Pain de Campagne (French Country Bread)

This bread is made of soft white flour with a hint of whole wheat. It is leavened entirely with my homemade wild yeast. The high hydration and long fermentation ensures very good flavor. It goes well with brie and holds up when eaten with soups.

This country loaf was the most popular bread before the baguette took over. It is making a comeback with the resurgence in artisan bread.

Bakers percentage for this bread
All purpose flour 90%
Whole wheat flour 10%
Water 78%
Leaven 20%

I mixed the dough in the afternoon. After about 5 hours of bulk fermentation I shaped it and put it in the refrigerator to proof overnight.

In the morning I baked it in the dutch oven at 475 F, covered for 25 minutes and uncovered for 15. I got great oven spring and a fairly open crumb. The bread was very soft and had great flavor. It was good enough to munch on its own or with some Brie.

Apple Confit

Apple Confit is a delicious dessert that is made by baking layers of apple, butter and sugar at a very low temperature for a very long time.

You will need
2 Fuji apple
4 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. orange zest
2 pinches cinnamon powder

For the topping
3 tbsp. heave whipping cream
1/2 tsp. sugar
a couple drops vanilla extract
a pinch cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250 F. Grease two oven proof bowls. Rinse the apples and peel. Cut the apple through the stem and core. Now using a sharp knife cut the apple into slices as thin as possible. Now add a single layer the apples in the greased bowl. Sprinkle some sugar over it and place a little blob of butter. Repeat the layers until you use up all the ingredients.

Sprinkle some orange zest and cinnamon powder over the top. Cover with a parchment paper cut to shape. Over the parchment paper place foil and seal the bowl. Put the bowl in a baking sheet with sides and place a weighted bowl over the top.

Bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Refrigerator for 2 hours. When you are ready to eat warm the bowls in the oven at 300 F for two minutes. Loosen the sides with a knife and invert it on to the serving dish.

For the topping whisk all the ingredients until you get stiff peaks. Alternately run all the ingredients through a blender until thickened. Place a blob over the top of the inverted confit.

Enjoy!

I submitted this as my entry for week 23 to the 2014 52 week cooking challenge for the theme Confit.

The Best Roasted Corn on the cob

Corn! Summer brings heaps and heaps of corn. Great big bins of corn greet you at the entry way to the supermarket. Sometimes they are placed outside the store. Always with a supporting bin to collect the discarded corn husks. Corn reminds us all of summer, picnics, hiking, camping and backyard barbecue.

One of the most popular way corn is eaten is right off of the cob. This could be roasted on the grill or on the stove top. But if you like it really moist and creamy then do what I did. Let the oven do the job while you read a book.

You will need
1 corn on the cob with the husk
Butter

Preheat oven to 350 F. While the oven heats rinse the corn with the husk and drain but do not dry it out. Put the wet corn with the husk on the middle rack of the oven. Let it cook for 30 minutes. You can place as many cobs as your oven rack will allow.

Take the corn out of the oven. Remove the husk and silk. The corn kernels will be soft and creamy. Slather with butter and enjoy!

You could enhance the taste by flavoring the butter. Add paprika, cumin powder, dried oregano and salt. Or you could add minced dried basil. Or instead of the butter add lemon juice flavored with salt and cayenne pepper. You cannot go wrong.

This is my entry for week one, day one of BM #41 for the theme one ingredient - corn. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#41.

Kolya Makkyachi Bhaji (Makka bhaji / Fresh Corn side)

Fresh corn whether it is starchy or sweet does not need much to be converted to a tasty side. This is a simple side a little on the sweet side if you are using sweet corn. My father used to make this dish whenever fresh corn was available.

You will need
2 corn on the cob
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 Serrano pepper, deseeded and minced
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional)
handful of cilantro, chopped

Using a sharp knife cut off the corn kernels. Coarsely grind them in a food processor.

Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. Give them a few seconds and add the turmeric powder. Add the Serrano pepper and the corn kernels. Cover and cook for a few minutes. Uncover, stir, cover and cook some more. Add salt, paprika, cilantro and lemon juice (if using). Cover and cook one last time for a minute or two and turn off the heat.

Serve as a snack or as a side with poli/roti or rice.

Enjoy!

Sesame Soba Noodles

Soba Noodles made with 100% buckwheat are one of the healthier noodles available in the grocery store. They are very flavorful and need very few additives to turn them into a flavorful dish. Today I have a very simple dish with a handful of ingredients. You could add stir fry vegetables if you wanted a more substantial meal.

You will need
8 oz. packet soba noodles (100% buckwheat)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp. soy sauce (if you like the taste of soy you could add upto another tablespoon)
1 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger garlic paste

For the topping
1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
2 tbsp. cilantro, diced
2 springs spring onions, chopped (optional)

Cook the soba noodles as per packet instructions. Drain and wash with cold water. Keep aside.

In a bowl combine all the other ingredients. Mix in the cooked soba noodles and the topping.

Serve immediately.

Batatyachi Poli (Alu Paratha / Batata Poli)

The simplest of all stuffed poli is batatyachi poli. Cilantro and spices are added to boiled, mashed potato and used as the filling.

You will need
For the dough for 12
2 1/2 cups wheat flour

For the filling
2 medium potatoes, pressure cooked or boiled
handful cilantro, chopped
1 Serrano pepper, deseeded and minced
2 tbsp. onion, chopped (onion)
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. paprika
1 tbsp. lemon juice
salt to taste

Pressure cook the potatoes for 10 minutes or boil them until well done. Meanwhile using water for a dough with the wheat flour. Pour a few drops of oil on the palm of your hand and knead the dough well. Keep aside. Mash the potatoes and all the other ingredients. Mix until just combined and keep aside. Do not over do it or the potatoes will become slimy and sticky. Divide into 12 portions and keep aside.

Heat a griddle pan. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions.

Take one portion and roll it into a ball. Flatten it on the palm of your hand. Place one portion of filling in it.

Pull up the sides of the dough around the filling and close at the top.

Using flour to prevent sticking roll out the filled dough into a disc.

Add a few drops of oil to the pan and place the rolled disc on it. Let it cook until a few brown spots appear on the side. Flip it over and cook the other side.

Repeat for the remaining portions of dough and filling.

Enjoy with pickle. Makes a filling packed lunch too.

Ezogelin Corbasi - Turkish Red Lentil Soup

Red Lentil Soup is the Turkish version of the stone soup. It is made up of ingredients typically found in the pantry of a Turkish home. I had most of the ingredients except bulgur in my pantry. This delicious soup is flavored with red pepper paste and tomato paste.

To make the red pepper paste I used red bell pepper as I could not find red banana pepper. The authentic recipe calls for the pepper to be cooked in water, peeled, de-seeded and then the pulp cooked to a paste. I roasted the pepper and covered it in aluminum foil for 15 minutes. The skin peeled right off the pepper. I then removed the seeds, cut it into pieces and ran it through the blender. As for tomato paste I had a can of organic tomato paste but it smelled of citric acid so I pureed a handful of cherry tomatoes.

Recipe adapted from here

You will need
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup red lentils
2 tbsp. rice
8 cups water
2 tbsp. red pepper paste
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 medium tomatoes
2 tbsp. bulgur
1 tsp. paprika or cayenne powder (more if needed)
1/2 tsp. dry mint or a drop of mint extract
salt to taste

Wash the red lentils and rice. Drain and keep aside. Boil 8 cups of water in a separate pan. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onion and garlic. Saute until tender and translucent. Add the red pepper paste, tomato paste and diced tomatoes. Cook for a couple minutes. Add the red lentils, rice, bulgur.

Add the water and bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the mint and paprika. Add salt to taste.

Turn of heat and serve hot.

Pao de Queijo

This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge took us on a trip to beautiful Brazil! Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! taught us how to make Pao De Queijo, tasty cheese buns that make the perfect snack or treat, and that will make your taste buds samba!

I had never heard of this treat prior to the challenge. I had seen tapioca powder in Whole Foods before but had never bought it. The only other pure starch recipe I had tried is dudali a dessert made with arrowroot powder. Pao de Queijo is a tea time snack popular in Brazil. It is light and fluffy light a cheese puff and a lot more flavorful. One is never enough!

I bought barely two cups of the tapioca powder. I decided to cut the recipe in half. Normally I copy the ingredient list, cut each one by half and then follow this new list. Since there were only a handful of ingredients I did not do this. Unfortunately, I forgot to cut the milk by half and added a whole cup. I realized what I had done only when I had added it to the tapioca powder. Instead of a crumbly mixture I got a soft dough. I had no tapioca powder to fix the problem so I continued with the recipe.

The texture may have been affected a little but otherwise no harm done. The puffs were light and delicious. There were bits of cheese browned on the surface that enhanced the taste. Thank you Renata for an awesome challenge!

You will need
250 gm or 2 cups tapioca starch
1/2 cup whole milk (I used 1%)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. salt (do not use if using salted butter)
1 1/2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese
1 large egg

In a pan add the milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil. In a bowl sift the tapioca. Mix the milk mixture into the tapioca. Combine with a fork to form a crumbly mixture. Add the rest of the ingredients with the eggs and mix until all the ingredients are combined.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Pull small portions of the dough and form small balls. Place them on a parchment paper lines baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

If you plan to bake them later place the baking sheet in the freezer until the dough is frozen. Transfer to a freezer safe ziploc and store in the freezer until needed. When ready to bake preheat the oven and place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake as directed earlier.

Cook slightly on a rack and eat them warm with tea or coffee.

Enjoy!

Dhokla

I have heard a lot about foolproof dhokla recipes. I have one such such recipe. It uses baking soda. Then I heard that using Eno, an antacid, gives better results. Since then dhokla with Eno was on my wishlist.

I do not have step by step pictures for this one. I tweaked the recipe a little.

You will need
For the dough
1 cup channa dal
1/2 cup mung/moong dal
3 tbsp. sour yogurt (I used sour cream as I ran out of yogurt)
1 tsp. ginger paste
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Eno
salt to taste

For the tempering
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. white sesame seeds
a pinch turmeric powder
4-5 curry leaves
1 green chili pepper (optional)

For the garnish
2 tsp. sugar dissolved in 3 tbsp. of water
2-3 tbsp. fresh grated coconut (I used frozen)
2-3 tbsp. cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp. olive oil

Soak the channa dal and moong dal separately for about 3 hours. In a blender add the ginger paste and yogurt. Drain the water from both dals and add them to the blender. Grind to a smooth thick paste. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add all the remaining ingredients for the dough except the Eno.

Grease the bottom of a pressure cooker pan. Keep the pressure cooker ready. Stir in the Eno in the dal mixture and transfer the mixture to the cooking pan. Pressure cook for 5 minutes. Let the cooker depressurize. Let the cooked dal rest for 5 minutes.

Pour the sugar solution over the dhokla. You may skip this step but it helps the dhokla retain its moisture. Cut the dhokla into cubes and let them cool completely.

Heat olive oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the tempering. Pour the tempered oil over the dhokla. Transfer the dhokla to a serving dish and garnish with fresh grated coconut an chopped cilantro.

This is my entry for week four, day three of BM #40 for the theme bookmarked recipes. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#40.

Bikaneri Papad Paratha

I had never heard of papad parathas until last month. PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds posted this recipe and I knew I had to try them. My family enjoys parathas and I am always trying new ones. These parathas did not disappoint. I tweaked the recipe a little based on what I had on hand.

When it comes to papad we all enjoy the flavor of garlic papad and when I go grocery shopping I make it a point to buy garlic papad. For some reason when my husband goes shopping for papad he can never find the garlic flavor. He usually brings plain and he usually brings at least a couple of packets. Nobody likes them. I am glad I found this recipe so I can use them all up. Since the original recipe called for masala papad I added cumin coriander powder and paprika to make up for the taste. Next time I will add black pepper or crushed peppercorns.

You will need
For the dough
2 cups whole wheat chapati flour
water as needed

For the filling
4 papads (I used 1 garlic and 3 plain)
1/2 onion, diced fine
a few springs cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp. paprika (adjust to taste)
1 tbsp. cumin coriander powder
1 tsp. amchur powder
salt to taste

Combine the water and flour to form a smooth dough. Knead well and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, roast the papad in a microwave for until done (about 15-35 seconds depending upon your microwave). Alternately, you could roast them over the stove top. Crush the roasted papad in a mixing bowl and add all the other ingredients for the filling.

Divide the dough into equal portions. Heat a griddle pan. Take one of the portions and flatten it in the palm of your hand.

Fill it with 2 tbsp. of the filling.

Pull up the sides of the dough and close at the top

Place both sides in some flour and roll it out to a large disc.

Place on the hot griddle pan and add a few drops of oil. Cook on one side until brown spots appear.

Flip it over and cook the other side.

Enjoy with any side and/or chutney.

Chettinad Tomato chutney

Tangy and spicy tomato chutney can be used as an accompaniment to a lot of different dishes. There are so many variations of this chutney. I have already posted two variations a basic tomato chutney and a tomato chutney with peanuts. But I could not resist the temptation of trying this Chettinad Tomato Chutney after I saw it last month on Usha's blog My Spicy Kitchen.

This chutney uses tamarind and chilies and is fairly easy to put together.

You will need
1/2 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, shelled and minced
1 tbsp. channa dal
2 tbsp. oil
3 Roma tomatoes or 2 salad tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp. paprika
salt to taste
1 tsp. tamarind paste

For the tempering
3 tbsp. oil
1 dry red chili pepper
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1/4 tsp. asafoetida
3-4 curry leaves

Heat oil in a pan and saute the onions, garlic and channa dal until soft and slightly brown. Add the tomatoes, paprika and salt to taste. Cook until the tomatoes are mushy.

In a blender combine the cooked tomato mixture and tamarind paste. Blend to a paste. In a separate pan heat oil for the tempering and add the mustard seeds. When they crackle turn off the heat and add the other ingredients. Pour it over the tomato paste. Mix well.

Enjoy!