Copycat Recipe - California Pizza Kitchen's BBQ Chicken Pizza

Hello! Happy New Year! We are close to the end of January and here I am fresh off my resolutionary agenda, which included "I MUST BLOG MORE" in the list ;-)

I'm back this time with a super easy pizza recipe that you can whip up in no time if you have a craving for pizza.

Or BBQ.

Or something hot out of the oven. Preferably topped with a lot of gooey cheese.

Or ALL OF THE ABOVE.

California Pizza Kitchen is a chain restaurant known for their incredibly thin pizza crusts and varied toppings with a distinctive California flair. The BBQ chicken pizza claims top honors as one of their most popular items  ever since it was introduced in CPK's first restaurant in Beverly Hills in 1985. Here is a quick and easy way to create it at home.

The following cast of characters are what you will need on hand (adapted from "America's Most Wanted Recipes"):

- Pizza dough - either go the store-bought route or whip up a batch of your own. I will admit I was always wary of store bought pizza dough after one particularly crappy cardboard-like experience in the past, and so I always preferred to make my own pizza dough, but I was recently surprised at the quality of the store-bought dough on hand at groceries now. Go for the freezer dough rather than the dried out-on-the-shelf brands.

- 2 cups cooked and cubed chicken - Again, if you have cooked chicken on hand, grab that, or use deli chicken, rotisserie chicken leftovers - anything that vaguely resembles chicken will do or quickly saute 1 boneless chicken breast in a splash of oil till cooked through.

- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and a little extra for drizzling - whatever brand you have on hand. I got a bottle of free BBQ Memphis sauce on a recent grocery expedition, and this was my turn to try it out.

- 1 cup shredded mozarella cheese

- 2 Tbsp shredded Gouda cheese - I didn't have any, I substituted Monterrey Jack cheese

- 1/2 small red onion - sliced thin. I didn't have that either, I used regular yellow onions.

- 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro - chopped

1. Toss cooked chicken in half of the the BBQ sauce. Heat in a skillet over medium heat until the chicken is thoroughly coated and the sauce has reduced slightly and become thicker (about 3 minutes).

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. (If using store bought dough, use temperature on package).

3. Prepare pizza crust or follow directions to prepare store-bought pizza dough. Form the pizza dough into a circle and place on a baking sheet or pizza pan.

4. Spread remaining BBQ sauce over pizza crust. Top with chicken, cheese and onions.

5. Bake for 10 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden.

6. Sprinkle cilantro over pizza before serving. (Another option is to bake the cilantro with the pizza, but I personally found that it dried out the cilantro too much).

Copycat Recipe - Cinnamon Rolls

Hope all of you that celebrate Thanksgiving have recovered from this past weekend's food extravaganza, or better yet, have been revived out of turkey induced comas.

This year, I decided not to get crazy busy over the weekend by handing over Thanksgiving hosting duties to my sister-in-law in exchange for Christmas Dinner duty this year. Does anyone smell a whiff of procrastination again?

I even forced myself to sit tight and did not venture out into the maddening crowds for the annual Black Friday (start of the bumper Christmas season) Sales the day after Thanksgiving. And funnily enough, I had a great weekend, just spent sitting around with the family and relaxing.

One thing I did to was whip up a batch of cinnamon rolls/buns for Thanksgiving morning after seeing a imitation recipe in my subscription of Food Network Magazine. I am so thrilled with the results of this recipe, but sadly my photos do no justice to these sweet and pillowy buns.

Cinnabon is a popular pastry and baked goods take-out chain, most often seen in airports and malls and their fluffy cinnamon buns are to die for.

And I may be a little literal in the use of the word die - given they are an easy 880 calories per bun!

So even though we are using a recipe tested by Food Network Kitchen and not endorsed by Cinnabon (their recipe is top secret a la Coca-Cola and KFC), I still tried to do my part in reducing the amount of calories that went in. I've listed the original amounts of butter used (a whopping 12 Tbsp) and then my reduced amounts - yes, even I, of the I-think-pastries-should-be-its-own-Food-Group fame - thought that was just a tad bit too much fat.

The recipe is a cinch, however, it needs about 3 hours for dough rising time, so this isn't something you could just whip up when the neighbors pop over, unfortunately...for them! But trust me, everything else about the recipe is easy. It came together beautifully, even despite my meagre rations of fat and sugar. The buns tasted awesome!

Almost Famous Cinnamon Buns - adapted from Food Network Magazine November 2009.

Dough

1 cup milk (they used whole, I used 2%)

1 entire 1/4 oz packet active dry yeast

1/4 cup and 1/4 tsp granulated sugar, divided use

4 Tbsp melted butter and a little bit more to grease the bowl

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup AP flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Filling

AP flour for dusting

2-4 Tbsp softened butter (they used 12 Tbsp!!)

1/4 cup granulated sugar (they used 1/2 cup)

3 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Glaze (I used only half the quantities of the original recipe, original quantity listed below)

2 cups icing sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

4 Tbsp melted butter

1. Make the dough: Warm milk over low heat until it reaches about 100 degrees F. Remove from heat and sprinkle yeast and 1/4 tsp sugar. Do not stir, leave aside until foamy. Whisk in melted butter, egg yolk and vanilla.

2. Whisk the flour, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, salt and nutmeg in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add wet ingredients into dry, mix on low speed with a dough hook until thick, sticky and incorporated. Knead on medium speed for about 6 minutes till dough gathers around the hook. Sprinkle in additional flour if necessary up to a max of 2 Tbsp.

3. Remove the dough and shape into a ball. The dough will be very soft and sticky. Butter the mixer bowl, return the dough into it, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise until doubled, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

4. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle with longer side facing you.

5. Filling: Spread the softened butter over the dough. I found it easy to do with the back of a butter knife and patting on dabs of butter and smoothing it out gently. I barely used 3 Tbsp as opposed to the 12 Tbsp called for in the original recipe! Leave a 1/2 inch unbuttered alongside the farthest long edge.

6. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the butter.

7. Brush the unbuttered edge with a little bit of water, roll the dough away from you into a tight cylinder and press along the wet edge to seal (see pictorial above).

8. Cut the dough roll into equal sized portions, I got 11 rolls.

9.Spray a 9-by-13 inch baking pan with baking spray, place the buns cut side down in the pan and leave space in between. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise till doubled, about 40 minutes.

10. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

11. Bake the buns till golden brown, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let them cool in the pan.

12. Glaze: Mix the ingredients for the glaze and spoon over the rolls. This is where I probably could have used more glaze, I made only half of the original quantity and the rolls were still very warm, so the glaze got quickly absorbed and did not stay on top as the signature white layer you see on authentic Cinnabon buns.

Made no difference to me, they still tasted divine!

Sending these copycat cinnamon buns off to be Yeastspotted!

Spiced Cranberry Pecan Bread

'Tis the season...well almost, but Thanksgiving is just a week away in our neck of the woods, so it's a shame not to start using up the seasonal produce that starts lining up the grocery shelves this time of year. I randomly picked up a bag of juicy and tart cranberries and a bag of fresh pecans, and then set about wondering what to do with them.

While I was clearing out my unforgiving and ever-growing stash of cut-out magazine and newspaper recipes, I chanced upon a  recipe for cranberry walnut bread with a generous dose of spice, which I thought was uncommon for this combo.

Though I've baked with dried cranberries before, I was a little intimidated with using fresh berries, because they are, well, an acquired taste for sure. Their tartness is a little powerful, but more overpowering is the taste of the skin. However, my fears were allayed a little when I saw that Joy of Baking mentioned that something almost magical happens when fresh cranberries bake, they lose a little of their sourness and their skins almost become sweet.

So I baked.

And magic happened :-).

The result was a soft loaf with a pleasing crunchy exterior and buttery interior - even though you don't use that much butter in the recipe! It is almost cake like the day it is baked, over time, it takes on a hearty bread appeal. I love the crunch of the pecans and the just-right tartness of the cranberries. Looks like I have found a go-to recipe for those lazy afternoons post-Thanksgiving lunch when you wonder what to munch with afternoon tea!

Cranberry Pecan Bread
Before anyone screams plagiarism, this recipe was adapted from one printed in the Houston Chronicle, December 16, 2009 that I had once upon a time furtively cut out and filed away. There was no source cited, the recipe was part of an article about making edible gifts for the holidays. The original recipe used walnuts and had quantities doubled for 2 loaves.

Non-stick cooking spray
2 cups cranberries
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (juice from 1 large orange)
3/4 cups low fat buttermilk
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup AP flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 cup pecans (can subst. walnuts/almonds)

For topping:
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray a regular loaf baking tin with the non-stick spray.
3. Toast pecans or walnuts in a saucepan over medium heat, or in a pre-heated oven for about 5 minutes. Watch carefully - they burn quickly! Remove from heat and let cool. After cooling, roughly chop the nuts and reserve.
4. Coarsely chop the cranberries and reserve. I had frozen the cranberries right after I bought them from the store, so I found them easier to work with and chop.
5. Whisk together the orange juice, buttermilk and egg in a bowl. Add melted (not hot) butter and stir.
6.  Combine all the dry ingredients in another bowl - whole wheat flour, AP flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Mix together lightly.
7. Pour wet ingredients into dry, combine with a spatula until just mixed. Do not over-mix.
8. Add cranberries and pecans. Gently combine and pour into loaf pan.
9. Mix topping ingredients, sugar, cardamom and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the batter.

10. Bake until a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean ~ 50- 55 minutes.

11. Remove from oven and cool before transferring to a serving dish. Resist the urge to cut the loaf while it is hot, it will not slice well.

This entry goes off to this month's Monthly Mingle - Fruit In Baking, started by the uber-talented Meeta of Whats For Lunch, Honey? and hosted this month by the equally talented Deeba of Passionate About Baking. I love the work of both these phenomenal bloggers, as a fellow friend/blogger once said, you leave their blogs positively inspired!

Under The Tuscan Sun - Pizza with Onion Confit, Grilled Sausage and Peppers

The Book Choice for February at "This Book Makes Me Cook" club was Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes.


The highlight of the book to me is, of course, some of Mayes' recipes, written casually with little fuss and highlighting the strength of the local produce of Tuscany. I chose to make the Pizza with Onion Confit and Grilled Sausage from her Summer Kitchen Notes collection. I'm not sure if there is something in the water in Tuscany, but this recipe resulted in the largest pizza base I have ever made. It rose spectacularly and was soft and bread-like in the same vein. Like pizza toppings on a giant dough pillow.

You know, Book Clubs are really good things, because they force you to read books that you would not have glanced at if you were left to your own devices. Sure I had heard of this book before. Who hasn't, it was re-made (and possibly butchered) into a romantic chick-flick (of the kind I thoroughly detest) starring Diane Lane.

So I was a tad prejudiced when I picked up the book. And these negative feelings continued to multiply.

So who can plunk down and buy a magnificent Tuscan Villa that they happened to see when strolling through Cortona? (View from author's house "Bramasole" . Image courtesy cnn.com)
How many of us have lifestyles that allow us to spend part of the year feeding intellectual minds as a professor in the not-so-shoddy-itself Bay Area, and then pack up without a whim and spend the rest of the year plucking apricots and restoring a villa that had water features dating back to Etruscan times.
But the most jarring piece for me was - who was feeding her cat in San Francisco when the author kept moving back and forth between Italy and the US!

OK, I jest not.

Those feelings of animosity slipped away as I started getting more engrossed in the book. Frances Mayes does have a wonderful way with words. Her prose and ability to detail the tiniest patterns of life in this charmed area are mesmerising, and I did get quite absorbed in her vivid recollections of the painstaking home remodeling project that she took on.

Her description of the food and lifestyle of the Tuscan region is breathtaking, and she has pretty much convinced me that I need to pay a visit to this area at some point. And in case you think none of the book is true, I stumbled across this blogger who got to see the actual house.

I kind of lost her towards the end of the book, when she takes on what I felt was an unnecessary religious tone, complete with macabre ancient Christian and Roman practices, interspersed with jolting memories from her charmed, but rather strange Southern childhood and experiences.

In addition, the author quotes a statement from legendary French cookbook authoress Simone Beck whom she took a cooking class with (remember Simca from "Julie and Julia"?) that rang so true to the type of calculating, non-risk taking cook that I am...

no technique, there is just the way to do it. Now, are we going to measure or are we going to cook?"

One spring when I studied cooking with Simone Beck at her house in Provence, she said some things I never forgot. Another student, a caterer and cooking teacher, kept asking Simca for the technique for everything. She had a notebook and furiously wrote down every word Simca said....When she asked one time too many, Simca said crisply, "There is

If you are interested in joining "this Books Make Me Cook" club, drop Simran a line at Bombay Foodie.

Onion Confit is the result of "melting" or cooking onions softly in a little bit of olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar. The resulting mix is a sweet and tart confluence of caramelized onions. I love the confit! Prejudices re-emerge, as Mayes softly chastises us to use Balsamic Vinegar that has been aged a minimum of 12 years. My brand was probably aged 12 minutes at the local H-E-B grocery store, no dimpled Tuscan maidens churning out the olives in this joint. Sorry Frances Ma'am.

And in case you are wondering why you can't really see much of the Confit in the pizza I made, that is because I deceptively hid them under the grilled peppers (my own addition) to prevent the inevitable outburst from my esteemed dining clientele at the din-din table.

"M-O-M-MMMMM - are those BROWN WORMS?!!!"
Pizza with Onion Confit and Sausage and Grilled Peppers (adapted from "Under The Tuscan Sun" by Frances Mayes)

Confit
Thinly slice 1 large onion and "melt" in a frying pan on low heat with i Tbsp olive oil and 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar.
Onions should be caramel colored and limp. Season with marjoram, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper.
SausageI used 1 Polish kielbasa - grill or saute sausage and slice into thin rounds.
Bell peppers
Wash 1 red bell pepper. Lay on cook top (I have gas burners) and rotate on medium flame till the skin begins to char. Remove from heat, let cool, slice and deseed.

Pizza DoughDissolve 1 package of yeast (I used Fleischmanns rapid-rise) in 1/4 cup warm water for 10 minutes.
Mix the following: 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 3 Tbsp olive oil, 1 cup of cool water and pour into a mound of 1-1/4 cups of flour.
Knead on a flat surface till elastic and smooth or pulse in food processor until dough forms a ball, then remove and knead by hand.
Place dough in an oiled and floured bowl and let rest for 30 minutes.
Roll into 1 large or 2 smaller circles and brush with herbed or chilli oil.
Scatter sausage, onions and peppers over the surface. Sprinkle 1 cup grated Parmesan or mozzarella cheese and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
Makes 8 generous pieces.

Middle Eastern Saj Bread (Lebanese Markouk)

Yeast and I are not good friends. I'll put it right out there. No mollycoddling the issue. Or trying to hide it. We have a duel thing going. So far, yeast has won. By not working.

I own a lot of bread baking bibles. I try to bake bread. I fail.
I drool and cry over other peoples spectacular successes in the oven.
For me, I think my oven is in cohorts with the yeast, and they are secretly planning a massive coup against me.
Speaking of which, my washing machine has been acting up too.

But I may have thwarted my kitchen extremists rise with this simple, homely bread. Saj is a leavened bread that is made throughout the Middle East (Lebanon's version is called Markouk). It is a simple mix of white flour and yeast, and after rising, it is rolled out paper thin and is cooked on a special heated domed surface, called....*you got it* ...a "saj".

It seems to be Pita Bread's thinner and more modest cousin, the one who decided to stay home and help with the farm work and do all the chores, whilst Pita, with her thicker frame and come-hither pouches, crossed paths with that good-for-nothing ruffian Mayonnaise and started living it up and partying like a rock star in Europe and the USA.
Stop me people! Before this becomes the Mills & Boons of Breads.

This bread is simple to put together, give or take the 60-75 minute rise time. It reminded me of a lot of Indian flat breads, but the yeast and the "doughiness" does stand out as different from what I am used to. I love the pillowy softness of the bread, and it is great for sopping up a saucy curry or used as a wrap.

Saj Bread (Completely and unabashedly sourced from mimicooks.com)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Oil for coating the dough

1. Put yeast in 1/4 cup of the water; add sugar and let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Sift 2 1/2 cups of flour and the salt into a warm bowl. Form a well in the center; pour in yeast mixture and remaining warm water.
3. Begin to mix with hand, wooden spoon, or dough hook, adding remaining flour or more warm water as needed. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and no longer sticky.
4. Oil a large bowl; place dough in bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place free of drafts for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Dough should be doubled.
5. Knead for a few minutes then divide into balls about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.
6. Roll balls into circles on a lightly floured surface with floured rolling pin, or flatten into circles with hand.
7. Cook the flattened dough on a hot surface (I used a flat non-stick griddle pan). Cook for less than a minute on one side and then flip to cook the other side.
8. Pile the bread sheets as they are made and cover to keep soft and warm or serve immediately.

Saj Bread and Curry - Middle East meets Further East

I am sending this in to Joanne who Eats Well With Others' Regional Recipes Event - Middle Eastern Food and to Yeastspotting as well!

ICC - Khachori - Fried Bread Stuffed with Onion

Real World : Cannot miss deadlines.
Blogging World: Can miss deadlines. Sometimes might get thrown out of group, but bloggers are known to be generally benevolent. I have yet to meet a Genghis Khan blogger in disguise.

Real World: Face threats, impact job security, reputation at stake if deadlines are not met.
Blogging World: You get to eat your deadline.

And so along I come with a painfully overdue challenge - from Indian Cooking Challenge - the monthly event hosted by Srivalli where she challenges bloggers to try out authentic Indian treats. This month's challenge was Khasta Khachori - a fried bread or dunpling which is traditionally stuffed with curried moong dal, peas or onions.

Big reveal - I've never had a khachori, so I didn't quite know what to expect when making them. OK, I take that back, I once visited an Indian snack stall during an event years ago, and bought a box of "katori" - they were round balls of fried dough with a pungent green interior. I recall they tasted pretty bad, and I never attempted to have them again.

The problem was that person who made those "katoris" that day did not have Srivalli or Medhaa to guide them. These kachoris are pretty delightful, they are golden, crisp and filled with a heady aromatic blend of spices wrapped around some golden onions. I didn't get to try the peas and moong dal fillings, but I hope to at some later stage. The only reservation was the fact that these snacks are DEEP FRIED, painfully DEEP FRIED, as in 6-7 long minutes to get them to cook.

Thanks Srivalli and Medhaa! And check out Srivalli's step-by-step tutorial on how to make these beauties!


Kachori - adapted from Medhaa and Tarla Dalal

Resting Time for the Dough is app 1/2 hr - 1 hr
Frying time for the Kachoris - 20 mins for each batch.
Soaking Time for the Filling is app. 1 hr
Cooking Time for the Filling is app 15 mins
Yields - 12

For the DoughAll purpose flour - 2 cups
Oil/ Ghee - 1/4 cup ,
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Chilled water for kneading

1.Mix the flour and salt, Add the oil/ghee and mix till you get a bread crumbs texture.
2.Slowly add water and make a soft dough.
3.Knead well for about 8 minutes. Cover and keep aside to rest for at least half hour.

Special Tips / Notes for the dough:
Keep the dough covered at all times, if not it will dry up and not puff up when frying.

Fillings (3 options)
1. Khasta Kachori - Moong Dal Kachori

Split Moong Dal (yellow) - 1/2 cup
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Hing / Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry Leaves - 2 tsp chopped fine (opt)
Green Chilli - Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Sauf / Fennel seeds powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Mango powder / Amchur - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

1. Wash and Soak dal in water for at least 1 hour. You can go upto 4 hours not more.
2. Drain the water well.
3. Grind the dal coarsely.
4. Heat oil in a pan.
5. Add the hing and cumin seeds.
6. Once the seeds splutter add the curry leaves.
7. Add the dal.
8. Lower the heat and keep stirring for 5 minutes till the dal stops sticking to the pan.
9. Cook for another 10 minutes on low till the dal turns slightly brown.
10. Add all the masalas.
11. Cook for few minutes till the aroma of the spices hit you.
12. Add Salt.
13. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool.

Special Tips / Notes for the filling:
The fillings have to be really dry if not when rolling they will ooze out when rolling.

2. Muttar Ki Kachori - for the Peas filling (from Tarla Dalal):
2 cups green peas
1 teaspoon green chillies, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
2 teaspoons fennel seeds (saunf)
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
4 tablespoons chopped coriander
2 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste

1. Coarsely grind the green peas,green chillies and ginger in a blender without using any water. Keep aside.
2. Heat the oil in a pan,add the nigella seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaves and ground green pea mixture and saute over a very slow flame for 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Add the chilli powder, garam masala, coriander and salt and saute for 2 more minutes.
4. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Divide into 12 equal portions.

3. Pyaz Ki Kachori - for the Onion filling
2 cups onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
2 teaspoons fennel seeds (saunf)
2 bay leaves
1½ teaspoons green chillies, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Bengal gram flour (besan)
2 teaspoons coriander (dhania) powder
2 teaspoons chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
3 tablespoons chopped coriander
2 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste

1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the nigella seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaves, green chillies and onions and sauté till the onions turn light brown in colour.
3. Add the gram flour, coriander powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add the chopped coriander and mix well.
5. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Allow the mixture to cool completely.
6. Divide into 12 equal portions and keep aside.

To Make Kachori's
1. Make a small ball from the dough.
2. Roll out into a 2 inch diameter circle. Or flatten the ball using your fingers having the center thick and sides little thin.
3. Place about 1.5 tsp of the filling in the center of the rolled dough.
4. Cover the filling with the dough by slowly stretching it over the filling.
5. Seal the ends and remove excess dough.
6. Repeat with all the balls and keep aside for 5 -7 mins.
7. Then using your palm, flatten the balls by lightly pressing it.
8. Keep aside covered. Repeat with the remaining dough.
9. Meanwhile heat some oil for deep frying. The oil should not become smoking hot. Test to see if the temperature is right by dropping a tiny ball of dough and see if it is rising slowly to the top.
10. Drop the kachoris in batches of 3-4 gently into the oil.
It should rise up slowly. If you don't want to use lot of oil, use just enough for two or three at a time and fry them.
11. After it rises up (about 2 minutes), turn it over.
12. Cook for about 6 to 10 minutes till the side down gets a golden brown color.
13. Turn and cook the other side for another 6 minutes or till its golden brown in color.
14. Remove when done, cool and store in airtight container.

Pain de Campagne - French Country Bread

So, of course, I had to choose the old-school, 12 hour process for baking bread. But that is quintessential me, stubborn as an ox in my convictions. This was the bread I had to make if I was ever going to bake bread from scratch.

This was also my first attempt at a step-by-step picture guide...phew...

Pain de Campagne (French Country Bread) (from the novel Bread Alone with Recipes, by Judith Ryan)

All of poolish (starter/pre-ferment)
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp yeast
5 1/2 cups to 6 1/2 cups unbleached white bread flour (I used white wheat flour)
1 Tbsp kosher or sea salt

1. When poolish is ready, it will be bubbly and loose. Scrape it into a bowl and add water and yeast and stir till the poolish is broken up and mixture is frothy.

2. Add flour one cup at a time until dough becomes difficult to stir, then turn out onto a well-floured board.

3. Knead for 10-12 minutes, add flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Add salt and knead further for another 5-7 minutes. Whoever said kneading is therapeutic kneads to have their head checked....This was serious elbow grease people...

4. Dough will be quite sticky, but do not add more flour than absolutely necessary as this can dry out the bread. A moist dough yields a chewy interior.
5. When you press your finger into the dough and it springs back, then you can stop kneading. Hallelujah! You have no idea how many times I was trying that test. Clean out the bowl and oil it. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in the oiled bowl, turning it to coat the surface with oil. This prevents a dry crust from forming which can inhibit rising.

6. Cover the bowl with a damp bowl and let the dough rise till doubled in volume, about 2-3 hours. If you press your finger into the dough, and the indentation remains, it's risen enough.

7. Deflate the dough. Ka-POW!! Finally, some emotions come into play. Ermmm, the author said to deflate the dough GENTLY. Oops....

8. Uh oh, looks like Mr.Dough was upset at my Ninja moves.

9. Let the dough "rest" covered with a wet cloth for about 30 minutes.

10. Dust a baking sheet lightly with cornmeal.

11. Cut the dough into two pieces, shape into baguettes and place on the baking sheet floured with cornmeal. Place floured dish towels between and on the sides of the loaves for support. Dust tops with flour, cover with damp towels and proof (let them rise) for 1.5 - 2 hours or until they increase in size about 1 1/2 times. Are you starting to realise that this is the Artisan Bread in ONE Whole Day method?

12. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and boil water in a teakettle. When bread has risen, make diagonal slashes with a serrated knife. I left the shapes as baguettes, or you can shape the dough into circles, overlapping the ends and pinching them together to form a couronne.

13. Adjust oven rack so that it is in the center. Fill a heavy pan with the boiling water from the kettle and place it on the bottom shelf of the oven. *Sigh* I let you into the greasy innards of my oven...

14. Place the bread on the middle shelf and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lower the temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake another 25 to 30 minutes, or until bread sounds hollow when bottom crust is thumped.
15. Turn off oven, prop the door open slightly and let bread sit for 5 more minutes.
16. Remove bread and cool on racks. Resist the urge to cut or break off a chunk until the bread has cooled completely.

Houston...We HAVE HOMEMADE BREAD!!!!!!

One baguette for me and the other off to YeastSpotting!

Don't Be So Poolish

Don't Be So Foolish...would be the nagging mantra playing in my mind. The reason - the Fear of Baking Bread.

Breadaphobia. How could it be? I'm a breadaholic for crying out loud! Give me a slab of hot bread, some butter (marmalade would be nice too, thank you ma'am) and a cuppa tea and I'll be your friend for life. I can subsist on bread alone if given the chance. So why won't I buckle down and make one? No Knead Bread came and went in an Internet uproar. Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes was acquired, thumbed through and neatly stored away in my collection, yet I was scared to take the first step....

Well 2010 is here, and my new Years Resolution was to bake bread. By Jove!

When reading the novel Bread Alone, the December choice at This Book Makes Me Cook, I kept coming back to a recipe that the protagonist uses to bake a rustic French loaf as a peace offering for her friend. Talk about coming back. The book went into overdue status at the library and it was a mounting fine that whipped my sorry behind into embarking on this bread making exercise.

The recipe invoked the use of poolish which is a wet sponge starter for making rustic country breads e.g. Pain de Campagne.

But before we get to the nitty gritty...errrmmm....why is it called Poolish? Lore has it that this form of preferment or starter was brought to France, Austria and Beyond by Polish bakers. "Poolish" is an old English term used to refer to anything Polish..ta da. This same type of starter is also called biga by Italian bread makers.

Poolish for Pain De Campagne (from the novel Bread Alone with Recipes, by Judith Ryan)

1/2 tsp yeast

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup whole wheat flour.

1. Dissolve yeast in water, then stir in flour. Beat the batter for about a hundred srokes to develop the gluten.

2. Cover bowl with a damp cloth and let it sit for 2 - 8 hours at room temperature. The longer the better. Or let poolish develop refrigerated for up to 12 - 15 hours. Allow refrigerated poolish to come back to room temperature before baking bread.

Now go and check out the step-by-step tutorial for the Pain de Campagne that I made using this poolish.

And just between the two of us, how many times did you giggle when reading the word poolish...?

Counterfeit Appams

While reading Ladies Coupe for This Book Makes Me Cook this month, I was struck by the passage where the central character in the book picks up a white, fluffy appam (Coconut flavoured rice pancake - a specialty from Kerala, India) from the railway station food vendor.

Well, "struck" was as far as that went, because I have a history of making appams that are the polar opposite of the mouthwatering visual that author painted in the book. My appams have not risen, or have risen to sourdough extremes, or were hard as an actual coconut and never quite the ethereal white color that appams are famed for.

So as I sat desolately, my cousin G chanced upon me and I mournfully told her about my appam woes. "Have no fear!" G exclaimed. "Have you tried Sprite appams?"

Sprite appams? I asked incredulously... And therein, G reeled me in hook, line and sinker into the deceptive world of making "instant" appams, without the 12 hour fermentation time.

DISCLAIMER: These appams are counterfeit. They are nowhere close to the real-deal appams that are made with long grain rice and lovingly coaxed into little bubbles of heavenly clouds.

No - these are brash, in-your-face appams that are ready in a jiffy and will provide you with instant gratification or an appam-high, the heights of which will be escalated if you cunningly serve them with a gravy rich curry to mask their inadequacies . Appam purists and Gods of Kerala cuisine - prepare your fatwas against me, I stand surrendered. Oh wait, is that another batch of insta-appams waiting for me. Sorry, gotta run...

Ingredients
2 cups rice flour
1 tsp instant yeast
1/2 cup water
1 tsp sugar + 1 Tbsp sugar (divided use)
1 can Sprite
1/2 cup coconut milk or regular milk
2 tbsp rice flour + water to dissolve

1. Prepare thickening agent - dissolve 2 Tbsp rice flour in just enough water to make a thick paste and heat in a small pan to "cook" it. When warm and thickened, remove from heat.
2. Warm 1/2 cup water in microwave till lukewarm. Add yeast and 1 tsp sugar and let it froth or bubble up (about 10 minutes).
3. Mix 2 cups rice flour, thickening agent and yeast mixture in a bowl. Add Sprite as necessary to make a mixture of medium consistency.(Rice flour should be dissolved, but overall consistency should not be too thin). I used about 3/4 of a regular can of Sprite. Add 1 Tbsp of sugar into the mixture and stir in.
4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and turn the oven off. Place the bowl of rice mixture in the warm oven for about three hours or until mixture bubbles/ferments. I did not do the preheat step, I turned the pilot light in my oven on and placed the bowl near the light.
5. When the mixture has frothed up, add coconut milk or regular milk (2% or skim, whatever you have on hand) to thin out the batter (do not make the batter too thin) and add a teaspoon of salt right before you start cooking the appams.
6. Ladle enough mixture into a heated appam pan or non-stick frying pan and cover till cooked.
7. Serve with a gravy based curry like Potato "Ishtu" =)

Barefoot Bloggers - White Pizza with Arugula

My first taste of arugula was unforgettable. I pulled a sprig out of a bag and popped it in my mouth thinking it was baby spinach(s) (albeit expensive and high-end) cousin.

My nasal glands and throat never forgave me, it was like I set my mouth on fire, but in an odd wasabi-like way - I never knew how deceptively peppery and strong arugula was. And I never bothered with it again. EVER.
So when the August Barefoot Bloggers recipes were announced, and arugula showed up, I was strongly put off. I even went to the extent of preparing a second topping of braised spinach and caramelized onions using the chilli garlic oil called for in the recipe - get this - in ANTICIPATION of a let-down.

Well, never judge a book by its cover. The pizza crust in this recipe reminded me of one the best margherita pizzas I've had, hands down - in a tiny restaurant in Knightsbridge, London - run by two Spanish brothers.....LOL.They were playing Volare in the background and I almost danced on the table..

1. I now have a brand new to-die-for pizza crust recipe - Thank you INA! Chewy, soft, easy, quick.
2. INA is never wrong.
3. I discovered the Holy Grail of cheese pizzas - goat cheese, fontina and mozzarella. Mamma Mia!
4. INA is never wrong.
5. The lemon vinaigrette tamed ol' shrew Arugula, and it was pure magic - having a cool and crisp, green salad on your cheesy hot pizza.

Thank you Andrea of Nummy Kitchen for selecting this recipe. It is such a keeper.

The Barefoot Bloggers are an [extra]ordinary group of cookers and bakers with a love of all things Ina. We'll be testing (and retesting) Ina Garten's (The Barefoot Contessa) recipes as a group and blogging about them on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month.

Recipe - (Ina Garten - Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics)
Ingredients

For the dough:
1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110) water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
Good olive oil
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
Kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, sliced
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For the topping:
3 cups grated Italian fontina cheese (8 ounces)
1 1/2 cups grated fresh mozzarella cheese (7 ounces)
11 ounces creamy goat cheese, such as montrachet, crumbled

For the vinaigrette:
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces baby arugula
1 lemon, sliced

Directions
Mix the dough.
Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.
When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour, then 2 teaspoons salt, and mix on medium-low speed.
While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough.
Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.

Knead by hand.
When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times.
It should be smooth and elastic.

Let it rise.
Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil.
Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make garlic oil.
Place 1/2 cup of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat.
Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. (Be sure your oven is clean!)

Portion the dough.
Dump the dough onto a board and divide it into 6 equal pieces.
Place the doughs on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes.
Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Stretch the dough.
Press and stretch each ball into an 8-inch circle and place 2 circles on each sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
(If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.)

Top the dough.
Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle the pizzas evenly with fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese.
Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.

Make the vinaigrette.
Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Add the greens.

When the pizzas are done, place the arugula in a large bowl and toss with just enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten.
Place a large bunch of arugula on each pizza and a slice of lemon and serve immediately.

TIP Make sure the bowl is warm before you put the water and yeast in; the water must be warm for the yeast to develop.
TIP Salt inhibits the growth of yeast; add half the flour, then the salt, and then the rest of the flour.
TIP To make sure yeast is still "alive," or active, put it in water and allow it to sit for a few minutes. If it becomes creamy or foamy, it's active.

Grilled Aubergine, Green Pepper and Chicken Pizza

Life Lessons Learnt.
If Deb of Smitten Kitchen tells you that it is OK to use grilled aubergine (eggplant) on a pizza, then you do just that.
If Ria tells you she made a chilli chicken pizza, then you follow suit too.

A year ago, I would have shuddered and ran away in horror instead of trying such new toppings, but this whole pushing-the-envelope-when-it-comes-to-cooking for me (and the whole reason for this blog) has worked wonders with my past inhibitions.
OK, we still haven't overcome shellfish - thats for another day, or possibly lifetime.

So I decided to follow the aforementioned gals lead, and I took my pizza crust, slathered on my tomato sauce, and decided to layer it with grilled eggplant and bell peppers, some leftover chicken from the previous nights dinner, black olives and liberally threw in with mozzarella cheese.
Oh my.........
Someone, please snap me back from my glorious state of food-induced nirvana. Eggplants - Aubergines!!! Where have you been all these years? Why did I forsake you....

Recipe

1 thin crust pizza dough
1 qty pizza tomato sauce
1 medium size aubergine/eggplant - sliced
1 medium size green bell pepper - sliced
1 small tin sliced black olives
1 cup cooked chicken (leftover from previous night dinner, deboned and sliced into bite size pieces)
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 Tbsp olive oil for grilling eggplant

Method
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare pizza crust as directed. Roll out to fit on a lightly oiled pizza stone. Pinch the edges to form a rim.
2. Spread tomato sauce over pizza crust to form a layer.
3. Bake pizza crust in oven for 20 minutes.
4. In the meantime, sprinkle salt on the eggplant slices, leave in a colander to "sweat". After about 20 minutes,pat dry with paper towels. Grill both sides of the eggplant on a grill pan after sprinkling with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. When both sides of the eggplant slices are browned and cooked, remove from heat.
5. Grill the green pepper lightly in the same grill pan, this should not take too much time, as pepper grills quickly.
6. Assemble toppings on the pizza crust - grilled eggplant slices, grilled pepper slices, chicken, olives and top with mozzarella cheese.
7. Return to oven and bake till cheese melts and toppings are heated through.

Pizza Tomato Sauce

Informal poll:
Do you like your pizza with a base of deliciously tart Roma tomatoes with a hint of garlic and a touch of caramelized onions, cooked to a simmer with piquant herbs like oregano and basil....
OR
Do you smear your pizza crust with cheery red (labeled Food Coloring #X8755764RTG) glop from a tin.....

The choice is yours. =)

This recipe came hand-in-hand with the pizza dough recipe that I blogged about earlier. If you were going to do a homemade pizza crust, you must certainly have homemade tomato sauce to go with it, right? Could you really have Mork without Mindy? Or Starsky without Hutch? OK, you get the point.

Super simple, ridiculously good taste, and takes on an elegance if you give it a whiz with an immersion blender.

Pizza Tomato Sauce (again from years ago from my friend P and her super-talented mom's recipe trove)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, grated
3 large Roma tomatoes (chopped) - or 1 x 14 oz can tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp tomato paste
large pinch of dried herbs (I used a mix of oregano, basil, thyme and sage)
salt and freshly ground pepper - to taste

Optional - 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper or jalapeno for heat
1. Heat oil in saucepan, add garlic and onion and saute.
2. When onions have softened and are starting to turn golden, stir in remaining ingredients, add salt and pepper to taste,and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally till sauce is thick. Do not let the sauce dry out completely.
3. Adjust seasoning and use as required when preparing pizza.
4. Remove from heat. When cooled, slightly mash any tomato pieces in saucepan with immersion blender or hand held masher. Use as topping on pizza crusts.

Thin Crust Yeast Pizza Dough

Back in the day, my friend P introduced our gaggle of friends to the wonders of her mother's homemade pizza. The recipe was dutifully photocopied (Yes - I said it - PHOTOCOPIED), passed around, smeared with tomato sauce and became its own legend. It became a staple at all our get-togethers, study breaks, birthday parties and we started to get bold and brazen in our choice of toppings as well. Anchovies and pineapple, anyone, anyone?

Soon, the recipe was indirectly handed over to our moms, who then started making it at their card parties and get-togethers and so on.

But life happened, takeout was discovered, and the little Pizza-Recipe-That-Was gradually fell to the side. I dug out that old tattered photocopied recipe recently after reading several homemade pizza posts on the internet and was thrilled at how wholesome it was to once again bite into a freshly made, piping hot pizza straight out of the oven and chock full off toppings of my OWN choice.
Without having to deal with a 16 year old on the phone - "You said you wanted half cheese on that? Which side?"
Silence....


Cooks Note : This recipe renders enough dough for 1 medium thin crust pizza. In most cases, the pizza dough can be baked "blind" at 350 degrees F for approx 20 minutes. Then add toppings of choice and cheese and bake again till toppings are heated through and cheese melts.

Basic Yeast Pizza Dough - Thin Crust (Source - Years ago, source unknown - all due credit goes to my buddy P and her super-cook Mom)

2 cups All Purpose or wholewheat flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 package instant dry yeast
1/4 tsp sugar
2/3 cup lukewarm water
2 Tbsp softened butter or olive oil

1.Mix flour and salt in a bowl.
2.Dissolve sugar in the water, add yeast and leave in a warm place to become frothy (about 10 min)
3.Stir yeast liquid into flour and mix into a soft dough with butter or oil.
4.Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place for dough to rise (about 45 min).
5.Punch down the dough, then roll out to fit onto a pizza stone/circular pizza baking pan. The dough is quite elastic so I had to use a lot of pulling, patting, coaxing and stretching to get it to conform to a circle =). Hence the lumpy texture in the pic above....
Use as directed in any recipe requiring pizza dough.

Barefoot Bloggers - Croque Monsieur

Take a Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwich and hit it out the ballpark................................

Yes folks, thats what happens when the French take an American staple like good ol' grilled ham and cheese. They would use artisan bread (oui, oui), and high end ham (mon dieu), and then slather the sammies with a Gruyere white sauce (no less, mes amis), and if that didn't block your arteries, go ahead and sprinkle Parmesan all over and gently broil so that you have heaven melting in your mouth every time you take a bite.


Once a year, that is.


After counting all the calories in this, thats probably how many times I'll be making it, but oh boy - do I WANT to make it.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Lipitor! Crestor - thou art my new found friends.....


Thank you Kathy of All Food Considered for choosing this deliciously good sandwich for April's recipe for the Barefoot Bloggers. Yes, I am ridiculously late in posting this.....


Ingredients


2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed (I used a Vienna wheat loaf)
Dijon mustard
8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin (I used regular deli smoked ham)


Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes.
3. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened.
4. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.
5. To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.
6. Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere.
7. Top with another piece of toasted bread.
8. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes.
9. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned.
Serve hot.