BEEF IN RED WINE & DOUBLE GARLIC FOUGASSE...for 100,000 hits!

I am so excited today. My bloggie was visited 100,000 times in the last 7 months! I wish I installed that widget to track the no.of visitors per day when I started my blog. But, I absolutely didn't know anything about all these then, expect to write, upload pics and publish the post :)

I am proud of my blog :) Jobin & I were counting the visitors every day till a few hours ago when it actually hit 100,000. He took me out for dinner last night as a part of our li'l celebration :) I must say, that was some real good Chinese food I have had in US.

Last night before I went to sleep, I checked the status and I was short of 600 visitors. I prayed and prayed that it shouldn't hit 100,000 while I was sleeping. And God did hear to  my prayer...

I didn't leave my computer aside for more than 5 minutes at a stretch, because everytime I checked the status, it was increasing by 45-50 . I was constantly over the phone with Jobin, asking him to check . Aaaaand finalllyyyy I hit it! Yeaaayyy! I called home and told my mom as she was the one who picked up the call :) I had been updating them everyday and Appan need not be updated as he checks my blog every single day :)


A few days back I made some yummy beef and bread and I told him that I am not posting this till I hit 100,000.So here it is:

BEEF IN RED WINE 
My own recipe


Ingredients:

Beef (your favourite cut) : 1 lb,cut into 2" long strips or 1" thickness
Soy sauce-3-4 tbsp
Pepper powder-2 tsp
Onions-2 medium ,finely chopped
Garlic -3 large cloves, crushed
Salt-to taste
Red wine- 1 cup


Method:

• Wash and clean the meat and marinate it with soya sauce, pepper and salt for 3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
• Next day,pressure cook the meat till done. Do not discard the stock.
  
• Heat oil in heavy bottomed pan and add the onions and saute till soft and translucent. 
• Add in the crushed garlic  and saute for 2-3 minutes.
• Add in the cooked beef and mix well. Let it cook for 5 mins.
• Check for salt. Add in some soya sauce if you want some more.
• Reduce the flame to low, add in the wine and cook for 20-30 mins.
• Serve hot with bread.

 DOUBLE GARLIC FOUGASSE
Recipe source: A passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of warm water
5 tsp rapid rise yeast *
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
4-5 cups bread flour ( I used all purpose flour)
Salt & Pepper
1 tsp approx. dried Italian seasoning ( I used oregano)
4-6 cloves of garlic
1-2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup garlic infused olive oil ( I used EVOO)
1 cup small chunks of Parmesan ( optional)

Method:

• Hand whisk water & yeast and let stand 2-3 minutes.Briskly whisk in sugar ,salt ,oil and most of the flour.Knead on lowest speed for 5-8 minutes and form a soft dough.
• Oil the dough, cover and let rise for 45-50 minutes. ( *If you are using the regular yeast and not rapid rise, increase your rising time to1 1/2 hours). 
• Meanwhile assemble the filling ingredients.Divide it into 3 portions.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently deflate.Pat out a 12" round .
• Smear dough with salt,pepper, Italian seasoning,minced garlic,garlic powder,2-4 tsp of garlic oil and cheese.
• Roll up and rest for 5 minutes. Then roll out into a 10" and repeat seasoning.
• Let rest for 10-15 minutes and roll out tnto 12-15" round or oval. 
• Place on a parchment paper, smear seasoning, garlic, salt, pepper and oil. Cut three lines thorough the dough and open them up. Cover the pan loosely with a clingwrap and let it rise for 30 minute.
• Bake at 375 deg.F for 35 minutes.

Verdict:
I am a HUGE fan of anything-garlic so I loved this bread.The bread had a beautiful crust and tasted fabulous. Jobin ate a good share and he really liked it too, especially the beef. He actually had a small portion of rice along with it. We went out for a drive after our dinner that day and both of us were kind of sleepy...maybe I added a bit too much wine in the meat :) So if you think 1 cup is too much for 1lb of meat, please modify the recipe to suit your taste.

My Double Garlic Fougasse is Yeastspotted!