Burger Pizza

Burgers or Hamburgers is a kind of sandwich consisting one or more of the cooked patties made of ground meat (usually) inside a bun. If I am right this burger originated in Germany and then spread to other countries. Now a days we of course have vegetarian versions of this burger with the patties usually made of potatoes and shallow fried.

Today's post I am terming this as burger pizza since it doesn't contain a patty and I baked it with cheese added to it. I haven't heard of burgers with cheese. So hopefully my readers will accept this as a form of pizza. It tasted pretty similar to pizza since I had added pizza sause as well as all the Italian toppings and ofcourse with paneer. I also used cheese singles instead of the normal pizza cheese so that it goes well with the form of burger.

Ingredients:

Burger Bun - 2

Cheese singles - 2

Pizza sauce - 2 tbsp

Cut vegetables (raw) - 1 cup (I used slices of tomatoes, onions and cucumbers)

Grated paneer - 1/2 cup

Chopped mushrooms - 1/2 cup

Chopped green peppers (capsicum) - 1/2 cup

Chopped onions - 1/4 cup

Italian seasoning - 1 tbsp

Pepper powder - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

• In a non-stick cookware add the oil and the chopped mushroom, onions and green peppers
• Add needed salt and stir fry in low flame until water oozes out of the mushrooms and the veggies are half cooked. 
• Add the grated paneer, pepper powder and half the amount of Italian seasoning. Mix well and allow it to cool.
• Cover a baking tray with aluminium foil. Pre-heat the oven at 160 degree centigrade.
• Cut the burger buns into halves. Place the bottom half in the baking tray.
• Apply pizza sauce in the sliced buns.
• Place a layer of the raw vegetables.
• Make a ball or patty of the paneer mix and place it on top of the raw vegetables.
• Place the cheese singles on top of the paneer and sprinkle the remaining italian seasoning.
• Lastly place the top half of the burger buns and decorate as per your taste.
• I placed a small piece of tomato and held it in position with a tooth pick.
• Bake in the oven for about 6-8 minutes.

Enjoy your burger-pizzas hot!!

Notes:

• I baked only for about 7 minutes since I didn't want the cheese to gooey. You can bakes for few minutes more if you would like the cheese to melt.
• You can replace the cheese singles with usual pizza cheese.

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Paneer Tikka Pizza

Once I Started baking I often make pizzas at home since it is a very satisfying meal and everybody loves it at home. Ofcourse I haven't tried various crusts yet. I stick to the one which I am good at - the normal thick crust. Let me perfect this, then I shall try various crusts. I have given the recipe to make a pizza base here.

Today I am presenting the Paneer Tikka Pizza. I guess most of the pizza outlets in India now serve atleast one pizza with paneer toppings. Paneer topping is the best option for vegetarians I believe. I am not elaborating the recipe of making paneer tikka here since I would like to post that as a separate recipe. Paneer Tikka pizza recipe has become a common recipe in india and overseas. I made the paneer tikka before-hand and placed that as toppings. But in the internet I see that the marinated paneer cubes are placed directly on the pizza base and baked. Over to my way of making this pizza..

Ingredients:

Paneer Tikka - 1 cup

Prepared Pizza Base - 1

Pizza sause - 2 tbsp

Chilly flakes - 1/2 tsp

Mixed herbs - 1/2 tsp

Jalapeno, Olives - few

Mozarella cheese (grated) - 1/2 cup

Method:

• Take a glass plate and grease with butter. Place the pizza base in the greased plate.
• Spread pizza sauce generously leaving the sides slightly.
• Top up with prepared paneer tikka 
• Also place few jalapeno, olives. and sprinkle ¼ tsp chilli flakes, ¼ tsp mixed herbs
• Then spread ½ cup of grated mozzarella cheese over the base.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degree celsius for about 15-20 minutes

Sprinkle the remaining herbs and Serve Hot!!!

Notes:

• Additionally, add mushrooms or vegetables of your choice
• Bake the homemade paneer tikka pizza in very hot preheated oven else, the base of pizza will be raw.

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Beef Mushroom Pizza

Starting this week's marathon with one of my favorite themes - Pizzas. This italian delicacy has entered almost all Indian households and I guess most of the moms these days try to make it at home.

So today I have given a kerala touch to the pizza - meaning I have added beef as one of the toppings. I should say Kerala and beef are kind of made for each other. I also added other vegetables like mushrooms, bell pepper, onions, tomatoes etc. You can add any other meat substitue like paneer or soya for the vegetarian version.

I normally stock cooked beef at home. So I was ready with all the toppings in a jiffy. And whenever  I make pizza base I normally make 3-4 and store it. I bake the pizza base so that its just cooked at 180 degree centigrade for about 5-7 minutes. After cooling I pack the pizza base individually into zip lock covers and refrigerate them. I try to use these within 15 days. I have shared the recipe for making a pizza base here.

Ingredients:

1 green pepper, cut into thin bite-size strips

1 small red onion, sliced and separated into rings

2-3 small mushrooms, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 prepared pizza crust

2 tbsp tender cooked beef, cut into thin bite-size strips.

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated

1 teaspoon italian seasoning

Method:

• Place olive oil in a large nonstick skillet and heat.
• Add the green pepper, mushrooms and onion and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Set aside.
• Place pizza crust on a lightly greased baking sheet.
• Top with the cooked beef, onion, mushroom and green pepper mixture, and cherry tomatoes.
• Sprinkle with Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.
• Bake in a 180 C in the oven for about 8-10 minutes or until cheese melts and pizza is heated through.

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Zaatar - Pull Apart Bread

Finally I managed to complete all the recipes in this mega marathon. Better late than never right..
Zaatar is  a middle eastern spice powder made with dried herbs such as oregano, thyme and marjoram, roasted sesame seeds, salt and sumac. I made this at home for a previous recipe. Find it here. I used the leftover spice to make this lovely pull apart bread.

Zaatar can be used as a condiment mixed with olive oil, or can be used to top breads or can be used as a coating spice for meats. It is so versatile and it tastes awesome. I am unable to explain the taste in detail as I am not at all familiar with the unique flavour. But it is tangy, tart and salty and it is so nice. You need to try to understand it.

I am happy that I was able to make the perfect bread dough for this recipe. Ofcourse I checked gayathri's video thoroughly. Since I didn't have a round tin, i tried to bring in the shape in small muffin cups and they turned out like beautiful lotuses. I loved the shape.

The filling is pretty easy as I just applied butter and sprinkled zaatar over it. As zaatar doesn’t have any type of chilly in it, I added some pepper powder while filling the bread. In one of the cups, I added some cooked potato to the filling.

Recipe Source: Gayathriscookspot
Country: Middle East

 Ingredients:

For The Dough:
Flour – 1 3/4 cup
Salt – 1 tsp
Sugar – 2 tsp
Instant Yeast – 2 tsp
Butter – 2 tbs
Curd / Yoghurt – 2 tbs
 Milk – 1/2 cup


For The Filling:
Zaatar Spice – 2 – 3 tbs
Butter – 2 tbs
Pepper Powder – 1 tsp
Boiled potato - 1

Method:

• In a bowl mix together flour, salt, sugar, yeast, butter, curd and milk.
• Mix to form a rough dough.
• Turn it on to your work table, and knead the dough for 12 – 15 minutes.
• Grease a bowl with butter and place the dough inside.
• Brush the top with more butter, cover with cling film and set aside for 1 hour or until double in volume.
• Preheat oven to 200°C once the proving is done.
• Turn it on to the work table, press it, sprinkle with flour and roll into a thin square.
• Apply butter on top and sprinkle zaatar and pepper powder.
• Cut the square into smaller squares.
• In some of the squares, mash and place the boiled potato as a very thin layer.

• Grease an 8″ round tin or 3 muffin cups
• Fold each square along the diagonal to form a small triangle.
• Slightly fold the triangle along the longer side and place them in the bread/muffin tin. This will look like a petal of a flower.
• Fill the tin with such petals. Start from the far end of the tin and then come to the center.
• Brush the top of the bread with milk and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden.
• Remove from oven, allow it to sit for 5- 10 minutes.
• Flip it on to a plate and flip it back to reveal the top.
• Serve immediately.

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Yangpabbang

Here is an interesting bread made with vegetables and cheese. Yangpabbang is a savory Onion Bread native to Korea. This bread looked very simple with onions and red capsicum. Unfortunately I couldn't find red peppers in time to make this bread. So I replaced them with green bell peppers. I also added little oregano spice mix in the bread to make it more interesting. 

I made this bread with a mix of wheat flour and all purpose flour. The outside is a little crunchy, while the inside is chewy and soft. We need to be careful that the bread has cooked properly. Since there is a stuffing inside, the flour surrounding the stuffing will take some time to get cooked.

This bread generally has onion, bacon, and cheese inside but I made the vegetarian variation. I guess non-veg would be more interesting. It can make a great meal with the addition of a salad or sides. With his mega marathon I learned many new breakfast items.

Recipe Source: Varada's Kitchen

Country: Korea

Ingredients:

For The Dough:

Butter – 2 tbs

Luke Warm Milk – 1 cup

Wheat Flour – 1 cup

Maida/ All Purpose Flour – 1 cup

Salt – 1 tsp

Instant Yeast – 1 tsp

For The Filling:

Green Bell Pepper – 1 small

Onion -2

Pepper and Salt – To Taste

Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp

Mozarella cheese - 3 tbsp

Oregano seasoning - 1 tbsp

Method:

• In a bowl mix together flours, salt, yeast and mix well.
• Add butter and milk and mix to form a soft dough.
• Knead the dough for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
• Cover with cling film and set aside until double.
• By the time the dough is proving, make the filling.
• Mix the onions, bell peppers, salt, pepper and cumin and set aside to sweat.
• Remove the vegetables and discard the water.
• Mix mozarella cheese with this mixture of vegetables.
• Take the proved dough to counter, press to release gas.
• Shape and roll it into a rectangle.
• Place 3/4th of the filling in the middle and bring both the sides on the filling.
• Pinch the sides and place it seam side down in a greased loaf pan
• Top the bread with the remaining filling.
• Cover and set aside for 20 minutes.
• By the time it is proving for the second time, preheat oven to 200°C.
• Bake the bread for 35 – 45 minutes. If you feel that the topping is going very dark, place an aluminium foil on top and bake.
• Remove from oven and let it cool for five minutes.
• Transfer the bread to wire rack and allow it to cool completely.
• Slice it up, toast and enjoy!

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X - cookies

In this mega marathon, I had no difficulty in finalizing the recipes for the difficult alphabets like Q, X, Z etc. Somehow these were the among the first ones to finalize. As soon as I saw the recipe for X-cookies in gayathri's space, I picked it up and finalized it for 'X'. I guess this is the first cookie I am preparing with chocolate. The cookies turned out fantastic. H said they actually looked like human beings.

X Cookies is a Sicilian cookie, also known as Cucidati. Whether you call them Cucidati, Sicilian X Cookies, or just plain Italian Fig Cookies, the end result is the same. Tender sweet dough, that’s wrapped around a very flavorful spiced fig filling.  The cookie dough is so buttery and is prepared like a pie crust with cold butter so that the cookie turns out buttery and flaky.  The filling has figs and apart from that it has lots of candied orange peel, chocolate, apricots and raisins.  The cookie dough is so buttery and is prepared like a pie crust with cold butter so that the cookie turns out buttery and flaky.  The filling has figs and apart from that it has lots of candied orange peel, chocolate, apricots and raisins.

Recipe Source: gayathriscookspot

Country: Sicily

Ingredients:

For The Filling:

Dried Figs-1 cup

Raisins-1/4 cup

Candied Orange Peel-1/6 cup

Dark Chocolate-45 gm

Almonds-1/6 cup

Apricots-1/6 cup

Instant Coffee Powder-1/2 tsp

Cinnamon-1/4 tsp

For The Pasta Flora:

Flour/ Maida-2 cups

Sugar-1/3 cup

Baking Powder-1/2 tsp

Salt-1/2 tsp

Cold Butter-1/2 cup

Curd/ Yogurt-1/2 cup

 Method:

For The Pasta Frolla:

• In a food processor add flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and butter.
• Run the processor until the flour resembles bread crumbs.
• Add curd and run until a crumbly dough is formed.
• Transfer to a cling wrap, cover it tightly and refrigerate.

For The Filling:

• Boil 1 cup of water and add figs.
• Boil for 2-3 minutes until the figs are soft.
• Drain water and allow it to cool.
• In the same jar in which you made the pasta frolla, add all the ingredients for filling.
• Run the processor until the filling forms a ball.
• Remove from the jar, divide it into 6 equal portions and keep it covered.

Making The X-Cookies:

• Remove dough from fridge.
• Divide it into 6 equal portions.
• Dust counter with flour.
• Roll a single portion into a 6″ log.
• Roll it into a rectangle of 2 1/2″ * 9″.
• Now roll one portion of the filling into a 9″ log.
• Place it in the rectangle.
• Bring the sides of the dough and cover the filling.
• Now holding the log tightly, roll it into 12″ log.
• Divide into 4 equal portions.
• Now make a slit mark on both sides of the smaller log leaving 1 1/2 cm intact.
• Curve the slit edges on both sides to form the letter X.
• Arrange on a greased baking tray.
• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Bake the cookies for 25-30 minutes or until golden.
• Cool on wire rack.
• Store in air tight jar and serve along with coffee.

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Vanilias Kifli

Vanilias Kifli is a very famour cookie from Hungary which is normally made during Christmas or New year time. They are dangerously addictive and extremely delicious. he word "vaníliás" refers to the vanilla flavor used while the world "kifli" stands for the crescent shape of the cookies.

While I was making a list of recipes for this mega marathon, I zeroed in on Vanilias kifli for 'V' and noted down the link. But while making this recipe, I only read the ingredients and instructions and didn't bother to read the introduction since I was running short of time. I have a new set of cookie shaper so all the more interest in making the cookies with this shaper. So as usual I made these cookies in my own way and shaped them into nice rounds. Later, while doing this write-up I read about this recipe and found out that kifli means crescent-shaped. Lessons learnt - read the complete post about a recipe. Hopefully my blogger friends would accept this round shaped crescents.

Recipe Source: Veggieplatter
Country: Hungary

Ingredients:

butter - 250g 

Sugar - 100g 

ground almonds - 160g 

plain flour - 310g 

Vanilla flavoured icing sugar - 2 tbsp

Method:

• Cream the butter and the sugar. Blend in almonds and flour. 
• Mix the flour and make it into a nice round ball.
• Roll the flour into a big rectangle of 4 cm height.
• With a cookie shaper, cut the cookies.
• Alternatively, Take small pieces of the mixture and roll between the palms of the hands, then form into crescents
• Place on greased baking trays and bake in a moderately slow oven (160C), for 20 minutes. Cool until biscuits are barely warm then toss in icing sugar. 

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Whole Wheat Paav Buns

I am presenting an Indian recipe today. The mumbai famous Paav buns. As usual I picked up the recipe from Gayathri's space. I was skeptical about doing this recipe. I read 2-3 blogs and somehow thought that the procedure is complex and perhaps I would not be able to do it perfectly. So I made it in small quantity but it came out absolutely perfect.

Paav means a small loaf of bread. This word has been derived from pao - a Portuguese word for bread. It seems the Portuguese were the first one to bring yeast to India. Thus with this yeast we Indians learned to make bread and initially called these paavs as double roti or double bread.

Commercially, pavs are always made with maida or all purpose flour. I made these paav with whole wheat flour instead of using the all purpose flour. I have already posted the recipe of Paav-bhaji. 

I made these paavs in the evening but unfortunately we were unable to eat it at that time. They stayed the same way till next day morning. I then made the bhaji and we relished paav - bhaji for breakfast. 

Recipe Source: Gayathriscookspot

Country: India

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tbs
Instant Yeast - 1/2 tbs
Curd / Yogurt - 1/5 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup
Oil - 1 tbs

Method:

• In a bowl mix together flour, yeast, sugar, salt, gluten and yeast. Combine them well.
• Add milk, curd and oil. Combine to make a slightly sticky dough.
• Knead the dough on counter for ten minutes until smooth and elastic.
• Place in an oiled bowl, apply some oil on the dough and cover with cling wrap and set aside.
• Let it sit for one hour or until double in volume. Flip it on to counter and press it into a square.
• Divide into 6 equal portions. Roll each into a tight ball.
• Place inside a greased 8" square pan. Arrange all the rolls inside the pan.
• Cover and set aside for 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 200°C.
• Apply milk wash on the buns and bake them for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden.
• Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack.
• Once cool, store in air tight jar.

Enjoy paav-bhaji or the mumbai famous vada-paav.

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Uovo al Pomodoro

Today I am presenting a recipe from tuscan part of Italy. Simplicity is central to the Tuscan cuisine. Legumes, bread, cheese, vegetables, mushrooms and fresh fruit are used. Tuscan cooks rely chiefly on the quality of the ingredients rather than on elaborate preparation. Today I am presenting a very simple recipe. I am not sure how it is spelled but it means Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce.

The most basic version of this recipe requires some form of tomato, be it fresh, canned, whole, chopped or pureed; some aromatics such as garlic or herbs; and, of course, eggs. But it is a dish that is easily adaptable and takes well to a number of extra additions.

Recipe Source: cookingchanneltv

Place: tuscan, Italy

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 3 big (finely chopped)

Onion - 1 big (finely chopped)

Garlic - 5 pods (minced)

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Pepper - 1 tbsp

Red pepper flakes - 1/2 tsp

Eggs - 2

Handful of herbs (parsley, basil, oregano, thyme etc)

Method:

For the red sauce:

Puree the tomatoes to a smooth, creamy consistency.
Add the oil to a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft but not browned
Add the garlic and the red pepper flakes if using and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the pureed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes. Strive for balance in the consistency of the sauce; it should be fluid but shouldn't look overly wet. A few minutes before taking the sauce off the heat, add half the amount of herbs.

For the uovo al pomodoro: 

Preheat the oven to 230C.
Add a few ladlefuls of red sauce to one oven-safe skillet or a glass vessel.
Crack 2 eggs directly on top of the red sauce. Season with salt and pepper, and transfer to the oven until the whites are cooked completely but the yolks are still runny, 7 to 8 minutes.
Garnish with the chopped parsley, and serve hot with a slice of grilled Tuscan bread on the side.

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Twisted Snail Buns

It’s more than certain that nothing can top off a homemade pastry for breakfast. The smell only, increases your appetite and awakens all of your senses. From the time this baking marathon has started I have been baking something or the other for breakfast. Today I am sharing with you twisted snail buns and they look amazing on first sight.

The most interesting part is that the preparation of these snails is not complicated at all. Although it seems as though you’ll have to have some special skills in order to get them right, trust me you will make it on the first try. With a little patience and a little more persistence you will get perfectly home baked snails to treat your loved ones or to surprise your colleges at work.

We had this for breakfast along with a bowl of muesli and milk. And believe me it was a very heavy breakfast. Do try this out.

Recipe Source: soulkitchenrecipes

Country: Macedonia

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 2 cups

Milk - 1/4 cup

Wate2 - 1/4 cup

fresh yeast - 2 tsp

oil - 2 tbsp

salt -  to taste

sugar -  1 tsp

olive oil

Milk (to glaze) - 2 tbsp

herb powders 

Method: 

• In a bowl, whisk together water, sugar and yeast and let it sit for about 10 minutes. In large bowl add sifted flour, salt, milk, oil and add the yeast. Knead until you get smooth and elastic dough. Cover bowl with towel and let it rest until doubled in size, about one hour.
• After dough has risen, divide in 8 equal parts of dough and roll out each part into a rectangle of about 25 cm x 15 cm. Brush the dough with olive oil.
• Cut the dough into strips about 2 cm wide. Starting from the shortest end, diagonally roll the dough until you get a long roll, and then twist it around to shape it into a snail shell.
• Lay them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and let the buns rest for about 30 minutes
• glaze the buns with milk. Sprinkle a mix of herbs on the top and bake in the oven about 15 minutes at 230 degree C or until golden brown.

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