Tag: baking

Oat Walnut Trifle Bowls with Roasted Stone Fruit … bowls of happiness!

“I am starting to think that maybe memories are like this dessert. I eat it, and it becomes a part of me, whether I remember it later or not.”
Erica Bauermeister

Oat Walnut Trifles with Roasted Stone Fruit … one of those really interesting recipes that came together like it was just meant to be. Each element paired beautifully with the other. The oat walnut sponge offered great texture to ‘drink up‘ the juices of the vanilla roasted fruit, healthy as it was! The low fat cream whipped up beautifully with almond undertones, luxuriously settling down atop the soaked fruity sponge in pretty silky swirls. It was a dessert like poetry!

So much yumminess you might ask, such a divine dessert, yet why am I sharing it so late. Well this time the culprit was this huge scatter brain that jotted the Oat Walnut Genoise Sponge recipe down on that most ‘important scrap of paper, then promptly misplaced the darned thing. It took me several days to try and locate it, then I just gave up. Bits of the recipe for the sponge stayed in my head. It was quite a delicious nibble on it’s own, and many ‘cubes’ fell to nimble fingers!Then one day this dessert popped up on my insta feed with someone asking for the recipe. Spurred into action by the guilt of a failed promise, I set off once again to make the Oat Walnut Genoise Sponge. Of course I am a sucker for punishment yet I enjoy baking so much, so I recreated the base recipe from what I remembered, and happily it worked out just fine. This time I baked the dough/batter/dough differently, and for longer, in the form of tiny cookie pies with pretty dark chocolate ganached piped on top. They seemed an obvious choice as I was at the receiving end of some excellent KitchenAid bakeware.

Being part of the Kitchen Aid Culinary Council, these are things I really enjoy and am eternally grateful for! The mini pie pan is the sweetest ever, great great quality, and so are the measuring spoons. Fortunately enough, the doughy batter was a great choice for these cookies too!

So here we go, better late than never, Oat Walnut Trifle Bowls with Roasted Stone Fruit that were good to the last crumb! Feel free to use berries, fruit in season like mangoes etc. If you don’t have time for roasted fruit, make a simple sugar syrup to moisten the oat walnut sponge, and trifle on! Triflesare desserts with immense possibilities, great for failed bakes too as in these ‘Upcycled’ Butterscotch Blondie Puddings.

I am beginning to enjoy the challenge of creating with oats more and more. There is so much and more you can do. If you are like me, a dessert needs to be celebrated. Find a nice bunch of stemmed glasses, or beautiful glassware like this, and assemble your trifle. For a lighter version top with vanilla Greek yogurt, maybe piped almond quark! Will make a fit bressert {dessert for breakfast=bressert}!

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Oat Walnut Trifles with Roasted Stone Fruit

Oat Walnut Trifles with Roasted Stone Fruit came together like they were just meant to be. Every element paired beautifully with the other. The oat walnut sponge offered great texture to 'drink up' the juices of the vanilla roasted fruit. The low fat cream whipped up beautifully with almond undertones luxuriously settling down atop the soaked fruity sponge in silky swirls.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

Oat Walnut Sponge

  • 40 g oats
  • 55 g walnut halves
  • 20 g brown sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 100 g brown sugar
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 20 ml clarified butter/ghee
  • 1 tsp brown sugar

Vanilla Roasted Peaches & Plums

  • 4 peaches
  • 5 plums
  • 75-100 g brown sugar
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1/2 vanilla bean

Whipped Almond Cream

  • 300 ml low fat cream, chilled
  • 25 ml clarified butter/ghee
  • 4-5 drops almond extract
  • 50 g icing sugar {adjust as per taste}

Instructions

Oat Walnut Sponge

  • Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 8" X 8" square baking tin with parchment.
  • Place oats, walnut halves, pinch of salt and 20g brown sugar in bowl of blender. Process briefly in short spurts until you get a fine grind. Don't over process else the nuts will leave oil.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the eggs, 100g brown sugar and vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until mousse like and doubled in volume, 5-7 minutes.
  • Gently fold in half the oat nut mix, then the other half.
  • Drizzle half the clarified butter over and fold in, then pour over the remaining.
  • Turn into prepared tin, sprinkle over 1 tsp brown sugar. Bake for 30 minutes.
  • Cool in tin completely. Then cut into cubes for the trifle.

Vanilla Roasted Peaches & Plums

  • Place all ingredients in oven proof dish, stir well to mix and roast for 30 minutes. Discard vanilla bean. Reserve. Note: You can bake this alongside the sponge, or a day or two in advance.

Whipped Almond Cream

  • Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Whip with an electric hand blender on the highest speed until thick enough to pipe. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.

Assemble

  • Take 6 dessert bowls. Layer the bottom with cubes of oat walnut sponge, top with roasted fruit and juices. Repeat once again. Pipe whipped almond cream swirls on top.
  • Keep chilled for a couple of hours, if not overnight, top with fresh cut fruit, walnut halves, some fresh herbs and serve.

Eggless Baked Cheesecake with a Mango Lime Sauce … desserts for summer

“The only way cheese is dessert is when it’s followed by the word cake.”
Michele Gorman

Eggless Cheesecake with Mango Lime Sauce must be the easiest dessert to make. Minimum fuss, barely four ingredients, one bowl dump and quick hand whisk, can’t ask for much more in a dessert for summer. I make this often, and am constantly amazed at how versatile I can get with it. Even if summer has slipped by, please make the basic cheesecake and dress it up with anything you like – a salted butter caramel sauce, a berry reduction, a dark chocolate ganache, a homemade preserve, maybe grated chocolate and toasted nuts.

I made a series of mango based desserts this summer. Have been busy with work, some travel, loads of house work etc. Did I mention the guinea pig? Now there are TWO just because they are social animals so a pair seemed right. Then there is Coco who now eats ALL vegetables with renewed interest trying to beat the guinea pigs at their game!

In any case, that I procrastinate is quite obvious else this would have been on the blog a while ago. I made this a short while ago, and recently shared the image on Facebook and Instagram. With so many requests for the recipe, I thought I had better share it before summer sneaks by us, while a few of you can still make it.

So here you are. A quick, eggless delicious cheesecake that is a western take on an old Indian classic, ‘bhapa doi’. Make the Eggless Cheesecake with Mango Lime Sauce a day ahead, chill well, and then enjoy the compliments that come your way. Looks like a lot of work, but all this actually needs is half an hour in total. The mango sauce compliments it beautifully, and makes it look pretty too if you ‘dress it up’ a little. I had fun cutting out shapes with a sharp cookie cutter! I’ve baked this several times before. With summer stone fruit, a Mishti Doi Cheesecake for  a festive feel, a Salted Butter Caramel Cheesecake, and a Dark Chocolate Orange Cheesecake too.

So grab your bowl and whisk and get baking!

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Eggless Cheesecake with Mango Lime Sauce

Quick, eggless delicious, the Eggless Cheesecake with Mango Lime Sauce is the Western take on an old Indian classic, ‘bhapa doi’. Make it a day ahead, chill well, and then enjoy the compliments that come your way. Looks like a lot of work, but all this actually needs is half an hour in total. The Mango sauce compliments it beautifully, and makes it look pretty too.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  • Eggless Lime Cheesecake
  • 1 tin sweet condensed milk {approx 400g}
  • 400 g yogurt
  • 2 tsp milk powder
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • Mango Lime Sauce
  • 150 ml mango juice fresh/tinned
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1 tsp cornflour dissolved in 1tbsp of cold juice
  • 1/2 tsp sugar

Instructions

Eggless Lime Cheesecake

  • Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 6″ dessert ring with a double layer of foil to come up around the edges so the mixture doesn’t leak. You can also use a loose bottomed tin but make sure you wrap it with foil too.
  • In a large bowl whisk together all ingredients for cheesecake until smooth.
  • Turn into prepared tin and bake for 15 minutes. Leave to cool in tin, then cover and place to chill in fridge overnight.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the sauce for topping.

Mango Lime Sauce

  • Place the mango juice a in a heavy bottom pan with lime zest and sugar, and cook over medium high heat until halved in quantity. {If you like a slight hint of chili, you can add half a slit deseeded green chili for 2-3 minutes, and then discard it}
  • Once the juice has reduced, add the lime juice and corn flour stirring until it thickens to desired consistency. The sauce will thicken a bit more on cooling.
  • Cool sauce, and then chill overnight with the cheesecake. {The sauce can be made in advance}
  • Top with cutouts from mango slices, fresh basil leaves, flowers if in bloom. Chill until ready to serve!

Rosemary Garlic Sesame Millet Crackers with Lovilovi and Bird’s Eye Sweet Chili Pickle … earthy beautiful pairing





"There is a lot of food culture that goes on in the home and in the community in non-traditional ways. Food is a lot more than restaurants."
Eddie Huang


Rosemary Garlic Sesame Millet Crackers with Lovilovi and Bird's Eye Sweet Chili Pickle. These turned out to be crackers with a bite. Paired with the sweet chili pickle, they got just the right kick as well, some smoked Gouda on the side to balance the heat from the pickle. Both the crackers and the the pickle have much in common, other than the long name of course! Both earthy and rustic, both from local produce, they have a combination of flavours that compliment each other. The taste undertones are complex but subtle, individual ingredients in each that compliment the preparation. The good thing is that they pair together beautifully too!


Say millets to me and a part of me shudders with fear, while the other part of thinks happily this might be the time for me to 'step out' and be millet confident. I've had a LONG unsteady relationship with millets, more hate than love. In the past I have found them uninspiring, sandy, gritty and rather unrewarding to work with. Yet a recent contest on Commeat which focused on millets made me sit up and take notice. Couldn't figure out why it had everyone so excited.Thus began a small journey. Though only a few weeks old, I am fast covering ground. Picked Madhuli's brains as she does a load of creative food with millet. I pestered her SO MUCH that she just mailed me many bags of different varieties.Then I shifted gears and pestered Ruchira, my other millet inspiration. She put me onto making the yummiest millet khichadi ever. So I bravely ventured further on my own, and here is my first experiment, millet crackers. Flavoured with my fave ingredients, garlic and rosemary, I threw in some sesame seeds too!Much reading online tells me that roasting the flour before using it reduces a characteristic mustiness the flour has. Did just that. Looked and felt like sand, or rather EARTH! Which gave me an idea. I decided to pair these earthy rustic millet crackers with this Lovilovi and Bird's Eye Sweet Chili Pickle from Place of Origin.On the onset, might I warn you that the flavours just explode in your mouth. Not for the faint-hearted, this intriguing pickle tempts you to dig in. The heart wants more yet the mouth is on fire! Smoked or herb cheese on the side balances it off!Made from the Lovolovi plums and the bird’s eye chilies that grow wild in the coffee estates of Coorg, The Earth Reserve's Sweet pickle is a must-have for all who love combination between sweet and spicy. One of the most piquant chilies and tartness of the berries combine to bring you a flavor that has a spicy kick but not mouth burning and you can still taste all the individual flavours. This pickle looks good, tastes good and provides you a versatile usage. Liven up a burger, serve with a cheese board or cold meats, spice up sausages, mix in to mayo…






Based in Scotland of India - Coorg, The Earth Reserve brings to you homemade products with a passion for bringing wholesome food to the table without any added colours, flavours, synthetic preservatives, taste enhancers or pectin. Free from harmful pesticides or any other chemical sprays, the ingredients are instead sprayed with the nourishing rains and mists that the hills of Coorg are blessed with. With its natural heritage and colourful history, India is the birthplace and home of a number of cuisines. The environment, soil, climate and history contribute to unique recipes made with locally sourced produce. Accordingly, every town in India is famous for select foods or food producers. As human beings, it is natural for us to have a strong emotional connect with the food we eat. There will always be some food products which trigger fond memories of familiar hometown flavours and gastronomical experiences – it could be the sweetshop from across the street from where you grew up or a confectionery in that hill station that you went to one summer. This pickle hits 'thta' spot and more! So if you make crackers like these, to set your world on fire with this fabulous pickle, PlaceofOrigin.in is the answer!!


 
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Rosemary Garlic Sesame Millet Crackers

Crisp, earthy, flavourful and gentle, these Rosemary Garlic Sesame Millet Crackers are a great wholegrain savoury bake. They are good on their own, and really good when paired with a dip , maybe cheese as well. Paired with Lovilovi and Bird’s Eye Sweet Chili Pickle, they got just the right kick, with some smoked Gouda on the side.
Course Snack
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup millet flour {ragi}
  • 1/2 cup wholewheat flour {aata}
  • 3 tsp white sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp black sesame seeds
  • 2 tbsp clarified butter {ghee}
  • 1/2 tsp rock salt
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 2-3 sprigs rosemary finely chopped
  • 50-60 ml water

Instructions

  • Gently roast the ragi with sesame seeds over low heat until lightly coloured. Cool.
  • Preheat oven to 180C.
  • Place all ingredients except water in bowl of stand mixer.
  • Mix on low speed, then add 50 ml water to make a soft firm dough. Add a little more water as required. Knead the dough until smooth for 2 minutes.
  • Roll out as thin as possible between two sheets of baking parchment, cut into desired shapes, then transfer to baking sheet.
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes until they turn brown on the edges and feel firm.
  • Cool completely, then transfer t an airtight container.

Baking | Brownie Butterscotch Wholegrain Cookies … and some gorgeous table linen from IDAM


“I love linen in soothing colors for any room in the house.”
Nate Berkus

Brownie Butterscotch Wholegrain Cookies are possibly the easiest cookies to make ever. This is my favourite recipe as it is as simple as the end is delicious. Healthy too. For one the cookies are double chocolate {almost everyone’s favourite}, and they are also a 100% wholegrain. To make them better, I halved the butter! Guess I couldn’t ask for more! They turned out pretty effortlessly in the KitchenAidIndia stand mixer, which turned out a perfect cookie dough in a matter of minutes. Absolutely delicious comfort food!

With so little effort I turned my attention to some beautiful table linen from a concept store called IDAM. The beauty of this shot and the few others that I attempted to capture, IMHO, of course comes from their aesthetic and impressive range of linen. The more I shoot their linen, the happier I get. Do check out their work. It is so inspiring, so real. Importantly their statement of beliefs hit the right chord with me.

“Taking a step closer to sustainable and responsible design, we have pledged to use 100% organic fabrics for all our products. We use 100% fair trade certified fabrics. We carry over the great work done in the farms to our manufacturing factories, which always follow ethical fair labour practices. We take pride in our work ethics where we do not encourage child labour, gender discrimination or low wages.”

IDAM was born out of numerous car ride discussions to and from college between a duo of dreamers, Nayanika & Gazal. From an idea, it has now evolved to a full fledged print and surface design studio that translates its aesthetics onto contemporary home and lifestyle products. Each product is unique as it has a story behind it. Be it a doodle in a diary or the fallen leaves outside their studio, or how folk art adorns the streets of India, it’s all brought to you in an array of prints, almost like a glimpse into the dreamers daily escapades.

The  fabric is gorgeous, the attention to detail has me fascinated. It’s the small ideas that translate into print that makes me love them. Every piece is so me – the whites and blacks, the beige and slate grey, the blue and white, the understated Ikat print. This is just one small peep into their beautiful world. 

And of course, do bake up a batch of Brownie Butterscotch Wholegrain Cookies! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

 

 

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Brownie Butterscotch Wholegrain Cookies

A new baking recipe. An easy baking recipe. The Brownie Butterscotch Wholegrain Cookies are chippers gone healthy, yet still deeply satisfying. This is not your everyday quintessential chocolate chip cookie. This one is better and is also 100% wholegrain. Deep dark chocolatey + chewy + fudgy = comfort food! Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies
Course Snack
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients

  • 125 g dark couverture chocolate {I used 72%}
  • 50 g unsalted butter
  • 30 g good quality cocoa powder
  • 1 egg
  • 100 g brown vanilla sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 15 ml yogurt {1tbsp}
  • 80 g oats {I used breakfast oats}
  • 75 g wholewheat flour {aata}
  • 50 g buttercotch chips

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180C. Line 2 cookie trays with baking parchment.
  • Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl {in the microwave or over a double boiler}, whisk until smooth, then stir in the cocoa powder.
  • Place egg, yogurt and brown sugar in bowl of stand mixer, and whisk at high speed for 1 minute. Beat in vanilla extract, salt and baking soda, followed by the melted chocolate mix.
  • Fold in oats, whole wheat flour and butterscotch chips on the lowest speed until just combined.
  • Allow to stand for 5 minutes for oats to absorb moisture. {If the dough feels a little 'loose', add an extra spoon or two of oats.}
  • Scoop out dough with cookie scoop or drop spoonfuls on a tray, shaping as you go, at least an inch apart. Flatten with the tines of a fork.
  • Bake for approximately 20 minutes until the top feels set for a soft fudgy cookie, {I use the KitchenAid cookie tray for baking chocolate chip cookies, and the lower element only in my oven}
  • Leave to cool on tray for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
  • Store in a cool place.

Baking | Simple Straightforward Delicious 100% Wholewheat Pizza … #cleaneating

“I want to live in a world where the need for pizza belittles that of war.”
Jason Barnett

100% Wholewheat Pizza … nothing else. Simple, clean, quick, delicious and versatile. As I mentioned recently, I have a few good to go recipes that I hold in my head. Most involve eye balling, throwing into the KitchenAid stand mixer rather rapidly, mixing in all at once, and then leaving the yeast to rise to the occasion. Life gets tiring at times with so much going on. For times like those, simple is best. If it can go wholegrain, even better.

There’s nothing to this recipe. In line with my recent experiments, I use cultured buttermilk {available as plain chaach in the local market} to knead the dough as a substitute to water. Chemistry falls flat with me, schooling largely forgotten, but possibly yeast with the added culture does work in there to allow for a quick rise. You could add a spice blend, minced garlic or herbs to the dough as well. I added a dash of Genoa to perk up the grilled vegetables for the topping, the topping inspired from Epicurious. I’m giving away a set of spice blends away here, so you can try and enter if you like. The spice blend paired well with the vegetables and herbs. Worked a charm. Bland vegetables like eggplant and mushrooms take really well to added flavours. Just herbs, garlic and lime also work really well.

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100% Wholewheat Pizza

Simple, quick, fuss free, this 'loaded with goodness' 100% Wholewheat Pizza will keep the young and old all happy. Base done, fix the toppings as you like, else there is a recipe below. Recipe can be easily doubled.
Course Appetiser, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 2 people

Ingredients

100% Wholewheat Pizza

  • 1 cup wholewheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp yeast
  • pinch sugar
  • 125-150 ml cultured buttermilk tepid
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink rock salt

Topping

  • 3-4 long eggplants sliced
  • 10-15 button mushrooms quartered
  • 3-4 cloves garlic sliced
  • 2 tsp fresh herbs
  • Juice of 1/2 lime
  • 1 tbsp Sprig Genoa spice blend
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tomato chopped into 1/2" bits
  • 1/2 cup sweet corn
  • 4 tbsp jalapeno cream cheese
  • 4 tbsp pizza sauce
  • 200 g mozzarella

Instructions

100% Wholewheat Pizza

  • Place everything except buttermilk in bowl of stand mixer. Stir on low speed for 3 seconds, with knead hook attached. Begin pouring in the buttermilk, a little at a time, till you get a soft dough that begins to comes together.
  • Increase the speed and knead for 7-8 minutes on speed 5 until you get a smooth elastic dough. Add a little more buttermilk f the dough is dry, or some more flour if the dough is too wet. {Every brand of four has a different absorption capacity. I usually eyeball the amount.}
  • Transfer to an oiled bowl {or leave in in the KA bowl like I do}, cover with cling-wrap and leave in a draft free place to rise for an hour, until doubled. {You can also leave it in the fridge overnight for a slow rise}

Topping

  • Toss the eggplant slices with 1/2 tsp salt, and leave in colander for 30 minutes. Squeeze out excess water, then toss with mushrooms, spice blend, garlic, lime, olive oil and fresh herbs.
  • Grill in hot oven for 10 minutes then leave to cool.
  • Toss tomatoes with freshly chopped mint and basil and some salt, Place over a colander to allow excess water to drain out. Mix into the grilled vegetables.
  • Preheat the oven to 180C.
  • Divide the dough into 2 or 4 as desired.
  • Roll out quite thin {we like thin crust pizzas}, or as thick as you like. Brush with extra virgin olive oil, and lightly sprinkle with Himalayan rock salt.
  • Place of a parchment lined baking tray and bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool a little.
  • Assemble
  • Give the base a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, then a smear of cheese spread, followed by one of pizza sauce.
  • Top with the grilled mixed vegetables and sweet corn, grate over mozzarella.
  • Bake for 10 minutes in a hot oven just until the cheese melts and the vegetables get warmed through.
  • Garnish with chili flakes, fresh herbs. Serve immediately.

Genoa Fougasse with spiced yogurt, hummus & foxnuts … for the love of bread

“Variety’s the very spice of life, that gives it all it’s flavour.”
William Cowper

Genoa Fougasse turned out to be the best bread I’ve baked in a while. Sometimes you just need ‘bread luxury’, and this became that and much more. The difference here was the new level of deliciousness brought on by the addition of a gourmet spice blend, Genoa, from Sprig. It brought the flavours alive, went beautifully with the cheese and walnuts within, making it our new favourite bread at home. French Fougasse has always been on top of my list of fave breads. The Genoa Fougasse just knocked it off!

Spices have always fascinated me since I entered the kitchen. My love affair with them getting more intense when I joined Dolphia and Simi on the spice journey with The Masala Dabba. The colours, the flavours, the versatility never cease to amaze. I am rather light handed with spices in the kitchen, using them only to enhance flavours rather than overpower the dish. The fougasse I planned to make was just a cheese and walnut bread.It’s a dough I’ve been working with, an experiment which goes on substituting grains on the go. I wanted a light bread, so I decided to stay half whole wheat and half plain flour. Also instead of water, I like kneading my dough with cultured buttermilk. Kills two birds with one stone, no make it four! Adds some calcium, makes the dough buttery light, reacts faster with the yeast, and of course lends beautiful flavour too! I recently did pitas with a similar dough, playing around with the quantities a little. Seems to work its charm each time!The  charm however turned to absolute joy with this gourmet spice blend from Sprig. The spice blends arrived as the dough was proofing. On a whim I decided to add some to the bread. The fresh flavours please you as you undo the foil, the aromas very enticing. The packaging is quite eye catching, the quality excellent. If you look closely, you can pick out the ingredients as listed on the box. It’s quite a generous portion in the box, will see me for a while. It added colour, flavour and real happiness to the fougasse which was quite aptly renamed Sprig’s Genoa Fougasse. I can see a Syracuse Fougasse, maybe a Tangier Fougasse in the future perhaps. That’s the really nice thing about spice blends. They are so versatile to use – as a rub, marinade, glaze, paste, crumb, sprinkle or dressing! Or like me, with my imagination on about everything. You can see just what happened!!I made a Genoa Dipping Oil to serve alongside the bread. Just when you think the bead can’t get any better, one dip into the oil and you reach another exciting new level. Ideas popped into my head. You can do Malacca Naans or Tangier Pita Breads! Imagine a themed meal with the spice blend running through the meal? Really had me happy. Tangier Pitas with Tangier marinated grilled chicken, a hearty salad within paired with a mild Tangier laced salad dressing. Just the idea makes me happy!As I see spices, new ideas constantly develop in my head. How about a spice blend spiked yogurt, like a raita. I gently tried sprinkling some Malacca and melon seeds over home made yogurt. I can’t even begin to tell you how addictive that was. It was actually bowl scraping good. Next time it’s going to be either grated radish, a spice blend, chopped walnuts, maybe a dash of garlic and fresh mint or coriander as a side. The possibilities bring a smile to my face, somewhat like these fox nuts {or makhanas below}.

As the days pass by, there is always something interesting happening in the kitchen. These days falafal seems to rule, hummus much in demand. While attempting to make hummus the other day, I added the Tangier Spice Blend on a whim since it seemed to tie in with the region. What an amazing result. It lifted the hummus to a new delicious level. The daughter dug in asking where it was from. ‘You made it? Really? This is much better than store bought hummus‘.So chuffed, I added some into the falafal mix as well. This turned out to be fun! Pitas, falafal, garlicky dip, salad all happening in tandem!This gourmet spice blend from Sprig is available at Nature’s Basket, Foodhall and many stores across India. Locate a store here, else shop at the online store.

Sprig has offered to giveaway a set of the Gourmet Spice Blend to a reader of Passionate About Baking.

To enter all you need to so is like Sprig on FB and tell me what dish you would make with any {or all of the spice blends} should you win. I’ll pick a winner on the 25th of July. You must be a resident of India to enter.

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Genoa Fougasse

Genoa Fougasse turned out to be the best bread I've baked in a while. Sometimes you just need 'bread luxury', and this became that and much more. The difference here was the new level of deliciousness brought on by the addition of a gourmet spice blend, Genoa, from Sprig. It brought the flavours alive, went beautifully with the cheese and walnuts within, making it our new favourite bread at home.
Course Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Bread dough

  • 130 g aata
  • 130 g maida
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp yeast
  • 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 200 ml buttermilk

Filling

  • 1 1/2 tbsp Sprig Genoa spice blend
  • 100 g mozzarella grated
  • 50 g walnuts, toasted, chopped

Topping

  • 20 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp Sprig Genoa spice blend
  • 2-3 Few sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink rock salt

Instructions

  • Bread dough
  • Place all ingredients in bowl of stand mixer. Mix gently first at speed 2 for a couple of minutes, then at speed 4 for 4-5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
  • Add a spoon or two of buttermilk if the dough is a bit hard, or a spoon or two of flour if it is still sticky.
  • Cover the bowl with clingwrap and leave in a warm place for an hour until doubled. {Alternatively, leave in the fridge overnight for a slow rise}
  • Preheat oven to 225C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Knock back dough, and flatten to a rough rectangle of 8" X 4" on a floured surface. Drizzle a little olive oil, then sprinkle over with Sprig Genoa Spice Blend. Top with grated cheese and walnuts. Fold into thirds, flatten again, and fold into thirds again.
  • Place on prepared cookies tray, and shape into large oval, about an inch high. Cut slits through the dough to resemble leaf like cuts. Drizzle over with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle over with more spice blend, rosemary sprigs and Himalayan rock salt. Leave to rise while you preheat the oven to 20 minutes.
  • Bake for 20 minutes in a hot oven, middle shelf, both upper and lower elements, until puffy and golden brown. Serve with a spice blend infused extra virgin olive oil for dipping.
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