soft pretzels!

No more waiting hours in the long queues in Pretzel joints in the Shopping Malls. We can make them at home with the same flavor, taste and more economically.Soft pretzels are very popular and little salty snack.I'm always pulling adrian back whenever I cross pretzel joints in Shopping Malls. This is one of my favorite snack, he has to drag me off from this floor. Here in this soft pretzel recipe too, it has a secret for getting the golden brown crust. We would see that in the procedures..

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Bread flour / All Purpose flour

 1 envelope of Instant yeast

 1 tsp of Salt 

2 tsp of Sugar 

1 tbsp of Butter

 1 Cup(warm water) of Water 

For Dipping Solution:

 Water - 2 Cups

Baking Soda - 4 tbsp

Instructions for making:

 1. Mix salt, sugar and blend it with blender. 

2. Then add 1 cup of flour and whisk it again to form a smooth paste. Then add remaining flour and water alternatively, little by little. Here I did add the remaining flour and water alternatively for about three times. 

3. Make a smooth dough knead it very well, which is the most important part. You can knead it in the machine, and if you are kneading it by hands, make sure you knead it for atleast 5 min. 

4. Divide it into small balls, I made 16 balls out of this flour. 

5. Make a portion of the dough into a long and thin about 10-12 inch. 

6. Twist the dough rope and make a knot.. 

7. Turn the knot upside and make sure the knot is inside the top circle. 

8. Convert the dough into this shape and leave it aside. 

9. Take a big bowl add 2 cups of water and bring it to boil and switch of the stove and immediately add 4 tbsp of baking soda. Need to carefull here, as this solution tends to overflow. And bring it to the room temperature. 

10. By the time, the knotted dough might have raised a little. Add these in the cooled baking soda solution and soak it for not more than 2 min. This is the secret for getting the golden brown color evenly like the ones which are available in your nearby shopping malls. 

11. Remove it and arrange it in the tray sprayed with oil or in the parchment papered tray. Leave it for another 10 min, the solution will get absorbed by the dough. Sprinkle little kosher salt, pretzel salt if needed. Here I didnot add anything. 

12. Bake it in the preheated oven in 475 degrees for 10 min. I did it exactly for 10 min, but it may change from oven to oven, so please keep an eye on the oven, as these pretzels may tend to go on either side if care was not given. 

13. Just open the oven, you will definitely say "Wow" by looking at the evenly golden pretzels. Brush the pretzels with little butter. Serve with 'Garlic butter'. 

Tips:

::Soaking in the baking powder solution is just to get the golden brown color, without this step also been done.

:Any yeast can do its job, but make sure you follow the manufacturer's procedure.

dholl puri ( to go with rice pudding or curry ) Indian split peas breads :)

• FILLING:
• 1 cup yellow split peas, soaked overnight
• Salt to taste
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• Hot pepper to taste, chopped
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 
  
• DOUGH:
• 1 pinch of yellow food coloring (optional)
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water (a little more or less may be needed)
• 
  
• COOKING:
• Vegetable or Canola oil

Preparation:

FILLING:

1. Drain water from peas that has been soaking overnight. Rinse peas a few times until the water runs clear. Transfer peas to a pot along with water to cover the peas and bring to a boil on high heat. When the peas comes to a boil, add salt to taste and cook until the peas has a slight bite to it. Drain thoroughly and spread out on a large baking sheet to air dry.
2. Add garlic and pepper to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to mince. Scrap down the sides of the bowl. Add peas and pulse until the mixture is very fine, like cornmeal. The mixture should not be like it paste. Transfer to a bowl and fluff with a fork.
3. Add cumin, mix and fluff. Set aside.
   
   
   DOUGH:
   
   1. Meanwhile, add flour, baking powder, yellow coloring, sugar and salt to a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Drizzle in oil and incorporate into mixture.
   2. Add lukewarm water to make a dough. Once the dough comes together, knead for 3 minutes. Rub oil all over the dough and place in bowl and let rest for at least 1 hr.
      
      ASSEMBLING:
      
      
      1. Knead rested dough for 1 - 2 minutes and then cut into 10 - 12 equal pieces.
      2. Working with one piece of dough at a time, pat each piece into a round disk, about 3 inches wide. Place the dough in one hand and form a cup. Using a tablespoon, add the filling to the dough (do not over stuff). Pinch the ends of the dough together to seal in the filling.
      3. Place the stuffed dough, seam-side down on an oiled baking sheet. Pat each stuffed dough-ball with a little oil to prevent a skin from forming.
      4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all the dough is stuffed. Cover the stuffed dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

COOKING:

1. Heat a flat iron griddle or a 10 - 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat.
2. Meanwhile, flour work surface and rolling pin. Take one of the stuffed dough-balls and flatten with your hand; working from the center, start rolling the dough back and forth, turn the dough to a 90-degree angle and keep rolling and turning until you have a round, thin, flat dough (it may be necessary to dust the rolling pin or work surface with a little extra flour as you work).
3. Dust off any excess flour and transfer the rolled dough to the griddle or cast iron skillet. Let cook until parts of the dough start to puff up with little bubbles; immediately flip the bread, brush with oil, let cook for 30 seconds then flip and brush the other side, cook for another 30 - 45 seconds and then remove from heat with a flat spatula. Reduce heat if the bread is browning quickly and not cooking through.
4. Place in a basket lined with a tea towel and kitchen paper.
5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all the dhal puri is cooked. To prevent the puri(s) sticking together, place a 4-inch piece of wax paper between each dhal puri as it is added to the basket.
   
   
   serve with hot curry or rice pudding !!!!

bagels :) with step by step picture :)

Homemade Bagels

Yield: Makes 8 bagels

Note: I never have bread flour on hand, so I always use all-purpose flour, subbing 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten in for every cup of flour (or 1 tablespoon gluten for about every 5 ounces of flour if you prefer to weigh your ingredients). For this doubledrecipe, I used 16 ounces of whole wheat flour, about 3 ounces of gluten and made up the rest of the 34 ounces with all-purpose flour.

Ingredients

Dough:
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 4 cups (17 ounces) bread flour (see note above for variations)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) warm water
Water Bath:
• 2 quarts water
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Directions

1. Manual/Mixer Method: To make this dough by hand or in a mixer, combine all of the dough ingredients and knead vigorously, by hand for 10 to 15 minutes, or by machine on medium-low speed for about 10 minutes. Since a high-protein bread flour is used here (or a combination of all-purpose flour and gluten), it takes a bit more effort and time to develop the gluten. The dough will be stiffer than other soft yeast doughs but will still be pliable and smooth once it has finished kneading. It should be stiff and floured enough not to leave much residue on your fingers after pinching a piece but not so stiff that you can’t easily pinch off pieces of dough and work with it. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with lightly greased plastic wrap. Set it aside to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until it is noticeably puffy.
2. Bread Machine Method: Place all of the dough ingredients in the pan of the machine, program the machine for Dough or Manual, and press Start. Check the dough after 10 minutes; it should be quite stiff, and won’t have formed a smooth ball. The dough will feel quite firm when you poke your finger into it. Allow the machine to complete its cycle, then complete bagels as instructed below.
3. Transfer the puffed/risen dough to a work surface and divide the dough into eight equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll it into a smooth, round ball. Place the balls on a lined or lightly greased baking tray and cover lightly. Let them rest for 30 minutes. They’ll puff up very slightly.
4. Once they have rested, one-by-one, use your thumb to poke a hole through the center of each ball then twirl the dough and use your other fingers to stretch the hole until it is about 1 to 2 inches in diameter. The entire bagel will be around 4 inches across. Place the shaped bagels on a lined baking tray (the same one that you’ll bake them on).
5. Prepare the water bath by heating the water and sugars to a very gentle boil in a large, wide-diameter pan. You can use a large pot or a deep straight-edged skillet. Preheat your oven to 425°F.
6. Transfer the bagels, three or four at a time, to the simmering water. Increase the heat under the pan to bring the water back up to a gently simmering boil, if necessary. Cook the bagels for 2 minutes, flip them over using a wide spatula, and cook 1 minute more. Using a wide spatula, carefully remove the bagels from the water and place them back on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining bagels.
7. Top the bagels with your desired ingredients. If you are going to use a dry topping, such as sesame seeds or poppy seeds, whisk together 1 egg white with 1 tablespoon water and brush each bagel with the mixture before topping heavily with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc. If using Asiago or another cheese, there is no need to brush the bagels with an egg white glaze, simply place the shredded cheese on the bagels.
8. Bake the bagels for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they’re as deep brown as you like. Remove the bagels from the oven, and cool completely on a wire rack.
9. I only bake one sheet of bagels at a time, even though I usually double the batch and have four sheets of bagels ready to be baked. The bagels that have been boiled, placed on the baking pans, topped with cheese and then sat and rested for 20-30 minutes while the other bagels baked – well…they actually turned out more rounded and golden brown than the ones that were baked right away. So there is no harm in boiling all the bagels at once and letting them hang out on the baking sheets while the other bagels bake.

the best shrimp cocktail!

Note: The shrimp and sauce may be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerate. If you can't find shrimp that are de-veined, simply cut through the top of the shell along the vein line (leaving the shell on the shrimp), and remove and discard the vein.

Ingredients

Shrimp:
• 2 pounds deveined, shell-on jumbo shrimp (16 to 20 per pound)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons peppercorns
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 8 (2-inch) strips lemon peel plus 1/4 cup juice, from 2 lemons (reserve the lemon halves that have been juiced)
• 8 cups ice
Cocktail Sauce:
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup prepared horseradish
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Combine the shrimp, 4 cups cold water, salt, thyme, peppercorns, bay leaves and celery seeds in a large pot. Cook the mixture over medium-high heat, stirring every so often, until the water registers 170 degrees and the shrimp are just beginning to turn pink, 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Remove the pot from the heat and add the lemon peels, juice and lemon halves that have already been juiced. Cover the pot and let the mixture sit until the shrimp are completely pink and firm, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir the ice into the pot and let the shrimp cool completely, about 5 minutes. Drain the water and peel the shrimp, leaving the tails intact. Refrigerate the shrimp up to 24 hours until ready to serve.
3. For the cocktail sauce, whisk all the ingredients together until combined. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve with the shrimp.

Homemade Hummus

It's hard not to love this delicious dip. Hummus can be expensive at the store but is extremely easy to make and tastes even better from scratch! Try it once and you'll be hard pressed to ever buy it from the store again!

Ingredients:

2 cans Garbanzo beans (drained)

fresh lemon juice to taste

3+ cloves garlic

2 Tb. Tahini

1/2 tsp cumin (or to taste) 

roasted red pepper to taste

paprika to taste

cliantro to taste

Combine ingredients in food processor until smooth.  Drizzle about 1 Tb. olive oil on top. Garnish with paprika and fresh parsley or cilantro.

Serve with naan, pita chips, bread or crackers

Our Tip:

• If the mixture is too thick, add plain yogurt or juice from garbanzo beans to thin and smooth it out

Garlic knots!!

Garlic Knots from LovetoCookYields 20 garlic knots

For the dough, I use the same ingredients as my pizza dough recipe, but I half the recipe.

1 c. warm water 

1/2 pkg. or 1/2 Tb yeast

 1/2 tsp. sugar

 1/2 tsp. salt 

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 1/4 – 2 1/2 c. flour 

Directions:Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let sit for a few minutes. Add the sugar.Combine the flour, garlic powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture.Knead for 2-3 minutes and then let rest for 10 min.Take a small pinch of the dough and roll into a rope about 5 inches long and ½ inch thick. Tie the rope into a knot and place on greased baking sheet. Repeat until you have used up all the dough, and your baking sheet is full of dough knots.Let the dough rest in a warm place for 15 more minutes.

Preheat oven to 400° F. Bake for approx. 12-15 min. or until golden.While knots are baking, make garlic coating.

By mixing together the following ingredients:

Garlic Coating:

2 Tbs. Olive Oil

2 Tbs. Butter, melted

4 cloves Garlic, minced (or 1+ Tbs garlic powder)

3 Tbs. Parsley

1 Tbs. Italian Seasoning

Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, if desired

After removing knots from oven, while still warm, either brush with garlic coating, or place knots in a large bowl and toss with garlic coating.