Bahraini Breakfast at the Souq-Manama

We ate a Traditional Breakfast served at Naseef Restaurant at the Souq Mall at Bab Al Bahrain. 

We started with Freshly Squeezed Orange juice and a Lemon and Mint Juice. Both equally amazing, you could clearly tell how fresh and cleansing this was. 

Baby 'E' took the not-so-traditional path and opted for Grilled Chicken Sandwich, that came with a side of French Fries and a few slices of Cucumber. This was clearly more of a Grilled Chicken Wrap than a Sandwich but then again..what's in a name? What mattered was taste. And it wasn't too bad. 

Next came the long-awaited Tradition Breakfast on a big colorful plate was brought to us by Arif our server. Out of the several options available to us for a big plate of traditional breakfast, we chose the 'falafel'- which is a deep fried chickpea ball consisting of other beans too, it is slightly flattened and fried and you eat this in a pita bread pocket with salad leaves, 'Egg tomato'- which is an arabic style scrambled eggs with lots of tomato, 'Mashed potatoes'-this again is mashed potatoes in an arabic style with a hint of turmeric. This was served with tonnes of khuboos/arabian Pita bread.

Our total bill amounted to BHD8.250/- for 3 pax.

Photo Courtesy: Mr D
Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post, all opinions, feelings and experience shared are personal. 

Easy Pancakes Recipe (2) [Buttermilk substituted with Laban]

Last year in the month of July, I shared a Pancake Recipe that called for the use of 'yogurt/ curd' along with the basic ingredients for any pancake.

'Laban' is a yogurt drink very popular in the Middle East, a thicker version of an Indian 'lassi' and the south indian buttermilk minus the spices. Usually pancake recipes require butter milk. And what is buttermilk? Slightly sour milk which is thick in consistency, which is why I decided to to substitute butter milk in this pancake recipe by using Laban.

Makes 8 small pancakes

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients:
1 and a half cup all purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda

Wet ingredients:
1 egg
1 tsp butter (melted)
3 tbsps Laban
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
A little less than 1/2 cup of milk

Steps:

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together.
3. Now pour the wet ingredients mixture into the dry ingredients bowl and whisk away till there are no more lumps. And your pancake batter is ready.
4. Heat a girdle/ pan ,drizzle some oil or toss a small piece of butter on the griddle/pan, once its is hot enough (not smoking) , pour some of the batter on the griddle/pan and fry till you can lift the pancake and toss it over. The cooked side should have attained a golden brown shade.
5. Fry and pile up the pancakes, pour over the pancake pile some chocolate syrup/honey/maple syrup.

Tips: 

• You can also toss in some fruits that you  like into the batter to have a fruity pancake
• You can also use chocolate chips/ oats as an extra ingredients.

Enjoy!
BpV

Guest Post (September): Focaccia Bread

"Good things come to those who bake."

Hi everyone,

It is time for me to introduce yet another friend who loves baking, confectionary and patisserie. We've been friends since the age of four. Sharleen. A, Sara. R and yours truly were in the same kindergarten class and in the same school bus too. As we grew up we made new friends and moved away nevertheless all three of us are still in touch like there was no distance or time apart.

Sharleen who is now pursuing her M.A in Economics is also doing her Advanced Diploma in Patisserie and Confectionary at one of Mumbai's leading group of hotels.

She doesn't really remember when she started cooking or baking but confectionary items interested her the most (for sure it came to her naturally). I say 'naturally' because, I remember clearly, one lunch at Sharleen's place when she used to reside in Bahrain, her mum cooked a variety of dishes and the most memorable part of that lunch was, her mum baking chocolate chip cookies. That aroma of cookies baking in the kitchen filled the hall is still etched in my mind, it has been over fifteen years and I remember that pleasant aroma so well and that is enough proof of how good those cookies were. Her mum packed a few in sandwich bags and gave us all a bag to take home. I bet Sharleen gets it from her mum!

Sharleen A. shared a bread recipe with us. This bread is a popular Italian bread and can be used as pizza bread/ base too. It is called Focaccia Bread.

Focaccia Bread is a flat oven baked Italian bread, which may be topped with herbs or other ingredients. It is usually seasoned with olive oil and salt, and sometimes with herbs. It is often said to be an alternative to Garlic Bread. Texture wise it is crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. It can be eaten as is or sliced and used for making sandwiches or used as a quick pizza crust.

Ingredients:

• Refined flour- 200 gms
• Salt- 3 gms
• Sugar 5 grams
• Yeast 8 grams
• EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) 20 ml
• Water 120 ml
• Rock Salt 5gms
• Herbs- oregano or Rosemary (adjust quantity as per your liking)
• Additional toppings: Onions, olives, cheese etc

Procedure:

1. Sieve the refined flour and salt together and make a well in the center.

2. Dissolve the yeast and sugar and water.After that put that into refined flour and make the dough and knead it nicely till it forms an elastic.

3. Cover the dough with the help of a moist cloth. Give it 10 minutes rest. 

4. After 10 minutes knock back the dough . 

5. Add oil and herbs into the dough and knead the dough till it is absorbed. 

6. Grease the baking tray then flatten the dough in the tray. Keep it for proving*/proofing*. 
After proving dock the dough with fingers then bake it at 170 for 20-25 minutes, till it gets a nice colour.

7. After baking remove the tray and then make holes in the focaccia, then put EVOO in it and make some more on it. Then keep it for some more time to get softer.

8. Serve as a side, or eat as a plain bread or use as a pizza crust by adding some toppings like cheese tomatoes and olives.

*Proving: Often called 'proofing', means to allow the bread to rise. This word is commonly used in bread making which require yeast.


Thank you Sharleen. A  for sharing this recipe with the readers at Bits & Pieces from Venus.

Wishing you success in everything you take up.

-Love
bpV

"God gives us the ingredients for our daily bread but he expects us to do the baking."

Easy Pancakes [1] (Using Yogurt)

I had quit making pancakes a couple of years back because they mostly turned as crepes (thin pancakes). For some reason my pancakes refused to get fluffy, all my efforts would go flat..(literally). This week, I took it up as a mission to dish out fluffy pancakes one way or the other. I browsed through various recipes but none of them very consistent and in the pictures the pancakes did not look fluffy enough for me. Having learnt different ways of preparing pancakes, I decided to combine a few techniques and prepare them anyway....here is an account of what I did and how I did it....trust me I couldn't believe my eyes.

Ingredients (makes 4 *thick* pancakes):

Dry Ingredients:

• All purpose flour 1 cup
• 2 tbsps sugar (add more or less according to your taste)
• a pinch of salt
• 3 tsps baking powder

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp honey (optional)
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence (add more or less according to your taste)
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp of yogurt
• 3/4 cup milk

Steps:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a deep bowl and in a smaller bowl mix all the wet ingredients well. (remember to beat the egg really well, until you see bubbles.

2. Pour the wet ingredients mix into the dry ingredients mix and stir well until you get a thick batter , that come off the ladle slowly due to its thickness.

3. Leave the batter aside for about 10 minutes, (do not refrigerate).

4. After ten minutes, take a skillet/pan and heat it at low-medium heat, once the pan it hot, add a  little butter for frying the pancakes in.

5. Using a cup-like-ladle, scoop out the batter and pour onto the pan. Do not spread it out you may form a crepe. Let the thick batter sit. Cover the pan.

6. After about 30 seconds, turn over. Wait. 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds...take off the pan.

7. Add butter on the pan and continue frying pancakes with the remaining batter.

Om...nom...nom....

They were so good...we ate them plain... :P

Enjoy!

-bpV