Pumpernickel Loaf (Baking with Julia)

So I had to cheat a little with this week's recipe. Seeing as I have no mixer and I had a baby 2 weeks ago (and am therefore not at all interested in kneading bread when it is compared with pumping iron!) I made my pumpernickel loaf in the breadmaker.

Luckily the recipe book which came with my breadmaker included a rye and caraway bread so I was able to simply adjust it to be more like this week's recipe. I added coffee, cocoa, yoghurt and molasses and was really pleased with the result. I was intending to just make the dough and then shape and bake the loaf in the oven but with 3 kids including a newborn demanding to be fed that just wasn't going to happen!

I loved the complex flavours in this loaf and it was fabulous slightly warm with lots of cream cheese. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

BWJ - Savoury Brioche Pockets

 

I had a bit of a brain freeze and totally forgot that this was BWJ week. Luckily without a mixer I have perfected a brioche dough made in the breadmaker and whipped these beauties out in about 2.5 hours!

They are called Savoury Brioche Pockets, and just as the name suggest, they are a brioche dough wrapped around a savoury filling. As I had forgotten about the recipe I didn't have any goat's cheese or chives on hand but I did happen to have leftover steamed potato in the fridge.

To make my filling I sauteed some onion, garlic and spinach in butter until soft then added it to cold mashed potato along with a handful of grated cheddar cheese, some salt and pepper. Basically it made the yummiest mashed potato you can imagine!

The taste test ...

They didn't blow my socks off but it was pretty tasty. The filling was delicious and you can't go past brioche. I'm just not a huge pan of potatoes in bread. It just seemed a bit too heavy even though the filling was lightened up with veg. I think my brioche discs were a bit too thick so the ratio of bread to filling was a bit off. Still a success overall though.

Carrie of Loaves and Stitches will have the recipe up today and to see what the other bakers thought of this one, check out the LYL section.

BWJ - Rustic Potato Loaves

 aka the bread that almost wasn't.

I had it in my head that this was a typical long-rest bread. Add to that I was going to have to actually cook potatoes first AND I don't even have a mixer at the moment, I was sure this was not going to happen!

But then I realised how quick it would be, and hubby cooked the potatoes for me, and I realised I could mix the dough in the breadmaker. Voila.

I made half the recipe and got a really decent sized loaf. You will notice from the picture that I forgot to cook the bread seam side up so it doesn't have the same look as the book. Still, it was delicious and made the house smell like an intoxicating mix of fresh bread and hot chips. Doesn't get much better than that!

Make sure you visit our host Dawn of Simply Sweet for the recipe.

Meatless Monday - Potato Curry with Naan and Crunchy Fried Tofu

Happy New Year!! Hard to believe we are already 2 weeks into 2013.

In an effort to start the year off on the right foot, food wise, my first post for the year is a Meatless Monday meal. And even better it is one that is so seriously delicious that even the meat-lovers amongst us will be practically licking their plates clean!

Just don't be like me and take photos before adding one of the major elements of the dish, namely the crunchy fried tofu. Oops. While it definitely needs to be there for protein and crunch, it would have only added another layer of brown so it's no great loss.

Potato Curry with Naan and Crunchy Fried Tofu
Serves 4


For the curry:
500g sweet potato
500g potatoes
2 tbs curry paste
1 large onion, finely sliced
1 tbs coconut oil or ghee
2 cloves garlic
1 tin coconut cream
1 tin's worth of water
Salt, pepper and dextrose/sugar to taste

I cooked mine in the slow cooker but this works just as well on the stovetop. Directions for both are below.

Peel and chop the potatoes and sweet potato into 2 cm dice. Fry the onions in the coconut oil until starting to soften and go golden then add both lots of potato. Add the curry paste and extra garlic and fry for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and the paste is coating the potatoes. Add the coconut cream and water and mix well.

At this point you could pop the whole lot in the slow cooker on low and head out for the day! Or if you are cooking this at dinner, just simmer until the veges are tender and the sauce has reduced. Serve with a dollop of plain yoghurt, tofu and naan.

For the breadmaker naan:
Recipe adapted from here
185ml warm water
2 tbs coconut oil
90g greek yoghurt
1 ts salt
1 ts dextrose/sugar
1 ts onion flakes
1 clove garlic, crushed
100g wholemeal flour
350g bread flour
2 ts dried yeast

I made the dough in the breadmaker which simply involved adding all the ingredients in the order listed and using the pizza dough setting. After 50 minutes I had gorgeous soft dough ready to cut into 6 even pieces and shape into oblongs around 20cm long. Drizzle the top of each with coconut oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake at 250 degrees celsius for around 10 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.

If you don't have a breadmaker follow the link to the original recipe above.

For the tofu:
250g firm tofu of your choice
Seasonings

I used a pack of sesame tofu nuggets which I chopped roughly then fried in coconut and sesame oils. I added a drizzle of rice malt syrup and some extra sesame seeds. Delish. Fry until nice and crispy and serve on top of your curry.

So that's my seriously delicious potato curry with tofu and naan. Enjoy!

Baking with Julia - Cranberry and Pumpkin Loaf

Just wondering, is there anyone else out there who completely missed the mark with this recipe? I somehow had it into my head that this was a quick bread, more of a cake even. Imagine my surprise when I go to make it and not only is it a proper bread, it has to rest in the fridge overnight! Aaaah!

Now I could have just made it properly another day but I was psyched for pumpkin and cranberries and knew I wouldn't get another chance before posting day. I even had steamed pumpkin leftover from the night before ready and waiting to be mashed. (We can't buy canned pumpkin or pumpkin pie filling in Australia).

So instead I pulled out my trusty bread maker and made it in there. 

Granted it's not exactly the same as in the book, but the basic elements are all there - pumpkin, cranberries, spices. Yum! I didn't use any walnuts as I didn't have any on hand and I wanted to make it child friendly.
 

Luckily my breadmaker cookbook had a recipe for pumpkin bread already so I just had to tweak it slightly. Let me tell you, the aroma wafting through the house as this was cooking was to die for! And it was ready in just 3 1/2 hours!

Pumpkin and Cranberry Bread in the Breadmaker

200ml water
1 tbs melted butter
1/2 cup mashed pumpkin
1 ts salt
1 tbs brown sugar
100g wholemeal flour
350g white bread flour
2 ts ground cinnamon
1/2 ts ground nutmeg
1 tbs milk powder
1/2 ts bread improver
1 1/4 ts instant dried yeast

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Add all ingredients except the cranberries to your breadmaker in the order listed above. Select the 750g loaf size, basic bread setting and medium crust. If you have a fruit and nut dispenser, add your cranberries in there and make sure you select 'Nuts - Yes' so they will be added automatically. Otherwise add in your cranberries after the first mix. Press start and wait just a couple of hours for your delicious bread to be ready!

The taste test ...

Just gorgeous! It was amazing fresh out of the 'oven' but sliced up the next day and toasted it was possibly even better. There wasn't much pumpkin flavour but it did add a lovely colour and helped to keep the bread  moist. My boys loved it toasted for breakfast with a big glass of milk and my pumpkin-hating husband had a taste before he knew it contained pumpkin and declared it 'really good.' Success!!!

Our host this week is Rebecca at This Bountiful Backyard. Make sure you check her blog for the proper recipe or give mine a go if you're time-poor.