Friday, 28 March 2014

New Address

   Hello there!




  This blog now has a brand new home and address.....we have moved our pots, pans and ladles !
  We hope you will take a moment and visit us!
 
  aditicooks.blogspot.in
 
    New blog


  We hope to see you soon...our simple , triple tested new recipes await you ...:)Visit  Our new Home Now!!!


   aditicooks.blogspot.in


Tuesday, 30 April 2013

Thin Crust Pizza from scratch

Up until now I have never baked any sort of bread at home ...I always thought of it as something  requiring a great deal of skill and long hours of kneading and proofing ......It just seemed so much simpler to walk into a store and pick up what you need!

Well all that changed after my first attempt at making pizza crust at home from scratch ....this is a fool proof recipe and it is so easy ......and I realized that nothing ...yes nothing compares to a pizza crust made at home from scratch .....

I am a convert ....I will never buy buy any store bought pizza crust ever again!

The cast of characters.......simple enough ingredients that create magic!!





Ingredients ( Makes 4 6" pizzas)

3 cups all purpose flour (Maida)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp white sugar
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 table spoons good quality olive oil
1.5 cups luke warm water ( Not scalding hot!!!)

A little extra flour to dust work surface

Some parchment paper to line baking tray ( I dint have any :( )

Directions :

Mix all ingredients ...stir till it all comes together to form a very sticky dough ...should look like the picture below.

Leave to rise in a dark warm place covered with a soft cloth or cling film for 18 hours....yes 18 hours :)






After rising and proofing for 18 hours this is what your dough should look like....all bubbly and springy and it does double n triple in size so make sure u start with a large enough container ....







Okay so then once you are ready with the dough ....dust some flour onto your work surface .....



Divide dough ball into 4 equal parts ....coz thats how many pizzas you can make ....4

Get your toppings ready....I used red and green capsicum , onions , olives , mushrooms and lots of mozarella cheese.....add whatever you fancy ....grilled chicken bits left over from last nights dinner....baby corn ....:)


Roll out your dough .....dont worry about getting a perfect round ,.....its meant to be rustic and earthy and home-ly Italian ....hehehe

Slap on some sauce ....I add olive oil in a pan heat it up then garlic .....tomato puree....tomato ketchup...garlic salt....yes I do love garlic.....season it with salt pepper and oregano...add some chopped basil leaves.....and your sauce is READYY!!


Put on all your toppings .....dont forget to season some more after your toppings......add some chopped mozzarella


Bake in the bottom rack of your oven at 250 deg C till cheese bubbles and mushrooms are cooked....and your crust is cooked and nice and crisp at the bottom!!

Perfect pizza ......



Bon Apetit!

And thank you Lee ...my dear neighbour for sharing this excellent no-work no-knead excellent fool proof recipe with me!!


Saturday, 27 April 2013

Presepolis ...For a little taste of Persia

I have recently become obsessed with Middle Eastern & Persian food ......Lebanese, Turkish( ok I know Turkey is not a middle eastern but a European country ), Morrocan food!

 They all seem to have a common focus ......exotic and fresh ingredients ....lots of dry fruits, nuts , spices , sea food , colorful dips , honey .....the best olives and olive oil and just about everything pickled .....

Juicy kebabs moist and tender served on beds of aromatic rice with fragrant mint and cool slices of cucumber and tomatoes ....

And let me not even start about the dessert and pastries they are a work of art! Flaky Baklava drenched in sugar syrup dates stuffed with almonds .....fragrant cakes soaked in orange blossom water.....so many cookies all gently dusted with magical green pistachio powder!

So to learn more about the food and ways of Persia I decided to visit a corner shop in London called Presipolis ...it was voted as one of Londons best shops by Time Out!




Its not just any corner shop it has so much character and makes u feel like u went on a little holiday to Iran ....you can find just about everything you need here from cooking ingredients to cooking equipment to Backgammon boards ( a sort of board game )....to drums and fancy Iranian crystal ware and Hookas , evil eyes....hell even a Persian Broom...dont ask me how its different from any other regular broom :))

So let me take you with me and show you everything I saw .....

Tins filled with Iranian sweets

Gaz - Persian Nougat






Persian Broom - Jahroo ....thats what its called :))
                                     

















Falooda 















Books section



Dry Fruits 

And some more dry fruits ....they really love their dries fruit in Iran 

Backgammon Boards to while away afternoons while sipping on sickeningly sweet mint tea

Tea ...a huge variety of Gun powder tea used to make traditional  Mint Tea



Umm......cookies!

More cookies....

Fillo Pastry dessert



Gaz and Tulip bulbs 

Assorted Persian Sweets 


Individual serve Baby Stock Pots ....

Fantastic selection of Olive Oil

Odds & Ends 



Safed Mahie - Mahi Mahi fish cured and dried enjoyed as a delicacy after its scaled and steamed on special occasions like weddings etc

Bread- Lavaash & Taftoon 

The treats I came home with for the husband ...okay not really.......... all for me he dosent like anything sweet! Good for me I dont like sharing my food anyway!!



Pistachio Baklava ....layer after layer of perfect flaky pastry stuffed till it bursts with pistachios and then soaked in sugar syrup.....pure genius whoever came up with this!

:))
Stay Tuned for more!!