“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”
Etty Hillesum
The other day I got a package from Britannia Foods with samples of their recently launched snacks, which offered the promise of a break from baking; something that looked like the kids would enjoy. I must be a glutton for punishment because even though I was absolutely exhausted, I decided to make some Caramelised Onion & Garlic Jam to go with it!The morning saw a tiring pizza session, absolutely delicious, but gosh, so much work!! Preheating the oven to make a batch of balsamic roasted strawberries for these Hot Cross Buns I was annoyed with myself. It was bugging that the oven was on, had some extra room and I hadn’t got my act together in time to bake something alongside. It’s a happy feeling to know you can kill two birds with one stone … catch my drift?Does that happen to you sometimes?Pouring in the balsamic vinegar I remembered earlier references to an onion jam that used balsamic vinegar but the recipes I recall were all stove top. Figured I could roast onions in balsamic vinegar and brown sugar alongside the strawberries. Something sweet and something ‘savoury sweet‘ …nice!
Garlic had to be in there because roasting garlic brings out the sweeter side of it. We are a garlic loving family. It’s something that just seems to make life better, even on tiring old days! Being in the kitchen, creating, baking, stirring is all pretty unwinding and relaxing on most days! Summer is here so I’m up pretty early much to the dogs excitement. She takes a chunk out of my earlier free mornings, but she is so CUTE that I don’t mind it!
I served them with the Caramelised Onion & Garlic Jam and the ‘now beginning to get pretty tiresome‘ pre-teen lapped it up asking for more.
Ran them past the ‘not so tiring any more’ teen and she loved them. Offered her onion jam, and she went “EWWWW. Nevah!!” After much cajoling and convincing, a little blackmailing, I finally got her to taste some. She enjoyed it, though hesitatingly said, “Would you mind not calling it jam please? I don’t like the idea of onions in jam!!” Hmmm …So go on, grab some onions and make some Caramelised Onion & Garlic Jam. Make more than what I made because its pretty darned addictive and hits all the good spots in the most delightful way. I LOVED it. Sweet and savoury is right up my street, add garlic and I sing out LOUD! This did not disappoint!
{Disclaimer: I have not received any remuneration from Britannia or any agency for this post. This is my personal opinion on the product which I have reviewed.}
[print_this]Recipe: Caramelised Onion & Garlic Jam
Summary: A different take on what we traditionally think of as jam. This is pretty darned addictive and hits all the good spots in the most delightful way. A ‘smoky oniony garlicky’ jam that pairs well with crackers, rolls, canapes, bread, pizza etc!
Toss the onions in 2 tbsp olive oil, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. Place the whole garlic cloves in a piece of foil and drizzle the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil over it.
Turn the onions into an oven proof casserole, make a small nest in the centre and place the foil in the middle.
Roast at 190C for about an hour until the edges begin to brown. {I like to do this as I bake something else alongside, or then bake a large portion as this keeps for long}
Remove from oven. When the garlic cloves are cool enough to handle, squeeze the roasted garlic out. Discard the peels and place the roasted onions, garlic and sea salt in a heavy bottom pan.
Taste and adjust the brown sugar or/and balsamic vinegar as required. Simmer on low with little water added if it is too dry for about 10 minutes for the flavours to mature. Cool and store in a glass jar in the fridge.
“Bread is the king of the table and all else is merely the court that surrounds the king. The countries are the soup, the meat, the vegetables, the salad… but bread is king.”
Louis Bromfield
I have never seen a bread prettier than this one and I have never been so elated baking bread, something I do quite often. This month Daring Bakers led us straight into the wild, ,or rather the wild side of bread baking. The challenge was to bake Dutch Crunch Bread or Tijgerbrood. I was exhilarated when mine began to crackle, roar and ‘tiger up’ in the oven.
Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!
Technically, Dutch Crunch doesn’t refer to the type of bread, but rather the topping that is spread over the bread before baking. In Dutch it’s called Tijgerbrood or “tiger bread” after the tiger-like shell on the bread when it comes out of the oven. The final product has a delightful sweet crunch to it that makes it perfect for a sandwich roll. This recipe for the Dutch Crunch topping came from Rose Levy Beranbaum’sThe Bread Bible; an adaptation of a recipe found on Baking Bites. The bread is a common option at sandwich shops all over the Bay Area and is often one of the first breads to run out. This has to be the prettiest bread I have ever made; one of the most satisfying too. Quite a show stopper. If ‘we first eat with our eyes‘ holds meaning for you, make this bread. You can taste it before you even bite into it! Something that looks this pretty and exciting MUST taste good!
Tiger bread (also sold as Dutch crunch in the USA, tijgerbrood or tijgerbol in Netherlands) is the commercial name for a loaf of bread which has a unique mottled crust. The bread is generally made with sesame oil and with a pattern baked into the top made by painting rice paste onto the surface prior to baking. The paste dries and cracks during the baking process. The rice paste crust also gives the bread a distinctive flavour. It has a crusty exterior, but is soft inside.On 31 January 2012, the UK grocery chain Sainsbury’s renamed the product “giraffe bread” after a letter written by a three-year-old named Lily Robinson, suggesting the alternative name, went viral. Sainsbury’s stated that “In response to overwhelming customer feedback that our tiger bread has more resemblance to a giraffe, from today we will be changing our tiger bread to giraffe bread”.
It was certainly a charming end result. I waited with baited breath to see if I managed to get animal prints on my bread; lady luck was with me. The characteristic cracks showed up soon, and then the crust got coloured to perfection. Things like this define the joy of being a Daring Baker. Each month throws up a promising challenge, one that I await with eagerness, almost an impatience. The challenge really had me intrigued, unsure and a bit rattled too after reading much discussion on the forum. I made a meal of it pretty early in the month, around Holi, the Indian festival of colour. That might explain why the ‘now threatening to be quite terrible teen‘ looks so colourful, and the pooch happy as always! {The colours’ off now … }The second part of the challenge was to use it in a sandwich. For the filling I did chicken paillards marinated in a chimichurri sauce, a sauce which is believed to have originated in Argentina. My sis from Houston recently got me a bag of dried chimichurri which I used. Its a great tasting marinade. In the sandwich also went some quick pickled cucumbers that I made the night before, and some fresh iceberg from my little garden. On the side was a colourful fresh salad – cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, ground cherries, white grapes, lettuce and spring onions {whatever I found in the fridge basically}, tossed in a light fruity vinaigrette.
Thank you Sara and Erica of Baking JDs for a breathtaking challenge. Thank you and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by here to see the other bakers prowl the jungle!
Summary: Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. A visually delightful bread which is a common option at sandwich shops all over the Bay Area and is often one of the first breads to run out.
This recipe approximates the quintessential white sandwich roll found throughout the Bay Area. The recipe is simple, quick, and addictive. Should make 10-12 rolls.
1½ tablespoon active dry yeast
¼ + 1/8 cup warm water {it should feel between lukewarm and hot to the touch}
1 ½ cup warm milk {low fat}
2 ¼ tbsp sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil {plus additional for greasing bowl during rising}
2¼ tsp salt
5 ½ cups {750gm} all purpose flour
2 tbsp vital gluten
Method:
Dutch Crunch Topping
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a whisk; beat hard to combine. The consistency should be like stiff royal icing – spreadable, but not too runny. If you pull some up with your whisk, as shown below, it should drip off slowly. Add more water or rice flour as necessary. Let stand 15 minutes.
Coat the top of each loaf or roll with a thick layer of topping. We tried coating it with a brush but it worked better just to use fingers or a spoon and kind of spread it around. You should err on the side of applying too much topping – a thin layer will not crack properly.
You can place the rolls directly into the oven after applying the topping, or let them stand for 20 minutes.
When baking, place pans on a rack in the center of the oven and bake your bread as you ordinarily would. The Dutch Cruch topping should crack and turn a nice golden-brown color.
Soft White Rolls
In the bowl of an electric mixer or large mixing bowl, combine yeast, water, milk and sugar. Stir to dissolve and let sit for about 5 minutes. {The mixture should start to bubble or foam a bit and smell yeasty}.
Add in vegetable oil, salt and 2 cups of flour. Using the dough hook attachment or a wooden spoon, mix at medium speed until the dough comes together.
Add remaining flour a quarter cup at time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 4 minutes, until smooth and elastic. {Thermomix:Place all ingredients in TM bowl. Mix at speed 6 for 7-8 seconds, and then knead for 2-3 minutes}
Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled.
Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 10-12 equal portions {or 2 equal portions if you’d like to make a loaf}.
Shape each into a ball or loaf and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet {try not to handle the dough too much at this point}.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 15 minutes while you prepare the topping.
Coat the top of each roll or loaf with the topping as described above. {While the original recipe recommends letting them stand for 20 minutes after applying the topping, I got equally good results by putting them directly into the oven, and by letting them stand for 20 minutes while the first batch baked}.
Once you’ve applied the topping, bake in a preheated moderately hot 190°C for 25-30 minutes, until well browned. Let cool completely on a wire rack before eating.
“As for butter versus margarine, I trust cows more than chemists.” Joan Gussow
These cookies surprised me. When I made the dough I thought I had ‘it’ all wrong. Ambitiously adding ingredients with not enough deep thought, I wrote them off even before I baked them. But sometimes substitution can be a pleasant surprise. These Savoury Dill Cheddar Buckwheat Sables were a happy ending to one such culinary adventure! I hardly ever bake sables. Please don’t get me wrong. I love the cookies to bits but somewhere in my head I associate them to be loaded with butter. Chocolate sables = guilty pleasure, a pleasure I can ill afford these days as baking and food seems to rule my existence! Got to keep the butter down; not out, but down!
I missed the last couple of months of #baketogether, Abby Dodges absolutely charming bake up party. The talented Abby inspires a group of avid bakers month after month with a #baketogether recipe that you are encouraged to play around with. Just my cup of tea coffee! I’ve had some wonderful past entries with Double Chocolate Mousse Cookies, Classic Spice Apple Walnut Buttermilk Cake, and Plum Almond Ginger Summer Fruit Cake. This month she called for savoury cookies from her recipe for Spicy Parmesan Sables. Though still short on time, and breathless in life, I couldn’t keep away from them. I LOVE SAVOURY BAKING. Besides, the ‘not so terrible anymore’ teen is constantly craving for either double chocolate double almond biscotti {recipe on its way}, or ‘something chili’ please!
I decided to experiment because halfway through I ran out of plain flour! I made up the weight with buckwheat, and used fresh dill to flavour the cookies. Dill and cheddar make for good pairing, and I have had a huge patch of dill growing in my garden. After an overnight rest, the cookies were baking soon.
Dill is a beautiful herb, delicate with a wonderful aromatic flavour that comes to life when the leaves are chopped. In India, there is a more robust variety of dill, locally called soya, which is widely used in the winter months in North India. One bite into the warm cookie and I was so relieved. These were so good. Thankfully the dill wasn’t overpowering, and the buckwheat gave the cookie good texture, other than scoring on the whole grain front too! However whole grains like buckwheat are an acquired taste, and unfortunately the ‘not so terrible anymore’ teen didn’t love it to bits. I was a little disheartened and hesitatingly ran it past the ‘now threatening to be quite terrible’ pre-teen. He said, “YUM! Can I have the whole box?“. You win some, you lose some. These are a nice cheese tray cookie and would pair well with mature cheddar and fruit! As Abby says, “Made with butter, cheese, flour and cayenne for a kick, they make for a lovely hors d’oeuvre to serve with wine or cocktails and the possible twists are endless”
Thank you Abbyfor yet another winning recipe, and also yet another chance to push my boundaries. You are an inspiration!
Summary: A savoury cookie that packs big-time flavor with a flaky, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Made with butter, cheese, flour and cayenne for a kick, these cheese crackers make for a lovely hors d’oeuvre to serve with wine or cocktails. Makes 29-30 sables.
1/4 teaspoon {adjust to taste} red chili pepper {or cayenne pepper}
100gm unsalted butter, cut into cubes, well chilled
2 tablespoons very cold water
Sea salt & fresh dill for sprinkling
Method:
To make the dough:
Put the flour, buckwheat flour, cheese, salt and chili powder in a food processor and pulse briefly to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter pieces are slightly larger than pea size, about 10 to 12 pulses depending on your machine. Drizzle the water evenly over the flour mixture. Pulse until the dough begins to form moist crumbs that are just beginning to clump together, about 8 or 9 more pulses depending on your machine.
Dump the moist crumbs onto the unfloured counter and gather into a pile. With the heel of you hand, push and gently smear the crumbs away from you until they start to come together in a cohesive dough. Two or three ‘smears’ should do the trick. Using a bench scraper, gather the dough together and turn it about 45 degrees and give it one or two more smears. {see visuals here}
Gather the dough together and shape the dough into a 7 1/4-inch long and 2 1/4 -inch wide rectangle using the bench scraper to make the sides nice and straight. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until very firm, about 3 hours, or up to 2 days.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 190°c. Line two large baking sheets with parchment. { I used just one cookie sheet}
Using a thin, sharp knife, cut the logs into 1/4-inch slices and arrange about 1 inch apart {they don’t spread much at all} on the prepared sheets. If you like, sprinkle the crackers with a little sea salt and fresh dill before baking.
Bake, one sheet at a time, until nutty brown around the edges, 16 to 18 minutes. Serve slightly warm or room temperature. {If they aren’t crisp as you like, you can bake them at a lower temperature for 10-15 minutes longer. Keep an eye so they don’t get burnt}.
Note: The dough can be shaped and frozen for up to a month and then thawed for about an hour on the counter or in the refrigerator overnight. Likewise, tuck the baked and cooled sables in a heavy duty zip top bag and stash them in the freezer. Thaw at room temperature and warm them for a few minutes at 160°C to refresh the flavors.
“…the best poet is the man who delivers our daily bread: the local baker….”
Pablo Neruda
It was the SRC time of the month yesterday, and I’m sorry I got the dates mixed up. Just shows that old age has crept in and I had the 6th in my mind and the post scheduled for today. That said, I made this beautiful bread from Barbs delicious blog a few weeks ago! My take on her recipe on Moms Fridge resulted in a Roasted Pepper, Garlic Scapes & Cheddar Bread which was fabulous!
It was as simple as Barb said it was going to be. Make the dough in your bread machine {if you haven’t bought one yet then I would recommend zojirushi bread machines}, then fill, roll, rise and bake! I made the dough in a jiffy in the Thermomix {it’s magical for dough making I have to say}, and in my normal tearing routine mixed up the instructions. I let the dough rise first and then attempted to stuff it, which might explain why my roll isn’t as neat at Barbs, and quite rustic to look at.
Since the dough rose first, and the red bell peppers were freshly char-grilled {more liquid component}, my dough tore in a few places which meant I had to almost fold it over several times to keep the stuffing in safe. In the end, the Roasted Pepper, Garlic Scapes & Cheddar Bread looked more like one of my favourite breads, the French Fougasse, which I make quite often.
Do check out Barbs post to see how it should actually look. The bread however was delicious and I served it with a mushroom potato soup and a green salad. Yummy meal and the bread went FAST!
Thank you Barb was this beautiful recipe, and I do apologise for the late post.
The Secret Recipe Club, the brainchild of Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’. The idea behind the club – Each month you are “assigned” a participating food blogger to make a recipe from.
It’s a secret, so don’t tell them you are making something from their blog! Click here if you’d like to join!!
Use the dough cycle of the bread machine, and put in the ingredients in the order recommended by the manufacturer. {Thermomix: Place all dough ingredients in TM bowl, mix on Speed 4 for 5 seconds. Knead on lid closed position for 2 minutes}.
Remove dough; cover and let it rest 10 minutes. Then roll it out on a floured surface into a large rectangle.
Sprinkle with garlic scapes, roasted peppers and cheddar. Grind pepper over the filling if you like. Leave 1/2 inch margin all around. Don’t leave the topping on the dough too long as the peppers are quite moist.
Roll tightly like a jelly roll. Pinch the seam closed, and the ends as well. Place on a foil-covered baking sheet. {The foil is important in case the bread springs a leak.} Cut a few slashes in the top.
Preheat oven to 180C.
Cover and let the bread rise 30 to 45 minutes.
Bake 35 minutes till golden brown. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle sea salt over the top the minute it comes out.
“A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins.”
Laurie Colwin
Sometimes simple basic ingredients can combine to surprise your taste buds, and how!Remember when I said in my recent Strawberry Orange Rough Puff Pastry Tart post that having puff pastry, rough or not, in the fridge/freezer is dangerous. It’s true and I have these Cherry Tomato & Caramelised Onion Tartlettes to prove it! They were as delicious as they look, maybe better!One bite later, the ‘threatening to be quite terrible‘ pre-teen announced “Flavour crystals exploding in your mouth“, and continued to demolish the petite bites with gusto. He summed it up neatly. There was something about them, the flavours and the pairing!What is it about caramelised onions that is so endearing, so addictive and makes for beautiful pairing? I love that it lends exciting depth, flavour and colour to a lot of Indian cooking. The strength of a good Mughlai chicken or lamb curry often has roots in patiently caramelised onions, as do a lot of vegetarian curries.Sauté, sauté, sauté … then suddenly the edges begin to colour, from light brown to golden, your patience rewarded with crispy fried onions. Even though I use fried onions extensively in Indian cooking, as garnishes forbiryani, as a base for stir fried broad beans, as my burst of flavour for lamb curries, and added glory to chicken kebabs, I had yet to use it in canapes etc.I had an extra batch on hand. I fried double the amount needed as I was making chicken kebabs, so I stashed some away! Calling my name was that very dangerousrough puff pastry; this stuff is mood changing, especially if it is home made. Once I have a batch chilling in the fridge, happiness fills me up.You tend to glide into the kitchen and begin rolling it it, knowing that in a short while you have the luxury of deliciousness rising in the oven. It might not deliver the authentic layers of puff pastry, but rough puff works for me beautifully!The flavours were outstanding. Sweet caramelised onions, tart sweet cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, sea salt, the kick of vinegar…and of course garlic! Delicious crisp out of the oven, and pretty darned good cold too. { I made canapes with regular roma tomatoes yesterday, and cut the pastry into bite sized 2″ circles. Very good again!}
Roll out the pastry into a 10.5″ X 10.5″ square. With a pizza cutter/pastry wheel, trim the edges and cut into 2.5″ squares {8 small}
Score a tiny border about 1/4 cm along the inside edge, taking care not to cut right through. Place on parchment lined baking tray and chill for about 30 minutes, until the topping is ready.
Gently sauté the finely sliced onions in 1tsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil until golden brown and caramelised. Reserve in a bowl.
Toss the halved cherry tomatoes with the basil, garlic, 1 tbsp olive oil, vinegar, salt & pepper. Taste and adjust flavours. Set aside for a little while for the flavours to mature, about 10-15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200C.
Take pastry out of fridge. Divide the caramelised onions between the bases, ensuring they stay within the scored edges.
Give the tomatoes a good stir, and top the onions with about 5-6 halves each, cut side up. Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
“A good meal soothes the soul as it regenerates the body. From the abundance of it flows a benign benevolence.”
Frederick W. Hackwood
It was the cover of the book the minute I unpacked the couriered parcel that took my breath away! Southern Flavours – The Best of South Indian Cuisine sent to me for review from Blogadda, the largest community of bloggers in India. Rich, vibrant, full of culture & authentic recipes,a book that would definitely catch my eye in the book shop! I have a special connect with South India where I spent 5 years of my childhood. While in school in Bangalore, most kids would carry neat round steel boxes with curd, lime or tamarind rice with that sinfully delicious looking bright red pickle floating in oil on top, the contrast between white rice and red pickle completely fascinating. Others would carry steel ‘tiffin‘ boxes {no tupperware etc} filled with pillowy soft freshly made idlis {steamed rice cakes} with the magical ‘gun powder’ crowning it!Those years gave me a strong connect with South Indian cuisine, which for North Indians seemed out of reach 25 years ago. When we got back to New Delhi, I remember piling into the car every fortnight {with the dals and rice soaked and drained}, with my mother driving several miles to get the mixture ground. Specialised grinders were hard to find. Then the overnight wait for fermentation to take place; then the next morning the precious coconut was dehusked and ground into chutney. The reward – light as air idlis and crisp buttery dosas!My taste buds still tingle at the very thought of that vibrant food, so this wonderful book was really welcome. I was tearing through it and hit the kitchen pretty soon. Mine being a well stocked North Indian kitchen, I was pretty short on fresh ingredients like coconut and tamarind {my last batch from a sweet reader of PAB has been used up}. To make up, I had a leafy curry leaves tree in my backyard, and loads of ginger, green coriander and fresh chilies on hand!My first stop had to be curd rice as I do make some once in a while. I was really embarrassed on reading the recipe in Southern Flavours as my earlier curd rice attempts fell short on every level. Was soon stirring a big bowl of this delicious authentic tempered ‘tiffin’ favourite from Down South. The bowl was scraped clean … mmmm! It was full of flavour, healthy and comforting!The next stop was going to be snacky, something for the kids who love lentil patties or medhu vadas {recipe follows}. These are like an Indian version of savoury doughnuts, but made with a lentil batter as opposed to plain flour. Healthier {though deep fried}, crisp and fabulous in winter! I didn’t get to the chutneys {dipping sauce} and the family enjoyed them crisp out of the oil!I had trouble getting them into dough-nut shapes the first time around {tough is the word}, and on my second batch 2 days later, I had marginal success. I think it’s an art I yet have to master, but they are taste great in any shape! I now have tamarind soaking for a chutney, ingredients on hand for tamarind rice, lime rice, rasam {like a clear hot spicy soup} … and so much more!This is a sneak into a book packed with authentic and old recipes from Chandra Padmanathan, who adds a little trivia to most recipes, which is what makes the book all the more interesting. You get transported to another era, sometimes a wedding, sometimes childhood, sometimes sweet potato season … a culinary connect on every page!
Summary: A popular snack, normally served with idli for breakfast, and at all auspicious occasions. It can also be served as a teatime or cocktail snack
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
1 cup husked, split gram dal {urad dal dhuli}
1/2 cup cooked rice
4 green chilles {I used 2}
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder {hing}
1/2″ piece ginger, peeld and grated
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1 sprig curry leaves
1tsp salt or to taste
Oil for deep frying
Method:
Wash dal. Drain and soak in 2 cups water for 2 hours.
Drain completely. Add rice, green chillies, asafoetida powder and ginger. Grind to make a smooth batter, gradually adding 1-2 tbsp water.
Add coriander leaves, curry leaves and salt. Mix well.
Heat oil in a deep frying pa to smoking point. Lower heat to moderate. Wet your hands and flatted a ladle of batter into a 2″ round patty. Make a hole in the centre and gently slip into hot oil . {Beware of trying this if you are not used to deep frying. Please exercise great caution when working with hot oil. I make small balls of vadas by dropping the batter gently into the oil with a teaspoon.}
Fry vadai in batches, turning frequently, till golden brown and crisp.
Drain and place on kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.
