Caraway flatbread ... and some chilli ;)

Sorry about the quality of the picture!! This flatbread is really easy to make and you can change the flavours really easily by taking out the caraway and adding other spices, garlic, onion, or even a sprinkle of cheese into the mix. Much nicer than store-bought flatbread and really tasty!

Caraway Flatbread

Caraway flat bread

250g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp caraway seeds pulvarised with the salt

1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil in 1/2 cup warm water

Method

Put the flour, salt, and caraway into a bowl. Pour in the water and mix until combined into a dough. Knead lightly till it is smooth. Cover the bowl and leave for about 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 10 pieces,  shape each into a ball, and then roll out thinly. Use a bit of flour on the board and dusted on top of each ball so it doesn't stick to the rolling pin. 

Heat a heavy based pan or skillet on a medium heat. Dry fry each side of the bread until golden (about 2-3 minutes each side). I find they are still warm if I make them quickly, but if you work a bit slower or want to make a double batch it's a good idea to have a warm oven to pop them into to keep warm.

Serve with the meal of your choice - in this case Chilli Beans and salad :)

Luscious Leesa's Beer Baron Bread

Luscious Leesa's Beer Baron Bread

My wonderful friend Leesa gave me her recipe for Beer Bread. It is quick to make, smells great, & tastes yummy.... she has also graciously allowed me to share it with y'all. It really is very yummy, and a perfect accompianment to soup or stews.

Ingredients

3C flour

3t baking powder

1t salt

1 can beer

Method

Mix it all together. Chuck it in a loaf tin of some sort. Sprinkle some grated cheese (and bacon if ya want - yum!!) on top. Bake for 50-ish - 60-ish mins at about 200.

Moroccan Pumpkin Soup

Moroccan spiced pumpkin soup, with beer bread

Moroccan Pumpkin Soup

This is a really yummy soup - light and spicy and filling. Mmmmm.... yummm .... perfect for a cool winter evening. Mine turned out much oranger than the pic on the Taste.com.au site, but I have to say the flavour delivered!!

Recipe taken from http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/9639/moroccan+pumpkin+soup#

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
• 1 leek, white part only, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red birdseye chilli, finely chopped
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3cm piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
• 1.5kg butternut or Queensland blue pumpkin, peeled, seeded (see note), cut into 3cm pieces
• 1/3 cup (70g) yellow split peas
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Coriander sprigs and soup sprinkles, to serve

Method

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over low-medium heat and cook leek, garlic and 2 tsp salt, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until soft. Add chilli, cinnamon, ginger and cumin and stir for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add carrots, pumpkin and split peas. Stir to coat in onion mixture.
2. Add 1.5 litres water to saucepan and bring to the boil, then simmer for 50 minutes or until split peas are soft.
3. Remove and discard cinnamon stick from soup. Add lemon juice then process or blend soup, in small batches, in a food processor or blender until smooth. Return soup to pan and reheat over medium heat. Serve topped with coriander sprigs and soup sprinkles.

Knot rolls & Cheese and Onion Bread

These two rolls use the same basic bread dough. I love love loved the cheese and onion bread - cooking the onion added such a lovely sweetness to it, and the flavours were beautifully balanced!

Knot rolls and cheese and onion bread - yummo

Basic Bread Dough

2 tsps instant yeast and 1 tsp sugar
2 1/4 cups warm water (or you can use milk for a softer dough)
6 cups sifted plain or bakers flour
2 tsps salt
1 tbs shortening

Step 1: Prepare the yeast liquid by combining the yeast, sugar, and warm water/milk. Set aside for 10-15mins until it is frothy.
Step 2: Mix the flour and salt together, rub in the shortening. Add the yeast liquid and mix to form a dough. Knead until it is smooth and elastic - about 10 minutes by hand.
Step 3: first rising. shape into a ball, put into a bowl & cover it. Place in a warm spot until it has doubled in size - about and hour.
Step 4: punch down, knead lighlty, and shape into loaves or rolls.
Step 5: second rising - cover and let rise till doubled.
Step 6: Bake in a hot oven - 230 degrees celcius - till the loaves shrink slightly and the crust is golden. This will be about 40 minutes for large loaves, 30 minutes for pan loaves, and 15-20 minutes for rolls. I shaped mine into knot rolls - to do this roll out a "snake" and then tie a knot in it! ;)

Cheese and Onion bread.

2 tsps instant yeast and 1 tsp sugar
2 1/4 cups warm water (or you can use milk for a softer dough)
6 cups sifted plain or bakers flour
2 tsps salt
1 tbs shortening

1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1-2 tsps butter

Step 1: Prepare the yeast liquid by combining the yeast, sugar, and warm water/milk. Set aside for 10-15mins until it is frothy.
Step 2: Mix the flour and salt together, rub in the shortening. Add the yeast liquid and mix to form a dough. Knead until it is smooth and elastic - about 10 minutes by hand.
Step 3: first rising. shape into a ball, put into a bowl & cover it. Place in a warm spot until it has doubled in size - about an hour.
Step 4: saute onion in the butter until it is translucent. Cool.
Step 5: punch down the dough, add the cheese and onion to the dough and knead it through by hand until they evenly mixed through. Shape into loaves or rolls.
Step 6: second rising - cover and let rise till doubled. I added a little sprinkle of cheese on top of my rolls before baking.
Step 7:  Bake in a hot oven - 230 degrees celcius - till the loaves shrink slightly and the crust is golden. This will be about 40 minutes for large loaves, 30 minutes for pan loaves, and 15-20 minutes for rolls.

Roasted Pumpkin seeds

Seeing as the local greengrocer is selling huge pumpkin for $2 I've been loving pumpkins ;) Actually I always love pumpkins, esp baked .... yum .... we had a whole heap of seeds just sitting there, and we are always in the mood for a yummy snack ... so we decided to roast them.

So... here it is...

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

pumpkin seeds, scooped from a fresh pumpkin
olive oil - enough to just coat them
salt to taste

Lay the seeds on a flat plate and leave until dry in a dry cool spot. We left them a couple of days. Coat them lightly in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake at 140 degrees C for 15-20 minutes until they start popping.


Take out of oven, cool slightly, season more if necessary. I'm thinking you could alter this soooo easily by adding in whatever spices your heart desires...

Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed Mushrooms

stuffed mushroom served on lettuce

This is more of a method than a recipe - you can change the stuffing ingredients to suit your tastes. I like this version as the breadcrumbs soak up the mushroom juices and the stuffing tastes so yum... but you can use cooked rice with various spices ... or use pesto instead of ghanoush ... this time I threw a few pieces of mozzarella on top.

Ingredients

2 large portobello mushrooms - pop the stalks out and chop finely
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons baba ghanoush
1 clove garlic pulverised
squeeze of lemon (to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Mix all the ingredients (except the portobello mushroom caps) in a bowl until combined. Place portobello mushrooms in a baking tray with a bit of olive oil. Spread over portobello mushrooms. Top with cheese if you want cheese. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil.

Bake for 30-40 mins at 180 degrees C or until the mushrooms are tender.

Bean and vegetable soup

Well, seeing as I have had major problems with my neck and arm, I'm not baking at the moment. I'm hoping this resolves soon, because I'm already sick and tired of being sick and tired!!

It's autumn and the nights are cool here. It is perfect weather for soups and stews. This is one of my favourites! It's light but satisfyingly filling - and very easy and quick to make, which means it is an easy throw together meal at the end of a long day at work. Or in my case, an easy but yummy meal to make when I really don't feel well enough to cook anything complicated.

Bean and Vegetable Soup

3 cloves garlic diced
3 spring onions sliced fine (or 1 onion)
3 carrots sliced
3 stalks celery sliced
1 parsnip sliced
1 tin cannelli beans
1 litre of your favourite stock + extra water if needed.
1 tsp fresh thyme



Lightly fry the garlic and onions till translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients and boil until veggies are tender - add in extra cup or so of water if it has reduced too much in the cooking.  Serve with crusty bread and butter. Leftovers taste even better the next day or can be frozen for later use.