Most weekdays are ‘Sandwiches for breakfast’ days. Sandwiches are easy to assemble, versatile (it perks me up 6-7 a.m.), and easy to eat while I’m on my way to office. And after I’ve discovered Thoms, all I want to do is try out sandwiches of all kinds.
For the ignorant, Thoms is this wonderful bakery near Frazer town(Phone:080-25301860; 080-25361076). I just can’t help sneaking away from office at lunch time for a quick shopping extravaganza. Walk in and the aroma of freshly baked breads drives you crazy!
Ok, I try to speak to the sales folks in Malayalam because:
1. They are all from Mallu land
2. I’m improving my own language skills…and,
2. I strike a chord with them instantly and therefore, I’d like to believe that I get the best loaf they’ve baked that day!
Their little tubs of chocolate cake are awesome tasting and so are their chocolate doughnuts. Oh, they have these little chocolate balls which are, out-of-this-world! I simply have no clue as to how they bake these, but I figured it is probably the cake crumbs mixed with chocolate sauce, molded into cute, lemon-sized balls, and liquid chocolate poured on top, for a lovely icing-like finish.
Back to the breads, my favorite is the huge bun-like brown bread which I slice into two, top one half with loads of veggies, cheese and jalapeno sauce, put the top back again and cut this into thick wedges.
I also love their multi-grain bread. Soft and chewy these loaves stay that way even on the third/fourth day, if you don’t manage to use it up. I usually make a sandwich spread with grated veggies, lots of boiled corn and an eggless mayonnaise and slather them on to thick slices of this bread. Delicious!
I haven’t tasted the ragi bread yet, but they were so soft to touch that I once sent them home to my mother-in-law who was experimenting with ragi foods those days. She was floored.
What I like is that they don’t slice the bread, which means you can tear them off and eat them if you are ravenous, or cut them into thick slices (I love my sandwiches this way.) And what I like even more is that they wrap it in brown paper, which is so charming. Simple tomato slices and cheese, grated cucumber in low-cal butter spread, shreds of omlette tossed with veggies (for Shinu), and slices of fruit wedged in with butter (for Samkuttan)…I experiment endlessly.
Am off to Thoms tomorrow for their brown bread, and yeah, while I’m there, will pop one of those chocolate balls if they have them ready by then. Pure Indulgence, that!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
The cake that PLUMmeted!
Ruby-red, absolutely fresh-looking plums seem irresistible. And I succumbed to a boxful when I happened to visit Spencers last Saturday afternoon.
It was evident from Samit’s face that they were very sour, as the poor baby bit into the deceptively luscious-looking fruit. So I wondered what I could do with them. Bingo! I sent Shinu to buy some brandy, and soaked the chopped plums in a heady mixture of sugar and brandy.
I let it rest for 30 hours, before proceeding to bake a fresh, continental plum cake.
The flour was measured, the eggs weighed and the sugar creamed into the butter. I spread the batter on to the cake tin and topped the mix with a luscious layer of macerated plum.
The cake had risen beautifully: golden yellow with shiny heads of red, peeping in between the cake. I let it cool and cut them into squares. Only the taste was a bit disappointing. The plums had turned bitter-sour spoiling the taste of what would have been a very nice cake (I think).
Nevertheless….there was a bit left for cheer. The remnant brandy had flavors of plum nicely infused, with hints of sweetness from the sugar, and made a heady drink on a Sunday evening!!
It was evident from Samit’s face that they were very sour, as the poor baby bit into the deceptively luscious-looking fruit. So I wondered what I could do with them. Bingo! I sent Shinu to buy some brandy, and soaked the chopped plums in a heady mixture of sugar and brandy.
I let it rest for 30 hours, before proceeding to bake a fresh, continental plum cake.
The flour was measured, the eggs weighed and the sugar creamed into the butter. I spread the batter on to the cake tin and topped the mix with a luscious layer of macerated plum.
The cake had risen beautifully: golden yellow with shiny heads of red, peeping in between the cake. I let it cool and cut them into squares. Only the taste was a bit disappointing. The plums had turned bitter-sour spoiling the taste of what would have been a very nice cake (I think).
Nevertheless….there was a bit left for cheer. The remnant brandy had flavors of plum nicely infused, with hints of sweetness from the sugar, and made a heady drink on a Sunday evening!!
Of Pumpkins and Parmesan
Surfing the television, I stumbled upon ‘The Naked Chef’, Jamie Oliver whipping up a hearty, gorgeous-looking, chunky pumpkin soup on an episode on Travel and Living.
He chopped up leeks, onions, garlic and fresh carrots and sautéed them in olive oil. And proceeded to dice sun-kissed pumpkins (that probably came straight from the green patch in the garden) into huge chunks. He then pressure-cooked the pumpkin with the other vegetables, and chicken stock (I guess veg-stock for the vegetarians) in a super-looking blue-black pressure cooker (I’ve never seen the kind in India).
As a final step, he blended the cooked mass into a sunny yellow-orange soup throwing in salt and pepper, to taste.
But what grabbed my eyeballs were the croutons he dished up….
Thick slices of ciabatta bread were laid on the chopping board and Parmesan cheese grated on it. He patted the cheese, so it stuck firmly to the bread and toasted these on a skillet. Gorgeous, sizzling, golden-brown slices that made a great pairing with the soup…
This early morning, I tried to recreate the Jamie Oliver magic by grating Britannia cheese cubes (the sour cream and onion flavor) on brown bread and toasted them the same way, for Samit’s snack box – it bombed…..The cheese almost immediately burned into a black layer of carbon that peeled away from the bread.
So while Samit had to stay content with buttered brown bread toast, I’m determined to buy Parmesan and give it another go. What fun!
He chopped up leeks, onions, garlic and fresh carrots and sautéed them in olive oil. And proceeded to dice sun-kissed pumpkins (that probably came straight from the green patch in the garden) into huge chunks. He then pressure-cooked the pumpkin with the other vegetables, and chicken stock (I guess veg-stock for the vegetarians) in a super-looking blue-black pressure cooker (I’ve never seen the kind in India).
As a final step, he blended the cooked mass into a sunny yellow-orange soup throwing in salt and pepper, to taste.
But what grabbed my eyeballs were the croutons he dished up….
Thick slices of ciabatta bread were laid on the chopping board and Parmesan cheese grated on it. He patted the cheese, so it stuck firmly to the bread and toasted these on a skillet. Gorgeous, sizzling, golden-brown slices that made a great pairing with the soup…
This early morning, I tried to recreate the Jamie Oliver magic by grating Britannia cheese cubes (the sour cream and onion flavor) on brown bread and toasted them the same way, for Samit’s snack box – it bombed…..The cheese almost immediately burned into a black layer of carbon that peeled away from the bread.
So while Samit had to stay content with buttered brown bread toast, I’m determined to buy Parmesan and give it another go. What fun!
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