Roast Garlic

Roasted Garlic

“What are you making?”

“The house smells of garlic?”

The smell must have surprised my husband; he knows I do not enjoy garlic as much as he does.

He can live with garlic day in and out. Me I just tolerate the thing.

Ok it gives flavours, that are good but there is only so much of good a person can take.

Anyway coming to the husband’s question I roasted garlic for him and was he thrilled.  We kept it in a container and he enjoyed it in his daily food.

You can use it as a spread on bread or crackers, mashed into salad dressing, mashed into hummus, baba ganoush, or other spreads, in place of raw garlic in soups, casseroles, and sauces. Or like hubby spread on every surface he found he could spread it on.

This time I used the oven specially to roast the garlic but next time when I  #FireUpYourOven   baking this is one that will go with the bakes, only the savoury bakes mind you.

 Roast Garlic 

Recipe Source: The Kitchn

Ingredients:

• 1 or more heads of garlic
• Olive oil

Method:

• Heat the oven to 200° C / 400°F.
• Peel most of the dry skin off the garlic leaving the head and all the cloves connected.
• With a sharp knife cut off about ¼ inch off the top of the head of garlic. This will expose the tops of the garlic cloves.
• Drizzle 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil over the exposed surface of the garlic let the oil sink down into the cloves.
• Wrap the garlic aluminium foil and roast in the oven for 40 minutes. The garlic is done when a center clove is completely soft when pierced with a paring knife.
• Let the garlic cool slightly and serve.
• If you have questions as to how to get it out of the peel then tell them,” Press on the bottom of a clove” the garlic will come out.
• Roasted garlic can also be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 3 months.

Recipe Notes:

• Pressed for time? Then you can separate the head of garlic into individual cloves. Leave the cloves intact and covered with their skin, toss with olive oil, and roast in a foil packet until soft.
• The garlic head gets done in 40 minutes; you can continue roasting until deeply golden for a more caramelized flavour — check the garlic every 10 minutes. Exact roasting time will depend on the size of your garlic, the variety, and its age.

Day 14

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51

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Chilled Gazpacho for Spain

Chilled Gazpacho

Most of my international recipes are from what I have read in Mills n Boon! How I still adore those books … now I have slightly “upgraded” myself and I read Percy Jackson and his antics! Maybe when the kiddo starts reading M&B I will do the same again!

There was such book where the heroine is served delicious “gazpacho’ soup! The author went on describing the soup and I was surprised that there is chilled soup! Soup to my mind is to be served hot! Before the meal and generally it fills me up so much that I want hardly any dinner! Boooooooo! What a punishment for a foodie !

But exceptions prove the rule “Gazpacho" is cool, refreshing and flavourful start to a meal on a hot summer day. Gazpacho can be had from a soup bowl, or drink it from a glass.

This soup originates in the southern part of Spain called Andalusia. It is tasty, refreshing and very healthy, since it is made from nothing but fresh vegetables and a bit of oil and vinegar.

So this summer I am going to do what Spaniards do - Make a batch of /gazpacho/ and keep it in a glass pitcher in the refrigerator for whenever you need a cool drink.

So today in the Mega marathon which we call as “ Around the World in 30 Days” lets visit Spain.

Gazpacho

Recipe Source: Adapted from here and here

 Ingredients:

• 1.5 kgs/10-12 ripe tomatoes
• 2 slices of white bread, crust removed
• 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 green capsicum, washed, de seeded, coarsely chopped
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• salt to taste

Garnish: 

• 3-4 croutons (optional)

Method:

• Make a cross cut on the tomatoes near the stalk.
• Boil 3 litres of water, switch off the gas. Drop the tomatoes in the water. There should be enough water for the tomatoes to soak. Let them stand for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes drain and peel the tomatoes, remove the seeds and drop them in the blender.
• Meanwhile soak the bread in a little water.
• Add the softened bread to the tomatoes.
• Add the capsicum, cucumber garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper to the blender jar.
• Make a smooth paste. In case all the ingredients do not fit in the  blender jar make the paste in batches.
• Mix well. The gazpacho should have a creamy texture and should not be too thick or watery.
• Chill the gazpzcho in the fridge for a couple of hours.
• Just before serving spoon in glasses top with spring onion and crotons.

Chilled Gazpacho

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44

An InLinkz Link-up

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

Lengmans Noodles from Kazakhstan

Lengmans Noodles from Kazakhstan

For K today in the Blogging Marathon Around the world in 30 days I have chosen Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is located in southern Asia between Russia and Uzbekistan. Approximately 80 percent of the land consists of lowlands, plains, and plateaus. Strong winds often sweep through these flat lands. The climate in Kazakhstan is varied, and different plants and animals are found according to region. Parts of Kazakhstan become extremely cold in the winter and very hot during the summer. The Kara Kum Desert, the world's fourth largest desert, occupies most of central Kazakhstan.

For hundreds of years, Kazakhs were nomadic herders who raised qazaqi qoy (fat-tailed sheep), cattle, ayïr tüye(Bactrian camels), and at (horses). Kazakh nomads heavily relied on their animals for transportation, clothing, and food. They usually ate mutton (sheep), milk, cheese, and flat bread baked on a griddle. They also produced goods that they traded for grain, vegetables, and fruits at markets in the more settled cities of south Kazakhstan. Cone-shaped tents called yurts were their homes, which were easy to set up, dismantle, and carry.

 Traditional Kazakh foods reflect the nomadic peoples and also Middle Eastern influences. Middle Eastern methods of preparing and seasoning rice, vegetables, kebabs (skewered meat), and yogurt have been added. Favorite drinks such as black tea and vodka are part of Kazakh and Russian custom. Russian food is found in abundance in northern Kazakhstan and larger cities.

So for my choice it was difficult in fact I was about to just give up when I chanced on this site. It opened a whole new world of Kazakh foods.  

Okay girls please do not be put off with my long long procedure. Try it its well worth the effort.

Lengmans Noodles

Cuisine : Kazakhstan

Recipe Source:Here and Here

Serves : 6

Ingredients:

For the Stew:

• 1 tblspn of diced onion
• 200 gram mushrooms, cubed
• 1 medium size potato, thinly sliced
• 3 leaves of cabbage, sliced lengthwise or into cubes
• ¼ cup of bean sprouts
•  1 capsicum, cubed
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 8 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• ½ cup of diced coriander, chopped 
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp of ground cumin
• 2 tblspn of olive oil

 For the Dough: 

• 2 cups of maida
• A little less than 2/3 cup of water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• olive oil as needed

For boiling noodles: 

• 4 cups of water
• 3/4 to 1 tsp salt 

Method: 

Let’s mix the dough:

• Add the salt with flour in a bowl and mix well.
• Add water a little at a time mix as you go.
• Mix with a little force in the beginning and towards the end use less and less water each time.  You may not need all the water recommended.
• After mixing the dough smooth the dough by kneading with fists and folding for about 5 min.
•  In case you need water to because the dough feels tough dip your hand in the water container .Make sure your dough is completely smooth.
• Spread some oil on the top of dough, cover the dough with plastic wrap first, and then towel on top, let sit for 30 min at room temperature.

As the dough is resting let’s make the stew:

•  Heat the kadhai/wok add oil and heat at high heat.
•  Add onion to the cooking pan, stir.
• Add the potato and stir fry often until all sides of potato turns brown.
•  Add cumin and mushrooms stir fry for 2 or 3 min.
•  Add tomatoes, stir fry for 5 min or until the juice of tomato comes out nicely.
•  Add cabbage, stir fry for 2 min.
•  Add red pepper, and bean sprouts stir fry for 2 min.
•  Add coriander stir.
• Add about ½ cup of water to cover all goodies, add garlic, and allow it to boil for 5-10 min or so. Add salt to taste.

Let’s now make the noodles:

• Cut the dough into few pieces, roll each piece into long thin band, On top of each layer, brush with plenty of vegetable oil to keep them from sticking to each other.
• Roll each band into long round thinner band and roll onto a plate as below. Start with inner-most layer first then next outer layer. 

• Brush the top of circled dough with plenty of oil, cover with plastic wrap, and keep at room temperature for 30 min. If you feel your dough is still a bit hard after 30 min, keep it a bit longer, so it is easier to stretch.
• Meanwhile boil water in a deep pot with salt. Keep the water simmering as you get on with the next steps.

• Pull out the rolling band from one end, stretch it to even thinner (this is to be done in a wooden board but since I don’t have one I did it on the kitchen platform.)

• Actually there are more steps here which I could not manage but in case you are interested you could roll the noodle on hands, press hard on the wooden board, press it few times, and press it till you see some noodle is almost broken. Check here.
• Then toss the stretched noodle in the boiling water.
• It’s very important here is make sure you stir the noodle thoroughly by chopstick or folk. This way your noodle will not stick to each other. Cover the pot, allow it to boil. Open the lid let it continue boiling for 3 more minutes
• Take out the noodle from the pot.
• Toss the noodle into another container with cold water to cool down the noodle a little. Depending on the person you are serving the noodles can be custom served.
• Place one portion as needed on a plate; break the noodle by hand if needed.
•  Add about 1/2 cup stew on top and serve.
• Laghman needs to be served to each individual one by one, it tastes great when it is fresh.

Notes:

• If you feel your noodle turned out a bit bland, add some extra salt to the boiling water. So your next batch noodle will turn out better.
• And this water after boiling noodle can also be served as soup.   

Enjoy!!!

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44

An InLinkz Link-up

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

Tabbouleh

In our trip around the world let’s visit Jordon today. Wondering what I am talking about? Then we at Blogging Marathon are dishing up the world in the next thirty days, aptly named “Around the world in 30 days!’ Join us and enjoy this trip…. Today in Jordan!

I am tired of all the street food (that is my daughter’s chosen theme for me) my family has been gorging on I will like a nice salad.  So this Tobbouleh fits in my scheme of food.

Pita bread on the Stove Top

Pita Bread

This is a simple pita bread that can be made on the stove top or baked in the oven. But in case you are baking this bread then please prick the bread all around.

Pita bread

Recipe source: Greek food and  the kitchn.com

Ingredients:

• 1 tblspn active yeast
• 1 tblspn sugar
• ½ cup warm water
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tblspn olive oil
• 2 tsp salt

Method:

• In ½ cup warm water dissolve sugar and yeast.
• Let it stand covered for about 10 minutes. When the yeast becomes bubbly it’s ready for use.
• In the wide bowl mix salt in the bread flour mix the slat well.
• Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture.
• Mix the dough using as much as warm water needed to make a smooth elastic dough.
• Knead well. Make a smooth ball of the dough.
• Apply oil to the bowl and place the dough in the bowl.
• Turn the dough so that the top of the ball is also oiled.
• Cover the bowl with a cling film and set aside in a warm corner for the dough to rise. The dough has to be double the size, approximately 1 ½   to 2 hours.
• Punch down the dough and knead for 5 minutes more.
• Heat any tava/ skillet   over medium-high heat and roll your pita bread.
• Take pieces of dough about the size of a lemon and on a floured board roll out to a thickness of ¼ inch.
• Coat the bottom of the hot pan with a little butter or olive oil and add your pita.
• Cook the pita for about 30 seconds or till you get small bubbles and then flip it over.
• Cook for a minute and a half, flip it again, and cook for another minute.
• Transfer the pita to the direct flame and cook.
•  During this time, the pita will puff up like a pita and get some nice toasted spots on the underside.
• Flip over again on the direct flame again you get lovely spots. You are done.
•  Wrap the pita breads in a clean dishcloth while your make the others.

Linking this to Valli's 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge: August -- Week 5'.

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!