Cinnamon and Raisin Loaf

What we normally do to start the most of our Sundays is to have breakfast at Starbucks ! And no matter how hard I've tried to convince my husband and daughter to order something new but it doesn't seem to work because they always end up having the same thing everytime and the order is 'cinnamon toast' !!

Having known how much it would cost plus how easy it could be done at home, I couldn't help but feel pain in my heart to spend such a lot of money on a piece of toast !! I've been telling myself that I could definitely make something similar to save our money but then I'd kept myself busy with baking other things..Until this morning, which was not Sunday, when I asked my daughter what she would want for her breakfast and she abruptly said 'cinnamon toast from Starbucks' !

No way for me to make a special journey to Starbucks just to buy something so expensive like that..so I nicely denied my daughter to have it for breakfast. But then I felt guilty to say no to a simple thing she wanted, I promised her that I would make a homemade one for her breakfast the next day instead and the deal was simply done!!

After looking through recipes shown on google and none of them were interesting to me , I, therefore, decided to try my own recipe using a water roux method that I've been using lately for most of my homemade bread. So far, with this method, no sign of texture and taste failure! If you like a japanese style bread , I highly recommend you to give it a try and you would never be disappointed !

I could say it's another wonderful loaf of bread that I'm quite proud of..It's chewy and cinnamony! I didn't have a chance to take any photo after slicing on the day I made because it's late and my husband didn't allow me to postpone his dinner ( yes, he had it for dinner ! ) ,so I did it the next morning. Scrumptious!!

Here is what I used in my version of cinnamon and raisin loaf..

Ingredients :

285 g plus 2 tablespoons white strong bread flour
2 tbsp milk powder
55 g caster sugar
1/2 scant teaspoon salt
2 rounded teaspoons ground cinnamon
7 g package of instant yeast
84 g water roux stater
85 ml lukewarm milk
35 g beaten egg
30 g butter at room temperature
raisin ( about a cup or so)

Method

1. Mix all ingredients except the butter and raisin in the bowl and using a dough hook on low speed to form a ball. Add the butter bit by bit and mix until incorporated. Increase to a medium speed and knead the dough unitl smooth and elastic about 15-20 minutes.

2. Turn out the dough onto lightly floured working surface, gradually mix in the raisin until evenly distributed. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in volume.

3. Deflate the dough and briefly knead for seconds, then shape into the loaf. Place into a prepared loaf tin and let it rise again for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 180c', brush the top of the dough with egg wash and bake for about 30-40 minutes until it's done ( the bottom should sound hollow when tapped ). Turn out onto a wire rack to cool before slicing..To serve, I would do the same way as the Starbucks does..toast and butter it !

Bon Appetit..























Ps. this bread has been sent to yeastspotting hosted by Susan of Wildyeast

Prawn with Gorgonzola Sauce and Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad

I came accross this mediterranean salad on Epicurious..with my two favorite ingredients, barley and eggplant,in it I then couldn't find any reason why not to give it a try !

I made it as a main course for myself while served my husband the salad as a side dish since he's not a big fan of vegetarian meal..And I opted to cook this easy but tasty prawn for his main course knowing that it would never fail to please a cheese lover like him !

Both recipes are truly simple which you can't go wrong with it. And I didn't make any change to the recipes except substituted cilantro for parsley. As for a verdict, absolutely delicious..what a satisfying meal..indeed !!!

You could find both recipes from here and here

Blueberry Oat Bars

I took advantage of being left alone at home on Sunday while my husband and my daughter had gone out to bake these bars which I've found a while ago on this site. What I like about it is that they are bars plus there is not much of sugar in it. And since I have two packs of fresh blueberries lying almost dead in the fridge , so it's a good time to use them up for these healthy bars!

I made only half of recipe and did few changes by using some plain flour to mix with wholewheat flour. And substituted buttermilk for milk and lemon juice. Last is to use more fresh blueberry instead of frozen one called for in the original recipe. it's simply plain to make , yet provided such a wonderful outcome..

Blueberry-Oat Bars ( adapted version )

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
45 g unsalted butter, chilled
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 scant cup sugar
1.5 teaspoons cornstarch
1 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
a tablespoons brown sugar

Method :

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 8-by-8-inch baking pan, line with a piece of parchment (allowing the sides to hang over the pan) and butter the parchment.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon. Using the large holes of a box grater, shred the butter into the flour-oat mixture. Using your finger tips, work in the butter until the mixture resembles pebbles or rice.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and vanilla. Using a fork, stir the milk mixture into the flour-oat-butter mixture, until just combined.

4. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the sugar and cornstarch several times. Add 3/4 cup of the blueberries and pulse until the berries are minced. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the remaining whole blueberries.

5. In the prepared pan, press half of the oat mixture into the bottom. Spread the blueberry mixture even over the pressed-in oats. Dollop the remaining oat mixture on top of the blueberry mixture, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

6. Bake 50 to 55 minutes, until the blueberry mixture is bubbling and the oat mixture is golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely in the pan. Remove and slice into square- or rectangle-shaped bars.

Brisket Pot Roast

When I first saw a pot roast on pioneerwoman site, it totally caught my eye and attention and I was determined to give it a try.

The problem is that I couldn't find a big piece of chuck called for in the recipe, so I'd been looking for something as a substitute and finally, found this recipe from Deliaonline !

What I ended up doing is to mix the two recipes up and this is what I've done with my pot roast..

Ingredients :

800 grams piece of beef brisket
2 whole onions, peeled and quatered
2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
3 sticks celery, cut into 3 inches pieces
1 medium swede, peeled and cut into chunks
a few tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup red wine
1 cup beef broth
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
a pinch of dried rosemary
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
salt and freshly coarsed black pepper

Method :

1. Generously salt and pepper the brisket.Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and brown all prepared vegetables. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

2. Next, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate. With the burner still on high, use red wine to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that wonderful flavor up. When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add the beef stock. Add in the vegetables, as well as fresh thyme , bay leaves and a pinch of dried rosemary and season to taste.

3. Cover with a lid and as soon as you hear simmering, place in the centre of the preheated oven ( 140 c) and leave for about 3 hours. When ready, place the meat and vegetables on a warmed serving dish, then bring the liquid to the boil and boil briskly until reduced slightly. Mix the butter and flour to a paste, then add this to the liquid and whisk until the sauce thickens. Serve with the meat and some sharp mustard.













As for the result..I could say nothing but heaven !! Bon Appetit..

Come back with the Kulich..A Russian Easter Breaed

Here I am !! Back to blogging after nearly a year ! And there's nothing to blame but my pure laziness..:)

Although I'd stopped posting things on my blog for such a long time but I've been continuously baking and cooking like crazy through my disappearance... Anyway, I chose this Russian bread as my return for no reason ! It's just come at the right time on doing such a right thing..

Anyway, what inspired me to bake this bread is my daughter. The story is that she's been taking art lessons and her teacher happens to be a Russian. One day she came home from her art class and saw me busy with making nanaiomi bars (which is a canadian sweet )..so when I told her what I was making ( for her teachers at her Canadian International School! ), she then asked me if I could make something about Russian for her russian art teacher...I could, of course, say nothing but 'yes' !

A simple reason why I chose to make this bread is beacause it's around Easter season.. As for a verdict, all of my tasters were really satisfied with the outcome ! That's why I thought this is worth being the first posting of my return ..

Ps. this bread has been posted to yeastspotting hosted by Susan of Wildyeast

Kulich ( Makes 2 medium-sized kulich )

First sponge

• 150ml milk
• 250g bread flour
• 10g fresh baker's yeast
Mix everything, cover and leave to ferment overnight at ambient temperature.

Second sponge

• 150ml milk
• 100g bread flour
• 30g fresh baker's yeast

The next day, mix the ingredients together and then add to the first sponge. Leave it to ferment for an hour, until the surface is bubbly.

Final dough
• 650g bread flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 50ml vodka
• 100ml honey
• 100g vanilla sugar
• 250g butter, at ambient temperature
• 4 eggs
• 150g sultanas
• 100g raisins
• 1 tsp saffron threads
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 50g candied peel
• 100g blanched almonds
• 15-20 cardamom pods

Glazing :

1-1.5 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp water
splash of lemon juice

Method :

1.While the second sponge is rising, prepare the rest of the ingredients. First put the saffron to soak in the vodka. Coarsely chop the almonds and zest the lemons. Cut the candied peel in small pieces. Open the cardamom pods and grind the seeds in a mortar or coffee grinder.

2.Mix all the liquid ingredients, which must be at ambient temperature. Warm up the honey if needed to make it more fluid. Add the vodka with the saffron and the eggs. Mix the liquids with the second sponge and then add the rest of the flour, the salt and the ground cardamom.

3.Knead thoroughly till you have a homogeneous and smooth dough. Then add the butter cut in chunks. Knead to incorporate the butter.

4.Once the gluten has developed, add the raisins, sultanas, almonds, lemon zest and candied peel. Distribute them evenly.

5.Form the dough into a ball, then place it into an oiled bowl and leave to double in bulk (around an hour).

6.Prepare the molds in the meantime. Line the inside with parchment paper, cut a circle for the bottom and a large strip for the sides. Let the paper extend over the tin edge as needed if the tin is not tall enough. Use double paper if you like.

7.When the dough has doubled, divide it in two; then loosely shape each portion into a cylinder that can be inserted into the mold. Let it carefully fall inside and press it a little bit to fill all the gaps. The tin should be half full approximately.

8.Leave to proof again, loosely covered in plastic so that the dough has place to rise 3-4cm above the tin or paper edge.

9.Heat the oven to 170-180 ºC. Then bake for around 40 minutes. Check for doneness with a wooden skewer. If the kulich tops brown too quickly, cover them with foil.

10.When they're done, take them out and leave to rest in the mold for 15 minutes. Then carefully tip the molds onto a wire rack and extract them from the mold in a horizontal position. Put them in an upright position and check that they're set enough to stand (otherwise they would need some more time in the oven).

11.You can optionally ice them with a glazing mixture once they've cooled.

East Meets West Stromboli

I saw a post about green curry the other day which kind of made me have an idea of playing at it and this stromboli came abruptly through my mind !

I used chicken as a meat to mix with other basic ingredients for green curry ( except coconut milk!) as the filling and made the base based on pizza dough with green curry paste in it..As for the result, since I'm a big fan of hot & spicy food, so I've found out that a combination between the green curry filling and pizza dough was quite interesting..what I'm saying is that this stromboli is worth your try if you are looking for something new rather than a plain stuffed (rolled) pizza/bread..just for a change's sake!!

The recipe

For the dough :

1 cup bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp instant yeast
1/2 cup + 1-2 tbsp warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp green curry paste

For the stuffing

150-175 g chicken, shredded
2 tbsp Thai green curry paste
4 Thai (rounded) eggplant, thinly sliced
mixture of green & red chillies ,thinly sliced
handful of Thai basil leaves
Fish sauce and palm sugar for seasoning