Garden Fresh Pizza & Snapshots from IFBM

I have taken longer than imagined to pen down this post, that I almost assured myself if I may even let go documenting it here. I mentioned about being at IFBM (Indian Food Blogger Meet) here a while ago. Exactly about 3 weeks ago I was at Aloft, Cessna Business Park being a part of the first-of-its-kind food blogger meet that was beyond any scale I had expected it to be. It was hosted in all splendor and grandeur in true sense. True to its intentions, it brought together the like minded us from various parts of the country and across the globe, with an agenda to meet, greet, learn, share and build a stronger food blogging network. Beyond all, it was meant to break free from our friendships and acquiantances in the traditional virtual world and translate to a real one, which in every sense was truly accomplished.

Its hard to sum up the two days that went by in utter frenzy. If you followed me on Instagram you probably have witnessed the IFBM craze over these 2 days. Its hangover still hitting hard weeks after it's over and settled. I am quite certain that all the bloggers present over this meet may have experienced these hangover and withdrawal symptoms! It had me reeling.

IFBM had way too much to offer that it would be impossible for me to weave them into words and cover it all on a single post. Even tougher would be to justify the depth of effort the organizers had put in. The fabulous ladies Aparna, Nandita, Revati and Arundati deserve a huge round of applause for the length and breadth at which they have gone to put this show together and make this meet a grand success. To sum it up all, there were crazy 50+ fabulous food bloggers packed into a well-decor conference hall of a star hotel with high projectors, a fabulous host (Arundati) and many esteemed speakers nailing interesting substantial topics covering food photography, styling, writing, SOE, self-publishing, social networking and live cooking demos over a well carved program. Interspersed with awesome food, shutterbugs, media coverage, hugs, handshakes and loads of goodies from generous sponsors, IFBM was a one hell of an experience that will stay rooted in our memories for long.

I walk you through a couple of photographs snapped at this event, in a bid to capture as much I could and etch it in my memory for years to be cherished. They cover mainly food, a yet another highlight of this event. It was amazing to see how the team at Aloft had carefully crafted their menu over these two days, each following a theme and artistically put together in place. I've refrained posting photographs of individuals here in due respect to their privacy. However, if you follow me on Facebook, my timelines are currently tagged and loaded with all the action and happenings of this event that you can witness. Walk over to my Instagram feeds for more of its mania.

IFBM ended on electric high notes, positive vibes and ravishing raves garnered from the fraternity of us like minded blogger folks. There was so much to learn, explore, socialize and motivate oneself to better as a blogger that it will take me some time to put all of it into practical use. I came back with a hope that there will more of these interactive sessions packed with fun, learnings and new friendships in the years to come.

Before I close, I bring to you this Garden Fresh pizza that happens to be an all-time favorite of mine. That for the number of times I have baked at home, I presume it should feature here. I am a huge fan of peppers, mushrooms, baby corn and olives on a pizza and when all these feature on a single pizza how can it not taste delightful. This pizza is baked with a whole wheat mixed flour base, slathered with fresh tomato sauce and generously topped with fresh-sliced baby corns & green peppers, mushrooms and black olives. The base is made out of aashirvaad multigrain atta that's popular in India. I suggest you keep the pizza base thin since multi-grain flours have lower gluten in them and hence a thicker base can be less soft and springy as compared to the all-purpose flour counterparts.

Garden Fresh Pizza

INGREDIENTS

For the pizza dough:

1 cup + 1 tbsp. multi-grain flour (I used Aashirwad aata)
½ cup lukewarm water
1 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. olive oil

To assemble:

½ cup pizza sauce, homemade or store-bought
1 Green pepper / capsicum, sliced to wedges
6-7 Mushrooms, chopped to quarters
6-8 Baby corns, slit vertically to quarters
5-6 Black olives, halved
3-4 tbsp. mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a mixing bowl, blend yeast in lukewarm water along with a teaspoon of sugar. Allow this to rest for 10 mins. This should be frothy by now. Heap the multigrain flour into a large bowl and make a pit in the center. Pour the yeast mixture, salt and 1 tbsp. of olive oil. Knead gently to form a smooth, soft, slightly sticky dough. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place for an hour like an oven until almost double in size. About 20 minutes before baking, punch down, knead a minute or two and then form into a ball. Roll out thin crust pizza base, about ¼ - ½ inch thick. Allow it to sit on the counter for 10 mins.

Pre-heat the oven on 220 deg C. To assemble the pizza, spread the pizza sauce over thinly rolled out pizza crust. Layer green peppers, mushrooms, baby corn and black olives. Top generously with mozzarella cheese and season with salt and pepper. Bake in a pre-heated oven of 220 deg C for about 20-30 mins. Cut into wedges and serve hot with Italian herbs.