Bruschetta and Easy Peasy Snacks

We are always having last minute guests for dinner and we end up serving whatever simple food we are having that evening. But the other day, as usual kids were complaining that I was not being adventurous in the kitchen. So I sallied forth into the kitchen to make something "different". Luckily I had already bought some french loaves. And had basil in refrigerator (that is quite a rarity, as it is hard to get here in Madras). So I decided to make veg lasagna and bruschetta.

And as usual we had last minute guests. So my plan of making bruschetta and lasagna worked really well.

Bruschetta is a popular Italian appetizer which has its birth way back in time. Bruschetta means roasted over coals which obviously refers to the mode of cooking it.

Bruschetta is so easy to make provided one has the right ingredients. Also, extra virgin olive oil makes it taste even better. So easy to assemble. And I think it tastes so good because of all the simple ingredients that go into its making. Also, one can give total license to one's creativity as far as the toppings go. Olives, feta cheese , jalapenos, roasted pepper etc etc.. My sister in law puts one layer of pesto before putting the toppings on. She also uses baby spinach leaves. This gives a whole new dimension to the flavor. The key, in my opinion is to keep it simple with not more than 4 to 5 ingredients or else it will become too complicated.







Ingredients:


1 French loaf
3 Roma tomatoes
10-15 basil leaves sliced up
3-4 cloves of garlic
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
100 gms Mozzarella cheese grated
salt and pepper to taste
chilli flakes to taste


Method:

Slice the french loaf diagonally to get thin slices.
Cut the garlic into 2 halves.
Deseed and dice the tomatoes finely.
Rub the sliced garlic on the slice of bread and then drizzle a little olive oil on each slice and top with plenty of tomato bits.
Place a little basil on this.
Sprinkle salt, pepper and a little chilli flakes.
Top with grated cheese and pop into a hot oven for 10 mins.

Enjoy!!!!

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

I quite enjoy baking and I find it quite therapeutic. Usually it is restricted to cakes and cookies and pies. I find that when you get used to making something often, it becomes second nature and there is no challenge involved in it. But on the other hand, when you try something new, it keeps the interest going and you have to concentrate just that little extra to get it right.

The other day a friend of mine gave me a few packets of instant yeast and I was wondering what to do with them. Made baby naans and they were a huge hit as usual.
Coincidentally or as I prefer to call it - divine intervention, I saw Coffee's blog event on MBP: Bread. It was perfect. I had all this yeast and now I had the perfect opportunity to make something new AND send it for an event. So scouting I went. I had been wanting to make pita rounds for a while. The idea of stuffing them with different fillings really appealed to me. Very novel idea and an opportunity for the children to try out something different.

I landed up at Jugalbandi. They had a very nice healthy looking recipe for whole wheat pita bread. I followed their recipe for the most part, except I used 4 cups of whole wheat flour instead of 3.25. I also had to use 2 cups of warm water to make the dough.


Result?? Excellent. The pita bread was soft , round, well puffed and easily separated. I kept in mind that it should not be too brown. Though I have to admit, I missed a few which got toasted to a crisp :(.



I loved their phrase of 70% puff rate. I like to think I had the same result. They were pretty easy to separate even in the 30 % stuck part of the bread.

I stuffed them with falafel and taratour sauce ( recipe follows).


And Coffee: My most favorite aromas in the kitchen will have to be:

1) Strong South Indian coffee percolating in the filter early morning.

2) Ginger/garlic sizzling in the oil when added to the tadka.

3) Brownies baking in the oven.

Banana Bread

Tho I learnt how to bake and cook in my catering college, I never really tried it out at home. It was always something associated with studies and college :(.

Once I had my first kid, I got quite domesticated and felt as a mom I had to bake something for my 3 year old. I had lost touch completely with baking as it had been a few years since I traversed that road.Took out a recipe book and said not only tasty, it must be healthy as well. So fished out a recipe for a honey oatmeal cake. With all the enthusiasm of a born again baker I embarked on an exciting task. Sifted, sieved, mixed, creamed did everything with real gusto.... Out of the oven came this "appalam". It looked like a cake, tasted like a cake, but looked absolutely flat like a pita round. To this day I dont know what I did wrong. But my son enjoyed every morsel and kept telling me" Amma, how nice how nice!!. You are the best cook in the world" It was such a pleasure to hear. Kids can really make your day. After that it was a learning curve. Tried many recipes. Different things. Learnt a lot along the way.

When I started baking, one of the first things I wanted to try out was banana bread. My first taste of it was totally different from what I had expected. When you say bread, the image that comes up in your mind is very different - Sliced bread, brown bread.... Banana bread is just a yummy yummy cake. The walnuts give a nice crunch in every bite. And the taste of banana??? Just pure heaven...

Now for the recipe:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup mashed very ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour sifted
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Cream butter sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well. Stir in banana and vanilla. Add sifted dry ingredients.Add walnuts at this stage. Pour into a greased loaf pan ( 4" x 9").

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Cool and cut into pieces.