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recipe

Grape and Rosemary (wannabe) Focaccia

February 9, 2011

Rosemary and Grape Focaccia

I recently rediscovering the joys of truly amazing extra virgin olive oil. Over the past week, there has been nothing I’d rather snack on late at night than slightly toasted bread, sprinkled with crunchy sea salt and doused in extra virgin olive oil.  After trying out the multi grain bread from Yazdani for a few days, I decided I’d make something fragrant, something slightly experimental.

I leafed through my current favourite bread book and stopped at focaccia (perfect, considering the Italy theme – Italian Bread, Italian Olive Oil, cooking in Italy). I thought I’d play a bit with the topping and decided on using grape and rosemary because the flavour pairing has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now. This is surprising, because I’m not usually the type to experiment with fresh fruits in bread. I’d happily use dried berries and nuts, but fresh fruits? Not really. I suppose it was the thought of having bread mottled with purple juices from the grape that got me excited. I felt utterly proud of myself for having thought this up. But my moment lasted all of 30 seconds – for I found the grape-rosemary pair already mentioned in my beloved Flavour Thesaurus. (I hope to discover a flavour pairing not mentioned in the book, and then proudly email the author. One day.)

I call this a wannabe focaccia because although I had every intention of making a focaccia, I underestimated the dough’s rising capacity. I filled my pan with more dough than required,  thus resulting in a not-so-very-flat flatbread.

Rosemary and Grape Focaccia

I used the recipe from Artisan Breads Every Day (US | UK | India), and I suggest you get yourself a copy if you’d like to make your own bread – it’s a book with stunning recipes that don’t end up intimidating you. I’ve used this book several times (remember the chocolate and cinnamon babka, or the pesto bread rolls?) and I keep going back to it. I stuck to the focaccia recipe, except that I added a load of fresh black grapes, a sprinkling of dried rosemary, and a dusting of brown sugar (for a little browning) on top of the dough a few minutes before I popped the dish into the oven for baking. The instructions for the focaccia are a little more detailed to be replicated on the blog, but if you’d like, here is another recipe for focaccia.

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Homemade Nutella with Nibs

November 29, 2010

Homemade Nutella with Nibs

Whats better than Nutella?
Homemade Nutella.

What’s better than Homemade Nutella?
Nutella make with additions of dark chocolate, Valrhona cocoa powder and roasted cacao nibs. Oh, yes.

Homemade Nutella with Nibs

I remember eating Nutella from the jar in college when I needed to study late into the night, hoping that the sugar will work its magic. While I still adore Nutella (clearly, because I have even categorised recipes on this blog based on that), I find them a tad too sweet to eat off the spoon. Not willing to give up that pleasure, I resorted to make Nutella at home with dark chocolate to balance the milk chocolate that goes into the jarred Nutella and did not add any additional sugar. This, my friends, must be heaven on a spoon.

Homemade Nutella with Nibs

When I was reading up recipes for homemade Nutella on the internet, I came across a bunch of them that has way too much icing sugar or used honey (and I’m pretty sure would taste nothing like Nutella!) so I just sat down and put together recipes starting with the ingredients I’d like to use. It tasted absolutely fantastic, but if I’m going to be calling it Nutella, I need to work a little more to attain that smooth texture.

Also, these make such wonderful gifts for the season in little jars!

Homemade Nutella with Nibs

Homemade Nutella

½ cup / 100g (approx.) hazelnuts, skinned and toasted
50g / 2oz. dark chocolate
50g / 2oz. milk chocolate
1 tbsp cocoa powder
½  a vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 tbsp cacao nibs
1 tbsp hazelnut oil (you could use any flavourless oil if you don’t have this at hand)

  1. Grind the toasted hazelnuts in a food processor until thoroughly pulverised.
  2. In a bowl set over simmering water, melt the dark chocolate and milk chocolate. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla bean innards. Mix until evenly incorporated.
  3. Stir in the ground hazelnuts and cacao nibs.
  4. Add a tablespoon of hazelnut oil to bring it all together.
  5. Transfer to a sterilised jar and lick off the rest of the bowl when no one’s watching.

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Cinnamon Butter and Applesauce

November 7, 2010

For the past few minutes, I’ve been pondering over how to start this post. All attempts were defeated as I stared at the words  – cinnamon, butter and applesauce. Biting into three of my favourite things spread rather generously on a piece of toasted bread – I’m not thinking clearly. If you were next to me right now, all you’d hear would be squeals of joy.

When you take a tour of food blogs around this time of the year, you will notice the space bursting with all things fall – pumpkins, persimmons, apples – but nothing yet on Purple Foodie (gasp!). I know I’m a little late in coming up with a recipe for the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’*, and I clearly got the hint weeks ago when I noticed frantic activity on the recipe for apple chips. But the truth is, there is no fall here in Bombay. No rustling leaves in crimson and gold, no woolen scarves and jackets, none of that. And to top that, we have apples available all year round which saps the charm out of apples being seasonal fruits. But you know what? Making the cinnamon butter and homemade applesauce will make you happy, regardless of how the weather around you is.

The first time I had applesauce was a little over a year ago at a farmers’ market stand in NYC. The pink hued applesauce was calling my name from afar. I traipsed over, and bought a tub of the raspberry applesauce and a loaf of raisin and fennel bread.  And that was my breakfast every day for the rest of my trip. Just to relive that moment, I added a little raspberry puree to this homemade applesauce, and I am only too happy to report that this sauce has surpassed the one from the farmers’ market. I’m going to attribute the success to Granny Smith apples – they are magical when cooked.

Some tips on making homemade applesauce:

  • Use apples that are meant for cooking like Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji or Mcintosh.
  • Add some lemon zest to the sauce while cooking to intensify the flavour.
  • If you’re using a cinnamon stick, don’t discard it when bottling. The cinnamon will continue to add flavour to the applesauce.
  • If you’d like a chunky applesauce, use a potato masher, and if you’d like a smooth texture, you could whizz it together with a hand blender or pass it through a food mill.
  • I used raspberries for that pink blush to the sauce, but you could use cranberries or strawberries too. If you’d like increased tartness, you could add more of the berries.
  • I have made homemade applesauce with two methods: first by caramelising the sugar with the apples and butter and the other by dumping all the ingredients into the pan at the same time. This didn’t make much of a difference, but I’m partial to the method of caramelising the apples first.
  • If you’d like to make a super quick version of the homemade applesauce, you could throw all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl along with a little apple juice, cover it leaving the slightest and microwave it on high for 10 minutes. I’m not a proponent of microwave cooking, but this saves you a lot of trouble of toiling over the stovetop.

Go ahead, and make this. Make sure you dollop the toast with blobs of the cinnamon butter. And when your house health police isn’t looking, add another. You can blame me if you’re caught, I’ll take one for the team.

* To Autumn – John Keats.

Cinnamon Butter

Ingredients:
100g butter, at room temperature
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons castor sugar

Method: Mix all the ingredients until combined and then fill it in a small jar. I like to refrigerate it for a little while until its firm, but still malleable and then roll it in parchment. I then cut small discs and plop over some hot toast.

Applesauce
Approximate yield: 500g / 1 lb.

Ingredients:
5 apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tbsp butter
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp vanilla bean sugar

Optional: A few frozen raspberries/raspberry puree

Equipment: Potato masher

Method:

  1. Heat a saucepan, and add the butter to it. Stir in the sugar and let it cook with the butter until it is almost dissolved. Add the apples, and stir to coat.
  2. Cook the apples for 10-12 minutes, stirring often until the apples have softened and yield to pressure when squeezed between fingers.
  3. Stir in the cinnamon until evenly distributed.
  4. With a potato mashed, squish the cooked apples until it reached the texture you desire.
  5. If you’re adding the berries, now is the time. Mash them together until uniformly blended.
  6. Turn of the heat and lick off the masher while no one’s looking.

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The Fluffiest Cinnamon Sugar Rolls

October 26, 2010

Cinnamon Sugar Buns

I’ve got to admit, I’m quite a hoarder when it comes to hard-to-find ingredients. The problem with food shopping for me is that I always buy more than I should because, you know, I am utterly positive that I will never find it anywhere else. I bring sneak it back home and then find a spot for it in my ‘special’ cabinet, never to see the light of day. What’s worse is that many a time a lot of the stuff ends up in the trash can because it’s crossed its prime. Oops!

Today I pulled out my pack of Swedish Pearl Sugar that I got from Ikea last year. Don’t roll your eyes; the sell by date is Nov 2011. So, in fact, you should be patting me on my back for breaking into this well before time. So, what prompted me to reach into my special cabinet? The awesomeness from Spain, of course. Every time I get my hands on more ‘exotic’ ingredients, I feel like I deserve to use some of the precious ingredients from that cabinet.

Cinnamon Sugar Buns

I set out to make cinnamon sugar rolls, just like the pack of sugar suggests. I used my go-to book for bread these days, Artisan Bread Every Day for the sweet dough recipe. And as the name suggests, I packed it with a very generous spread of cinnamon, sugar and butter. Here’s a tip: add vanilla extracts to make your sweet dough. It makes the dough smell unbelievably irresistible. You just might eat it raw.

Cinnamon Sugar Buns

Cinnamon Sugar Rolls

Yeild: 10 big rolls
Adapted from: Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day (US | UK | India)
Dough
2 ½ tsp instant yeast
8.5oz / 240g milk
14 oz / 400g flour
1 tsp salt
45g sugar
50g melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling
50g butter, softened
100g sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Topping
Eggwash (beaten egg with a little milk)
Swedish Pearl Sugar

  1. Whisk the yeast into the milk until dissolved.
  2. Combine the flour, salt and sugar together. Pour the milk, melted butter and vanilla extract over the dry ingredients.
  3. Knead the dough either by hand or using the dough hook attachment of the KitchenAid and knead until the dough is soft and slightly sticky. If using a KA, it should clean up the sides of the bowl and only stick a little to the bottom.
  4. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with a plate or some plastic wrap and let it rise for 1-2 hours (depending on how hot it is where you are), or until doubled in size. You can refrigerate this after this point for up to 4 days.
  5. Punch the dough back down and roll it out in a 12×15 inch rectangle. Spread the butter evenly on the dough and sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over it. Roll up the dough tightly and cut into 1½ inch slices.
  6. Place it into a buttered 9 inch pan, making sure to keep it well spaced out. Let it rise for 1-2 hour.
  7. Brush the dough with egg wash and sprinkle on the pearl sugar.*
  8. Bake in a preheated oven at 175C/350F for 18-20 minutes, making sure to turn the pan halfway through baking.
  9. Wait for it to cool a bit and then transfer the pillow-y goodness to your mouth!

* Of course, you don’t need to use pearl sugar – you could make a caramel glaze or perhaps coat it with some Dulce de Leche.

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Zucchini and Onion Tart

September 7, 2010

Zucchini Onion Tart

This is not your average tart. For starters, it doesn’t use tart dough for a base, but pizza dough, and secondly, it calls for a layer of thick yoghurt and cheese beneath the vegetables. Both the deviations from the norm seemed rather interesting, and the picture in the book looked too good to pass up to make for lunch today. Where did I get this unconventional recipe from, you might wonder? It’s from the Popina Book of Baking.

I first heard of Popina Bakery on Rachel Allen Bake and really liked what I saw. The unusual name is hard to forget, so when I saw a book titled Popina at my local bookstore, I quickly pulled it out. Gorgeous, gorgeous photos and refreshing recipes pushed me into buying the book. It took me a while to decide which recipe I’d try first, and when I got my hands on some fresh zucchini, it was decided: I’d make the zucchini and onion tart (leaving out the fennel, which isn’t easy to find here).

Using pizza dough as a tart base is just genius – it makes life so much simpler! For once you won’t have to worry about attaining the perfectly flaky tart crust (although, it’s perfectly normal to be persistent about it) or letting the dough rest in the fridge for a few hours before rolling it out.

I especially love vegetables that are roasted until the point they look charred, and the innate sweetness is showcased. In fact, while the zucchini and onions were roasting, I might have opened the oven door a few times to sneak some for a quick snack, topped on cream crackers.

Zucchini Onion Tart

Zucchini and Onion Tart Recipe

Adapted from: Popina Book of Baking (USA | UK | India)

Pizza Dough Base:
220g flour
1 tsp instant yeast
1/4th tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 egg
80ml warm water

Filling:
400g zucchini, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced
40 ml olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
100g mature cheddar
150g thick yoghurt (hung in muslin cloth or you could use Greek yoghurt)
1 tsp chilli flakes (or more depending on how hot you like it)

Equipment:
10x33cm tart pan (I SO want this!) or an 8 inch round pie dish (this is what I used)

Method:

  1. For making the dough: Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Create a well in the centre of the ingredients and add the egg, olive oil and water. Draw everything together with your hands and knead until you get a soft, pliable dough. If you’re using a KithenAid, knead until the dough comes together and passes the window pane test. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for two more minutes. Let it rest while you prepare the filling for the tart.
  2. Filling: Put the zucchini, onions, olive oil, salt and pepper in a roasting pan and roast in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F for 30 minutes. If it looks like it’s browning too soon, then cover with an aluminium foil (because it’s going to be in the oven for another 30 minutes after it’s been layered into the tart). Once done, let it cool for about 15 minutes. Add in half the grated cheese.
  3. Mix the yoghurt, remaining half of the cheese and chilli flakes.
  4. Line the tart tin with the pizza dough and spread the cheese mixture evenly. Scatter the roasted vegetables on top and bake it in a hot oven for 25-30 minutes at 170°C/325°F. Remove from the oven and let it cool before cutting it into slices for serving.

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