“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”
Dr. Seuss
SMOOTHIES! A word set to change the way we look at food. This is a change that I’ve seen creeping in and leaving it’s ‘footprint’ wherever it goes. I wasn’t a smoothie person. For some reason I didn’t experiment. Sometimes it felt too cumbersome {can you believe that?}.
My first real interest in smoothies was spiked thanks to a series of attractive and colourful posts by Sylvie. I was instantly smitten. That was my chosen path. Every morning the kids were woken up to veggie detox smoothies. Initially they got talked into it, but soon they just pretended they were too tired to wake up and have my detox concoctions! This was in the winter that went by.
My real tryst with fruit smoothies began this spring with frozen strawberries and mulberries. The mango-peach and strawberry versions have been in place for years. The kids grew up on banana smoothies. The first 10 years of their life, they woke up to a banana smoothie every single day. Unfortunately, they both detest bananas with a vengeance now. I think I overdid it!Then came summer and with it truckloads of summer fruit. The season began beautifully and smoothie-ly! Changes come about when you least expect them to. Banter with local foodie friends more often than never veers towards ‘who’s doing what‘ with which local produce. I am inherently a very very fruit centric person.
Summer in North India is full of fatigue. Hot, humid, dusty … relentless. Quick cooking is the call of the day. Quick stir frys, grilling, air frying, bbq, wraps and quesadillas all work well for the kids. Salad on the side is understood, and the sauteed beans or broccoli part of the ‘deal‘. Is regimental! The Air Fryer offers french fries whenever desired so the teens are pretty much catered to!
That leaves me and Mr PAB who gladly {or not} eats drinks what I do. With grateful thanks to friend, food blogger and nutritionist Sangeeta, I’ve discovered a whole new world. A world of delicious smoothies, both sweet and savoury! The mind thinks non stop now. Herbs, fruit, veggies, nuts, oats, yogurt, soy milk …
These are what fill my world now. Every morning is dedicated to a good 45 minutes of Thermomix-ing! I churn out one smoothie after another. The kids line up to guzzle chilled tall glasses of watermelon peach smoothie, and literally race for the pineapple ginger. The peach mango is for the diva who sits up half asleep and happily goes through the glass. For me, ginger and curry leaves hold new meaning!
Oooh and before I forget, I even made a lip smacking good fermented pineapple peels drink, kanji. The credit goes to Sangeeta as well. Who would have known that pineapple peels were packed with so much flavour and happiness? To quote her about the food value of this wonderful decoction – “The skin and the pith of the pineapple is quite rich in Bromelain, the digestive enzyme that helps digest dense proteins easily and the vitamin C and Manganese content of the fruit is very high hence the anti oxidant property of this fruit. Manganese helps absorb and utilise many other nutrients and it makes pineapple one of the healthiest foods.” You can find the recipe on her blog!
Are you part of the smoothie gang? What’s your favourite smoothie to go? Tell me, I’m hungry for ideas! The more I experiment, the happier I get!
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Recipe: Pineapple Ginger Smoothie
Summary: Most of the smoothie recipes following suggestions from Sangeeta @ Health Food Desi Videshi. Sugar can be decreased if fussy kids aren’t on the horizon!
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 pineapple, peeled, chopped
1 litre of water
40g sugar {decrease or substitute with honey}
1tsp rock salt
Method:
Place everything in a blender/Thermomix. Blend until smooth.
Strain and chill, or serve over ice.
Recipe: Watermelon Peach Smoothie
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes Ingredients:
1 small watermelon {1.5kg approx}, peeled, flesh roughly chopped
4 peaches, scrubbed well, pitted, chopped
Juice of 1 large lime
40g sugar {as required}
1 tsp rock salt
Method:
Place everything in a blender/Thermomix. Blend until smooth.
Chill and serve.
Note: I do not strain it, but you can for a ‘smoother’ smoothie.
Recipe: Mango Peach Smoothie
Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes Ingredients:
2 large mangoes, peeled, flesh chopped
4-5 peaches, scrubbed well, pitted, chopped
10-15g sugar if required
750ml milk
4-5 cubes of ice
Method:
Place everything in a blender/Thermomix. Blend until smooth.
Serve immediately or chill until served.
Recipe: Buttermilk Currypatta Lassi/Chaachh
Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes Ingredients:
900ml cultured buttermilk
200ml yogurt
3-4 green hilies {decrease if required}
1″ piece ginger
20 sprigs curry leaves / curry patta {just le
1 tbsp roasted cumin powder / bhuna zeera powder
Rock salt to taste
Method:
Place everything in a blender/Thermomix. Blend until smooth.
“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”
James Beard
Focaccia … bread that comforts. Just simple bread is good enough sometimes. I am constantly torn between my two crusty favourites, the fougasse and the focaccia, both flatbreads that are hearty, chewy, flavourful and earthy. Breads that bring alive words by Robert Browning “If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.” Ottolenghis foccacia is one of my all time faves.
I needed to bake something soothing, something therapeutic. I lost a very dear maternal uncle over the weekend. He was the glue that held my mothers side of the family together. Intelligent, largehearted, a disciplinarian, always there, often intimidating, brutally honest, sometimes scathing, but a place we happily headed to year after year to spend two months of the summer vacations. It was routine, and we loved it as kids.
He passed away in Lucknow, the city of the Nawabs, over the weekend. That left a deep void, and restlessness. I knew I had to bake bread. I find comfort in food. It gives me an escape. Bread especially. Getting the dough going, seeing it rise, punching it down and then popping it into a hot oven. Always comforting and therapeutic.
Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread, which may be topped with herbs or other ingredients. Focaccia is popular in Italy and is usually seasoned with olive oil and salt, and sometimes herbs, and may be topped with onion, cheese and meat, or flavored with a number of vegetables.
I remember making a similar focaccia when the tsunami struck Japan. Roasted Garlic Focaccia for the ‘Fukushima 50‘. Those days were devastating even though we were miles away from Japan. The images that rolled over and over again made life look so vulnerable. I had a helpless feeling then and yes, I baked bread.
I added a little whole wheat to the dough this time. The recipe yields two loaves, or two round breads. I baked one for lunch and left the other to slow rise in the fridge. Baked it the next day. Worked fine. I like to flavour the dough. Garlic and herbs are normally part of my dough as I love the depth they lend.
Depending on time on hand, roasted garlic is my first choice. If not, then I throw in some garlic cloves and the Thermomix blends them in with the flour. You can add minced garlic instead. If you love garlic like we do I mean! Else just skip it!!
The rest is pretty much your palette to play with. Once dimpled and looking pretty, give it a glug of extra virgin olive oil. Then dress it up! You can either sprinkle on some fresh herbs and sea salt, or like me, load the bread a wee bit more. I like to add sliced red onions, olives, jalapenos, pickled peppers, cherry tomatoes, even nuts.
I have two Victoria sandwich tins which are perfect for my bread. It’s a nice accommodative dough and the end result is always rewarding. A focaccia sandwich is the perfect answer for any left over bread. Stuff it with balsamic roasted veggies, a relish, cheese, slices of salami. I sometimes grill it too.
[print_this]Recipe: Whole Wheat Foccacia
Summary: One of my favourite breads that doesn’t need much advance planning, and never fails to please. This focaccia is part plain flour and part whole wheat.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes plus rising timeIngredients:
360g plain flour
130g whole wheat flour {aata}
30g vital gluten
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 3/4 teaspoon yeast
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½tsp teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp sugar
460 ml lukewarm water
45 ml extra virgin olive oil
Topping
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
4-5 cloves garlic, sliced fine
cherry tomatoes, sliced onion, olives
Fresh oregano leaves
Method:
Preheat oven to 200C. In a large bowl mix with your hands flour, sugar and yeast.
Pour in the water. Add salt, roasted ,if using, and knead in the bowl for 5 minutes. Eventually add more water.
{Thermomix: Place flour, sugar and yeast in TM bowl. Run at speed 10 for 6-7 seconds. Add remaining ingredients, including the olive oil, other than the toppings and run on interval speed for 2 minutes {Don’t leave the machine unattended in interval mode}. Proceed …
Allow to rise covered with plastic wrap for about 1 hour or until it doubles.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Grease a shallow oven dish with plenty of olive oil. Pour the dough into this without kneading any further. {I used 2 round 8″ Victoria sandwich tins}
Generously pour extra virgin olive oil onto the focaccia and press with your fingers to create multiple wells. Add toppings.
The focaccia does not need rising at this stage {but it does not harm it. It will just make it thicker}.
Bake for about 20 – 30 minutes until risen and light golden brown.
Pour over some more extra virgin olive oil if you like.
“It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.”
Lewis Grizzard
Spicy Vine Tomato Relish … I think this was a fitting end to my ‘harvest’ of cherry tomatoes. It was a tough choice. I waited forever, read almost 6 months, for the tomato plants to grow, then flower, then finally bear fruit.
Waited with baited breath to see if they would turn red, yellow or orange as the different packets of seeds suggested. Warded the hungry Coco off them as she took a serious shine to them and stole a mouthful whenever she could. I guarded them with my life. Literally.
Finally I got nice big bowlfuls to harvest, some cherry tomatoes and some plump bigger red ones too. I didn’t have the heart to eat them. I wouldn’t let anyone near them. Oh the irony. I could not bear to let them go!
This was the first time I had grown tomatoes and couldn’t believe my luck. They were so pretty. Nature never ceases to amaze. Fresh produce inspires like nothing else. I shot them whenever I could. They shone in every light. The shadows haunted me, in a good sort of a way that is. Thanks to Neel @ Learn Food Photography with his 30 Days of Better Food Photos, I dreamt, breathed, lived and shot tomatoes on the vine. All the time. Then reality struck! I had to get moving before they went away unsung. I headed for What Katie Ate. She always inspires. ALWAYS! I knew I had to make the Spicy Vine Tomato Relish. I whiled the day away experimenting with light again. So fulfilling. From pretty fresh tomatoes, to roasted on the vine tomatoes, to being stirred in the pot tomatoes, I lived it all. Tomato therapy!!
You might think I was walking the obsessive line, but I really enjoyed it. You might wonder what all the fuss about a simple relish is? This relish is like my baby. I feel emotional about it, have a deep connect with it. My heart sings each day when the lad comes back from school saying “That was the best sandwich ever. My friends think so too.“
I know what changed. Instead of tomatoes in his sandwich {with balsamic roasted vegetables, smoked chicken ham and cheese}, he gets a slathering of Spicy Vine Tomato Relish.
Serve it with crackers and crudites. Smoked chicken ham roll ups with a teeny relish hint within, mini burgers that get a spicy kick all make irresistible hors d’oeuvre. The spicy vine tomato relish is a great addition for the cheese board too. It’s something you can get creative with. With summer here, finger foods rule in our home. Yours?
Interestingly a recent survey in the UK by Ladbrokes Bingo found that 19% of women would prefer to bake or cook with their friends than hit the town with the girls. 40% said that they would put on a few nibbles & 23% said that they would lay on a buffet so finger food or food that is easily shared is popular!
Sign of the times to come? Never has food been so comforting, so uniting, so central to conversation, such an emotional experience. The more I immerse myself into this delicious world, the more emotional and connected I feel. I’d say join the party. Make relish! Have fun!
Bruschetta with some relish, feta and fresh herbs, a cheese platter with sharp cheddar and relish, chicken ham roll ups with mozzarella relish and crisp bell peppers… the possibilities are endless. I even slathered a focaccia sandwich with it. Nom Nom Nom…
Yesterday I woke up early and headed to the kitchen to make one last batch to use up the remaining tomatoes. I wished I could just preserve the little beauties on the vine. Relish was the next best option!
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Recipe: Spicy Vine Tomato Relish
Summary: A Spicy Vine Tomato Relish full of flavour and savoury goodness that celebrates the magic of tomatoes on the vine. It’s handy to have a few jars in the fridge. A great way to preserve an abundant crop. Adapted from What Katie Ate
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 2 hours Ingredients:
3 cups baby vine tomatoes
1/2 a kilo fresh red tomatoes, peeled, chopped
1 head roasted garlic {I love garlic}
3 shallots, finely chopped
1/4 cup spice vinegar
1/4 balsamic vinegar
1 tsp mustard paste {or powder}
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1/2 tsp garam masala {I didn’t have all spice}
1/2 tsp sugar
Sea salt & freshly ground pepper
Method:
Place tomatoes on baking sheet and roast until soft. Remove vines, if any.
Place with remaining ingredients in a heavy bottom pan and simmer gently for about 1 1/2- 2 hours until reduced by about half. Taste and adjust seasoning if required.
“Eating is really one of your indoor sports. You play three times a day, and it’s well worth while to make the game as pleasant as possible.”
Dorothy Draper
Minty Chickpea Yogurt Parfaits … could there be a better way to welcome spring and summer in our part of the world? I think not! The day I saw these on Betacyanin via Foodgawker I was smitten. Sofias blog is a new discovery and matches very closely to what I like doing with food. I HAD to do the parfaits ASAP!
Did I tell you I was absolutely smitten? I certainly was. I love the idea of a parfait going savoury. Make ahead, healthy, balanced, infinite options and a load of fun!
I soaked the chickpeas that very night and had them cooked the next morning. Warm freshly cooked chickpeas tossed in EVOO, some minced garlic, a squeeze of lime, some fresh herbs is like diving into a bowl of heaven! I have a love love relationship with chickpeas! What about you?
I also have a love love relationship with savoury food, bring on the garlic and life gets even better. It might surprise you as PAB is rather full of sweet stuff. That is what I like to make, but savoury is what I like to eat. I don’t have a sweet tooth at all! My family does!!
The parfaits were fun. Layering and individual servings are something I adore doing. You can pretty much paint your own palette here. I made a few changes. Olives in brine for one because I like the saltiness they add. Cherry tomatoes because my few plants are now hanging with fruit which is slowly ripening. Those above were the very first three! Spring ♥!!
It’s a constant battle though as little Coco has taken a shine to tomatoes. Animal instinct kicks in here. She sniffs out the nice, ripe, juicy ones and devours them with great aplomb. Much to my horror, the first time she ‘discovered‘ them, the garden was strewn with half eaten green tomatoes; the ones she had obviously rejected!
This was not why I grew tomatoes. I waited impatiently for them to ripen. So had the lad. For the two of us, it’s an early morning ritual to ‘check them out‘!How would she know any better, the little thief. She isn’t as innocent as she looks; but she is so darned charming!
The battle of tomatoes has begun! I quickly harvest the ripe fruit and she looks on, hoping old butterfingers will drop one!! I have a few yellow cherry tomatoes that I salvaged 3 days ago, and some deep red beefy ones. Tomato ♥!
I have plenty of photographs of these beauties but I like this one quite abit. I love the play of light and all thanks goes to Neel @ Learn Food Photography for organising a 30 day challenge on his fabulous blog. Have you been to LFP yet?You must stop by if you are struggling to improve your food photographs, or want to explore the technicalities at a comfortable level. We’re into week 3 of our challenge and it’s a great community of folk from across the globe. So far we’ve covered angles, DOF, light, playing with light, white balance, diffusers, bouncers, backgrounds and are currently on props.
These Minty Chickpea Yogurt Parfaits were made the day I was experimenting with light. It’s amazing how much you can learn if you join a challenge. Such fun! All the herbs, flowers and leaves I had gathered became an inspiration for my parfaits.
The little jars are actually like an announcement of spring. Full of fresh herbs, fresh produce, light flavours and beautiful pairing. My herbs are flourishing too so I couldn’t have made this discovery at a better time.
Infinite possibilities are dancing merrily in my head. I am thinking fruit parfaits, watermelon feta and mint parfaits, mango pistachio parfaits! I think you can layer any salad you like in little mason jars, recycled jam/sauce jars, or serving glasses.
I now do these as a make ahead salad for Mr PABs lunchbox to take to work. The dieting diva enjoyed it as well. It’s nice coz the raisins at the bottom take all the released juices and plump up nicely. You could always use dried cranberries instead! And of course you could always toss everything together in one big bowl, but it might not be that much fun!
My post is a little delayed because all this parfait talk inspired me to make some fruit parfaits for the kids after school snack! I made Strawberry, Kiwi, Basil Parfaits! Parfaits are always fun. They are a nice make ahead snack, salad or even a simple dessert. Refreshing, colourful, delicious & FUN!
Tell me dear reader what you would include in a parfait? What would your ultimate savoury parfait have? And a sweet version? Try and cover as many food groups as you can … nuts, fruits, veggies, herbs, spices, beans, chickpeas, quark, ricotta, mascarpone, granola. Play with colours and seasonal produce. Just make sure you enjoy what you do because that is what matters most!
Recipe: Minty Chickpea Yogurt Parfaits
Summary: I love the idea of a parfait going savoury. Make ahead, healthy, balanced, infinite options and a load of fun! This one covers all the food groups, and deliciously so – fruits, nuts, dairy, pulses, herbs … you get ’em all in a jar!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes Ingredients:
1- 1.5 cup cooked chickpeas tossed in evoo, garlic, fresh coriander
2-3 small cucumbers, grated, squeezed
2 cup homemade yogurt, hung for about 3-4 hours
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp ranch buttermilk dressing {or a dash of lime juice, garlic and finely chopped green chili}
handful chopped mint
1/2 cup raisins
olives, cherry tomatoes, pistachios
lightly toasted walnuts and more mint, for garnish
Method:
Whisk the hung curd with buttermilk seasoning until smooth. Alternatively, add minced garlic, a dash of lime juice, green chilies and salt and mix until smooth.
Begin layering…
Starting with the raisins, followed by chickpeas, grated cucumbers, and yogurt, layer each of the ingredients, divided between jars. Top with olives and cherry tomatoes, chopped walnuts, slivered pistachios and a few mint leaves. Chill well until ready to serve.
Alternatively, if you’re not into the layering thing, you can just mix it all together and store accordingly.
Sofias note: It’s really important to draw most of the juice out of the cucumbers, otherwise the end result will be swimming in cucumber juice. Once the cukes are grated, use your hands to squeeze out as much juice as you can. Drink it, it’s really refreshing! Set aside in a strainer to let any remaining liquid drain.
“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:
Place rye, plain flour, sea salt, garlic, sweet paprika, cheddar and butter in food processor and whiz till it becomes fine breadcrumbs.
Gradually add enough water to make a firm, smooth dough.
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.
Bake at 170C for about 15 minutes, until brown and crisp.
Cool completely on racks, and store in an airtight box.
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:
Divide the dough into 2, lightly dust with flour, and roll out as thin as possible between two sheets of parchment paper.
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.
Brush with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle over your choice of toppings.
Bake in a medium low oven until crisp. I used just the lower element and kept checking. My oven took about 25 minutes.
Cool completely, and then break into shards.
Serve with a dip of your choice.
A cheese fondue, a fresh salsa, a ranch buttermilk cream cheese dip, or a chili marmalade are great on the side.
“I talked to a calzone for fifteen minutes last night before I realized it was just an introverted pizza. I wish all my acquaintances were so tasty. ”
Jarod Kintz
Calzones, Pizza Pies & Popovers with lamb & beet greens. Pizza dough many ways because minced lamb was all that I had in the freezer. I toyed with the idea of meatballs…but NAH, too much effort! So I made pizza dough, with some whole wheat thrown in for good measure! One batch went a long way. Deliciously too. With mince lamb and beet greens, we had calzones one day, pizza pies the next, and popovers for snacks. Never a hungry moment!What is it with teens? Forever hungry! “What’s for fooooooood” echoes through the house every weekend. Why do weekends seem so long? Why are so many meals involved? Why are ‘they’ so hungry? So many questions … one answer. Something pizza!
It gives me a sense of security and comfort to have a slow rising dough in the fridge. If all else fails, there is always margarita! Make ahead is good stuff! Made ahead pizza dough, even better!I’ve grown some beets and carrots in my little patch this year. When the first beet surfaced I was thrilled. MY FIRST BEET EVER! The gardener {lazy inefficient man that he is, quite good for nothing but non stop banter} was even happier. “Photo?” he queried. The camera obliged! We had the little beets for salad and I didn’t know what to do with the greens. There were loads of them. Sent them for Man Fridays rabbits to munch {Coco didn’t take to them unfortunately though she loves peas and brocolli}. Then spoke to Sangeeta who suggested using the greens in salad etc since they were edible. A few beets and carrots also went into a fermented drink, kaanji, which is highly nutritional and a result of bacterial fermentation. The deep colour comes from ‘black carrots’ or ‘kaali gajar’ which is the star of the drink. Black carrots are available for a brief period in winter in North India. The kaanji recipecan be found on Sangeeta’s blog. It turned out to good to be true; full of nostalgic memories of the years gone by. Fermented products are an acquired taste, and interestingly, most cultures have something to contribute.
Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol. The science of fermentation is also known as zymology or zymurgy.
Fermentation usually implies that the action of microorganisms is desirable, and the process is used to produce alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer, and cider. Fermentation also is employed in the leavening of bread (CO2 produced by yeast activity); in preservation techniques to produce lactic acid in sour foods such as sauerkraut, dry sausages, kimchi, and yogurt; and in pickling of foods with vinegar.
Examples of fermentation across cultures include kimchi, soy sauce, miso, pickled cucumbers, quark, crème fraîche, sourdough bread, kombucha, idli, dosa, dhokla, sake, vodka, whisky, wine, fish sauce, chorizo …. the list is endless!Sangeeta is very “fresh produce and ingredient informed“especially when it comes to local produce. She suggested that I could harvest the beet greens and use them as I like, leaving the beets below the ground. New leaves will keep appearing. Since beets are perennials, they will stay good for two years! This is what I love about food blogging. It’s a large hearted community which has the willingness to share and grow.Then the possibilities exploded! I searched the net to find a whole load of folk do eat the beet greens, and happily so. The next bunch of leaves headed for pizza. Fingers crossed that the kids wouldn’t think I was ‘killing them with spinach‘ again. That has happened in the past which is why I shifted to purslane. It fared really well in Lamb & Purslane Pides{Turkish pizzas}!Threw in chopped onion, garlic and some sweet smelling marjoram from Sangeeta’s garden = BLISS. Life was certainly looking up suddenly. In went the chopped greens and they imparted a beautiful deep red to the onions. NICE! They wilted pretty soon. Once the lamb came into play, you couldn’t tell what ‘green’ was ‘going on in there‘.The tiredness went, and the spices flew in. Before I knew it I was cooking up certain yumminess. Sweet paprika, smoked, adds huge flavour dimensions to minced lamb. Juberfam & Mittal do a really really nice one available locally. I LOVE it! Bell peppers went in next, basically whatever there was on hand. They were a hit!! Next time would possibly see finely chopped mushrooms too.
Summary: Lamb & Beet Greens – Calzones, Pies & Popovers …pizza dough three ways. One batch went a long way. Deliciously too with mince lamb and beet greens. We had calzones one day, pizza pies the next, and popovers for snacks. Never a hungry moment!
Prep Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 1 hour plus dough rising and resting time Ingredients:
Place all ingredients except water in bowl of food processor and whiz for 1 minute.
Add water and knead to a smooth dough.
Place in a greased bowl and allow to rise for 1-2 hours, until doubled. At this point you can refrigerate the dough, else use it. I prefer using it after a rest in the fridge.
Filling
Heat the olive oil in a pan. Sweat onions, marjoram and garlic until light pink and fragrant.
Add the beet greens and saute until wilted. Throw in the mince and cook on high for about 5 minutes.
Add the paprika, cumin, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well.
Cook open for about 15 minutes until the mince is cooked. Add the cream cheese, mix well and turn off heat. Cover pan and allow to cool completely.
Preheat oven to 180C.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for calzones, used ceramic dishes for pies, and muffin molds for popovers.
Pizza Pies: Roll out small balls of dough and place in ceramic pie dishes, leaving a border hanging out. Fill with filling of your choice, then frill the border back over part of the filling. Bake at 180C for about 30 minutes {until golden brown and firm to touch. Time will vary depending on size of pie}
Pizza Popovers: Roll out small balls of dough. Place the filling in the centre and pull the sides up to form a sack. Twist gently to keep in place. I tied mine with a bit of marjoram. gently place in muffin tins and bake for about 25-30 minutes until firm to touch, crisp and brown.
