Sweet Cinnamon Rolls and Savory Dill Rolls

Featured in Tastespotting.com - 14th Jan 2012

Now that I think I can bake bread, I have ventured further into this magical world of yeast. Yes, I know it sounds corny, but it’s becoming an addiction. Somehow knowing that this little growing organism holds the key to a perfectly turned out loaf, makes me feel completely ensnared by it. Like a little slave, I wait for the yeast to make its presence felt and grace my little loaf with the air and water it needs to grow. Amen. This week I made rolls. I used the basic bread roll recipe and decided to twist the dough around – literally. In the end I had these pretty looking swirls enclosing raisins and cinnamon for the sweet lovers and dill and onions for the savory tongues. If you are going to have someone over for tea, I suggest serving a couple of these. Very very fun and tasty. Or have them for a fantastic breakfast – beats the crap out of store cereal anyday!

Cinnamon Rolls and Dill Rolls

Prep time: 15 mins

Sitting time: 2+2 hrs

Baking time: 10-15 mins

Makes: 8-10 rolls

What you need:

1 Basic Bread Dough recipe (Click here)

If making Cinnamon Rolls:

50 gms Butter, softened

2 tsps Cinnamon Powder

2 Tbsps Brown sugar

Some raisins to sprinkle in between

If making Dill Rolls:

¾th Tbsp Oil

1 Onion, sliced

2 Green Chili, chopped

1 bunch Dill leaves, chopped

¼ tsp Salt

What to do:

In the basic bread dough recipe, when you reach the stage of shaping the dough into rolls, follow the below instructions. Divide the dough into 8-10 balls. Now roll out the ball into a 10” rope. Lay it on the table top and flatten it out to 1” width and 1/2” thickness.

For the Cinnamon rolls: Spread some softened butter onto the flattened rope. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon powder. Toss in a few raisins. Now start folding the flattened dough to make a spiral.

For the Dill rolls: Heat oil and fry the onion and chilli. Add dill and fry for 2 mins. Seasn with salt. Cool. Spread the cooled mixture onto the flattened dough rope and then fold into a spiral.

Now place the dough rolls on a baking tray and loosely cover with cling film (to keep the moisture in). The dough will ferment and double in size in the next two hours. Just before baking, glaze with a eggwash for the dill roll or a milkwash for the cinnamon roll. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 10-15 mins. Once done, overturn the rolls in the baking tray to avoid the bottom getting soggy. Serve Warm.

Note: If you’re oven is small, you can still bake this in 2 batches. Ensure space between the rolls after shaping, as they double in size. Also if you plan to make both the rolls – don’t bake the cinnamon ones with the dill. They both have very strong smells and the resultant intermingling is strange. Two batches – one for each type should be ideal.

The rolls are at their glorious peak when hot. Serve at tea time or devour for brekkie!!

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Babaganoush

So what exactly is Babaganoush? (Ba-ba-ga-nuj). Sounds exotic I know - Like a word that twirls around in your mouth and takes you to some strange colorful dream in the Arabian nights. Well, Babaganoush is a Lebanese dip, a cousin of my favorite dip – Hummus. The hero of this recipe is the lovely aubergine/eggplant. The eggplant is broiled/roasted over an open flame before peeling and mashing, so that the pulp has a nice smokey taste which is characteristic of this dip. The process is very similar to cooking our Baingan ka Barta in India. We mix it with tomatoes, garlic and onion paste and eat it with rotis or naan. The Lebanese mix it with Tahini and lemon juice and eat it with pita. It’s a small world! But the end result either way - is a glorious, smokey, silky pate that has everyone begging for more.  

Babaganoush

Prep time: 15 mins

Resting time: 10 mins

Makes: 8 servings

What you need:

1 big Eggplant
¼ cup Tahini (roasted white sesame paste)
¾ tsp Coarse Salt
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
3 cloves Garlic (smashed)
¼ tsp Chili powder
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
To Serve:
Some yoghurt, more lemon juice and half a bunch Cilantro, chopped
Pita bread/ Crackers

What to do:

Prick the eggplant with a fork in a couple of places or make 4-5 long slits on the sides with a knife. Char the outside of the eggplant by placing it directly on the flame of a gas burner and as the skin chars, turn it until the eggplant is uniformly-charred on the outside. 10-15 mins is smokey enough for most people. Remove, put it in a ziplock (to preserve the smokiness) or cover with a damp tissue and let it cool. Split the eggplant and scrape out the pulp. Puree the pulp in a blender with the other ingredients (except the lemon juice & salt). Taste and season with the salt and lemon juice. Chill for a few hours before serving. (Babaganoush keeps well for 4-5 days in the fridge).

Just before serving, mix in some yoghurt (I use 1 Tbsp for 5 Tbsps of Babganoush), garnish with a dash of olive oil and some freshly chopped cilantro. Serve with toasted pita bread or crackers.

P.S. I smothered some on my freshly baked bread, topped with some olives and thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Baking Bread - In all shapes and sizes

The warm yeasty smell, the soft fluffy touch, the chewy satisfying taste, the golden yellow sheen – it can only be Bread!! I love bread. I love it so much that I want to sleep on a pillow of freshly baked bread… Sweet dreams for sure. Of course no one really bothers to try to bake bread – not without a bread machine. It’s too cumbersome, when you can just run out to the bakery that’s been making it for generations and pretty much knows how to earn their dough from it! But everyone wants to ‘try’ to bake bread. This attempt was one to scale my personal Everest of the year. Yes, some climb mountains; I make mountains of a mole hill challenge! Anyway I was mighty impressed with the results. *Patting myself on the back*. Just thought I’ll gloat to you guys as well J

Basic Bread Recipe

Prep time: 15 mins

Sitting time: 2+2 hrs

Baking time: 30 mins for loaves; 15 mins for buns/ rolls

Makes: 2 loaves or several fun shapes

 

What you need:

3 ½ cups Refined Flour/ Maida

100ml + 100ml Water

50 ml Milk

2 tsp Yeast (granules)

4 tbsp Sugar (Powdered/ Castor)

1 tsp Sugar (Granulated)

1 ½ tsp Salt

5 Tbsp Oil (refined sunflower/ neutral tasting oils)

What to do:

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water (100ml) with the granulated sugar and keep aside for ten minutes. If the mixture starts bubbling and yeast starts rising to the surface you know the yeast is activated.

Sieve the flour, add salt and sugar. Mix in the remaining water. Then add the yeast, milk and oil and knead to a soft and smooth dough. Use the base of your palm to knead the dough by pushing the dough away from you and then gathering it again. 10 mins of this labour of love should do it. Keep the dough covered with cling wrap for 2 hours. It should have doubled in size. Now unwrap and punch the dough down. Go on release all that pent up energy. We do this to remove all the trapped air.

If making a loaf of bread: Put it into a loaf tin and keep it covered with cling film. The dough will ferment and double in size in the next two hours.

If making buns/ rolls: Mould the dough into the desired shape. Place on a baking tray, loosely cover with cling film (to keep the moisture in). The dough will ferment and double in size in the next two hours.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 30 mins if making bread/ 15 mins for buns. Enjoy the smell of heaven!!

 

The dough rising slowly.

You can use an eggwash (beat an egg and use it to brush the surface of the bun before baking) to give the buns a nice glaze!

Watermelon Vodka Cooler

It’s a Friday and what better way to kick start the weekend than with a nice drink. My alcohol choices have become milder and milder as age catches up (sob sob). No longer can I knock down multiple shooters and wake up with my head on my shoulders. So now I have to be satisfied with a drink that knocks my head off with flavor rather than the alcohol content. In college, we used to cut a chunk out of the watermelon and then pour vodka into it. Refrigerate the whole fruit for a couple of hours then cut up the watermelon into cubes and you have a boozy party fruit!! College always had a way of making even the good ones bad! Of course no one ever complained! So to go down memory lane (albeit in a milder more grown up way) I give you the watermelon cooler. Have a great (Hic!) weekend!

Watermelon Vodka Cooler

Prep time: 10 mins

Makes: 4 cocktails

What you need:

2 cups fresh watermelon juice

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar syrup (4Tbsp sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup water)

100ml Vodka

Ice cubes and watermelon chunks to serve

What to do:

Cut the watermelon into cubes. Puree enough to get 2 cups of sieved watermelon juice. (basically discard the seeds and pulp). Save the rest of the cubes by freezing it, to use as 'watermelon ice' in the drink.

Combine the watermelon juice, vodka, lemon juice and sugar syrup in a shaker and shake well. (obviously!) Pour into a glass filled with ice and 4-5 frozen Watermelon cubes. Garnish the drink with a watermelon slice/ sprig of mint. Hic hic Hurray!

Happy Birthday - Food for Swaps turns TWO!!

Happy Birthday to you… Happy Birthday to you… Happy Birthday dear FoodforSwaps…. Happy Birthday to you!

So we enter our terrible two’s today :)  I must say, the journey has been supremely fulfilling. What started out as a way to document all the things I tried out in the kitchen has now turned into something that inspires me to try out things! It gives me a space to play out my food obsession and my photography. It’s my little window to the world of foodies – you guys, who stop by the blog and send me little words of praise, encouragement and new ideas. So today, I just want to leave you a comment – Thank you for rocking this party for so long!

I have a few additions to the blog, to mark the anniversary. An 'About' page – yes I know, I do like to wax eloquent. And a 'Food Blog searcher' – more foodies more fun! So enjoy and keep stopping by!

The world's best Hot Wings!

I know people exaggerate when they say something is the world’s best. You’re thinking, a.Their world is really small or b. They have false ideas of grandeur. I have fallen prey to both statements many many times, but (and this is a big BUT) Not this time!!! Firstly, I can say with conviction that if there is a restaurant I have visited and they list hot wings on the menu – I have tried it. And I eat out very often. So my world of hot wings is not small. Secondly, I am in no way partial to any food, so if something blows my mind – it firmly earns it’s place in my heart and taste buds! As these Hot Wings satisfy the above criteria – they are, according to me (and my entire clique of hungry friends and family) The World’s Best Hot Wings!

 Hot Wings/ Buffalo Wings

Prep + Marinating time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 20 mins

Makes: 20 wings

What you need:

3/4 cup All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Salt

½ tsp Garlic Powder

1 ½ tsp Chili Powder/ Cayenne Pepper

 ½ tsp Black Pepper Powder

20 Chicken Wing segments

Oil for Frying

For ¾ Cup Hot Sauce:

4 Tbsp Ketchup

3 Tbsp Sirachara Hot sauce (or any other Hot Sauce)

½ Tbsp Tabasco

1 Tbsp Soy Sauce

¼ cup Butter

1 Tbsp Coarsely ground Black Pepper

What to do:

Wash fresh wings in water, split them at the joints and remove the wing tips. (If you buy 10 whole wings, you get 20 pieces and 10 wing tips to discard). Place them on a wire rack and refrigerate for 2 hrs. (The step is optional, but I’ve noticed it makes the wings crispier.) In a shallow dish, combine flour, salt, garlic, chilli and the black pepper powder. Coat chicken pieces entirely in flour mixture and refrigerate for a further hour.

My quantities for hot sauce can be varied within each element according to desired heat, as long as the total amount equals ¾ cup. The key however is the fat to hot sauce ratio which is 1:3. One part butter to 3 parts hot sauce. This is what gives it a glossy amalgamated feel.

In a saucepan, heat hot sauce with the knob of butter, just until the butter melts. Add crushed pepper and mix well. Keep warm.

Dip the chicken in flour again, dust off. Deep fry the chicken for 13 mins 8-10 mins, till nice and crispy and golden brown. Drain chicken on wire rack for 30 secs, then immediately toss fried chicken in hot sauce and remove. Let is stand for 5-6 mins. Garnish with some more crushed pepper. Serve with some cold beer! Its gonna rock your world.

P.S. For the Bangaloreans – This tastes like the hot wings in Millers 46 (if not better!!)

Penne with Bell Peppers Roman Style

I had two lovely yellow bell peppers in my fridge. After four days of racking my brains to come up with a mind blowing recipe, I chickened out. I could not see them go to waste for my lack of creative genius. Thanks to the gazillion cook books I own, (yes, I am cookbook cuckoo!) finding a recipe was a breeze. I would like you to believe that I put in considerable amount of effort picking and choosing just the right recipe, but the truth is I like a good gamble. So I closed my eyes and put my finger on the peppers list in the index! I give you here – Pasta with Peppers Roman Style. The Roman bit is because I had a crush on Julius Caesar. Ok, am playing with you now! Traditionally, tiny black wrinkled olives grown in the Lazio region of Italy are used in this roman dish. But I used Spanish olives. Oops! Don’t declare a war till you’ve tried it. iBuen Apetito!

Penne with Peppers Roman Style

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 35 mins

Serves: 4

What you need:

1/3 cup Olive oil

1 Onion, finely chopped

1 cup Black Olives, pitted and coarsely chopped

400gms canned chopped Tomatoes, drained/ 500gms Tomatoes, blanched and chopped

2 Yellow/ Red Peppers, seeded and cut into thin strips

Salt and pepper

350gms dried Penne/ Fettucine

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese to serve

What to do:

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add the onion and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 mins or until softened. Add the tomatoes, bell peppers and olives. Saute for 5 mins. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and let simmer over very low heat for 25 mins. Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile bring a large heavy bottomed pan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta return to a boil and cook according to instructions on the packet. Penne must be tender but with a bite. Drain ad transfer to a serving dish.

Spoon the sauce onto the pasta and toss well. Sprinkle generously with the parmesan and serve immediately, with extra grated parmesan.

Note: Green bell peppers are not recommended in this recipe as they are a little too sharp and do not provide enough contrast with the saltiness of the olives.

Minted Pea Soup

Is it a guy thing, to be repulsed by the idea of green food? No seriously, even before tasting my pea soup the co-resident faked fullness of the belly, courtesy a late lunch. The office mate nearly choked on his food before being forced to try it. The other colleague acted like he was part of a science experiment before gingerly licking the back of the spoon! Men I tell you… gutless, literally. That said, they all concluded that it was ‘not so bad – for pea soup’! And as an afterthought grudgingly added that it was actually (gasp gasp) tasty! I for one, love this version , cause the mint really uplifts it and its really easy peasy! 

Minted Pea Soup

Prep time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 25 mins

Serves: 4-6

What you need:

2 Tbsp Butter

1 large Onion, coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp all-purpose Flour

500 gms frozen Peas

5 cups (1.25 lt) Vegetable/ Chicken Stock

½ tsp Sugar

2 large Mint Sprigs

Salt and Black Pepper

Shredded fresh Mint for garnish

What to do:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the chopped onion and cook very gently, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until soft but not colored. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for a further 1-2 mins, then add the frozen peas, stock, sugar and sprigs of mint. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently. Stir occasionally for 5 mins or until the peas are soft. Do not simmer any longer than this otherwise the peas will lose their fresh green color.

Remove the mint sprigs and discard. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return the soup to the rinsed out pan, reheat and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot garnished with shredded fresh mint. 

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Here’s a tricky one. The recipe uses raw eggs. Don’t freak out, I’ve been relishing carbonara for many years and I still live to tell the tale. The reason I said it was tricky is because of the technique. You need to keep everything hot, so that when you add the eggs at the end, they just cook in the residual heat but do not scramble. Otherwise we would have scrambled eggs with spaghetti – not the best combo! That said, it’s the quickest and yummiest thing you can have with pasta. Also when the final result tastes like restaurant goodness in under ten minutes, your guests are sure going to sing praises of your effortless magic. Shall we say Nigella style? (It helps if you wear lipstick! Wink wink ;)

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Serves: 4

What you need:

450gms Spaghetti

1 Tbsp Olive oil

225gms rindless pancetta or lean bacon, chopped

4 Eggs

5 Tbsp light Cream

3 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and freshly ground Pepper

What to do:

Bring a large heavy bottomed pan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, return to a boil and cook according to time instructions on the packet. The spaghetti should be tender but still firm to the bite. Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottom skillet. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently – 8 to 10 mins. Beat the eggs with the cream in a small bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta and return it to the pan. Tip in the contents of the skillet, then add the egg mixture and half the parmesan cheese. Stir well, then transfer to a warmed serving dish. Serve immediately sprinkled with the remaining cheese.

Nutella Cupcakes

Here’s a little treat for my sweet tooth! One – it’s a cupcake, Two – it’s got frosting, Three – Its nutella frosting. I nicked this recipe off the official nutella website – not promoting them, but boy was it worth it! You can’t really replicate the taste of nutella with anything else. Am I glad my supermarket had a buy one get one free offer. Considering the co-resident finished one whole bottle by just digging in a spoon and licking it all off, I needed to use up the other in more productive ways. So yes, this is an attempt at productivity – though it resulted in sheer indulgence!

Nutella Cupcakes

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 25 mins

Makes: 12

What you need:

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup canola or mild vegetable oil

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4-1/2 cup Nutella, at room temperature

What to do:

In a medium bowl, beat the butter, oil and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the butter mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. The batter will be thick. It needs to be in order to swirl in the Nutella!

Divide the batter between 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Drop a spoonful of Nutella on top of each, and swirl through the batter with the tip of a bamboo skewer, knife or other pointy object. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until springy to the touch. Tilt them in the pan to help them cool. Makes a dozen cupcakes.