Corn n Cheese Bruschetta

Yonks passed and I felt asleep, intoxicated with dreams and memories of past, the childhood and the adolescence. With each passing day I grew lazier and my inner zeal happened to run on a vacation. Sometimes a break is so badly needed, actually needed for good. So guys, with no regrets, I just returned from one.

As vacations are dreamed to be reposeful, I inevitably had some. With ounces heaping on, especially to a person who essays hard to put on some weight and still can't manage to get by any way, this amplification was a bountiful achievement. :P

Since I am talking about calories and weight gain here, I had to undergo a rich diet n regime, wo bhi mumma ke haath ka swadisht khana and then resting, watching television and sleeping the day long. This was perhaps like going to gym for weight reduction for others, which is definitely not as easy as it sounds. For a person like me, who doesn't like to sit even and keep working the max of hours with a small kiddo who keeps you on toes the whole while, this resting phase was not an easy intruder. But gradually it picked up, and indeed so well that now it's so damn tough to get back to the old routine. :P

I cooked and baked seldom in the last three months and was a binge eater most of the time. But then here comes the most beautiful thing I baked ever: scrumptious, beauteous, cheesy Bruschetta that I made with home-baked bread in my newie loaf tin.

The aroma of freshly baked home breads is irresistible. Much easier than it ever sounded to me, baking is just another world of cooking. To most of the Indians, as far as I have understood and known, baking is a not-so-easy type of a thing. Possibly the reason behind is an attempt that never took place, because once you start doing it, it slides smoothly and converts you to a baker soon. Yes, there are blunders and mistakes that might happen while baking, but who said you can make chapathis or curries flawless all the time. It's all that is there in your mind that makes it simple or tough, whether it is dealing with life situations or baking/cooking. So guys, here I give you an idyllic glance of what came out of my oven:

CORN N CHEESE BRUSCHETTA

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Baking Time: 5-10 minutes (for the final toast/grill)

                     30 minutes (for baking the bread/base)

Makes 8 bruschettas

Bruschetta, from the Italian word "bruscare" meaning "to roast over coals" is made by toasting whole, wide slices of a rustic Italian or sourdough type bread. It is an antipasto from Italy whose origin dates to at least the 15th century. It consists of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil, salt and pepper. Variations may include toppings of tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat, or cheese; the most popular recipe outside of Italy involves basil, fresh tomato, garlic and onion or mozzarella. Bruschetta is usually served as a snack or appetizer. In some countries, a topping of chopped tomato, olive oil and herbs is sold as bruschetta.

Ingredients:
For the Base:

1. All Purpose Flour/Maida: 1 and 3/4 cup

2. Active Dry Yeast/ Instant Yeast: 1 tsp

4. Luke Warm Water: 1/4 cup

5. Butter/Olive Oil: 2 tbs

6. Warm Milk: 1/4 cup (use only if required) + 2 tbs for brushing

7. Baking Powder: 1/2 tsp

8. Curd/yogurt: 2 tbs

9. Salt: 1 tsp

10. Sugar: 1 tbs

For the Topping:
1. Sweet Corn Kernels: 1 cup
2. Capsicum/Bell Pepper: 1/2 (finely chopped)
3. Tomato: 1 (finely chopped)
4. Garlic Cloves: 5 (finely chopped)
5. Cheese (Mozarella/ Cheddar): 1 big cube
6. Olives: sliced
7. Olive oil/ Butter
8. Basil, dried herbs and oregano
9. Salt to taste
10. Ground Pepper
11. Chilli Flakes (optional)

Method:

For The Bread:

1. Add the yeast and sugar to luke warm water (1/4 cup) and let it stand for 10 minutes till it starts frothing.
2. Sieve the maida/all purpose flour; add salt and baking powder to it.
3. Now add 1 tbs butter/oil and yogurt to the flour and mix well. Make a well in the center of the flour and slowly pour in the yeast water mix. Keep on kneading and adding slowly till a sticky soft dough is formed. If you find that the water is not enough, then add in some warm milk slowly. The dough will be as soft as the dough we make for naan/chapathi.
4. Knead it well after greasing your hands with some oil, till the dough becomes pliable and soft (I did that for around 10 minutes). 
5. Now grease the outer dough with little oil to avoid drying and keep it covered with a wet clean cloth/cling wrap in a warm place for about an hour or more (till it doubles up in size).
6. After one hour, when it's doubled, deflate it gently with your palms and shape it into an elongated roll so as to fit in a bread loaf/mini french loaf tin.
7. Place the dough in the greased loaf tin.
8. Brush it with milk on the top.
9. Cover this with a wet, clean cloth/cling wrap and keep covered for almost 30-40 minutes (better an hour) for rising again. It should double up in size again and look well puffed.
10. Pre-heat the oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. 
11. Now transfer the loaf/cake tin on a baking tray and take off the cover/cloth/wrap. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius till the top turns light golden brown.
12. Once it is baked, place it on a wire rack to cool.
13. On cooling, slice the loaf into 8 big pieces. The loaf will be crusty and hard on top but soft within. You can wrap it in a cling film and keep for some time to make it softer.
14. These bread slices can be used in multiple ways. You could make some fresh garlic breads, bruschetta, or just relish them with butter. 

Topping: 

1. For Bruschetta, drizzle some olive oil on top, dress up with garlic, and some grated cheese. Embellish further with olives, corn, bell pepper and tomato. Sprinkle basil, herbs, oregano, salt and pepper. 
2. Toast/grill for 4-5 minutes. If you want them crispier, increase the toasting time.
3. Also, you could go the other way. Toast the slices first till they turn crisp n light brown. Then spread some olive oil and follow with the toppings and serve as it is (without grilling/baking the topping). 
4. Traditionally, bruschetta are toasted over the embers of a fire, then rubbed with a clove of garlic and drizzled with your best extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with salt. This is a great way of letting the true flavors of a fresh, golden-hued olive oil shine through. Also, it lends itself to a myriad of fresh and marinated toppings too, you are likely to find it generously topped with either chopped, ripe tomatoes and basil, a purée of fresh fava beans and garlic, sun dried tomato spreads, or whatever vegetables are in season at the time.

 

 

Suggestions:

1. If you are using instant yeast, use the same amount.
2. There's another way of making the dough in which all the ingredients are mixed together and dough is formed; no separate frothing of yeast in water is required. This is good when you are using instant yeast. Although I prefer the original method.
3. If the dough is not rising because of the temperature (i.e. it's not warm), you can place the dish containing the dough over a vessel filled with warm water (and not dipping in the warm water). This will help providing the right temperature for rising.
4. I kept the dough in the closed oven for rising, with the light on. This gave the perfect temperature and environment for rising, and it puffed up double in just 45 minutes. You can also keep it in sun-light which is warm enough to ferment it.
5. Baking timings vary according to different ovens, but this cannot be baked in a microwave oven without convection mode.  
6. I prefer to brush the dough with milk before keeping it for rising again. Don't touch the dough after it has risen, whether to shift, or out of curiosity. It will deflate it, and then it won't puff again and will sink in. If you want to brush it after rising, make sure you do it very softly, so as not to deflate it.
7. The risen dough looks well puffed, also it sticks to the neighboring balls, but don't try to separate that. Just transfer the whole tin to the oven and cut the baked loaf into slices once it has cooled down . 
8. If you wish to use eggs, you can skip the baking powder and curd/yogurt to the dough.
9. Bake the loaf only till the top turns light golden. If you bake it further, the upper crust will harden.
10. While toasting the bruschetta, make sure you do not over-toast else the base will over-char and go hard.
11. The toppings can change with the waves of creativity your brain forms. From spinach bruschetta to mushroom bruschetta, from mint leaves to thyme, just anything can empower it with its distinctive flavor.

'Dive in Five' Homemade Pizza

Yippieeeee Yuppieeee Happieeeeee..... all emotions shrilling with exaltation as I bake my First Pizza with the base as well. In India, I guess 60% people who are 'Pizza-buffs' try baking them at home using the bakery-baked Pizza bases. And how can I forget the way we used to freak upon trying all variations and hit-or-miss toppings on that pancake sized chhotu sa Pizza base. Believe it or not, but the best Pizza to me would always be the Sukhadia Circle wala 'Desi Pizza' with no mozarella cheese, rather processed cheese grated on the top with desi tomato gravy to line. Those days were different; the gust of wind waving the hair and dabbing the cheeks as we rode on Kinetic Honda, staring at all dolled up people taking over our bike, and that free-bird feel that filled the blood with Endorphin, the happy hormone. I still remember the posture in which I would spread my arms like feathers, sitting at the back, next to my darling sis, and feeling those fresh vibes and energy passing through during the ride (though this was occasional; especially done when there was no one on the road to watch such freaks!! :P)
Huuuh, so now it's time to come back to the real world, out of my fantasies and dreams, but yeah, I definitely will do that again with my daughter at least once after she starts riding. :)
Now this Pizza thing actually took my brain to all directions, from creativity to copying, and from experiments to experience. I almost used everything when I made this first Pizza of mine. I copied the basic ingredients and procedures from various sites, jeweled it with some creativity, experimented with multi-grain flour in the next go, and used the earlier experiences on baking to see that the experiment doesn't fail, and when you are this organized and focused, nothing in this world can stop you from reaching the goal. The outcome was flabbergasting! :)
As always, my brain cells were struggling hard to find a good name for the recipe, and finally I settled on this 'Dive in Five' Homemade Pizza because the topping had five major ingredients to fill it with taste and glamor. 

'DIVE IN FIVE' HOME-MADE PIZZA:

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Dough Rising Time: 1 hour
Baking Time: 15-20 minutes
Makes 2 Pan Pizzas

Ingredients:
 For the Base:
1. Maida/APF: 3 cups
2. Dry/Instant Yeast: 1 and 1/2 tsp
3. Warm Water: 1 cup
4. Sugar: 1 tbs
5. Salt: 1 tsp
6. Olive Oil: 2 tbs + for greasing, smearing and dabbing
7. Cling Film for wrapping

For The Tomato Gravy:
1. Ripe tomatoes: 2 (blanched and pureed)
2. Onion: 1 (finely chopped)
3. Garlic Pods: 5 (medium sized, finely chopped)
4. Olive Oil: 2 tbs
5. Salt: 1 tsp or as per taste
6. Black Ground Pepper: 1 tsp
7. Tomato Ketchup: 2 tbs
8. Oregano: 1 tsp

For the Topping: 
1. Mozzarella/ Pizza Cheese: 200 gms
2.  Tomato: 1
3. Onion: 1
4. Olives: 8
5. Capsicum: 1/2
6. Paneer: 50 gms
7. Oregano
8. Chilli Flakes (optional)



Method:
For the base:

1. Take 1/4 cup warm water (the bowl/cup should be warm as well) and add sugar to it.
2. Now sprinkle the dry yeast over it and let it foam, say for about 10 minutes.
3. On the other hand, sieve the flour, add salt and oil to it and mix.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add warm dissolved yeast to it.
5. Start kneading and prepare a soft dough with it using the remaining warm water. 
6. The consistency should match that of the dough used for poori/chapathi.
7. Remember, the dough will loosen and soften after fermentation, so don't keep it very soft. 
8. Dab your hands with some oil and keep kneading till it goes smooth. Smear the dough with a little oil.
9. Now place this dough in a greased bowl and cover with a cling film.
10. Keep this bowl in a warm place (either in sunlight, or in an oven with lights on, or in a bigger bowl of warm water)
11. The dough will rise to double in an hour. If not, check with the temperature again and keep for some more time.
12. Now take the dough and punch it down.
13. Divide the dough in two equal parts and keep the other part covered while working with one.
14. Take one part of the dough, make a ball and roll it with a rolling pin. Keep the size of the circle slightly bigger than the size of the base of the pizza pan.
15. If you want, you can stretch the dough using your palms and fingers, too, and thus avoid rolling with a pin.
16. Now place this rolled dough in the base of the pan and stretch with your hands on all sides to fit in it.
17. The dough should be stretched up high till the upper rim of the pan.
18. Dab the base with your fingers so that it doesn't puff on baking.

For the Gravy:

1. Blanch the tomatoes, peel off and puree them.
2. Take oil in a pan and heat it.
3. Add chopped onions and garlic to it and saute till they turn translucent.
4. Now add the tomato puree followed by the salt, pepper.
5. Cook for 5 minutes and then add tomato ketchup and oregano.
6. The gravy is ready to use. Make this during the dough-rising time.

For the Topping:

1. Cut onion, tomato and capsicum in medium sized pieces.
2. Cube the paneer and take a boil for them to soften.
3. Slice the olives into rings.
4. Divide the cheese cube into two for the two pizzas.

Assembling the Pizza:

1. Pre-heat the oven at 230 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.
2. Now take the pan with the dough sitting in it.
3. Coat the base with half of the tomato gravy.
4. Now grate half a cube of the mozzarella cheese over the gravy and spread vegetables and olives over it.
5. Now grate the remaining cheese over the veggies and sprinkle some oregano and chilli flakes.
6. Transfer this pan to the pre-heated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes till the top browns.
7. Take it out and carefully lift the pizza out of the pan.
8. Cut it into pieces and serve oven-hot with some ketchup and chilli flakes.

Suggestions:

1. The rising of the dough is the most critical here. I hear many friends complaining that their dough didn't rise well and hence the whole experiment crashed.  My suggestion to them is to check with the yeast they are using first because it could be old or not good enough. Secondly, the temperature for rising matters a lot. If you keep the dough in normal temperature, it might not rise especially in winters or rain, so try keeping it either in an already warmed/heated oven for rising or in a warm bowl of water.
2. You can always play with the base of the pizza. The base could be made 'thin crust' if you keep the dough thin, and this can be made 'deep dish' if you pull the dough high till the upper rim of the pan. 
3. Also, you can make instant thin crust multi-grain pizza without fermentation, just by using more oil like how we keep for Samosa Dough. I tried this and it came out really well, and will post this sometime later for sure.
4. The gravy get vary as per your taste. I even tried with coriander chutney to smear on the base and it was yummilicious.
5. The toppings can go as creative as your mind goes. You could pop in some mushrooms, jalapeno, corn, red bell pepper or other veggies that you love to eat.
6. Do not overheat. As soon as the top browns a bit, take the pan out of the oven.
7. My pizza was baked in about 15 minutes. The oven timings may vary according to the type of oven you are using. 

The recipe flies off to:
My event: Cooking Made Easy With Cheese/Paneer

Bake Fest started by Vardhini guest hosted by Archana  

Desi Chatpata Mango Salsa

 

Aeonian blogging for months and then a sudden breach that kept me on a lazy halt for around 2 months....gosh, this was so awkward and undesirable!! Once you lose the pace for going, you naturally go dumb and otiose, and so was I during the past couple of days. The beginning was great, being at mom's place and hogging on those yummilicious desi plates full of love and spice, but then came a phase of indolence in which my cooking and baking got lost somewhere..... but now I feel rejuvenated in travelling back to those glorious days of culinary practice again. To begin with, I could not think any better than jumping on the king of fruits, which also happens to be the star ingredient of this month's 'Cooking Made Easy Series' of mine: Mango

Of all the recipes I received so far for this event, I found 'Mango Salsa' the most tempting and easiest and thought of replicating it with a few changes to make it typically khatta meetha and Indian, so here comes the Desi Chatpata Mango Salsa.

DESI CHATPATA MANGO SALSA

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1. Ripe Mango: 1 

2. Onion: 1

3. Tomato: 1

4. Salt: 1 tsp or as per taste

5. Olive Oil: 1 tbs

6. Honey: 1 tbs

7. Lemon Juice: 1 tsp

8. Chat Masala: 1 tsp
9. Black Pepper Powder: 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Peel off the mango and cube it in small pieces.
2. Chop the tomato and onion finely. 
3. Transfer them to a bowl and add olive oil, honey, salt, lemon juice and chat masala to it. 
4. Give a flip and serve immediately with chips, papad, biryani or anything you wish.

Suggestions:

1. You can use any variety of mango here, but I prefer the tangy yet sweet ones, like the 'Raspuri' or 'Kesar Aam'.
2. You could also add bell pepper and jalapeno, though I found it good even without them. 
3. Addition of honey is a choice. You could skip this if you don't like honey or don't wish the salsa to be sweet.
4. Red Chilli Powder can be added for an extra kick.
5. Always add salt and spices just before serving, else the salsa will start giving up juices and will turn slightly watery.
6. Dried herbs like mint, parsley, basil or oregano can be sprinkled for that over-the-top flavor and aroma. 
7. This can even be served in tarts or small canepes.  

Submitting this to:

 My ongoing event: Cooking Made Easy With Mango,

99 day festival - Mango Mania,

Bon Vivant Fruit Recipes,

Let's Cook With Fruits by Radhika,

Summer Spunk by Anusha

Tangy Tomato Cheese Pasta

 

Pasta, pasta, pasta!!
Oh, I just love it, especially when it is loaded with cheese, and blessed with the wind of Basil.

Pasta is a generic term for noodles made from an unleavened dough of wheat or buckwheat flour and water, sometimes with other ingredients such as eggs and vegetable extracts.

Pasta is typical of different cultures and countries, but the most famous varieties and recipes come from Italy. There are hundreds of different shapes of pasta with at least locally recognized names. Examples include spaghetti (thin strings), macaroni (tubes or cylinders), fusilli (swirls), and lasagne (sheets). 

Pasta is categorized in two basic styles: dried and fresh. Dried pasta made without eggs can be stored for up to two years under ideal conditions, while fresh pasta will keep for a few days under refrigeration.

TANGY TOMATO CHEESE PASTA

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1. Pasta Swirl (Fussili): 1 cup

2. Tomatoes: 3 (pureed)

3. Onion: 1 (chopped)

4. Garlic Cloves: 5 (finely chopped)

5. Basil Leaves: 1 tbs (very finely chopped)

6. Parsley: 1 tbs (finely chopped)

7. Grated cheese: 2 cubes

8. Tomato Ketchup: 3 tbs

9. Ground Pepper/ Black Pepper Powder: 1tsp

10. Salt: 1 and a half tsp or as per taste

11. Olive Oil: 3 tbs

12. Water

Method:

1. Take 2 cups water in a pan and bring it to boil. Now add 1 cup pasta to it, followed by a pinch of salt and a tsp of oil. 
2. Once pasta become slightly tender (al dente), take them out on a strainer.
3. Now take olive oil in a separate pan and heat it. Add chopped onions followed by chopped garlic and cook till onion goes golden brown. 
4. Now add tomato puree to it followed by black pepper powder and salt. Cook till the oil separates.
5. Pour in the tomato ketchup and stir well. Add in a little water if you find it thicker.
6. Throw in the pasta, followed by the chopped parsley and basil and spin well.
7. At last, garnish with grated cheese and serve hot. If you want the melting cheese in mouth, cook it for 2 minutes after adding cheese so that it blends well with the gravy.

Tips:

1. 'Al dente' (Italian: "firm to the bite", meaning not too soft) is when the pasta is just rightly cooked, that is, it is not very soft nor very very hard. It should be such that when it is finally cooked with the sauce, it should come out as complete spirals, and not in overcooked pieces which break on being too soft.
2. If you don't happen to have parsley, you can push in some chopped coriander leaves.
3. 'Basil' gives the typical, authentic Italian flavor, hence its addition will undoubtedly add in to the taste.

Submitting this recipe to:

Iftar Moments by Ayeesha, Anyone can Cook.