Avvale Gojju - Salted Gooseberry/Aamla Chutney

I like to believe I am not fussy about what I eat.I am happy with a simple meal of rice,dal and an upkari.Though amma keeps saying I do not eat most of the vegetables and Ajay feels being a vegetarian I should include more vegetables in my diet,I brush their comments aside.I like Potato,now Potato is a wholesome vegetable isn't it:)

I agree I am not very open to the idea of eating something which is termed 'healthy'.Greens for instance,though I am much open to eating greens now,and then the food churned out to you when you fall sick.Don't get me started on it.But once,when we were in Udupi and I was down with food poisoning,Ajay's aunt made this delicious gojju.I had one spoon and I could feel my taste buds dancing in delight!I am not a big fan of raw garlic but this one bowled me over.

Salted Aamla is made by picking fresh gooseberries,cleaning them and preserving in boiled and cooled water with salt.

Avvale Gojju

Ingredients

Grated coconut - 4-5 tbsp
Red chillies - 2-3
Salted aamla - 2,seeds removed
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Salt - only if required
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Method

Clean the salted aamla and remove the seeds.
 
In a mixer jar add everything except coconut oil and grind to a smooth paste.
 
Do a taste check and add salt if required.Mix in the coconut oil.
Serve with rice and dal.

Blueberry & White Chocolate-chip Cookies(Eggless)

I've been staying off baking or a while,the bread was an exception.Of course,when the baking itch strikes there's no stopping but I am consciously avoiding going through recipes which calls for oodles of butter.Which reminds me,what puts you off a baking recipe?For me it is the number of eggs used and the amount of butter.Any recipe which calls for more than 4 eggs and 150(or more)grams of butter makes me alert.

Every time I looked inside the baking shelf,all the pretty cake tin liners and cupcake liners seemed to call out to me.I had shopped like a mad woman during my last visit to Ernakulam and felt guilty that I had not used a single item till date.Top it with the goodies my vanni got for me.I decided I had to bake after all:)

The plan was to bake a batch of Vanilla cupcakes-butter was measured,eggs were kept out from fridge and flour container drawn out.I had to make dinner too so decided the cupcake baking can wait.While I was making dinner,a sudden thought crossed my mind and that was about the packet of dried blueberries my bro-in-law had got me from Korea.We kept munching on it,so there wasn't much left to go into cakes or cupcakes.

So off it went into these cookies.Google came up with a lot of results which gave me the idea of combining blueberries with white chocolate chips,but I stuck to my basic cookie dough recipe which gets me perfect result every time.It didn't disappoint and with the addition of brown sugar,tasted even better!

Blueberry White Chocolate-Chip Cookies(Eggless)

Ingredients

Butter - 1/2 cup/100gms,room temperature
Light brown sugar - 3/4 cup(or a mix of white and brown sugar)
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Salt - a pinch
Dried blueberries - 1/2 cup
White chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
Milk - 2 tbsp,if required

Method

 
Mix together butter and sugar and beat well with a fork.
 
Add in vanilla and rest of the ingredients-flour,salt,blueberries and white chocolate chips.
 
Knead with your fingertips till you get a smooth dough.If the dough is not coming together,add milk 1 tsp at a time.
Rest the dough for about 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 160C.Grease/line a cookie tray.
 
Take 1 tablespoonful of dough and place it on the cookie tray.Using the tines of a fork,press the cookie a little.(I made one batch like this and another where I took tablespoonful of dough,rolled it in my palm and flattened it)
 
Bake for 20-22 minutes.The cookies will be soft in the middle but will harden once it cools down.

 
Notes

• Every oven is different,so keep an eye on the cookies after 15 minutes.Do not over bake or the cookies will turn out hard.
• Adding brown sugar is optional,you can use regular white sugar too,or a mix of both.
• Black currants would work well as a substitute if you do not have dried blueberries in hand.

Bakeware/Cookware Online - A peep! # 2

I can spend hours looking at various shopping websites for cooking/baking related stuff.There seems to be a sudden rise of sites which sell gorgeous looking additions for your kitchen as well as for your dining table.I came across a few,so thought of sharing.

Products from Master Kitchen

Garlic press-for all those recipes which requires minced garlic or garlic paste!

Measuring spoons in assorted colours-love it!

Silicone wire whisks,yep the same kind which Nigella uses:)

Pastry blender-to make all those pies and crumbles!

12 cup Bake and Carry cupcake tray with lid-perfect for those potluck parties and picnics!

Three in one Garnish maker - for perfectly garnish slices of Carrots and Cucumber

Products from Fabfurnish

Heart shaped silicone muffin cups-perfect for Valentine's day baking

Bundt Pan - need I say anything more?

Muffin Mould - for making cupcakes and muffins look pretty!

Products from The Summer House

Pretty Wooden Cake stand-makes your cakes look dashing:)

Wooden measuring cups - Awesome!

Wooden Fruit/Dessert Stand-how about serving cupcakes in this one?

Products from Zansaar

Checkerboard Cake pan - don't we all need one:)?

Set of 2 Bundt pans-6 cup & 12 cup,because one cannot have enough of bundt pans:)

Silpat Baking mats - no greasing,no sticking anymore!

Disclaimer - This is NOT a paid post.I have not been asked by the sellers to write about them.I found the information useful and hence sharing it with you.I am not affiliated to any of the sites mentioned either.

Herb & Cheese Pull-apart Bread | We Knead to Bake#1

I've done a bit of Yeast baking in the last few months and we are becoming a li'l more comfortable with each other now,I believe.A good recipe,good quality yeast and some time on hands,bread baking is time consuming,is all you need to bake good bread.What if you have a group of friends who all try the same recipe together,what fun,right?

When Aparna put up a message on facebook calling bread baking enthusiasts together for a bread baking group,I was excited.As you may know,Aparna is someone whom I adore for her baking skills.Simple,no-frill recipes and delicious,gorgeous looking breads are her forte.I knew I was in safe hands.

We Knead to Bake is a group of enthusiastic bakers who,under the guidance of Aparna are planning to bake a bread a month.For January,the chosen recipe is Herb & Cheese Pull-apart Loaf.I've seen and got intimidated by similar looking breads before so I was a bit wary before I went through the recipe.But believe me when I say this one's a really easy recipe which looks as good as it tastes.
Herb & Cheese(Paneer) Pull-apart Loaf Bread

Ingredients

For the dough

Warm milk - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 tsp
Active dry yeast - 2 tsp(I used Mauripan Yeast)
All purpose flour - 2 3/4 cups to 3 cups
Salt - 1 tsp
Butter - 25 gms,soft at room temperature
Garlic - 2 cloves,minced(or 1 tsp garlic paste)
Milk - 3/4 cup + a couple of tbsp to brush over the bread

For the filling

Melted butter - 15-20 gms
Mixed Italian herbs - 2 tsp
Chilli flakes - 1 tsp
Paneer - 1/2 cup,grated(or any cheese of your choice)

Method

 

In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar and the yeast in the 1/2 cup of warm milk. Keep aside for about 5 minutes till the yeast mixture bubbles up.

 

Put 2 3/4 cup of flour, salt, softened butter, and garlic paste in the food processor bowl (or a large bowl) and pulse a couple of times to mix. 

 

Then add the yeast mixture and the 3/4 cup of milk and knead till you have a soft, smooth and elastic/ pliable dough which is not sticky. Add a little extra flour if your dough is sticking, but only just as much as is necessary.

 

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it completely with oil. Cover and let it rise for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until almost double in volume.

 
Dust your work surface lightly with flour. Deflate the dough, shape it into a square and roll the dough out into a larger square that is about 12’ by 12”. Brush the surface of the square with the melted butter. Evenly sprinkle the herbs, pepper/ chilli flakes and then the grated cheese. 
 
Use a rolling pin to very lightly press the topping into the dough to ensure the topping doesn’t fall off when you are stacking the strips.

Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough from top to bottom into 6 long and even strips – they do not have to be perfect. Lay each strip on top of the next, with the topping facing upwards, until you have a stack of the strips.

 

You can put the 2 strips cut from the sides in the middle of the stack so it looks neater. Using a pastry scraper or a sharp knife, cut straight down through the stack dividing it into 6 equal pieces (6 square stacks).

Grease and lightly flour a 9” by 4” (or 5”) loaf tin.Layer the square slices, cut sides down into the loaf tin.

 

Cover the loaf tin dough with a towel and allow the dough to rise for an hour. Lightly brush some milk over the top of the loaf.

Bake the dough at 180C (350F) for about 30 to 40 minutes until it is done and the top is golden brown. This recipe bakes one 9” by 5” loaf.I used two smaller sized loaf tins.

 
Yeastspotted

Notes

• The filling can be of your choice-pesto,mint or butter-garlic or even sun-dried tomato,olives,caramelized onions-choices are aplenty.
• This versatile bread can be made into a sweet loaf too-just add 1/4 cup of sugar to the dough and proceed with the filling.Think Cinnamon-sugar,Orange marmalade-raisins,Chocolate chips and many more!

Joy the Baker Cookbook Review& Single girl melty Chocolate Cake Recipe

Remember this post where I had compiled a few recipes from Joy the Baker to highlight my love for her blog?So you can only imagine how glad I was to hold her book in my hand.I wonder why I am posting this review so late,it's been a while since the book's been with me on my bedside table:)

Joy Wilson,author of the website Joy the Baker is not someone unknown to the food blogging world.I mean,the name itself is so comforting,right.In the book of the same name,Joy has compiled 100 recipes which she calls "a celebration of butter and sugar".Every recipe is accompanied by brilliant pictures which makes you want to grab the stuff off the pages of the book!

The recipes range from Single lady Pancakes(how cool!),Giant Cinnamon Rolls,S'mores Brownies,Easy no-roll Pie crust,"man-bait" Apple crisp(yes!),Texas Sheet Cake,Burnt Caramel sauce,Peanut Butter Birthday Cake and many more.I could go on..:)

For those who've been reading her blog,the book would look like an extension.The same tidbits about her personal life,notes about the recipe and useful tips to make the recipe come out perfect.With shiny pages,delicious pictures looking at you from every page,this book is any bakers dream,more so if you love pink:)

I have bookmarked almost all,okay at least 10 recipes to try immediately.Amongst those who might actually get made if I get past drooling off the book are Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Sour cream glaze,Cream Cheese pound cake,Honey mustard roasted cashews,Peach cobbler muffins,the perfect cup of hot chocolate,almost burnt caramel sauce..the list is endless.

The first section consists of Kitchen tips and is particularly useful when it comes to substituting ingredients in a recipe.Very useful for us in India where fancy ingredients are hard to come by.Recipes to make brown sugar,cake flour and buttermilk at home gets a thumbs up from me!Also tips to get that Bundt cake out of the tin free and clear every time.

After contemplating for a long time,I decided to try out this oh-so-tempting Single Girl melty chocolate cake for this review.I am a big fan of Lava cakes and this one takes the cake,literally.Single girl you say and gets done in less than 15 minutes flat,come again?

Single girl melty Chocolate cake
Recipe published with permission from Joy the Baker Cookbook

Ingredients

Butter - 1 tbsp (approximately 14.5 gms)
Semi-sweet chocolate chips/chunks - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1 large
Sugar - 4 tbsp
Flour - 1 tbsp
Salt - a pinch

Method

Preheat oven to 375F/190C.Butter and flour a 1 cup ramekin.
 
In a microproof bowl,melt together butter and chocolate till smooth and shiny.You could also do it using the double boiler method.
 
Beat together egg and sugar till frothy.
Mix in the melted butter-chocolate and tip in the flour and salt.
 
Pour into the prepared ramekin and bake anywhere from 7-10 minutes,shorter for gooey center.
 
I baked it for 10 minutes since I didn't want it too runny and it turned out perfect.Fudgy and chocolaty,just the way I like it:)

 
Notes

• You can serve the cake in the ramekin itself or upturn into a serving platter,only downside being the gorgeous crust will go unseen:)
• Though the recipe says single girl,it makes more than a single girl version I think,we shared it between the two of us and were satisfied.More so if served with ice-cream it would be a mini-dessert for two people.Only,it cannot be named single-girl-cake anymore:)