Wholewheat Flour

Atta: full grains ensure complete nutrition

Wheat is an ancient grain, which humans eat for more than 12,000 years. It played a vital role in the sacred rituals of many cultures. Greek, Roman, Sumerian and Finnish mythology had gods and goddesses of wheat.

Although I do not pray to the goddess of wheat, it plays an important part in feeding my family. In my kitchen I practically never use white flour, only whole wheat flour or atta, as it is called in India. This has one reason: White flour lacks the bran and the germ of the wheat grain, the parts which offer the most nutrition. From a health point of view refining flour makes no sense at all. Whole wheat is  a good source of dietary fiber, manganese and magnesium which help prevent many diseases.

Different research studies show that eating frequently whole grains can help avoid type 2 diabetes and the forming of gallstones. Food rich in fiber keeps your colon moving and can help to protect you and your loved ones from breast and other hormone related cancers, colon cancer, childhood asthma and heart disease.

Recently scientists claimed whole grains may be even more beneficial as is known today. According to press reports research methods have overlooked many powerful phytonutrients in whole grains. It seems that for years researchers have only measured “free” forms of phytonutrients, which are immediately absorbed into the bloodstream. The “bound” forms however are attached to the walls of plant cells. They must be released by bacteria in the intestines to be absorbed by the body.

This does not matter so much when you analyze fruits and vegetables, as they have more than 70 per cent “free” phytonutrients. But in whole grains “bound” phytonutrients make up 99 per cent, which so far have been ignored. This may help explain the low risk for colon cancer of populations eating diets high in fiber-rich whole grain.

Ultra high fibre crackers

High fibre crackers for easy weight loss

Ingredients (for 16 servings):

• 5 cups diabetic or whole wheat flou
• 1 cup oat bran
• 5 tablespoons olive oil or cold pressed coconut oil 
•  1 cup curd
• 100 grams flax seeds
•  100 grams sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons salt
• water

Method:

• Put all the dry ingredients into a big bowl and mix them well with a spoon. Then add the oil, the curd and enough cold water to make smooth dough. Knead the dough well for at least 5 minutes, using your hands. Consider this exercise; kneading works out the muscles in your arms. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes before rolling it out. 
• You can bake the crackers on a cookie sheet or in any pie form. I take big, stainless steel plates which I also use for making pizza.
• Dust your work surface with flour. Take some dough and roll it out as thinly as possible in the shape you require. Put the dough on the cookie sheet, pie form or plate and score lines with a sharp knife. These lines help to break the crackers after baking. The above given amount is enough to cover 4 cookie sheets or 6 stainless steel plates with 30 cm (12 inches) diameter
• Usually, I divide my round dough into eight pieces like a cake. If I make a rectangle for a cookie sheet, I divide the dough into triangles (as you can see in the picture).
• Bake the crackers for 20 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. They should be hard, dry and slightly browned. Let them cool down on a rack, and then break them into pieces. You can store the crackers in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

 

Spicy salsa dip

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

•  4 big, red tomatoes
•  1 red or yellow bell pepper
•   4 fresh, green chilies 
•    1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar 
•     1 tablespoon olive oil
•   ½ teaspoon sugar
•   Salt
•   freshly grated pepper
•   any kind of herb you like

Method:

•  It is important to use only fully ripened tomatoes for this recipe. Put the tomatoes for 1 minute into a pot of boiling water. Let them cool down, remove the skin, the seeds and any white pieces from the stalk.
• Cut the flesh into small cubes and put them into a bowl.
• Remove the stalk and the seeds from the bell peppers, cut the flesh into small cubes and add them to the bowl.
• Slice the green chilies open and remove the seeds. Cut them into small pieces and add to the bowl.
• Wash the herbs, chop finely and add to the bowl.   
•  I use parsley and/or basil because my men don’t like fresh coriander. However, if you appreciate fresh coriander, don’t hesitate to use it in this recipe. It gives a lovely fragrance together with the punch of the chilies.
• Add the sugar, the vinegar and the oil and salt and pepper according to your taste. Mix everything well. Let the salsa marinate at least one hour in the fridge before serving.

Triple-Nut-Guglhupf

 

Guglhupf – a rotating sun for the emperor’s breakfast

A guglhupf was a common sight on our dining table: My grandfather could not get enough of his favorite cake. His guglhupf was made with yeast and a lot of eggs – light dough melting in the mouth, crowned by roasted almonds and dusted with icing sugar. My grandfather shared the habit of eating guglhupf with royal Europeans. According to legend around 1800 the Austrian Emperor discovered the guglhupf, making it his daily breakfast. Following Emperors like Franz Joseph and his wife Sissi could not imagine beginning the day without guglhupf.

The original guglhupf goes a long way back:  Archaeological excavations near Vienna show Romans used a mold for ring cake in the form of a rotating sun identical to the guglhupf.

Childhood memories came rushing back when I discovered a guglhupf mold recently in my favorite home appliance store. This one had nothing to do with the antique Italian copper molds decorating my kitchen here. It was made from high tech flexible silicon which can support high temperatures. It needs buttering only for the first use. Following the first use you just fill it with the batter, stuff it in the oven and wash it – very convenient. I had to have this fruit of modern technology which was made in Italy (an added bonus for me), although it carried a sizable price tag.

Back home I wondered which kind of guglhupf to make. I am not a big fan of yeast dough because it takes a long time for rising. Furthermore I like to use whole wheat flour. You cannot make a proper yeast cake with this flour. It just does not taste right. So I did some thinking and developed the recipe for a triple nut guglhupf. 

It combines three different kind of nuts (very healthy) with whole wheat flour, coconut oil, and eggs (very healthy, too). To balance this it also got some chocolate chips for my chocoholic men and of course sugar, but only a moderate amount. I have used a vanilla pod grown in Goa for this recipe. If you don’t want to spend the money for the vanilla pod, use vanilla extract. Experts say artificial vanilla leaves a bitter aftertaste, but I don’t share this opinion. I think real vanilla is only required for vanilla ice cream and custards. When vanilla only contributes to a lot of other ingredients, artificial vanilla extract is perfectly acceptable for me.

Ingredients:

• 150 grams desiccated coconut
• 100 grams roasted almonds
• 100 grams roasted cashew nuts
• 100 grams chocolate chips made from dark cooking chocolate
• 6 eggs
• 1 vanilla pod
• 2 ½ cups sugar
• 2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup cold pressed coconut oil
• 1 cup milk
• butter for greasing the mold
• icing sugar for dusting the guglhupf

 

Method:

Prepare your vessel: Spread butter carefully over the inside of your guglhupf mold. If you don’t have a guglhupf shape, you can take any round, big cake mold. A silicon mold needs greasing only the first time you use it.

Spread the almonds and the cashew nuts over a cookie sheet and roast them in the oven. Keep the flame low and pay attention: Nuts burn easily. They are done when the cashew nuts have turned golden brown and the almond skins show some dark brown spots. Let the nuts cool down and grind them finely. The easiest way to do this is using a blender. Take a piece of dark cooking chocolate, place it on a cutting board and shave off chocolate chips with the help of a big knife.

Place the eggs into a big whisking bowl. Slice open the vanilla pod and scrap out the insides. Add these aromatic bits and the sugar to the eggs. Beat everything with a hand mixer until you have a light colored, thick cream. Incorporate the coconut oil, the nuts and the coconut flakes into the mixture.

Combine the flour with the baking powder and stir it into the batter. Finally add the milk. Fill the batter immediately into the mold and bake it for 1 ¼ hour at lowest temperature in the oven. The guglhupf needs quite a lot of time for baking as it is a big cake. You can check if the cake is done with a toothpick. Stick it into the cake: If it comes out clean, the cake is done.

Piggy Moons

‘Piggy Moons’: A high fiber shell hides a naughty filling

My son Valentino never ceases to amaze me. The other day we watched a food show on television featuring diners specialized in deep frying all over the United States of America. Although deep fried food clogs your arteries and leaves its fans looking bloated, it tends to make our gastric juices flow. “Why don’t we make something deep fried together?” was Valentino’s innocent reaction to the health hazards we had just watched. (One of them was huge strips of bacon dipped in batter and then deep fried…)

“I want something with bacon and carrots”, he continued. Luckily he included something healthy. Carrots belong to the few vegetables he likes. Being an obedient Mama, the next day I went to work. Bacon it had to be, carrots also. I decided to balance the bacon with a wrapping made with the new diabetic flour you find now in the supermarkets. It is a mix of whole wheat with different dry beans flour. It has a lot more fiber and protein than the normal whole wheat flour and a low glycemic index – in short, something really good for our bodies. I used it to make simple dough with eggs and oil which we stuffed with bacon bits mixed with spring onions, garlic, carrots and mozzarella. “Now we also have to name it”, said Valentino after our work was done. Because of the shape we agreed to call our creation ‘Piggy Moons’.

My men liked them so much, they disappeared in one day. Our ‘Piggy Moons’ are great snacks and they go very well in Tiffin boxes. Just freeze them spread out on a plate, then pack them into an airtight container and fry them, whenever needed. I am always happy to have some easy meals for Tiffin boxes stand by – they make my mornings easy.

Wishing you happy cooking, always!

Kornelia Santoro with family

The following ingredients make around 35 ‘Piggy Moons’.

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1 packet bacon (200 grams)
• 1 packet mozzarella cheese (250 grams)
• 1 big carrot
• 1 bundle spring onions
• 2 cloves garlic

Ingredients for the dough:

• 2 cups flour (preferably whole wheat)
• 2 eggs
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• water

You also need:

• flour for rolling of the dough
• 1 egg for brushing the moons
• peanut oil for deep frying

 

Method:

Cut the bacon into small pieces. I find this easier to accomplish when the bacon is frozen. Put it into a nonstick pan and fry it over a small flame to release the fat slowly, but surely. While the bacon is frying, clean and chop the spring onions, the carrot and the garlic. I just throw them into a blender; you can also use a grater for the ingredients. Grate the mozzarella cheese as well. When the bacon bits have turned crispy and released their fat, add the spring onions, the carrot and the garlic and fry them all together for about 2 or 3 minutes. The onions should turn translucent. At this point a mouthwatering aroma ought to fill your kitchen. Let the filling cool down before you mix it with the mozzarella cheese.

Now it is time to work on the dough. Put the flour in a bowl, add the eggs, the oil and the salt and start combining it with a spoon. Once it is mixed, take some cold water, put aside the spoon and go in with your hands. Knead the dough thoroughly with just enough water to make it smooth. If by mistake you have added too much water and the dough remains sticky, you can add some more flour.

Finally we are ready to make the moons. Take about a third of the dough, knead it into a ball and dust it with flour. On a smooth surface – I use my granite kitchen counter top – roll out the dough as thinly as possible. Now stamp out dough circles with a big glass or a round cookie cutter. Put one egg in a small bowl or a cup and jumble it up. Brush the dough circles with the egg wash to make the borders stick together. Place one teaspoon of filling on a circle and fold it into half, making sure the dough covers the filling well. Secure the round border by pressing it together first with your fingers and then by pressing it down with a fork. This not only secures the edge, it gives it also a nice pattern.

When you have made your way through all the dough, your ‘Piggy Moons’ are ready for frying – or freezing, if you want to fry them later on. For freezing spread them out on a plate and put them into the freezer. Once they are hard you can pack them properly. In this way they will not stick together and you can take out the pieces easily.

Now heat up enough peanut oil for deep frying your moons. I prefer peanut oil because it can be heated to high temperatures. The oil should be so hot, that the ‘Piggy Moons’ don’t stick to the bottom of the wok, but float up immediately. Fry them until they are golden brown on both sides, drain excess fat on a kitchen towel and serve. If you want your piggy moons spicy, just add some chopped green chilly to the filling.