Bread Upma

Dear foodies,

Weekday mornings are a rush to get out of the house with breakfast being a speed bump in the process. Weekends on the other hand are days when I relax and cook a leisurely breakfast which more often that not ends up being brunch if we are lucky or a very late lunch. The food typically served for breakfast/tiffin in India are some of  my all time favorite foods. Indians detest sweet things first thing in the morning have come up with a myriad choice of delectable savory foods to kick start the day. A variety of dosa's, idli, upma, puri and all the condiments that go with each one of them are fabulous examples of Indian home cooking. Tiffin is the colloquial name given to these meals - a light meal that could be perfect for breakfast or a mid-day snack. 

Upma, for those unfamiliar with the dish, is a savory porridge made from Semolina/Rava/Sooji. The word upma/uppindi (Tamil/Telugu) comes from: uppu -salt, maavu/pindi - flour, combining to mean seasoned flour. But don't be fooled by its humble name, made well it could be an explosion of flavors & textures. This is also the famed dish that got Floyd Cardoz his final win on Top Chef Masters! Upma is traditionally a breakfast item and has as many variations are there are cooks. It can be made rich & divine by cooking it with ghee and toasted cashews (jeedipappu upma) or made healthy & colorful with seasonal vegetables. Wrapped inside a pesarattu (green lentil dosa) it's bound to make you take long nap :)

Upma begins with the rava/semolina lightly toasted in a pan and reserved. Ghee/oil is then seasoned with mild spices, veggies of choice and water are added and the whole thing is brought to a rolling boil. Rava is then slowly streamed into the seasoned water and allowed to steam for a few minutes. Served with a tiny dollop of ghee this is divine! This basic recipe evolved and transformed into many delectable variations that use ground whole wheat (dalia), vermicelli, noodles, poha (flattenned rice), oats, tapioca pearls/sago, bread and even left over idli's. There might well be other variations that I'm not aware of.

At home, my mom is the go-to person for all things upma, well all things food! But bread upma, as far as I remember has been my Dad's domain (I know I'm going to hear about this). This is probably one of the few dishes I've seen him help out with consistently over the years. He came up with this neat technique to transform dry, stale bread into tender, flavorful chunks by sprinkling buttermilk over the bread cubes. It instantaneously gives it tang, very much like sourdough and makes the bread tender and moist again. And once you have buttermilk as the vehicle you can enhance the flavor with a dash of chilli powder, some turmeric for color, a few pinches of tandoori masala/garam masala or any other spice mix of choice. So if you have stale bread lying around this is the perfect way to use it up.

Bread Upma

Prep Time - 15mins
Cook time - 20mins

Servings - 3

• 10-12 slices - day old bread slices (any kind would work)
• 1/4 cup - Yogurt/Curd, homemade or store-bought 
• 1/2 cup - Water
• a pinch of Turmeric
• 1/4 tsp - Red Chilli powder (optional)
• 1/4 tsp - Garam Masala/Tandoori Masala/Sambar Powder/Coriander Powder (optional)
• Salt to taste

• 1" round of Ginger, thinly sliced or grated
• 1/2 cup - Onions, sliced
• 3/4 cup - Tomatoes, cubed
• 1-2 - Green chiles, slit or 1/2 tsp - Red chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp - Garam Masala/Tandoori Masala (optional)
• 1/8 tsp - Turmeric
• pinch of Asafoetida/Hing
• 1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp - Cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp - Urad/Channa dal
• 6-8 - Curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp - Oil

Method:

1. Prepare your vegetables first, have everything sliced and ready to go. In a bowl whisk together yogurt, water and seasonings. Spread bread cubes on a wide platter and sprinkle the seasoned buttermilk as evenly as possible over all them. You don't want them to be entirely soaked in buttermilk but just barely moist, so use as much or little as needed.
2. Heat oil in a wide, shallow pan and add mustard seeds, cumin and dals. Once the seeds begin to splutter, add turmeric powder, hing, onions, curry leaves, ginger and slit green chillies. Sprinkle some salt on the onions and cook until they are softened slightly.
3. Add cubed tomatoes and cook until they begin to fall apart and become mushy. Add the spice powders next, if using.
4. Carefully stir in bread cubes, coating them with the onion-tomato gravy without breaking them up. Increase heat to medium high and spread them out in a uniform layer so they can cook and char around the edges a bit. Cook undisturbed for 2-3 mins and then carefully stir so the other side chars as well. This is crucial step that adds needed texture to the otherwise mushy center of the bread cubes.
5. Finally garnish with cilantro and serve hot with some tomato ketchup & lime/lemon wedges on the side.

This is a quick, filling breakfast to make and that will leave you with more time devour weekend newspapers and channel surf. Its a great way to use up stale bread lying around on the kitchen counter as well so you can stock up again for the week ahead. Fresh green peas are in season now and they would be great in this upma, and so would grated carrots or roasted peanuts.

Citrus fruit & Berrries are back in season again!

On another note, my camera gave up on me last week! :( An Err99 message showed up and after much anguish we found out that the shutter needs to be replaced. I am planning to upgrade to another camera instead of investing more on the old one (Rebel XSi). I am leaning towards a Canon T3i/600D but haven't decided yet, any inputs/tips/advice ?

Breakfast time

Dear foodies,

Divya asked us all to show her what we have for breakfast. Breakfast is my undoing, I know I've said it before, but no matter how hard I try, things haven't changed. Weekdays I try to squeeze in a bowl of oatmeal or cereals or toasted bread with jam (which I eat in the car :D) From my trip to the farmers market last week, I got some freshly baked whole wheat bread, cucumbers, tomatoes and a lot of cilantro. I had the green chutney I made for the ragda patties

This is my dad's recipe, he uses the soft milk bread we get in India, but any soft bread will do. Slather each slice with softened butter, and then a layer of green chutney. Add slices of cucumber and juicy tomatoes on one and top with the other piece of bread. Thats it...thats all you need for the perfect breakfast ( or lunch or dinner :-P) For an Italian twist, skip the cucumber and top the tomatoes with fresh basil leaves instead.

This is the real deal, made by dad with mom's special pudina chutney.

Other breakfast options that I've cooked in the past are here. What are your quick weekday breakfast options ?

Rustic bread salad - Panzanella

Dear foodies,

I would call this a bhel puri made with bread instead, its that good. Now I love my bhel puri and would not give such a comment lightly :D Every time I make bread at home, the enthusiasm with which I consume it keeps decreasing with each vanishing slice, and the last few are the toughest. So I always have a problem using them up in ways other than a sandwich or toast. Sometimes I might make a upma or use the crumbs as a topping for another dish, but I'm stumped most times. I discovered that you can store bread in the refrigerator/freezer early last year, but even then its the same problem, just that it gets pushed by a few days (or weeks!). I watched a show on food network a few months back where, I don't remember who, was making a bread salad called Panzanella. Panzanella is a Tuscan dish whipped up by yet another enterprising cook, who like me might have had loads of
stale
day old bread lying around. (stale just doesn't sound appetizing)

Traditionally, Panzanella is a salad made with day old bread, juicy ripe tomatoes & generous amounts of basil - a classic Italian combination. But soon each cook added his/her own flair to it and so you will now find Panzanella having onions, capers, garlic, anchovy, olives, cucumber, colored bell peppers & cheese in addition to the basic ingredients. My additions were avocado, and some juicy oranges, it brightens up the flavors and is a treat to bite into. This salad either is a smart way to use up day old bread, or an even smarter trick to get fresh vegetables on the dinner table :) And its just as delicious as this hearty Tuscan bean soup, another innovative dish to use up day old bread.

Tuscan recipes are known for their simplicity and choice of flavorful, fresh ingredients. No matter which combination of vegetables you choose, use the freshest produce you can find, preferably in season, local and organic. The bread can be any Italian style bread, sour dough, rye/ whole wheat bread. I had a loaf of Bee & Jai's Sundried tomato & Peppercorn bread. It definitely is one of the most flavorful breads I've made to date, second would be the potato focaccia. I was wimp while adding pepper though and might bump up the quantity next time. And just as they said, it works really well in sandwiches but is great to simply snack on too. Thanks for the recipe guys.

Panzanella - Bread salad
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 2-3 thick slices of bread, cut into 1" cubes
I used JB's Sundried tomato & peppercorn bread
• 1/2 cup - Red onions, diced
• 3/4 cup - Cherry Tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup - Cucumber, diced
I used English cucumbers and retained their skin
• 1  - ripe Avocado, diced
• 1  - Jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)
  
• 1  - Orange
• 1/4 cup - Cilantro
• 2 tsp - Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  
• 2 tsp - Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method:

1. Set the oven on Broil (low). Toss the bread cubes on a baking sheet and season with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Broil for about 3-4 mins till they start browning and turn crunchy. Alternatively, you can toast them on a pan or use a toaster.
   
2. In a large bowl, toss the rest of the ingredients together, making sure to coat the avocado chunks with the lemon juice, so they don't discolor. Section an orange like shown here. The fiber will still have some pulp holding on to it, squeeze it between your hands to extract all the juice. Taste and adjust the salad for seasonings.
3. Toss the bread cubes with the salad just a few minutes before serving. If its allowed to sit for too long, the bread will soak up all the juices and turn soggy! You can store the salad separately in the fridge for a day in a covered bowl/plastic container.

I absolutely loved this salad and the bread had a major contribution in it, being slightly chewy & slightly crunchy. The stale bread can directly be used too but I love the crunch and enhanced flavor that broiling it with olive oil gives. The bread immediately soaks up the delicious juices from the vegetables but still retains a little crunch. I enjoyed eating it and picked a different assortment of veggies with each forkful...yummm.

The salad is great on its own too and you could easily add some puffed rice and turn it into the ever so popular bhel. Once you have this salad you will start storing fresh bread to use in it :) Coming to that, fresh bread can also be used in this recipe if that is all you have at home and can't wait to try it out :) Broiling dries it up (might take a little longer though) and so it is just as good at soaking up the flavors.

This salad is off to Vaishali's 'Its a Vegan World - Italian' event, visit her blog for more information about the event. You have until the end of this month to send her your vegan Italian creations.

How do you use up bread ? Any go-to sandwich fillers/combos and how do you pack it up for lunch ?

Beans & Greens - Ribollita

Dear foodies,

I've been whining about the weather here a little too much in the last two posts and I think I got heard :) Yesterday was beautiful! It wasn't exactly warm, but good enough for me to walk around with a light jacket. So armed with my camera I went around taking photos of the vibrant blue skies spotted by the fluffy clouds. Everything just seemed so much more beautiful and I bet ppl who saw me on the road thought I must be crazy trying to photograph fallen leaves and pine cones and playing hide n seek with a squirrel :))

This is when he saw me, and then he kept circling the tree a little faster than I could and when he had gotten me pretty confused as to where he was, he ran down to the foot of the tree, dug up a tiny hole, buried his nut a.k.a Ice Age., and scurried off into the parking lot behind :))

Onto the recipe, I was in the mood for having soup a few weeknights back and saw that I had a can of cannelleni beans and some arugula in the fridge to use up. Last year on one of my 'kill-time' visits to Tjmaxx I picked up two cookbooks dedicated to soups (it was winter :D), the photos were soo tempting that I could not resist them. So I picked up one of the them and started flipping through the pages until I found one using cannellini beans for which surprisingly, I had most of the ingredients, even the ciabatta bread! The soup is called Ribollita, and I learnt from a search of the name that, it comes from the Tuscan region of Italy. Its uses fresh vegetables and bread, country style cooking all the way. The word actually means 'reboiled' and is another perfect example of how cooks have always tried to use up leftovers. This soup actually starts off as a Minestrone, gets eaten with bread the next day and is then reboiled the third day to end up as Ribollita! Somebody totally miscalculated and made a whole lot more soup than they needed! hehe

Ingredients:

• 1 can - Cannellini beans
• 3 nos - medium sized ripe Tomatoes, diced
  
• 1/2 cup - carrots, diced
  
• 1/2 cup - Onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup - green peppers/capsicum, chopped
  
• 1 tsp - Garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp - Thyme leaves
  
• 2 tsp - Vegetable base + 2 1/2 cups water or veggie stock
  
• couple of handfuls of Greens - I used arugula.
  Recommended options: Tuscan kale or savoy cabbage, increase the cook time to 5 mins if using these
  
• 2-3 thick slices of day old Ciabatta bread, torn into smaller pieces
  
• salt and pepper to taste
• 11/2 Tbsp - Extra virgin olive oil + for serving
  

Method:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onions, green peppers and carrots for 5-6 mins stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, thyme, salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste and continue to cook for 3-5 more mins until the veggies caramelize lightly.
   
2. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 min so they soften. Now add the drained & washed cannellini beans, water, veggie base and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-12 more mins until the flavors come together.
   
3. A few minutes before turning off the heat, add the washed greens, cover and cook. I switched the heat off as soon as I added the arugula as they are tender enough to get cooked in the residual heat.
4. If serving immediately, stir in the bread pieces next and add more water if needed to have a thick consistency. Check for seasonings and serve with a drizzle of olive oil. Since I was having it for lunch the next day, I skipped the bread step to avoid a really thick soup.
   

Notes: The recipe starts off with the trinity - onion, carrots and celery. I did not have the last one and used a little chopped green peppers instead, I also skipped the garnish of parsley, not a huge fan of it.

The soup was really yummy, the thyme was the star. If you notice they aren't any extra spices used, the ingredients used shine through and give the soup all its flavor. I liked the arugula in this too, since I did not overcook them and also left them whole with no chopping, they had some texture left and remained a bright green. I had the soup with some toasted ciabatta bread with olive oil for lunch the next two days, aboslutely loved it! This is one hearty and satisfying soup, and its surely going to give me company many more times this winter.

Tried it, loved it!

Dear foodies,

I have made it soo many times to keep count anymore. Its a simple dish that never fails to satisfy you with its flavor. I am talking about Nupur's Pav bhaji recipe. And this line can be attached to most of the dishes on her blog. Its a treasure chest of wonderful recipes, whether its homestyle Marathi food that your are looking for or approachable world cuisine, her blog is a definite pit-stop. Its evident through her posts that a lot of thought is put into the decisions she takes regarding her food habits and lifestyle and these will inspire you to adopt the change.

Her writing style is truly enticing with every single post of hers making me want to recreate the dish for myself! It was through her blog that I brought home chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, quinoa, flax seeds, experimented with mediterranean cuisine, bought an appey pan and got inspired to do loads of experiments :) Thank you Nupur! Looking at your projects every week, knitting might soon get added to the list :) This post is off to Zlamushka who is hosting the 'Tried and Tasted' event that is featuring Nupur's blog, 'One hot stove' this month. Thank you Zlamushka!

I made the pav-bhaji for dinner last week and also tried my hand at making the pav's at home. I vaguely followed Jai & Bee's method.

I say vaguely because I lazily did bad math and put the dough together (and I can never follow a recipe!!). It proofed really well (me thinks, what say you?), and would have come out soft and fluffy had I timed it right. They should have been out of the oven a few minutes earlier since they toughened up a bit on the outside and looking back, maybe a little more moisture in the dough would have helped too. I used a muffin pan instead of a wide baking pan. Better luck next time :) But I made something else from their blog successfully the day before I made these (and the one that gave me confidence to try the pav), thats coming up soon.

Primo Veggie Burger

Dear foodies,

Finding a good veggie burger is soo tough, isn't it? Not many places even have them on their menu. During my Masters, I survived on the Wendy's veggie burger, which had a slice of cheese, onions, cucumber and couple of pickles inside a bun, for well more than three months. And it still remains a favorite because of lack of better options around. Except for Burger King I haven't seen a fast food place serve veggie burgers and well, and I haven't seen it at the restaurants I have been too either. The only way you can take a easy route to having a veggie burger is by grabbing a pack of frozen Boca burger patties or veggie patties at the grocery stores and making your own burger at home. I've made my own burger patties at home inspired by the masala burger patty from Trader Joe's and the delectable recipes from Bee & Jai, but I don't make and stock them that often.

So when I went to this local deli near my office and saw that they have a veggie burger with a spicy black bean patty I was shocked! Is that really on their menu?? I just had to try it and was hooked to it. Our team goes there for lunch may be once or twice a month and I have to have it every single time. Its loaded with crunchy grilled vegetables and the bread has the perfect texture. Now the lunches have stopped but my liking for the burger is far from over. A few weeks back my brother suggested I try the frozen black bean burger patties from the grocery store. I haven't liked any frozen patty until now and was skeptical about this one too, but I was wrong this time. Filled with all the fresh vegetables that spring has to over, this is a perfect way to enjoy them. I ate these burgers for breakfast, lunch and dinner a few weekends back :))

The main specialty of this deli is they make their own bread. Theres something purely magical about the aroma and flavor of freshly baked bread and these guys have mastered it. They use a hard kaiser roll for this burger and thats what I used. This is how I assemble the Primo burger, highly inspired by the burger served at the deli which goes by the same name. Their rolls are bigger and the burgers are filled with a lot more veggies.


Ingredients:

• Snow peas, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Bell peppers (any color), fresh Spinach/bok choy, Onions (optional), Cucumber - no quantities here, you can use as much as you want
• hard Kaiser rolls
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• Hummus, ketchup (optional)

Method:

1. Heat a grill pan or a cast iron pan on medium high heat. Spray some oil and line thin slices (0.5 cm) of zucchini and yellow squash. Cut the bell peppers into thick match sticks and slice the onions. Line them up as well if your pan can accommodate them. Once they brown on one side turn them over and brown the other side too. Cooking on low heat with soften them, which is not what we want here, the veggies need to retain their crunch.
2. Boil some water in another pan, salt it and add the snow peas. Blanch them for a minute until the green color brightens up and transfer them on to a plate to drain. Once the veggies are out of the pan/griddle toss the snow peas too and saute for a 1-2 minutes along with the greens.
3. Thaw the burger patty, I usually microwave it for a minute and then pat it with a paper towel to absorb the fat coming out of it. Place it on the pan to crisp the exterior. Cut the kaiser rolls in half and toast them on the pan too. I don't find the need to add any oil or butter for the rolls, the initial oil spray will suffice.
4. Layer a few slices of zucchini, yellow squash and the greens on the bottom half of the roll, next goes the burger patty a few more slices of zucchini and squash, snow peas and bell peppers. Season the veggie layers with some salt and pepper and top it with the other half of the roll.
   

There, you are all set to have a scrumptious veggie burger now. You will surely love this one! It has soo many veggies with none of the usual onion/lettuce/tomato combo. The kaiser rolls are sturdy enough to hold all of them, and the spiciness in the black bean burger is enough to balance the rest of the veggies. I was cooking with yellow squash for the first time and I really like it. It has a very different flavor from zucchini (well, I thought it was just a yellow colored zucchini until then!!) with a slight peppery or may be jalapeño'ish twist to it (!). The grilled veggies are extremely good for munching on their own too, so definitely make extras. They are surely my most favorite part of the burger!

This burger does not need any ketchup or hummus but you can surely spread a little of it for a change of taste, try it without them first though. I like the spicy black bean burger for this one since it closely resembles the deli burger, but you can surely try it with any burger patty. I had the burger with a few fresh strawberries and some orange juice for my weekend brunch. (Did you notice that the hungry photographer drank a lil of the juice even before the shoot was over ? :D) Oh, and the deli serves it with some melted provolone slices on top of the veggies, I skipped that part, but you can surely add a cheese of your liking.

Happy Wednesday!

Potato bread Conquered !

Dear Foodies,

Taste of glorious victory...

After my previous post on the Potato bread doing the rounds in the food blogs, thanks to the Daring Bakers. I got a lot of nudging from a couple of daring bakers themselves and from a few encouraging bloggers to try making it own my own Potato bread. Most of the baker's made a focaccia bread from the dough and it just looked so yummy. I just love focaccia and Bee's suggestion that the dough could be converted into a pizza dough pushed me into trying it ASAP. So here it is...the best bread that I have made and possibly the best that I have tasted tooo :)

I read a lot of the potato bread recipes last week and so had a rough idea of what the procedure was. I used Meeta's recipe as a base...I say that as I have never been able to follow a recipe to the T. I always read it thru and then go about doing my own thing. And in that aspect the potato bread is very very forgiving. I wanted to make the bread small enough for me to be able to finish it and so had to reduce her recipe. Now that would mean a few calculations were in the way, but the lazy me decided to go ahead with guess work.

I started out with 5 fingerling potatoes, a mix of white and purple ones. They were the only ones I had. I mashed them up with a potato masher and then added about 2 cups of the potato water. I used 1 1/2 cup of All purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour (chapati atta), 2 tsp of yeast and salt to taste. I also added crushed dried herbs: thyme, oregano and rosemary, to the flour and mixed it well. I added the luke warm potato mixture and then used about another 1 1/2 cup of flour while kneading the dough. It is a sticky dough !

To ensure that the dough got a chance to rise, I let it sit in the oven. I pre-heated the oven at 100F for a 2 minutes and turned it off. This barely warmed the air inside and by closing the oven I was able to trap it in too. The temp was just right I guess cos my dough nearly tripled in size in under 30 mins :)

For toppings I used sun dried tomatoes, roasted pimentos and some more rosemary. I brushed the bread with quite a bit of olive oil too. I absolutely LOVE rosemary. It is such a fragrant herb and pairs really really well with breads and is glorious with olive oil. I also grated some asiago cheese right after the bread came out of the oven.

The bread had the PERFECT texture. The dough nearly tripled in volume in just 30 mins and did the same after the toppings were added and that totally reflected in its texture. The rosemary was what did the magic for me. I am going to use it more often in my cooking. The aroma from the herbs and the freshly baking bread filled my apartment and was ultra comforting. I had 2 pieces of the bread, still a little warm, with some olive oil with salt & pepper. I must tell you it was faaaar better than the bread at any of the Italian restaurants I have been too.

A huge Thank you to the bloggers who encouraged me to try this bread. I Love you guys for it, this one is totally for you. I am surely going to make it often, infact I plan to bake one for my friends when I visit them next week. All of you who were tempted by photos of the potato bread, please go ahead and try it. You won't regret it !