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Showing posts with label Accompaniments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Accompaniments. Show all posts

French Almond Tuilles

12:49 AM | Labels: , , ,




        French Almond Tuiles (Almond tiles)


            I have a very dear friend of mine , who is French , and every time  we visit her, she makes these amazing french almond tuiles (called almond tiles in english) . These are wafer thin and are a must for 4 o'clock snack or early morning coffee. The moment I tasted these, I fell hook,line and sinker for it....nothing...I mean nothing beats the taste of these tiles when they are freshly baked.

I baked these for my office colleagues and they liked them so much that they have asked me to bake them on more time. So here you go my readers, this is for you all and I bet these won't last  long.
Credit goes to my friend Ms. Leroy!

Almond Tiles
Ingredients: (20 tiles)
-         2 egg whites
-         125 gr sugar
-         125 gr flour
-         125 gr butter (real butter, no margarine)
-         90 gr sliced almonds
Preparation :
1)    Preheat your oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit,
2)     In a salad bowl, mix the egg whites  with the sugar,
3)    Little by little, add the flour and keep mixing,
4)    Add the melted butter and the sliced almonds,
5)    Mix well (the batter is not very smooth ; it is a bit sticky and it is normal),
6)    On a baking sheet, drop small amounts of the batter with some distance apart.
(in the oven, the batter will spread),
         
7)    Bake for 10-15 minutes or till the almond tiles become slightly brown,
8)    As soon as you remove them from the oven, roll them around beer bottles or cans to give them the curved shape of a tile,
9)    With the remaining batter, redo steps 6-8. 

 Bon Appetit!



Note: For egg less version , use 1 teaspoon of baking soda mixed with 1 teaspoon of white vinegar for 1 egg. I made a batch of egg less tuiles and they turned out great as well. 

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Posted by Blooming Daisies
11:08 PM | Labels: , , , , , , ,




                               Minestrone Soup 



This is an all time favorite soup and it is so filling. When I had come to US of A, this was the only soup I use to love at Olive Garden and wondered if I could ever make it. Finally I succeeded in making this a few weeks back and hubby says " this is better and doubtlessly much fresher in taste than Olive Garden" . What else do I want to hear! The good part about this soup is that it is loaded with so many vegetables and pasta that your kids will love it too! We usually have this along with home-made garlic bread (Recipe I will be posting soon) or if we are in a mood to indulge ,we have it before raviolis or lasagna. But this is a very good meal by itself too. On a busy day, I love making this as it gets ready in barely 30 minutes.If you are looking for weight loss, having this soup will definitely help you in achieving your goal.

Ingredients

  • Vegetable broth : 5 cups,
  • White onion: 1 small,finely chopped,
  • Tomato: 1 medium,finely chopped ( I prefer sweet campari tomatoes or vine ripe tomatoes,but you can use any variety you like)
  • Red kidney beans : 1 cup,boiled and drained,
  • White beans: 1 cup, boiled and drained,
  • Baby Spinach: 2 cups,
  • Zuchhini : 1/2 cup,chopped,
  • Green Beans: 1/2 cup,chopped,
  • Carrots: julienned or shredded,
  • Pasta: Your choice,boiled and drained, I prefer the small shell and the bow-tie ones,because they are loved by all at home. :)
  • Celery: 1/2 cup minced,
  • Garlic: 2 Tsp,finely chopped,
  • Parsley: 1 Tbsp ( fresh),
  • Oregano: 1 1/2 Tsp,
  • Thyme: 1/2 Tsp,
  • Basil: 1/2 Tsp,
  • Olive Oil : 1 Tsp,
  • Water: 2 cups 

Method

  • Heat the olive oil in a stock pot and add onions and garlic till the onions become translucent.
  • Add the zucchini,celery and green beans and saute for 3-4 minutes.
  • Now add the vegetable broth, carrots,tomatoes,beans ( both) and spices along with water and let it boil for around 15 minutes.
  • Once the soup reaches a slightly thick consistency, add baby spinach and pasta and boil for 10 minutes more.
  • The soup is ready to be served. You can add some grated fresh mozzarella cheese as well!

Substitutes

Many of my friends complain that they do not have some ingredients and are worried if they can get the same taste with some other substitute ingredient. Following are the substitutes you can use:

Original                                     Substitute

Parsley                                       Cilantro (use in half proportion)
Basil                                           Tulsi (In India)
Thyme                                        Ajwain (carom seeds)
Oregano                                     Ajwain Leaves,Rosemary



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Posted by Blooming Daisies

Russian Braided Bread with Pesto Filling

10:48 PM | Labels: , , ,




   Russian Braided Bread with Pesto Filling

    Staying in the US for last five years, has made me realise the importance of homemade food. Not that, I didn't appreciate it earlier, but the food is so excessively processed here, that I started thinking that I should bake/cook food at home. My husband and my son (who's now 3 years old) gave me such great reviews when I baked my first bread that it encouraged me to bake more and add a lot of variety to the various breads I make.
      When we had been to  Europe, we had tasted this yummy bread along with a very delicious tomato soup. I still can't forget it's taste. I searched for the recipe quite a lot and finally came across this recipe by Ms. Barbara Shieving. Here is the link . I have made some changes in the original recipe and and the proportion has also been altered in my recipe.This recipe is bang on ten on ten and is a regular favorite of my family on Thursday Bakes.  Many of my friends suggested that there is ready made bread dough available in the market,but I prefer making my own dough from the scratch.  If you want to use the  ready made dough, you can go ahead and then add the pesto filling before baking it.

Ingredients:
  •  All purpose Flour : 3 cups,
  • Instant yeast:  2 teaspoons. I use Fleischmann's Instant Dry Yeast,
  • Sugar: 2 Teaspoons,
  • Salt : 1 Teaspoon,
  • Warm water: I big cup,
  • Oil : 1 Tbsp I have used Canola Oil,
  • Basil Pesto : 1/2 Cup ,Usually I make my own Basil Pesto but when I do not have it ready,I use Classico Basil Pesto.
Method
  • Take the warm water and  add the yeast,sugar and salt to it and keep it covered for 10 minutes until it gets frothy.
  • Now in a large mixing bowl, take the flour and once the yeast becomes frothy add it to the flour. 
  • Use a hand mixer on medium for 3 minutes to mix the flour with the yeast and once the dough starts getting sticky, you can remove the hand mixer and knead the dough with your hands.  If you have your stand mixer,put on the dough hook and mix for 5 minutes. I do not prefer the stand mixer and I like using my hands to knead the dough. But when kneading the dough by hands, take care not to over-knead. If you over knead after removing the hand mixer, the yeast will stop acting ,resulting in a very hard bread dough. 
  • Now cover this dough with a cling wrap and keep it in a warm place until it rises to double its size.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Take a 9 inch circular baking pan or if you have a spring foam pan,you can use that as well, and line it with parchment paper or wax paper. 
  • Now punch the risen bread dough until it deflates completely. Now place this dough on a floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll the dough in a very thin rectangle. The thinner the rectangle the more fine the braid of the bread will be.
  • Spread a thin layer of the pesto over this rectangle. Now starting from the longer edge, start rolling the dough to form a log.
  • I do not have the pictures of this process because I was more focused on getting it right,before my li'l ones wake up after their afternoon nap. But when I make this bread again,I will surely post the pictures. Cut the dough into half, lengthwise and place them in an X shape with the cut side facing up.
  • Start laying the two pieces of dough,placing the left side over right and do this till you reach the end of the pieces. Once you reach the end of the pieces, pinch the ends together.
  • Now very gently roll the braid in a spiral,inside the spring foam/baking pan. This is a very delicate bread.To get the braids well, place them facing upwards and pinch the end delicately.
  • Let it rise in a warm place till it doubles in size. 
  • Bake the risen bread in the oven at set temperature for 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature of the oven to 325 degrees F for 20-25 minutes more till the bread in nice golden brown in color and done from inside. Brush it with some butter and let it cool.
Enjoy this lovely Russian Bread with some nice soup!


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Posted by Blooming Daisies
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