Parmesan Crusted Tofu

I used these tofu pieces as an appetizer with the garlic aioli as well as superb sandwich, loaded with lots of stir fried veggies and a couple of slices the tofu. I forgot to take the pictures of that sandwich but I made a tomato and lettuce tofu sandwich later on. That was my take on BLT! my TLT! I don’t think I will be making this again in near future as my family and I are not big on tofu. So,here it is.

Parmesan Crusted Tofu

Ingredients

½ lb. tofu, sliced(about ¼” thick)

½ cup milk

½ cup AP flour

1 cup bread crumbs

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2-3 tbsp oil

How to:

Press the tofu inbetween 2 plates and drain well.

Slice the tofu.

Mix bread crumbs, salt, peppr, seasoning and grated cheese in a plate.

Dredge tofu in the flour.

Dip it in milk.

Now dredge in bread crumb mix.

Pat gently with hands so that the crumbs form nice coating on tofu slices.

Heat oil in a skillet on medium high.

Shallow fry tofu, pressing lightly with a spatula to crisp it up.

Serve with dip of your choice, use it in sandwich or top your salad with it.

Enjoy!

Bread Blossom

I still need to be careful to open it up carefully!

So many of you have emailed me with great comments on my ONION BLOSSOM. Thanks friends. This time I am here with another kind of blossom..a bread blossom. Nothing fancy. Just baked a bread with leftover bread dough and didn’t feel like using it for any kind of sandwiches. I made some penne with this yummy chunky sauce and instead of making garlic bread, made this blossom.


Just slice open the bread, be careful not to slice through. Heat up the oil with grated garlic, parsley and whatever herbs strike your fancy and brush liberally on top and cut slices of bread. Bake in 350° F hot oven till the bread is warm. You can add cheese to it as well. That’s it. The bread was very very very moist and fluffy. Almost cake-y texture. You can make this blossom with any of the leftover rolls that you have on your hand. Slice through and sprinkle with whatever you feel like it, bake and enjoy.

The recipe was surprisingly easy. All the basic ingredients for bread and mix them up, let it rise and done.

Bread Blossom
Ingredients

2 cups AP flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
½ cup warm water
2 tbsp oil

How to:

Mix water, sugar, yeast and let it proof.
In the mean time, mix flour with sugar and oil.
Mix everything together and knead till you get the smooth dough.
Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let it rise for about 2 hours.
Heat the oven to 425° F.
Punch the risen dough down and make a round shaped dough.
Place it in a baking tray and bake it for about 25 minutes or until the crust is golden.
Once the bread is cool enough to handle, with a sharp knife, slice the bread into flower shape.
Sprinkle freshly grated garlic or garlic powder, parmesan cheese/cheddar cheese, Italian seasonings or oregano and bake for further 10 minutes until the cheeses are melted.
Serve.

Garlic Knots

Since I’ve got my professional KitchenAid mixer for Christmas, I just can’t stop making doughs after doughs after doughs in it. Can’t believe how I lived without it. In the short time I’ve had this powerful machine to my disposal, I’ve found that really bad things have been happening to my cravings. Bad things like these fluffy, pillowy white, garlicky bread rolls. Crushed garlic flavored the inside of the rolls and hot oil brushed on top, with lots of garlic and parsley…yummy.

The dough again is simple, basic pizza dough. Just like this:

Basic Pizza Dough

1 pkg. dry yeast
3/4 c. warm water
1/4 tsp. salt
1 T. oil
1 tsp. sugar
3 c. flour

How to:
Mix ingredients together, adding flour last. Cover and let rise 1 hr.

Then, add some crushed garlic, I added so much of crushed garlic, the whole nation of vampires would run away from us. But that didn’t bother any of us. We are garlic lovers. Divide the dough into pieces and roll out into long ropes. Make knots out of ropes and arrange on a cookie sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and let the knots rise again to double the size.

In the mean time, heat up the oven to 400° F. heat up the oil, as much as you want, add more crushed garlic and chopped parsley in hot oil and remove from heat. Liberally spread rolls with it, bake till top is nice and golden, about 20 minutes.

Lemon Blueberry Loaf

Lemon loaf cake itself is very refreshing and good. Add a handful of fresh blueberries to it and it is robust with flavours and much better! I made this on hubby dear's birthday. Made it a couple of days ahead and then poured the freshly made tartalicious glaze on top. All that was leftover were the crumbs.


This is one of THE easiest recipe one could ever find. We all have these ingredients on hand. And the fruit is interchangeable. You don't have blueberries, throw in any berries or any fruit that can withstand the heat of the oven and you will have a fantastic cake to go with your tea, coffee or even better, brunch with friends and family.

Lemon Blueberry Loaf
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter
1-1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1/3 cup milk
1-1/2 cup fresh blueberries coated in about 1/4 cup flour

How to:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl.
Cream butter and sugar together with hand mixer.
Add eggs one by one and mix till thoroughly incorporated.
Now add milk, vanilla extract and mix well.
Lastly, add blueberries coated with flour, fold into the batter.
Pour in the loaf pan and bake for about 55 minutes or till the tooth pick comes out clean once inserted in cake.
Lemon glaze:
Ingredients
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

How to:
Disslove sugar in lemon juice.
Once the cake is cooled, pour glaze on top.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Margheria Pizza We Had at the Naples Restaurant

Everyone seems to have their own idea of the perfect pizza. It could be a thin-crust, a dangerously deep Chicago-style, or a hammy Hawaiian. Neapolitan pizza is pretty different from anything you might find elsewhere in Italy, or anything called "pizza" cooked up around the world these days. The dough for the genuine Neapolitan pizza has to use the right kind of durum wheat flour and be left to rise for at least six hours. The toppings should use only buffalo-milk mozzarella or fior di latte cheese and local sammarzano tomatoes. The Neapolitan pizza must be made in a traditional wood-burning oven, and so on. In Naples, perfecting pizza is a local passion. There are hundreds of restaurants in Naples that specialize in pizza. By the way, I got all these information from the waiter at the restaurant in Naples where we were waiting for our pizza. We made a point to have a real Margherita pizza in Naples. It was so simple and so fresh. A big nail in my plan to make my Margherita pizza was that I couldn't find San Marzano tomatoes anywhere here! I had gathered basil from my garden, fresh buffalo mozzarella with no tomatoes. So had to change the plans slightly. Instead of making Margherita pizza, I ended up making bbq chicken pizza! Far different than what I actually wanted to make. Still, everything worked out and the fresh, home made pizza was a delicious delight.

BBQ chicken pizza
Ingredients
For dough: there is a recipe somewhere on my blog for basic pizza dough!

2 small breasts of chicken, roast and cut into thin slices
2 cups marinara sauce
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
Shredded mozzarella as required

How to:
Simple. Pre heat the oven to 450° F. roll out the dough into thin disc.
Spread both sauces, cheese and chicken.
Bake in the hot oven till the crust is nice and golden brown.

Spinach & Feta Bread and Homemade Fig Jam

I am back! Had an amazing vacation in Barcelona and then Western Mediterranean cruise. Loved Rome. Definitely would love to go back there. Barcelona is also a fantastic city. Always bubbly. We saw so many things, visited so many places and had such great foods everywhere we went. I made sure to have Tapas in Barcelona, Pizza in Naples, Pasta(great home made lasagna!) in Rome, Cannoli in Sicily, Calissons in Marseilles. I wanted to try Paella as well but the serving was great big and I am the only sea food lover amongst the 3 of us! So unfortunately, I couldn't. May be next time when I visit Spain, I will do it.

Back to reality now! Still am jet lagged. I can't believe how 6 hours difference could have such an impact on anyone. I wanted to make something that reminds us all of Mediterranean. I saw fig trees full of ripe, purple figs, almond trees full of beautifully green raw almonds, olive trees looming with lovely green olives… So had to use some of my favourite Mediterranean ingredients and make something that would go nicely with my first post in almost 2 months!

And I came up with this… spinach and feta bread with almonds and fig jam! Doesn't it sound delicious? To me it sure does. It tasted sooooo good and it transported me back to the warm, sunny Mediterranean again. God, I wish I was there right now away from this chilly weather! It will happen when it has to happen but for now, I have to warm up my soul with this comfort food!

Spinach & Feta Bread
Ingredients
1 box frozen spinach, thawed, drained
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup almonds, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups AP flour
1/4 cup yogurt
1 egg
1/4 cup olive oil

How to:
Preheat oven to 425° F.
Mix all the ingredients and pour on a square baking pan(fit for brownies). You could use the loaf pan also.
Bake for about 40 minutes or till the top is nice golden brown and the tooth pick comes out clear if inserted.
Serve warm bread with this easy home made fig jam.

Fig Jam

Ingredients
10-12 figs, chopped roughly, soaked in about 1/2 cup warm water for 1 hour
Water as required

How to:
Cook the figs in water till you get the nice thick jam consistency. Takes about 20 minutes.

Bread Sticks

We really miss Olive Garden here! They shut down their restaurants here about 12 or so years ago. We used to go there all the time we craved Italian food. And I was absolutely in love with their salad and bread sticks. I used to doggy bag the entrée and fill up myself on salad and bread only! Even now, whenever we are in the USA, we make sure to visit Olive Garden. Although it's not the same anymore. Their portions have become smaller and prices have gone higher. Still I am in love with their pastas and soups and salad and bread stick. This was my attempt to make the similar bread sticks at home and I guessed I aced it. I've made it now for so many times, I can do it without even looking at the recipe. Before I kept on trying with various portions of the basic bread stick ingredients and then I found the exact measurements and the temperature of the oven to make the bread sticks. Every time I make it, I can't believe how easy this is to prepare. And the joy to share it on the dinner table is out of this world. We have it with salad, soup and saucy pasta. They just come in handy to wipe all the goodness off from the bottom of the plate!

Here's how I make them.

Bread Sticks

Ingredients
4 cups all purpose flour
1-1/3 cup warm water
1 tbsp yeast
2 tsp salt or as needed
1/4 cup olive oil
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning-both as required
Melted butter to brush the sticks

How to:

Place all the ingredients up to olive oil in the food processor. Make the smooth dough by kneading it for about 5 minutes. Let your food processor do the work.

Make about 24 balls and roll them on the counter to make sticks. Place them on the baking tray, covered with the plastic wrap until they rise, almost double in size.

Preheat the oven to 425° F. place a container of boiling water in the oven so that the bread sticks will stay soft. Brush the sticks with melted butter and bake for 5 minutes. Take them out, brush again with melted butter, sprinkle garlic powder and seasoning and bake for another 5-7 minutes. They are done to serve.

Just brush them again with the melted butter and enjoy piping hot bread sticks with soup, salad, pasta or just dip them in the hot Marinara sauce!

Brioche

I've been baking breads almost every other week since beginning of this year. As I mentioned in my earlier post, bread to me is the ultimate food! I can literally live on bread and water. I don't like regular white or whole wheat bread. That's not bread to me! I like the crusty rolls, sweet buns and French baguette. Even though these breads are sold so cheap at the stores, nothing can beat the happiness and joy that comes with the aroma of freshly baked bread in the kitchen. And that bread tastes simply best. Fresh out of the oven bread is heavenly! Slather some butter on the top, see it melting away and then enjoy that buttery goodness!


I've made French rolls, baguette, walnut banana bread, olive and rosemary focaccia and bread sticks. But this is close to my heart. Brioche. This is such a wonderful bread, loaded with butter, eggs and for me, sugar! I can have 3 meals out of brioche, no problem. Eat with butter, jam, fresh fruit or just like that, paired with a cup of hot n steamy coffee, and you are floating in the heaven!

French Rolls

I had the first taste of brioche in Paris during our Europe trip 8 years ago. Since then, I've been searching for good brioche here. I would love to have a BRIOCHE DAY every week! Never to run out of it! It was on my mind to make this bread at least once. Since we were having it with coffee, I put a tad more sugar in it. I don't happen to have fancy brioche moulds so I used my trusty old muffin pan and 4 little tart moulds that I found! Fancy moulds or not, the end result was so amazing and satisfactory, I believe I will make this over and over and over again. I am so happy I did this that I am going to mark this day on my calendar!

Focaccia

Making Brioche is time consuming. Still there is so much pleasure associated to a homemade brioche. I felt the happiness flowing through my veins when I saw the dough rising, the balls puffing up, the aroma of brioche being baked filling the kitchen, finally, the bite into that puffy cloud of sweet, airy bread which was so inviting, I couldn't help popping those bites into my mouth! I hope that you enjoy a piece of the simplest pleasure with the simplest brioche.

Baguette

Brioche
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 packages (1/4 oz each) active dry yeast
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
5 eggs

How to:
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, lemon peel and salt. in a saucepan, heat butter and milk to 120-130 F. add to dry ingredients and beat until moistened.

Add four eggs and beat, add one cup flour and beat until smooth. stir in the remaining flour but do not knead. spoon dough into a greased bowl and cover and let rise in a warm place for about an hour.

Punch dough down, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Punch dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into 14 equally sized balls and place 12 of them into greased muffin cups. Make 12 smaller balls from 2 remaining balls, make an indentation in each larger dough ball and place a small ball into the indentation. cover and let rise in a warm place for about an hour.

Beat the last egg and brush over rolls. bake at 375 F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Luck O' the Irish!

Wednesday, March 17th was St. Patrick's day. Perfect time to make the Shepherd's Pie and Irish Soda bread. Pure soul food!

Both dishes were very quick and simple and were put together in no time! I had the luck of the Irish on my side when I took a few short cuts and let my oven do the rest of the work for me!

Warmer temperatures, longer days, bright sunlight, no white stuff in sight and more green stuff springing out - shows the triumphant return of Spring! Why shouldn't one celebrate with comfort foods?!

Irish Soda Bread:

Whether or not you're Irish, this classic quick bread brings great aroma to your kitchen and equally great taste to your dining table! Have it with a good spread of light butter. It was similar to biscuits, with way too less fat!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons margarine(I used Becel), softened
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup raisins
3/4 cup or more buttermilk

How to:
Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease cookie sheet.
Cut margarine into flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl, using pastry blender( or crisscrossing 2 knives), until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in raisins and just enough buttermilk so dough leaves side of bowl.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth. Shape into round loaf, about 6 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on cookie sheet. Cut an X shape(Why the "X" shape? Legend is that this cross is meant to scare away evil spirits. Spooky!) about 1/2 inch deep through loaf with floured knife.
Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with margarine, softened.
Serve with blobs of butter on it!

Shepherd's Pie
An equally easy, one pot dish that can satisfy any palate.

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground meat
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 medium each red and green pepper, chopped
1 chopped Jalapeno pepper
1 Pack of instant mashed potatoes
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup milk
2 tbsp.butter
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

How to:
Cook ground meat and 1/4 cup of the onions in an oven proof sauce pot over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until meat is brown; drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce, 3/4 cup of the corn and the peppers. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low to keep warm.
Meanwhile, cook potatoes as directed on package for 4 servings, using 1 pouch Potatoes and Seasoning, hot water, milk and butter. Stir in remaining onions and corn; let stand 5 minutes.
Spoon potatoes onto center of meat mixture, leaving 2 1/2- to 3-inch rim around edge of skillet; sprinkle cheese over potatoes and meat mixture. Broil until a beautiful golden crust is formed.

Enjoy with the Soda bread!