Kitchen Corner-Try It

NeujahrsPretzel - New Years Pretzel Baking partners are a group of enthusiastic home bakers who love to try new recipes. The challenge recipe for January was suggested by Swetha of  Tasty Curry Leaf . She suggested two recipes, one New year Pretzel and a New year eve pizza from Sicily. The yeast-ed pretzel is a German recipe. I love the magical aroma of freshly baked bread and decided to try the New Years Pretzel.   This bread is beautiful and would make an impressive centerpiece for the holiday table. I love the braided look, almost like the challah bread. The braided pretzel is sweet and buttery. It is a delicious milk bread made special by topping with nuts, sugar, or glazed cherries. They are supposed to bring good luck and prosperity if consumed at midnight or eaten a first thing for breakfast on New Year's morning. Well, everyone loves a little good luck, so why not try this recipe. It takes time to prepare, but it is worth the effort. It can also make an impre...

Cranberry Banana Bread Do you love banana bread? Are you looking for a recipe to use up the overripe banana bread sitting on the kitchen counter? Then why not try some delicious banana bread. Banana bread always comes in handy during busy weekday mornings. A thick slice of banana bread, cut fruits and coffee is perfect filling breakfast. When I was teaching myself to bake cranberry banana bread was the first recipe that came out perfect. This is a cherished recipe for years and still make them for holidays. It is a convenient and simple, no-fuss recipe. The bananas are naturally sweet which yummy flavor, and sweet chewy cranberries, it is like dessert for breakfast! One bite and you will be pleasantly surprised. It is quite addictive. Banana bread is a cake-like bread and there are so many recipes out there. This is your regular banana bread with a twist to make it more interesting. It has a citrus flavor from lemons and the sweet-tart from cranberries. This recipe uses dr...

Cinnamon Chocolate Babka Muffins Baking partners challenge for April is Babka Muffins and Carrot cake. This reecipe is suggested by Tamy of www.threesidesofcrazy.com . It is yeast dough rolled and baked in muffin tin with chocolate filling.Thanks Tamy and  Swathi for this recipe. Ingredients Source: http://www.portuguesegirlcooks.com/2013/12/chocolate-babka-swirl-buns/  For the dough Whole milk, warmed 110 degrees-1/2 cup Sugar-1/4 cup Instant rapid rise yeast- 2 tsp Egg-1 All purpose flour-2 cups Salt- 1/2 tsp Unsalted butter room temperature- 3 tbs Filling Milk chocolate chips- 3/4 cup Brown sugar- 1/4 cup Ground cinnamon- 1 tsp pinch of salt Butter- 3 tbs Egg white Topping Brown sugar- 1/3 cup All purpose flour- 1/4 cup Butter- 2 tbs Mix milk,sugar and yeast till it is blended. Using a stand mixer combine yeast mixer,egg,salt and flour until a sticky dough begins to form. Mix in butter and using a dough hook,knead the dough for 10...

Pistachio Cardamom Rolls This is a cardamon flavored sticky, sweet bun, for all those who have a sweet tooth like me.You can have it as a treat or a yummy snack. I have used pistachios,but you can use any kind of nuts or dried fruit. Ingredients All purpose flour – 2 1/2 cups Instant Yeast – 1 pkt Egg-1 Milk – 3/4 cup (lukewarm) Butter – 3 tbsp Sugar – 2 tbsp Vanilla – 1 tsp Salt – 1 tsp Pistachio- 1/2 cup Demerara sugar- 1/3 cup Cardamom- 1/2 tsp In a wide bowl, mix flour salt, sugar . Now add the butter and the vanilla. Cut in and blend the butter with the flour using a pastry blender. Mix in the yeast.Now add the milk little at a time and knead into a smooth dough. Cover and allow it to proof until doubled in size (40 to one hour) When the dough proofed to double its sized, place on a floured work space and punch the dough and smooth it. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into approximately 12x12 inches square.Spread the sugar,pistachi...

Kofieebroodje (Dutch Coffee Buns) Baking partners challenge for this month is a sticky and sweet raisin pasty bun. Thanks to Swathi   and Kaveri for suggesting this beautiful recipe.Kaveri send two Dutch recipes to try- Kofieebroodje/coffee bun and Apple tart. Both are beautiful recipes, but I decided to try the Dutch coffee buns. Bread or buns with toppings are common for Dutch breakfast.But coffee time which usually around 11 am and 7 pm is special time to indulge in rich pastries along with hot coffee.These type of pasty bun have rich filling of cream,custard or fruits and are integral part of Southern Dutch cuisine. The coffee bun are soft and buttery and filling  is vanilla pudding and raisins.Thank Kaveri for sharing this recipe. The recipe source is from here Ingredients All purpose flour – 3 cups Instant Yeast – 7gm/1 pkt Milk – 1 ¼ cup (lukewarm) Butter – 3 tbsp Sugar – 4 tbsp Vanilla – 1 tsp Salt – 1 tsp Raisins – 1/3 cup For the cream 1 p...

Orange Ginger Loaf A quick fruit bread with the zesty flavor of ginger and orange. I love baking quick breads as you can experiment with different flavors and ingredients.This spongy loaf  is a perfect  breakfast option around the holidays or just a snack with hot cocoa. Use nuts,dried fruits or cranberries to give a real festive look. I had some candied ginger and decided to  try baking with it. Try this you will surely love it. Ingredients All purpose flour- 3 cup Eggs-2 Butter- 1/2 stick/4 tbs Baking powder- 1 1/3 tsp Baking soda- 3/4 tsp Salt- 1/2 tsp Sugar- 3/4 cup Candied Ginger- 1/3 cup (chopped) Orange juice- 3/4 cup Orange zest- 1 tsp Banana-2 Vanilla essence- 11/2 tsp For the glaze Juice of one orange Sugar- 1/4 cup powdered ginger-1/3 tsp Shredded candied ginger- 1 tsp  Pre heat oven to 375 degree F and grease and prepare loaf tin. In a bowl mix together flour, baking powder,baking soda,salt and set aside. Whisk but...

Pataqueta. Valencia’ Orchard traditional Bread  This months Baking partners challenge is a very traditional yeast bread. Since Thanks giving is coming up  Swathi suggested yet another bread. I am so excited for this months challenge and my heartfelt thanks to Marisa ( Thermofan) for suggesting this beautiful traditional Spanish bread. All of us get nostalgic when it comes to special recipes passed down through generations. I really appreciate Marisa's effort to trace an authentic recipe, took time to discuss with a local baker for the exact technique of making this bread and also sharing the tradition of her country with the group. She sent us a detailed step by step instruction with pictures which proved a helpful guide. Marisa say's that this bread is from Valencia, known at least since the Seventeenth Century. The Pataqueta , as the name suggests is shaped like a crescent Moon.This is the bread the inhabitants of the Valencia’s Orchard used to eat when they...

  Ginger Pumpkin Bread with Maple Brown Butter Icing Baking partners   challenge for this month is pumpkin bread. Fall is the perfect time to enjoy your favorite pumpkin recipes. And I’m so ready for all the delicious pumpkin treats. This month's baking challenge has a fall theme. These recipes are suggested by Tamy . There were two pumpkin bread recipes- a yeast bread and a quick bread. I selected the sweet non-yeast version of quick bread with maple brown butter icing. I wanted to try the brown butter glaze, and I am glad I took part in this challenge. The glaze beautifully coats the top and drips down the sides.  I bet pumpkin bread never looked better! One bite and you will be pleasantly surprised. It is the kind of dessert you need for the holidays to share with your family and friends. It tastes better the next day, and the flavors develop, and it turns buttery and moist. Do you love pumpkin bread? For me, it is a classic holiday treat, a cherished recipe for...

Dilkhush- Baking partners challenge#8(Tangzhong Method) Baking partners challenge#8 is learning a new method of bread making. I always wished to learn bread baking at home and I thoroughly enjoyed this months challenge. There were two method of bread making, for this months challenge-one is Asian method Tangzhong and other is Scandinavian method of Scald flour. I tried the Asian Tangzhong method which was relatively easy to put together. More important reason was that I wished to learn the technique of making dilkush or tengai bun which is very soft bread with sweet coconut filling. This was the most popular sweet snack available at a local bakery back home in India and my favorite as a child. I have earlier posted a different version of  dilpasand recipe with pastry dough.It is a quicker version.This post brought back some nostalgic childhood memories. Thanks Swathi for suggesting this recipe White bread/ Dilkhush with Tangzhong method (Adapted from Christine's Reci...

Paneer Pizza Pizza is my kids favorite and I often make pizza at home. Some times,when I do not have pizza dough,I tweak the recipe a bit and use naan or bagel as the crust. In this recipe I have used naan instead of the regular pizza dough and is light and crispy. This is a fusion variety but still tastes exotic.It has with paneer and touch of tikka masala. In addition to this it has the regular pizza tomato based sauce and a cheese blend of Mozzarella,Asiago Romano and Parmesan. This is a vegetarian version but you can also use meat or pepperoni as topping. Ingredients Garlic naan/regular naan- 2 Pizza sauce- 4 tbs Cheese shredded- 1/2 cup Sliced onion- 1/2 an onion Thinly sliced bell pepper- 1/2 Sun dried tomatoes- 3-4 pieces ( optional) Olive oil- a few drops To marinate the paneer Paneer- 3/4-1 cup cubed Tikka masala- 1/2 tsp ( store brought or a blend of the following a pinch of turmeric,pepper powder, chilly powder, cumin powder,garam masala and chaat ...

Shaped Dinner Rolls  : Knot Roll  Baking Partners fourth challenge post- Shaped Dinner Rolls. Baking partners is the brain child of  Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen. This months theme is very interesting and part of holiday meals. Thanksgiving is approaching and Swathi suggested 7 types of dinner rolls  and sent us recipes with both with eggs and the egg less version. I selected and tried three shapes: Knot Roll, Clover leaf and the Rosette/Kaiser Rolls. For me this post was challenging as I have never baked dinner rolls and did not have a large mixer to knead the dough. So I tried the traditional kneading with hand method to knead the dough. I am so glad that I tried this recipe and it was real fun trying these different shapes. Of these the clover leaf was the easiest  and even my kid had such fun helping me make balls :)The rosette was slightly confusing roll.  Rosette rolls looked pretty good after they were formed, but I was disappoin...

Chicken Shawarma Today's recipe is a home made version of chicken shawarma. Shawarma is a popular sandwich of the middle east and is a favorite fast food. No one can resist this delicious sandwich of spiced meat wrapped in pita bread and drizzled with a delicious and tangy yogurt based sauce.The source of inspiration is Dedemed in youtube. I combined some recipes and ended up with a marinade flavor which my family enjoyed .The original meat used in shawarma is slow cooked chicken very similar to rotisserie chicken.But you will get almost the same results if you thinly slice chicken and use a grill pan. In the spice mix I used a little of sumac ( it is optional). It is part of middle eastern cooking and has a tart flavor and enhances the taste of seafood,meat and salads.Sumac has a very inviting fruit tart flavor which you will love,but if you do not have sumac you can very well substitute it with lemon.You can use either chicken or mutton and your own combination of sal...