Chili Cheese Cornbread

Can I repeat the same picture from last post to say how sorry I am? I don't think so. And sorry means that you won't repeat the mistake. I have been repeating the same mistake again and again. So until I fix it on my side, I wouldn't say anything. Hopefully, all of you are good and eating well.
I have been having a lot of fun and friends, work, people, relationship, and life in general have kept me busy.

Cooking is something which relaxes me every day. In my always moving life, cooking is something that stays on my side. I went to Kerala for my birthday. I went home for Diwali. I also visited Chennai very recently and friends have been visiting throughout. Food is always an integral part of all my trips. These days I have a good balance of outside food and home cooked food.

I am posting a chili cheese cornbread today. As you all know, breads are my favorite. Also, Jamie Oliver is my favorite. And this is one of his creation. I follow him on Instagram and I could not take this bread out of my mind, even when it was out of my sight. One amazing thing about this bread is that it is baked with baking powder and not yeast. So, there is no kneading effort required. There are no yeast nightmares. The combination of maize flour, caramelized onions, crunchy corn, chili, and cheese works amazingly well. The bread will be crunchy from outside and really spongy and soft from inside. Obviously, let's not talk about the aroma that fills the house when the bread is being baked. It is something that you need to experience on your own.

I had it with salad and oh my god!

Let me get started with the recipe. I have drooled enough.

Chili Cheese Cornbread
Adapted From:  Chili Cheese Cornbread

Ingredients:

1. 320 g Maize flour/cornmeal - Basically the granular yellow maize flour and not the white powdered corn flour
2. 250 ml full fat milk
3. 100 g grated mozzarella (original recipe calls for 140 g grated cheddar, mozzarella worked wonders)
4. 2 thinly sliced onions
5. 2 corn cob
6. 1 tsp baking powder
7. 6 tbsp flour
8. 3 green chilies - remove the seeds and fine chop
9. 4 large whole eggs, beaten ( I used 5, as the eggs were small)
10. freshly ground black pepper
11. freshly ground Italian seasoning - optional
12. some butter
13. salt to taste
14. olive oil, for greasing

Steps:

1. Heat a pan, add the onion to it and let them caramelize.
2. While the onion is caramelizing, take out the corn kernels from the cob. To do this, hold the corn upright down on the plate, and run a knife from top to bottom. When the onion is caramelized, add the corn kernels to the pan. Let them cook for five minutes. Take the pan off heat.
3. Preheat the oven at 200 degree Celsius.
4. Add the beaten eggs to a bowl. Add the maize flour, flour, salt, baking powder, a large portion of the cheese, cooled down onion & corn mixture, green chilies, and the milk to the eggs.
5. Mix the mixture properly and season with salt, black pepper and Italian seasoning.
6. Prepare a baking tin of size 22 cm or two smaller ones by greasing them with olive oil and covering them with parchment paper.
7. Pour the mixture into the baking tins, and bake for about 35 minutes.
8. After 25/30 minutes, take out the baking tins and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on the top.
9. Let the bread cool down for 15 minutes or so.
10. Serve hot with soup, salad or whatever you wish.

This bread was amazing. All the ingredients were like made for each other.It is one of the easiest breads to make.

Go ahead and bake :)

Focaccia Caprese

As I unwrap this amazing wonder from Laurel's kitchen, the aroma from yesterday's focaccia still hovers over my mind. The house was filled with the heavenly fragrance. Yeast was devouring its food and gluten was boasting its control. Read this article to find out how the aroma of fresh baked bread can make us kinder to strangers.

Bread means something more to me. As Vikrant parsai rightly said, "If you find bread and water in the desert, you are bound to find God somewhere too".  I can not agree more. 

And what a bread it was! So delicious, soft, flavorful and easy to make. I had it with tomato and spinach soup and it was a sumptuous meal. Then I had it again for breakfast today. I was very satisfied with the outcome of this bread. I have stumbled upon Focaccia Caprese quite a few times. Fellow bloggers post this bread often and I wanted to bake this bread for a long time now. If only, we would do what we wanted to do there and then. I know that day will come in my life. 

Focaccia is my favorite bread. I have posted different focaccias (Masala Focaccia, Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia) before and all were delicious. I have baked them over and over again and they have never disappointed me. 

I will soon start taking deeper dives into the bread book and will bring a lot more wonderful breads to you. Till then, have fun with this focaccia caprese and let me know if it amazed you the way it amazed me. 

Focaccia Caprese

Recipe Adapted from: Aparna

Makes 2 Focaccias

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1. 3 1/2 cup (450 g) bread flour (I used all purpose flour and it turned out just fine)

2. 2 tsp active dry yeast/instant yeast (you will have to proof the active dry yeast before mixing it)

3. 1 tsp salt

4. 1 1/2 tbsp sugar

5. 1/4 cup olive oil + some for greasing

6. 1 - 1 1/2 cup (240 - 360 ml ) warm water

For the topping:

1. 3 - 4 ripe large tomatoes - slice them

2. 15-16 pieces of fresh mozzarella (I didn't have mozzarella and used cottage cheese, worked well)

3. fresh basil leaves to sprinkle and garnish on top (I didn't have fresh basil so I increased the dry basil in the herb oil)

For the herb oil:

1. 1 tsp garlic paste

2. 1/4 cup olive oil

3. 1 tsp red chilly flakes

4. 1 tsp dry oregano

5. 1 1/2 tsp dry basil

6. salt to taste

Steps to prepare dough:

1. Proof the yeast first. Dissolve a pinch of sugar in 1/2 cup of lukewarm water. Now dissolve the yeast in it. Keep this mixture aside covered with a towel for 5-7 minutes.

2. Sieve the salt, sugar and flour together. Add olive oil and yeast to the flour. Now add water slowly and keep mixing the flour meanwhile. Amount of water you need will depend on the quality of flour, humidity etc.

Mix and knead the dough till the point it becomes soft, elastic and just short of being sticky. I needed about 1 1/4 cup of water.

3. Grease a bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it. Cover the bowl and let it proof for one hour.

Steps to prepare the herb oil:

1. Mix all the ingredients together and keep aside. 

Steps to make the bread:

1. Preheat the oven to 210 degree Celsius.

2. Take out the dough and divide in into two parts. Take a baking try and cover it foil. Grease the foil with olive oil. Now bring the dough pieces to rectangular shapes and to a thickness of about an inch. You can shape the dough with your hand to give the bread a rustic shape. Poke the dough with fingers on regular intervals to give it a classic dimpled effect. Let it rise for 20 minutes.

3. Brush the bread with herb oil. Bake it for about 15-20 minutes or till it turn golden brown.

4. Brush the bread with herb oil again. Place the cheese and tomatoes on the top. Drizzle the remaining herb oil on the top of the bread. Bake it again till the cheese starts melting or for about 5-7 minutes.

5. Serve hot.

  Have fun baking and eating :)

Submitted for YeastSpotting

Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia

Yes, I accept. I am on a bread expedition. No, I am not mad. :)

I have made Masala Focaccia and then The Perfect White Loaf. How can I not make another focaccia when the previous one turned out so well! Believe me its not just Mar*****a, bread baking also is addictive (all pun intended).

I always turn to Jamie Oliver if I have to find any full proof recipe. Oh, how much I love him! His food is wholesome, simple and gives warmth. He is trying to do a good deed. He wants people, specially young generation, to eat good and healthy food. He has taken up so many initiatives to achieve that. He has been to schools and colleges just to educate people that a school lunch could be a lot more healthy and nutritious. He has taught the people of UK to prepare their own meals (initiatives like 15 minute meals) and have taught them about healthy food. Another such initiative is a two level course designed specially for students to learn cooking and eat healthy. This recipe is from this course. I wish him good luck and hope he achieves what he is aiming. I share similar views. I feel that if we cook food at home more frequently, we will be having much more healthy meals. I want to encourage all my friends to start cooking at home and start eating a lot more healthy. Cooking and eating at home also brings families together.

Bread making process is a symphony for me. It is a therapeutic and a satisfying process such as writing and poetry. I am myself when I write. I am myself when I am making bread. It brings easiness and comfort to my life. Each creation is close to my heart. Okay, let me not get too poetic. I have another blog for poetry and writing so you guys are safe. :)

So tell me! What's better than fresh home made focaccia drizzled with olive oil? Don't think so much. Nothing. :)

Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia
Adapted from Jamie Oliver Course

Ingredients:
1. 500 g all purpose flour + extra for dusting
2. 312 ml water (water should neither be too hot nor cold, I warm up the water in microwave oven for about 25-30 seconds)
3. 3 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
4. 1 tbsp sugar
5. 1 tbsp salt + extra to sprinkle
6. 1/4 to 1/2 tsp black pepper (as per your taste)
7. 7-8 garlic cloves
8. 1 tsp dry rosemary
9. olive oil for greasing and drizzling

Proofing

As always start with proofing the yeast. Meanwhile you can measure out your ingredients. Proofing means activating the yeast so that it can eat upon carbohydrates and release carbon dioxide which will puff up your bread. To proof the yeast, mix the sugar in about 100 ml water. Sugar is the food for yeast. Now dissolve the yeast in the water by mixing it with a spoon. When it seems to have dissolved or have formed a semi solid paste, keep it aside for 5-10 minutes. If the top of the yeast has foam or bubbly layer, it has activated and is ready to use. If there are no bubbles, keep it for a few more minutes.

Mixing the Ingredients

Now sieve the flour and flour together. Make a well with the flour. Pour half of the water in the well. Now using a fork or your hands bring the flour from the walls of the well inside. It will start to form a spongy mixture. Now add the remaining half of the water in the well and mix well. The dough would have formed a sticky ball by now. You are ready to knead the dough.

Kneading

Flour the work surface and start kneading the dough. I have explained the importance and details of the kneading process in my previous post, The Perfect White Loaf. Kindly refer to that. I kneaded the dough for about 10 minutes and then took the window pane test. It was perfect.

The First Rise

Grease a bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it. Cover it with a damp tea towel and keep somewhere warm to rise. I kept it inside my oven. Let it rest for about an hour or till the dough gets double in size.

The Herb Seasoning

This step is basically preparing the garlic and rosemary that will go on top of your bread. Punch down the garlic cloves with the back of a knife or anything heavy. Now drizzle olive oil on the garlic and rosemary and sprinkle some salt and pepper to season them. Crush the garlic and rosemary together using your hand so that they blend into each others flavor.

Punching


Check if the dough has doubles in size. If yes, it is ready to be punched. Punching the dough will remove the big air holes and will give yeast fresh flour to feed upon. It will add to the texture and flavor of the bread. Punch the dough to push out the air. Knead the dough again for 3-4 minutes.

The Second Rise

Grease a 9x7 inch tin in which you plan to bake the bread. Place the dough in it and using your hands pull out the dough to cover the corners and sides of the pan. Spread the cloves and rosemary on the dough and push them in using your fingers. Poke the bread with your wet fingers to give the bread a simply authentic focaccia texture. Drizzle olive oil on the top of the bread. Remember that a good focaccia has a good amount of olive oil in it. Keep the dough covered with a damp tea towel again for its second rise. Let it rest for about an hour or till it doubles in size.

Baking

Preheat your oven to 220 degree Celsius. If you feel the bread has lost the dimply texture because of rising, poke it with wet fingers again. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the top of it.
Keep it inside the oven for 15-20 minutes or untill it gets a golden crunchy top. It took about 15 minutes for the bread to cook. To check if it is cooked you can also tap the bottom of the bread and see if it sounds hollow.

Cooling and Slicing

After taking the pan out of the oven, take the bread out of the pan immediately so that it does not get soggy. Place it on the steel grill that comes with the oven. If you keep the bottom on a plate or any other surface which does not let air pass through, it will get soggy. Cut the bread in any shape of your liking. I cut it in long slices and had it with olive oil.

The bread was soft and light on the inside and crunchy on the outside.  It had the smoky flavor of garlic and the rosemary was working well with it. This recipe is definitely a keeper. You can replace the garlic and rosemary with herbs of your choice. You can eat it with butter, mayonnaise or any cheese dip. I just love to have it simply with olive oil.

So enjoy baking the bread and then eating it. Hope to bring some more delicious recipes to you.

Submitted for YeastSpotting

The Perfect White Loaf

I have failed at some breads and have succeeded at some. My ciabattas have flattened out on me and my focaccias have made me proud. Now the breads come out well and none of the stages in bread making scares the bazinga out of me. I thought I will make the basic bread which we have been eating since our childhood. That basic bread is the white loaf. 

I have started baking breads very recently, say maybe a month or two. I keep reading about yeast, gluten, kneading, punching and all the components whose knowledge comes in handy while baking a bread. Still I feel there is so much more that I need to learn to perfection the art of making bread.
Yes it is an art to make bread. You start with heaps of white flour and the result is something so rich and full of textures.  The house becomes aromatic. The dough need tender care to take the best shape and texture. The whole bread making process will calm you down and the aromas would take you to another world. Baking bread is not difficult. It just needs certain things to be right without which it will not rise properly or there will be no proper gluten formation. Let me take you through the basic steps here so that you can easily bake your bread and hopefully bake it right. It is a simple recipe. Just follow the steps carefully and stick to the measurements. Enjoy the whole process. Watch the dough rising in the bowl, smell the fresh yeasty aroma and watch the bread baking in the oven which finally give the bread its shape and rise. At the end of this recipe you will have an absolutely beautiful puffed up bread with a fresh yeasty aroma.

The Perfect White Loaf
Recipe Source: Kitchen Kemistry

Ingredients:
1. 4 cups (440 g) + extra for dusting all purpose flour (depending on the humidity and temperature you may need lesser or more flour. I required about 20-30 grams more than what the original recipe mentioned. So I ended up using about 460 grams of flour including dusting)
2. 1 1/2 cup (360 ml) water (neither too hot nor cold, I kept the water in microwave for about 25-30 seconds)
3. 2 1/4 ts active dry yeast or 1 3/4 ts instant yeast
4. 1 1/2 tsp salt
5. pinch of sugar
6. Olive oil for greasing

Proofing

Start with proofing the yeast. If you are using instant yeast you need not do anything. But if you are using active dry yeast you have to proof the yeast. Proofing means activating the yeast so that it can eat upon carbohydrates and release carbon dioxide which will puff up your bread. To proof the yeast, mix a pinch of sugar in warm water. Sugar is the food for yeast. Now dissolve the yeast in the water by mixing it with a spoon. When it seems to have dissolved or have formed a semi solid paste, keep it aside for 5-10 minutes. If the top of the yeast has foam or bubbly layer, it has activated and is ready to use. If there are no bubbles, keep it for a few more minutes.

Mixing the Ingredients

Now sieve the flour and salt together. Take about half of the flour and start adding water to it a table spoon at a time. I mixed the flour using a wooden spatula as I don't have a stand mixer. If you have one, use it. It will ease the process of mixing the ingredients. Keep adding the water (about 1/4 cup at a time) and flour (about half a cup at a time) alternately. Use all the water and add flour as per the requirement. Add extra flour only if required. The dough will be sticky but you would be able to hold it together. Now dust a work surface with flour and transfer the dough to it.

Kneading

This is the time to start kneading. Kneading is a very important step. Kneading helps in the formation of gluten. Gluten is the protein which is formed when yeast and water are added to flour. When the yeast releases carbon dioxide, it gets trapped within the gluten structures. The smooth gluten strands and the air trapped within them give bread its spongy structure. If the dough is not kneaded properly or is over kneaded the bread will become heavy/dense or too dry. If you are kneading by hand you need not worry about the over kneading. But if you are kneading using a machine just make sure that you don't over knead it. Kneading involves turning, folding and pressing the dough.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. To test if the bread is kneaded sufficiently, take the window pane test. Take a part of the dough and stretch it out so that it becomes translucent. If the dough doesn't tear apart it is ready to be kept for rising. Else knead it for a few more minutes and test it again.

The First Rise

Grease a bowl with oil and place the dough in it. Cover the bowl with a lid which gives the dough enough space to rise. Keep the bowl in a warm place. I keep it inside my oven itself. Let the dough sit for 45 minutes or till its double in size. During this time, yeast will eat upon carbohydrates and release carbon di oxide which will get trapped within the strands of gluten. If yeast is not activated the dough won't rise.

To make sure the dough has risen enough, take the rise test. Push your fingers inside the dough upto the second knuckle and if they leave the imprints it is ready to be punched.

Punching

Punching the dough will remove the big air holes and will give yeast fresh flour to feed upon. It will add to the texture and flavor of the bread. Punch the dough to push out the air. Knead the dough again for 3-4 minutes.

Rolling and Shaping

Now roll it out. I rolled it out to a thickness of 1 inch.  You have to give a shape to the bread now. Start folding in the dough from one side. Keep rolling it over so that the dough starts taking a shape of a long cylinder. Now grease a 9x4 loaf pan. Fold the two ends of the dough so that it fits in the pan lengthwise. Keep the dough inside the pan with the seem facing down.

The Second Rise

Cover it with a plastic cling film and keep it for its second rise. This second rise will help in the formation of gluten and will give a better texture to the bread. Wait for another 25- 30 minutes or till it doubles in size. Do not let the bread spill out of the pan.

Baking

Meanwhile pre heat your oven at 190 degree celsius. Also keep a bowl of water inside the oven. As the water evaporates to form steam, the steam will keep the oven humid enough to slow down the process of cooking the top of the bread and will prevent the crust from hardening up while the bread is still cooking. Now place the loaf pan on the middle level of the oven. Set the timer for about 45 minutes.

Do make sure to check the bread in  between. Somehow in my oven the steam was not getting properly trapped so the top was cooking faster. Hence I covered the top with aluminium foil so that I can give it enough time to bake without getting the top burned. To check if the bread is cooked properly, tap the bottom of the bread. If it sounds hollow it is done. I took the bread out exactly after 45 minutes.

Cooling and Slicing

After taking the pan out take the bread out of the pan immediately so it does not get soggy. Place it on the steel grill that comes with the oven. If you keep the bottom on a plate or any other surface which does not let air pass through, it will get soggy. Let it cool down for about 30 minutes so that the hot air inside the bread settles down. Now cut with a serrated knife to get fine slices. (I am missing my serrated knife hence used the normal knife thus the not so beautifully shaped slices)

This is bread, you can serve it with whatever you feel like. The bread was soft from inside,  like really really soft. We had it with freshly made egg bhurji and it was a meal to remember.

So don't worry about the yeast, kneading or the gluten formation. Take care of the ingredient measurement, smaller details like window pane test, cooking at the right temperature and you would be good to go.

I am on a bread baking spurge. So wait for my next post which is all about Jamie Oliver's garlic and rosemary focaccia.

Have fun baking bread!

Submitted for Yeastspotting

Masala Focaccia

I love baking bread. There is no other reason for me to make this recipe apart from my ever increasing love for baking breads and then eating them. Finally I am able to overpower the yeast and it has started becoming a friend of mine. Whenever I see the glass of yeast with bubbles over the surface, I start smiling. Or whenever I see that the dough is rising as expected or the bread is rising in the oven or the bubbles in the dough as I roll it out, I am the most happy person on this planet.

Focaccia is one of my favorites. This is a classic focaccia recipe with a masala twist. A very light and delicious bread with a mesmerizing coriander flavor.  It tasted amazing and was over within an hour. I could just manage to take pictures of a small piece of the bread .

Let me take you through the recipe.  

Masala Focaccia
Serves: 4
Adapted from : Tadka Pasta

Ingredients:
1. 1 1/4 cup (140 g) all purpose flour
2. 1/2 cup (65 g) whole wheat flour
3. 3/4 cup (180 g) lukewarm water
4. 2 tsp yeast
5. 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
6. 3 tbsp olive oil + olive oil to drizzle
7. 3/4 tsp salt
8. 3 green chilly
9. 2 red onion
10. handful of chopped coriander

First step is proofing the yeast. Dissolve the sugar in the lukewarm water. Make sure that the water is lukewarm, it should neither be cold nor hot to touch. If the water is too cold, yeast won't activate and if the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast. Now dissolve the yeast in it. Keep this mixture aside covered with a towel for 5-7 minutes.

Meanwhile heat a table spoon of oil in a pan. Fry the finely chopped red onion, green chilly and coriander in the oil for a minute or so. Let it sit on the side to cool down.

If the yeast is active (it should have bubbles/foam on the top of it), it is ready to use. Else let it sit for some more time. Sift the flour and salt together. Now put in the sauteed onion and coriander into the flour. Add the yeast to the flour while constantly beating with a wooden spatula. Mix properly till all the ingredients seem to have well blended.

Take a 9x9 or 8x8 baking pan and line it with parchment paper. Now cover the inside of the parchment paper with 2 tablespoon of olive oil. Transfer the dough into the baking pan with the help of a spatula. Using the spatula or wet fingers, spread the dough evenly on the surface of the pan. You will have to spread it out to the edges. Now cover the pan with a towel and keep it in a warm place for an hour or so. Poke the surface of the dough with wet fingers for the classic focaccia and drizzle good amount of olive oil. I drizzled about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Preheat an oven to 180 degree Celsius and keep the baking pan inside the oven at the middle level.
Bake the bread for about 25 minutes or till it is golden brown.

Take the baking pan out and let the bread cool down for a few minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread to make sure it is not stuck to the pan. Take it out and remove the parchment paper. If you have used oil generously it would come out very clean.

Cut and serve hot along with mayonnaise or any cheesy dip.

It was a very light, flavorful, soft and an olivy focaccia. It is a recipe which I will make over and over again. Its a conquest for me in the world of breads and definitely spot on in terms of taste and flavors.