Drain of fluid.
Values you cranberries until smooth in a blender or food processor and whirl; Add reserved liquid, berries, enough to make 4 cups.

-Rückkehr Pan Berry puree.
-Stir in orange juice, lemon juice and sugar until well blended.
-Bring to the full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly; then one minute boil stirring.
-Entfernen from the heat and stir in pectin at once.
-Skim off any foam.

-Suppenkelle hot jam into hot sterilized half pint glasses, 1 / 4 "head space left."
Wheels and thread wipe clean, seal, blah, blah, blah.
Process for 5 minutes in boiling water bath.

Makes about 6 half pints.

3. Cranberry raspberry jam

Ingredients:

-6 Cup raspberries (3 pints)
-2 1/2 Cup sugar
-1 Cup of cranberries (12 oz bag)
-1 / 4 Cup fresh orange juice
1 grated peel of 1 orange

Directions:

You are be-Verrühren raspberries and 1 cup sugar in a medium bowl and for 1 hour.
-Rühren the cranberries and the remaining sugar together in a place and not reactive shallow Pan preserving over high heat.
-Rühren you constantly, so that the sugars not burn to the cranberries begin juice 5 minutes free.
-Continue cooking until all the cranberries have popped and the mixture is syrupy and comes to a boil.
-Skim off any foam that forms on top and cook and stir about 10 minutes until the mixture thickens. -Fügen you the raspberries and all their juice and boil for 10 minutes.
-Stir in the orange juice and zest for life.
-Entfernen you have a small amount of traffic to a saucer and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.
-If the mix wrinkles when tossed aside, is it ready. If not, Cook for 5 minutes and test again. -If the cans are the right consistency, the heat switch to a simmer and ladle into hot sterilized jars.
-Clean the wheels with a damp cloth and wipe seal with new cover and metal rings.
Process in a water bath warm water for 5 minutes.
-Remove, cooking, seals, check label and store.

Makes 4 a pint glasses.


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