Bruschetta in a hurry!

Yeah yeah, funny title...but the recipe is one you whip up in a hurry! I actually don't post these "spur of the moment" recipes in my blog- but then it was yum and I thought why not? It is so easy and you need not go shopping to make this recipe. The ingredients just come out of your pantry. That easy, yay!
The best part is you could come up with this on a lazy saturday evening and just plop yourself on your couch and watch the world pass by.

What do i need?

• Bread slices- any thing will do (I used the normal bread slices- if you got anything fancy then use it)
• Tomatoes- i used 4, depends on how much topping you like on your bread
• Garlic- i used a handful of cloves. (use as per your liking/tolerance)
• dash of salt
• crushed pepper- according to taste
• olive oil- about a tablespoon
• Basil leaves (i used dried)/ you can skip if you don't have
• Mozzarella cheese (any cheese will do)
• Chili flakes (dash of it, to get that oomph!)

Preparation-

• Cut the bread in two halves- I used about 6 bread (12 pieces)
• Crush one glove of garlic and gently rub it on the bread- this will give a very garlicky feel to the bread. You can even spread garlic butter on the bread.
• Chop tomatoes and place them in a bowl. (Ideally you should blanch the tomatoes, remove the skin and seeds and then chop them- but remember this is a recipe in a hurry, so why bother?)
• Add salt, basil leaves, crushed pepper, chili flakes and olive oil to the tomatoes and mix them thoroughly.
• Crush and chop the rest of the garlic cloves and add it to the tomatoes.
• Lay the bread on a baking tray and top each slice with the tomato mixture.
• Top it with grated Mozzarella-
• Pop them in oven and  bake it for 10 to 15 minutes till the cheese melts.
• Once out of oven, drizzle the bruschetta with olive oil and enjoy!

Yummm! and how easy is that :)- you can be fancy based on ingredients available in your pantry. If you have black olives, add them to your tomato mixture and give it a new twist-

Berrylicious cardamom rolls...

Hey world, look who is back to the blogging zone??? Yup, it's been over an year since I posted and I am back with a lip-smacking easy to make recipe. Why such a long break, you ask? Well, it's a culmination of my laziness and some serious amount of responsibility added on to my life, I say. Am I gonna stick around for long, you ask? ok, let's do one thing at a time, I say. I am back to doing what I love- Baking! Oh, boy, I have been ogling at this recipe for sometime now. If blogs could talk, they will tell you the tale of gal, who unabashedly stalked the recipe and never did anything about it. Over a long weekend break, I finally owned up and collected all the ingredients to make these rolls. Slurp, chomp and poof! yes, that's what happened to the rolls which are rattling somewhere in my abdomen. Will I revisit this recipe? Oh yeah....Taste and addiction are strong drivers to action and they will drive me to bake more.

Ok, ok, enough blah blah...just give me some space and i start of like a granny about my life saga. All said and done, I think, one should never give up on things that they love doing. Be it gardening or reading or baking or cooking. Whatever drives you, whatever you love, go do it. Period. No more excuses. Time and life always try to rob you off your creativity. Fight them with all your heart and pour out your creativity with the things you are passionate about. On that lovely note, here is my recipe. Is it easy you ask? I say, a BIG YES...Does one need to be proficient to make them you ask? I say, NAH... Does it need fancy ingredients you ponder? I say, well read on...

What do you need?

• 1/2 cup milk, lukewarm
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 tbsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, softened
• 1 big egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

For the Filling?

• Berry jam or any fruit jam (about couple of tablespoon or more if you wish)
• 1 egg, for egg wash

Preparation?

1. In a small bowl combine the milk, sugar and the yeast and stir. Let it sit for about 10 to 15 minutes until the yeast starts frothing or bubbling.
2. In a big bowl add the eggs, stick of butter, cardamom, salt and mix everything together. Add the yeast mixture and continue mixing until well combined. Mix in the flour (one cup at a time) and knead the dough till it becomes a ball. If your dough is sticky, add more flour and if you dough is stiff add a bit of milk to combine well.
3. In a large bowl add a bit of oil and place the dough in the bowl, rolling it around so that it gets oil all over and will not dry out. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rest and rise for a couple of hours.
4. Once the dough has double in size, punch it gently and on a well floured work surface knead it gently for a couple of seconds. Cut the dough in two pieces and you can work on each piece separately. Roll each piece about as thin as you can. With a spoon, start spreading the berry jam or fruit jam. You can even use nutella if you don't have a fruit jam in your fridge. Spread as much as you want but don't make it too soggy else it will be difficult to roll them. After spreading the jam, roll it into a tight log starting from the narrower side. Once rolled, cut them into round disks. 
5. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
6. Let the rolls sit for about 30 minutes to rise. Brush the rolls with egg wash.
7. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden.
8. Forget about the world as you sink your teeth into these beauties with a piping hot cup of coffee!