Easy-Peasy Garlic-ky Mini Rolls #BreadBakers #NoBake

I am thankful to our Good Lord for showing His Mercy on us. My dearest Daddy had a mild chest pain last Thursday and my little girl and I rushed over to Dad and Mum's home which is a little away from the city where we stay.

I did not remember about this BreadBakers' event as a result as I was too stressed having just lost Mummy 11 months ago. My sisters who are abroad were petrified and asked me to leave at the soonest. Luckily Dad's initial cardiac results were normal. He has to go through a TMT on Tuesday and so I am scheduling this post ahead of time. We also have to drive back to our apartment with Daddy as he plans on staying with us for a bit so I may be settled only by evening hours to complete the updated post links which is ok owing to the time difference which will still  meet the event challenge time. Since it is my first time at scheduling a post, I am a tad nervous it may not happen on time. Nevertheless, family is the most important, Food always takes second place to Family, so Karen please excuse me in case this does not happen on time.

I would like to thank my good friends (you know who you are) for checking in on Daddy's health and my well-being during this trying time even if for a day or two. Also thank you for cheering me up with shared laughter and moments via calls, visits and messages. You are amazing! Just goes to show who true friends are and the love that you bestow on me is irreplaceable. God bless your families and you abundantly.

Since I did not bake ahead of time and if you have been following my posts since last May, you would know that Mum's oven is at our other home which does not make it easy for me to go over just to bake these rolls. As although we have a full fledged kitchen there all the ingredients and tools are at this home . So what started as my experiment to make Garlic Dough Balls turned out to be Garlic Mini Rolls. We had a rough Sunday night with my little girl feeling ill and so when I made this on Monday afternoon, I was pretty groggy. Sorry about the last day name change of my recipe title Karen.

My husband and I consume raw garlic as a part of our morning routine. This was started a few years ago, when a nutritionist asked my husband to have it as he seemed to have a borderline high cholesterol value back then. Then it became a habit and when we learnt of the many benefits of garlic, then it just became a part of our daily routine.

So the last time I tried this technique of baking is when I was at home after Mummy's passing away and had committed to making Whole Wheat Pita Bread. Trust me when I say that this is not only an easy technique of baking but gives almost the same results as the oven if done right. For those of you who have an oven, I will provide instructions as to how to bake it normally in the oven as well.

Garlic happens to be my favourite condiment so I could not resist participating in this event. I would like to thank the lovely Karen H Kerr of Karen's Kitchen Stories for choosing this theme.

You can serve these mini rolls with your favourite soup or simple as an appetizer as well. 

The Verdict: My 6 year old gobbled up most of these rolls as a snack! :D


You need:

• 1 pod of a medium sized garlic, peeled and cleaned; half the pod sliced finely, other half minced or microplaned
• 2 tbsp of butter / ghee (Clarified Buter) / Olive oil
• Salt - 1 tsp + a sprinkle
• 1 cup of whole wheat flour 
• A pinch of sugar
• Luke warm water  -  to knead
• 1 tsp Yeast

The Make:
Makes 8 mini rolls | Preparation time: 10 minutes | Rising Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes

1. Proof the yeast by taking the yeast with a pinch of sugar and mixing it with some lukewarm water in a small bowl. Let it stand for 5-10 minutes till it froths.
2. Next in a large vessel, add the yeast, flour and salt and knead well with the lukewarm water added in bit by bit to form a smooth dough ball. Allow to rest in a warm, dark place for at least 30 minutes. The dough would have doubled.
3. Using a mortar and pestle, crush the finely sliced garlic pieces with the butter, ghee or oil. If you do not have a mortar and pestle you can do this with your grinder/blender and if using the oil, slowly trickle the olive oil in during the grinding process. The resultant will be a creamy garlic butter. Add a sprinkle of the salt and mix well. Set aside half of the garlic butter. If you are using a blender, do not exceed a minute.
4. Next knead in half of the garlic butter in the dough and roll the dough within your palms to a longish log, as evenly as possible. Cut out pillows of dough as even as possible and roll the dough into balls or in my case pillow-shaped. Repeat till the entire dough is used and placed on the vessel with some distance between the dough pillows to allow it to expand.
5. The dough bits will expand further. Next brush the top of the dough rolls with the remaining half of the garlic butter and place the minced garlic on top and lightly press down.
6. After brushing, heat the remaining garlic butter in a pan and place the dough rolls on the pan. Cover with a lid with a steam outlet or slightly left open to allow steam to pass. Heat each side for 2 minutes.
7. For those using an oven, butter the baking pan with the remaining garlic butter after brushing the dough bits and line the dough rolls at a distance from each other. Bake for 10 minutes until lightly browned. Flip over in case you do not have top heat in your oven.

Serve hot aside your favourite soup or as it is with some butterspread/cheese spread.

April 2016's #BreadBakers' event : Our ingredient of the month is GARLIC, in celebration of National Garlic Day in the United States - 19 April - and one of our favorite food holidays. Black garlic, white garlic, elephant garlic, smoked garlic; powdered, roasted, raw, crushed or whole, include some garlic in your bread!

Now for some lovely Garlic breads from our #BreadBakers family of amazing bakers:

• Black Garlic Parmesan Sourdough Bread from Magnolia Days
• Buttery Garlic Cheddar Rolls from Kylee Cooks
• Buttery Garlic Knots from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Buttery Garlic Pull Apart Bread from Cook's Hideout
• Caramelized Garlic Chèvre Stuffed Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Cheddar, Garlic and Jalapeno Beer Bread from A Palatable Pastime
• Cheddar Garlic Dinner Rolls from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Cheese and Garlic Biscuits from A Baker's House
• Cream Cheese Stuffed Garlic Rolls from Herbivore Cucina
• Domino's Style Garlic Bread from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Easy-Peasy Garlic-ky Mini Rolls from G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Garlic Batard from Hostess at Heart
• Garlic & Gorgonzola Focaccia from Baking in Pyjamas
• Garlic, Herbs and Cheese Bread from La Cocina de Aisha
• Garlic Naan with Green Chiles from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Garlic Pull Apart Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Garlic Sunflower Bread from Passion Kneaded
• Gluten Free & Vegan Garlic Breadsticks from What Smells So Good?
• {Gluten Free} Seeded Black Garlic Flat Bread from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Green Garlic Parathas - Flat Bread from Sneha's Recipes
• Herbed Garlic Butter Garland Bread from Ruchik Randhap
• Multi Grain Garlic Naan from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Pissaladière from The Bread She Bakes
• Roasted Garlic Focaccia from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Triple Garlic Knots from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Whole Wheat Garlic Ciabatta Bread from Cooking Club

 #BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

Jamie Oliver's Aussie Humble Pie

Yes, yes yet another one of Jamie's specials and a long standing share from my side. 





I had used the filling two ways, one in a recipe I have already shared with you - A Tribute to my Inspiration, my Mummy - Pie Meat & Mushroom buns with Sesame and the other as the pie filling to Jamie's Aussie Humble Pie.

This make was a delightful  and savoury one both to my little one and my hubby. 

I simply love the golden crunchy crust. Thanks Jamie for yet another delicious dish.

I halved the recipe as the original was for 8 servings. This recipe calls for two of  some of my favourite treats Beef and Pie. 

Although Jamie had used pale ale in his recipe, I did my own subsitutions as ale was not available.

You can substitute it with chicken broth, ginger ale or white grape juice. 

I did a combination of chicken broth and ginger ale. 

Pale ale is a beer which is made by warm fermentation using pale malt mainly. The lighter colour of the ale is owing to the higher propotion of pale malt.

Recipe source : Jamie Oliver


You need:

For the filling:

• 1/2 kg beef cum into 1 cm chunks (ideally beef skirt - cut of beef from the 'Plate'. See image)
• Black Pepper
• Olive oil
• 1/2 whole nutmeg, grated
• Salt
• 1 large carrot, peeled
• 1 red onion, peeled
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
• 125ml pale ale (learn more here)
• 1/2 tbsp full of plain flour
• 1/2 tbsp tomato pureé
• 125 gms button mushrooms
• 1 medium egg yolk, beaten
• Drinking water
• Cold water

 For the pastry:

• 300 gms plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 75 g cold unsalted butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing
• 75 g Cheddar cheese

The Make:

Serves : 4 adults | Preparation Time: | Resting Time: 3 hrs - overnight | Cooking Time: up to 1 hr, 43 minutes

1. Place the beef chunks in a large bowl. Add a heaped tsp of pepper, salt to taste or a good pinch of it and 2 tbsp of Olive oil.

2. Grate in quarter of a nutmeg, toss well and coat all chunks. Set aside. Roughly chop the carrots, onions and rosemary leaves.

3. In a wide, medium sized pan/wok, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat. Add the beef chunks and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the meat is browned all over and any liquid has evaporated, stirring frequently.

4. Meanwhile, heat another medium pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and a drizzle of olive oil and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until softened and caramelised, stirring frequently. Set aside.

5. Add the ale or the ale substitute to the beef, turn the heat up to high and allow the liquid to boil and bubble away, stirring and scraping all those lovely sticky bits from the bottom of the pan.

6. Next stir in the flour and tomato pureé and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it forms a thick paste. Add the softened vegetables into the pan and pour in 1 litre of cold water. Roughly slice and add the mushrooms, then bring to the boil. 

7. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer for 11/2 hrs then take off the lid and simmer for another 30 minutes, or until thickened and reduced and the beef is nice and tender, stirring occasionally. Season to taste, transfer to a bowl and allow to cool completely for a few hours or preferably overnight in the fridge. 

8. Meanwhile, make the pastry. Combine the flour and a good pinch of salt in a bowl, then grate in the Cheddar and rub into the flour along with the butter, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

9. Gradually add 125 ml of cold water, stirring continuously to combine, then use your hands to bring it together into a rough dough – be careful not to work it too much. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge until needed.

10. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. You can either serve this individually as Jamie did or as I did as one baked pie dish. For a single dish do the process of the pastry just once. For the individual pie dishes: Grease 4 individual pie dishes (roughly 15cm x 10cm) with a little butter and dust with flour. Divide the pastry into 4 equal-sized pieces, then roll out a portion on a flour-dusted surface to the thickness of a pound coin. Place 2 of the pie dishes side-by-side, roll the pastry around the rolling pin, hold it over the dishes and carefully unroll the pastry to cover. Gently press the pastry into the sides of the dishes, then rough ly cut away the excess so you end up with 2 lined pie dishes. Repeat with the remaining pastry, reserving the excess for later.

11. Equally divide the steak and ale filling between the dishes and brush the edges with the beaten egg. Divide the excess pastry into 4 equal-sized pieces, roll out to the thickness of a pound coin and place over the filling. Trim away any excess, crimp the edges with a fork and with the tip of a sharp knife or kitchen blade cut a little cross into the top. Brush over a little more beaten egg, then place in the hot oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden and piping hot through. Serve warm with a dollop of ketchup or favourite sauce, your favourite seasonal greens and your favourite chilled drink.

Bon Appetit!

*Veg option:
You can make this same recipe using a vegetarian option of cottage cheese / paneer. 
1. Cut the cottage into cubes. You can easily reduce the cook time by half as paneer does not take that long to cook.  However I would suggest you play this by trial. Reduce the initial saute time to 10 minutes. 
2. Make sure to first saute the chopped vegetables and then the cottage cheese. 
3. Also the bake time can be reduced to 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden. 
4. Also instead of the egg wash over the pastry, brush the pastry with a tad bit of milk.

Lemon and Herb Roast Chicken

I am baaaack. Didn't expect me so soon did you :)? Well I am here and this time again with another super simple recipe.

Although I specify two herbs, you can add more or different herbs as well. I tried this combination and I have to say I am quite inspired with this experiment.

This chicken borrows more of a Mediterranean flavour. Herbes de Provence, a mixture of several dried herbs such as thyme, oregano, rosemary, marjoram and savoury, is typical of the Provence region of South East France. Oregano is common in the Mediterranean region.

You need:

• 1.2 kgs of whole chicken with skin on, washed and cleaned well
• Salt to taste
• Half a shake of Herbes de Provence
• A good shake of Oregano
• 1 tbsp Pepper powder
• A drizzle of olive oil
• 1/2 a lemon
• 2 drops of clove oil (you just have about 3-4 cloves sitting in some warm oil for about half a day, strain and use) - optional *

* You can also use biriyani oil in case available.

The Make:
Preparation time: 10 minutes | Roast time: 1 hour | Resting time: 10 minutes | Serves 3-4 adults

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Form slits all around the chicken with a sharp knife edge and allow the cleaned chicken to drain in a colander.
2. In a bowl, mix the herbs, pepper, olive oil and salt to taste.
3, Rub into the chicken well, taking care to tuck in some of the spice rub into the slits on the chicken and some in the cavity as well.
4. Squeeze the lemon juice over the spice rub and massage the chicken once more.
5. In a large roasting pan, lay the spice rubbed chicken carefully and pop it into the oven.
6. Roast until golden brown on top and the chicken is cooked well for about an hour.
7. Rest in the oven for about five minutes and then remove from the oven and rest for five more minutes.

Serve hot with a side of your favourite salad and choice of bread.

Bon Appetit! My little one loved this chicken make as well (PS for those of you who do not know - my little one is my biggest critic ever! :) )

Simple Penne Pasta with Mushrooms

With the Lenten season 2015 here, I believe many of you will benefit from some of these simple recipes to be shared on G'Gina's Kitchenette. Many practicing Christians abstain from non-vegetarian food to the extent of eggs and dairy being eliminated from all meals during Lent. These days a lot of people abstain from their favourite foods including chocolates or choice meals. Some even abstain from social networks, etc. While this is admirable, unfortunately I cannot abstain from social networks as most of my work is done online :)!

So for now it is still simple meals and vegetarian food. However I will share some other recipes as well to benefit my readers who are not practicing Lent.

You need:

• 300 gms of penne pasta (I used a whole wheat variety)
• 250 gms of Mushrooms, diced  (you can use any variety, I used smaller button mushrooms)
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• Olive oil - cooking variety
• Fresh or dried parsley (1 bunch or 2 tbsp)
• Salt to taste
• Paprika (optional)
• Water to boil
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, grated finely

The Make:
Preparation Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 30 minutes| Serves 3-4 adults

1. Bring water to boil in a deep pot or wok and  once on a roll, lower the heat and pop in the pasta. Cover and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes or until al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. In the same wok, drizzle some olive oil and saute the mushrooms for 5 minutes. Pop in the grated garlic and parsley and saute for another 5 minutes. You can also add the paprika and salt at this point.
3. Add in the cooked pasta and toss well. Add in the EVOO and serve hot.

Hummus (Chick Peas dip)

I made Hummus from scratch after I got homesick one day. Well I decided to cook an Arabic meal. Have yet to try Arabic kebabs but I went for the roast chicken as option. This is the first part in my rustic Arabic meal. Anup's cousin and family were visiting Hyderabad so I thought what best than to serve them something from my hometown. For those of you who do not know me, no I am not Arab - very much Indian but I was born, raised and spent a good chunk of my years in Dubai, UAE. I miss home a lot...you cannot imagine! But before I get down and feel blue again (not that this weather is helping either), let me get this recipe across to you :)

Hummus is a very healthy dip unlike most of your dressings and dips you get out of a jar. If used with the right amount of EVOO, it should prove to be healthy. It is rather simple to make as well.

You need:

• 2 cups of dry chick peas (cleaned and soaked overnight with a pinch of soda bicarbonate (optional) )
• 1/2 cup of sesame seed paste (Tahini)
• 3-4 medium sized garlic cloves, crushed to a paste
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Salt and paprika/smoked paprika powder to taste
• 2-3 tbsp of EVOO (Extra virgin olive oil) or Olive oil
• 4 cups of drinking water
• 1-2 tbsp Parsley leaves, chopped finely (optional)
• Chopped olives - for garnishing (optional)

The Make

Preparation Time: Overnight + 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 15 minutes | Serves 4 adults

1. Drain the chickpeas and rinse well. Cook the chickpeas in water either in a covered pot or pressure cooker ( 2 whistles on high and 1 on low).
2. Drain most of the water used for cooking the chickpeas with a tad reserved for the grinding process to follow.
3. Reserve a few of the chickpeas for garnishing. Grind the chickpeas in either a food processor or blender until it forms a smooth paste (no lumps, else redo in batches).
4. Add the remaining ingredients and give it one last blend. Take all of the paste onto the serving plate.
5. Mix in the lemon juice and drizzle olive oil just before serving. If you add the lemon juice and olive oil prior the hummus will gain a bitter taste.

6. Garnish with chopped olives, parsley leaves (optional), reserved chick peas and a pinch of paprika.
7. Serve with warm pita bread / kuboos (Arabic flatbread) or manakish.

Hope you enjoy making and most importantly dipping into the hummus. For those of you that have not liked my Facebook page yet, I would like to inform you that G'Gina's Kitchenette has been nominated for the Indibloggers Awards 2013 in the food category:-). Please do visit the G'Gina's Kitchenette's Indibloggers Awards 2013 nomination page to vote by clicking on 'Recommend' and don't forget to leave a 'Comment' on what you like about G'Gina's Kitchenette and the recipe creations. G'Gina's Kitchenette is counting on your valuable vote and comments. This requires a facebook login by the way :-) Thanks whole heaps in advance.

Tuna in Spiced Tomato gravy

Ok no excuses this time! It has been almost a month since my last post. I have been whipping up several exotic creations, some failed and crashed. Although I had mentioned in my last post on G'Gina's Kitchenette's Facebook page of a sweet surprise, that did not happen as it was one of the ones that crashed and burned. The specialist who was to fix my grill and oven has been avoiding the visit due to heavy rains we have been experiencing here. I promise to come back to the sweet delights soon enough!

This one is a Spanish inspiration. With the monsoons coming in, one of my dear readers had suggested some wholesome warm recipe creations. If you love fish, this would definitely be up your alley. If not you can substitute with chicken or eggplant or even whole boiled eggs. Of course the cooking time would be reduced accordingly.

You need:

• 1 kg tuna, preferably skinned, filleted and cut into medium size pieces
• 4-5 medium sized tomatoes,skinned and de-seeded
• 1 large red onion, cut into 4 quarters
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, skinned and crushed
• 2 tbsp red paprika powder
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey (optional)
• 1 red capsicum (habanero ), deseeded and diced
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander (Cilantro) leaves, chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, picked and chopped
• 4 tbsp of olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 cup drinking water

The Make:

Cooking Time: 40 minutes | Preparation Time : 10 minutes | Serves 6-7

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the tomatoes, onion, and garlic on a baking sheet/foil and toss with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer baking sheet to the oven. Cook until the tomatoes are slightly charred, turning occasionally in 20 minutes.

2. Bring it to room temperature and then transfer all the ingredients from the baking sheet/foil to a blender along with the paprika powder, habanero, cilantro, white wine vinegar, honey (optional) and mint. Blend until smooth. Season with salt taking care not to add too much as the tomatoes have already has been seasoned.

3. Next drizzle some of the remaining oil in a claypot or non-stick deep bottomed pot. Rub some salt and pepper on the tuna pieces and lightly saute giving 2 minutes on each side adding the remaining oil as required. Pour in the blended mix to the tuna pieces and cook for no more than 15-20 minutes. Add water as required and bring to boil.

Serve hot with Spanish rice or any other rice of your choice, pasta or flatbread of your choice.

Crispy Crunchy Bittergourd

Bitter gourd is not well received by my hubbykins unless it is dried and fried. This one was well-received though:)

Crispy Crunchy Bitter gourd

You need:

• 4-5 medium sized bitter gourd, cleaned and diced finely
• 4 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup of honey or crushed jaggery
• 1-2 small chili peppers/cayenne pepper, diced or dry red chili flakes (optional for an extra kick)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil

The Make:

Serves 4 adults | Cooking Time: 20 minutes| Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes

1. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the onion. Saute till translucent for about 2 minutes on medium heat.

Stir fry the bitter gourd and condiments 

2. Add the bitter gourd and stir fry for about 5 minutes.

Closeup of the bittergourd with other ingredients

3. Next add the sesame seeds, smoked paprika, chili peppers and salt. Cover and cook about 5 minutes.

Working the bittergourd and condiments

4. Lastly add the honey or jaggery and saute well. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.

5. Uncover and allow to drain off any residual water content.
6. Serve your Crispy, Crunchy Bittergourd with spiced fried or plain rice.

Crispy Crunchy Bittergourd, served with Rice

Penne Rigate Pasta Vegetable Soup with Parmigiano-Reggiano

Another inspiration brought back from our visit to Italy! I tried this earlier with Gruyere Cheese but I think Gruyere goes better with other kinds of soups like French Onion and the like!

You need:

• 2 cups of fresh vegetables - cubed carrots, diced cabbage, chopped celery, green peas(optional), cooked and drained kidney beans, chopped green beans)
• 2 cups of cooked Penne Rigate Pasta
• 3 cloves of garlic minced or grated
• 1 peeled and diced tomato (place the tomato in boiling water for a minute and run under cool water to enable the peeling process)
• 1/2 tbsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp Oregano (optional)
• 1 cup tomato puree ( http://gginaflavorspalatte.blogspot.in/2012/05/homemade-tomato-puree.html)
• Salt to taste
• 1 block of Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Drizzle of Extravirgin (I used Extravergine Albano) olive oil
• 2 cups of boiled, cooked water
• 1 cube of veg stock (or beef or chicken as per your choice). You can also make this from scratch or avoid it as the veggies will bring out the flavor in the soup.
• 1 egg - beaten with 1/2 tbsp dried parsley, grated parmesan and some pepper

Method:

Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes| Preparation Time: 5 minutes| Serves 2 adults

1. Add a drizzle of olive oil in a deep-bottomed non-stick pan.

2. Saute the veggies(except the kidney beans) and half cook.

3. Add 2 cups of boiled cooled water and stock cube.

4. Add the diced tomatoes and puree, followed by the dried parsley, basil and oregano(optional) and salt and pepper. Cover the lid and run to a boil.

6. Lower the heat, uncover and slowly add the egg stirring all the time.

7. Add the beans and pasta and saute well. Do a seasoning taste test and add more salt or pepper if required.  

Penne Rigate Pasta Vegetable soup topped with Parmigian Reggiano

8. Serve into two bowls and grate some parmigian reggiano over each bowl of soup. Your soup is ready to be served!

Close up of the Penne Rigate Veggie Soup

Bon Appetit!