Whole Wheat Bread!

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour or bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tsp yeast
• 1.5 cups warm water
• 2 tsp butter melted
• 1-2 tsp oil

Directions:

• Mix the yeast in warm water and combine with honey and 1 cup all pupose flour.
• Mix the salt in the whole wheat flour. 
• Slowly add the whole wheat flour and 2 tsp melted butter to the yeast mixture and make a dough. The dough should be slightly sticky to ensure enough moisture. Use oil on hands to work with it. Place in a well oiled container.
• Cover the dough with wet cloth or plastic wrap and keep in a warm place.
• After an hour, punch the dough down( a difficult task as the dough will be stickier now) and place in a greased bread pan.
• Keep the pan in a warm place till the dough doubles in size. Mine looked like a balloon stuck to the top of the pan:)
• Bake at 350 degress for 15-20 minutes. You will know when it is done by the amazing bread smell that fills the kitchen!
• Cool on rack for 10 mins. Brush melted butter on the top to keep it soft. Slice when cooled.

Enjoy!! We had the fresh warm bread with some butter and olive oil! Amazing! 

Low fat Banana-blueberry bread!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
  
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 tsp butter softened
• 1 eggs
  
• 1 cup mashed bananas ripe
  
• 1/4 cup milk
  
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  
• 1 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice or chai masala.
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray one 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with a non-stick cooking spray
• In a medium bowl, beat the white sugar and margarine or butter until smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs, water and bananas with the sugar mixture until it is well blended.
• Mix in the flour, salt, spices and baking powder just until the mixture is moistened. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to blend all ingredients.
• Fold in the blueberries.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degree C) for about 45 minutes. Bread is done when the top is firm to the touch and a golden brown color. Time will vary according to loaf size and oven type. When bread is removed from oven, allow it to cool on it's side for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a rack. 

Mine turned out quite sweet coz of the honey. It worked out well coz the bananas were not as ripe, so the honey nicely masks the slight unripe banana taste! The next time i will probably add more honey and less sugar. Honey is a healthier option for sure!!

Raisin bread!

Non yeasty

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 4 tsp oil ( i used 2 tsp butter and 2 tsp oil)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup mixed dried fruits (i used dried cranberries, apricots and raisins). sliced almonds can also be added.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and ginger. In a large measuring cup, whisk together egg, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract.
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour milk mixture into the large bowl. Stir until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.
• Fold in combination of nuts and dried fruits (using any combination you like, or as described above) and pour mixture into prepared pan.
• Bake for 40 minutes, until loaf is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
• Turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight container when cool.

Mushroom Balls!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups fresh mushrooms, chopped
  
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup butter, very soft or melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1/4 tsp salt
  
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder - optional
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Mix everything in a bowl except the breadcrumbs, until the mixture becomes creamy.
2. add bread crumbs to make it a bit stiff and make balls. I added some all purpose flour to dry the mixture more so its easier to make balls.
   
3. Bake balls on a baking sheet at 350 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes till the outer crust looks brown.
4. Serve warm with ranch or green chutney!
   

Pizza from scratch!

Ingredients:

Base:

• 2.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp yeast
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup water

Topping:

• Thinly sliced onions, green pepper, thai chillies, ginger, tomato, mushrooms or any other veggies.
• shredded mozzarella
• tomato sauce home made or marinara.
  

Directions:

• Warm the water to dissolve yeast in it. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
• In a food processor or by hand, mix all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar). I added some black pepper to give a spicy zing to the base.
• Add the olive oil and water slowly during the kneading.
• The dough should be soft. Place the douhg in a well oiled container covered in a warm place for an hour.
• Once the dough doubles in size, knead it again and beat it down.
• You can keep the dough for more time or make the base at this point
• Roll out the dough to make any shape you want with a little thick on the edges.
• It is quite difficult to handle the stretchy pizza dough and roll it out or toss it. Use a good amount of flour to reduce stickiness. And once rolled, let it stand for 5 minutes before picking it up, else the base will shrink back. Use rolling pin again 3-4 times till required size is reached. Tossing is another option, but needs practice.. Heres a video on Pizza tossing :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wteq8G3q1zI
• I used a baking tray, with parchment paper on top which was dusted with some flour to use as the baking base of the pizza. (Now i use a pizza stone with much better results!)
• Place the rolled out dough on this tray.
• Cover it with a thin layer of marinara sauce.
• Put some cheese, then the toppings and then some more cheese. (it will take 10-15 minutes for all of the set up, so the pizza base will rise a little. For fluffier base, you can let it rise for another ten minutes before baking.)
• Bake at 380 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes, till the crust and the cheese look golden brown.
• Serve hot

Notes:

• I have tried this base with half whole wheat flour and it came out fine. For added softness use milk instead of 1/2 cup water.
• Whole wheat flour is the stone ground whole grain flour i got from safeway. The chapatti/roti flour is not whole wheat and also has some content of farina which usually increases the hardness of the crust.
• You can also add italian herbs to the base. Use the Focaccia bread recipe for the base for amazing margerita pizza