Honey Wheat Pull-Out Rolls

This hearty, nutty and wholesome rolls would make a perfect mini sandwich for picnics and parties. The rolls are light and soft with a slight sweet bite from the honey. Usually, breads with higher whole wheat content tends be denser, but in this recipe the dough is highly hydrated with excess liquid ingredients. The stand mixer has to used for kneading such a hydrated stickier dough, else you will end up using more flour resulting in a dry bread. So go ahead and enjoy the pull-out rolls. And here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:

3 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup All purpose flour

1 3/4 cups + 1 tbsp lukewarm Milk (i use 2%)

6 tbsp liquid Honey

4 tbsp Coconut oil (or Butter)

1 large Egg

1 tbsp Active dry Yeast

2 1/4 tsp Salt

How to (Stand-mixer Method):

• Grease a 13x9 baking dish and a large bowl and keep it aside.

• Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk and keep aside until foamy. (If using instant 0r rapid-rise yeast, you can add it straight to the flour. And add the milk to the honey, coconut oil (or butter) and egg mixture.)

• Mix together the honey, coconut oil (or butter) and egg.

• Mix the milk and yeast mixture to the honey and egg mixture.

• Using the stand-mixer fitted with dough hook, mix the flours, yeast and salt together.

• Slowly add the milk mixture to the flours and mix until dough comes together for a min.

• Increase the speed to a medium and knead until the dough is smooth and satiny, for 8 mins. (Don't panic, the dough will be really sticky. Do remember, 'the stickier the dough, the softer the bread'.)

• Use an oil-sprayed spatula to transfer the dough from the mixer to a greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.

• Let it rest for 45 mins in a warm place until doubles in volume.

• Punch the dough on a lightly floured surface and make it to a rough square.

• With a bench scraper or pizza wheel, cut'em into quarters and cut each quarter into 4 equal parts. (Now you have a total of 16 equal dough pieces.)

• Smooth each piece by pulling the edges and pinch sealing'em at the bottom. 
• Place the smooth dough rolls into the baking dish arranging in 3 rows. (Arrange in a way that it has 6 rolls in the middle and 5 rolls in the top and bottom rows.)

• Let the rolls rest for 20 mins covering with a plastic wrap.

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and brush the rolls with the remaining 1 tbsp milk with a pastry brush.

• Bake the rolls for 18-20 mins or until golden brown, rotating half-way through baking.

•  Let it cool on a wire rack for 10 mins and serve warm.

• Store it in a dry and cool place.

Roasted Eggplant and Garlicky Dip

This is such an easy and healthy dip that would go well with pretty much everything. It tastes great with dosa, cooked rice, toasted bread, pita chips and crackers. The garlic adds so much flavor, the red onions give it a nice crunch and the chunky eggplants adds a great texture. And last but not least, you will get a guaranteed 'good great job' pat from your spouse just like i did. And here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:

2 medium Eggplants (or 1 large)

10-12 Garlic pods

4 small Green Chilli (finely chopped)

1/4 cup Red onion (finely chopped)

1/4 cup Cilantro (finely chopped)

2 tbsp Olive oil

Salt

 How to:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Wash the eggplants, cut the stem off and make 4 slits lengthwise.

• Open the slits gently and stuff the garlic and green chilli.

• Place the eggplant on a foil, sprinkle salt and drizzle olive oil over it.

• Wrap the eggplant tightly and place it in a oven safe dish and bake for an hour.

• Once baked, remove the foil immediately and carefully slide the roasted eggplants into the dish.

• Cut  the eggplants and mash'em along with the skin and check the salt for taste.

• Let it cool completely, add the onions and cilantro, mix well.

• Serve at room temperature or chilled with chips or crackers.

Whole Wheat Flax Bread Loaf

Who doesn't love a warm toasty and buttered homemade bread for their breakfast? This is a soft, light and healthy sandwich bread rich in omega-3 fatty acids. I found this recipe from here. The flax seed has high levels of dietary fiber and helps in lowering cholesterol. Also, flax-seed needs to be ground to make the nutrients available, otherwise they just 'pass through', so make sure you grind your own flax-seed or buy pre-ground flax-seed meal to make the best out of it. And here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:

2 cups Whole Wheat flour

1 cup All Purpose flour (Maida) + more, for dusting

1 cup Flax seed meal

1tbsp Active Dry Yeast

1 3/4 cups Warm Water

2tbsp Sugar

3/4tsp Salt

1tbsp Canola oil

 How to:

• Grease a 9x5 loaf pan with oil and keep it aside.
• Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let sit for 5 mins or until foamy.
• To the yeast, add sugar, oil and salt followed by flax-seed meal.

• Then add the whole wheat flour, one cup at a time, mix well.
• Now add the all purpose flour and start kneading with your hands.

• Transfer the dough onto a flat floured surface and knead it for 15 mins. 

• In a big bowl, spray oil and place the kneaded dough, wrap it with a kitchen towel and let sit in a warm place for 1 1/2hrs or until the dough is doubled in size.

• Then punch the dough and transfer the dough to the loaf pan. (Press the dough down to fit the pan.)

• Let the dough sit for another 1/2hr or until it rises to 1 1/2 inches above the pan.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake it for 45 mins.
• Let sit for 10 mins before you transfer the bread loaf onto the cooling rack.

• Bring the loaf to room temperature before you slice'em.

•  To serve, toast the bread, smother it with some almond butter and devour'em.

• To store, wrap the loaf completely with plastic wrap, place it in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate it.

Whole Wheat Focaccia (Italian Bread)

Focaccia is a flat italian bread topped with herbs and seasoned with olive oil and salt. It is eaten as a snack in Italy. Here in US, you would normally eat as a sandwich stuffed with cheese and meat/vegetables. It is similar to the making of pizza, instead of rolling the dough thin, it is hand pressed to a even thicker dough and dotting over the unbaked dough(that is making indentations)is practiced. The recipe calls for no wheat flour, so if you want a light airy bread, you can replace the wheat flour with all purpose flour. Pushing to be a bit more healthy turns the bread a little dense. But the bread was very soft and tasty. My food critic complained about the denser side, but he absolutely loved the taste. Feel free to top the bread with your favorites and enjoy the hot bread. Baking breads at home are so comforting and therapeutic and makes your whole kitchen smell heavenly. And here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour

2 cups + 1/4 cup All purpose flour (maida)

1 pack Rapid rise yeast

1/4 cup + 2tbsp Olive oil

1 2/3 cups warm Water

1tsp Sugar

2 1/2tsp Salt

Topping:

1tsp dried Rosemary

few thinly sliced Red onion

How to:

• Grease a 15x10" baking sheet with olive oil and keep it aside.
• Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water and let sit for 5 mins.

• In a big bowl, add the flours and salt, mix well, followed by 1/4 cup olive oil.
• Once the yeast bowl is foamy, pour'em into the flour bowl and bring it together starting to knead.

• Dust the surface by slowly adding the remaining 1/4 cup flour and knead for 15 mins to a soft, non-sticky dough.

• Transfer the dough onto the greased baking sheet and flatten'em evenly by pressing with your hands.

• Cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel and let rest for 1 1/2 hrs in a warm place to rise.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Meanwhile mix the 2tbsp olive oil with the rosemary and onion and keep it aside.

• Once the dough is risen, make indentations all over the dough with your finger.

• Now, with a pastry brush, spread the oil mixture on top the dough. Also arrange the left over onion slices and sprinkle a pinch of salt on top.

• Bake the bread for 20 mins. Let it cool before you slice'em.

• Serve it as a snack, use it for making sandwiches or drizzle some almond butter and gobble it up like me.

To Store, refrigerate the left over bread in a tight container.