Garlic Cheese Bread

As typed by Milo…

This post is dedicated to my dear friend and office confidant Laura. She gifted me this bottle of authentic Olive oil which she got all the way from Spain to Norway to India. Thanks Laura. Yet another inspiration to keep cooking with my spouse.

Ingredients –

1.5 cups All-purpose flour/Maida,

1 tsp. active dry yeast,

½ tsp. sugar,

2 tbsp. olive oil,

Pepper powder,

Italian spice mix/pizza masala,

½ cup water,

2 cheese cubes,

4 tsp. garlic paste,

Salt to taste

Method –

Slightly warm ½ cup water and put sugar and yeast and let it stand for 15 minutes till the yeast bubbles up.

Take 1 cup flour and mix it with 1 tbsp. olive oil and the yeast solution. Knead it well and keep the dough covered in a warm place for an hour.

The dough will rise to double the quantity.

After an hour, punch the dough to remove the air and mix in ½ cup flour, salt to taste, pepper and Italian spice mix as per your taste. Knead the dough well for around 5 minutes.

Cover and keep it in a warm place to rise. It will take another 45 minutes to an hour.

Now knead the dough for 2 to 3 minutes and divide it into 2 portions.

Take the first portion on a flat surface and roll it out into a circle using a rolling pin.

Apply 2 tsp. garlic paste evenly on the rolled surface and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Press the cheese lightly with your fingertips so that it sticks to the dough.

Now fold the rolled circle into half, press and seal the edges lightly.

Apply 1 tbsp. olive oil on the outer surface of the bread and sprinkle Italian seasoning over it.

Do the same steps for the other portion of the dough.

Preheat the oven at 220 degree Centigrade for 10 minutes.

Place the bread on the baking tray lined with aluminum foil. Cut it into 4 pieces using a knife and bake for around 10 to 15 minutes.

Relish it when its hot.

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Fresh Garlic Bread – Norwegian Style

 

 

As typed by Milo…

Mid of May 2013 I had an opportunity to visit Oslo, Norway on an official assignment. As always buying local Norwegian ingredients and bringing them back to India and making a custom India-International dish was on my un-official agenda 🙂

Norwegians are very proud to have a variety of bread types, from half-baked to healthy whole grain varieties; they all are always stacked in convenient stores across Oslo. Ready to make bread flour and a packet of yeast was something I picked up to be taken to India. To this I could also add the Norwegian herbs a packet that was gifted by my dear Norwegian friend and foodie Oddlaug Lindgard.

Here is a Norwegian bread recipe customized for the Indian palate, dedicated to Oddlaug.

Ingredients:

1) 500 grams Norwegian ready to bake flour. This variety isn’t available in India obviously, but a close equivalent can be easily made at home. We have a flour making machine (Ghar-Ghanti) at home and making instant healthy flour is therefore very easy. If you don’t get a ready to make whole grain bread mix you could make a 500 grams mix at home by mixing fine whole wheat grain flour 350 grams, coarse whole wheat grain flour 75 grams (having an occasional whole grain gives the very good look, besides the healthy fibre) , oats 50 grams , and 25 grams sesame seeds.

2) Yeast (I used a Norwegian brand but there are several Indian local brands available)

3) 100 grams garlic de-skinned garlic pods, you could reduce this for a milder flavor.

4) 2 table spoons dried red chili flakes; I made them fresh at home by simply cutting dried chilies in 5mm by 5mm pieces.

5) 1 table spoon dried dehydrated curry leaves powder; this was also made at home to ensure authentic freshness. Simply dehydrate the curry leaves in an oven and then crush/grind them in a mixture. Preserve in a deep freezer.

6) Olive oil.

7) Norwegian herbs. This was a gift by my dear friend Oddlaug when she learnt about CookingWithMySpouse. It is impossible to get one in India, but I can suggest an equivalent. Take 2-3 handful of Kasuri Methi, a pinch of Saffron and 2 tea spoons of bay leaf powder. This should give the baked bread a nice texture and flavor.

Preparation:

Activate the yeast by adding the yeast powder to 150 ml warm water set aside for 10 minutes. You should get a fermented smell if the yeast is good to use. Long term refrigeration of yeast makes it dormant and ineffective.

Coarsely crush the garlic pods in a pestle.Mix the Norwegian bread mix (or you Indian equivalent) , Norwegian herbs (or the Indian equivalent), Garlic paste, Curry leaves powder, chili flakes. Add salt to taste. Add a tea spoon of sugar. Now start adding water and knead well. Also add the warm yeast liquid. The kneaded dough should be firm.

Make buns and add cuts to allow the buns to expand well when baking. Place on a baking dish with an aluminum foil. Set aside for 10 minutes to let the yeast do its work. The uncooked buns will rise.

While the uncooked buns rise pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Place the uncooked buns into the oven and let them cook for 25-30 minutes. The top of the bun may become a little hard and brittle. Remove the buns and brush them with olive oil and put them back into the oven for another 10 minutes.

The buns are now ready to be served plain of with a side dish. We served the hot buns with Tomato Marmalade, and what a dish it turned out to be. One of the best breads I have ever eaten second only to authentic Norwegian bread and original Goan fresh bread.

Garlic Rolls

 

This was my first attempt to make bread and I was very happy with the results. I have been waiting to bake bread for quite some time but didn’t dare to actually bake one. I had read about the unreliable quality of yeast you get in India that doesn’t proof up well so didn’t want to take a chance. My friend Ivy got a bottle of imported yeast for me and I just kept it in the pantry for months together. The other day I saw this recipe on Anna Parabrahma and  really liked the look of the bread and it was so easy to make. I made this on one Sunday afternoon and we had it with Milos Minestrone soup (I will post this recipe soon).  We all liked it at home so did my friends at office. A special thanks to Anjali of Anna Parabrahma for the recipe and thanks to Ivy for getting me the yeast.

Ingredients – 

3 cups Maida/All Purpose Flour,

1 cup water,

1 tbsp active dry yeast,

1 tsp salt,

2 tbsp sugar,

2 tbsp refined oil,

20 cloves of crushed garlic,

25gms of softened Amul butter,

½ cup finely cut coriander leaves

2 tbsp sesame seeds

Method –

Warm about 1/2 cup of water just about warmer than body temp. Add a teaspoon of sugar and yeast to it. Leave it alone to froth for 10 mins.

Mix flour, yeast, rest of the ½ cup water, sugar and salt. Knead until smooth and lump free. Include oil and knead again for 5 mins. Grease lightly a clean bowl with little oil, place the dough ball in it and leave it to rest until doubled and airy. Approximately 45 mins.

Then sprinkle some flour on the counter and knead the proofed dough for 5 mins. Divide into four equal parts. Roll into balls and then roll out flat into 4 sheets in an elongate form like a rectangle. Do this one at a time. All sheets should be of the same size.

Spread the garlic butter. Sprinkle the cilantro. Roll up tight and keep aside.

In this manner, roll up all 4 sheets.

Then place all the rolls parallel to each other horizontally. In case one of them is short roll further to elongate. All four should be same sized. Cut into pieces. I got 16 rolls in total.

Place them side up, line the rolls in a baking tray. Cover the tray with a cling film and let them proof for another 1 hr.

Once the rolls double up they will fill up all the gaps.

Brush the doubled rolls with molten butter.

Lastly top up with sesame seeds.

Preheat the oven for 10 mins at 180 deg centigrade.

Bake for 15 mins or a little more till the top is golden.  Pull out of the oven and lay it to cool. Serve when warm.

Anzac Cookies (Oats Biscuits)

I had a jar of powdered oats specially made for Anaya. I used to boil it in milk with very little salt and feed her for breakfast. Over a period of time she got bored eating the same stuff and refused to have it any more. I didn’t want to waste the oats so thought of making these cookies. I got this recipe from Nitya of  4^th Sense Cooking. Thanks Nitya for a wonderful recipe.

Milo named it Anzac cookies (Australian famous cookies).  Oats have the property for rising up, so baking powder or Baking soda is not required to be put in these cookies.

Check this link for the original recipe –

http://www.4thsensecooking.com/2011/01/winning-moment-oats-cookies.html

These were one among the assorted biscuits I made for the cooking competition in office.

Ingredients-

1 cup powered oats,

1/4^th cup Brown Sugar,

3 tbsp all purpose flour (Maida),

1/4^th cup Butter (I used Amul butter)

3 tsp milk,

A pinch of salt

Method –

Grind brown sugar to a fine powder.

Beat butter and sugar in a bowl until it turns creamy.

Mix the powdered oats, salt and all purpose flour together and gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated.

Now flatten the dough into a smooth disk shape with your hand and wrap in plastic wrap.

Chill the dough for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Knead the dough well with little milk.

Take out the dough and pinch off equal little bits of dough and roll them into smooth balls. 

Press them a little flat with your palm.

Finger millet / Nachni / Ragi Biscuits

Shilpa’s ‘Aayis recipe’ is one of the sites from where I try most of the recipes from.  She has a very good collection of recipes. I got this recipe from her site http://www.aayisrecipes.com/2008/09/23/finger-millet-cookiesragi-biscuits/. They taste amazing. Ragi is supposed to be high in calcium and is very good for health. These are favorite among kids and adults also. It’s a good way to make our children eat ragi. Do try them.

P.S. The original recipe called for butter. I have used pure ghee.

Ingredients-

2 cups finger millet / nachni / ragi flour,

1 cup powdered sugar,

1 cup pure ghee,

½ tsp cardamom powder,

1 tsp baking powder,

3 tsp broken pieces of cashew nuts

Method-

Roast flour in a big pan, on a medium heat, for about 5-10mins (do not burn it). Take off the heat.

Now add sugar, ghee, baking powder, cardamom powder to it and mix well.

Preheat the oven at 175C for 10mins.

Make small balls of the dough and keep it on a greased or (lined with parchment paper) baking tray.

Leave enough space between two biscuits as they double in size after baking.

Bake at 175 degree C for 15 to 20 minutes.

Cool completely on a wire rack before storing them.

Pickle Biscuits

These are savoury biscuits made by Milo with wheat flour and pickle. They taste really amazing just like maatris. Long time back we had got a packet of Maatris andMilowent through the ingredients on the packet. It had pickle in it. He wanted to try these for a very long time. So finally he made them yesterday. They taste very nice. Do try them and let us know.

 Ingredients-

2 cups tightly packed wheat flour,

4 tsp curd,

1/2 cup refined oil,

1 tsp cumin seeds,

1 tsp ajwain,

1 tsp baking powder,

1/2 cup mango pickle

Method-

Grind mango pickle to a smooth paste.

Mix cumin seeds, ajwain and baking powder in the wheat flour and knead with curd and oil.

Add more curd if the dough becomes very dry.

Let it stand for 15 minutes.

Take half of the dough on a flat surface and roll it into a thick chapati.

Apply pickle paste evenly on the flattened dough and roll it up loosely to for a roll.

Cut into disk shaped pieces and flatten each lightly between your palms.

Preheat the oven on 175 degree C for 10 minutes.

Place the biscuits on a greased baking tray and bake them for 10 to 15 minutes.

Let them cool completely before storing.

Jeera Biscuits

As much as I love to bake cakes, Milo loves to bake cookies and biscuits. One day we were returning home from office a little early. The thought of baking some healthy biscuits came to his mind. He didn’t want to use all purpose flour and sugar in them. So he asked me to search the net for cumin (jeera) biscuits from his cell. I got the Bong Mom’s Cookbook link as the first link and I noted down the ingredients. I didn’t want to search more as I am not very comfortable to surf the net on a cell phone that too in a moving car.

He made these biscuits as per the recipe given here. There were delicious I should say.

With the increasing demand from my MIL and me he made it again but with 3 more different flavors –Ajwain, cinnamon-honey and Kasoori Methi. The Kasoori Methi ones tasted very nice just like mattri’s. They were just too good.

Thanks Bong Mom for the recipe.