Baking ~ Multi Grain Bread Rolls Stuffed with Cottage Cheese and Herbs

I made these yummy bread rolls and used it in an article on healthy eating I did recently for a publication. Healthy bread ~ did you just do an eye roll? Well they’re made from the same multi grain atta (flour) that is used for regular rotis (Indian flat bread) and the stuffing was a mix of low fat cottage cheese, low fat cheddar and a lot of vegetables and herbs, it was a good specimen to showcase how bread need not be treated as the enemy. Every time I see a blanket accusation that carbs are bad, or bread is to be avoided, I have this urge to dropkick the person who preaches this like the gospel truth. Eating every food group is essential; just don’t overdo the sugars and the white stuff and the refined stuff. Shunning any food group for reasons other than medical and upon medical advice especially for fad diets is ridiculous. While I am not qualified to comment on nutrition, I do follow what my common sense tells me to do.

Onto the rolls now… I’d been seeing the sweet version of bread rolls in the form of cinnamon rolls or pumpkin rolls all over the blogosphere (still not sure if that is a word) around autumn / Halloween and was tempted to try them out. Around Christmas, my namesake sends me a package with some baking supplies as a present. It also had a few sachets of instant yeast. Anyone who is baking with yeast inIndiawill tell you how difficult it is to find good yeast. The boxed stuff we get here needs to be proven and prayed over for it to rise well. But this was great yeast and I had to use it immediately. I made two versions, sweet and savoury that I will hopefully post quickly (hopefully). The average time I take to post a recipe here from the time I make it is …. Well I’d be ashamed to post the number here. Let’s just say it takes between a few days to a few years… yes I have posted posts that have been in drafts for say a year or more too and a lot of stuff still sits there…

Here is the recipe for the rolls. I used a commercially available Multi-grain chapatti atta which is 75% whole wheat and 25% assorted grain flour. Feel free to use all whole wheat flour or replace half with white/refined flour or Maida.

Cottage Cheese and Herb Stuffed Multi-grain Bread Rolls (makes 10 rolls)

Multigrain flour (regular atta) – 2 1/2 cups

Dry active yeast – 1 teaspoon

Olive oil – 2 tablespoons

Warm milk – ½ cup

Salt – ½ teaspoon

Sugar – 1 teaspoon

Chilli Flakes – 1 teaspoon (optional)

For the filling

Shredded Cottage Cheese – 1 cup ( I used home made paneer, crumbled)

Grated low fat cheese – ¼ cup (optional)

Shredded vegetables of choice – 1 cup (I used a mix of colored peppers, grated carrot, onion and finely chopped mushrooms)

Fresh herbs like mint, coriander, celery leaves or basil – ½ cup chopped fine

Salt to taste

Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon

Mix all the ingredients together and set aside for use.

For the topping

Olive oil – 1 tablespoon

Garlic clove – 1 peeled and crushed

Sesame seeds – 2 tablespoons toasted

mix this together and set aside for use.

Method

In a bowl, mix the warm milk, sugar and yeast till the yeast is dissolved. Set aside for 20 minutes till it is frothy.

Mix the flour with salt and chilli flakes, add 1 tablespoon of the oil and the rest of the ingredients including the milk and mix well, adding water to make a soft almost sticky dough.

On a clean surface, dust some dry flour; knead the dough with your palms for about 5 minutes till it becomes elastic. Oil it with the remaining olive oil and put it in a bowl to rise for 1 hour, cover with a clean damp cloth/ cling wrap.

After an hour, take the puffed up dough, punch it down and knead again. Divide into two equal portions, on a floured surface with a rolling pin roll out into a ½ inch thick rectangle.

Mix all the ingredients for the filling together.

Spread half of the filling on the rolled out dough. Lift up two ends of the roll and roll it in gently to make a cylinder. Slice into 4-5 equal parts and place it in a greased baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling.

Cover the rolls and let them rise for 30 minutes. Brush with the olive oil glaze, sprinkle sesame seeds liberally on top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 220 degrees F for 30 minutes till the tops are golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Note: Oven temperatures and hence baking times may vary. Do a skewer test to check for doneness.

These rolls are best eaten fresh and warm from the oven. But they do keep well for a couple of days in the fridge. Just gently reheat before you serve them.

Clean up Act ~ Pizza Nights!

Thank you all for the response to my previous post on the rolls. Its been a long hiatus and this recipe has been in my drafts for almost a month. I am still going to be posting recipes that i have made using stuff long forgotten in the pantry or the fridge.  Since my last post, i turned a year older. Since i have been really busy with work, the celebrations were really small and low key, nothing compared to the last year….on the whole, older and hopefully wiser.

Onto the recipe for one of  my favourite comfort foods – Pizza. Making it from scratch is as enjoyable for me as sinking my teethe into a warm slice. And while I have been known to make  good pizza, it was not until a few weeks ago that K acknowledged it. What is it about getting the approval of a skeptic? I for one was determined to win him around. I ‘d made some extra yeast-ed dough with which i made the pesto rolls I’d posted previously. This dough was sitting in the fridge for about 10 days and i needed to finish it up quite literally. Thin crust does it for me and deep pan for K. So we always have our own separate versions with and without olives. Leftovers are always welcome to sit in the fridge for when snack pangs hit me. One of the many vices of working mostly from home!

It the simplest thing to do if you have pizza dough at hand. Even if you dont, it is very simple to make it in a snatch.

For the Pizza Base:

3 cups flour, you can use All Purpose, I used 2 cups Whole Wheat and 1 Cup APF

1 teaspoon dried yeast

1 cup water (warm)

1/2 cup milk (warm)

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the toppings:

1 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 cup halved yellow cherry tomatoes

1 medium sized regular tomato

1/2 cup of roasted and sliced red and yellow bell peppers

1 cup grated or thinly sliced mozarella cheese

For the base

Mix together the sugar, water and milk. Add the yeast, mix well and leave it on the counter top to bloom (about 15-30 mins). in a large bowl, add the flours, salt and mix. Add the milk- water mix and knead to a smooth dough. You can also do this in a food processor. Oil a bowl with the olive oil and place this dough in the bowl, turn to coat with the oil and cover and set aside till it doubles in size, about 1 hr.

Punch the dough down and knead it for 2-3 minutes till it is nice and elastic. divide into 4 equal tennis ball sized parts. This makes four 8 inch bases. I used just one and a half of the dough balls, and the rest were used to make pesto rolls.

For a deep pan pizza base, flatten one of the dough balls with your palm and fingers on a clean and floured surface till it is about 1/3 of an inch thick. Transfer this to an oiled baking sheet (i used a regular rectangular baking sheet). Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rest about 20 mins while you go around doing other stuff. In a preheated oven, Bake it at 375 F for 12 mins or till it is puffed up, almost cooked, but still not changed colour.

Spread with a few tablespoons of tomato sauce (recipe given below) top with vegetables of your choice. I used sliced onions, cherry tomatoes and roasted red and yellow bell peppers on the deep pan pizza. Bake at 375F for 12-14 minutes till the vegetables are cooked but not overcooked. Add the mozarella and bake another 4-5 minutes till it has just melted. Slice the pizza. Serve hot.

Easy Pizza Sauce

1 cup tomato puree (readymade, or homemade)

salt to taste

1 teaspoon sugar

1 pod of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon of italian seasoning or dried and crushed oregano and basil

1 tablespoon of olive oil

heat the olive oil in a deep pan, add the crushed garlic and wait 1/2 a minute till aromatic. add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes till it is thickening. cool and use. it can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week.

Thin Crust Pizza

pinch off half of the dough from one of the tennis ball sized portions of dough. Flatten to about 1/3 centimeter with your palm and fingers or roll out with a rolling pin, using very little dry flour to dust it. Transfer onto a baking sheet (i used a rectangular baking pan). spread this with 2 tablespoons of the pizza sauce and add toppings and mozarella cheese. I used sliced red onion,, cherry tomatoes, red and yellow roasted bell peppers and sliced black olives from a bottle. drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of Extra virgin olive oil onto the pizza. Pop it into a preheated at 375 F oven and bake in for 15 minutes till the sides of the base are browning. Cool slightly, slice and serve.

Moussaka – not quite!!

Two nights ago i was watching this travel cum cooking show on Travel and Living and saw this lovely lady making moussaka…. she had such a lilt in her voice and was so delighted to be showing how to make this famous greek / arab dish…. K and i looked at each other and he said to me…” I want to eat Moussaka” . This evening, when i was struck at 7 p.m with the question of “what to make for dinner?” i said to myself “Moussaka”. Well i threw in some elbow macaroni to make it a complete meal. So this is my version of vegetarian “Not Quite Moussaka”. This dish was cooked up with a minimum fuss. Its also the first time that i am cooking with fake mince otherwise called soya granules. I was very pleased with the result. This is the first time I’ve made something from a TV show…. try it, you will love it. The paneer in the bechemel sauce was lovely without being too heavy. Since i made many changes to the original recipe, i am not claiming any authenticity

I also fell all over myself and almost broke my camera trying to take pictures of the making of the moussaka so that i could post a step by step….. humour me… while i do this… cos it doenst look likely that i will go through all of this again! Oh and since making the bechemel sauce in itself is difficult to do with the whisking etc, i dont have a step by step of that…. kind of the wrong recipe to choose to do a step by step… but what the hell…. i cant waste all the pictures i took!!

I’ve been off the blogging world radar for way longer than i expected… was just mentioning to my namesake that i am not keeping track of any blog events or participating in them… this moussaka then, goes to JFI- Paneer, the event conceptualised by Indira, being hosted this month at The Spice Who loved me!!

peel and slice the potatoes. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet, if like K you cant stand too much olive oil, use any neutral vegetable oil. place the potato slices in a single layer and half cook them on both sides.

Drain out any liquid from the brinjal slices and repeat the half cooking process in the remainder of the oil.Transfer to a plate.

Cook pasta as per the instructions on the package. Plunge in cold water, drain and reserve.

soya granules, soaked in 2 cups of hot boiling water

add the olive oil, add the cinnamon stick, add the chopped onions and garlic and fry till transluscent. add the soya granules and fry for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree, grated fresh tomato, cumin, salt and pepper and red chilli powder and cook till its almost dry.

place a layer of potatoes at the bottom of a buttered baking dish.

at this point, i realised i HAD to clean the counter of the clutter…. with one hand…

Cover the potatoes with a layer of the fried brinjals.

Spread a layer of the cooked pasta. (i added this step to make this a full meal, omit if you are serving this with garlic bread on the side.)

cover this with a layer of the soya ragu.

evenly spread the bechemel sauce on top.

Bake for 30 minutes in the hot oven, or till the top is browning slightly. Leave to settle in the oven about 5-10 minutes after baking. Cut into squares and serve with a light salad on the side.

Here’s the full Recipe

(Serves 4-5 main courses)

8 slices of brinjal (1/4 inch slices of the large bharta variety)

10-12 slices peeled potato (1/4 inch thick)

1 cup of cooked pasta (i used elbow, rigatoni also would do)

Slice the brinjal into 1/4 inch thick pieces and sprinkle with a little salt, leave in a colander to drain about 30 minutes. peel and slice the potatoes. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet, if like K you cant stand too much olive oil, use any neutral vegeatble oil. place the potato slices in a single layer and half cook them on both sides. Transfer to a plate and reserve. Drain out any liquid from the brinjal slices and repeat the half cooking process in the remainder of the oil.Transfer to a plate.

Cook pasta as per the instructions on the package. Plunge in cold water, drain and reserve.

for the ragu:

1 cup red onion, chopped fine

10-12 pods of garlic, chopped finely

1/2 cup of soya granules, soaked in 2 cups of hot boiling water

1 cup of tomato puree

1 inch stick of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon red chilli powder/ cayenne

1 ripe red tomato, grated

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In the same skillet in which the potatoes and brinjal slices were fried, add the olive oil, add the cinnamon stick, add the chopped onions and garlic and fry till transluscent. add the soya granules and fry for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree, grated fresh tomato, cumin, salt and pepper and red chilli powder and cook till its almost dry.

for the bechemel sauce:

2 tablespoons all purpose flour ( i used whole wheat)

11/2 cup milk (i used low fat)

1 cup of ricotta cheese (i used homemade grated paneer)

1/2 cup cheddar/ parmesan cheese (i omitted this)

2-3 tablespoons of plain yogurt

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon butter

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt the butter and before it starts to brown, add the flour and saute till all the butter is absorbed. ensure neither the flour nor the butter gets burnt. this process needs your full attention. Add the milk, slowly using a whisk to ensure there are no lumps. add the salt and pepper to taste, while it is coming to a simmering point, add the cheese, grated paneer  and yogurt. Mix well. When the sauce has a custard like consistency (about 1-2 mins), turn off the heat. cool it a little before using for the layering.

To assemble the moussaka. butter a 8×8 inch baking dish. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. place a layer of potatoes at the bottom. over that, assemble a layer of the fried brinjals. cover this with a layer of the cooked pasta. i added this step to make this a full meal, omit if you are serving this with garlic bread on the side. cover this with a layer of the soya ragu. evenly spread the bechemel sauce on top. Bake for 30 minutes in the hot oven, or till the top is browning slightly. Leave to settle in the oven about 5-10 minutes after baking. Cut into squares and serve with a light salad on the side.

Daring Bakers strike again, this time its Strudel!

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

apple strudel

What’s life without some drama… infact the Daring Baker’s Challenges are becoming daring drama baker’s challenges for me…this time, I lost the pictures I had taken and it took a few days stress and driving K completely round the bend to find them again. They were hiding in some hidden folder of my laptop and though it drove me crazy, eternal optimist that I am, I believe it taught me a lot of lessons!

I am not very active on the forum for Daring Baker’s. I log in once in a while to check out the pictures that the DB’s have posted of their completed challenges (before posting date). Just looking at the pictures send thrills and chills down my spine. So many variations and so much catching up to do is all I think!

Strudel - Savoury

When I saw the completed challenges this time, I thought of several fillings for the savoury strudel. Having never ever eaten or made a strudel before, I wanted to stick to the classic apple strudel for the sweet version. When the time came to make it, I finally chickened out and made a typical indian filling with potatoes, peas and onion, laced with some chilly and coriander powder, courtesy K’s request.

Savoury Strudel

The challenge turned out to be outstanding. Despite my (compulsive) apprehensions and disaster visaulisations, this turned out to be simple to make and fabulous to eat. The flakes were so delicate and despite the use of very little butter / oil in comparison with most other pastry doughs, it was so buttery. The addition of the butter browned bread crumbs was fantastic and added such flavour to the strudel. I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, the savoury or the sweet version. It was love all! For the first time in many months, K was actually looking forward to my baking and paced up and down in front of the oven asking when it would be ready. We had the savoury version for dinner and the sweet one for dessert.

This is one challenge I will be repeating. It is simple to make and makes for a great addition to the buffet table.

Apple Strudel

I did not double the measures as suggested, as I was baking for just two. I divided the dough equally into two and had some of the apple strudel leftover.

Here is the recipe for the filling I used for the savoury version.

1 large onion chopped

3 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and roughly mashed

½ cup peas, frozen or fresh

2 slices low fat cheddar cheese / 4-5 tablespoon grated cheese

1 tablespoon oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon red chilly powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves

In a pan, heat the oil, add the chopped onion and sauté till translucent. Add the salt, pepper, chilly powder and coriander powder and sauté till the raw smell disappears. Add the potatoes and peas and sauté another 3-4 minutes till everything is incorporates. Garnish with the fresh coriander leaves and cool a bit.

To assemble the strudel:

Roll out the dough and stretch as much as you can on a table cloth. I had many gaping holes by this time, but I didn’t panic! I used a pastry brush to brush the dough with melted butter. Spread the bread crumbs all over. I heaped the potato filling on one side of the pastry, leaving a few inches clean to turn over. Dividing each cheese slice into two, I placed the cheese slices over the filling. After folding over the overhang, I used the tablecloth to roll the strudel over. Placed it on a baking pan and baked for 30 minutes. Once done, I brushed it over with some melted butter. It was very difficult to wait for 30 minutes till I cooled. I found slicing it, even with a serrated knife a little difficult as the layers of the pastry were so delicate and fragile. I didn’t want to crush them.

Thanks Linda and Courtney for a wonderful challenge. Do check out what the other Daring Baker’s have lined up for you!

Read on for the recipe …..

Daring Bakers Challenge – Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna

Yahoo!! Yippee!! I’d do cartwheels today if I could!! While its almost time for the April challenge to be posted, i wont be ashamed by the fact that i am posting this almost a month late. various things kept me out of action, but anything for Lasagne!!

I am finally posting the March Challenge of the Daring Bakers which was Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna.  The challenge was hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They chose Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.ge.

Check out what the other’s were upto in March here.

The Daring Bakers group isn’t for the faint hearted. It also isn’t for the lazy. It isn’t for those who sleep through the month and run around like headless chickens because posting day is less than 24 hrs away. Then what am I doing in the group? Don’t ask!

As the month went by, I realized I hadn’t even logged into the new Daring Baker’s site. I knew it was lasagna, but only having eaten it (and loved it) at restaurants, I was terrified of this challenge. I love pasta.  Pasta can be the only food that feeds me for as long as I live if there was no other food to be had. I store it by shape and colour and horde it quite a bit. However, lasagna was a different ballgame. One that I wasn’t sure I would be able to tackle. A chat with a fellow DBer and got some very good tips from her. For instance one of the things I decided to do was make the pasta eggless, after I talked to her . She also shared with me, that the sauces should be quite thin so the end result would not turn out like goop.

With one day to go before publishing date and oh yeah! Not to forget making the lasagna from scratch, I set about finally getting down to business.

What I finally did:

Pasta Sheets:

First the dough for the pasta. I made the eggless version. I pureed the spinach and added it to the dough which I made in my food processor. So the dough had a nice allover green colour and it got done super quickly. All I had to do was give it a final knead before resting it. If there’s one thing I hate about making chapattis, it is getting that icky dough under my nails, I wasn’t about to make an exception, even for handmade pasta! I halved the recipe given. Divided the dough into lemon sized balls and rolled them till i could see my hands when held up against a tubelight.I had enough lasagna for 5 main course servings, plus the scraps I cut up into tagliatelle.

Béchamel sauce:

I followed the recipe and made just half of the quantity. There’s nothing worse than having unused béchamel sauce at home that stares at you in the face, asking for its cheesy soul mate. Not good news for the mid riff. So I steered clear and made a small amount.

Ragu:

I sautéed brinjal and mushrooms in extra virgin olive oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper and added it to the pasta sauce that I usually make. The sauce can be made in larger quantities and frozen. i use it in gravies and as a dip even.

Pasta Sauce:

4 cups of chopped ripe tomatoes.

6-8 pods of garlic

1/2 c chopped red onion

1-2 tsp red chilly powder

2 tsp sugar

salt to taste

10-12 leaves fresh basil / 1 T dried basil

Whizz everything in the blender. heat 3 T olive oil and add the puree. simmer till cooked and thick. add 1/2 c tomato puree from a can / carton. mix well. bring to a simmer. store/ use as required. for the lasagne i made, i needed just about a quarter of this recipe.

Cheese:

I used grated mozzarella cheese and a little of cheddar.

Assembling the Lasagne:

i made the pasta sheets just before i used them. they were air dried for about 15-20 minutes. I cooked them in boiling water to which a little salt was added. Dabbed them dry on a kitchen towel and followed the layering instructions. I baked it covered  with aluminum foil for 30 minutes, and then uncovered for about 10. when the edges turned golden i took it out of the oven and let it sit about 20 mins before serving.

The whole dish was made at one go and took me about 21/2 hours overall. Considering it was made on a night when I was entertaining at home, and got done despite having house guests to attend to is testament to the fact that it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. Two parts that I felt nervous about was, rolling the pasta thin enough and getting the layers right. Rolling wasn’t tough, considering we make rotis almost every day here. I just had to make them much thinner than the rotis. For the layering, I went with Aparna’s advice and kept the sauces thin.

The verdict:

We loved the lasagna. Most of all me!! It served about 5 people comfortably as a main course. the texture and flavours were fabulous. I just couldn’t get enough of it and had it for the next two days for dinner, albeit smaller portions than I would have liked. We had the lasagna along with focaccia that I tried for the first time. Would I make this again? Definitely yes. I can’t think of eating store bought pasta again! Thanks for the fabulous challenge. For forcing me to stretch myself beyond what I thought I could do!

Baking Escapade # 19 – Whole Wheat Mushroom, Spinach and Caramelised Onion Muffins

 

The Cheese and Tomato Layer Muffins were a smash hit…needless to say, we were panting for more……I saw another simple recipe for muffins that said caramelized onions with Spinach, I had a few button mushrooms which I thought would taste great in the muffin. This time, I altered the recipe to incorporate whole wheat flour and halved the amount of spinach to accommodate the mushrooms. I also mixed most of the cheese into the batter, reserving very little for the topping.

This batter is rather dry, it looks like it could do with some more liquid. I also imagined it would turn out hard and dry…..i was so pleasantly surprised. The muffin has a nice grain (sorry I don’t have a cross section of the muffin, cos it just didn’t make it past the few pictures I took for the blog….we had to beat each other off for the muffins!!). I think because I used whole wheat flour, the edges turned a lovely brown and were crisp but not hard. The insides were lovely….moist and grainy and the flavours of the onion, mushroom and spinach just shining through. Again I can’t really say how these will be when they’re cold, cos we had them when still warm ………..

Baking Escapades # 18 – Cheese and Tomato Layer Muffins

i havent baked for about 3 months now…that’s a huge gap….for a while, i didnt feel like it, because K was refusing to eat anything that i baked (other than pizza…. oh!! and also the orange zest vanilla cupcakes…but i wont mention that) he says he is fed up of the house smelling like a bakery and sometimes feels he comes home to a bakery worker…. yeah i know….he’s weird…. most people i know, love the smells of freshly baked stuff ….they love it even better when their homes smell like that….they would be jumping up and down ecstatically and doing cartwheels to be married to someone who can make the house smell like a bakery….and / or make chocolate… but dont tell me i havent warned you already that K isnt your average joe….infact he isnt your average anything…so lets just say, with no ready consumers, and me closely watching the expanding waistline, I didn’t bake for a while….that just set a pattern. I would blog hop and salivate at all the wonderful baked stuff bloggers were turning out and rue my crappy state…of mind mostly!!

Then when I did decide to get off my behind and bake, my oven conked off……I wonder if anyone becomes like a bear with a sore head when an appliance conks off…. I had….the bear bit!! With countless calls made to the service centre, a couple of times when my oven was taken to be “repaired” and many days of whining….the oven was back…and just in time…. I was a (not so) Daring Baker and just had a few days to finish my first challenge….. that done…I was back in the baking groove…..amma’s still here…and it broke my heart to cut her a sliver of the wonderfully decadent Caramel Cake…she ofcourse, as all sweet denied people, loved it….i decided to put her out of her misery and make something savoury for a change…….

I had bought myself this Muffin Bible a few months ago……K was buying a tonne of books for himself and I wanted to buy something too…..i hadn’t turned its pages since I bought it…..its got a pretty exhaustive list of muffins, savoury and sweet……I had a small slab of cheddar cheese which I wanted to use, plus some of amma’s home made tomato sauce…so the minute I saw Cheese and tomato Layer Muffins, I knew I was making this……

What I loved about this recipe was it was so easy to put together. From start to finish (quite literally since we polished them off straight out of the oven) it took 25 minutes including baking time. This is an ideal muffin for breakfast, or tea……very flavourful with the cheese and tomato sauce coming together wonderfully….K was delighted with the savoury muffins… he said some very nice things to me which for bashfulness I shall not write here….

Try this one, even if you’ve never baked before….non vegetarians can add shopped sausages which am sure will go well with the flavours, or bits of ham….i am going to be making these again and again….the next time with some fresh basil thrown in!!

Baking Escapade # 14 – Going Savoury for a Change with Veggie Crescents

I was so inspired when I saw this post of sunita’s that I scampered off to the kitchen to try them out….on previous occasions, I have had the urge to eat something savoury…and stuffed with some surprises……. and I ended up with a hole in my mouth…read about it here……so all the while, telling myself to count to 500 before I pop anything into my mouth, I read and re-read the recipe….

What I loved about this recipe is that it is so versatile and can be adapted to whatever vegetables are available on hand…given my temperamental stocking of groceries and vegetables, that is a big plus!! Yeast is a beast that has me all knotted up….maybe because the little boxes of yeast that are available here are all dowdy and packed in a most depressing shade of brown, making you wonder if it was made in the prehistoric ages…..anyways, you should see me watch eagle eyed, almost willing the damn pellets to froth up and overflow already!! It’s tragic-comic at the least….anyways, this recipe of Sunitha’s called for yeast…so I braced myself…but then I am not someone who accepts defeat easily if at all…..

The stuffing was made out of whatever I had on hand….which was loads of little bits of veggies….and minimal cheese….we’re trying to keep it healthy here….i used cheddar, but I think mozzarella will be awesome too…..we had them for dinner one night, and promptly the next day, made smaller ones and sliced diagonally to serve as starters / short eats….