Nomadic Bedouin way of baking and grilling in the desert !

Looks like it has been ages since I visited my own blog ! My kids, who are a Blessing, are keeping me on my toes and I am enjoying every bit being and investing time with them so much that I hardly miss blogging ! Yet again, a tiny place in my heart feels guilty of having neglected blogging for such a long time....
So, here I am again to share a recipe (though not mine) which reflects upon the nomadic way of cooking ! Well, to give an intro about it, my husband was on a road-trip, about 5000 kms, with his friends to Western Sahara last month. He got the rare opportunity of staying with the local nomadic tribes in the deserts of Sahara and learn their survival techniques and got the first hand experience of the primitive way of baking and grilling, which are still in use in many parts of the world...
We have come so far baking varieties of breads and cakes and casseroles and what not in our modern sophisticated ovens. These nomads not only bake breads but prepare and make their own ovens "on demand"! I am sure you will definitely enjoy viewing this interesting mode of grilling and baking done by one of the  bedouins of Mauritania. I am not going to duplicate what my husband has already documented with the pictures here :)

Roggenmischbrot (German Mixed Rye Bread)

Traditionally, Germans have two cold meals and one hot meal ! Coming from India, it took me sometime to digest this surprising fact because backhome, we rarely have cold meals. Breads being the staple food here find its place in the breakfast table and eventually at the dinner time. So, a normal household has atleast four types of cheese with salad vegetables and jams and atleast two types of breads, one for the breakfast and the other called "Abendbrot" (Evening bread) for dinner. This illustrates the importance of bread in German cuisine.
Abendbrot is baked with wholemeal or rye flour, mixed in different proportions. Germans use almost all available types of grains like wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, or even potato flour for their breads. You can imagine how many types of breads one could possibly find here depending upon their different proportions and types. Most types of breads contain wheat and rye flour (hence called Mischbrot - mixed bread). Combining with other grains gives them their color ranging from dark brown to pale brown. Rye bread is dark in color and is more heavy, dense than the white breads and a slightly a sour taste, making it perfect bread for the evening meal sandwiches !
Rye flour contains large amount of fiber and only a little fat makes it the most popular and favored bread in Germany. Well, talking about popularity, would also like to mention about some other breads available here in Germany:

• Sunflower seed (Sonnenblumenkernbrot) - my favourite !
• Rye Bread (Roggenbrot)
• Rye-Wheat (Roggenmischbrot)
• Toast bread (Sandwichbrot)
• Whole grain bread (Vollkornbrot)
• Wheat-Rye bread ( Weizenmischbrot)
• White bread (Weißbrot)
• Multi-grain (Mehrkornbrot)
• Pumpkin seed (Kürbiskernbrot)
• Onion bread (Zwiebelbrot)

Have always been fascinated by the hundreds of varieties of breads available in the bakeries here and want to try my hands on atleast some of my favourites :). So here is my first attempt with the rye flour.....wanted to play careful and hence used white flour along with it. The addition of spices and different seeds like flaxseeds, sesame seeds and poppy seeds enhanced its flavor and taste to a greater extent. On the whole, this second try of mine (the first being Whole Wheat Banana Bread), was a huge success and it got me brownie points from my food critic :)

Ingredients
Rye flour - 3 cups
All purpose white flour - 2 cups
Warm water - 1.5 cups
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Dry Yeast - 1 pkt
Ground Cumin seeds (1 tsp)
Ground Corriander seeds ( 1 tsp)
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Flax seed - 1 tsp
For topping
Poppy seeds - 1 tbsp
Flax seeds - 1 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Rolled Oats - 1 tbsp
Egg - 1
Water - 1 tsp

Method :
1. Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water and sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes for activating it.
2. In a separate bowl, combine all the ingredients and then the yeast and knead the flours into a soft dough.

3. Cover the bowl and allow it to raise for an hour in a warm place.
4. Divide the dough into two parts and make them into log shapes.

5. Apply the egg wash (egg beaten with 1 tsp of water).
6. Sprinkle the garnish.
7. Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake the bread for about 35-45 minutes. Keep checking for the browning and a screwer should come out clean when inserted !

8. Serve fresh with a simple butter spread or any dip you prefer.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Walnuts

Banana bread is one of my favourites. This is my first "experimental" bread which I baked by changing the basic recipe and by replacing the "all purpose white flour" with the whole wheat flour, which is more nutritious and rich in fiber and protein. My husband's friend had gifted us a beautiful basket of fresh Walnuts harvested from his farm. Couldn't stop adding them in my bread and enriching the flavor. Ever since, my confidence level has been boosted so much that I now try to make variations in my breads without any fear of wasting the ingredients ! The original recipe is adapted from here.

Ingredients
Whole wheat flour - 285 gms
Bicarbonate of soda - 1 tsp
Butter or margarine- 110 gms
Brown sugar - 225 gms
Eggs - 2
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Bananas - 4 (ripe ones, mashed)
Walnuts - about 50 gms (optional)
Rolled Oats - 2 tbsp (optional)
Buttermilk - 85 ml (or normal milk mixed with 1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice)
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Method
1. Mix the wholewheat flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the walnuts.
2. Cream the butter and the brown sugar until fluffy in a separate bowl.
3. To this butter-sugar mixture, add the eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk, vanilla extract and mix well.
4. Fold everything into the flour prepared in the Step 1.
5. Grease a 20cm x 12.5 cm loaf tin (or a cake tin) and coat it thoroughly with the rolled oats.
6. Pour the flour mixture into this tin.
7. Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake the bread for about an hour or until it turns golden brown and the toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
8. Allow it to cool for about 10-15 minutes and serve warm or cold, though I personally prefer a warm one.

Note : 
1. Since its very rich in taste, it doesn't need any Jam or spreads. An ideal loaf for  picnics or a vacation. Just bake a loaf and carry it for the next morning's breakfast anywhere you go !
2. Stays good for 3 days in an air-tight container.
3. A good use of the leftover, very ripe bananas !

Iam sending this Walnut-rich bread to the Bread Baking Day # 44 hosted by Winged Snail

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Monkey Bread for the World Bread Day

Hurraaaah ! Today is the World Bread Day and every year, for the past 5 years, Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte has been so kind enough to invite all the bread lovers of the world to her virtual Potluck bread party !!! Thank you Zorra for this invitation. Its my pleasure to be your guest again for the second time  :) 
Iam on the way to the event with my Monkey Bread...
Well, the name sounds funny and catchy isnt it ? Thats what exactly caught my attention when i first saw it. The reason behind this so-called bread is unknown. Here, the dough is divided into small balls, rolled in cinnamon and brown sugar, coated with brown-sugar syrup, layered in a pan, baked and eaten by pulling the pieces apart....

Ingredients
For the dough :
All purpose flour - 4-5 cups
Dry yeast - 4 tsp
Lukewarm water - about 10 ml
Butter - 60 gms
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 250 ml
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg(beaten) - 1

For the coating :
Ground cinnamon - 2 tsp
Sugar or brown sugar - 1/2 cup

For the syrup :
Butter -125 gms (melted)
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 1/2 cup (optional)

A bundt pan or any springform.
A freezer bag or any zip-lock bag

Method

1) Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and set aside for about 10 minutes.
2) Grease a bundt pan generously with butter.
3) Melt the butter along with the milk and sugar on a medium heat.

4) In a large bowl, mix together flour, yeast solution, salt, egg and the milk-butter-sugar. Knead it into a smooth dough. Please adjust the consistency of the dough by adding a little flour or water. Cover the bowl and allow it to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
5) Knead the puffed up dough gently and divide it into small pieces.

6) Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a zip-lock cover.
7) Add in the divided dough balls in parts and shake the cover well so that the balls are coated evenly with cinnamon-sugar.
Cinnamon enhances the flavor and aroma of a bread and I find every opportunity to include in my breads. If you are a "no-cinnamon" person, no worries, just omit it and go ahead with only the sugar.

7) Place two layers of the balls in the greased pan. Sprinkle some raisins. Continue the same with the remaining balls .

8) Melt the brown sugar and butter in a separate pan and pour it over the layered balls.

The butter seeps down through the layers to the bottom of the pan...

9) Cover the pan with a fresh foil and allow the dough to rise for another 20 minutes.
10) Preheat the oven to 210°C and bake the bread for about 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake it again for about 25-30 minutes until the surface turns golden brown.
11) Place the bread in a wire rack and allow to stand for about 10 minutes.
12) Flip the pan gently.
The butter and brown sugar gets caramelized and gets coated on the bread beautifully once turned upside down.

A rich treat as a Breakfast, Snack or a Dessert !

 You could actually pull the bread apart with your fingers. Its sticky but doesnt matter you would end up licking them all ! The kids especially would love to do so. Infact my 2 year old daughter helped me from the start. She had so much fun and enjoyed every bit of the baking till eating. If you ever plan to have a baking day with your kids, this Monkey Bread is definitely the best option !

Cant really resist to post one more pic of this irresistable bread.....

Notes :
1) It stays fresh in an air-tight container for 5 days and for about a month in a freezer.
2) Its generally served warm but tastes equally good at room temperature.
3) You could drizzle the top with the powdered sugar glaze, could use nuts along with the raisins for the crunchy effect, options are many for the sweet teeth :)
4) This bread is baked absolutely from the homemade dough. Many recipes of this bread ask for the refrigerated biscuits which are divided into small balls and continued with the Step 6. But I prefer to work and play with my own dough and do it from the scratch.

Franzbrötchen

 

Wow ! This was my expression when I first saw this bread in one of my favourite bakeries here and it tasted absolutely delicious. Actually it was my husband who suggested me to try it as this used to be his favourite breakfast to whichever city he travels in Germany. The very next moment I knew I was going to bake it for the World Bread Day event. The idea of participating in this event had been lingering in my mind all the time and it could not have been any more better than this one. I couldn't wait to get back home to search for the recipe in the internet. After some good searches, bookmarked one and couldnt rest until I tried my hands on it !

A Franzbrötchen  is a small, sweet pastry, baked with butter and cinnamon. Sometimes other ingredients are used as well, such as chocolate or raisins. It is a type of pastry commonly found in northern Germany, especially Hamburg, and it is usually served for breakfast, but is also enjoyed along with coffee and cake.  The Franzbrötchen was probably named in the style of the French (German 'französisch') model, the croissant, which is made of pastry and became popular in Germany after Napoleon's troops had occupied Hamburg between 1806 and 1814. According to a different historical tradition, they produced a longish Franzbrot (German for 'French bread') which resembled the baguette. Legend has it, that a baker in Hamburg had once seared such a Franzbrot in a pan of fat, which is considered the origin of the contemporary Franzbrötchen. -Source Wikipedia.

Like puff-pastry, the butter is incorporated into the dough through rolling and folding, creating layers that separate out during baking. The peculiarity of the Franzbrötchen consists in its being pasted with a sugar-cinnamon mix before going into the oven !

Ingredients for 16 brötchen

For the dough

All purpose flour(sifted)  - 500 gms + extra for dusting the working space

Dry yeast - 1 pkt

Butter (unsalted) - 70 gms

Sugar - 70 gms

Salt - a pinch

Lemon zest - 1 tsp

Lukewarm milk - 250 ml

For the filling

Chilled unsalted butter - 125 gms

Sugar - 100 gms

Cinnamon - 1 tsp

Water - 2 tbsp 

A large working space to roll out the dough !

Method 

1. In a bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt, lemon zest together.

2. Dissolve the dry yeast in lukewarm milk with 1 tbsp sugar in a separate bowl. Set aside and allow the yeast to activate for 15 minutes(until you see a froth on the surface). 

3. Mix this yeast to the flour mixture and knead well to form a smooth dough.

4. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and keep it in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

5. After 30 minutes, take out the dough, punch the air back and knead again for 2 minutes until smooth.

6. Dust the working space with the flour generously. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into 30x25 dimension.

7. Cut the chilled butter in small pieces and place it on one half side of the rolled dough.

8. Cover the other half over this and press the ends tightly so that the butter does not come out. I could have pressed even more better !

9. Cover this dough with a plastic foil and refrigerate it for about 15-20 minutes.
10. Take out the dough, dust the working space with four and roll it again to 50x30 rectangle.
11. Now fold the rectangle from the end (about 1/3 part of it) inwards and then fold the other end over it, so that there is a three layered dough.

12.  Cover it with a plastic foil and refrigerate it again for 15-20 minutes.

13. In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon and sugar and set aside.

14. Take out the dough, dust the surface with flour again, roll it out to 80x40 rectangle. I could not roll it any further for the lack of big space. So please roll it out thin.

15. Moisten the surface by brushing it with water.

16. Now dust it with cinnamon-sugar mixture generously all over.

 17. Roll out the rectangle like a swiss roll carefully and slowly and placing the patched face under.

 18. Cut the roll into 12-16 parts using a sharp knife. (I cut about 12 so as to get bigger brötchen)

19. Now comes the fun part of shaping the bread. Take one roll, using the back of a wooden spoon, gently press down in the middle so that rolled out dough from the two sides pop out and the filling oozes out sideways.

20. The more they pop out, the better the shape.

21. Alternatively, you could also use the back of your knife for pressing down the rolls.

22. Repeat the process for all the other rolls. Place them in a baking tray lined with a baking paper with a distance of about 5 cms between them.

23. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
24. Preheat the oven to 200 °C and bake the brötchen for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

 25. Allow it to cool in a wirerack for about 10 minutes and enjoy the Franzbrötchen with a warm cup of coffee and fresh juice !

 The cinnamon-sugar mixture caramelises into a delicious sticky-crunchy coating during the baking process.

Note : Though the dough is leavened with yeast, it does not rise like bread due to artery-clogging additions of butter !

Verdict of my husband (read a very good food critic!) : Having tasted this Franzbrötchen in different bakeries here in Germany, he  said the ones I baked had the exact taste but the only thing i would need to work on the next time is to roll out the dough even more thinner in step 14.

Tip : 

1. I have heard that you could use brown sugar instead of normal sugar to mix with cinnamon. It seems it caramelises even more beautifully.

2. You could as well use Wholemeal flour instead. Got to try it the next time !

3. You could deep freeze the extra bread for your unexpected guests. It stays good for a month !

Its my pleasure to submit this recipe to the World Bread Day- 2010, an annual event started by Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte. The recipe has to be posted on the 16th October  (World bread day) from all over the world. Even if you do not have the time to bake the bread, you could still participate by buying a bread at your favourite bakery, write about it and send it to the event. Isn't it cool ?

Grissini

Grissini are generally long, thin pencil-sized sticks of crispy, dry bread originating in Turin (a major city in northern Italy) and the surrounding area in Italy. They are better known in many English speaking nations as  bread sticks, and they are a popular accompaniment to many Italian meals. My kids call it "pencil bread" :). Grissini are very popular in Spain as well. Toppings vary from simple coarse salt to seeds or dried herbs of your choice. It looks very crispy from outside but inside it has a soft mouthfeel. Somehow it was fun and I enjoyed baking this bread :)


Ingredients for making 8 Grissinis
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Milk - 80 ml
Butter or Margarine - 25 gms
Dry Yeast - 1/2 pkt
Warm Water - 60 ml
Sugar - 1/2 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Poppy seeds and/or Sesame seeds

Greased tray - 2
Method
1. Dissolve the dry yeast in warm water. Add the sugar and let it rest for 5 minutes.
2. Take a pan, heat the milk and add butter. Cook until the butter gets melted.
3. In a large bowl, sift the flour and add the salt, yeast solution, and the milk-butter. Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and soft.
4. Divide the dough into 8 small balls. Using your fingers, roll out each ball like a pencil shape of about 30 cms.
5. Place the pencil shaped dough on a greased tray, four at a time, and leaving a distance of about 3 cms between each.

6. Cover the tray with a kitchen towel or Foil and let it rest for about 20 minutes.
7. Brush the surface with cold water.

8. Sprinkle poppy seeds and sesame seeds.

 9. Preheat the oven to 210°C and bake the bread for about 10-15 minutes until golden and crispy.
10. Remove the tray and let the Grissini come down to room temperature.
11. Meanwhile, repeat the process for the second tray.
12. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C and bake the Grissinis for again about 5-10 minutes, until they get dry and crispy.
13. Serve it with Soups or Salads. There are a wide range of ways to serve grissini. A platter of them on the table is certainly appropriate, and they can also be used as appetizers. They may also be eaten out of hand like a snack, and the more bready versions can almost make a meal in and of themselves, especially when dressed with ingredients like Parmesan.

Tip:
1. Grissinis stay fresh and crispy for about a week in an air tight box. There is no need for reheating them in oven!

2. Kids love its shape and its a perfect snack for them !

This Italian bread goes to the Bread Baking Day # 32, created by Zorra of 1 x umrühren bitte.

This also goes to Bake-Off hosted by Champa of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen and to Susan's Yeast Spotting,
And also to Kids Delight, hosted by Pari

Potato Bread

 This is the softest bread I've ever baked !The addition of mashed potatoes to the flour while mixing gives it the soft touch. The crust is equally soft too...One could say that its a salty version of some cake, so soft it is ! It goes well with soups.

Ingredients
All purpose flour - 3.5-4 cups
Potato puree (potatoes cooked and mashed) - 1 cup
Warm water - 250 ml + 30 ml for the dry yeast.
Dry yeast - 1 pkt
Chives - 1/2 cup
Dry Milk powder - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Egg white - 1 (for egg wash)
Cold water - 2 tsp
Sunflower seeds and/or Pumpkin seeds

Preparation
1. Dissolve the dry yeast in 30 ml lukewarm water with a teaspoon of sugar in a separate bowl. Set aside for 5-10 minutes for the yeast to get active.
2. Sift the flour, mix it with salt and milk powder in a large bowl.
3. Mix the potato puree and chives and add them to the flour.

4. Add the yeast solution to the flour mixture, warm water and knead it into a soft dough. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rest in a warm place for about an hour.
5. After an hour, knead the dough once again for 3 minutes and divide it into 12 balls.
6. Place the balls in a springform as shown in the picture below. Cover it again with a kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place for 45 minutes. Give an egg wash by mixing the eggwhite with 2 tsp of cold water and brush it on the surface of the bread. Sprinkle sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds as desired.

7. Preheat the oven to 210 °C and bake the bread for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180°C and bake for another 20 minutes.
8. Serve with a warm  Red gram soup.

Tip : You could as well make a sandwich out of it !

This recipe goes to the event No croutons Required hosted by Lisa and to Iftar Moments.