Almond Cheese Spread

We shook off the snow and tumbled into the house. We were cold and hungry. And you know what's my comfort food on a cold, snowy day? Hot, buttered toast! Nothing can make me feel as good. So aunty put the griddle on and liberally coated it with butter, placing two slices of bread to crispen to that beautiful gold. 

When she flipped it over to the other side, I thought we were almost done. But, nope! She had an ace up her sleeve. She dolloped on some cheese spread and let it just melt into the crisping toast. Dotted with ketchup. And then judging my impatience correctly, let me wolf it down straight from the pan.

I waited for the salty, slightly plastic cheesiness of store bought spread to hit my tastebuds. But instead was surprised by subtle flavours so generously complimenting the creamy goodness that could only come with homemade love!

It was so good, I wolfed down six toasts before my foodie brain could form the words, " May I have the recipe, please?"

That was 12 years ago, and I still slather this spread with the same reverent wonder. For me it has the same joy as my grandma's home made white butter. Another dairy addition to my toast I can't get enough of!

Another good thing about this cheese spread is that it sneakily incorporates the wholesome nutrients that  growing tots may screechingly run from. But ever know a kid to turn down cheese and toast? Nope! So say hello to our hidden superfood friends- Almonds and Garlic. Even Keto Hubby gave the spread a big thumbs up! It was just the thing he needed to jazz his Keto Bread :)

So I'll go steal a spoonful from the jar, while you go whip up your own batch of yummy health.

Ingredients:

Cheese           200 gm (grated)

Cream            1/2 cup

Milk               1 cup

Almonds        20

Vinegar          1 tsp

Sugar             1 tsp

Red Chillies   5

Garlic             5

Pepper           1/4 tsp

Method:

Soak the almonds and red chillies for half an hour. De-seed the red chillies. Remove the skin from the almonds and discard the water. Run the almonds, chillies and garlic in the mixie to make a coarse paste. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend till smooth. Refrigerate and use within a week.

Notes:

I used fresh cream (malai) skimmed off the top of our milk. You can use packaged cream as well. 

Since the chillies are soaked and de-seeded, they are not spicy and are mild enough for kids. You can however reduce the chillies if you like.

For the Keto version replace the sugar with Stevia. 

Keto Bread

A low carb, gluten free bread? It never did sound appetizing to me. But then Hubby darling went Keto, and our entire carb approach was tossed into the can. Adapting existing recipes to fit Keto was not as tricky as most fear. Infact as Keto became norm, exciting new twists were born of old classics. 

And though he loved his rice and parathas, hubby didn't quite miss them as much as he had expected. It really was a win win for him.

There was one thing he did miss. While never a fan of regular sliced bread, he had started to crave toast. Who wouldn't when your breakfast is bacon and eggs sunny side up. After all, you need something to mop up all that gooey goodness! Thus was born the need to experiment with a keto friendly bread.

Now the most popular keto breads are almond flour based. Though delicious, almonds aren't quite budget friendly. Every keto forum had people moaning about increased dents in the pocket. So I figured let's do a keto bread that won't break the bank.

I scoured the net for dozens of recipes and finally found my inspiration here. I tweaked it a little so i wouldn't have to make a store run. A few easy steps and surprisingly I got gorgeous golden bread!

Ingredients:

Eggs                                             6

Dessicated Coconut Powder        3/4 cup

Flax Seed (Powdered)                   3/4 cup

Salt                                               1 tsp

Baking Powder                             1 tsp

Psyllium Husk                              4 tablespoons

Baking Soda                                  1/2 tsp

Warm Water                                   1/2 cup

Apple Cider Vinegar                      1 tablespoon

Oregano (optional)                         1 tsp

Method:

Whisk together all the dry ingredients, except oregano. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Put it in the fridge while you preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease a rectangular baking pan. I used a 13x6. Bring out the batter. Give it a good mix and pour into the dish. Top with crushed oregano. Bake for 40 minutes on a low rack. Cool and slice into 14 squares. It stays happily refrigerated for upto two weeks. Bring out a slice or two. Grill them, toast them, pan fry  them or simply slather cold with some cream cheese and fix that bread craving!

Bread Gulab Jamuns

Gulab Jamuns could truly be the most pan-Indian dessert. Found in every corner of the country, big and small, the flavour rarely varies despite the regional twists. Rose, kewra, cardamom, saffron... the gulab jamun still tastes just like home. 

I have yet to meet a person who doesn't like gulab jamuns. Or G-Jams,  to borrow a term from my cousin. Even those who prefer savoury over sweet can rarely resist the call of the G-Jam! Really, what's not to like? Golden, fried dumplings soaked in cardamom scented sugar syrup. Exotically delicious, yet endearingly simple!

The commercially available G-Jams are usually made of khoya. And homemakers like mum choose the less complicated route of instant G-Jam packets that use milk powder for a smoother, lighter version that is a lot less complicated than the original. And then there is a third, more unorthodox version. The Bread Gulab Jamuns!

I was first introduced to the bread version during my college years. Homesick on diwali, one of our friends surprised my roomie and me with a huge box of gulab jamuns. Made by his fauji mess cook. As we popped the first one into our mouth, he dropped the B-word! These were made with regular white bread! Despite being a foodie and a cooking enthusiast, I would never have guessed had he not told us! As for the taste? Suffice to say I disappeared with the entire box, coz, " Joey doesn't share food!"

I've been looking for the perfect recipe ever since and after many years of trial and error, I've created one that would have made the old Cook baba proud!

Ingredients:

Bread                        12 slices (I used wholewheat)

Custard Powder        3 tablespoon

Baking Soda             1 teaspoon

Milk                          2 cups

Sugar                        1 1/2 cup

Water                        1 1/2 cup

Cardamoms              3

Oil                             to deep fry

Method: Trim the edges of the bread. Soak a slice of bread in milk and squeeze to remove the excess. Repeat with all the slices. Run the crumbled, wet bread with the custard powder and baking soda in the food processor. Gently pulsing twice to obtain a smooth yet firm paste. Heat the sugar, water and crushed cardamoms in a deep pan till the syrup reaches a sticky, one string consistency. Take off the heat. Meanwhile, gently form the bread paste into smooth balls. Take care not to press too hard while rolling them or the consistency will not be spongy. Heat oil and gently drop the bread jamuns few at a time. Cook over medium heat so that the outside doesn't brown before the inside cooks. Once they are evenly golden, drain on kitchen paper and transfer to the warm syrup. Repeat with all the G-Jams. You can eat them warm or chill them in the refrigerator to serve later. Either way, they are easy to make and are always a blockbuster hit!

Beer Bread

There is something about baking bread that scares even the most seasoned baker. Well, most breads are quite unforgiving. You have to get the quantities just right, proof the yeast, allow it to rise just so..too much and it will be just air pockets, too little and it will be stone... you have to punch, proof, punch again. A rather long and tedious process that may still leave you with results, well, deflated!

This is where Beer Bread comes in. It is a simple, no fuss bread. Like having drinks with your bumchum in pajamas. Effortless! No complicated ingredients or steps, and with a guarantee of success. Don't take my word for it. Just chuck it all in and surprise your folks with some freshly baked bread this weekend. 

Ingredients:
Flour                        3 cups
Baking Powder        4 1/2 teaspooons
Brown Sugar           3 tablespoons
Salt                          1/2 teaspoon
Beer                         1 and 1/2 cup
Butter                       1/4 cup, melted

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together. Thrice. Now that the tough part is over, mix in the rest of the ingredients. Pour into a greased 9x5 inch loaf tin. Top up with some grated cheese if you like. Bake for 50 minutes. Rest for another 15 minutes or so. Turn it out and dazzle!