FEATURED ONCE AGAIN BACK TO BACK on 4 editions! :-)

This morning as I woke up to Facebook ;-) I saw a post by my blogger friend Ambika Venkat on my profile page saying that my recipe for the NUTELLA- COCONUT MILK BREAD PUDDING   is featured on Deccan Chronicle 's (Hyderabad Edition) Sunday Chronicle.Can you imagine how excited I was? Very very much! It feels so great to be acknowledged for what I am doing even though I had no idea what I was getting into when this little blog started!

Later, a sweet reader, Preetha Suju mentioned that it is present in the Chennai Edition too! Maybe now you can imagine how excited I would have been then! :) I would like to mention that the photograph they have on the blog is not mine but theirs. I sincerely wish they had taken mine :-) It would have been so perfect! Oh, this OCD-ic woman likes everything to be perfect, if you must know ;-)

This is a delicious bread pudding made with Coconut milk & Nutella. The coconut milk flavors the pudding very lightly and it does not overpower the taste of Nutella. Try it if you are looking for a change or simply try it just to see why it was featured on Deccan Chronicle :) I am sure you are going to like it no matter what! :-)

You can read the article here . Make sure you read it as they have given some additions that may take this pudding to another level! :-)

This article is present on Hyderabad, Bangalore,Chennai & Kochi edition! What a way to start a week! :)

Have an awesome week ahead, wonderful people!

COCONUT OATMEAL SNACK BARS

Idon't think I have told you that I love Coconut Oil or have I? It shouldn't come as a surprise since I come from the Land of Coconuts, Kerala.Given a chance I would cook everything in it,I mean, Kerala stuff. So when I was packing to move to the US one of the two things I held precious were my cookbooks and then 2 packets of Coconut Oil. Unfortunately, in the last minute hurry, I forgot to take the 2 precious packets and I realised that only after I landed here :-( You can guess it, I was definately not happy! So when Amma got a chance, she sent 2 packets with Jobin's bro when he got back after his visit to India.

That second packet out the 2 packets is almost over now and that's when Jen from Kelapo wrote to me asking if I wanted to review their product,Kelapo 100% Pure Virgin Coconut Oil. I jumped up with joy and grabbed the offer and she put it in the mail for me that day itself. As soon as I received the packet, I tore it open , unscrewed the bottle's cap and sniffed into it. It smelt so good but much more coconut-y almost like coconut cream. Maybe it's the difference in the processing that it smells different from the regular Indian Coconut Oil.

I have read a lot about using Coconut Oil in baking and since I love coconut oil and baking, I decided to combine the two and see how it works in Megan's recipe. The results were good and we loved it. I shared most of it with a friend of ours and she liked it too.

The folks at Kelapo has offered you readers a 20% discount if you want to try some of that wonderful oil,so at the checkout use the code Ria20 (It's case sensitive!) to get some bucks off!

Aaaannnd my little brother passed his board exams in super flying colours!! So watch out for the next post...there will be some cake in it :)

COCONUT OATMEAL SNACK BARS
Makes 12 bars
Ingredients:
1/4 c coconut oil (You can use regular vegetable/canola oil)
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp skim milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup oats ( I used Quaker)
1/2 c + 2/3 c  wholewheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 c dessicated coconut

3/4 c chocolate chips, melted
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 350F/180F

Beat together oil, sugars,milk,egg & vanilla for 2 mins or till the sugar dissolves.
Dump the dry ingredients into the wet and mix together until just combined with a rubber spatula.
Spread this in a lightly greased 8 x 8 in. square baking tin and bake for 20-25 mins or until golden( It will be soft to touch).
Take it out and spread the melted chocolate over it. Cool completely and cut into bars.
Store in an airtight tin.

Verdict: Delicious to the last bite! The coconut oil can be substituted for your vegetable/canola oil and still get perfect results! I know I am going to try many other recipes with Coconut Oil. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I really am falling for wholewheat in baking!

NUTELLA - COCONUT MILK BREAD PUDDING for 500,000 hits

Isometimes get this feeling that I should create a series of my own recipes. And  I pull out everything and start with some weird combination of ingredients in my head. Luckily, they have always been edible.Last Friday evening,I was thinking of baking something out of that weird combination of ingredients and use Nutella to balance everything just in case something goes wrong ;) I couldn't wait for it to get baked. I almost stood by the oven for that 1 hour, the time it took for the pudding to bake...taking a peek every now and then. I bless my oven because it has a bulb inside it, so it's easier to have a peek.

I actually made this pudding for the World Nutella Day but I couldn't post it that day as we were busy at the Winter Carnival at the State Capitol,St.Paul. That day was fun! We got to see ice sculptures, ice palace,ice chair so on and so forth.They also had wine tasting plus a torch parade ,so I don't have to tell you how much fun we must have had! :) It was freezing but our jackets did a good job so I have no complaints!

Then came the SuperBowl Sunday and we were at our friend's house for dinner...so even that day passed by. But the good news is, this little space of mine touched 500,000 hits yesterday!! So that means the nutella post can be tweaked in for the celebratory post! ;-) So once again, I'm killing 2 birds with one stone! I hope I got that line right because the last time I said that, I said something else! :-D

NUTELLA- COCONUT MILK BREAD PUDDING
My own recipe



Ingredients:
For the custard:
1 1/2 c whole milk
4tbsp coconut milk powder
1 c warm water
5 eggs
1/2 c sugar
A pinch or two of salt

10 slices white bread
3 tbsp nutella

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C and position the rack in the centre.

Arrange the bread slices on a cookie sheet and toast/bake them in the oven for 5 mins.
Spread nutella on each of the slices and cut them into 2 diagonally.
Arrange them neatly (with peaks showing) in a pudding dish.
Mix together whole milk, warm water and coconut powder (Instead of coconut powder and warm water, you can use 1 cup thick coconut milk).
Beat together eggs ,salt and sugar till fluffy, for about 30 secs.
Add it to the milk mixture.
Pour the milk mixture over the bread. If you want, you can spoon some over the slices too.

Prepare a water bath*and bake for 55 mins or till set.

* Inorder to prepare a water bath, take a rectangular baking tray and fill it half way with hot water. Place it in the oven and then place the bread pudding dish into it,carefully.

Verdict: We both had been craving for a bread pudding the whole of last week. Jobin said he's not a big fan of Nutella after I baked the pudding but he still ate it.It's because this was not the kind of bread pudding he was longing for, instead a Shahi Tukre/ Double Ka Meeta types. According to me, it was really nice with a faint coconut-y hint. If you are not a big fan of coconut, you can subtitute it with milk or cream for the same amount.Serve it hot or cold, I bet you are going to fall in love with this pudding! I just had 2 huge serving, myself :)

Now that the Shahi Tukre /Double Ka Meeta kind of bread pudding is still pending in our house, you might see that pop here as well ;)

On another note, I am hosting the Kerala Kitchen (click on the link for more details)this month, so if you are making anything with a touch of 'Kerala' in it, send in your entries to  airmathew AT gmail DOT com. The event ends on 28 Feb 2011. Please feel free to use the logo.