4th Anniversary, 400th Post, Winner Announcement & Quick Farfalle-Basil Pasta to celebrate

Hi All!!

It seems ages that I posted something here, I have been too busy lately..travelling, guests, health issues and many more things but today no reason, no excuse could keep me away from my blog baby. Yes!! My blog turns 4today and it also happens to be my 400th post here. Yippee, Hurray!!!

I must thank my family, friends, readers and blogger friends for being so supportive, for being there to see me grow, to praise me for my creativity and critically analyze me to improve further. Nothing of this was possible without YOU so a big THANK YOU!!! I hope to see your continued support here. I love reading your feedback so please keep giving me that.

I wanted to post an elaborate and a more creative dish here but pardon me friends, I’m just not able to bear the heat  and I simply dread long hours in the kitchen. I’m more into one pot or quick meals and my one BIG savior these days is Pasta which can be cooked in few minutes and you have ample choice to work on the flavors and play around with the veggies. The only thing I ensure is that I use Durum Wheat or Wheat Pasta, so that’s it’s good for my health too.

The pasta I’m posting today has no big recipe and has simple basic flavors and can be cooked on any lazy day without thinking too much..It’s a complete stress free recipe and that’s how I cook these days, which is no tension cooking . Also, I’m hoping that my face book fan page reaches 2000likes today so please head there and join me where I post kitchen tips everyday.

Farfalle With Basil

Preparation Time:15mins

Cooking Time:5mins

Serves:2

Difficulty Level:Easy

Ingredients

2cups Farfalle pasta ( cooked al dente)

1medium onion, cubed

6-7garlic pods, chopped finely

1/4 of green and red bell pepper, cubed

1small tomato cubed

1tsp oregano

9-10basil leaves

1tsp crushed black pepper/ paprika/ cayenne pepper

salt to taste

olive oil + butter mix, about 3tbsp

Method

Boil about a cup of pasta in about 8-10cups of water with a teaspoon oil and a table spoon salt.

Simultaneously, chop the veggies while the pasta gets cooked.

In a pan take butter and olive oil and once hot add the garlic and let it brown lightly.

Add the onions and sauté. Add the seasonings.

Tip in the pasta and toss on high flame for a few seconds. Add the remaining veggies and cook for 1-2minutes on medium before serving.

Add the basil leaves just before the final tossing on flame.

Serve hot garnished with more basil leaves.

Tips:

Add sufficient salt to the boiling pasta and always add the pasta once the water starts boiling, never add pasta to cold water.

Try to boil the pasta while the veggies/ sauce gets cooked. Always add hot pasta to the sauce. If the pasta is already cooked before adding it to the sauce, dip it in boiling water for 5secs and then add to the sauce.

Now comes the winner of last month’s ‘Only’ Cooking With Legumes event which was hosted by Nalini. Out of the 24 entries sent in Indian category

The random picker has chosen 11, which is Anu’s Masoor Patli Dal. Congrats Anu, please mail me within 48hrs to cookingoodfood@gmail.com to claim your win.

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Garlic Oil..Home Made

Hi!

My family loves Garlic Bread. Whenever we visit a Pizzeria or an Italian restaurant, the first order has to be garlic bread. The garlic bread available in restaurants makes use of butter, which makes the calorie count go high. So to make the garlic bread healthier and still tasty I make this garlic oil at home.Using this oil, the garlic bread can be made in a jiffy and what’s better is that it’s low in calories too.

 

 

This garlic oil can be used in making other salad dressings too and is quite multi purpose. It stays well for a month in refrigerator provided it doesn’t get over before that. It’s a no effort garlic oil which comes out very handy in cooking and is quite economical as compared to the garlic oil available in market.

 

Ingredients
7-8 thick cloves of garlic
1/2cup EVOO
Method
Crush the garlic in a clean pestle and mortar.
Push the garlic into a bottle and pour  the oil too. Close and shake lightly.
Leave it over night and the garlic oil is ready to use the next day. The flavor of the oil gets better as the garlic gets completely absorbed in the oil in the days to come .
Store in air tight bottle/ jar in refrigerator and outside for a week.

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Rosemary-Onion Focaccia (Frame By Frame)

Hi all!!

In almost all my recent posts I’ve spoken about my health and I’m definitely going to avoid that topic right now.. but I must thank all my friends who inquired about me and sent me their wishes, it means a lot.

I’m overwhelmed by the response I got to my previous post on the Effect of Estrogen On Osteoporosis, it is a well read post and I’m glad I posted that, makes me believe, I should write more of such posts.

Last few days, while I was sick and tired sitting and resting on my bed, I also did  a lot of reading…Yes, you guessed it right, I read a lot of recipes..I flipped over again all the past editions of Good Food Magazine and bookmarked many recipes to try. I do not know how much my cooking has improved over the years but I must confess  after reading so many  cookbooks my vocabulary in terms of food and food related products is improving day by day..

Coming to my today’s post..Ever since I started to blog I’ve been fascinated by the beautiful, rustic, Italian Bread Focaccia. I like the sound of this word (pronounced Fo..ka..Chuh). I had always wanted to bake it and somehow just postponed it. I’m wondering now, why did I postpone it for so long??? ..initially may be I was too scared of the ‘yeast ghost’ but it’s been quite sometime that I have won over it…but somehow this bread never happened and I guess Deeba’s post inspired me finally!!!

Focaccia is a hand tossed or rolled flat bread which resembles a Pizza in it’s texture and style. It is seasoned with olive oil and salt, topped with herbs, veggies or meat. The bread is either punctured or dotted to release bubbles from the surface of the bread. The dotting gives a dimpled look which makes the bread look more attractive. This bread is so versatile and one can play with various toppings, flavors and let them sing over the bread.

I tried this bread today and I kept  saying OMG, OMG with excitement after I finished baking. I went with the classic combination of onion and rosemary to try for the first time at home, though I’ve had this bread many times in restaurants..My house smelt divine with the smell of rosemary and the freshly baked bread. This bread goes well with pasta and soup plus it can be cut into halves and used for making sandwich. I loved mine drizzled with olive oil, ready to be gobbled up.

Rosemary-Onion Focaccia

Serves-6

Preparation Time:15mins

Rising Time: about 1-1/2 to 2hrs

Baking Time: 20-25mins

 

Ingredients

4 to 4-1/2 cups APF/maida

1-1/3cups warm water

2tsp garlic powder (optional)

1tbsp freshly chopped rosemary/ 1tsp dry rosemary

2tsp salt

5tbsp Olive Oil

2tsp active dry yeast

a pinch of sugar

For smearing

1/4onion sliced

1tbsp rosemary, finely chopped

3tbsp olive oil

sea salt or coarse salt to sprinkle

Bake ware

12” by 15” shallow baking tin

Method

In 1/2cup warm water, add sugar and yeast, let it stand for 10mins and froth up. Ensure that the temperature of water is around 110F, just warm to the finger. With hot water, you are ready to shock the yeast due to which it will not proof, so be cautious at this step.

In the kneading attachment of the food processor take about 4cups of APF, salt, garlic powder and olive oil.

Give the flour a spin.The olive oil should rub against the flour and mix properly.

Add the proofed yeast gradually and keep the food processor on the lowest speed.

Once the yeast is added, gradually add the warm water. Add enough water to make a soft dough. Adjust the quantity of flour between 4-1/2 to 5-1/2cups of APF. Absorption capacity of flours vary hence the variable measure.

Transfer it into a floured bowl and knead further for about 6-7mins.

Apply oil on the dough and cover it. Let it rise till it doubles in volume (it took about an hour here).

Knock down the dough  to release the trapped air and gather the dough again.

 

Transfer it to the greased baking tin. With the help of your entire palm press the dough so that it spreads evenly in the shape of the tin.

• Let the dough rise second time in the baking tin, this takes about 20-25mins. Make dimples across the dough at a distance of 1”. I loved doing this, sort of kiddish but a fun thing..

Mix all ingredients under the heading ‘for smearing’.

Using a pastry brush apply the oil liberally across the dough and with the help of spoon spread the remaining onion and rosemary on the dough. Spread some sea salt or coarse salt.

Preheat the oven at 220C and push the tin inside and bake for about 20-25mins or more, till the crust turns golden in color and when tapped produces hollow sound.

Serve the focaccia warm with some Basil Pesto, Extra Virgin Olive Oil or sour cream.

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Green Pasta..Pizza Hut Style??? No, No..better than that ( Step Wise)

 

Hi All!

It seems like ages that I wrote a post, and today as I type this post, I’m wondering, how many things happened in the past few days and I was so involved and engrossed in all those activities that I simply forgot that I have a blog too, which was completely ignored all these days and yes, I did not visit any blogs too..

I want to do so much for my blog but unfortunately I’m not able to. Some times I feel that I’m too slow hence I’m not able to accomplish what I actually want to, but at night, when I sit and try to look back at what all I completed in the day, it appears humongous. I guess I’m just trying to be positive about myself and the life I lead, but must confess, the pressures of life are taking over me.

My regular readers would know that about 2yrs back I was fighting a continuous low grade fever which had weakened my system and immunity, looks like I’m getting back into the fever mode (I’m not talking about the game, Moon Chaser here…LOL) but on a serious note, I’m not too well… I do drag myself through the day but by night I’m tired and definitely irritable as I’m left with no energy but the multitude of work does not let me sit and relax..

Anyways, enough of my health saga, do not want to bore my readers with that but I thought I do owe you an apology for disappearing suddenly, hence the explanation..

On a positive note, my elder kid joined Pizza Hut as a part timer, we thought that this will help him earn his pocket money and at the same time since it’s his hard earned money, he will learn to spend it thoughtfully. I feel todays generation loves to spend more and do not think and plan their future. Hopefully, my kid will learn to spend money thoughtfully. The kid had to undergo a training and then he worked in the kitchen for a week before he joined the front office. While working in the kitchen, he asked us to visit Pizza Hut, so that he could make a Pizza for us.

Personally I prefer Domino’s over Pizza Hut but for the kid we went.. he made two pizzas for us, which were nice. During the visit, the younger one also ordered a green pasta which was basically Fusilli and green veggies tossed in Pesto Cream Sauce. To our disappointment the pesto had no flavor and that was one of the worst pastas we ever tasted. I personally feel that Pizza Hut is over priced for the kind of food it serves but this is my personal opinion..

But then, I promised myself to make my version of that horrendous pasta that I ate, as the Pesto I make is definitely good. Fortunately I got hold of good basil leaves a few days back and that too at a good rate!! Yes, basil leaves are  quite expensive here!! So, I did make the Pesto and then I did make the green pasta. You know what, it was finger licking good and at the same time very simple to make, hence I thought of sharing it here, as for Moms like me, this is an easy way of feeding the kid so many greens in one take..One helping of this pasta is quite filling. This version can make a main course as well as can be served as after play snack.

Green Pasta

Preparation Time: 15mins

Cooking Time: 5mins

Serves: 1

Ingredients

1cup boiled pasta (use any durum wheat pasta)

5-6 small broccoli florets (par boiled)

2french beans cut into thin oblong pieces

1/4th green capsicum, cubed

2-3inch piece green zucchini, sliced

2-3tbsp basil Pesto

3-4tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

100ml fresh cream ( I used low fat)

1tbsp butter +| 1tsp oil

1tsp chili flakes

a pinch of oregano

a few basil leaves

salt (if required)

Method

Boil the pasta al dente in surplus water with salt. Remove in a strainer and use immediately.

Heat the butter and oil together.

Add chili flakes and oregano, followed by French beans and Zucchini, sauté.

Add the Pesto and sauté for a few seconds.

Add the broccoli and pasta and toss on high flame.

Add the cream and capsicum and mix. Keep the flame low while doing this else the cream could curdle or scathe.

Lastly add the grated cheese and mix I’ve used Parmesan cheese but one can use cheddar or processed cheese). Switch off the flame immediately, taste for salt requirement (if you feel that the sauce is too thick, add a few spoons of water and bring the sauce to a boil). Normally additional salt is not required as the pasta is boiled in salted water and the cheese also has the salt.

Serve immediately.

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Tomato-Basil Crostini.. Made Two Ways, Difference b/w Bruschetta & Crostini

 

Bruschetta (pronounced Brus-K-eta in Italy and Bru-Sh-eta in USA), is derived from the Italian "bruscare," which means "to roast over coals," refers to the bread, not the toppings. Rather large slices of bread are grilled, rubbed with garlic, then drizzled with olive oil. They are usually topped with tomatoes and basil, though other toppings from meats to vegetables can be used.

Crostini, "little toasts," are thinner, smaller slices of bread (usually from a baguette) that are always toasted then piled with various toppings, such as vegetables, savoury spreads, and cheeses.

Though the two terms are different but are used synonymously in most restaurants here.

I love the basil, especially in summer when it’s freshness is just perfect to escape from this heat. I do not mind topping my salad bowl with these refreshing leaves anytime but one product made using these leaves which I can not deny any time, is the Pesto. My family loves the Pesto and I love making it as it’s quick to make and can be stored easily.

Recently, when I visited the Jehan Numa Palace Hotel with the kids and again later with my dear friend A, I had ordered the tomato-basil bruschetta both the times, and loved it to the core. In Jahanuma too, they had used a French loaf for the preparation and yet called it a Bruschetta, Anyways, one bite in to the Bruschetta, was like a visit to the heaven for me, the flavours outburst on my palate and I just craved for more. I decided to attempt it in my kitchen and glad I did, as me and my kid were grinning eating these beauties. We were overwhelmed with joy and my kid showed his thumbs up, after finishing his plate. The first version made use of the Pesto but I wanted to make another version again which I wanted to simplify further, so that it would not depend on the Pesto and yet gave the same satisfaction and freshness.

I made use of the  home made ‘Garlic Oil’ for toasting the crostini, to give it a distinguished garlic flavour and then spread the toppings over it. So here are the two ways of using tomato-basil as toppings..

Ingredients For

Version I- Pesto-Tomato Bruschetta

Serves:2

Preparation Time:10Mins

Baking Time:6-7mins

1-2 small size tomatoes, deseeded & finely chopped

2tsp Home Made Basil Pesto

a pinch of freshly ground pepper

7-8 slices toasted baguette/French loaf

Home made garlic oil
More EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) if required

Method 1

Apply Home Made Garlic Oil lightly on the bread slices and bake on 180C for 6-7mins.

Wash and finely chop the tomatoes, mix the Home made Basil Pesto and pepper, to make the topping.

Spread the topping on the freshly baked bread and serve immediately.

Version II- Tomato-Basil Bruschetta
Serves:2
Preparation Time:5mins
Baking Time:6-7mins

7-8 baked French loaf/Baguette Slices
3small tomatoes finely chopped
1thick garlic clove chopped finely
2-3tsp freshly chopped Basil leaves
2tbsp EVOO
salt & pepper to taste
Home Made Garlic Oil


Method 2




Bake the bread slices as in Method 1.
Mix all ingredients other than bread and top it over bread slices.
Serve immediately.



I can promise that both these versions of crostini, make ideal starters and after school snack. Sending this to my event ‘Only’ Snacks & Starters, hosted by Raji.

Tip: The Crostini should be served immediately after putting the topping else it will turn soggy and chewy.

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