Apple Bread

A friend of mine gave me a recipe years ago that I made, loved, but never ever made again. I discovered it when I was having a sort-out of my recipes just the other day. I try only to collect recipes that I know I will make otherwise I end up with piles of magazines, bits of paper with recipes scribbled on them and notes jotted down here and there. I had bought myself a book to file all these jottings into and it was while I was doing this that I discovered this long lost recipe.

This Apple Bread is one of those comfort foods, when one piece is never enough. In fact, between three hungry kids and myself we polished it off for afternoon tea! *blush* The kids have begged me to make it again but, like any bread it needs time for rising and all in all it takes about 4 hours at least to make. However, it is very easy and well worth making.

Apple Bread

Dough
1¼ tsp yeast
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
180 mls water

Filling
1½ cups chopped or grated apple
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
⅓ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp raisins
⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
⅛ tsp salt
⅛ tsp cinnamon

Put dough ingredients into breadmaker and set on dough setting.

Cook filling in pot stirring until apple is tender. Remove from heat.

Roll dough into a 32cm x 20cm rectangle on floured surface. Spread apple filling over centre third of rectangle.

Make cuts from filling to edge of dough at 2.5cm intervvals along each side of rectangle to make strips. Fold strips at an angle over filling alternating sides.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30-45 minutes.

Heat oven to 180 degrees Celcius and bake for 30 mins.

Mmmmmmmm!

Chicken & Spinach Curry

I was at the library the other day and came across a book called 50 Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi. It had lots of great photos in it with clear instructions, as well as descriptions and photos of all the ingredients you would be likely to use in Indian cuisine. A brief history is also given of Indian cooking and the variations between the different regions. I loved the big, glossy photos as I really like being able to visualise the recipes. My mouth was watering as I was glancing though the book. So I tucked it under my arm with firm intentions of cooking a curry that night.

It was really hard to decide which one to make. Some interesting recipes...Watermelon Curry for example, which is a summer curry, along with the more familiar curries like Rogan Josh and Pork Vindaloo. And of course, recipes for all the side dishes and breads. What is an Indian meal with some type of roti to mop up all that yummy juice so I settled on chapatis first

I really wanted to make the Chicken Cooked with Lentils and Vegetables but I didn't have all the ingredients so decided to make just a "Simple Homestyle Curry" that Camellia recommends as being very easy and delicious. As a PS, I went and bought all the ingredients for the previous dish and made it last night. It was divine and gobbled up so fast, there wasn't even time to take photos!! In fact, everyone was scrapping over who was going to get the last bit of juice in the bottom of the dish!! I served the Simple Homestyle Curry with basmati rice and the chapattis that were so easy to make.

I will definitely be purchasing this book, and I see she has a more recent edition out. I would be interested in knowing which are some of your favourite Indian cookbooks?

Simple Homestyle Curry
2 chicken breast fillets (or whatever meat you want)
4 tbsps oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ inch square piece of fresh ginger, chopped
¾ tsp coriander powder
pinch of turmeric
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp garam masala
1 tsp paprika
2 tomatoes, chopped
salt
chopped coriander to garnish

Heat oil in pan. Add onion and saute over medium heat for about 20-25 mins or until deep brown.

Add garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute. Add coriander powder and stir for a further minute.Add remainder of spices and saute for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Add chicken. I also added spinach. Add 1-2 cups of water, depending on how thick you like your curries, and cook for further 15 mintes.

Sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves.


Chapatis
1 cup chapati flour or wholemeal flour
⅓ cup warm water
2 tsps oil

Mix all ingredients together to make a dough. I used my stand mixer with the dough hook. Mix for about 8 minutes as this will make the final product softer in texture.

Preheat griddle or pan to a high heat. Break into 12 balls and roll out on floured surface. They should stretch to a thin pancake about 6 inches in diameter.

Cook until brown spots appear, then flip chapati over til the other side is cooked.

Moroccan Bean Soup

I absolutely love the Watties Moroccan Bean Soup that you can buy from the supermarket so thought I would have a go at making my own. It's perfect for taking for lunch and dinner with a big hunk of home made bread when I am on a 12 hour shift.

It's not authentic Moroccan fare by any means, but I love the blend of flavours in this soup. In fact it is even unusual that I have made two Moroccan meals in such a short space of time. I am more likely to whip up Indian or Asian meals than Moroccan.

So I used the No Knead Spelt Bread recipe that is fast becoming a favourite in this house. It was such a glorious sunny day yesterday that it took no time at all for it to rise and I got 2 big loaves out of it. While that was rising I cooked the beans and prepared the rest of the ingredients. The beauty of this soup is that you can add whatever beans or vegetables you like. I would have liked to added red pepper too, but given the cost of them at the moment, that was not an option! I probably would have put some ground cardomom in too, if I had had any. I like my soups thick and chunky too, so you can add or decrease the water to suit your own taste. It was very yummy, and I will definitely be making this again. It does make a large amount, but knowing this household, it will be gone in a couple of days!!

Moroccan Bean Soup
1 cup dried baby green lima beans
1 cup dried pink beans
2 cups red lentils
2 cans Watties Moroccan tomatoes
1 can plain tomatoes
1 can whole kernel corn
2 onions
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2-4 garlic cloves
1 tsp crushed ginger
2 tsps sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups water

Cook the beans according to the type of bean. I soaked mine overnight and then cooked them for a couple of hours. The baby green beans cooked more quickly than the pink beans.

Cook the diced onions in a little oil until they are soft. Add the celery and cook a little longer.

Add the crushed garlic, ginger and spices and cook until fragrant.

Add the tomatoes, corn, washed lentils, sugar, salt and extra water and cook until lentils are soft and soup has thickened.

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander (cilantro).

Serve with crusty home made bread.

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous & Moroccan Bread

Today was one of those days where I had lots of things to do, so really did not want to spend a lot of time and effort with the evening meal. I had a cycle ride planned for about 4pm so the last thing I would want to do would be thinking about dinner when I got home from that all beet red and sweaty. I knew I only had a meat selection of chicken, chicken or chicken, so chicken won out and I settled on a crockpot recipe that could simmer away all day and look like I had been slaving for hours! Whip up some couscous to go with it and what a tasty meal.

Well, the cycling got cancelled as Tony had to work late which meant I had no-one to look after the kids, so what is a bored foodie to do. I know, let's whip up some Moroccan bread as well. Trusty old Google came to the rescue and I found several great recipes. The one I liked best was an easy looking bread called Authentic Moroccan Bread

So I threw all the ingredients in my stand mixer (which is all of about 2 weeks old I might add), went out and fed the hens and the rabbits and when I came back in about 5 minutes later, my poor old mixer had smoke coming out of the top and was kaput!!! So the easy bread making session I had envisaged turned into hard slog with me kneading dough for about 10 minutes! Crikey, it felt like my arms were going to fall off. Anyway, it turned out fantastically. Bread kneading is a good way of dealing with life's frustrations!! Take that and that!!!!

I had made No Knead Spelt Bread a few days ago and this was divine. Well, the kids reckon this bread comes a close second!!

So the chicken recipe I chose was one by Simon and Alison Holst out of their book Year Round Recipes for Crockpots & Slow Cookers A great book that has a good variety of easy to make and tasty recipes. I just made some simple couscous to go with it...adding chicken stock, lemon juice, currants and a knob of butter. Easy peasy, but yummy!

Moroccan Chicken
1kg chicken pieces or large chicken chunks
2 tbsp plain flour
3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Chop the chicken if using chicken chunks and coat with flour. Heat 1tbsp of oil in large frypan and cook chicken until golden brown on all sides. Transfer into crockpot.

Put onion and garlic into small food processor and chop finely. add remaining oil, tomato paste, spices and salt and process until a thick paste is formed.

Zest the lemon and add this and the juice to the paste and pulse to combine.

Spoon the paste over the chicken, and turn to coat. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours.

Garnish with fresh chopped coriander

Sticky Brown Sugar Buns

Was perusing one of my Foodtown magazines last night trying to find some inspiration for a meal and I spotted some delectable looking sticky buns that would make a great after school snack for the kids. Chelsea buns are one of my favourite sticky buns and I have great memories of a shop in Takapuna, Auckland that used to make the most scrumptious buns that oozed brown sugar, raisins and sweetness. I used to go there after nursing school several times a week with a couple of friends. We would each get a sticky bun then wander down to the beach and slowly savour each mouthful. The scavenging seagulls were always very hopeful we would throw them a crumb or tasty morsel, but they were always out of luck! I have never found another bakery that can make them just so, but these buns come a very close second and certainly stirred up memories from a few years ago.

They really are very simple to make. I just threw all the ingredients in my stand mixer and let it do all the hard work. Let it rise for a couple of hours, the rolled it out and smothered the dough in dried raisins and sultanas, brown sugar and butter. Rolled it up and then sliced it into 12 pieces.

I then let the dough rise for another hour or so. I cheated and heated up my oven then let the tray sit in there, so the buns could rise. Time was getting on, and I knew those hungry kids would be off the bus soon flinging open the cupboards and looking for food. The buns were soon in the oven and the smell of baking buns and cinnamon was filling the house. Yum!

While they were still warm I drizzled some a thin icing over the buns. I just mixed half a cup of icing sugar and a little water and spooned it over. If you want a crispier icing, then leave the buns til they are cooler. However, I like the softness of the icing all melted into into the buns.

Sticky Brown Sugar Buns

Dough

3 and a half cups high grade flour

2 tablespoons sugar

50g softened butter

3 teaspoons Surebake yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

275mls milk, warmed for 20 seconds in microwave

Make the dough using a breadmaker or a stand mixer. If using a mixer, mix on low speed for 10 minutes using the dough hook.

Spray the dough and bowl with oil and leave in a warm place until doubled in size. Cover with plastic wrap.

Tip onto lightly floured bench and roll out to about 25cm x 35cm rectangular shape.

Mix together:

50g butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Spread over the bread dough then sprinkle with 1 cup mixed dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, currants etc).

With longest side facing you, roll up the dough into a log shape, pinching it to seal. Cut the dough into 12 even sized pieces and place them onto baking tray. Spray with oil, cover with plastic wrap and leave to double in size.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and hollow sounding. Transfer to cooling rack and drizzle with icing if desired.

Source: Foodtown magazine June/July 2008

ENJOY!!