Tag: Italian

I SPY A PIE…IT’S SAVOURY & IT’S FOR IVY!

“Men may come and men may go…..but Pie goes on for ever.”
George Augustus Sala
All savoury pie roads lead to Ivy’s @ Kopiaste this September. There’s a savoury pie food event at the Greek gals place & it’s been on my mind the whole month.
With the weather getting cooler here, pie times are beckoning. Have a few bookmarked pies on my list, but with September quickly disappearing before my eyes, I’d better send these little rustic savoury galettes Ivy’s way. Made mini galettes with left-over home-made pizza dough from here. I flavoured the basic pizza dough with chili flakes, Italian seasoning & garlic powder (loads of it). Got the idea from Pschygrad‘s Savoury Mini-Galettes & decided to use whatever I had left-over in my fridge. You see, with blogging comes a load of delicious left-overs!!
Made these rustic creatures with a filling of a little pizza sauce from Christine Cushing’s yummy jar of hand-made sauce that I won as a prize. It came all the way from Canada & I’m trying to make the most of it!! Topped it off with blanched spinach (squeezed out), an assortment of grated cheddar & cottage-cheese, slices of tomato, sweetcorn, & sauteed mushrooms.Rolled out the pizza dough thin & piled on the filling in the centre, dampened the edges with a little water, folded it over in pleats, left a bit open on top, added a dollop of sour cream & onion cheese spread. Baked at 180 degrees C for about 25-30 minutes till the pastry got nice & crisp & golden…Nice change from the pizza. Top with fresh basil & serve warm or at room temperature. I think these would taste yum with grilled chicken too!
You may be interested in another galette I made some time ago… Savoury Spinach Tomato & Cheese Galette. That was yummy too!!

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Posted by Deeba @ PAB

HEY PRESTO…MIXED-HERBS PASTA

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta”
Fellini
Psychgrad & Giz @ Equal Opportunity Kitchen are hosting the weekly round-up of Presto Pasta Nights this week. Presto Pasta Nights is the brainchild of Ruth & it’s amazingly on it’s 81st week. Pasta is a more than welcome option at home at any meal, so here’s an entry to PPN.I’ve had this Bon Apetit ‘Mixed-herb Pasta’ recipe from Epicurious in my bursting folder for long but the only herbs I had were basil…& loads of it. Then one day the courier came with a well packed box & beautiful handwriting. Excitedly opened it to find the sweetest smelling fresh sage that Coco @ Ambrosia mailed to me from Mumbai. I jumped with joy as I love fresh herbs; sage is something that has been elusive for far too long. Coco told me she’d send me some as there was a place in Mumbai that sold fresh herbs. She’d included some fresh oregano but unfortunately the leaves didn’t survive the journey. There was rosemary too, but someone nicked the box with the rosemary…grrrrrrrrrr! I wanted very much to make a loaf of bread with a great crust etc…but was BANNED from making anything ‘exciting‘ on the cuisine front since the daughter was going to be away for the next 3 days on a school adventure camp. She made me swear I wouldn’t bake bread while she was away…& so I didn’t! I eventually made some mixed herb pasta because the sage was calling to me. Made some sage-potato salad & some canapes using the sage too. I loved my first experience with this wonderfully textured velvety herb. Thanks Coco…I love blogging & fresh herbs even more now!!
Mixed-Herb Pasta with Bell Peppers and Feta
adapted from Bon Appétit April 2002
Ingredients:
Olive oil – 3 tablespoons
Red bell pepper – 1 large, cut into thin strips
Yellow bell peppers – 1 large, cut into thin strips
Garlic cloves – 6 large, finely chopped
Dry white wine – 1 cup
Fusilli – 300 gms (the original used spaghettini)
Mixed fresh herbs – Coarsely chopped 1 1/2 cups(such as basil, parsley, tarragon, mint, and sage)
Feta cheese – 1 1/2 cups,crumbled

Method:

  • Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add peppers and cook until crisp-tender, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes.
  • Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add wine; boil until reduced by 1/3, about 2 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta and reserved cooking liquid to pot.
  • Add pepper mixture, herbs, and cheese. Toss gently but thoroughly until cheese begins to melt. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
  • If you like, you can garnish the pasta with fried sage leaves.
  • Note: Don’t be tempted to decrease the quantity of herbs as the pasta will taste bland.

This post is also off to dear Ning @ Heart & Hearth who is guest-hosting this week’s ‘Bookmarked Event’ for Ruth @ Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments. Have a good week Ning & happy hosting!! If you have anything bookmarked & if you’ve had the time to make it, do blog about it & send it to bookmarked recipes HERE. Remember to check out the round-up next Monday.

Thought I’d also share some pictures of the ‘The Himalayan Bear Stream Camp’ which my daughter attended last week. The 7th graders from school went to this beautiful adventure camp nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas…& had a fantastic time.

This is what came back after 3 days…LOL!

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

2 TONED BISCOTTI…COFFEE & CHOCOLATE!

“Yield to temptation…it may not pass your way again”
Lazarus Long
On the 5th of September every year, schools across India celebrate this day as Teachers Day. Every attempt is made to make teachers feel special, & the kids make cards etc for them. Both mine always take some cookies for their class teacher, & a few others. The daughter voluntarily makes about a dozen cards, while the son struggles to make 1! She is like a card factory in herself, & in the span of an hour turns out about a dozen well made, similar looking cards, with intricate art-work; the writing looks like it’s been printed. Trying to desperately keep pace, the little fellow somehow manages to almost complete his one card, with writing like spiders taking a walk, but is amazingly creative in his own way!! (Didn’t manage to take pictures of the cards though….). My job is to take orders for cookies from the kids. It’s usually chocolate-chip cookies or shortbread. This year I had a bee in my bonnet to make biscotti. I was suffering serious ‘biscotti making withdrawal symptoms’…& so got online to look for a new chocolate biscotti. I found this neat recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti on Food Network…the head said YES, but the silly heart pushed for more.

Firmly put the heart into place & made notes of the recipe. But the head was stubborn too now, & wanted to go further. Before I knew it, I had doubled the dough & was subconsciously working towards a 2 toned biscotti!! Never heard of it, but wanted to try it & firmly had a plan in mind.
Glad I tried it because it came out great…very pretty too. Next time will increase the coffee to get a much deeper coffee flavour. Otherwise a great recipe; the reviews on FN were very helpful & whatever thoughts I had about crumbly/broken slices were put to rest. Many folk commented that a serrated knife is not the reason for crumbly/broken biscotti.
You’ve just got to use a good quality knife with a sharp cutting edge. I used my magical Santuko knife, in sharp, swift motions…no problem at all. Clean cuts for once & non crumbly biscotti!! Very yummy too!!

COFFEE CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI as adapted from Food Network
Ingredients:
For Chocolate portion:
Flour – 2 cups all-purpose
Cocoa powder – 1/2 cup unsweetened
Baking soda – 1 teaspoon
Salt – 1/2 teaspoon
Unsalted butter – 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons), softened
Granulated sugar – 1 cup
Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
Eggs – 2 large

For coffee portion:
Flour – 2 1/4 cups all-purpose
Baking soda – 1 teaspoon
Salt – 1/2 teaspoon
Unsalted butter – 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons), softened
Granulated sugar – 1 cup
Eggs – 2 large
Instant Coffee- 2 tbsps (I used 1; but should have used 2)
Coffee extract – 1 tsp (optional)
Mini chocolate chips – 1/2 cup

2 tablespoon vanilla sugar (or confectioners’ sugar)


Method:
For the CHOCOLATE portion:

  • In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Add eggs and beat until combined well.
  • Stir in flour mixture to form a stiff dough.

For the COFFEE portion:

  • In a bowl whisk together flour, coffee powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Add eggs and beat until combined well.
  • Stir in flour mixture & chocolate chips to form a stiff dough.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter and flour 2 large baking sheets/or line with parchment.

To finish:

  • Divide each dough into 4.
  • On prepared baking sheet with floured hands, form 8 long ropes 12″ X 1″ & join together to form a half chocolate/half coffee slightly flattened logs, each 12 inches long and 2 inches wide; 2 logs on each sheet. You should a total of 4 logs. I f you like, you can twist 1 or 2 to give some other effect too.
  • Sprinkle with vanilla sugar. (you can use confectioners sugar instead).
  • Bake logs 35 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool biscotti on baking sheet 5 minutes.
  • On a cutting board, with a sharp knife, cut biscotti diagonally into 3/4-inch slices. Arrange biscotti, cut sides down, on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool biscotti on a rack.
  • Biscotti keep in airtight containers 1 week and , frozen, 1 month.Am sending this off to Ben’s @ What’s Cookin US as the ‘sweet’ entry for his ‘I Love Baking’ event.
Posted by Deeba @ PAB

LASAGNE ON A ROLL…FREEDOM PASTA

“Forks and spoons have probably done more to reconcile people who cannot agree than guns and bombs ever did”
Theodore Zeldin
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‘Red & White‘… Lasagna – Pasta with Freedom!
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A few weeks ago, I got a mail each from 2 very sweet Indonesian bloggers settled in Canada, Pepy @ Indonesia Eats & Dwiana @ The Adventure of My Cooking Diary announcing a food event celebrating ‘Red & White’, the colours of the Indonesian flag, in honour of the Indonesian Independence Day in August. How surprising that Dwiana & Pepy are ‘foodie fellows’ as they call themselves, & I have known the 2 of them separately through blogging in my search for the ever elusive sambal chili sauce. Little did I know that our paths would cross in such a manner & was delighted to be thought of & invited to contribute in my little way.
Anything red and white, visual or concept wise, taste wise… anything!
.
At that time, I was clearing the larder… I have boxes of lasagna waiting to be used. Also had 6 tubes of cannelloni to use up. 6 were certainly not enough for a meal…‘can-u-loan-me’ some? Cannelloni couldn’t be made into lasagna…but thankfully, lasagna works well as a cannelloni roll up.
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How much more freedom can you get out of pasta…
…Lasagna willing to be rolled into cannelloni!
All the pieces fell into place with RED, WHITE & FREEDOM.

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SIL mentioned a nice veggie pasta cannelloni she had the other day with potatoes, cottage cheese & sweetcorn within. Enough to set my mind ticking. I love veggie versions of pasta; gives me a nice break from chicken. Contact was made with the ‘Pasta Bible’ which had a roll up version I had seen some time back. Set to work & this is how it came out….
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Canneloni with Potatoes, Cottage-cheese & Sweetcorn…by me
Ingredients:
Lasagna sheets – 12-16 / cooked al dente & spread out on a clean kitchen towel
(or cannelloni – 12-16 tubes)

Potatoes -2-3 / boiled & grated
Cottage -cheese – 400gms , grated (I use Le Bon)
Cheddar – 50 gms , grated
Sweetcorn – from 2 cobs ( I like to boil mine fresh)
Fresh coriander leaves – chopped fine (optional; or any other herbs of your choice)
Marinara Sauce – 2 cups (approximately)
Mozzarella for topping
Fresh basil leaves Method:

  • Mix the potatoes + cottage cheese + cheddar + sweetcorn + herbs +salt + pepper well. Season well with salt & pepper. Reserve.
  • Put 1-2 tbsps of the mixture at one end of the lasagna sheet & roll up. Place seam side down in baking dish. Repeat with the rest of the sheets. If using cannelloni, pipe this filling into each shell & place in baking dish.
  • Pour over the marinara sauce & top generously with grated mozzarella. ( Can assemble till this point & refrigerate. Bring to room temperature later, bake & serve).

  • Cover with foil & bake for 25-30 minutes at 180 degrees C. Allow to stand for 15-20 minutes before serving.

This made for a nice, light summer main course dish. If you make it in winter, try it with a mushroom cream sauce over the marinara, maybe a bechamel, & then top it off with mozzarella. Would have been even yummier had I put in more cheese…but the calorie meter was a-counting!!

Thanks for flying the flag Dwi & Pepy. Thus runs the Spirit of Freedom, over nations far apart, yet bloggers narrowing borders like never before. I LOVE IT!!

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

RUSTIC ITALIAN FOCACCIA…IN A RING & MORE!

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

as rustic as it gets…

Italian artisan bread…

Thicker than a pizza, this dimpled bread, focaccia, gets it’s name from the Latin word focus, meaning ‘hearth’ , because it was originally baked on an open hearth. Italian bakers use focaccia dough to make many different speciality breads, such as this ring, stuffed with fragrant pesto, or for that matter, with any other flavouring you might like ( quoted from Le Cordon Blue; The Cook’s Bible).

I made one with home made pesto, & the other with a mushroom, garlic, cheese filling (we liked the second one better). Other interesting alternatives include:

  • Chopped fresh sage, crushed garlic, coarse sea salt & olive oil
  • Finely chopped black or green olives
  • Chopped sun dried tomatoes marinated in olive oil, shredded mozzarella & fresh basil
  • Sauteed onions & chopped fresh herbs

Artisan bread is exactly what its name suggests: bread that is crafted, rather than mass produced. Baked in small batches rather than on a vast assembly line, artisan bread differs from prepackaged supermarket loaves in a number of ways. Special attention to ingredients, process, and a return to the fundamentals of the age-old bread-making tradition set artisan bread apart from soft, preservative-laden commercial breads. For a more complex, flavored artisan bread, the ingredients list might expand to include various other items, all of them recognizable: sliced onions, cheddar cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil. Bread has been around for centuries. No chemicals were added to the breads baked by ancient Egyptians or those mentioned throughout the Bible, and none are added to artisan breads now.

We had company for dinner. I wanted to make bread. I had to make bread. DH suggested savoury Danish coz he fell in love with it after the last DB challenge, in June. I was tempted but that much butter was just not on…not twice a month & not in summer at least! So that morning I sat with my faithful pile of cookbooks around me, almost getting carried away to try something very challenging. Almost thought I would just go bake the Danish, & then saw this focaccia in the Le Cordon Blue Cook’s Bible. Made up my mind really QUICK!! It had to be this…I love rustic, artisan breads! It didn’t disappoint at all. I am posting this urgently on a request (3rd reminder today) from my SIL who was over for dinner & loved this bread. Without further ado…here we go. (I got 2 flavoured rings & 2 smaller shaped loaves out of this dough)
Focaccia dough as adapted from ‘The Cook’s Bible’, pg 239
Ingredients:
Active Instant Yeast – 1 2/3 tbsp
Sugar – 1/2 tsp
Warm water – 300ml
Flour – 700 gms
Whole wheat flour – 200gms
Salt – 2 tsp
Olive oil – 4tsp
Dried Italian Herbs- 2-3 tbsps
Filling of your choice ( I did one with mushrooms + garlic, recipe here; & the other with basil-almond pesto, recipe here)

Method:

  • Proof the yeast by sprinkling it over 2 tbsps of warm water from the recipe & 1/2 tsp sugar. Cover & leave until frothy.
  • Stir the flours + salt + dried Italian herbs into a big bowl & make a well in the centre.
  • Add yeast + remaining water + olive oil. Mix to a dough.Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes.
  • Shape into a ball, & place in a oiled bowl. Cover with a damp cloth, & let rise until doubles (1-2 hours).
  • Punch down the dough, knead for 2-3 minutes, then let rest for 5 minutes.
  • Roll about 1/3 of the dough into a 40 X 30 cm rectangle & spread the filling of your choice evenly over it, leaving a 1 cm border.
  • Starting from one long side, roll into a cylinder. Pinch the seams to seal, but not the ends. Transfer seam side down, to a floured baking sheet, shape into a ring, & pinch ends to seal.
  • Slice the ring at 5 cm intervals to within 2 cm of the centre. Gently pull out each slice & twist it over to one side to show the cut edge. Cover & let rise until doubled, 30-45 minutes.
  • Brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle over with coarse sea salt & bake at 190 degrees C until golden, 30-40 minutes. Serve warm or cold.
  • Note: I made sandwiches from the other loaves the next day…filling them with shredded grilled chicken, tomatoes, onions, mozzarella & mustard.

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

COFFEE and ROASTED ALMOND BISCOTTI…a handsome combination!

“I am not a glutton, I am an explorer of food”
Erma Bombeck
Coffee & Roasted Almonds…a handsome combination
I have my biscotti moments…at times, I will suddenly alight & set off to make a biscotti with a ‘flavour of the moment‘ off the top of my head. This particular moments’ flavour turned out to be coffee & roasted almonds.
A delicious, crisp biscotti!
I made these some time ago, & am tempted to set off & bake some now…only problem being that I’ve cut a nerve in the palm of my right hand & am incapacitated as far as baking/cooking goes. Which leaves me with very little to do; torturous, but my own fault. Was careless & got a shard of broken ceramic do the damage…:0(
Biscotti date to Ancient times. The term literally means “twice baked.” These hard biscuits fueled armies and fed travelers. Flavor variations and culinary techniques evolved according to time and place. German zweiback, Jewish mandelbrot, British ship’s biscuit, and American hardtack are similar in purpose and method.

Ingredients:
Granulated sugar – 2/3 cup
Olive Oil – ¼ cup (or canola oil; I used olive)
Eggs – 2
Vanilla extract – 2 tsp
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Salt -1/8 tsp
Flour – 1 1/4 cups
Whole wheat flour – 1/2 cup
Instant Coffee Powder – 2 tbsps
Almonds– 1 cup/roasted & roughly chopped

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat sheets.
  • Sift the flours + salt + baking powder.
  • Beat the olive oil with the sugar.
  • Add the vanilla extract + eggs + coffee & beat well.
  • Stir in the flour mix; & gently turn the almonds into the dough. Mix in.
  • Transfer the dough to your parchment lined baking sheet and form into 2 logs, about 12” X 3 ½”. The dough is sticky, so you may have to dampen your hands to form the log.
  • Bake for 35 minutes, or until firm to the touch & light golden brown.
  • Remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes.
  • Transfer the log gently to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 2 cm slices with a sharp serrated knife.
  • Reduce oven temperature to 135 degrees C. Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes, turn slices over, and bake for another 8 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.
  • Makes about 20 – 24 biscotti
  • Note: Roast the almonds at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes, till the skin begins to crack open. Allow to cool, & then chop. Roasting brings out the sweetness & flavour in almonds. Can be done in advance.

This is a healthier version of the biscotti which I normally make. Have substituted some of the plain flour for whole-wheat flour & was quite pleased to see the kids enjoy them as much as we did. It’s always a good idea to gradually substitute plain flour with a portion of whole-wheat flour to increase the nutritive value…these are good, healthy cookies with no butter. Made with olive oil & full of nuts, they’re headed for Ivy @ Kopiaste & Ben @ What’s Cooking US for an event we can’t do without…Fat Chefs or Skinny Gourmets? (an event co-hosted by 2 of my fave bloggers). The call is to make something that you consider Diet Food for its nutritious value (high in vitamins and other nutrients and low in calories). I think we all need a little nibble at tea & this quite fits the bill!

Posted by Deeba @ PAB
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