Country Bread with Barley and Pearl Millet

This is another attempt of mine to bake a proper 'German' bread. With 'German' bread I mean a bread that has a nice crust, lots of flavour and is moist and soft on the inside. Just like you get it in the country side in Germany. I must say, I'm slowly getting there. It is a fact I am proud of because good bread is one of the few things I really miss living here in India. Bread like this can be eaten just by itself or maybe with some butter on it.

This time I first made a sponge starter and also gave the dough lots of time to rise and develop at a rather low temperature. As a result the bread has lots of flavour and a very mild sourness to it. It is definitely worth the effort and time you put into it. I therefore recommend to make this bread on a day when you don't have to leave the house. The result will compensate you royally for the sacrifice of staying home.

It is a common practice in Europe to make a starter dough for bread. There are different types of starter doughs and they take anywhere between 5 hours for a sponge, 15 hours for an Italian Biga and 5 days for a traditional sour dough.

For the sponge starter I dissolve 7g dry yeast in 250ml warm water. The amount of yeast might be different depending n the kind of yeast you use. The dry yeast I use recommends 25g dry yeast for 750-1000g of flour. In a bowl I now mix 175g whole wheat flour with the yeast mixture until I have a smooth batter. I cover the bowl with cling foil and leave the batter for 5-6 hours to develop. In warm and humid areas like Chennai, where I live, the batter will need only 3-4 hours to develop.

The sponge is ready when it doubled to tripled in volume and has lots of bubbles.

For the bread dough I mix in a big bowl 200g whole wheat flour with 70g hard wheat semolina, 100g barley flour, 100g pearl millet flour, 30g split sorghum, 50 gluten powder and a pinch of salt.

In a small bowl I dissolve 18g dry yeast in 250ml warm water. I now carefully mix the sponge starter with the dissolved yeast until it is well combined.

I pour the starter mixture into the middle of the dry ingredients and mix it to a smooth dough. This dough I knead for 10-15 minutes to ensure that the gluten is well developed. I transfer the dough into a slightly oiled bowl and cover it with a cling foil. The dough needs to rise for 7-8 hours or over night at a room temperature of 18-22°C. Here in Chennai I usually place it for 5-6 hours in a corner of my air-conditioned bedroom as it is the only room where the temperature is anywhere close to the required temperature. This slow rising process will give the bread lots of flavour and a mild sour taste.

It is now time to pre-heat the oven to 220-240°C.

I carefully knock the dough down and knead it for about 2 minutes. I slightly grease a 18cm round baking dish. I take the dough out of the bowl onto a slightly floured table top and form it into a round ball. This I roll in 3-4 table spoons puffed amaranth, place it into the greased baking dish and bake it at 220-240°C for 45-60 minutes or until it sounds hollow when you knock on it.

Take it out of the oven and after 5 minutes out of the baking dish. Let it cool on a wire rack. Once it is completely cooled slice it and enjoy it.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Almond Fudge Brownies

Brownies are sinful delicious everything-will-be-alright food. The ingredients send out so many positive impulses to our brain that there is only one thing for it to do... Tell us we are feeling good.

They were invented some when in the end of the 19^th century for a ladies pick nick and evolved from there to the varieties you find today. The original was still well baked and had an apricot glaze on it. I couldn't find any info how the fudge like moister got into it. But I guess like most great inventions by pure accident when someone removed the baking tin too early from the oven and the result was a hit with the bakeries clients.

I like them with lots of very dark chocolate and an extra portion of cocoa. It means pure happiness! They should be baked on the outside but gooey on the inside. At the centre the batter should be just set. And they should be low on sugar. Well, if that is possible. But they should not taste too sweet.

Have a glass of cold milk or hot coffee with it to balance out the intense flavours of the brownie.

I started replacing the traditional walnuts with almonds as a lot of my friends are allergic to walnuts and pecan nuts are very difficult to get here in India. Oh, and I love them plain, meaning without any topping. This is again a very personal choice. If you like it you can top them off with a nice frosting or a ganache. For me that is too much chocolate.

This recipe is for a 22x22cm square tin or a 24cm round tin. I use chocolate with a minimum of 70% cocoa in it and good unsweetened cocoa.

For brownies the oven should not be too hot. If you have any doubt put a baking thermometer in the oven while pre-heating it and check the temperature before you put the brownies in. The ideal temperature is 175°C. If your oven is hotter than 180°C reduce the heat setting and leave the oven door open for 2-3 minutes before you put the brownies in the oven.

These brownies are a feast of chocolate. The 1^st step to brownie bliss is to melt 200g dark chocolate in a bowl set over a pot of boiling water. Make sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Once the chocolate is melted set it aside to let it slightly cool down.

In a bowl I beat 100g soft unsalted butter with 170-220g vanilla sugar until it is light and fluffy and most of the sugar is dissolved. The amount of sugar you use depends on how sweet you like the brownies to be.

Most people use muscovado sugar for brownies. I prefer vanilla sugar for which I simply place a few lengthwise cut vanilla beans with lots of sugar in an airtight container and let it stand for a few days. For the vanilla sugar you can use regular white or brown sugar.

Constantly beating the mixture I add 240g egg, one egg at the time, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Then I add the melted chocolate to it and make sure everything is well combined.

In a separate bowl I mix 60g plain flour with 60g cocoa. This mixture I sift onto the chocolate mix and stir it well. Now I add 100g coarsely chopped almonds, give it a quick stir and pour the batter into the greased baking tin.

I bake it at 175°C for 25-30 minutes. When you touch the centre it should be soft. Take the brownies out of the oven and let them cool down. They taste best when they are still a little warm. I like to serve them with either plain or with a mild sour cream on the side.

Fresh out of the oven

I made these last weekend and there were some very happy smiling faces at dance class. As I said, brownies are a mood enhancer.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Mutton Curry a la Carola

The Indian kitchen is like a big mystery to me. For the simple reason that I do not have a feeling for the spices used in it. I do not know how the flavour of a dish changes if I add more mustard seeds, turmeric or cumin to it. When it comes to herbs I know that, I know exactly how the flavour changes when I add more juniper berries, oregano or celery leaves to a dish.

Herbs are something I grew up with. So are spices like bay leaves, cinnamon, nutmeg or all spice because they are also used in European dishes. But how to mix a proper Masai is a mystery for me as I never learned it. Maybe I should start taking cooking lessons in it.

On the other hand I love Indian food. May it be North or South Indian, I love it. So I had to find a way to work around my lack of knowledge. And this is when I started experimenting with ready made masala mixes. In the beginning I wondered why my food tasted powdery until I learned that you need to temper the spices to bring out their flavour and to get rid of this powdery raw flavour. That was many years ago shortly after I moved to India. Over the years and lots of trials later I know that I do not like chat masala or anything made with it. I never liked fresh coriander but use it sometimes in cooking. I just make sure I remove all of it before I serve the food.

Besides this, a vast collection of masalas is meanwhile a stable in my kitchen. I just don't use them the traditional way. I happily mix them together and create my own personal interpretation of Indian food. For example madras curry powder with chilli, mango, onion, orange juice and raisins as a marinade for grilled chicken.

This is how I ended up with what I call Curry a la Carola. Here the mutton curry version. The routine is always the same.

In a big pot I heat 4-5 table spoons oil. I like to take sesame oil as it adds a nice flavour. I cut 1 large peeled onion into quarters and than into fine stripes. Once the oil is hot I add the onions, 1 teaspoon each garlic paste and ginger paste. Over reduced heat I let it fry for 2-3 minutes. Now comes the masala. I just take 1 teaspoon of each packet I have in my masala box so that I end up with 6 teaspoons of masala. Most times I blend a variety of graham masala, fish fry, mutton, tandoori, chicken and egg masala together. But let your creativity run wild.

Important is that you stir constantly while you temper the spices. They must not get burned as it will ruin the flavour. After tempering the spices I add 500g boneless mutton or lamb meat and stir-fry it a few minutes that it can absorb the masala flavour.

Now I add 2-3 dry red chilli cut into stripes, 300g tomatoes cut into small dices and 400g yoghurt to it. Give it a good stir and cover it with a lid.

Cook it over low head for about 30 minutes until the meat is very tender and the oil has separated from the rest of the gravy.

If you like to you can add the vegetables to it. In the same method you can also make a chicken or pure vegetable curry. Sometimes, especially if I add prawns or fish I add 400ml coconut milk to the masala base instead of the yoghurt. If I make prawn or fish curry I cook the gravy separately and add the prawns and fish only for the last few minutes to avoid over cooking them.

Every time I cook this it tastes a little bit different and I like it this way. I most times serve the curry with brown rice. This time I made dosa. I am honest with you, I bought the dosa batter. Another thing on my to-learn-list is how to make dosa.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Farfalle with seafood and wine sauce

There are days when you need just that little extra treat. For me today was such a day. There were just too many things that went wrong today....

Most times when I have such a day I skip dinner and replace it with a big portion of ice cream. My friends always tease me for it. Honestly I think ice cream just cools down your temper when you are upset. But today I didn't feel like ice cream. I wanted some nice food for the soul.

For me that definitely means some variety of pasta or some food from my childhood. Today I decided on pasta. Farfalle to be specific as there will be lots of sauce. Penne would also be a good choice. But I don't recommend pasta like Spaghetti of Tagliatelle for such a liquid sauce. I don't call it Italian food because for that there is way too much sauce in this recipe. I call it a Frida special.

The wine I use in this recipe is a Shiraz Rosé. If you don't get it or don't like it you can any dry rosé or white wine.

For the Farfalle I put a big pot of salted water on the stove and bring it to boil. Once it boils I add 250g Farfalle and cook them al dente.

In a small pot I cook 100g peas together with 100g broccoli and 3 medium carrots, both cut into pieces in little plain water.

In the meantime I finely chop 1 medium onion and 2 cloves garlic. In a deep pan I melt 30g butter and fry the onion and garlic in it until they start turning brown. I cut 100g mushrooms into halves or quarters and add them to the onions. I fry them for about 5 minutes. I keep the mushrooms and onions in a small bowl aside.

Now I pour 200ml wine into the pan an bring it slowly to a simmer. In the meantime I drain the boiled vegetables. Make sure you collect the liquid from the vegetables. I measure 200ml of the vegetable water and add each 100ml sour cream and 100ml fresh cream to it. Into this mixture I stir 2 tablespoons cornstarch. I add the mixture to the wine and heat it slowly stirring constantly. I add salt, white pepper and nutmeg to the sauce.

I reduce the heat to the minimum and add 300g bekti steak, cut into 2cm dices, along with 8 peeled and cleaned jumbo prawns to the sauce. I let it sit for 5 minutes for the fish and prawns to be cooked. Now I carefully stir in the mushrooms, onions and other vegetables. I taste it and add if necessary a little bit more pepper, salt and nutmeg.

I drain the pasta and place it in 4 deep plates. I pour a generous helping of the fish sauce on top of it. Along with the Farfalle I serve the rest of the wine.... or a bit more...

This recipe is for four portions. Experience showed me that in reality it ends up to be for 2-3 portions.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen.

Love

Carola

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Two weeks ago a friend of mine posted on Facebook that he tried to bake cookies. The unfortunate verdict from his daughter was.... They taste like cheese! 

I really felt sorry for him as I know he put all his heart into making these cookies.

That was when I decided to put up this recipe. It is one of my most trusted ones and the cookies come out perfect every single time. The original recipe is from a twenty year old Betty Crooker cookbook which I bought during my first visit to the US.

I modified it slightly to my taste. This recipe is for 5-6 dozen cookies.

I pre-heat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with a sheet of parchment.

Now I am all set to start.

A lot of people use ready made chocolate chips for their cookies but I prefer to cut up a good dark chocolate bar into pieces. It gives a more intense flavour. So, to begin with I cut 300g of chilled good dark chocolate with 70% cocoa in it into 1cm pieces.

In a big bowl I mix 100g each unsalted and salted soft butter, 250 brown sugar and 60g egg into a smooth paste. In another bowl I mix 350g flour and 1 teaspoon baking soda. I sieve the flour into the butter mixture and knead it into a stiff dough.

I coarsely chop 100g nuts. I use either walnuts, almonds or unsalted pistachios. But you can use any kind of nuts you like. I add the nuts with the chocolate to the dough and mix it well.

I drop rounded teaspoons full of dough onto the baking tray. Make sure you leave about 5cm space between them as the dough will flatten into nice yummy cookies while baking.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. They will be light brown and soft in the centre. Let them cool down a bit before you remove them from the baking tray. This is where the parchment comes in handy as you can remove the entire sheet from the baking tray and just line it with a fresh one for the next round of cookies.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for about a week. They also freeze well. Id you don't want to make that many cookies you can freeze part of the dough. Just ensure that it is wrapped well into cling foil to avoid that it ii drying out while defrosting.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen.

Love

Carola

Curried Chicken Spread

Being a confessed Nutella lover it is still one of the few spreads I buy ready made. I prefer to make them myself. May it be jam, liver pâté, vegetable spread or in this case a curried spread with chicken. For the simple reason that I know what is in it.

You can make a spread or pâté in a lot of ways. The goal is to get a spreadable paste. To achieve this spreads are often combined with cream, cheese, butter, egg or mustard. Sometimes there is an emulsifier or gelling agent added.

A lot of the ready made spreads contain high amounts of oil or other fats as they give volume and are cheep. I prefer my spreads to low on fat and high on flavour. That is why I hardly use mayonnaise in them. I also find that making a spread is an easy way to use up small amounts of vegetables or meat you have in your fridge. As I result often I end up making them as fillings for sandwiches to take along on one of my road trips.

I find them also very practical as they are quick to make for a snack on a busy day. It takes hardly 10 minutes. Spread it on your favourite bread, top it with some crunchy lettuce and tomatoes and enjoy.

This recipe is inspired by the classic Coronation Chicken which is a curry flavoured chicken salad.

In a small pan I melt 40g butter over low heat, add 3 heaped teaspoons Madras Curry powder to it and temper the curry for a few minutes. Be careful that the heat is low otherwise the curry gets burned and looses all its flavour.

I take a blender or food processor and add the following ingredients into it. 2 hard boiled egg (peeled), 4-5 gherkins, 1 teaspoon mustard, 150-200g boiled chicken meat cut into pieces, pepper, chilli powder, 20g onion, 20g leek, 1 glove garlic, 30g yellow bell pepper, salt and the curry butter. Mix it all until you have a smooth paste. Check the taste and add up salt and pepper if required.

If you like it a bit sweeter you can add some pineapple or mango to it. If you like it softer add a spoon of yoghurt to it.

Some fresh baguette and a nice glass of white wine with it. Dinner was never cooked faster.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Sour Dough Bread with Mixed Seeds

I often hear people saying you should only cook or bake when you are happy or in a good mood as otherwise the food doesn't taste nice. I say... If you are angry at the world go and bake bread!

There is no better therapy to work off anger than kneading a good bread dough. 

Bread is the one food that is stable in all cultures in the world. It might not be always as a loaf neither is is always made out of wheat but you find it in one or the other variety everywhere.

I personally love bread which is no surprise as I grew up in Germany where bread is a stable food. But for me bread must have a crust and a substance. I don't like these soft crusted sandwich breads which you can push together to half their size and an hour later they are back to their old self. I find them tasteless, too sweet and they have the tendency to stick to your teeth.

I said in an earlier blog that I have a bread making machine. I like it because it is very convenient but unless I need fresh bread early in the morning I don't bake the bread in it. I use it for making the dough. But nothing beats getting your fingers dirty and getting rid of anger and frustration by kneading a good sour dough with your hands. The satisfaction you get when you feel the gluten reacting with the other ingredients and that stiff greyish mass develops into a beautiful elastic dough is amazing.

Sour dough breads are easy to make and the sourness enriches it's flavours. Sour dough goes especially well with whole wheat, rye and spelt or a mixture of all. You might need a few trials to get the starter dough right as it is very sensitive to the surrounding temperatures. While it takes in north European countries 2-3 days at each stage to ferment it hardly takes several hours in south India. So you need to experiment a bit or take dry sour dough mix instead.

For the starter dough I knead a smooth dough out of 115g whole wheat flour and 75ml warm water in a big bowl. This takes about 4-5 minutes. I always use whole wheat flour for my starter as I find it gives better results and taste. But you can also use a plain wheat flour or a rye flour or a mixture of them for it. I cover the bowl with cling foil and let it stand at room temperature (that is 23-27°C) for 2-3 days until the mixture turned greyish with bubbles and the volume has at roughly doubled. Make sure you removed all crust that might have formed on top of the starter before you 'feed' it.

Now I stir 120ml warm water into the mixture until I have a smooth paste. To it I add 175g flour and make a smooth dough out of it. Form a ball out of the dough and place it in a big bowl. Cover it again with cling foil and let it stand for 1-2 days at room temperature (23-27°C) until it is well risen. Remove all crust that might have formed on top of it before you use your starter.

In general it is advisable to check on the sour dough starter regularly. But do not remove the cling foil while the fermentation process is going on.

This starter can be kept in the fridge for about 10 days. If you want to keep it longer store it in the deep freezer. Just make sure it is completely defrosted and has reached room temperature before you use it for making a dough.

To keep your sour dough going you need to 'feed' it. This means if you use 200g of sour dough starter for your bread you need to replace it with 100g flour and 100ml warm water and knead the starter until it is a smooth dough again. If you maintain your starter well it can last you month and years.

For the bread in this recipe I used different flours and seeds. I like experimenting with different mixtures to see how the different flours influence the taste and structure of the bread.

In a big bowl I mix 250g whole wheat flour, 250g hard wheat semolina, 150g white wheat flour and 2 teaspoons of salt. In another bowl I soak 100g quick dissolving oats in 250ml warm milk. I further dissolve 20g fresh yeast or about 25-35g active dry yeast (the amount of dry active yeast might vary depending on product. Please check on the package how much you actually need) in 150ml warm water and let it stand for approximately 10 minutes until it starts forming bubbles.

Now there are 2 different methods of making this bread.

If you use a fresh sour dough starter like described above you need 235g of starter. Mix the starter with the dissolved yeast and 120ml warm water until you have a smooth paste. Add the oats mixture to it and mix well. Now pour the liquid mixture into the flour and knead the mixture for at least 10 minutes to get a smooth elastic dough. If the dough is too stiff add small amounts of warm water to it until you get a nice smooth dough. If it is too sticky add small amounts of flours. But please keep in mind that the gluten needs a few minutes to develop so have some patience before you start adding any additional water or flour to the dough.

If you use a dry sour dough starter mix 100g dry starter with the flour. Mix the yeast with the oats mixture and 120ml warm water and pour it all into the flour. Now you proceed kneading your dough.

Cover the bowl with a wet towel and leave it to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the volume has doubled. Take the dough out of the bowl. On a slightly floured surface knock the dough back and knead gently for about 5 minutes. Put it back in a clean bowl and leave it to rise for another 30-45 minutes.

In the meantime pre-heat the oven to 220-240°C.

On small plates keep 2 tablespoons of each white and black sesame seeds, barley, pumpkin, melon and flax seeds. This is what I used but the seeds you use are purely up to your taste.

I carefully knock down the dough again. Now I take small portions of the dough and make balls with3-4cm diameter out of it. I dip each ball into one of the seeds and place them in a rectangular loaf form (approx. 24x12cm). This I repeat until the dough is used up. You will have 3 layers of seed covered dough balls in your form. I cover it again with a wet towel and let it rise for another 30 minutes. Than I bake it for 45 minutes in the oven.

Let it cool down for 5 minutes. Than remove it form the baking form and let it cool down on a wired rack.

Knowing me I wonder around that loaf for the next hour anxiously waiting for it to cool down enough to slice it. I simply love the corner slice of fresh bread combined with slightly salted butter.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola