If there's leftover dough..Let them eat cake

Ever so often, I find leftover atta in the fridge, a couple of days old, that's just too hard to roll into rotis (or I'm too lazy to make rotis out of them). And my heart bleeds when I end up throwing the dough down the trash. So I figured I need to use all this dough in a fun easy way that doesn't require too much energy utilization on my part. Here's one tried and tested recipe that worked :

Atta date chocolate brownies

Atta Date Chocolate Brownies
1-1.5 cups leftover atta dough
2 eggs
1 cup milk
8-10 seedless dates
Brown sugar / agave nectar (not sure how much I put, approximate as per your tastes)
Unsweetened chocolate chips
1heaped tsp baking soda
2 tbsp butter

Procedure
Throw all this in  blender and blend away till you get the consistency of cake batter. Pour into a flat greased pan and bake at 400F for about 1/2 an hour or till it smells done. Voila! Have warm with a scoop of vanilla icecream!

Now points to note : Don't expect this to taste like cake, it won't. I've always wondered why no one uses wholewheat flour to bake cakes, it's certainly different but not that bad also! Definitely worth a try and a good way to get rid of leftovers :)

Productive things to do in a snowstorm or Homemade Nutella 101 !

Someone needs to make a Nutellics Anonymous group (I'm sure it exists, too lazy to google it up). A few months ago I would have gladly joined it as would a bunch of other loyal Nutellics I know (by now you should know that Nutellics = Nutella addicts). I'm pretty sure they put banned addictive substances in that stuff...that's the only thing that can explain how its SO DAMN GOOD. Anyway, after a few jars of Nutella, here's what happened -
1) I finally started feeling guilty for eating the bad stuff

Organic Hazelnut butter

2) I figured it has too much processed ingredients in it (we're trying to eat healthier = cutting down on processed stuff if it can be helped)
3) I stumbled upon a jar of Hazelnut chocolate butter in a hippie store

Now the hippie store hazelnut butter was grrreat, but it was so much more expensive than branded Nutella! Sadly, it got over in no time :(

And then...

The great Atlantan snowstorm of 2011 happened...we get 10 inches of snow and the whole city shut down...for 4 DAYS!!! Hotlanta no more, say hello to Icelanta. However, global warming (or cooling) has it's benefits and that's the moral of this story...I finally made Nutella at home!!

Thanks to this fabulous grocery store in town and and Jessica Su's recipe, I discovered I had all the ingredients and more to make homemade Nutella. And yes, it turned out FABULOUS...way cheaper than store bought organic Nutella and way healthier (or so I think :))

Homemade Nutella
2 cups whole raw hazelnuts
1/2 cup agave nectar (or alternatives like sugar, brown sugar, honey...I actually put in a combo of dates and agave nectar)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (or alternatives like cocoa nibs of unsweetened chocolate chips)
2 tsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)

Procedure (30 mins)
1) Toast hazelnuts in a single layer in an oven at 350F or on the stovetop in a skillet on medium heat, until the skins are almost black and the meat is dark brown, about 15 minutes. Stir the nuts halfway through baking to ensure an even color.
2) Since the skin is bitter, you’ll want to discard them. Wrap the cooled hazelnuts in a clean kitchen towel or paper towel, and rub until most of the skins have come off. Don’t fret if you can’t get off all the skins.
3) Throw the nuts into a food processor and liquefy them. This takes about 5-7 minutes. First, you will get coarsely chopped nuts, then a fine meal. After a little while, the heat and friction will extract the natural oils, and you will get hazelnut butter! (Steps 1-3 taken verbatim from here..it worked well for me :)
4) When the nuts are liquified, add in the sweetening agent, cocoa/chocolate and vanilla essence and blend well in the mixer.
5) Transfer the yumminess into an airtight container at room temp or in the fridge.

Now one thing I should mention is that when I added the dates into this mixture, the consistency immediately became more solid. So dates may not work too well if you want a more smooth spread. However, I don't mind the gritty texture, in fact I like it, so dates will definitely go in my Nutella again :) Another thing you can do (and I'm going to play around with this when I make my next batch of Nutella) is to add milk for a smoother consistency. The reason I didn't add milk this time is because I wanted something more long lasting that doesn't necessarily have to go in the fridge.

Here's a really terrible pic of my first experiment with Nutella...we immediately dug into it with a box of strawberries...mmm..sooo good! Gosh I need a better camera :(

 And here you it - Organic homemade Nutella with partially natural ingredients! (Not too sure Agave nectar is completely natural, hence the reservation :D)

Tangy Salmon Delight!

I love it when pomegranate season rolls in...can't resist those crunchy tangy red pearls bursting with flavor. I've experimented with pomegranate a lot - in salads, desserts and yogurts but never with a main dish. I finally took the plunge with one of my other most favorite food items - Salmon! I recently bought myself a fabulous skillet with an aluminum base from Sur La Table recently...here's the inaugural recipe that put my skillet to good use, to create a deeelightful meal -

Salmon in Pomegranate Reduction (heavily inspired by this recipe with my modifications)

- 3 Salmon fillets (cut into chunks as shown in the picture)
Dressing ingredients
- Fresh pomegranate seeds (one handful)
- Pomegranate juice if you have some or just pound another handful of pome seeds for fresh juice - 1/2 cup
- Balsamic vinegar - 3 tbsp
- French mustard - 1tsp
- Soy sauce - 2 tsp
- Olive oil - 1tbsp
NOTE : My measurements are a vague approximation...make sure you taste the sauce and let your tastebuds do the talking for your modifications!

Procedure (cook time 30 mins)
1) Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and let the salmon fillets soak in this goodness for a couple of minutes.
2) Drain the dressing into the skillet and let it cook on low heat for a few minutes.
3) Now place the fillets in the skillet and cook them on low heat. Let the flavors soak into the fillets as the cook.Flip the fillets to make sure they cook uniformly on both sides.
4) Serve fresh (or even better..a day later!) with warm bread.

Here's a snapshot of a lovely meal we had last week, perfect dinner for two and some :) On the table - Yam Feta Salad, Ginger Asparagus, Pome glazed Salmon and French Baguette

Yam Feta Salad, Ginger Asparagus, Pome glazed Salmon and bread...quick lovely meal!

Salad or not, that is the question

Sunayana made this fabulous dish over thanksgiving. I'm not sure it qualifies as a salad, but that's what she called it anyway :) Here's the gist with my modifications :

Fabulous Yam Feta Salad!

Garnet Yam Feta Salad
- 2 Garnet Yams - chop into cubes, toss in olive oil and salt, and bake till cooked through but not mushy (about 30 mins at 400F)
- 1 block Feta cheese - chopped / crumbled
- 1 cup Baby arugula leaves
- 1 medium Red onions sliced long - fry lightly to minimize the pungency
- Pomegranate seeds 1/2 a cup


Toss it all in a dish and enjoy warm or cold. Very filling, very healthy, VERY yummy!

Here's another inspired variation of the same
Potato Mushroom Feta Salad
- 1 large potato chopped
- 1 medium onion sliced long
- 1 cup Mushrooms sliced
- 1/2 red pepper julienned
- half a fistful of sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- parsley leaves

Bake the chopped potato and onion with olive oil and salt till the potato is cooked through. Add the sliced mushrooms for about 5 mins in the same baking dish. Allow the mixture to cool, add in the red peppers, sunflower seeds, feta cheese, pome seeds and chopped parsley leaves and toss it all up. You're good to go!