Category: VEGETARIAN

Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … rustic bread with caramelised onions, walnuts, dehydrated tomatoes and mozzarella

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning

Millet & Whole Wheat French FougasseMillet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … this bread is like music to my ears; a celebration of all things ‘breadily‘ good! Rustic, earthy, chewy … good to grain! Warmer days are here. Feels like we missed spring somewhere along the way and landed up in summer. The days can only get hotter as the mercury hits 32C. At times like these, yeast is my BFF, performs beautifully, making me want to experiment endlessly.

We had a beautiful wholewheat soda bread that Sangeeta made while we drove from Pune to Baramati for the vineyard visit. I think I ate most of it, greedy me. It was bursting with earthy flavours of whole wheat and sun dried tomatoes. The whole wheat was stone ground and you could tell because of the texture. It had been given a good dunking of extra virgin olive oil too.

Bread like this makes you wake up and notice how good whole grain can get. Plain flour just doesn’t cut it for me anymore. The more I see plain flour breads on menus across eateries and in stores, the worse I feel. Whole grain is good and it’s a good choice to opt for.

Someone once told me that the luxury of plain flour bread is the way to go. You can eat salad and maybe soup on the side, other greens and veggies to tank up on fibre, and yet not feel guilty about ‘white bread’. I beg to differ.

Whole grain isn’t a punishment. Get used to it gradually and it might be difficult to return to plain flour. It’s a choice you have, and a good one you might make especially if you have young kids with changing palettes.  Make a gradual change and you’ll be surprised at how they jump to fresh home made whole grain bread.

Sun-dried tomatoes are a wonderful addition to breads. My last experience of store bought ones from Fab India was pathetic. I didn’t have time to make some, so figured the Philips AirFryer could help a bit. I have now begun caramelising onions after Abha mentioned it to me one day! Great discovery! 1 tsp of oil for 1 sliced onion is all it takes, and a few minutes.

In went sliced tomatoes tossed in olive oil, dried herbs, garlic and some sea salt. Can say YUMMM? Just wonderful… it took about 15-20 minutes as I experimented on different settings but was thrilled to get just what I wanted. I always have a batch bottled in the fridge now.

The fougasse is as rustic as it gets. You will find a selection of French Fougasse, this flat French bread, on my blog as we love it at home. I began with a plain flour bread, graduated to part pain flour, part whole wheat, and this time did a version with some sprouted ragi flour / millet.

Rustic, moorish, and delicious! If you are a new to whole grain breads,  the earthy flavours will gradually grow on you. It’s a dough that takes well to additions. Roasted garlic, roasted bell peppers, salty olives, sun dried tomatoes, caramelised onions, feta, fresh herbs, nuts {I particularly like walnuts in here} but let your imagination lead you.

[print_this]Recipe: Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse  

Summary: Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … bread as rustic as it gets. If you are a new to whole grain breads,  the earthy flavours will gradually grow on you. It’s a dough that takes well to additions. Roasted garlic, roasted bell peppers, salty olives, sun dried tomatoes, caramelised onions, feta, fresh herbs, nuts … let your imagination lead you!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour {plus resting time}
Ingredients:

  • 250g all purpose flour
  • 100g wholewheat flour
  • 75g finger millet {sprouted ragi flour}
  • 300ml warm water {divided 200ml + 50ml+ 50ml}
  • 2 tsp instant yeast
  • 30g olive oil + 15g for garlic
  • 10g /1.5tsp salt
  • 1 head of garlic, roasted
  • 2 plum tomatoes, sliced &  dehydrated {or sundried tomatoes}, chopped
  • 2 red onions, thinly sliced, caramelised
  • 100g mozzarella, chopped
  • 100g walnuts, chopped
  • Extra olive oil for brushing
  • Sea salt for sprinkling

Method:

  1. Squeeze out the roasted head of garlic and mash with 15g /1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Reserve in a small bowl.
  2. Take 50ml of water {lukewarm} & dissolve the yeast into it. Stir the salt and 30ml of olive oil into 200ml of water.
  3. Mix the flours, make a well in the centre and pour the yeast/water mixture into it. Use the remaining 50ml  water if required.
  4. Knead to a dough, kneading further on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes, till smooth & elastic.
  5. Thermomix: Place both flours, salt and yeast in bowl of TM and whiz for 5 seconds on speed 10. Add the 250ml water and olive oil and mix on Speed 6 for 30 seconds. {Gradually add remaining 50ml water as required}. Knead in closed position for 5-6 minutes.
  6. Place in an oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling wrap & leave in a warm place for about an hour until doubled.
  7. Punch down & divide into 2.
  8. Roll one half out to about an 12″ oval, spread half the roasted garlic olive oil mixture on the base, sprinkle over half the snipped tomatoes, caramelised onions, half the walnuts and half the cheese. {Reserve some tomatoes and onions for topping if you like}
  9. Season lightly salt and freshly ground pepper. Roll up gently like a swiss roll.
  10. Fold over the dough 2-3 times on itself to incorporate the stuffing.
  11. Shape each back into a flattish ball, then fold the bottom third up, & top third down to make an oblong. {I made one big round bread and one oblong, but the latter is tradional}
  12. Roll into ovals with a flat base, cut slits diagonally, three on each side. Pull slightly to open the cuts. {Repeat with the other half.}
  13. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Cover with cling wrap & leave to double for 35-40 minutes while you preheat the oven.
  14. Preheat the oven to 220C, brush the loaves with olive oil, sprinkle over sea salt {and tomatoes and onions if you like} and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes till golden brown. Brush with more olive oil as they come out of the oven. Cool on racks. Serve warm {that’s how we love it} or at room temperature with extra virgin olive oil or butter!

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The Life of Pi …. err…Pie Bird & A Strawberry Pie

“If you don’t let technology help you, if you resist good ideas, you condemn yourself to dinosaurhood.”
Yann Martel, Life of Pi

A Strawberry Pie and a Pie Bird. Strange how good things happen at the same time. Around the week that the Life of Pi won an Oscar, the folk from Zansaar sent me something very interesting … a beautiful aubergine stoneware baking dish with an intriguing creature inside. They call it a Pie Bird!

Have you heard of one?  To be honest, I had no clue that such a charming creature actually existed. Google enlightened! From whimsical banter from when we used to chime “Four & twenty black birds baked in a pie” as toddlers, to Alton Brown who wholeheartedly endorses the pie bird, it seems to be quite a handy bakers tool. Many ardent pie bakers swear by it.

What might a pie bird be? It’s a little hollow contraption made of ceramic, that helps keep a pie base from getting soggy. It also prevents it from boiling over, sometimes even saving a pie from dramatically exploding!

A pie bird, pie vent, pie whistle, pie funnel, or pie chimney is a hollow ceramic device, originating in Europe, shaped like a funnel, chimney, or upstretched bird with open beak. Funnel-style steam vents have been placed in the center of fruit and meat pies during cooking since Victorian times; bird shapes came later.

Pie funnels were used to prevent pie filling from boiling up and leaking through the crust by allowing steam to escape from inside the pie. They also supported the pastry crust in the center of the pie, so that it did not sag in the middle, and are occasionally known as “crustholders”. Older ovens had more problems with uniform heating, and the pie bird prevented boil-over in pie cooking.

Fancy my delight when I received it as also the beautiful aubergine pie dish from the Mason Cash collection. It’s a handy dish to bake a classic apple pie, or maybe a chicken / vegetable pie. The high quality stoneware dish has a wide lip that  makes it ideal for pie crusts while the stoneware construction ensures that it heats evenly.

I enjoyed ‘playing with it’. It gave me much food for thought, Life of Pi and pie bird quotes flying through my head. You see, at the same time, the younger teen was doing a film review on the Life of P. There was plenty of Pi / Pie happening!

I wanted to make an apple pie but I had my last stash of red luscious strawberries from the recent Pune trip. I thought a strawberry pie just might work. It did and the pie baked up beautifully. Once completely cool, it stepped out of the dish gingerly with no trouble at all. It’s a good size baking dish for a meal for two, or maybe part of a meal for four.

I was in a hurry to slice the pie so the juices ‘leaked’ a bit. It sliced just fine a while later! The dough is a normal short crust that I substituted with a little cornmeal. Cornmeal works really well in all my galettes. This was my first double crust pie. It worked great. A classic American apple pie served with vanilla ice cream seems likely in the future!

I had some leftover dough, and about 1/2 a cup of left over filling. Could I just let it sit? Of course I couldn’t. The leftovers made a neat little galette which included one left over plum from an earlier baking project. The galette was crisp and full of fruity goodness. A drizzle of unsweetened single cream … delicieux!


[print_this]Recipe: Strawberry Pie

Summary: A fruity and delicious strawberry pie. A great way to use fruit in season.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour plus cooling time
Ingredients:

  • Pastry
  • 160g plain flour
  • 40g cornmeal {makki ka aata}
  • pinch salt
  • 100g unsalted butter, frozen, grated
  • 2-3 tbsp of ice water {as required}
  • Filling
  • 500g frozen strawberries {or fresh}
  • 35g cornflour
  • 25g plain flour
  • 200g vanilla sugar {decrease if fruit is very sweet}
  • Juice of 1/2 a lime
  • 25g pistachios, chopped {few slivered}
  • 1tbsp apricot jam, melted
  • Single cream for brushing over {and serving}
  • Vanilla sugar

Method:

  1. Pastry
  2. Place the plain flour, cornmeal and salt in bowl of food processor and pulse briefly to mix.
  3. Add the frozen butter and pulse again for a few seconds until you get a breadcrumb like mix.
  4. Add the water 1 tbsp at a time, until the dough comes together when you pinch it between your fingers. {You might need more than 3 tbsp as the absorption property of flours differs across brands, regions etc}
  5. Turn out push together to form a tight ball. Divide into two, flatten into disks, wrap in clingwrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
  6. Filling
  7. Preheat the oven to 200C.
  8. Place the ingredients in a large bowl and toss well together. {If your strawberries are really sweet, then add about 1/4 cup less sugar. Taste and adjust if required}. Let stand for 15 minutes.
  9. Assemble
  10. Take one disk of chilled dough, and roll out to line the baking dish. Gently transfer to dish, crimp or ruffle the edges if you like, else trim them to fit the edge. Brush the base with apricot jam. 
  11. Place the pie bird in the centre of the pastry.
  12. Turn the fruit into a sieve to remove any released juices {if you have the time, you can reduce the juices in a pan over low heat and add them back to the fruit}. Ladle into the pie dish around the bird.
  13. Roll the second disk of pastry to cover the top, cut out a 1 1/2 – 2″ circle and gently place over the pie bird.
  14. Seal the edges of the pie with the tines of a fork. Use some left over dough to make leaves etc for the top if you like.
  15. Brush the top with single cream, sprinkle over with vanilla sugar and slivered pistachios if you like.
  16. Bake at 200C for 25 minutes, and then at 180C for 25-30 minutes more until the crust is golden brown.
  17. Note: Tent the top or cover the edges with foil if the crust is becoming too brown.
  18. Let it cool completely before trying to turn out of baking dish. Slice only once completely cool, 3-4 hours after baking.

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Baking | Rye Cheddar Crackers & Pizza Dough Crisps … Crackling good times with the Daring Bakers!

“Sometimes I want to clean up my desk and go out and say, respect me, I’m a respectable grown-up, and other times I just want to jump into a paper bag and shake and bake myself to death.”

Wendy Wasserstein

Rye Cheddar Crackers & Pizza Dough Crisps … with less than little time on hand, I baked myself to death. Literally! I missed the last DB challenge,and this months was a cracker! It’s been yet another busy month, but I snuck a day midweek and had a whale of a time!It’s a cracking good time to be a Daring Baker. Crackers all the way, something we at home love to love, yet something that tends to get ignored in the baking schedule more often than never. Yet crackers and crisps are right up my street, savoury my choice over sweet!

Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie was our February 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to use our creativity in making our own Crisp Flatbreads and Crackers!

Having missed last months challenge, I was determined not to miss this one, and was quite chuffed when I read the challenge. But time flies as always, work piles up, schedules lag, mismanagement and procrastination galore, I find the panic rising the minute we get past the 15th.

Quite murmurs with fellow DBs…are you done yet? Did you do the challenge. Always looking for the push, the motivation, the ‘get up and go‘ to get up and go! I was quite motivated after we had a potluck at home, and Sangeeta brought some delightful whole wheat crackers.

Up early one Saturday morning, with the kids snoring, I had whole wheat cheddar crackers ruling my head…but alas, no recipe on Sangeeta’s blog. I decided to chart my own path, and thought I’d use the rye in the larder also know as finger millet or sprouted ragi flour locally.

Threw a few things together, garlic and sweet paprika two of my favourites, cheddar because crackers must have some yummy cheese in them {IMHO}, and smoked sea salt because I love the flavours it subtly adds! It was a timid attempt. Was pleased with the outcome, crisp, earthy, flavourful crackers … nom nom nom. Ran one past the boy. “YES! These are nice Mama.” What a relief.

Handed one out to the better half, lavished with some kumquat chili  marmalade that Sangeeta made with the kumquats I sent her. What a combination! “Can I have another please”, said Mr Man…and I knew we had some magic in here! I did pester her for her wholewheat cracker recipe, which she parted with large heartedly. That’s next on my list to do.

Then one day I made pizzas…actually Calzones, Pizza Pies & Popovers with lamb & beet greens. All that done, I still had a small ball of dough left. Almost chucked it out, then remembered reading ages ago that someone had made crisps out of leftover pizza dough. Don’t throw out that left over dough!

Such fun. Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment as thin as you possibly can. Give it a brush of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of dried herbs, pepper, sweet paprika, maybe sea salt {though be careful if you dough already has salt in it}. Bake until crisp in a less that medium hot {lower element only} oven. Keep checking as every oven ‘does it’s own thing’. Before you know it, you might have burnt crackers!

I was out at sea for a dip for these and then thought a cheese dip might bring the pizza story together. Eyeballing is always good for dips. Cheddar, olive oil, low fat cream, garlic, dried herbs … and into the microwave. Voila! It was a cheese fondue on the side!

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Recipe: Rye Cheddar Crackers

Summary: Crisp, earthy, flavourful crackers with rye flour.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 120g rye / sprouted ragi flour
  • 120g plain flour
  • 1 tsp smoked sea salt
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
  • 50g cheddar, grated
  • 30g butter, room temperature
  • 100-125ml water {about 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup}
  • Sesame seeds {optional}

Method:

  1. Place rye, plain flour, sea salt, garlic, sweet paprika, cheddar and butter in food processor and whiz till it becomes fine breadcrumbs.
  2. Gradually add enough water to make a firm, smooth dough.
  3. Roll out as thin as possible, brush with beaten egg {or milk} and sprinkle over sesame seeds, and cut into rectangles with a fluted pastry cutter.
  4. Bake at 170C for about 15 minutes, until brown and crisp.
  5. Cool completely on racks, and store in an airtight box.
  6. Serve with Kumquat Chili Marmalade and cheese.

Recipe: Pizza Dough Crisps 

Summary: Crisp crackers made out of pizza dough. Give it a brush of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of dried herbs, pepper, sweet paprika, maybe sea salt.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

    • 1 small orange sized ball of pizza dough
    • extra virgin olive oil
    • Suggested toppings : dried herbs, smoke paprika, sea salt, chili flakes, sumac, freshly ground pepper, sesame seeds, poppy seeds
    • Plain flour for rolling

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 160-170C, medium low heat.
  2. Divide the dough into 2, lightly dust with flour, and roll out as thin as possible between two sheets of parchment paper.
  3. Keep checking the paper to ensure it doesn’t stick on top, and dust a little if required. You will bake on the bottom sheet, so the lower sheet doesn’t matter.
  4. Brush with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle over your choice of toppings.
  5. Bake in a medium low oven until crisp. I used just the lower element and kept checking. My oven took about 25 minutes.
  6. Cool completely, and then break into shards.
  7. Serve with a dip of your choice.
  8. A cheese fondue, a fresh salsa, a ranch buttermilk cream cheese dip, or a chili marmalade are great on the side.

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Jam making | Kumquat Marmalade … In Season & in plenty!

“I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It’s amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor.”
D.H. Lawrence

It’s a happy feeling just looking at a jar of homemade Kumquat Marmalade, characteristically bitter-sweet and delicious. Life continues to race, the days forever busy. A feeling of strange uncertainty takes over at times, like I’ve forgotten something, maybe missed a deadline.  It’s not the ‘end of the year‘ panicky feeling, or the ‘before exam restlessness‘. Then again, maybe like marmalade, life is bitter-sweet too!

I like to enjoy what I do, relax and vegetate sometimes, yet the modern day rat race of sorts is woven into every second that ticks by. Can’t figure out what happened to those laid back times of yesteryear.

Then in this feeling of being on a roller coaster comes a small break … jam making. Thankfully it’s a process that you so totally get immersed in, that the unsettled feeling is forgotten. The marmalade kept me on my toes, more so because junior decided to get involved.

Right from plucking the fruit off the tree, to shooting fruit in baskets, to grabbing some away from the dog, stirring, bottling … he was there all the way! {Little Coco had her eyes peeled through-out}I have been fascinated by the fruit since I was young. No one ever ate them, too tart of course, but they were so pretty! And the colours? Inspirational! Then a few years ago, a lady in the neighbourhood let us into her guarded little secret of making bitter marmalade with these. You will not imagine how many kilos of sugar disappeared into jars of jam once we were ‘fruitily enlightened‘!Every one we knew and their cousins were gifted bitter marmalade with glee. The hard work of snipping peels and stirring the jam until translucent well worth the look of amazement on the happy recipients faces. For the past 3 years this is all I do come winter, and everyone in the neighbourhood knows where to send their fruit.

Call it the strangeness of nature, but the much in demand lime tree just doesn’t seem to bear fruit like the kumquat tree. Kumquats finds little use among common growers and are not commercially sold in India. Yet, almost every household in North India proudly sports a kumquat tree, also called ornamental orange. The fruit fall and rot once ripe as even birds don’t feed on them, they are so tart!!

The round kumquat also called Marumi kumquat or Morgani kumquat, is an evergreen tree, producing edible golden-yellow fruit. Kumquat literally means ‘golden orange’. The fruit can be eaten cooked but is mainly used to make marmalades and jellies. It is grown as an ornamental plant and can be used in bonsai. The plant symbolizes good luck in China and other Asian countries.

“So much sugar? More? No Mama, No”! I forgot all my jam making skills, and I have made this jam umpteen times. “Is it done mama, is it done. Shall I stir? What if the bag of seeds opens? I think you haven’t tied it properly?” I could have tied up the thirteen year old, I was so nervous.

Then I announced it was ‘plate test time’. “What’s that? Ooh can I do it? I think it’s setting. Ya. No. Noooooooooooo … cook some more Mama. OK, let me stir. Shall we cook more?” . I finally regained control of my bitter kumquat marmalade finally telling him I thought it was done {though I think I cooked it a little longer than I should have!}

It’s strange how when kids are part of a process, they love the food even more. It’s been marmalade and toast for the past few days no matter what. Double fried eggs, cereal … and then the call, “Mama, if it’s not too much trouble, can I have toast with marmalade please?” Did I tell you he was charming? Gosh, all the way!

A word of thanks –  Thank you Ziet Online for featuring me in Sunday Dinners.

[print_this]Recipe: Kumquat Marmalade

Summary: Bitter kumquat marmalade is one of the best ways to use up this tart fruit. Makes a for a great gift, and is also a wonderful addition to cake batters, frosting, pies etc. Makes about 6 jars.

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 1kg kumquats 
  • 1kg sugar 
  • 250ml water

Method:

  1. Sterilize 4-5 jam jars. Place a metal spoon in each jar {this ensures that the glass jar will not crack when the hot jam is poured in}.
  2. Place the sieving bowl over a bigger bowl, and squeeze the seeds to deseed the fruit. We need to collect the seeds as they contain the pectin to set the jam. Make a bouquet garnet of the seeds.
  3. Snip the peels with scissors into strips.
  4. Place the strips, with the pouch of seeds, in a heavy bottom pan on full heat. Boil for a few minutes till the peel is tender, stirring constantly.
  5. Add the water and continue to cook on high for 2-3 minutes. Now add sugar, stirring constantly.
  6. Continue to cook over high heat for a further 10-15 minutes until the mixture thickens & the strips becomes translucent.
  7. Do a plate test by dropping some marmalade on a cold metal plate to check if the jam is setting properly. After 30 seconds, it should congeal and look jellylike.
  8. Put off the flame, discard the muslin pouch with the seeds and allow the jam to cool for 10-15 minutes. Stir to distribute the strips.
  9. Now pour the marmalade into the jars, and seal after 10-15 minutes.
  10. {I refrigerate my jars}
  11. Thermomix method:
  12. Place the peels in the TM bowl and slice at speed 10 for 2-3 seconds. Add the reserved juice to the TM bowl, with 250g water, and run on Reverse at 100 for 10 minutes, speed slow.
  13. Add 800g sugar and the bouquet garni {which holds the seeds}, and run at reverse at speed 2 for 2 minutes. Add a further 450g sugar {small kumquats tend to be very bitter}, and continue to cook at reverse speed 2 for a further 8 minutes.
  14. Now turn power to 100C, place the lid at an angle, and cook until the gelling action kicks in and the jam begins to set. {Do a stainless steel plate test. Drop some marmalade on a cold plate to see if it sets in under a minute}. Mine took about 7-8 minutes.
  15. Put off the TM, discard the muslin pouch with the seeds & allow to stand in TM jar for about 15-20 minutes, and then pour into prepared jars. I refrigerate my marmalade.

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Baking | Almond Digestive Chocolate Squares & Roasted Garam Masala Chickpeas … Diwali / Holiday Baking

“This is my advice to people: Learn how to cook, try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun”
Julia Child

It’s Diwali, the festival of lights, India’s biggest festival and one that literally lights up the length and breath of this beautiful country. That this time of the year is hectic seems an understatement; I race to keep up with holiday baking. For today, I went a little sweet and some savoury – Almond Digestive Chocolate Squares & Roasted Garam Masala Chickpeas

Oh, I bought some lamps. Actually got these lamps for myself after buying some for Finla {bottom of this post}. Her better half was visiting India for a music fest and I asked her what I could send. Her wishlist had Diwali lamps if possible! I ordered some for her, then got really tempted and got some for ourselves too. I loved the rustic metallic look!

This is the best time of the year in North India. The nips in the air, winter is beginning to make itself felt. It’s time for soup, for breads, for baking; generally time to tuck into food without feeling too guilty. I was short on time as always yet wanted to bake something. These little squares hit the sweet spot without being too sweet or too buttery. Nice balance of flavours and quick, convenient holiday baking.

These got made FAST! They’re an adaptation of a simple recipe I’ve had scribbled for ages, passed down by a friend. Of course I added my little twist adding whole almonds to the digestive biscuit base. I love the texture that nuts add. Maybe hazelnuts would work nicely too.

Lack of time and I had to fast track. Instead of waiting for the bake to cool completely and then pour melted chocolate over the top, I sprinkled the chocolate chips over the warm bake. Worked well. I do this quite often when I bake Oat Energy Bars. It’s always a happy feeling to see how beautifully dark chocolate melts gently on warm bakes!

Nothing like a quick fine slicing of almonds and pistachios over the melted chocolate to dress up the bites. A slicer comes quite handy at times like this unless of course you have the luxury of sliced nuts on hands. I don’t!! It’s nice to think up something savoury to meet the sweet. Savoury is my weakness! The Philips AirFryer continues to call my name and fuel my imagination with creative ideas. I’ve done roasted chickpeas in the oven before, so thought  that they might come out well in the AirFryer too. Why ever not? Good idea! Great idea! I do chickpeas from scratch here {we are not a canned chickpea country}. It isn’t cumbersome though does require a little planning like an overnight soak. {At this time I would LOVE to be a chickpea … I’d give an arm and a leg for an overnight soak! Oh my weary bones…} Once you have cooked chickpeas, toss them in EVOO, then spice them as you like. I did one batch with garam masala, salt and a dash of lime juice. YUM! The second batch was with a mix of garam masala, dried mint, cinnamon, red chili powder and roasted cumin. I’d love to do a garlic or chipotle, or maybe a honey garlic. How about smoked paprika? These came out CRISPY good from the AirFryer in about 20-25 minutes, a few shakes in between. An oven would do the same job at 200C for about 45 minutes, with some shaking up too.  Both teens had a go at tossing them high in the air and playing catch with the mouth. The dog was obviously HAPPY as she got all the missed catches. She LOVES chickpeas – soaked, boiled and now crispy garam masala too! Hope you enjoy these recipes. Both are relatively fuss free and very quick, great additions to the holiday table! Do you have quick fun filled holiday baking recipes that light up your lives? I would LOVE to hear about them! Have a wonderful holiday baking season!

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Recipe: Biscuit, Almond & Chocolate Squares

Summary: These little Almond Digestive Chocolate Squares hit the sweet spot without being too sweet or too buttery. A quick holiday bake using staples from the pantry.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 250g digestive biscuits
  • 85g whole almonds
  • 75g butter, melted
  • 400g condensed milk {1 tin}
  • Topping
  • 100g dark chocolate, chips or chopped up
  • slivered nuts to garnish

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C.  Butter the sides of  a 8 X 8″ square baking tin, and line the bottom with parchment.
  2. Place the biscuits and whole almonds in the jar of a food processor and process until you get a sand-like crumb meal. {Thermomix: Speed 7, 20 seconds}
  3. With the processor running on slow, pour in the melted butter, followed by the condensed milk. It should all come together in a sticky glob … something like flubber. Don’t be tempted to taste it now, as the danger is that you might not stop eating. {Thermomix: Reverse Speed 2, 20 seconds}
  4. Transfer to prepared tin, level out with an offset spatula or butter knife, and bake for about 20 minutes / until slightly firm to touch. It will set as it cools.
  5. Leave for about 15 minutes, then sprinkle the chocolate evenly over the top. It should melt in 5-7 minutes. Smoother it uniformly over the top, scatter slivered nuts, cocoa nibs, sprinkles etc over the top and let it cool completely.
  6. You might need to refrigerate it for the chocolate to set.
  7. Cut into squares and serve.

Recipe: Roasted Chickpeas

Summary: Crisp, healthy and addictive, these are a great addition to holiday snacking!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 250g chickpeas, soaked overnight , cooked, drained
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2tsp cinnamon powder
  • 1 tsp roasted cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp dried mint leaves
  • 1/4- 1/2 tsp red chli powder
  • 1 tsp salt

Method:

  1. AirFryer
  2. Preheat the AirFryer to 200C for 5 minutes. 
  3. Toss the chickpeas in olive oil, then in the spices to coat well. Taste and adjust seasoning if required.
  4. Transefer to wire mesh basket, set the timer to 20 minutes. Shake the basket after 10 minutes, then once again after another 5 minutes.
  5. Check to see if they are crisp, else give them another 5 minutes.
  6. For the oven, bake at 200C in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. Stir a couple of times}

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No Bake | Date & Prune Chocolate Truffles … truffles on a diet don’t get better than this #festivefood

“Life is like a box of chocolates … You never know what you’re gonna get.” Forrest Gump

Date, Prune & Walnut Chocolate Truffles are something I never thought I’d make. Yet a chance FB update sighting a while ago set me on the track. And my, what a great idea. Healthy, delicious, a power house of energy and guilt free indulgence, truffles on a diet don’t get better than this!These were fun to make, and so fast track! No bake, no cook, practically no work … almost like instant gratification! I got to step one in a matter of minutes but one bite into it was like, “Ummm nice, but something was missing, not indulgent enough“. Into the fridge they went!They sat there bugging me the next morning. Thought of adding some dark chocolate to the truffles and running them in the processor again but the task of remaking the little balls bothered me! Seemed daunting for a fast track dessert.Next idea, and it turned out to be a good one. The dark couverture I had ordered reached that same morning. Melted some in the microwave and had such a great time dunking each little ball into luscious, thick, satiny melted dark chocolate.Melted ooeey gooey dark chocolate is strangely therapeutic.  Is it just me? Whatever, but I really enjoyed this part and was rewarded in a while.These were GOOD! The teen loved them till the junior told her they had dates. “I don’t like them“, she declared, but soon was back digging into the bowl. ‘These are really good,” she declared. “Butter?” … the diet goes on, very conditional though!!  {Note: Thank you Sangeeta for the wooden board above. I ♥ it!}These make for good gifts in the festive season. They were a great addition to the Porcelain Buono Decoration Plate Silver from Urban Dazzle. It’s quite reasonably priced too. This was one of the many products I received for review which I shared when I made one bowl cocoa wholewheat almond brownies .About the truffles. They have a wonderful texture. You can play around with the combinations since both prunes and dates afford a good sticky base. Don’t like walnuts, use almonds. Don’t like nuts or are allergic to them, use dark chocolate, crystallised ginger, candied peel. Roll them in sprinkles after the dark chocolate has almost set; jazz them up if you like! Also, thank you Urban Dazzle for giving me a chance to review your Diwali range. I really love the variety and the quality of stoneware, ceramic, porcelain, drinkware and bakeware. You can see some of the range in my picture up there. I did wholewheat gingerbread men the other day and they looked so HAPPY on the platters, ornamental & ceramic.I also did a vanilla panna cotta in three flavours paired with three dessert sauces – coffee with a dark chocolate sauce, raspberry with a raspberry lime sauce, and saffron with  salted caramel saffron sauce! Then did mini panna cotta in these tiny little white ceramic bowls, three on a plate {The honeycomb plate is from a set my sis sent me from the US. White love!}The bowls are really versatile. Dipping sauces look great served with them. Else a good extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and queen olives with a sour dough bread served on a matching Mediterranean inspired ceramic platter! So much inspiration …

[print_this]Recipe: Date & Prune Chocolate Truffles

Summary: Healthy, delicious, a power house of energy and guilt free indulgence, truffles on a diet can’t get better than this!

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:

  • Truffles
  • 100g dates {seedless}
  • 100g sundried prunes
  • 100g walnuts
  • 20g cocoa powder {3 tbsp}
  • 15g extra virgin olive oil {1tbsp}
  • Chocolate coating
  • 100g good quality dark chocolate melted {I used a 53%}

Method:

  1. Truffles
  2. Place dates, prunes and walnuts in bowl of processor and process for a minute or so until everything gets chopped fine. Taste and adjust sweetness if required adding more dates or prunes. {Thermomix: Speed 8, 30 seconds, repeat if necessary}
  3. Add the cocoa powder and olive oil and process briefly to mix. {Thermomix: Speed 8, 20 seconds}
  4. Roll into bite sized balls packing firmly.
  5. Dip into the melted chocolate and leave to set on a parchment lined tray in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.

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