Croutons

Long time ago, when my husband had an averse palette for salad as a full meal, I started using croutons as a tempting factor. Eventually, he fell in love with salad and I reduced the use of croutons. Why to increase calorie count when you eat salad for health reasons? Although salads are fine, but we still prefer to have croutons in soups. Normally, I buy ready packet from store but I hate to use them for once and remaining of them getting stale. 

So I thought why not to try at home from leftover bread. I buy fresh loaf quite often. How much I love the freshness of it, it hurts to see half of it going to trash after just one use. Since we have a rule that we would eat processed food made out of plain flour only once a week and we mostly stick to it; I cannot use it again in meal. So this time I made croutons out of leftover loaf. Not only they are cheap but also way more fresh and tasty than those from the packet. You can make them in almost no time and store them in air tight container for about a month. And more importantly, this turned out to be my little one's favorite snack :).

Preparation Time: 5 Minute

Cooking Time: 30 Minute

Ingredients

Leftover bread

Olive oil

Parsley

Red pepper flakes

Garlic powder

Salt and Pepper

Procedure

1. Cut bread in cubes. Cut off the crusts if using regular sandwich bread

2. In a large bowl, mix olive oil, spices and herbs

3. Toss in bread cubes and coat them well

4. Arrange cubes in a baking sheet in single layer and toast at 300 F for 10-15 minute or until they become light brown and crispy

5. Store in air tight container once cool down

Naan

This was my long time due project and finally I could attempt it last weekend. We prefer variety food over the weekend that's filling (and no leftovers please!) so usually I end up making North Indian/Punjabi style curries. This itself is a bit lengthy process as compared to normal vegetables. And I am always running behind schedule during weekend so we finish the meal with store bought frozen Naan/Paratha. No matter how convenient they are, they cannot be compared against fresh ones. This last weekend we were forced to stay home due to extreme cold weather. Hence I had ample of time to finally check off this item from my to-do list.

Usually Naan is cooked in tandoor (clay oven) which is kind of impossible to do at home. So either conventional oven or gas stove is used. The beauty of it is that you just change spices/herbs and you have completely new variety. Usually only plain flour is used to make Naan. But I combined both plain and whole wheat flours. Not only it's healthy but also it prevents Naan from becoming hard and chewy after it gets cold.

Makes 8 pcs

Preparation Time: 10 Minute + 4 hours of fermentation time

Cooking Time: 30 Minute

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup plain flour

1/4 oz packet of dry yeast

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp kalonji

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Butter

Salt

Procedure

1. Mix yeast, salt and sugar in  lukewarm water and keep it aside for 10 minute till it becomes frothy

2. Combine and sieve both flours

3. Add kalonji and red pepper flakes

4. Knead a soft dough and cover it with plastic wrap

5. After 2 hours, it would be almost double in size. Knead it with little oil and keep it covered.

6. Wait for 2 more hours and dough doubles in size; now it's ready

7. Divide it into 8 equal parts and roll it in thin sheet. Use dusting flour as if needed

8. Cook it on both sides on griddle (and not directly on flame like chapatti/roti)

9. Apply butter and serve hot. You can make them couple of hours in advance, but do not put butter. When ready to serve, warm up in toaster/conventional oven and then apply butter

Pizza Crostini

The winter being so brutal this year; it feels good to just step out for grocery after few days of confinement at home. The other day we were enjoying such 'Family Outing' at nearby supermarket and I was browsing their bakery section. And I could not stop myself from buying fresh loaf of Italian Bread coming right out of the oven. I was not sure then what to make out of it but I knew I would be experimenting with it for Friday dinner.

These little bites are topped with pizza style toppings, pesto sauce and cheese. Though they are perfect as an appetizer, we could use them as meal as well. I use lot of veggies and omitted cheese for healthier version :).

Make 16 slices

Preparation Time: 20 Minute (Provided Pizza Sauce is ready)

Cooking Time: 20 Minute

Ingredients

Loaf of Italian Bread or Baguette

1 small onion, finely diced

2 cup of veggies, finely diced (I used mixed peppers, corn and zucchini)

1/4 tsp garlic, minced

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

2-3 tbsp pizza sauce

2 tbsp basil pesto

10-12 pc olives

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (Optional)

Butter 

Salt and pepper

Procedure

1. Heat olive oil and add garlic and onion

2. Once onions turn translucent, add veggies

3. Add salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and cook them uncovered on medium-high flame till veggies become charred

4. Turn off the heat and add pizza sauce and olive rings

5. Slice the loaf, apply butter on both sides and cook it on grill

6. Top each slice with pesto, veggie stuffing and cheese

Peda (Penda)

These Khoya Sweet Balls are apt for any occasion, be it for Prasad or to celebrate birth of a baby or exam result. There are many occasions and even more varieties of Peda. Though Peda were originated in Northern India, Gujarat is considered a hub for this sweet treat. Cities like Rajkot and Bhavnagar offer their own style of Peda for decades. Technically they are simple to made as they use Khoya/Mava as main ingredient; but it is all about patience and quality of Khoya.

Here, we do not have many places offering Peda. So I thought of experimenting at home. I knew that ricotta cheese eventually gets converted into Khoya but it would not offer right degree of consistency. So, I added dry milk/milk powder. After going through trial and error couple of times, now I think I have got the grip :). Of course they are not as good as we get in India, but certainly very close and worth an effort.

Makes 16-18 pc

Preparation Time: 5 minute

Cooking Time: 1 Hr

Ingredients

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup milk powder (I prefer Nestle)

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp ghee

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

1 tbsp pistachio, coarsely chopped

Almonds for garnishing

Procedure

1. In a thick bottom pan, heat ghee and add cheese

2. Cook it on low flame till moisture evaporates and cheese stops sticking to pan (It took me about 20-25 minute)

3. Now add sugar and milk powder. Cook it for another 20-25 minute, stirring continuously. Try rolling the mixture into a ball. Another sign is to taste it. Raw taste of milk powder should not be there

4. Add pistachio and cardamom powder

5. Once it cools down completely, roll into a ball and flatten in your palm. Garnish with almonds

6. You can refrigerate them and they stay good for at least couple of weeks

Ricotta Cherry Parfait

Summer is just around the corner. And who does not like light, quick and easy dessert? I have prepared "Must Have Items in Summer" list. If you have them in your pantry, there are quite a few ideas of quick fix desserts. This list includes Ricotta Cheese, Condensed Milk, Cocoa Powder, Graham Crackers, Chocolate Chips, Whipped Cream, Canned/Frozen Cherries/Berries and Confectioner's Sugar. The other night I was looking at my pantry and freeze and came up with this idea; why not to create layers of ricotta cheese and fruits and then add crackers and nuts to have crunchiness? I did not have Sundae Glasses so instead I used regular bowl. If you have this slick and sexy glass, you can taste all the ingredients in every bite.

Anyway, I prepared small sample first and both of us loved it. I was not sure what to name it then. So I started looking online and found out that it was type of an American Dessert where cream/nuts/fruits/yogurt were layered and served cold. It's called parfait which is derived from French Cuisine. So here is my very own version of Ricotta Cherry Parfait.

Serves 2

Preparation Time: 10 Minute

Cooking Time: NIL

Refrigeration Time: 1 to 2 Hr

Ingredients

4 tbsp ricotta cheese

2 tsp Greek yogurt

2 tsp confectioner's sugar

15-20 pc canned cherries along with juice (Alternatively, fruit jam can also be used)

8 pc graham crackers

10-12 pc almonds, slivered

Procedure

1. Toast almonds at 300 F for about 5-7 minute, keep them aside

2. Mix cheese, yogurt and sugar, whisk thoroughly

3. Roughly chop graham crackers

4. In a glass, create layers of cheese mixture, cherry and crackers. Top it with almonds

5. Serve chilled