Tuesday 8 July 2014

Basic Soda Bread Recipe

This has become my go-to bread recipe if I need to whip something up for lunch or to go with soup for dinner.  I've tried a few variations - roast garlic and parmesan; sundried tomato and parmesan, cheddar cheese and dried thyme.  All of them tasted awesome - but if you do add anything to it, be your own judge as far as quantity - I admit I just freestyled it a bit!

Anyhoo, this again is for little cuz Caleb - this will go so well with your soup on cooking night!

This is the cheddar cheese and thyme version

  • 500gm plain white flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 400ml buttermilk (rather than buy it you can make this by putting 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in a measuring jug then top up to 500ml with full fat milk.  Leave for approx. 5 ml and this is ready to use)
 
Preheat oven to 200 deg and line a baking tray with baking paper or silicone mat.
 
Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well (if you are adding extra ingredients, do this now).  Stir in the buttermilk to form a sticky dough.  Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it quickly into a ball.  Flatten the ball a little with your hand.
 
Put the dough on the baking tray.  Mark it into quarters, cutting deeply through the bread almost but not quite through to the base.  Dust with flour.
 
Bake for 30 minutes or until the loaf is cooked through - it should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the base.  Leave it to cool on a wire rack.
 
Best eaten within a day of baking and freezes well.

KUMARA, APPLE AND GARLIC SOUP


Right, my first recipeChosen purely because I promised my little cuz I would give him this recipe to help him on his rostered cooking night in his flat.  So, here you are Caleb,

  • 1kg  kumara (any type) cut into cubes
  • 1 onion, peeled and cut into wedges
  • 1 granny smith apple, cored and cut into wedges
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1.5-2L chicken stock

Preheat oven to 180 deg.

Place kumara, onion, apple and garlic in a bowl and mix through oil, nutmeg, cinnamon and some salt & pepper.

Spread kumara etc on a baking tray and bake for approximately 30 mins or until cooked and tender.

When cooked transfer to a large pot, add stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for another 15 min or until veg is soft.

Remove from the heat and blitz with a stick mixer or mix in a blender.

Season to taste.

Best served with some crumbled feta.

This makes a HUGE amount of soup - we had enough for about 6-8 adult meals.  Enjoy little cuz!

Monday 7 July 2014

Sooo... this is blogging then.

So I have been interested in doing a blog for a while, after being inspired by a darling friend of mine.  But I couldn't decide what to actually blog about - do I waffle on about cooking which I have come to really enjoy in the last few years (a fact which still makes my family and friends laugh considering my distinct lack of cooking ability for the first 30-odd years of my life!); do I stop boring people on facebook with the numerous photos of and quotes from my darling daughter and put them in the blog corner of the internet?  Or what about doing one about the renovations we have planned for the house?  So in the end, I decided I am going to combine all of it and Hey Pesto - welcome to my blog!