Bread |

19May 2013

Few recipes revisited

While experimenting with new recipes, I am also going through my old recipes, updating them, if necessary, including a print recipe option and updating photographs as well along the way.

Though I share the updated recipes on facebook and sometimes on twitter (I am still getting used to tweeting, so am not that regular with twitter updates), I realised people who have subscribed to the blog via email, do not get notified of the updates.

So this post if for you guys. Also, a big thanks to all of you for still sticking it out with me!

For the recipe, either click on the picture or on the link given in the description under the picture.

If you are fan of black forest cake, then this is the recipe for you.

Moist chocolate genoise cake, with whipped cream and brandied cherries in between the chocolate layers!

Delish!!

This is an adaption of Heidi Swanson’s whole wheat bread recipe, and it is great.

I made it for the first time right after I got messages from people who saw my pictures on Facebook and congratulated me on getting pregnant (when I clearly was NOT!).

This bread is packed with whole wheat, wheat germ, flax seeds and thus great for you if you are on a diet.

Find the recipe here.

The last revisited recipe I am sharing today is a favorite of many: Pav Bhaji.

It is a popular Indian street side food with a thick potato based curry served with buttered, toasted bread.

15May 2013

Mom’s Homemade stuffed buns

Shumaila ⋅ 12 Comments

Its only befitting to follow the last post that was on Mother’s Day with a recipe from my mom’s repertoire. In my last post, I did not mention how great a cook she is. I did not forget, but I did not for once want it to be about her cooking. But there is no doubt that she is an amazing cook.

My mom never cooked before marriage, and all that she learnt was after marriage. With a foodie for a husband and a few trusted Indian Tarla Dala books, and a willingness to always experiment new dishes, she became famous for her cooking. As a result my dad grew a truck tyre for a stomach and her children became gourmands (or well more aptly gluttons).

I have in the past shared her famous date cake recipe. Believe me when I say, this is one recipe you should always have with you. My sister-in-law made it recently for her friends and she said out of all the things she made, the date cake was the star. And she and I both get that every time we make it.

My mom’s homemade chocolate balls that she sent to my hostel are the reason why I was always in the good books of my hostel seniors. It’s only half true when they say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I think it holds for everyone.

17Apr 2013

Mocha Swirl Bread

Shumaila ⋅ 9 Comments

Seriously this cake is jinxed.

This is the second time I am trying it and the second time I am getting it wrong.

Last time I dropped the whole cake halfway through the baking process, while I was trying to check on doneness. You can refresh your memory here. This time even before starting, I managed to drop the box of cornmeal on the floor. On the plus side, the box did not empty completely and some of the cornmeal did not spill onto the floor, leaving me with sufficient cornmeal to use in the cake. On the negative side, the cornmeal did make quite a mess on the floor.

If that was not enough, like last time I forgot that I was supposed to put the espresso water and cocoa after I divided the batter. I would like to blame the whole cleaning up of the corn meal from the floor process for my temporary absent mindedness, but I dont think it was just that. The cake is just jinxed.

Since it was too late to do anything I thought I will make a mocha chocolate swirl bread. So I added 4tsp of cocoa, 3 tsp of sugar and 2 tsp of yogurt to one of the parts and baked it. It might not be like the original, but it did not turn that bad either. Anyway I will try again. Maybe third time’s the charm?

21Nov 2012

Vegan Pumpkin Bread and muffins

Shumaila ⋅ 6 Comments

There will always be people who will try to divert you from your dream. They will try to make your talents or your abilities feel inadequate. These people might be absolute strangers or they might be really close relatives/friends, who in their own respect, have your best interests in mind. Instead of getting angry at them or getting discouraged by them feel lucky because it is the negativity of these people that will help fuel the passion you have in your dream. Its their pessimism that will help build your belief in yourself. Its their attitude towards your dreams that will strengthen your resolve to prove them wrong.

If you give up when they say its not your cup of tea, you basically let them win and stay as someone who could never cross the finish line. Instead smile at them when they lecture you on how ludicrous your dream seems, and wish them the best in their life’s endeavours. And when they aren’t looking, work on your dream and cross that finish line. When you have accomplished what you had set out for and when your ideas start taking shape, send the people who discouraged you a thank you card. Because if it wasn’t for your will to prove these people wrong you would have probably given up eons ago.

25Sep 2012

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Chicken Tikka Pizza

Shumaila ⋅ 8 Comments

If you love chicken tikka, and you love pizza- this is totally your kind of Pizza.

I made it last week for V and me, using some leftover pizza dough I had and both of us really devoured it!

Now, V is not a pizza person. He is mostly a dal roti person, but for this pizza he changed his mind. He actually was sad when it got over and even though he knew there was no more pizza left he was talking about how he felt like having this pizza the next day. He still talks about it. And while writing this post, I wish I had some pizza dough so that I could make this again now.

13Sep 2012

Cherry Tomato Gratin

Shumaila ⋅ 2 Comments

If anyone is wondering what’s happening to my past post recipes and they look a little incomplete- you might be right in thinking so.

There is some problem with the easy recipe plugin I have and some of the text and all the pictures under the recipe part of my posts are somehow not showing on the site. The recipe are complete in my drafts, but on the site they do not appear complete.

Take the last post, for example. Spicy Buffalo Chicken Pizza. The recipe is incomplete. It’s there in my drafts- complete with all the instructions but it doesn’t show on the site. I am working with the plugin guys and hopefully this problem should be resolved soon. But in the meanwhile if you are planning to make anything from the blog and feel it is not complete, do let me know and I will mail you the recipe till all this gets sorted out!

Amidst all this confusion, I really wasn’t going to post today. But my friend has been bugging me to share this recipe I made over the weekend. A cherry tomato gratin.

10Sep 2012

September SRC: Cooking from Kitchen Meets Girl

Shumaila ⋅ 23 Comments

This is the first time I am posting with Group B for the Secret Recipe Club.

I had to change my SRC group from A to B since Group A’s posting day clashes with the Recipe Swap’s posting day, ever since the Recipe Swap started posting the first Monday of the month. I loved Group A and the bloggers I had got to know, but I am sure Group B will be as much fun. Atleast, the first month has been.

For my first Group B assignment I got Ashley’s Kitchen Meets Girl.

When I read this in her “about me” section I could so relate to her:

Interestingly enough, I didn’t grow up with an interest in cooking [...] I don’t know how or when, but somewhere along the line, that changed. Look at me—I’m writing a food blog. Craziness.

Since I was traveling for the last two weeks and also because the mail with my assignment probably went to my spam folder, I only got to know my Group B assignment a week before the reveal date. But one look at Ashley’s blog and I knew I wouldn’t pass up this opportunity of cooking through her recipes.

I bookmarked quite a few of her recipes but finally chose her buffalo chicken pizza to try.

Someone who reads this space regularly would probably know our little town hardly has any options of eating out. There is a motel which serves american and mexican food. There is another restaurant where we hardly go to because it doesn’t have any vegetarian options. There is the chinese place from where I have eaten twice and have got food poisoning both times. There is the bowling alley that serves food, but besides their grilled chicken sandwich I am not a fan of the food (and believe me I am not a picky eater when it’s someone else who has cooked the food). There is a new place that has opened and though the food is good, the service is horrible- with mixed up orders, a long wait and servers not aware of their whole menu.

And well, don’t get me started on the Pizza. It’s not bad and generally the only option we have when we (actually I) don’t feel like cooking, but it’s not the best either. There is no thin crust! Just the the thick crust variety of pizza, which I am not a fan of.

So when I saw Ashley’s buffalo chicken pizza recipe it was a great push for me to take off my lazy pants and make my favorite Pizza dough recipe from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. And the idea of having Buffalo chicken as the topping sounded divine!

06Aug 2012

August SRC & Recipe Swap

Shumaila ⋅ 58 Comments

Starting this month, the Recipe Swap will be posting on the first Monday of the month, instead of the first Sunday as we did in the past. Which in turn means a clash with Group A’s Secret Recipe Club’s posting date- which is also the first Monday of the month. So I knew I had a problem. Either I did two posts in one day or see if there was something from my assigned blog that I could fit with the Recipe Swap’s chosen recipe. And the latter is what I chose. Mainly because I am lazy, but also because a lot was happening. And also because of a little mailing error I got to know of the Recipe swap recipe quite late. Not that that made a difference because I’m such a procrastinator, but I am also a Capricorn and I love to shift blame from myself wherever I can.

For SRC, my secret blog was Fake Ginger. I have seen other SRC members having her as their assigned blog for past reveals and always coming up with great recipes from her repertoire. SO I was very excited to have Amanda’s blog for this month. And I somehow found a recipe that fit in the Recipe swap framework, and also something I knew I would really like.

09Jul 2012

July SRC: Soft Beer Pretzels!

Shumaila ⋅ 34 Comments

I checked my email with the SRC assignment while on my way back from Phoenix, on our four hour drive to our small mining town.

As soon as I clicked on the link Jane (our group’s hostess and such a dedicated member) sent me, I was literally bowled over by the ingenuity of the dishes Allesio’s blog had. Seriously it was like reading the menu of some Michelin starred restaurant. Case in point- Dark chocolate eggplant. Seriously, who thinks of that!!

There is no bound to the creativity on his site. But honestly, I was intimidated as hell. Having never worked with half of the ingredients on the site, I couldn’t help it. But at the same time, I was loving the challenge ahead.

Just check his top 24 of 2012 list. Seriously, if you are not intimidated its only because you are a professional chef and even then I won’t blame you if you are taking notes!

07Jul 2012