Beetroot Jam

Beetroot Jam is one I always enjoy since my childhood. If you are from Tamilnadu, especially from south of it, you might have tasted this Jam several times during happy occasions.. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

Beetroot - 3
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Honey - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 3 tbs
Dates -10 (Roughly chopped)
Vanilla Essence (optional)
Nuts (optional)


Method

Peel the skin of the beet and quarter them. Pressure cook the beet for one whistle. Purée the cooked beet in a blender. The beetroot bunch made 3 cups of Purée. Combine beetroot Purée and sugar in a deep bottomed vessel and boil over low to medium heat. Stir the Purée consistently so that it doesn't stick to the pan. You can add some ghee to avoid the puree sticking to the bottom. Add the honey to the Purée. The Purée will tend to turn again watery because of honey. Keep stirring until it has turned to thick consistency . At the end add chopped nuts and dates and give a nice stir. Allow it to cool.I didn't add any preservatives or essence. I like the flavor of beet as such.Use it as a spread for bread or crackers.

Semi-Homemade Pizza

Who would ever dislike pizza, especially if made at home?. My family enjoyed the pizza that I made with the store bought dough this evening. Yes, it came out really yummizza! This is the second time I am trying with store bought dough. First time it didn't come out well. May be because I didn't let the dough sit to reach the room temperature before rolling it.




Ingredients

Pizza dough - 1 pack
Yellow Onion - 1 sliced in rounds
Jalapeño - 3 finely sliced in rounds
Shredded Mozzarella - 3/4 of a pack
Pizza Sauce - 1/4 cup

Method.

First roll out the pizza dough. To prevent the dough sticking to the surface, lightly dust the surface with flour. I just tried to imitate the professional pizza makers (roll out with both my hands) and I succeeded a bit. If you can't do that turn the pizza dough into a ball and using a rolling pin, roll the dough to a nice circle as you do for paratha.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease the pan with oil. Place the rolled pizza dough on the pan. Smear pizza sauce evenly on top of the dough and sprinkle the Mozzarella cheese liberally (like an extra cheese topping). Finally top it of with onions and Jalapeño peppers and bake it for 15 mts or to perfection.