Daring Cook’s Mezze Challenge – Pita Bread & Hummus

The 2010 February Daring COOKs challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

As if I didn’t have enough challenges making and posting recipes, I decided to take on one more. But I’ve realized that I need a challenge to get me inspired to do anything. I had step by step instructions to make the dish, but the best part about the challenge was the deadline, so I had no excuses. Or so I thought. I was so fired up that I made them the very next week the challenge was posted. I invited a few friends over and spent 4-5 hours in the kitchen. My mother was there, of course, to help me all the way. What would I do without her help? In fact, I realised after various attempts at rolling ou the pita dough that there is a skill to it as well. Amma was able to effortlessly roll them out evenly and sure enough, they puffed up with pockets and all!

The reality of this challenge, however, is that the post was due on Feb. 14th, the day of the “reveal” and I am already a couple of days late posting my first completed Daring Cook’s challenge. I do hope I am within the “grace period” of one week.  I have to admit thatI had a lot of fun trying this challenge out. I also bought a pizza stone finally from Williams-Sonoma just to make these pitas. Didn’t I mention that I have expensive hobbies?:)

So I made hummus, baba ghanoush , falafels and of course the pita bread. I also added some olive tapenade and tabouleh to finish the mezze, though these were all optional. Would I do this again? The , falafels, hummus and baba ghanoush…absolutely! The pita bread…umm..I’d rather head to the nearest Mediterranean store. These were a little time-consuming and I don’t think I got it just the way it was supposed to be. It may have been other factors in play, I was using a pizza stone for the first time and I don’t know if it was heated enough, as all the initial batches of pita bread didn’t rise very well. Then of course, the even rolling. When I was almost done with my dough (and Amma gave it a hand), the last few pitas started to rise and puff up really well. That’s probably how long it took for my pizza stone to heat to just the right temperature!

All the same, I was quite satisfied with my first venture at being a “Daring Cook”.

Pita Bread – Recipe adapted from Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Prep time: 20 minutes to make, 90 minutes to rise and about 45 minutes to cook

2 teaspoons regular dry yeast (.43 ounces/12.1 grams)
2.5 cups lukewarm water (21 ounces/591 grams)
5-6 cups all-purpose flour (may use a combination of 50% whole wheat and 50% all-purpose, or a combination of alternative flours for gluten free pita) (17.5 -21 ounces/497-596 grams)
1 tablespoon table salt (.50 ounces/15 grams)
2 tablespoons olive oil (.95 ounces/29 ml)

Directions:
1. In a large bread bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Stir in 3 cups flour, a cup at a time, and then stir 100 times, about 1 minute, in the same direction to activate the gluten. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes, or as long as 2 hours.
2. Sprinkle the salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add more flour, a cup at a time, until the dough is too stiff to stir. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Rinse out the bowl, dry, and lightly oil. Return the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least doubled in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours.
3. Place a pizza stone, or two small baking sheets, on the bottom rack of your oven, leaving a 1-inch gap all around between the stone or sheets and the oven walls to allow heat to circulate. Preheat the oven to 450F (230C).
4. Gently punch down the dough. Divide the dough in half, and then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide the other half into 8 equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4 inch thick. Keep the rolled-out breads covered until ready to bake, but do not stack.
5. Place 2 breads, or more if your oven is large enough, on the stone or baking sheets, and bake for 2 to 3 minutes, or until each bread has gone into a full balloon. If for some reason your bread doesn’t puff up, don’t worry it should still taste delicious. Wrap the baked breads together in a large kitchen towel to keep them warm and soft while you bake the remaining rolled-out breads. Then repeat with the rest of the dough.

Hummus – Recipe adapted from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
Prep Time: Hummus can be made in about 15 minutes once the beans are cooked. If you’re using dried beans you need to soak them overnight and then cook them the next day which takes about 90 minutes.

1.5 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight (or substitute well drained canned chickpeas and omit the cooking) (10 ounces/301 grams)
2-2.5 lemons, juiced (3 ounces/89ml)
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
a big pinch of salt
4 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste) OR use peanut butter or any other nut butter—feel free to experiment) (1.5 ounces/45 grams)
additional flavorings (optional) I would use about 1/3 cup or a few ounces to start, and add more to taste

Directions:
1. Drain and boil the soaked chickpeas in fresh water for about 1 ½ hours, or until tender. Drain, but reserve the cooking liquid.
2. Puree the beans in a food processor (or you can use a potato masher) adding the cooking water as needed until you have a smooth paste.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

Falafels – Recipe from Joan Nathan and Epicurious.com
Prep Time: Overnight for dry beans and 1 hour to make Falafels

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight OR use well canned drained chickpeas (7 ounces/100 grams)
1/2 large onion (roughly chopped, about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped OR use a couple pinches of dried parsley (.2 ounces/5 grams)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped OR use a couple pinches of dried cilantro (.2 ounces/5 grams)
1 teaspoon table salt (.1 ounce/5 grams)
1 teaspoon dried hot red peppers (cayenne) (.1 ounce/2 grams)
4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon cumin (.1 ounce/2 grams)
1 teaspoon baking powder (.13 ounces/4 grams)
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour (1 ounce/24 grams) (you may need a bit extra)
tasteless oil for frying (vegetable, canola, peanut, soybean, etc.), you will need enough so that the oil is three inches deep in whatever pan you are using for frying

Directions:
1. Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let soak overnight, and then drain. Or use canned chickpeas, drained.
2. Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed. If you don’t have a food processor, then feel free to mash this up as smooth as possible by hand.
3. Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough bulgur or flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.
4. Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts.


5. Heat 3 inches of oil to 375 degrees (190C) in a deep pot or wok and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour. Then fry about 6 balls at once for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
6. Drain on paper towels.

Baba Ghanoush:

This recipe is from Anusuya’s kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 eggplant roasted

2-3 green chilies

2 tsp lemon juice

2 garlic pods

a small bunch of parsley

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp tahini paste

1. Roast the eggplant and remove the skin.

2. Grind all the ingredients except eggplant in a blender. Add the roasted eggplant last and blend again. Do not over blend.

3. Garnish with some olive oil and parsley leaves.

Published in:  on February 18, 2010 at 9:51 pm Comments (1)
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Wild Blueberry and Banana Muffins

I do love bananas, if you haven’t figured that out already. Banana bread, banana muffins, banana halwa, banana smoothie, french toast with bananas are just a few of my favorite foods. Growing up, sliced bananas in a bowl of cold milk were my favorite breakfast. It was either the taste I grew up on or some weird coincidence but when I was pregnant with my son, the only food I craved was a banana and a glass of milk. Thankfully it was a craving easy to satisfy, or so I thought. So it wasn’t the usual story of me demanding ice cream, pickles or fried food in the middle of the night. It was instances of me waking up in a hotel room (on vacation in Florida) and demanding a banana and a cold glass of milk from room service at 2am in the morning. I’ve got to admit that was the most expensive banana I’ve ever had!

It’s probably no wonder that banana muffins are Nikhil’s favorite snack.

And so, when my friend, Bharathi, made these scrumptious yet very healthy blueberry banana muffins, I had to try them and share, despite the many banana bread and muffin recipes that you already see here.

Ingredients: (Makes 12 muffins or 24 mini-muffins)

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup frozen wild blueberries (from Costco or other health food store)

1 over ripe banana

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tbsp white distilled vinegar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup walnuts

1/4 cup almonds (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the flour, brown sugar, nuts and baking soda in a mixing bowl.

2. In a blender, grind the frozen wild blueberries, banana, vanilla essence, olive oil and vinegar to a smooth paste.

3. Make a well in the bowl with the dry ingredients and add the blueberry-banana mixture.

4. Mix well with a beater. Alternatively, you can mix everything in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.

5. Line the muffin pans, and spray with oil if needed. Fill the muffin cups with the batter.

6. Bake in the heated oven for 17-19 minutes.

I added nuts to this which is a modification from the original recipe. Adding the nuts gives the muffins a cracked surface. I tried a batch without nuts and it turned out smooth on the surface. I also added slivered almonds as topping just to give it a different look.

Published in:  on February 2, 2010 at 12:40 am Leave a Comment
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Chocolate Banana Cake (and it’s eggless too)

Happy 2010 to all! May this year brings you everything you wish for. May you stick with all the resolutions you made on the 1st of the year. And may you have your cake and eat it all!

I hope to be a little more regular this year on Roz Ka Khana. I know, its January 7th already and I’ve been remiss in posting my New Year greetings. So much for a start. But I’m trying. Actually, I have been cooking and baking a lot, its just the writing and posting that takes time. Okay, I resolve to stop with the excuses and get on with sharing the recipes.

The year started off better than I thought. I finally figured out how to bake eggless cakes. Finally! An eggless cake that looks and actually tastes normal! I don’t have any dietary restrictions with eggs (I’m not vegan) but have run into occasions/potlucks where others are, and baking eggless cakes has always been elusive for me. I’ve had some one off successes (like the whole wheat banana nut muffins posted earlier) but for the most part, they literally fall flat. My eggless date and walnut muffins, for one, stuck to the paper with folks having to scrape (rather, gnaw) it off with a fork or their teeth. I could argue that they at least tasted good if people wanted to have every bite, even if they just felt like rocks:), but I’m just using my power of positive thinking here.

Madhuram’s Eggless Cooking was my answer! Her recent post, the vegan chocolate banana cake looked so tempting that I had to try my hand at it. Interesting recipe, as it calls for no milk or eggs. I substituted butter instead of the canola oil she used (per her notes) and the outcome was an amazingly soft and moist chocolate cake. This recipe is a keeper for sure and I will probably try it as a birthday cake with frosting the next time. I used a few variations and also added nuts to give it some crunch.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat Pastry Flour – 2 cups

Dutch Chocolate powder – 2/3 cup (I used the one sold in Sprouts Farmer’s Market but am sure you can use any chocolate powder)

Sugar – 1 1/2 cup

Baking soda – 1 1/2 tsp

Unsalted butter – 1/4 cup

Hot water – 1 1/2 cups

Bananas, mashed and pureed – 1 cup (Per Madhuram, use 2 bananas mashed and add water to make up th 1 cup amount)

Chopped walnuts – 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Mix the flour, chocolate powder, baking soda and sugar in a bowl.

3. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and add the vanilla essence at medium speed. Add the hot water. Now add the dry flour and chocolate powder mixture from the bowl to the mixer. beat for a few minutes at medium speed until all the ingredients are mixed well.

4. Add the mashed bananas while the mixer is running and beat again for a minute.

5. Add the chopped walnuts.

6. The mixture is quite runny which probably gives it the soft texture. Pour this in the bundt cake tin (I used the silicone mould and it turned out great) and bake at 350F for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

7. I did not frost the cake but you can if you like after it cools. Madhuram suggests that you reduce the sugar to 1 1/3 cup if you plan on frosting the cake.

Verdict: A soft and moist chocolate cake that was quite the hit with my son and nephew (you can tell they are my food critics, or rather the “guinea pigs”), as they tell me it’s good to the last crumb! That’s what’s left of it anyway!

Published in:  on January 7, 2010 at 11:46 am Comments (2)
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Vanilla Cupcake

I haven’t been baking much this year aside from the ones already posted here, the banana bread and the pistachio cookies, all the same tried recipes. I did get the idea once to bake a batch of different cookies and give them as homemade gifts this year, to add that personal touch. But like everything else, the time got away from me and I resorted to gift cards, once again, the tried and true method:) I know, sounds a little boring, but aside from looking up some delectable recipes on the web, I couldn’t get myself to actually shake things up a little this season. Until I went grocery shopping with my nephew and he told me he was craving cupcakes and wanted to buy some, from Walmart! Of all the places, I thought. I mean, Walmart is fine for basic groceries, but I don’t consider it to be a place to buy gourmet food.

Is vanilla cupcake considered “gourmet food”, probably not, but I had my biases with Walmart anyway. Of course, my actual response was, “I’ll make a better cupcake for you!!” There, I had said it. Now I had opened myself up to a challenge that I make better cupcakes than Walmart. Should have said “better than “Sprinkles” – the best cupcake-ry in town, but I had to start small:)

So we got home and I started on the challenge of making the cupcakes from scratch, the cake, frosting and all….I was not going to use a mix or frosting out of a box or can. That’s probably not a big deal for most, but it felt good, saying that at least;)

In case you’re curious, I got the recipe from here.

Vanilla Cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup granulated white sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Zest of 1 large lemon (optional)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

Buttercream Frosting:

2 cups confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2tablespoons milk or light cream

Method:

Vanilla Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. In a food processor or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The mixture will look a little curdled. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. If using the stand mixer, chage the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment. If using a food processor, continue as is. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

5. Fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. You may scrape the top off a little to flatten the top of the muffin so the frosting goes on smoothly.

For the Frosting:

In an electric mixer, or standmixer, cream the butter until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed.

Verdict: According to my nephew, he may not buy a Walmart cupcake again:) It turned out moist and just right, like the recipe said it would.

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Published in:  on December 24, 2009 at 3:40 pm Comments (1)
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Apple Raisin Bread

I suppose I have an expensive hobby. Cooking and blog writing isn’t really expensive I know but in my case, I seem to fall into a lull often. This time my new Vita-Mix got me inspired. Ha, for how long do I hear you all say? Well, let’s not get too cynical . Instead, allow me to share my enthusiasm and the recipe for this apple raisin bread that I baked this Thanksgiving weekend. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Oh also I’m trying to use my wordpress app on my iPhone as I try to churn recipes and blog entries quickly. So this one comes to you straight from my phone. I know, two new gizmos to get me to get back into RKK mode…this IS an expensive hobby, don’t you think?
One neat and very healthy aspect of this recipe is that it has zero oil, zero butter and uses the natural juices from apples and dry fruits to moisten the batter making this a wholesome and nutritious bread. I’m sure you can make it without a Vita-Mix as well and it must have similar results. Do let me know if you do.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup uncooked rolled oats
1 medium apple quartered
1 thin slice lemon peeled and sliced
2 tbsp water
1 thin slice orange with peel
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp allspice
1 cup raisins, dates or other dried fruit

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8×8 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Add the wheat flour and oats into the Vita-Mix container and secure the lid.
3. Turn machine on and increase speed to high till the mixture becomes a fine powder.
4. Remove lid and add rest of the ingredients.
5. Turn speed to variable and then to high.
6. Blend for 30 seconds until batter is smooth. Pour into greased pan.

7. Bake for 20-30 mins or until knife inserted comes out clean.

Verdict: The bread turned out quite soft and moist, with just the right amount of sweetness to it. The only thing I would consider adding are some nuts, walnuts or almonds to get the right crunch to it.

Published in:  on November 27, 2009 at 7:06 pm Leave a Comment
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“Nana’s” Banana Bread

Got this nice note from Sheela, my dear friend from Hyderabad who also happens to be a regular RKK reader (she doesn’t have a choice sometimes when I also call her to tell her about it ;) , RKK’s proof reader, critic and an eloquent freelance journalist in the very happening metroplex in India, Hyderabad. Here it is…

Read this in the Reader’s Digest.Thought I might share it with you.

Mariel Hemingway:

” I learned that less can be more, that pulling back is good, that slowly is okay. These beliefs are all contrary to our way of life where life is so full, busy and fast. We think that if we’re not doing something, we’re not valuable. Not true! I learned that making time for myself was vital to good health.
My other solace is Nature.
I’ve retained an appreciation for good food, but I’ve learned to serve meals from a place of love. We should cook good food because we care about the people we’re doing it for. It’s not about playing the gourmand.”

She suggested that she wanted to send this for the RKK anniversary but this was probably the best time for it.

Couldn’t have been more apt. For the last month, I’ve been nagged by guilt – the guilt of procrastination. I realize I haven’t been as prompt as I should in writing, as recipes and pictures keep piling up, waiting to get some life of their own. As much as I love poring through other blogs, this guilt has led me to almost be a little fearful to look at the other gourmet creations, fearful that the guilt will haunt me even more.

The words mentioned above make me take a deep breath and realize that this hobby of mine is more than recreating Amma’s recipes or visiting Anusuya’s kitchen or even packing Nikhil’s lunches…it’s about the satisfaction of dishing it out, on the table and in words, with love. It has to come from the heart and sometimes that only happens once or probably two or three times a month. It’s okay to stop and smell the roses, or the food once in a while.

Enough pontificating. This recipe is one that I’ve tried for many months with many variations and I finally think that it deserves to be shared here. I added the quotes to Nana since this recipe is adapted for one. The other reason is that Nana obviously means Grandma and I don’t call my grandmother “Nana”. She is “Paatti” to me. So maybe this should be renamed “Patti’s Banana Bread”. But my Paatti never really made banana bread. And so it will remain in quotes as an adapted recipe.

I’ve used eggs in this recipe after many attempts at making eggless kinds. Though I have to say one recipe from “Understocked Veggie Kitchen” penned by another good friend of mine is probably one of the best eggless variations I’ve tried.

This particular recipe calls for eggs and substituting it with Egg replacer or flax seeds or other variations doesn’t really give you the same results. If you do stick to the measurements and the ingredients, you get a really moist, flavorful bread.

Ingredients:

5 tbsps butter

1/2 cup organic natural sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (here I used half measure white flour and half measure whole wheat flour)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup heavy cream (optional, you can also use milk)

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray the bottom of a loaf pan with nonstick cooking sprat.

2. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer set at medium speed until light and fluffy.

3. Add sugar, brown sugar and beat well. Add egg, egg whites and vanilla; beat until well blended.

4. Add mashed banana, and beat on high speed for 30 seconds.

5. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with cream, ending with the flour mixture. Add walnuts to the batter and mix well.

banana-bread-dough

6. Pour the batter evenly into the loaf pan. Bake until browned and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. This will take approximately 1 hour 15 minutes.

banana-bread-1

7. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Remove bread from the pan and cool completely. You can also wrap it in plastic wrap after it cools and leave it out overnight. It always tastes better the next day!

banana-bread3

Published in:  on April 10, 2009 at 10:57 pm Comments (3)
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Cookies, Cookies and more cookies!

It’s not the Holidays yet, you say? I say the season’s already begun. For us Indians in the US, Diwali is kind of the harbinger of the Holiday season, isn’t it? And while Amma used to make boondi laddoos, rava laddoos, badhusha, halwa for Diwali…I could go on and on…I compare it to the different kinds of cookies that we bake here in the US for the Holidays. It also happened to be Nikhil’s birthday this past week, so I shouldn’t really say that I baked these cookies for Diwali.. the timing just happened to coincide. Also, the chocolate chip cookie needs eggs, and they for sure weren’t made with Diwali in mind, as cooking with eggs for something as auspicious as Diwali could be considered blasphemous in the home I grew up in.

The result of baking those cookies? Let me just say that Diwali isn’t even here yet, but the cookies are long gone! I baked three different kinds of cookies and made almost 100 of them in all (I know for many Daring Bakers out there, this isn’t a big deal, but it was for me to share) and it wasn’t just the kids that loved them.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

I got this recipe from a Martha Stewart video show where she was demonstrating how to bake crisp chocolate chip cookies, not the chewy kind (which are also not my favorites anyway!).  I made one batch with 36 cookies and they turned out so good that I made 2 more batches.

The only variation was that I used a little less sugar and kept the oven temperature at 350F instead of 375 as she suggests. The cookies get done very quickly and I personally don’t like them too sweet as well.

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 large whole egg, plus 1 large egg white
  • 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (about 2 cups)

    •  Method:

    1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

    2. In a mixing bowl, sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and salt) and set aside.

    3. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes)

    4. Add vanilla, egg and egg white to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat for a few more minutes in low speed.

    5. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Now add the chocolate chips and run the mixer once quick so everything gets mixed well.

    6. Take an ice cream scoop and add one heap of cookie dough on the baking sheet. Add the remaining dough in a similar fashion placing them about one inch apart from each other on the sheet.

    7. Bake for about 15-16 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. Rotate the sheet halfway so the cookies get browned evenly. Cool on a wire rack.

    Pistachio Icebox Shortbread

    Ingredients:

    1 cup or 2 sticks unsalted butter

    1 cup confectioner’s sugar

    1 tsp vanilla extract

    1/2 tsp salt

    2 cups all-purpose flour (plus additional for tolling the dough)

    1/2 cup chopped pistachios

    Method:

    1. Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth and fluffy for about 3 minutes.

    2. Add the flour now while keeping the mixer at low speed, and mix until combined and it forms a dough. Mix in the chopped pistachios.

    3. Divide the dough into two halves. Place each half on a piece of floured or wax paper. Take some flour in your hands and roll the dough until a 1 1/2 inch log forms. Wrap the logs firmly in the paper and refrigerate until firm for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The logs can be refrigerated for upto 4 days or frozen for upto a month.

    4. Preheat the oven to 350F. remove the logs from the refrigerator, and using a serrated knife, slice the dough into 3/4 or 3/8 inch slices. Arrange the slices about 1 inch apart on the sheet.

    5. Bake for about 15 minutes until lightly golden brown around the edges. Cool on baking sheets or transfer to a wire rack.

    Published in:  on October 20, 2008 at 9:30 pm Comments (2)
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    Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins

    Another healthful and delicious entry from Anusuya’s kitchen. I have never had luck with eggless baking so far, and the few times I have tried making cakes or breads without egg, they have either resembled pudding (I’m not kidding) or I’ve needed a heavy duty weapon to slice through the hardened sunk dough. A visit to Anusuya’s kitchen not only gave me a taste of delightful and very, very edible eggless muffins but she was gracious to give me the recipe. Tried it at home last week, and sure enough, the result was unbelievable…I was finally successful at eggless baking! These whole wheat banana bread muffins are eggless and full of goodness, made of 100% whole wheat flour. I also added a tbsp of flax seeds, for that extra boost of fiber. Here’s the recipe …

    Ingredients:

    Whole wheat flour – 1 cup (heaped)

    Brown sugar – 1 cup (packed)

    Bananas – 3, mashed

    Corn oil – 1/2 cup (You can also use olive oil – not extra virgin, but plain or canola oil here)

    Baking soda – 1 tsp

    Vanilla extract – 1 tbsp

    Nuts (walnuts or pecans) – 2 tbsp

    Flax seed meal – 1 tbsp (optional)

    1. Preheat the oven to 350F

    2. Mash the bananas with a fork. Add the brown sugar, vanilla extract and oil and mix well.

    3. Sift the flour with the baking soda. Now slowly add the flour to the banana mixture a little at a time. (I used a Kitchenaid mixer to mix the flour with the banana here, but you can also just mix with a spatula manually until just combined.)

    4. Fold in the nuts and the flax seeds.

    5. Take a 12 cup muffin pan or a 24 cup mini muffin pan. Add a scoop of the batter each to each cup, with an ice cream scoop. (You can either line the cups with baking cups or spray with a non-stick spray before you add the batter)

    6. Bake at 350F for 21-23 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

    Tip: If you’re like me, you almost always have over-ripe bananas in your kitchen, as I tend to buy more than we usually consume. One tip I will share that has worked with me is to freeze the over-ripe bananas. The skin of the fruit usually gets dark in the freezer but the taste remains unchanged. Good way to store the weekly stash of over-ripe bananas and keep the fruit flies from starting a family in your kitchen. When you need the bananas, just thaw them in the fridge overnight or for a few hours at room temperature.

    Published in:  on April 21, 2008 at 2:26 pm Comments (2)