Ria's Collection: Red wine

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.