With Mother’s Day just around the corner, these recipes might come in handy
Focaccia Caprese, Blueberry Lemonade and Spinach Feta Muffins
Hyderabad: Mother’s Day is just around the corner and wouldn’t it be great to make the day extra special and give your mum a gift that she will remember for a long time? No we’re not talking about a new dress (though that would be the icing on the cake), we’re talking about whipping up a delicious brunch for her. These easy-to-make recipes that can be prepared beforehand (so that you get to spend time with your mum) are from popular food blogger Nagalakshmi Viswanathan whose blog, Edible Garden, is a hit and the dessert is courtesy foodie Trishnanta Kanjilal.
Focaccia Caprese
Ingredients
3.5 cups of bread flour
¼ cup of olive oil plus another 1 tbsp for brushing
2 tsp of instant yeast
1.5 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of salt
1 cup of warm water
For the topping:
4 large tomatoes, sliced thin
One 7” ball of buffalo mozzarella, sliced into
¼” discs
¼ cup of basil leaves, cut into strips
For the herb oil:
¼ cup of olive oil
1.5 tsp of mixed herbs like basil, oregano, etc.
½ tsp of red chilli flakes
4 cloves of garlic, minced
½ tsp of salt
Method
Add all ingredients for the dough except water into the bowl and mix until combined. Slowly add warm water until the dough comes together just short of sticky. Knead for about 5 minutes. Add more water if needed.
Lightly oil a bowl and shape the dough into a ball with your hands before transferring it. Turn it around until all sides are lightly coated with the oil. Cover with cling wrap and leave in a warm place until doubled in size. Punch the dough down gently and transfer to a lined baking tray. Gently shape into a rectangle. Make sure the thickness is uniform. Using your fingertips, dig holes into the dough. Brush with olive oil and let it rise, loosely cover for another 20-30 minutes. The dough will puff up just a bit. Pre-heat oven to 200ºC and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Meanwhile, make the herb oil and set aside by combining all ingredients. Once the first round of baking is done and the focaccia is lightly browned, remove from oven and drizzle half the herb oil all over it uniformly. Layer the cheese, then the tomatoes and the basil leaves.
Blueberry Lemonade
Ingredients
1 cup blueberries (you can experiment with other fruits)
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Water
Ice cubes
Method
Reserve a few blueberries for garnish and blend the rest with sugar and 2 tbsp water until smooth. Pass this through a sieve to extract the juice. Add the lemon juice and top up with two glasses of water. Add more sugar or lemon as per your paste. A pinch of salt would go well too. Serve chilled.
Spinach Feta Muffins
Ingredients
2.5 cups of plain flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
2 cups of spinach leaves
¾ cup of crumbled feta cheese
¾ cup of cubed tomatoes
4 tbsp of grated Parmesan or mozzarella
1 1/3 cups of milk
90 gm of butter
1 egg (or 2 tbsp plain curd)
Method
Pre-heat oven to 200ºC. Line a muffin tray with liners and spray or grease with butter or oil. Wash, drain, and finely chop the spinach leaves. Add spinach leaves, flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, ¾ cup tomatoes, ¾ cup feta, and 2 tbsp of Parmesan to a bowl. Mix well until all ingredients are combined well. Melt the 90 gm butter (don’t boil, just warm so the butter melts) and add the egg and 1 1/3 cups milk to this. Whisk to combine. Add this to the previous mixture and stir well to combine. Your muffin batter is ready. Pour into the tray up to ¾ of the holes. Add the remaining 2 tbsp grated Parmesan (or mozzarella) on top. Bake in the pre-heated oven for roughly 20 minutes or till the top turns a golden brown. Use a skewer to poke the muffin all the way through and make sure there’s no unbaked dough remaining. Remove from tray and cool on wiring racks.
Instant microwave chocolate mug cake
Ingredients
4 tbsp all purpose flour
4 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp cocoa (unsweetened, I used Cadbury cocoa powder)
1 egg
3 tbsp of milk
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 tsp of baking powder
Dark chocolate chunks (optional, you can use any chocolate bar)
Method
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, crack the egg, add the oil, milk, chocolate chunks (if using) and mix well. Pour the batter into a bowl/coffee mug and microwave for a minute. Be careful so that you don’t overcook. The cake will rise a little in the bowl. Let the cake cool completely. Drizzle with chocolate sauce or sprinkle generously with icing sugar or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Note: This cake can be refrigerated and it stays perfectly moist even the next day.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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