Eggless Banana-Pistachio Bread [ bread machine]

I was at home unwell, and it was one of those blah evenings. Couldn't sleep, wasn't able to sit on laptop and do any work.. Mom was wandering around when suddenly I asked "shall we bake bread in the machine? We have all ingredients..".. She was in agreement. Both of us got down to looking for some easy interesting recipes online, I found one and that was it. In about 10mins, I had put all the ingredients together, the machine was set up and we were all set.

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup Water
2 Medium Bananas, Mashed
1 tsp Vanilla
2-1/2 Cup Flour, Unbleached All Purpose
3/4 Cup Flour, Whole Wheat
2 Tbsp Olive Oil, Extra Light
3 Tbsp Honey
1-1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Buttermilk
2-1/2 tsp Yeast for Bread Machine
3/4 C Walnuts, large chopped - I used pistachios since we did not have walnuts at home

DIRECTIONS

1. I put all the wet ingredients at the bottom
2. Added the dry ingredients on top
3. Finally made a small depression and put the yeast in it. 
4. Set the machine to normal and let it do its job...  Took in total 2hrs 30mins. 
5. If the dough seems lose, add some dough and if  it seems very dry, add some warm water.. [these I know based on past experience]
6.  Also add the nuts towards the end of the kneading process, it mixes quite well and remains intact.. :) 

Recipe courtesy: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=808932 

The bread turned out beautifully. It was so soft and yummy, the entire loaf was gone in a matter of days. The crust wasn't too thick either.. I know if Thatha had been here, he would have loved it and gone on & on to everyone who came home about how we made bread at home and it was yummy.. Miss him dearly... 

Bread upma with a difference

Ever since I moved to a place of my own, it has been fun in all ways. I enjoy cooking for Me. I have the freedom to make anything I feel like.  There are days when I eat cornflakes with fruits, and other days I make roti with a veggie side, or like today I make Bread upma and just add anything my eyes fall on. Here is what I made today,

Ingredients:
7 grain Bread [multi grain]- 3 slices Onion- 1 Tomato- 2 Ginger garlic paste- 1tsp Mustard seeds- 1/4tsp Oil - 1tsp Egg-1 Salt- to taste Garam Masala powder- 1/2 tsp

Process:
In a pan, add oil, onions, ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute and then add tomatoes once the onions go golden,. Now add salt and garam masala powder and saute well. In a flat pan, toast the bread slices without any oil/ghee and once they are done, cut them up into small pieces and keep them aside Add the bread pieces to the masala and toss well. Break an egg and add to the mixture and scramble the same within the mix. 

Serve HOT!!

Zha Cafe, Chennai

After hearing about this place from friends and others, i finally managed to visit it last Monday evening. Turning into the narrow lane i spotted Bharat Senior secondary school and there it was on my left. Zha Cafe... A huge white board with the name in English and the logo in Tamil stood out... The archway and door resembled that of an old traditional house in our home town. Looked very nice and appealing and on both sides there were windows with Coffee beans filled half way through. 

As soon as i entered the building, i saw there were comfortable sofas in the main hall, with smaller rooms on all sides each one with a distinct decor. 

 

 There was another bigger room in the back where a lady worked away on her laptop and the kitchen was on one side of the room. 

This was a post box, where customers dropped off their cards that were posted for real. It is the cafes way of keeping the age old tradition alive..

 

There was a room with a boat like seating arrangement, another with Rajasthani decor- pink walls, puppets hanging on the windows, comfortable seating on the floor; and then there was the cool room straight from a movie shooting set, with chairs labelled Director, Actor, Producer and so on. 

 

We chose the room near the entrance with a huge Snakes & ladders game being the center table. it was a small room, but took us back in time. There was a row of shelves with traditional gaming boards on them- few tops, a Thayathu board, Pallam Kuzhi board in the shape of a fish and a puzzle on the table. 

We ordered Mulagai Bhajji [Chilli bhajji], Cocktail idli and a Tea kadai platter... The Bhajji was hot and yumm, the idlies were slightly over fried and tasted like french fries... The Tea kadai platter is quite elaborate and each of the items were yummy... Only thing i suggested was they should serve the tea/coffee in a stainless steel vessel instead of mugs... 

When we asked for the bill, the guy brought along 2 postcards. We wrote out addresses and they promised to paste a stamp and post it for us :)

Home-made White Bread

The bread machine is back in action and it kicked into 1st gear straight away.. Its been over 6-8yrs since we last baked bread, for that matter baked anything.. I use the Microwave we have to make cakes or apple crumbles, but that is about it.. gone are the days when the kitchen was filled with the aroma of freshly baked buns or Donuts.. 

The bread machine

Few days back, Gramma discovered the Bread machine book and the Bread recipes and got into the "lets make bread" mode.. We bought all the necessary ingredients, including Fresh yeast and i waited for a day when i would have a bit of a breather, which dint and so i decided to take a break last evening and get started on it. I brought the bread machine out of its hide-out and Gramma picked out all the ingredients... 

Here is how we made Bread...


White bread:
3 cups of Flour
4 tsp sugar
2tsp salt
3 tbsp Butter
1 tsp Fresh yeast [1-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast]
1/4 cup water
1 cup milk
2 tbsp of Italian herbs [mixed] [optional: Herbs, spices, fruits, nuts]

Process:

1. Measure out all the ingredients
2. Turn on the Bread machine
3. 1st put all the liquid ingredients- water, milk, butter
4. Now add all the dry ingredients- flour, salt, sugar, herbs
5. Make a slight depression with your finger in the center of flour/etc
6. Add the yeast [make sure it is not touching the water, because it will start working once it touches wetness]

The baking bowl within the bread machine

I chose the Normal Bread baking mode.. which takes 2.40 hours to cook... and you can then sit back or go for a movie and return while the bread bakes...

  The full loaf of bread

 Was able to cut through with a normal knife and the bread is super soft and flavourful.. Could taste the herbs.. Only thing, i should probably increase the salt next time, bread is a tad sweet for my taste buds

 A slice

Voila... the bread is done and you get the awesome aroma as you open the lid...