The Great White Bread...

I always get enticed by stories where the main protagonists live right next to the best bakery in the neighborhood and take a daily walk... hear the birds chirping and see the early morning rays pierce thru the sleepy trees, smell the dew on the grass, feel the misty light swirling around.. to reach the bakery and exchange a few words with the baker while choosing the bread of the day.. It's the grown up equivalent of the old Enid Blyton charm of tea sandwiches and lemonade.

After coming here, I was bread heaven.. I would go to the supermarket and stand stupefied in the bread aisle..yes, there is an entire aisle dedicated to bread!!! trying to decide which bread to be carried back home..but finally over time, I realised they were all prepacked mass manufactured ones which I got bored soon of.

In between I tried my hand at the home baked bread too....There is something irresistible about the smell of baking bread..the slightly yeasty, toasty smell that envelops the whole house...they were good but not that good to write about. My folks visited us for the first time in US and my mom and I spent our time making all kinds of bread. Then for a while, my job and kid took over and I stopped experimenting.

By then, Paneras set up shop and that started the love affair with the Artisan breads, the whole wheat baguettes, sourdough bread, the cinnamon raisin bread, the roasted garlic, the olive bread, sun dried tomato bread...needless to say I spent a lot of time and money there for some time. That's how my family got hooked on paninis (a fancy grilled cheese sandwich with lots of stuffing) and french toast with leftover bread.

Then came the no-knead bread revolution, where you could artisan breads (the kind of bread with the crusty exterior and the spongy yummy interior), without getting your hands dirty nor using up too much effort. That bread demystified the whole bread shop and made the stuffy, snobbish sounding "artisan" bread to just a loaf of bread which gets a special treatment to generate the chewy crust. So that bread, along with the five minute bread, all of which I shall write about later, became staples...

BUT.. there was still something wrong.. as anyone with kids knows, unless the kids like it, there is no point in making something again and again...and the Artisan breads were too hard for my kids, so again I was searching..for a simple loaf this time.
Also, my mom is again visiting (though on the other coast of US)and she asked for a white bread recipe to use up the extra yeast. Now the Internet is filled with artisan and fancy breads of all kinds but I couldn't find a simple white bread.
Going back to my old copy of "Bread", a book that was neglected in all this hi-fi baking, I got a white bread recipe..and it was so easy!! Knead once, let it rise, punch down and shape into baking pan, let it rise and then bake.

Anyway, to stop my rambling, here is my first white bread.. It may not perfect and the shape is a little flat as I didn't have the correct loaf pan..(but as my DH says, this can be the reason to buy the loaf pan now.) Is it economical to make your bread? I don't know about that.. but it sure tastes good. I just need to figure out how to store it without the moisture coming in it. Any suggestions for that?
I am not an expert in this, but this recipe seems to be fool proof as I saw it in two different books. Also the temperature distribution in electric and gas ovens will be a little different so the first time may not be perfect. Will keep you updated with my adventures. Do try and if I can I will resolve issues with your results.

You Will Need:
This dough makes 2 loafs so either half the ingredients accordingly or freeze the dough and use it later for the second loaf.
Warm water-1/4 cup (2 fl oz)
Warm Whole Milk- 2cups(16 fl oz)
Active Dry Yeast-4 teaspoons
Sugar-2 tablespoons or honey plus one pinch of sugar.
Unsalted Butter-2 tablespoon, melted
Bread Flour- 6 to 6 1/4 cup plus extra as needed
Canola oil for greasing

Preparation:
In a bowl, combine the water and the 1/4 of the milk. Sprinkle the yeast and the pinch of sugar over the liquid and stir to dissolve. Let it stand till foamy, about 10 minutes.

...Most bread recipes call for two risings. Although a time frame is given, it cannot be precise and depends on the temperature of the room and other factors....

In a food processor or in a bowl, combine the remaining milk, sugar, salt and 1/3 of the flour. Whisk or beat till creamy and then add the yeast mix and slowly add the remaining flour one cup at a time so that it all mixes well without any lumps. Keep mixing till the dough pulls away form the bowl side in the food processor.

...To test if the dough has risen enough, press 2 fingers into it. If the indentations remain, the dough is ready to be shaped and left to rise a second time....

Mix with the back of a spoon and knead by hand if you are not using the food processor. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Just like you make a chapathi/puri or batura dough, except that this will be slightly softer. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat it lightly with the oil in the bowl.Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a lid and let it rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 hrs.

Lightly grease a 9X5 inch loaf pan. Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured board/mixing plate and divide in half. Pat it into a rectangle and fold it like an envelope. Roll up the dough tightly into a thick log and roll it back and forth with your hands till it is the same length as the loaf pan.

... To test its readiness after a second rising, press against it with a finger tip.If the imprint remains and the dough holds its shapes, its ready to be baked.....

Pinch the ends and the long seam to seal and place the loaf in the pan , with the seam side down..All this is done just to get a neat rectangular shape so do it any way you like it. Cover loosely again and let it rise for another hour, till the dough has risen one inch over the rim of the loaf pan.Preheat the oven to 375 F(190 C). Bake on the middle rack till the loaf is golden brown and pulls away from the sides, about 40 minutes. Turn out onto a wired rack and let it cook completely. Store in a cool, dark place.

Guess The Indian Name...

Does anyone need to be told that whole grains are better for you?
Growing up, rice was mostly par boiled or rose matta rice, both of which are highly nutritious and chapathis/rotis were made with whole grain wheat.(The wheat was bought, washed, dried in the sun and taken to the mill to be converted to the Whole wheat flour!!) There was hardly any bread and pasta and noodles and cereal etc.

But now it's not so easy to make every choice whole grain and healthy. I kind of(yeah, let me see if I can do it) resolved to increase the whole grain intake in my family this year. Not very easy coz all the Kerala Breakfast items, puttu, vellappam, pathiri,etc( which are mostly made of white rice) show up as dinner in my house. So every meal, whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner should try to inject whole grains in it if it can be done.
So got curious by this article in NY Times.NY Times Dining section is a good time pass on Wednesdays mornings with tea. This week's issue is out to promote whole grains for breakfast.. in rebellion to the sugar laden cereal and donuts as options. Read this article, Whole Grain Breakfasts. You might recognize a couple of options that you are already familiar with. But can you guess what this recipe for Coconut Oat Pilaf closely resembles and if you had to give it an Indian name, what would you call it?

Update 2/20/09
Most of you guessed it correctly..Oats Upma!! When I first saw it, the recipe looked glamorous and exotic but reading into it, realized that it's just UPMA!! Our staple is going mainstream.

Soy Cutlets...

Last week, I opened my pantry and it seemed to have a taken a life of its own, growing and reproducing more than I actually stored in it. For every box that I take out, two more fall out from behind it. However organized the pantry is, after the kids ransack through it and I shove stuff into it, during instant clean ups, it gets messy soon enough.
Every 2-3 months, I have to reorganize and take stock of the endless grocery outings. I am sure all of you have had this experience at least once. So I set out to clean it and guess what I found? Amongst all the spice jars and sauces and powders, there was a packet of Nutrela Soy Chunks that I had bought in the hope and dream of feeding my family healthy food. Once I followed a Sanjeev Kapoor recipe of soaking the soy in milk and making a subji with it, but that turned out to be too sweet. Unfortunately, soy was a failure as a stir fry, as a subji, as a curry and now it lay neglected and unwanted in the corner.

Soy is the poor man's meat..it looks like meat( vegetarians will disagree!!)though it doesn't taste anywhere near meat!!So I minced it and treated it exactly the way I cook with minced meat..sauteed with onions and spices and then mixed with potatoes..viola.. there you have it..soy cutlets...other than the slight taste of soy, the cutlet sensation took over and the chewy granules makes it taste just like meat cutlets.

Vegetarians may wonder why the emphasis on meat cutlets, given that they may like the taste of soy as is, but meat lovers will understand the point. If I made it into a tikki, it just tastes weird and chewy. Getting a meat loving household to try anything remotely soy and healthy is a challenge and when they like it, it is worth blogging. Try it and let me know if it passed in your house or not.

You will need: To make 10-12 cutlets

Nutrela Soy chunks- 1 cup
White Potato-3 medium sized
Onions- 2 medium sized ones
Green chilies- 8
Roasted Coriander Powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric- A pinch
Ginger-garlic paste-1 1/2 tsp
Black pepper- 2 tsp
Biryani Masala/Garam masala- ½ tsp (optional)
Lemon juice- 2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves- 1 cup chopped finely
Canola Oil- ½ cup
Egg –1
Bread crumbs- 1 cup
Preparation:
1. Soak the soy chunks in warm water for half hour and then squeeze out every ounce of water from it. Mince the soy chunks in a mixer/food processor without water.
Chop the onions, garlic and chilies finely and put in a shallow pan, with 1 or 2 tbsp oil. Let it saute for 5 minutes and then add the minced granules, turmeric,and coriander powder. Keep stirring to prevent any particles from sticking to the pan. 2. After 10 minutes, take the mixture off the flame and add the lemon juice, garam masala and pepper.
3. Meanwhile, wash each of the potatoes, wipe them dry and cover with plastic wrap. Place them in the microwave and adjust the setting for the baked potatoes. All the potatoes can be cooked at the same time. Alternatively, the washed potatoes can be pressure cooked with ½ cup water for a single whistle.
4. Peel the potatoes and mash them with your hands/potato masher or the back of a spoon. There should be no lumps.
5. Add the soy mixture to the potato, and add the chopped coriander leaves and salt. Mix and taste and add more salt or lemon juice if needed.
6. Make lemon sized balls of the mixture and shape it into an oval or round shape.
Beat the egg (Use just the egg whites) with a pinch of salt. Keep a plate with bread crumbs also ready.
7. Dip each oval ball into the egg and then into the bread crumbs. Give it a final shaping.
8. Heat little oil (should cover the cutlets only half way) in a pan and shallow fry the cutlets till brown on either side. Serve with ketchup/chutney.

Chicken Soup and Frozen Herbs...

Herbs are the most expensive item as per the quantity, in my grocery list at least and I can only keep them alive for 10 days (maximum!!) before they lose their flavor. So I end up buying the cilantro-mint-curry leaves weekly while the other non-desi herbs are relegated to be the dried variety. Then last summer I had a small container herb garden and just loved the flavor of the fresh herbs...all became my best friends.....with such pretty names, how can you ask them not to... for anything, I would just hop out and get a sprig or two...oregano in kebabs(yeah, they taste great) and fresh basil in pasta sauce, thyme in grilled meats and potatoes...Rosemary and I don't get along so well so didn't invite her to my container party.

Then the winter set in and my herbs were freezing so I brought them in..I don't have a sunroom or a really sunny ledge so had to place them in the side tables in the living room next to the window...The next day there was dirt and a worm crawling out ..eeek.. squeamish me, banished them to the cold, apologizing and promising to revive them in the summer.



Then a month back, Matt of Daregal Gourmet offered to send me samples of a new product they were marketing...frozen herbs. The idea was so quirky that I had to try it out.
Usually during my supermarket stroll, something new finds it way into my cart..some end up in the cabinet, only to be thrown out, still unused after months, some become the new staple. But this one was interesting as they claimed that the herbs are cut at their peak, chopped, and quickly frozen.

They arrived packed in a box so huge that I forgot all about the go -ahead I had given to the herb people and opened it quickly...much too quickly to read the "Danger-Dry Ice- Do not touch with bare hands"...argh!!

Eight containers of herbs ..was a pleasant surprise. I had expected just one or two...Oregano, Cilantro, Parsley, Original Blend, Dill, Italian Blend, Basil, Grilling blend... each box had a particular herb or herb blend, chopped fine. On opening, they looked a funny shade of green, like someone had gathered the grass with the frost off my front lawn. But they smelled good, just like the herbs, so I hesitatingly tried them in some of my cooking. It took me a week before I gathered the courage to use it. All you do is keep them frozen until you're ready to use a particular herb, give the container a quick shake to loosen, and shake out on any dish you are making.

My uses:
I used the herbs to season and marinate chicken for grilling. The chicken marinated in a blend of the oregano along with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika came out very nice and the leftovers can be used for other chicken stirfries or wraps.
The grilling blend works very well with fish to get a good combination of herbs in a hurry. I grill salmon and flounder often for the kids and the light parsley-butter-garlic-pepper is what they prefer so this is easy to use for that.

The Italian blend, Parsley and Basil, I used in pastas and pasta sauce and tasted good.
The Dill was particularly good in soups as shown below.



In general, the herbs work well in cooking uses and it smells really nice. They dissolve very fast but I didn't like the wet feel and taste when used directly on salads as garnish. The cilantro was the weakest herb as cilantro by itself is so delicate that I feel freezing damages its crisp taste. So, for our curries garnish, I still prefer the fresh cilantro.

They are expensive but not too much.. almost the same as the dried herbs. Compared to the amount I buy and have to discard, it's cheaper in the long run. If you do a lot of non-Indian cooking, grilling etc, then these herbs are a handy tool to have. You don't have to buy a lot for the tiny bit that you need for each dish and throw the rest away. They fit well in the freezer door too, so storing space is not a problem. All in all, I feel these frozen herbs are an improvement over the dried ones, though I do have to use them more to conclude fully.



All American Chicken Soup
This is a light soup that really is a kid favorite...they like the soup from restaurants and cans(disgusting over salty things!!urgh!!)so this is one soup that I resist adding my touch and make it as it is. You probably see this recipe everywhere in books and shows. The ingredients when bought are too much in quantity, so sometimes I chop it up and store it in the freezer in soup combination.


You Will Need:for 4 servings
Chicken pieces with bones-1 pound
Garlic-6 cloves
Onion-1 1/2 medium sized ones cut into 1/6ths.
Carrots-3 long ones, peeled and cut into big chunks
Parsnips-1/2 (optional)
Celery- 2-3 stalks ends trimmed and cut into 1" lengths.
Water-4 cups water
Dill- 1 tsp
Whole Peppercorns-1/2 tsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp or as per taste.
Preparation:
Remove any fat from the chicken and wash it well. It's better to keep it as big pieces for ease of removing the bones later.
Put the chicken and all the ingredients except for salt in a large heavy stock pot( open pressure cooker will do) and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30-40 minutes. If there is any impurities, skimming the broth will remove it. Add salt as per taste and adjust the seasoning with fresh parsley, dill and/or black pepper. Remove the chicken meat from the bones and return to the soup. Serve hot with a spot of butter or cream.

Note:
The parsnip and celery together add a sweetness to the soup that didn't appeal to me much, but the kids loved it, so try it either way and modify accordingly.
If you are making a large quantity, there will be fat in it. Skim off the fat by refrigerating the soup and removing the solidified fat.
You could add any kind of noodles (boiled separately) to this soup, but the ones that go best are the egg noodles. We like the wide twisted noodles.

 Spicy Modifications: 

1. Add scallions chopped up with ginger for a different twist. 
2. Add 1/2 tsp paprika for a slight spice kick
3. Shorba style: Omit the dill and parsnip. Add 1/2 tsp garam masala before cooking. Remove the chicken. debone and reserve. Smash up the rest of the veggies and pass the soup thru a strainer to get a semi- clear liquid. Do a seasoning of a pinch of cumin seeds and 1/2 chopped onion to the stock and add the reserved chicken.  Add more pepper and indianized soup ready.