Bialys ( Chewy Rolls topped with caramelized Onions) - We Knead to Bake #5

Hi everybody, Having a wonderful sunlight weekend, days have become quite busy, from past 4 -5 days  we have been enjoying summer, of course except for the wind which I hate.  People become quite busy when they see the sun, Everybody wants to make use of the sunshine,  I am no different I have been very busy too.., I chopped down a 5 1/2 ft tree !, with the help of my neighbour, both of us together sawed the base after that, poor old Mr.B who is 80+ left me alone, as I kept nagging that he is too young to do that job :), God knows why the previous owner had that tree which had such long thorns and I had a big time, to completely cut it out and fill my bin, I had to borrow my neighbour's bin too, filled two green bins completely with that thorny tree, so one job done, only ended up with severe pain in my neck and shoulder still suffering :(. H was totally happy ( for one thing that he need not have to do that ) that I had done a great job.  Next week planning to pot my plants and some on the ground too (some perennials which don't die in winter and i don't have to keep growing new plants every year!!),  which are nourishing in my conservatory, actually I started writing this post telling how wonderful the weather was, but as I couldn't finish it yesterday, I started writing it today only to tell you weather has changed it has become quite cooler and is raining, I am kind of happy as I don't have to feed my plants with water!!.  Hope fully I will finish this today before the weather changes again :). But, I do love sun in the morning and rain in the night, serves my purposes you see !!.
Coming back to this post we are in the fifth month of ''We Knead to Bake'' started by Aparna,  I know I have missed the last three posts, which I will hopefully post by the end of this month, I have baked them but was unable to post by time,  my priorities keep changing but I don't want to discontinue, as I love baking breads.

When Aparna asked us to bake Bailys, and this was the first time I heard about this bread, The shape of the bread looked more like a Bagel but is totally different as Bagels are boiled before baking and have a hole in the middle, these are daughter's favourite, but Bailys have to be just baked and it has depression  in the middle with filling in it, I would have gone overboard with fillings only this time I stuck to the recipe, you can feel free to choose any toppings you would love to enjoy with it may be I might try new toppings next time.

This is what Aparna wrote to us about Bailys and I would like to share it in her own words..
The name Bialy comes from Bialystocker Kuchen which translates as ''bread from Bialystok'' which is in Poland.  Apparently, Bialys are rarely seen or made in Bialysotck these days ( I wouldn't know if this was a fact and I'm going by hearsay).  In the days when there used to be Bialys in Bialystock, it seems the rich Jews ate Bialys with their meals, while the Bialys were the whole meal for the poorer Jews.
In the early 1900's, many Eastern Europeans, including the Polish, immigrated to the US and settled down in New York.  Naturally, they also brought their Bialy making skills with them and that is how the New York Bialy became famous.  What lends Bialys are their chewiness is because of the flour that is high in gluten.  Hence using a bread flour if available would be perfect, You can also make these with all purpose flour, but the resulting Bialys may not be that chewy. Alternatively you can add wheat gluten for 3 cups of flour. So, it is not shiny on the outside with largish puffy bubbles on the inside.  A good Bialy should have springy soft crumb and a chewy and floury crust. Bialys are best when eaten within 5 to 6 hours of making them.

BIALYS
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

INGREDIENTS:
350 grms Flour ( 175 grms Bread flour + 175 grms whole meal plain flour) or (3cups All purpose flour  + 1 tbsp vital wheat Gluten )
1 tsp Active Dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 and 1/4 cup warm water*yeast

FOR THE FILLING:
2 Large onions ( or 3 medium sized onions)
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Garam masala powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
3 to 4 tbsp of fresh coriander leaves
1/2 tsp salt

METHOD:
In a large bowl take yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup of warm water mix well and leave it for 5 minutes when they start bubbling add salt and flour, then start adding water until the flour comes together to form a dough, knead for a few minutes to form into a dough, leave it for 10 minutes then start kneading the dough for at least 10 minutes, into a smooth elastic dough but not sticky.
Shape it into a ball oil the dough and leave it in a large bowl covered with a cling film in a warm place until it is double in size**
At this point if you are not going to bake immediately you can refrigerate the dough and the day you are going to bake bring it out to room temperature and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Meanwhile make the filling, chop onions, In a pan heat oil add tsp of cumin seeds when they start spluttering add chopped onions and saute add a tsp of salt, which makes the onions soft quickly, switch off the stove to this I added fresh coriander leaves and mixed well, keep aside until it  is needed and cools down.
Once the dough is double in size, sprinkle your work surface with flour and place the dough on it divide into 8 equal parts and shape each one into a smooth ball by pulling all the ends together on one side and form a smooth ball.
Place the rolls on a lightly floured baking sheet and cover them with a towel, let them rise for about one hour,
take one ball at a time and using your fingers form a depression in the middle.  Hold the roll with the help of your back of your palm keep pressing making a dent in the middle, turning it around, using the other palm as a shield so it stays round.
Check out this video on how to make, shape and bake Bialys.
Make the depression wider without making a hole but make it quite thinner, prick the center of the dough so that they don't rise fill this dent with caramelized onion filling, let the dough be puffy around the edge don't flatten it out, Brush the outer circle or the puffy dough with milk, As said earlier you can choose any toppings, I have used caramalized onions but no cheese or paneer.
Bake it for 15 minutes in a preheated oven 450 degree F / 230 C / Gas mark 8*** until golden brown in colour. Cool on a wire rack, serve it warm or if stored it in an airtight container, when serving it warm it slightly and serve

VARIATIONS ON FILLING
you can top it with caramalized Onions with Cheese or paneer ( Aparna suggests that add Paneer just 5 minutes before the end of your baking otherwise it will get burnt )
You can omit the masala spices but add sugar and have a sweetened caramalized onion instead
Chop tomatoes with finely chopped green chillies and coriander leaves just like a Tomato salsa and add it in the filling it might be bit soggy because of juice in the tomato if you don't like that way you can saute the tomatoes dry it out and continue with the filling.
You can even try it out chocolate or some fruit and sugar filling.

NOTES:
* Do not add water as stated once you take the flour start adding water little by little until the flour reaches the dough consistency, which should not be too hard, but soft and can form a elastic slightly sticky dough. Once when kneaded will form a very soft smooth dough. I just added the water and it became too much and I had to add more dough. as different flours have different textures.
** I kneaded the dough and placed it in a oiled bowl and left it in the fridge overnight, so it raised slowly in the fridge, I took it out of the fridge and left it around 45 minutes for it to come back to room temperature and proceeded with the recipe.
*** I baked my Bialys at Gas Mark 7 as my oven gets heated up too much and I usually bake everything at a bit low in temperature indicated by the recipe otherwise I end up with a burnt top !!. I would say know your oven and bake.

Bialys were really delicious, children enjoyed it .., thanks for the lovely recipe...Aparna.

This Bread is also Yeast Spotted

Thin Crust Best New York Style Pizza with Veg and Best Pizza Sauce

Hi everybody, It's been a long time I came here, I would really like to thank all my readers who have been in constant touch with my blog even though I haven't been able to update for such a long time.  To start with,  I was not blogging for a reason,  I am in the process of changing my blog hopefully I will be able to do it by next month.  I would also like to thank few of my blogger friends whom I have been associated with in some events which I love so much,  have patiently been waiting for me to post my recipes.  Once such event is Baking partners by Swathi of Zesty south Indian Kitchen.

Who doesn't like Pizza, I think that's everybody's favourite, especially kids, I don't eat cheese for 40+ reasons, I mean as I am 40+ and... I have reasons!! , but I love cheese in my pizza, I am no way better than a kid when it comes to pizza I just love it with the gooey cheese on it Just love it..., I have tried and still trying  different kind of pizza dough to get the perfection, one more which I have to still try is the OO' grade flour to make pizza and see the difference.
Coming back from my disastrous holiday which was only for 2 weeks which later part of the 2 week  got ended up with one week of food poisoning, ended up with a migraine. That was when I remembered I had to do the Baking Partner Challenge and decided to make the dough and thought will make it the next day when I come back from work, funnily..,  God knows what happened,  even though my mind was ready to accept as always my body wasn't ready to accept that I was Jet lagged and poorly,  coming back from work, cooked something for my kids and hit the bed It's been such a long time and I have never slept like that for almost 7 hrs till 10 O' clock in the night and kids woke me up  and telling me that they were hungry!!, I cooked up something and went back to bed again!!  I had an overdose of sleep I think, through all this I had completely forgotten about my resting dough in the fridge, so decided to make it the next day, without my knowledge I had rested my dough for 72 hours and the result was really amazing, that was an awesome pizza, Three of our friends from our group asked us to bake Pizzas, I chose Pam's recipe which she had adapted from 2 blogs one for Pizza crust and one for Pizza Sauce.

PIZZA TOPPING:
1 Small Green Pepper (Capsicum)
10 Olives
1 Small Yellow Pepper
1 Small Pink Onion
7 to 8 Vine Tomatoes
3 to 4 sprigs of Basil leaves
1 tsp Chilli flakes
1 tsp Italian Herbs
Salt to taste
Grated Mozzarella cheese
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading through many blogs and books,  when I first started baking pizza at home I used to bake with plain flour , then I started using Bread flour and mixture of flours for healthy baking, I have yet to use OO' grade flour, will surely do once I get hold on it and want to see the difference.  I have come to know that the Italians use this grade flour to make their pizza's!.
Coming back to this recipe, I too make the same kind of sauce changed it our family taste a bit, I made it a bit spicy so increased the chilli flakes,

NEW YORK STYLE PIZZA SAUCE
Recipe Source: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/10/new-york-style-pizza-sauce.html



INGREDIENTS:
28oz / 3 Cups Peeled Tomatoes
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Butter
2 Cloves Garlic
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Red Pepper flakes
1 tsp Red chili flakes
Salt as required ( If using tinned, there will be salt already so check before you use)
2 sprigs of Basil leaves
1 medium yellow Onion peeled
1 tsp Sugar
















METHOD:

In a large bowl of water cook Tomatoes with their skin, after few minutes drain the water and keep aside, peel the skin of the tomatoes, chop and blend them in a food processor in a coarse consistency, It should not be very smooth,

Chop Onion and Garlic blend them to a coarse consistency, heat oil and butter in a deep pan add Red Pepper flakes, chilli flakes and dried oregano to this add coarsely blended Onion and garlic fry for few minutes stirring frequently keep an eye not to brown it but the raw smell disappears then add the coarsely blended Tomatoes stir well, to this blend add chopped Basil leaves and sugar, bring the flame to low and cook until it reduces to half for about an hour, season it with salt.

Once done store it in an airtight container stays well for 2 weeks.

THE BEST NEW YORK STYLE PIZZA
Recipe source: http://feelingfoodish.com/the-best-new-york-style-pizza-dough/

INGREDIENTS:
6 Cups ( 28 oz or 780 grms bread flour) All purpose Flour / Bread flour / OO' Grade Flour
2 and 1/4 cup (17.4 oz) water
1 tsp Instant dry yeast
2.5 tsp salt
3 tsp olive Oil

METHOD:
1.    I used only half of the Ingredients and made half the dough, I halved the recipe on everything even yeast.
I used 390 grms of flour, In a large bowl take yeast add couple of tbsp of warm water to activate it, within a few minutes you can see the bubbles, this is to make sure your yeast is active.
2.    Now to this add all the dry Ingredients mix well, Now add water enough to make it a dough consistency**  (see notes), then add oil and bring it to pliable dough, The dough actually will be a bit on the stickier side,  knead the dough for 4 to 5 minutes hand kneading if the dough is kept for 72 hours But, if you are using it the next day that is for 48 hours knead the dough 8 to 10 minutes.
3.    Add oil at the end and bring the dough together, I halved the dough into two then place it in a large bowl and cover it with cling film and leave it in the refrigerator for 48 hrs or 72 hours, I left mine for 72 hours.
4.    The day you are baking take it out of the fridge and leave it for 1 or 2 hours for it to come back to room temperature.
5.    Meanwhile preheat your oven with your pizza stone for an hour, at the highest temperature, she asks to preheat at 550 degree. I just kept my oven at Gas Mark 4 for almost 1 hour (I was a bit worried about my pizza stone as I did not how good it was).
6.     Once the dough comes to room temperature, take one part of the dough with help of flour flatten it on to a parchment paper by pressing it around flatten it out thinly using more flour.
7.     Take another piece of parchment paper sprinkle semolina*(see notes) on to it, then place the flattened dough on to the surface
8.    Apply pizza sauce on to the surface, get all your chopped veggies top them on the sauce then grate Mozzarella cheese on to it, spread evenly  on the topped vegetables.
9.    Slide prepared pizza spread on to the preheated pizza stone and bake pizza for 6 to 7 minutes, cheese starts melting, just keep an eye that it doesn't get burnt.
10.   what else to say, take it out, slice them out take a bite and Enjoyyyy...., !!!

NOTES:
Important thing always weigh your flour, as each brand is different from each other.
As I said earlier I had halved the recipe the water was a bit extra for my dough so had to discard a bit, but the dough was a bit stickier in consistency.
The author of this recipe says we had to heat the oven to 550 degree but my oven only Gas Mark 9.
I was watching a TV show in which Chef was saying sprinkling semolina on to the surface of the pizza base ensures nice crispy bottom

VERDICT: Pizza was totally awesome, the first one I made was only with Tomato sauce, I mean the pizza sauce with cheese, my kids really relished it, next day I made with veggies topped with cheese, kids were totally bowled out, they loved it very much..,
I have planed to try out the base with OO' grade flour and will update here soon enough.
Thanks to swathi and Pam for this wonderful recipe.

Eggless Green Tea mousse with Pistachio and Strawberry Verrines

Hi everybody, hope you are all doing good, This will be a quick recipe, with no beautiful clicks as I have been postponing to post anything in my blog for a very good reason, but I have to do two posts today, as today is the deadline of two events which I eventually participate, I have been trying a few things with these two combinations and totally enjoyed it.. , Thanks Kalyani for this beautiful combo, even though I did not make it a healthy one, This was the only recipe I could make it quick and post, well, no further ramblings I will get to the recipe..
This month Kalyani choose two ingredients Green Tea and Pistachios.. for Magic Mingle

GREEN TEA MOUSSE WITH PISTACHIO AND STRAWBERRY VERRINES

GREEN TEA MOUSSE
140 gms  Whipping cream
70 gms white chocolate
1 tbsp Green Tea Leaves
1 tbsp Dolce de Leche
1 tsp Agar powder
2 tbsp of warm water

CREAM-LESS STRAWBERRY MOUSSE
140 grms Strawberry Puree
140 grms Sugar
1 tsp Agar
3 tbsp Warm water

Whipping cream as required
Pistachio Nuts as required

METHOD
TO MAKE GREEN TEA MOUSSE
In a thick bowl heat cream and tea Leaves until boiling set aside for 30 minutes, strain the tea leaves from cream then whip to soft peak melt chocolate and mix into tea infused cream and set aside.

TO MAKE CREAM-LESS STRAWBERRY MOUSSE
Soak Agar powder in  warm water beat keep it aside for few minutes then beat again , Puree strawberry and sugar together heat them in a bowl, add this to the puree and boil for few minutes keep it aside.

Beat whipping cream until soft peaks are formed. chop pistachios and keep aside.

ASSEMBLE

In a glass bowl or any thing you wish to arrange, layer whipping cream, add chopped pistachios, then layer them with Strawberry mousse then layer it with Green tea Mousse then layer it with Whipping cream and pistachios again then top it with Green tea mousse and top it with pistachios again, leave it in the refrigerate an hour or two and serve it cold.
Recipe source from these two blogs with minimal changes from here and matchachocolate.com
It was very sweet said my kids, hope you like it...

Eggless Hot Cross Buns for Easter ( Tangzhong Method )

The wind moving around 70 to 80 miles per hour, has broken my fence off , Sun is playing Hide and seek and the rain pouring down from past two days and the biting cold has driven me mad, It is only here you can see different seasons in one day.  People always talk about weather, even though the weather is not  good, some things make me very happy like  when I have to bake breads, I am not a dessert person, I don't really enjoy baking any kind of desserts but definitely love baking breads, I love trying out new variations, methods, types and from different cuisines and of course around the world, but I need somebody to eat them too.., The problem for me is my kids love eating breads only in their lunch box, otherwise they don't mind eating pizzas. I baked two different breads immediately, when Swathi announced this month's challenge.
I have used Tangzhong method of baking bread previously, and I also have made a separate post on how to make Tangzhong here.  So, I will not be explaining how to do it.
This month swathi of Zesty south Indian Kitchen challenged us to bake Breads using Tangzhong method, for this months Baking Partners Group as I have numerous breads with this method, I chose to bake Hot Cross Buns as we are nearing Easter, Here in Easter you can see these Buns in all Shops, people enjoy this all through Easter and is a favourite for every one, My kids love them and I bake them time to time, as I can use lot of Raisins in them :).. Toast it with some Jam and Mmmm..., super delicious...

HOT CROSS BUNS 
Recipe Source: Christine's Recipes
Tangzhong method minimal changes

INGREDIENTS FOR THE BREAD
350grm Bread flour
35 grms sugar
5 g salt
7 g milk powder
125 ml milk
120 grm Tanzhong ( water Roux )
6 g yeast
30 g butter
100 g Raisins
1/2 tsp mixed spice

FLOUR PASTE:
4 tbsp of plain flour
2 to 2 and 1/2 tbsp of water

TANGZHONG METHOD:
1/3 cup or 50 grms of Bajri flour
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of milk

Check out the Tangzhong method in this post, I used Bajri flour, funnily it took a bit long time to get that 65 degree and was a bit liquidy than the usual way I make.  I was a bit worried but my bread turned out beautifully no complaints.

METHOD:
Make the Tangzhong and keep aside for it to cool down.
In a large bowl take yeast and warm water and leave it for few minutes, you will notice bubbles forming, this is to make sure the yeast is still active.
Now to this add all the other Ingredients listed above except for Raisins and knead it into a soft dough, It might be a bit sticky but kneading it well enough with the help of little flour by just dipping your hand in it now and then makes into a pliable dough.
Oil a bowl and leave it for its first rise around 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours, once it is double in size punch it down and spread the dough on the kitchen table and spread Raisins on it and slowly knead it into the dough.

Preheat the oven to 190 degree / 375 dF / Gas Mark 6
Make 6 rolls and leave it for a second rise on a baking parchment, for further an hour.
Make flour paste, add water little by little to the plain flour and make it into a semi thick paste, fill this into a piping bag and make a cross over the Buns.
Give them all a milk wash and bake them for 15 to 20 minutes according to your oven.

Lo!, your Hot cross buns...
                                                            Hot Cross Buns
                                                            Hot Cross Buns
                                                            One a penny two a penny
                                                             Hot cross Buns.....

Who want Hot Cross Buns... ?, At last I could post this recipe.., I keep postponing to post all my  recipes even though I cook or bake them, Good God! I have posted them before Easter.....
Here are few more of my posts with this method.., I have a few more which I have not been able to post till..

Tangzhong (water Roux) for  Bread Baking
Paneer and Mint flavoured Garlic Rolls
Eggless Chocolate Coronets
Pear, Nuts and Dried fruits in Swirl rolls

c you soon with an other recipe...
This is also yeast spotted !! :)

Eggless Mixed Fruit Tart with a surprise filling..

Hi everybody, Hope you are doing well, Here is a quick post for you which I made quickly to join the blogger's buzz team, I was unable to search for my step-wise-photos, for time constraint  please stay tuned in and I will update this post soon.  But here is a quick recap of how I made it.. Hope they will accept my entry as I am a day late :).

EGGLESS MIXED FRUIT TART

FOR THE PASTRY CASE:
1 cup Plain flour
65 gms butter
1/8th tsp salt
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 + 1 tbsp water

FOR THE FILLING :
1/2 cup Plain Flour
3 tbsp of melted butter
1/2 + 3 tbsp sugar
1/8th tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tbsp Yogurt
2 tbsp Soya Custard**
1 tbsp Hot water
1/4 tsp Vanilla Essence
A pinch of Yellow food colouring (optional )

FRUITS FOR DECORATING
125gms Blue Berries
1/2 cup Rasberries
2 Fresh Apricots
1/4 cup of Melon
1/4 cup of Persimmon
6 Large Strawberries
1 Kiwi
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp Honey
2 tbsp water

METHOD:
TO MAKE THE PASTRY
First of all Mix everything under Pastry except water they will be like crumbles now start adding water until it is well combined to make it into a dough not too soft or not too stiff. cover it with a cling film and allow it to chill in the fridge.

TO MAKE THE FRUIT DECORATION
Meanwhile In a large sauce pan take 2 tbsp of Honey and water to this add 1/4 cup of sugar and start warming it up keep stirring until all the sugar dissolves now add the Blue berries and cook carefully until they are soft but doesn't loose their shape when 1/2 way through add chopped Apricots ( I added Apricots as they were tart, if they are quite sweet you can just use it as it is).
After few minutes switch off the stove and drain them out through a strainer and keep aside.  To this sauce add Raspberries, shake them a bit so all of them get coated, now leave them in the pan.

TO MAKE THE FILLING
Meanwhile take little Tart tins apply butter all over  and keep aside until need. Now Take out the dough from the fridge make little balls and roll out  little disc shapes, Take these little rounds and carefully place them on the tart tins and press all over the sides, with the help of a fork prick the bottom of the tarts, don't make holes just give a prick all over.
Top all the 6 Tarts with Baking parchment and add Baked bean balls on top of it and bake these Tarts for 15 minutes on Gas Mark 3 / 170 degrees
once done take out these Tarts on to a wiring rack to cool down, after 5 minutes, remove the baked beans and the baking parchment and allow it to cool down a bit.
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3
Meanwhile when it is cooling down In a bowl take Plain flour, to this add Bicarbonate of soda and Baking powder, a pinch of salt mix well and keep aside. In another bowl take melted butter, sugar, soya custar, yogurt and mix well together, add a tbsp of Hot water and mix well.
Scoop this above cake mixture in a spoon and spread them evenly on all the tarts, Put them back in the oven and allow them to cook for an other 20 minutes,
Beautiful cake forms on top of the tarts, once done, switch off the Gas and take them out leave them on a cooling rack.after 5 minutes remove them all from the tart tins.

ASSEMBLING THE MIXED FRUIT TART
Slice of the top portion the cake nicely, and remove the top portion, take the cooked Blueberries, Raspberries, Apricots and arrange them on the tart shell as you desire.
Now either serve them just as it is otherwise with the help of tea strainer, sprinkle some Icing sugar on top of it and serve them.

These little Individual tarts were not only beautiful to look but also tasted very nice.
The sweet tart and cake inside the tart and the sweet fruit filling was divine..

Sending this to Blogger's Buzz, I am joining them and so looking forward to it...