How To Preheat A Convection Microwave(Video Post) | Oven Series | Baking For Beginners

Most recipes in baking begin with instructions to pre-heat your oven, a very important step. I have written about this in brief in my post How To Use A Convection Microwave. A little more in detail about pre-heating a convection microwave in this post. You can also watch my video on preheating(above).

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Whenever we bake anything, before we keep the batter in to bake, we need to bring the microwave to the temperature specified in the recipe. This is called as pre-heating. This is an important step and the first thing you do even before you start mixing your batter. We want the oven hot and ready so that the tin with the cake/brownie batter can go in without any delay. Never keep the cake or brownie batter waiting as it can alter the texture.

But remember to follow recipe instructions always as there may be a few exceptions.  Some cookies and pie crusts can be baked soon after the dough is mixed. Sometimes you may need to chill the cookie/pie dough before rolling and baking. 

Oven Thermometer: When we talk about pre-heating and oven temperatures, I must definitely mention an oven thermometer. This helps you cross-check the temperature inside the oven. Ovens can sometimes act funny. You set it at 180, the actual temperature may be 200C ! So you may end up ruining your bakes. Get yourself one of a reliable brand, you can buy online, do read reviews from other users.  Of course, all of these things are better purchased on Amazon.com if someone can carry it for you. 

Buy in India* 
Buy in the USA*
Do compare prices!

Oven Thermometer Brands I use one by Taylor. Rose Levy Beranbaum, renowned baker and author recommends infrared or point and shoot thermometers. She uses a laboratory cable thermometer from Omega ( model HH22).These thermometers are sophisticated, accurate and yes expensive too! No harm in checking it out and putting it on your wish list though!

So here is how I pre-heat my LG convection microwave (MC 8040NSR), please take this as a general guide. Of course, to know how to pre-heat your microwave of a different brand and model, you would need to refer that boring manual to see how you pre-heat it. If you can't find it as it happens often, look for it online. 

Preheating Time Microwaves usually take about 5 minutes to pre-heat, so I have the luxury of waiting till my batter is almost ready. But safer not to. I tend to forget once I get involved in the mixing process, so I start pre-heating ahead. If you are not as forgetful as me, by all means, wait until you have 5 minutes to go before the batter gets ready.

How-To Preheat (Finally!): To pre-heat, we will first need to keep the short rack inside. We need to keep the oven thermometer on the rack and put the microwave in convection mode. By default, the microwave will set at 180C. If you want to increase the temperature, keep pressing the same button. It will keep increasing by 10 degrees every time you press until it reaches 250C. That is the maximum in my microwave, I wish it went up higher, would be great for making pizza from scratch.

Then press start. Now the turntable will start rotating. When the oven reaches 180 C it will display the temperature on the panel and sound a beep too. The oven will stay on(at 180C in this example) for about 20-30 minutes. In case you do not put something in and set the timer, it will get switched off after 20-30 minutes.  If that happens as it sometimes does, you will need to preheat again.

Normally in my microwave, the temperature on the thermometer and the panel match and I have no serious complaints about the way things bake in it. Touchwood!  If there is a lot of variation between the temperature you set and the temperature the thermometer displays, and your bakes are not turning out properly, please get your oven checked by a qualified technician. 

Once you hear the beep, quickly remove the oven thermometer( as there isn't enough space to keep it on the rack along with the baking tin). Make sure the rack is in the center of the glass turntable and steady. Keep your baking tray in, set the timer as needed and press the Start button.

One great thing about convection microwaves is it takes very little time to pre-heat. About 5 minutes to pre-heat to the maximum temperature of 250C.  Once you turn the oven off, you can hear the sound of the oven cooling.

Assume your recipe specifies 'bake 30 minutes at 180 C'. You set the timer for 30 minutes and remove the cake, you find that it needs a few minutes more. So, if you have just removed it from the oven just a few seconds earlier, immediately put it back in, set the temperature and the timer for say 5 minutes and press start. I don't find the need to pre-heat all over again. If the oven is turned off, be sure to put the oven back in convection mode, and then set the temperature and the timer.

But if has already been a couple of minutes, the oven will have started cooling( you can hear the fan). You will need to pre-heat again and bake as needed. Check how your oven works, how long it maintains the temperature once it is turned off and you will get a better idea. 

If you would be baking multiple trays of cookies, try to keep next tray ready before the one inside the oven comes out.  If in doubt, pre-heating the oven again is a safe bet. 

So this was about pre-heating, here are a few more videos about ovens you may like to watch. 

How To Use A Convection Microwave. 

Compare  A Convection Microwave And OTG

Please share these videos if you find them helpful, it will help me in reaching out to more people! And of course, do not forget to subscribe to my channel for more videos! 

Please note:*This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and buy through the link, I will earn a tiny commission on the same. I recommend products which I have used and found good.You will be paying the same price as mentioned on the website, there will not be any variation here. This commission will help me with me costs of running the blog and channel. Your support will be greatly appreciated

Baking For Beginners - A Few Basics And Some Simple Recipes

''Nothing says HOME like the smell of baking does!''

Welcome to the deliciously enticing, magical world of home baking!

Since you are here, hope I am right in assuming you want to take your first steps into the world of baking? Before you make any assumptions about me or my 'expertise' let me assure you, am certainly not one!  I just am a learner at a different stage of learning.  Hopefully, I should be able to take you through the most basic of the baking basics.

Being a self taught home-baker, I know it can be fairly daunting when you wish you could bake or just start baking. If its of any consolation to you, I started with no help, almost zero internet access and a hyper-active toddler in my arms.  Predictably, my first few attempts were total disasters.  But since then, I have managed to learn a thing or two, have churned out a handful of decent bakes. (Between you and me, I still have my fair share of disasters. Why, I could actually write another blog about my disasters and almost-there-bakes!)

Allow me to share with you the little I have gathered along the way.  I would also like to share some simple recipes that have worked well for me.  Please take these recipes as just a guide for the techniques that are used.  Feel free to try recipes which are similar.

I believe that a methodical approach will help you feel more at ease.  So I would suggest you go through all of the feature posts to familiarize yourself with some basics before you begin your baking journey.  Better informed, you are bound to make a better start.

All that I have written in these posts and my blog in general is only my understanding of the recipes, techniques and process.  Do feel free to correct me in case of any mistakes, I will be glad to make any changes that are necessary.

I often get e-mails about suggestions for baking classes.  In my opinion, classes can just about give you an idea unless you join a full fledged baking /culinary school .  Its entirely up to you again to actually learn.  Read up, practice, watch the wealth of videos on the internet and you are good to go!

Getting the hang of baking takes some time, effort and patience.  But take heart, if I can do whatever you can see here, so can you.  Keep at it, you will get there soon!  Then again, I keep reminding myself too, that this is a journey with so much to learn and explore.  Rest assured, it will be eminently enjoyable, the high you will get out of this is best experienced!

Update! - My new video channel for beginners! I am attempting to put these posts and more in video format. I am terribly camera shy, but go ahead and laugh at my first few videos ( I will laugh with you)!  Please do subscribe to my videos for updates. You can also subscribe to my channel on YouTube. Click to subscribe now!

Here is the trailer for you

THE BASEST OF THE BASICS - Boring but necessary!

 








Introduction To Baking - For The New Wannabe Bakers - Video here
How To Use A Convection Microwave For Baking Video here
Baking Gadgets And Paraphernalia - Must Haves And Nice To Haves! videos here and here
Basic Baking Ingredients - Part 1
Basic Baking Ingredients - Part 2 
Common Basic Baking Terms - Part 1 
Common Basic Baking Terms - Part 2 
Common Basic Baking Terms - Part 3 
Basic Baking Conversions Chart video here
Preparing Pans For Baking - A General Guide
How To Line Cake Pans video here
General Baking Prep - Simple Things To Do When You Bake


RECIPES - Now comes the interesting part!!

I know its extremely tempting to try that frosted dark chocolate cake as your first bake for that birthday next week, but hold on!  If you ask me, starting with simple recipes, moving to those which  require more by way of technique will be the best thing to do.  I know from experience that nothing truly motivates a new baker like a successful bake does.  And the key to learning better is largely continuous practice.

At the cost of sounding like that stern teacher of your school days, here are some recipes you could attempt, preferably in the order given.  Again, these are merely suggestions, feel free to try similar ones you may come across.  These may not go on to be your most favorite recipes ever, but will certainly be some easy ones you could successfully attempt.  Hopefully these will help.  Before you ask, yeast and breads only after you are completely at ease with your oven and baked a few cakes at least.

SIMPLE BAKES

Double Chocolate Granola 
Peanut Butter And Chocolate Chip Granola video here
Pioneer Woman's Potato Parcels 
Chocolate Buttermilk Cookies 
EVOO And Yogurt Loaf Cake 
Easy Cocoa Brownies - And Some Brownie Point(er)s !
Orange Biscotti
Cinnamon Cornmeal Biscotti 

BREADS : Baking bread is joy, but be sure you know if your are using good yeast before you begin.  Since baking bread involves more variables for success, this is better done once you are comfortable with basic baking process and your oven.  Try the no knead ones, then the ones that need kneading.  

Know Your Yeast!
Yeast Bread Basics 
Dough Rising Bucket 
No Knead Pizza
No Knead Focaccia 


EXTRAS : Little things that make a difference - good vanilla extract for instance.  Take up that brownie or cake a notch with these easy dessert sauces!

Vanilla beans and Homemade Vanilla Extract video here
Vanilla Bean Sugar
Chocolate Ganache 
Really Easy Butterscotch Sauce  video here
Dulce De Leche 
Making Caramel And Caramel Sauce
Creme Anglaise - English Custard Sauce

TECHNIQUES : Whipping cream, melting chocolate, whipping egg whites and more. 

  
One Easy To Melt Chocolate 
How To Whip Cream  


I have updated just a few recipes here, will soon be doing more.  This section will always be work in progress and will be constantly updated.  Please feel free to leave your comments, feedback and suggestions on this section.

Hope to hear from you!

Homemade Crème Fraîche

Crème fraîche (pronounced krem fresh), is an often used ingredient in cooking and baking. Think thick cream with a gentle tang. Its very versatile as it lends itself to use in both sweet and savory dishes and bakes. Lightly whisked sweetened crème fraîche  is often used as a topping for cakes, fresh fruit, sweet and savory pies, tarts, ice creams and other desserts. When made with heavy cream with high butterfat content (35- 40%), it doesn't separate when heated, making it suitable for use in baking and cooking. 

Sour cream is apparently much more tangy and may curdle when heated. It has lower fat content usually, sometimes has thickening agents added.

Try crème fraîche in your pasta, soups and salad dressings. It probably is the easiest and closest thing you could use in place of mayonnaise. Seasoned, herbed crème fraîche on your baked potatoes - yum!  I am yet to use it in baking to test if 25% butterfat is good enough, but it should work. Fingers crossed!

Before we start feeling all envious, let me tell you that its apparently expensive and not all that commonly available even in other countries. But the good news is, its ridiculously simple to make your own at home! All it takes is some cream and buttermilk and some inactive time, 12-14 hours. Just like making yogurt at home. Can't be simpler right?

Most recipes you will find broadly follow the same procedure. Buttermilk or yogurt in varying proportions added to cream either at room temperature or slightly warmed cream, kept loosely covered or tightly closed in a jar, placed in a warm place or at room temperature. I have followed the recipe and proportions given in The Cake Bible. The fat content in the cream obviously contributes to the richness and thickness of the crème fraiche. I have used Amul 25% cream as I find the local cream with higher butterfat content already a bit tangy. Please do try it with any local brands (Nilgiris, Milky Mist) you like, but expect tangier crème fraiche.    

Watch my video here! You can find lots more such recipes, basics and tips on my channel, Cakes and More!

What we need

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Heavy cream at room temperature - 240 ml / 1 cup (I have used Amul 25% fat, 35-40% would work better)

Buttermilk, at room temperature - 1 tablespoon (mix 2 teaspoons fresh yogurt and 1 teaspoon water)

Sugar  - 1 tablespoon (optional) to be whisked in once the crème fraîche is ready. 

If using cream in a tetra-pack, let it sit on the counter for sometime undisturbed. Then drain the watery part and measure out only the thick cream to get 240 ml. If the cream is chilled, heat it just enough to get it to room temperature. Stir to combine the cream and buttermilk in a jar with a tight fitting lid. notice the thickness of the cream so that you can see the difference after 12 hours. Place it in a warm spot, say in your kitchen cabinet.

Let it sit undisturbed for 12-14 hours or until thickened but still pourable. Ultra pasteurized cream may take as long as 36 hours says Rose. The time it takes to thicken depends on the temperature, longer in winter, sooner in summer. Check the cream after about 10-12 hours (sooner in summer). If the cream is still not quite thick or slightly tangy, let it sit for a couple of hours more. It had not set quite like yogurt, but thicker than it was. Be sure to not leave it out for much longer unless you need it tangy. Refrigerate when its ready.

Storage : 3 weeks refrigerated. Crème fraîche will continue to thicken on chilling, may get tangier too I guess. The pictures here are after about 24 hours of refrigeration. If you need it sweetened, when ready to use, add the sugar and whisk lightly until soft mounds form when dropped from the spoon.

Can't wait to try what's left of the crème fraîche in the jar! What is your favorite way to use it ?

Homemade Ricotta

Say cheese and we in India are most familiar with three kinds. Mozzarella on our omnipresent pizzas. Cottage cheese without which our restaurants would be out of business! The other of course is processed cheese in slices and cubes stacked in the fridge for our white sauce and for the kids' sandwiches. The past decade or so has seen more of cheese with the culinary revolution, increasing popularity and interest in food. We can now safely say we know Parmesan, mascarpone, ricotta, quark, feta, cream cheese and Gorgonzola to name a few, at least by name. They don't sound all that much alien as they pop out of the menus and television shows all the time, we can actually pretend we know them!

The availability of exotic varieties of cheese is truly heartening with these dotting the aisles of the newer specialty supermarkets and the virtual aisles of online food stores. But truth be said, the prices kill the joy of buying them! The wallet effect apart, it would not really hurt to run to the near by store and buy a tub of fat free cream cheese for your cheese cake on the way back from work. Thankfully there are at-least some of these which are best consumed fresh - and the making of which need not be a study in itself. Home made ricotta is one of them.

Ricotta means 'twice cooked'  and is traditionally made using left over whey which is a by-product of cheese making. Below is the recipe for homemade ricotta for folk like us who have no access to cheese making by- products. Again homemade ricotta can be made using lemon juice or vinegar or buttermilk to curdle the milk, with obvious subtle difference in taste.

It was a joy to discover that ricotta is oh-so-easy-to-make with just a handful of easily available ingredients. When really fresh, it has a very soft and creamy texture. Can be made quickly subject to the availability of whole milk and cream. You could use ricotta in cheesecakes, cakes, muffins, desserts, in your savory tarts or eat just as is with a drizzle of honey and nuts. Delightful soft cheese, ridiculously easy to make, supposedly super versatile in use and very cost effective - who in their right mind will now say no to this cheese!

Adapted from here, recipe by David Lebovitz.

You will need :

Whole milk - 960 ml / 4 cups ( I used 3.5%)

Plain whole milk yogurt - 120 ml/ 1/2 cup

Heavy cream ( I have used Amul, 25%) - 60 ml / 1/4 cup (optional )

White vinegar - 1 teaspoon

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon (1 teaspoon if using the cheese for savory recipes)

Position a strainer over a large deep bowl, line with a few layers of cheese cloth. In a medium sized heavy pot, lightly whisk together the milk and cream, tip in the yogurt, vinegar and salt. Bring this to a boil ( I boiled on medium heat). It took about 5 minutes for the milk to rise and the milk to start separating around the edges. Once it comes to a boil (when it rises), boil for another 2 minutes or till the milk curdles. You can now see whey and bits of curd over the surface too. Do not boil for longer as it may make your cheese rubbery.

Pour into the lined strainer and drain for 15 minutes. Gather the cheesecloth around the cheese and squeeze gently to drain excess liquid. Guess we have to remember that you if you drain it longer it makes for a drier cheese and you only need to squeeze it gently and not actually wring it dry!

Home made ricotta is best served warm, refrigerated for up to 3 days. Not sure if this freezes well.

Please note: David Lebovitz recommends whole milk, heavy cream and whole milk yogurt - the higher fat percentage in all these contributes to the creamy texture. You may use low fat milk, yogurt and cream but can't expect the same texture. I have used milk at room temperature as I thought it would take longer for cold milk to boil ( Did not want risk boiling long along with the acidic ingredients, fearing tough cheese)

I actually have some ricotta in my fridge, lets see what I can do with it!

Oven Dried Tomatoes

Preserving seasonal fruit and vegetables in various forms is almost as old as civilization itself. Be it pickles, fruit concentrates, jams or simply dried fruit and vegetables. Sun drying gooseberry (amla), raw mango, stuffed green chillies, varieties of happala / sandige are a few things that I have grown up seeing my mother doing religiously every summer. Taking advantage of the blistering sun and preserving the bounty, relishing it through the year is so satisfying! Sadly, I am now among those people who are not lucky enough to have suitable and safe drying areas to do these things!'

Tomato is a favorite fruit vegetable and I love using it in my cooking. So much so I find it difficult to cook certain dishes without it! I have read about and seen sun dried tomatoes only in the past few years. I am sure I would have tasted it in some dish but obviously not enough for me to vividly recall the taste of it.  Drying this luscious fruit with herbs and spices sounds yumm and I tried my hand at making oven dried tomatoes. 

You could use plum tomatoes as I have used or use cherry tomatoes in one or both colors. These are sliced, tossed in oil, salt and pepper and choice of seasoning and slow dried in the oven for several hours. You could use them immediately or preserve them in sterilized jars or in oil if intending to preserve them for longer. You could snack on them and watch the hours of effort disappear in a jiffy or use them in your pasta or salad or even as a topping on your tart or pizza or in your sandwich.

The method is pretty simple and there really is no right or wrong way of doing this really!Select some good quality ripe but firm tomatoes, preferably of the same size for uniform baking time. Wash and slice them into two, de-seed them by pushing the seeds out with your thumb. Toss them in oil, chopped or grated fresh garlic, herbs like oregano and thyme, salt, freshly ground pepper or red chilli flakes. Bake them in the oven pre-heated to a low setting - I set mine at 100 degrees C .


The baking time depends on the temperature you are baking at, the size of the tomatoes and the desired degree of dryness. I have baked them till shriveled and crisp at the edges, dry but still soft at the centers ( as opposed to not juicy). Your dried tomatoes will have a concentrated tomato flavor along with the flavors of the oil, herbs and spices you have used. Think slightly aged very chunky tomato pickle!

This is what I have used, I have baked in both my ovens. Recipe adapted from various similar recipes.

Plum tomatoes, ripe but firm - 1 kilogram
Olive oil or any flavorless oil - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Grated fresh garlic - 1 teaspoon ( 5-6 pods)
Dried thyme - 3/4 teaspoon
Freshly ground black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon
Red chilli flakes - 1/2 teaspoon
About 3/4 cup more oil if you wish to preserve them in oil.

Feel free to use as much herbs and seasoning as you wish, but do bear in mind that the tomatoes will shrink a lot and the flavor will be concentrated. Unless you plan to use these as a snack, its better to err on the side of less seasoning as the dish you would be using these in will have more flavors as well. If you find them low on seasoning, its just a matter of sprinkling some on top to eat as is.

Pre-heat oven to the lowest setting , mine at 100 degree C. Line your baking sheet or tin with parchment. Toss the sliced tomatoes in the oil and seasoning. Place them cut side up on the lined sheet. Bake till the tomatoes are almost crisp and shriveled at the edges, dry but still soft in the center. If you press the center firmly with your index finger, it must not feel juicy. It should feel dry but still soft, like a raisin. If you bake it even longer the tomatoes may become rubbery. Some of my tomatoes baked in 3.5 hours, I baked some for almost 5 hours. You could start checking at around 3 hours. Take out the slices which feel done, leave the others to bake longer. Bake some slices for different lengths of time to figure out what texture you will like best the next time you bake these.

Remove the slices from the oven, cool and store in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Store in sterilized jars or in oil if you wish to store them longer.

How To Tell At A Glance If My Bread Dough Has Doubled / How Do I know if My Dough Has Risen Enough

How To Tell At A Glance If My Bread Dough Has Doubled / How Do I know if My Dough Has Risen Enough. Watch my video!

Making your own dough rising bucket - big deal, hardly the greatest thing since the wheel! But I 'made' my dough bucket and thought its a very nice, if not really necessary thing to have. If you are new to baking yeast breads, yeast dough needs to be proofed till it has doubled, almost doubled etc. Since I am not a veteran bread baker (if you are one, please don't laugh!), what I normally do is place the dough in a container, stick a scale inside near the wall of the container, read the level. Then mark the level up to where it has to rise in order to double, proof till it reaches the mark. Works fine for me.

But when I saw dough rising buckets on some bakeware sites, I wishfully thought it would be really nice to have one. Then, made my own, one of those uber simple things which make you wonder why you did not do this before. Nothing very ingenious, but again, if you bake yeast breads, here is a nice, inexpensive but useful thing to have. Transparent food grade containers with lids, a permanent water-proof marker which works on plastic surfaces and a scale is all you need. And uh, maybe broad transparent adhesive tape to cover what you write, just in case the permanent marker turns out to be a temporary one.

So we first go to the nearby departmental store, buy a couple of suitable boxes. Maybe 2-3 sizes, for varying amounts of dough. I got 2. Naw, am lying, I got 3. I was scared I would probably draw a slanting line on the box and I would not be able to erase the 'permanent' mark. But my fears were completely unfounded. Nope, I did not draw a perfect straight line! I was able to easily erase the slanting line :(. So much for the permanent marker I got! Alright, slow me got another marker which read as water-proof, suitable for plastic, glass metal blah blah. The small ones for 1 1/2 cups of flour dough kind and a bigger one for more. Need enough space for dough to rise till double and still have more space left.

So wash and dry the containers. In the worst case and the poorest marker, we can use the markings at least once when we take pictures. And re-write with a better marker later! And cover with tape. Just to be sure.

I like to read the dough level in centimeters, so have marked accordingly, 1/2 a centimeter and 1 centimeter readings. Suit yourself. A straight line first.  My Math teacher will be proud of me (hopefully) - I start marking from where the scale reads 0 centimeters, then go on till the rim of the container. Allow it to dry, resist from testing the quality of the marker. Pictures first. Hardly a life-threatening situation, but take the risk later.

In goes my dough, press down gently to make it flat. Reads 4 cm. Either mark level (unbelievably, people like me actually tend to forget simple single digit numbers like 4!) with colored insulated tape kind of thing or make a note somewhere (avoid scribbling on your palm), preferably in a nice place like your baking book or recipe print-out.  And yeah, cover the lid. Keep in a warm place.

Now, when my dough reaches 8, yeah, 4+ 4 its time to put it in the pan! You could actually laze on the couch and ask your kids to tell you the reading. For all the holiday stress, this this the least they can do for you ;-). Its such a pleasure to not be in doubt whether the dough has doubled!

Please note : Let the dough proof covered with the lid closed slightly ajar, keep the bucket in a warm spot or in the refrigerator as specified in the recipe. Note down the time your dough takes to double. After you shape the bread, your dough will take approximately the same time to double again, sometimes a bit earlier too. If you press your fingertip into the dough and the indentation remains, you know it has doubled. Always follow recipe instructions. 

Now that I have shared my hi-tech bucket idea with you, could you please tell me fool-proof ways or things to permanently mark plastic with? Indelible ink? May be next time I go to cast my vote, I should bribe someone there to give me just 10 ml of that ink? How about black nail polish? Tell me!

Microwave Dried Thyme & Confessions Of A Food Blogger

Cure for one obsession : get another one - Mason Cooley

Obsession - while this is not exactly unheard of, it gets a new dimension with food blogging. Obviously, people who are obsessed with food are the ones who write food blogs. This only compounds the obsession, taking it to greater heights. While the families do get to eat some new chow now and then, they also need to live with this species called as food bloggers. Here come some of my confessions about my passion and obsession...hopefully some common to the food blogger community and probably some specific to me(sheepish!)...

• Food is on my mind almost 24/7, no exaggeration. Dreams feature baking that perfect flaky croissant or what I can do next with the puff pastry. Nightmares are power cuts when your rich Christmas cake is baking or your trusted brand of chocolate out of stock...
• Storage space constraints just don't matter when I buy new baking pans or blog props. God forbid, you may see me limping tomorrow as one of these may fall on my foot - either from the overcrowded rack in the tiny dining room or from my overflowing wardrobe where I stash away some precious jumbo sized bake-ware. I guess some may be of no use to me currently, but am sure I will find it extremely useful ... may be 3 years down the line?
• Oh yeah, talking of props, those delicate dessert glasses are more for my pictures. Once I am done with the pictures and we eat out of them, any leftover desert the next day can be eaten out of the sturdy melamine bowls which can actually be tossed into the sink!
• My son mentioned he needed a plain white T-shirt for his school day, and I made sure he got it... after dragging the reluctant kid to may be just half a dozen shops for that perfect white shirt - he needs it you see. And may be it will also make a nice background for that ice cream in a cone shot, no?
• Love it when folk visit us. A chance to bake something - for a new post! That cake which I want to post, but the pictures are not quite nice. Bake it again, take the pictures, quick! hide any signs of 'shooting' before the guests arrive. But save the presentation and serve it to them like I that's how I eat food everyday!

 
• I was never interested in gardening - or may be I should admit, my only serious interest till date has been food. But I never find these fresh Italian herbs when I need them - so I grow them! Apart from oregano, basil, thyme and sage, and yeah, mint, coriander and red chillies make a great garnish, so I got to grow them all. Oh yes, I would have grown strawberries and oranges too, but I guess they don't grow all that well in a pot?
• I plan and plan for that birthday cake for hubby and kids, as I want to bake it for them of course ( please don't hurt my feelings by even thinking otherwise!). Guess it would also double up as a nice post for the blog anniversary or Valentine's Day or some such thing ?

• Just twice in my 2 years of blogging, I was so engrossed with hubby's birthday cake, I almost forgot to cook him a nice birthday lunch.. almost! - believe me. And when I am supposed to be happily singing the birthday song while hubby, son or daughter cut the cake (latest before 5.p.m before the sun goes down, we conspire for things to work like that ;-) ), I am more worried about how the cake will be cut. The first slice needs to pose for the pictures (a 15 minute break please) before its eaten...All food, freshly baked and cooked, will be eaten only once it gets photographed and cold . Patience is a virtue - which I enforce on hubby and kids - for my convenience, and my blog!

• Christmas fruit cakes - I made about 4, all different recipes of course, (picture me indignant looking) in a week. I had to get the recipe which made me happy. By the time, the 4th one was baked, hubby and kids did not want to touch candied peel or fruit with a barge-pole or smell cinnamon and cloves baking for the next 6 months. Poor things, for all that trouble, power cut ruined the best cake and blogger could not post it on Christmas Day...sigh!!
• I have more pictures of food on my computer than of my own kids. Forgive me kids - I don't even qualify for applying to be the best mother around.

• From the time I was in school, I never was one to show any bit of interest in art and craft. I filled up one entire 6'' square cloth with cross stitches, chain stitches, crochet of that vague resemblance of a flower...all over a period of one year, in that dreaded work experience class. Forgive me Sister Susan. I can still see that disapproval in your nod for the pathetic art and craft student. I hope you will be happy if you know that today, I am really interested in something which vaguely fits this category. chocolate borders, candied roses with orange peel, painting cartoon characters, heck I even made Practice 'Buttercream' - just to learn how to pipe those borders neatly.
• Being unable to attach a picture on the blog is a matter of emergency. Hubby is my tech support helpline, no down time please! My small expectations - he can request the airlines to delay the flight take off by about 10 minutes, before he flies to Dubai for that meeting to discuss software and other uninteresting things. Gosh, the internet is down and I need to recheck that recipe, he could quickly read it out to me? I promise I won't stop him from getting back on that con call with the waiting client soon after! 
• The friendly neighbor with the very pretty, immaculately manicured hands could please hold a basket of strawberries for my pictures...maybe a score or more till the non-photographer finally gets it right...Hey, hang on, I will just transfer them to the computer and check, in case I need to, could we redo?

I concede that being spouse/child/neighbor of a food blogger is not always easy, but hopefully not so bad either? All said and done, what's life if you are not passionate about something? It does make life a bit crazy at times, drives folk around you crazy...but would we have it any other way?

The obsession also makes you feel insanely good about owning a pot of thyme, for stocking up on good fragrant dried herbs, something rare to find around here, something you don't get even for a price. Most of the times, I personally find the bottled ones less fragrant, the oregano seasoning sachets which come with pizza are something I love. I love thyme and when I get a packet of this fresh herb, I like to dry it in the microwave and store it.  You could dry the herbs in the sun, but outdoor space to safely dry them and good sunlight are both real luxury for a lot of us here. Alternatively you could slow dry them in the oven at a very low temperature. Here is how we do it in the microwave...

 
Idea adapted from Champa

Wash and drain the herbs in a colander. Shake off excess water, remove from the colander, shake off any more excess water. Wipe dry with a kitchen towel. Pick out the very thick stems. Spread the thyme on a microwave safe plate in a single layer. Microwave on high power for a minute. Mix the herbs, microwave again for 2 more minutes, redistributing the herbs once after a minute. The herbs will feel fairly dry by now. If your herbs are wet, it may take another minute for them to feel dry. Microwave 3-4 times on high power for 30 seconds, redistributing them once after every 30 seconds. Once the herbs are almost completely dry, remove the plate from the oven. The herbs will dry and crisp further as they cool. Once completely dry and almost crisp, crush them between your palms or grind in the smallest jar of your mixer. Store in an airtight container. I store mine in the refrigerator.

Its worthwhile taking some time and effort to dry your herbs as it adds a lot of flavor to breads, soups, pasta...

Please note: The microwaving time may vary depending on the quantity of the herbs you microwave at a time and the power of your microwave. Do experiment with what works for you best. Be careful not to overdo the microwaving, avoid microwaving the herbs for long periods at a stretch as this may cause the herbs to burn.

Just between you and me, do you have any confessions of yours to tell me?

Mock Puff Pastry - Easy And Quick!

I am so excited! I made puff pastry at home! Albeit something which goes by the name Mock Puff Pastry, it still made me do a little jig and my heart puffed with joy! The puff pastry most of us are familiar with, is layers of flaky pastry with a savory or sweet filling we get at bakeries. The thought that this is something which can be made at home to be stored and put to such versatile use is new to me. Thanks to blogging again! How do just four ingredients like butter, flour, salt and water metamorph into flaky layers? Got to be something of a challenge to achieve!

When I first checked recipes for puff pastry, it was one made by the Daring Bakers, Michel Richard's recipe from the book Baking With Julia. With breathtaking results, this one yields 2 1/2 pounds (1 kg plus some) of dough and is made in a food processor. I was not very sure if I could do this with a hand mixer and get similar results. Puff pastry not being exactly as simple as baking brownies, what if I try it without a food processor and I do not get even passable results? Going by the accounts of the DB members, a good number of people made it a couple of times before getting it right. And in my opinion, halving and quartering recipes won't work for puff pastry - at least if you are doing it for the first time or unless you really know what you are doing.


A couple of quick and easy recipes needed sour cream as an ingredient and again, I was not sure if yogurt would be a good enough substitute in this particular recipe. Sigh! And then I came across this recipe called Mock Puff Pastry in Alice Medrich's Chewy, Gooey, Crispy, Crunchy, Melt-in-The-Mouth cookies, which does not need a food processor or sour cream or a stand mixer and yields a modest amount of pastry. Perfect!! I am glad I did not miss this recipe in the book, as its easy to, because this recipe is given in the last few pages under the chapter "Components'.

The recipe involves mixing cubes of chilled butter, flour, salt and ice cold water, forming a barely cohesive dough. This needs to be rolled into rectangles of specific dimensions, chilled in the fridge and then re-rolled as directed. Chill again for a couple of hours and your puff pastry is ready to use! As Alice says, its hard to imagine and quite intimidating at first, to see the mass of flour and butter you are expected to roll out into pastry. Its fun and easy and the results will delight you she says. You could use this for baking tartlets, palmiers and other fancy stuff, within no time at all. Aye, aye!

Before we move any further, I must confess, that though the results really pleased me and was appreciated by folk around, I kick myself for slipping at the first step - could this have been even better? Is this as good as the intended result?  Very definitely, this is very much a matter of better results with more practice. I made this twice, once when I thought I had baked a complete disaster, but turned out decent enough to eat. Second time, with a couple of lessons learnt, but a new mistake done!! In spite of this, the outcome was flaky, crisp, pastry! Which gives me hope that making good puff pastry, although, mock, is not very far off... And of course, I can't wait till I get this per..rfecct before I share this with you.

Sharing my experience, I think some pre-planning and careful execution, can surely make this easier and leave less room for error. One of the very important things is the temperature of the butter when you actually use it. Cutting the butter into cubes well ahead of time (previous day or at least 4-5 hours ahead) and refrigerating it can help. Do not freeze or pop in the freezer for some time (as I did), or it will be a wee bit hard and you won't be able to roll the dough easily. Keep the cubed butter in the fridge till you are all ready. Cut the butter into 1/2 '' cubes and chill (not chill and cut just before you use as this may cause it to soften). You may think of this as funny, but I took the half inch part quite seriously. Take no chances!

The water needs to be ice cold and you mean business here. Keep the measured quantity of water in the freezer an hour or so before you make the pastry. You don't want to measure later and find that you are short of water. You want very very cold ice water, but not ice. Adjusting the temperature of the water when you are making the pastry may make your butter softer and the dough more prone to tearing.

And remember, you need to be quick as you work with the dough throughout. This will help keep the butter and the dough cool, easier to work with.

Things you will need:
A 14'' scale
A large, wide bowl
A large metal spoon
Dough scraper
Aluminum foil - a large sheet or plastic wrap. (this needs to be big enough to wrap a 10'' sq pastry in)
A big rolling pin
A flat plate (10'' sq or more ideally, I used my 9'' sq tin)
A plastic file or a thin, flat, clean, plastic table-tennis bat kind of thing or a stiff piece of cardboard (to lift the rolled dough)
A print-out of the recipe right next to you, so that you can read it as you work.
Space in your fridge to house a 10'' sq..
An apron!

Please note : The ideal temperature to make puff pastry is apparently around 18 C. So its best made either in winter or in an air conditioned room.

Ingredients: I have weighed the ingredients

All purpose Flour - 1 3/4 cups - 220 grams / 7.875 oz
Salt - 3/4 teaspoon -
Butter, unsalted, cut into 1/2'' cubes and chilled - 227 grams / 2 sticks / 1 cup
Ice cold water - 1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons (if needed), keep them in separate bowls
A lot of flour for dusting the counter

Procedure: Mise en place. Clear the counter, clean, wipe dry, you need lots of space. No extra water or coffee here please, we can't risk spillage when you are engrossed in rolling the dough. Kids away please - at school preferably. Mark a rectangle of 8 by 16 inches on your counter (using a non-toxic crayon) , the 8'' side facing you. This will help you roll the dough to this dimension. Elongate the sides and mark a little away too. Once the counter is covered with flour, you can't probably see where the mark is!

Now ad verbatim from the book, some bits from me. Sift the flour and salt and put it in a large, wide bowl. Then add the chilled butter. With a large metal spoon, stir until until the butter bits are separate from each other and coated with flour. Separate the butter pieces with your fingers if needed.( I had to). Drizzle in most of the water (from 1/2 cup) and turn the mixture gently with the spoon till the water is absorbed. Lift the mixture to one side with the spoon and pour the remaining water onto the flour in the bottom of the bowl. Stir and lift the mixture until there is no longer any dry flour left at the bottom of the bowl. Add the extra 2 tablespoons of water one tablespoon after the other if necessary. (I used the extra 2 tablespoons both the times) The mixture will be loose and shaggy, literally a bowl full of butter chunks coated with damp flour amid damp raggedy pieces of dough. Do not over mix or let the butter get soft.

Now dust your counter heavily with flour. Flour your rolling pin. You need to keep dusting the work area and the rolling pin as you work if you need. (At any point of time, if you need to flour the counter, lift a part of the dough, just enough to flour underneath if needed, don't try to lift the dough completely off the counter as it will tear) . Scrape the mixture on the counter and shape it into a rough rectangle (using your hands) Press and roll out the dough to a rectangle 8'' by 16'' inches, the narrow 8'' side facing you. (Try to roll as evenly as possible. The mistake I did here was my butter was a bit too hard as I had popped it into the freezer for some time and then put in the fridge and this made rolling the dough tough. So I gathered the dough again and rolled. Ms.Alice will not approve of this, am sure! And at this point I was very very convinced that I have ruined the show again) You will see distinct pieces of butter and loose pieces of flour in the dough.  Run the flat plastic file or cardboard under the dough to detach it from the counter. Fold up the bottom third of the dough and top third of the dough down over it to make a new rectangle about 5 1/3 by 8 inches. If the dough is not cohesive enough to fold without significant breakage, slide the file folder to help you lift and fold with minimal breakage. (Dust the counter and rolling pin again if needed. In case, there is any butter sticking on the counter, scrape it off with the bench scraper).

Rotate the dough a quarter turn (now you will have the narrow 5 1/3 '' side facing you) , there may still be loose bits, roll it out again to 8 by 16 inches. By now the butter will have somewhat softened and the dough should be more cohesive, but it may still be breaking at the edges. This is OK. Using the file again, fold the bottom up and the top down to make a rectangle of 5 1/3 by 8 inches (same way as you did above). Wrap tightly in plastic wrap (I used foil) and (place it carefully on the plate or back of a square tin) and chill for 2 hours.

Clean and scrape the work surface if needed to make it smooth again. Mark a dimension of 8 by 20'' on the counter. Lightly flour the surface and the rolling pin. Working rapidly to keep the dough cool, unwrap the dough and roll it out to a rectangle 8 by 20'' inches. Fold the bottom edge up to the center and the top edge to the down to the center. (the edges will meet). Now fold the new top edge down to the bottom edge (there will be four layers of dough in a rectangle of 5 by 8''). Flour the dough and the work surface, rotate and repeat the last rolling and folding steps. Now flour the dough and roll it into a 10'' square. You could brush off any excess flour. Wrap securely with plastic wrap or foil and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Freeze for longer usage.

Whew! I think this is easier done than said !! Before I sign off, I think of this as a good attempt, but don't you think it would have been even better if I had not slipped at the first step? There is certainly room for improvisation in terms of handling and rolling the dough evenly, getting consistent results every time. Any insights from puff pastry veterans most welcome! For puff-pastry newbies like me, its simpler when you do it, so don't shy away reading this very lengthy post! Am sure, if you follow the directions to the T, your pastry will be better than mine in terms of texture. You can be sure of updates for this post as I make this make more attempts.

For now, this space will see a couple of recipes using puff pastry as the base, at last!!