Honey wheat bread

I have always been intimidated when it comes to baking breads. This is my first try and I'm pleased with myself. Gave myself a pat on my back and sat down to share the recipe. It tasted great and loved the idea of home baked :)

I browsed, quite a while, for bread recipes and I came cross this recipe. It was pretty easy to follow. So, I boldly went ahead and decided to try it. I did alter the recipe a bit by adding more milk and water and using wheat gluten as well. I made one loaf and a bunch of buns. The result was some wonderful, warm, hearty bread.
And to think that something so simple intimidated me all this while................a shame :)


Ingredients: (Makes 1 loaf)

1-1/8 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
Milk - 1/4 cup + 2 tbspns
2 tablespoons oil ( I used olive oil)
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
4 tspns of wheat gluten ( optional)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Instructions:

• Take 1/8 cup of water and add yeast and sugar to it.Let rest for 5 mins till creamy and bubbly.
• Combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, wheat gluten and salt.Mix well and set aside.
• Combine milk, oil, honey and the remaining sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir.
• Add flour and the yeast mixture. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 mins. Place dough in a greased bowl, and rub some oil all over the dough. Cover with a clean towel or a plastic wrap like I have done. Let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.
• Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth.

For a loaf:

• Form the dough into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover with lastic wrap.
• Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, lightly lay a piece of foil on top of the loaf to prevent too much darkening.

For Buns:

• Divide the dough into 9 equal parts and place them close to each other in a greased tray.( see pic)
• Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, lightly lay a piece of foil on top of the loaf to prevent too much darkening

When baked, remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen for a month.
Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

Golden And Delicious Sarkkarai Pongal.

I was invited by a friend, Lakshmi, for a pooja at her home on Aadi Velli last friday. There were mango leaves tied at her door. As I stepped into her home, the fragrance of incense sticks was in the air. The ambience was calming.

After a little prayer and a while of chit chat, she handed me a cute, red, star-shaped bowl which contained beetel leaves, arecanut, fruits, flowers and a cup of prasad. The prasad was a golden, aromatic Sarkkarai Pongal.

As soon as I got back home, I restlessly opened the cup and scooped out a heaped spoonful of pongal and as it touched my taste buds.................. pure pleasure. It nearly put me in a daze.
I have never, ever tasted such wonderful Pongal, very sweet though.
I quickly pick up my cordless and call Lakshmi to ask her for her recipe and she, graciously, agrees to give it to me.
Personally for me, it was extremely sweet, but it was apt for serving as a prasad . Prasad at it's sweetest and tastiest best . It was like eating gold :)
You can see for yourselves the golden color and specks of cardamom in the pongal (pic. 1). And in pic 2 is a heaped spoonful of the pongal with cashews, raisins and saffron. All visible. I wish I could impart some of its aroma too via this blog :)
Trust me.......it tasted heavenly.

Below, is the recipe that Lakshmi gave me. Don't be apalled at the amount of jaggery and ghee used here. It is made like that, purposely, for serving Deity Devi.
This recipe makes for a very very sweet pongal. If you are not using it for a pooja and making it for a simple dessert, you can reduce the level of sweetness and ghee according to taste.

Thanks Lakshmi for the recipe.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• 2 cups milk.
• 1 cup rice
• 2 cups jaggery
• 1/2 cup ghee
• A pinch of cardamom powder
• Cashew and raisins
• Few strands of saffron.

Directions:

• Boil rice in milk.
• Once rice cooked, reduce heat and add jaggery till all the liquid eveporates.( the rice will be a little mushy at this point)
• Stir well and regularly to avoid burning.
• Fry cashew and raisins in a little ghee and add it to the rice mixture along with the rest of the ghee. At this point add saffron and cardamom powder as well. Serve warm or cold.

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

Oven-dried tomatoes

As, I always say-

Homemade is always better than store-bought because when it's homemade, we can know and control the ingredients that go into our food.

I'm not saying that I always make everything homemade, but I try, as much as possible, to do it that way. But, I do have lazy days when I just don't want to enter my kitchen and anything from outside my kitchen sounds great :)

But, I'm not fond of buying sun-dried tomatoes from stores, because I've read that many use sulphur dioxide when drying tomatoes to retain their color. It's not only in dried tomatoes that this chemical is used. It's used even in dried fruits.

Hmmm! We don't want sulphur dioxide in our food right???

So, go homemade on this one. I use my dearest oven to dry my tomatoes.They taste equally good.

In spring and summer, when we get very good tomatoes, I always dry them and store them. To preserve them, you need to add a lot of Olive oil to jar. This is not a waste of olive oil. You can use this olive oil for making pizza's pastas or anything else you wish. The olive oil get's infused with tomato, garlic, oregano and Italian herbs and tastes all the more flavorful.

The flavors in these dry tomatoes are very intense. Great for topping pizzas and crostinis. Great to toss in with some pasta and great in some sandwiches. Go well with some salads too. With 10 tomatoes, I got just half this jar of dried tomato. So, if you want more, use more tomatoes.

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes- atleast 10
• Garlic cloves (chopped finely) - 2
• Oregano - 1 tspn
• Sugar - 1 tspn
• Salt - 1/2 tspn
• Olive oil - 1 tbspn.( plus more for storing the tomatoes)
• Italian grill seasoning- 1/2 tspn( optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 C)
• Cut tomatoes into halves vertically and scoop out all the seeds and the mushy centre.( I don't discard this tomato liquid. I keep it and use it in some curry or soup)
• Dry the inside of the tomatoes with paper towels and brush some olive oil on the interior.
• Line a baking tray with some parchment paper and lay the tomatoes skin-side down on it.
• Now sprinkle a pinch of salt and sugar on each.
• Put a little garlic on each tomato( as seen in the pic)
• Sprinkle oregano and Italian grill seasoning on the tomatoes and put the tray into the oven for 15 mins.
• Then reduce the oven temperature to 220 degrees F (105 C) and let the tomatoes dry in it for 1-1/2 hours.
• When the tomatoes are dry, let them cool.
• To store dried tomatoes, put them in a clean, dry glass jar and fill it to the brim with olive oil. This helps preserve them.
• This is not a waste of olive oil. You can use this olive oil for making pizza's pastas or anything else you wish. The olive oil get's infused with tomato, garlic, oregano and Italian herbs and tastes wonderful.
• When using the dried tomatoes out of the jar, use a fork to remove the desired amount of tomatoes from the oil and close the lid of the jar immediately. Chop and serve the tomatoes as you please.

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha