Black Sesame Seeds and Sugar Beet Whole Wheat Fusion Bread – Cooking on a Shoestring Budget

There can be nothing more satisfying than breaking bread with a group of your friends to seal the camaraderie. From time immemorial, breaking bread signifies a shared bond, a sense of togetherness and every warm, fuzzy and friendly feeling.

Baking bread is my favorite pastime. The aroma of freshly baked bread must surely be one of the very best olfactory enticements for a human being. In fact, let me modify that: not just for a human being. The smell of fresh baked bread also entices my normally aloof cat, right onto my lap, licking his chops, smacking his whiskers and staring unblinkingly at my mouth, hoping to grab a fallen crumb!

When I bake, I love to experiment. Mostly, I use a basic bread recipe but will work with a plethora of ingredients, vegetables and spices so I can blend the eastern and western cuisine. And ever since I’ve switched to whole grains and unrefined carbohydrates, I try to bake bread at home so I can bake with my favorite King Arthur whole wheat flour – so yummy, tasty and oh, so satisfying!

Home-baked bread has many advantages: the aroma of the bread that fills the house for at least a day, the satisfaction of being an “artist” and a “creator”, the knowledge that you can control what goes into your body, and best of all, since we are on our Shoestring series – the cost of the bread!

So go ahead and try this wonderful Fusion recipe of Black Sesame seeds and Sugar Beet Whole Wheat Bread. The grated sugar beet makes this bread moist and soft, the black sesame seeds add the crunch, and the whole wheat gives it bulk and texture.

This bread will assault all your senses – visual, olfactory and sensory. It looks enticing with the glorious red of the sugar beets, the shiny black of the sesame seeds, and the earthy brown of the whole wheat. It smells simply heavenly. And it is tasty and filling. In addition, it is healthy and low-fat. What more reason do you need to try this out on a Sunday afternoon?

Here is one more: it costs $1.40 and makes about 25 – 27 slices. Each slice is so filling that you can only eat a slice for each meal. That makes it $1.40 for 25 servings!

So without more ado, let’s start.

Here is what you need:
3 cups King Arthur whole wheat flour
1/4 cup + 1 tsp sugar (brown sugar, if you want to ensure the bread has no whiff of refined stuff!)
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium sugar beet (peeled and grated fine)
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
1 cup water
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 egg white

Here is how you make this:
Heat one cup water in the microwave until warm. Test the temperature by dabbing a drop onto your wrist. The water should be just warm and bearable. Add 1 tsp sugar, salt and active dry yeast to the water and let sit for about 10 – 15 minutes in a warm place until the water froths up.

In a large bowl mix together the whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup sugar, olive oil, grated sugar beet and 1/4 cup black sesame seeds. Slowly add the yeast mixture and knead thoroughly. Cover with a clean, wet kitchen towel and let sit on your warm countertop for a couple of hours. Punch down, knead, and cover once every hour.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Shape the dough into a loaf. Brush the top of the loaf with beaten egg white and sprinkle with 1 tbsp black sesame seeds.

Bake for about 40-50 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven, cool and slice. Store wrapped in an aluminum foil for upto a week.

Cost:
Whole wheat flour: $0.60
Oil : $0.20
Sugar : $0.10
Beet : $0.30
Sesame seeds : $0.10
Yeast : $0.10
————————–
Total :$1.40 – Serves 25 - about $0.05 to $0.06 a slice!
————————-

Fusion French Toast

As a child living in India, I had only heard about but never tasted the French Toast. In my imagination, it seemed like a very fancy breakfast dish, somehow akin to the French souffles. It brought to mind romantic images of the Eiffel tower and Notre Dame.

For a very long time, I remember, I used to wonder how exactly the French toast was made and as soon as I had an opportunity during a visit to the US, I ordered it for breakfast at a restaurant. I was amazed at being served 4 huge, simply huge, thick slices of bread covered with egg and smothered with maple syrup, sweetened fruit and the whole mound decorated with a dollop of cream. I cannot honestly say I liked the dish. It was too sweet for my Indian trained palate which was used to eating Idly, Dosa and Vada for breakfast.

Besides, I am a big fan of food textures. I need to be able to chew and taste the sensations that accompany food textures. In my mind, wolfing food down before even tasting, because a dish is so refined or so smooth was OK for smooth desserts or ice cream but main menu dishes needed the satisfaction of textures so one doesn’t feel the need to binge. I am a firm believer that eating is not just to fill a stomach but a sybaritic experience as well. When one does not receive that wholesome experience while eating a meal, one tends to binge in order to obtain that satisfaction.

So, suffice to say that I had to convert the french toast to a fusion dish. Here is my attempt – as usual, low calorie and low fat – made with just 1 tsp oil. I hope you like it.

Here is what you need:
4 thin slices 7 grain or 9 grain organic bread
2 eggs
dash of milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red chili powder (optional)
1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil

For Garnish:
Sprig of Cilantro
Tomato Ketchup

Here is how you make this in just 5 minutes:
Break the eggs in a bowl. Add the milk, salt and chili powder and beat for about 30 seconds with a fork.

Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat. Hold up a slice of bread and spread the egg mixture over one side just like you would spread jam. Place face down on the pan and drizzle a few drops of olive oil around the slice. While it is cooking, spread the egg mixture on the side facing up. Flip over and drizzle oil around the edges again. Remove from the pan and repeat for all four slices.

Now add the chopped red onion in the pan and sear on high heat for about 30 seconds (if you like them crunchy). Remove and ladle over the french toast. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro. Drizzle with tomato ketchup (optional).

Serve hot.

Fusion Egg Sandwich

My mother is a meticulous cook. She is also a patient cook. She’ll spend hours in the kitchen, preparing, chopping, mincing, slow roasting over the fire, tending to her dishes with love and it shows. The epicurean delight that her meals evoke is something that I aspire to, and am constantly working towards.

I, on the other hand, can lay claim to the dubious accolade of being a lazy cook. I love easy dishes – ones which are not involved. I do not like recipes that have me poring over instructions – one eye on the stove and the other on the printed recipe. Seems like too much work! By now, you must have experienced first-hand from the recipes I have posted so far, that I love to whip stuff up in a jiffy and use whatever I have at hand.

I also love fusion food. I love the idea of taking two different kinds of cuisines and blending ingredients to enhance the taste and tempt the palate.

So, here you have it – my 2 minute Fusion Egg Sandwich. Just 2 minutes to put together, if you have boiled eggs at hand.  As always, healthy, fulfilling, low fat and mmmmmm!

Here is what you need:
2-4 slices of whole wheat, 7 grain or 9 grain bread
1 tsp Olive oil
2 tbsps green coriander chutney (I make this in advance and store in the fridge -  lookout for my recipe in the upcoming posts. You can also buy this at any Indian store)
2 large eggs (hard boiled)
1 pinch red chili powder (optional)
Salt to sprinkle (sea salt, or black salt or good ole plain salt)

Here is how you put this together in 2 minutes flat:
Spread olive oil sparingly on both sides of the bread slices. Heat a pan on medium heat and toast the bread until crisp. (My husband loves pan toasted bread and says it tastes much better than oven toasted bread when eaten cold). Cool the slices and spread the coriander chutney on the slices. Cool the hard boiled eggs and slice into rounds. Place the sliced eggs between the bread slices and sprinkle with red chili powder and salt. Cut the sandwich into squares or triangles and pack for lunch.