10/2012

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Black Rice Bread with Peanuts

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

A nutty, mild sweet loaf made with a mix of wholegrain spelt and bread flours. Thanks to the black venus rice and roasted peanuts, this light-textured everyday bread is exquisitely nutty, nicely moist, distinctly delicious and makes a nice change from a plain sandwich loaf.

200 g Wholegrain spelt flour
220 Bread flour
8 g Dried yeast
190 ml Milk, lukewarm
40 ml Olive oil
1 Egg
30 g Raw sugar
6 g Sea salt
150 g Cooked black rice
120 g Roasted and unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped

In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the spelt flour, bread flour, and dried yeast. Make a well in the center, add in milk, olive oil, egg, raw sugar and sea salt. Stir at first on low speed until a rough dough begins to form. Increase the speed and beat until the dough is smooth and elastic. Now adjust the speed to low again, add in cooked black rice and chopped peanuts. Stir until they are well-distributed throughout the dough.
Turn out the dough and shape into a ball. Return it to the mixing bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel leave it in a warm place for an hour or until it’s doubled in size. Divide the dough into 3 portions and shape each into a round. You can also divide the dough 12-15 portions and make them into dinner buns.
Place 3 round balls into a parchment paper lined loaf pan. Cover again with the towel and set aside in a warm place for a 50 minutes to rise.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. When the loaf has risen, brush the surface with water and bake for 30 minutes until nicely golden brown.

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Marinated Fig and Parmesan Salad

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Fresh sweet figs marinated in mild tangy balsamic marinade contrast with powerful pungent shaved Parmesan in this elegant salad adapted from Tom Kime via BBC Good Food.

8 Ripe figs, stalks trimmed
4 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp Olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp Fresh thyme, chopped
Parmesan shaves
50 g Arugula leaves

Cut each fig lengthways into four wedges. Make a marinade by whisking the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and lemon juice with salt and pepper to taste.
Stand the fig wedges up in the middle of a large shallow serving dish, keeping them close together. Scatter the lemon zest and thyme on top, then drizzle with the marinade. Leave to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
To serve, lightly torn arugula leaves round the figs, scatter with Parmesan shaves, and drizzle with a little olive oil.

I am sending this to October Your Best Recipe.

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Black Venus Rice Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Pistachios

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Black Venus Rice is a medium-grain rice with a dark purple colour and a mild, nutty taste that requires slightly longer cooking time than traditional white rice. This black rice, with Chinese roots and modern Italian applications, is also know as "forbidden rice" or "emperor’s rice".
With a mix of luscious textures, rich flavours and bright colours, this salad makes for a delicious and nutritious lunch.

300 g Sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 tbsp Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
200 g Black Venus rice
350 ml Water
2 Scallions, chopped (or parsley)
1 handful Pistachios
3 tbsp White balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Orange juice
2 tbsp Argan oil
Diced mango, optional

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Toss the diced sweet potatoes, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Toss well and place them in a single layer on a baking tray. Roast for 20 minutes until they are fork tender.
Bring black rice and water to a boil in a sauce pot on high heat. Season lightly with salt. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
Add white balsamic, argan oil, and orange juice in a bowl. Whisk to blend. Mix the rice, roasted sweet potatoes, chopped scallions, pistachios, diced mango if using and dressing. Toss gently to combine. Taste to season.

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Pumpkin Puree layered with Pepita Pesto

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Silky puree of roasted hokkaido pumpkin flavoured with coconut milk and lemon juice layered with pepita pesto with lemon balm and parsley that will leave your picky family members begging for more. Indulge yourself, family and friends with this light and wonderful seasonal appetizer!

800 g Hokkaido pumpkin
150 ml Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
40 g Pepitas, toasted
1 cup Lemon balm leaves
1 cup Flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 clove Garlic
25 g Parmesan, grated
100 ml Coconut cream
2 tbsp Lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Quarter the hokkaido pumpkin. Remove the seeds and place them, cut side down, in a baking tray. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in 1 cup of water and wrap with a large piece of tin foil. Bake for 30 minutes.
Toast pepitas in a heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden in spots and puffed, about 4 minutes.
Place lemon balm, parsley, pepitas, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and salt in food processor. Cover and process just until smooth. Gradually add in olive oil with machine running. Process until well blended and smooth.
Allow the pumpkin to cool 10 minutes. Then, scoop out the cooked pulp and discard the skins. Puree the pumpkin pulp in a blender with coconut cream and lemon juice until smooth. Layer the pumpkin puree with pesto in glasses.

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Pumpkin Spelt Doughnuts

Thursday, October 18, 2012

I am really LUCKY enough to win a copy of Carla Sandrin’s debut book, Uncorrupted, August giveaway event hosted by Beth on Of Muses and Meringues and October Doughnut Pan Giveaway - a special gift to celebrate Kelly's generous nature held on Susan's My Mother's Apron Strings. I'm thrilled, honoured and grateful :) Thank you so much, Beth, Susan, for the fantastic giveaways!
I am almost halfway through the book and trying not to rush it -- a truly inspiring and intelligent book.
Uncorrupted tells the story of Clare McTavish, a young woman whose atheist mother has just died. However, the more Clare gets to know about her, the more she realizes there is much more to her mother’s story than Clare ever knew. A story of family bonds, the power of love, and finding goodness in a world littered with misery and evil, Uncorrupted reminds us to remain open to different perspective, yet stay firm in our conviction in what is right. Most of all, it speaks to tolerance, decency and justice, with hope as the cornerstone of all.

Now for the doughnuts, the recipe is slightly adapted from "Black & White Chocolate Pumpkin Doughnuts", also from Susan. Instead of all purpose flour and sour cream used in original recipe, I have used refined spelt flour and plain yogurt. They are so moist and delicious, that I couldn't resist eating one soon after they were out from the oven. Great even without any icing or glaze!

Doughnuts	Glaze
210 g Refined spelt flour 25 g Dutch-process cocoa powder 1/2 tsp Baking soda 1 tsp Baking powder 3/4 tsp Salt 113 g Unsalted butter, at room temperature 130 g Raw sugar 300 g Pumpkin puree 2 Eggs 100 g 3.5% Plain yogurt 1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice	125 g Confectioners' sugar 30 ml Hot water 100 g White couverture chocolate, chopped Pumpkin seeds, toasted

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease a doughnut pan with melted coconut oil and set aside. Sift together the spelt flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Cream the butter and raw sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the pumpkin puree and mix to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add in half of the flour mixture and stir on low until just incorporated. Mix in plain yogurt, then the remaining flour mixture, stir until combined.
Spoon half of batter into the doughnut pan openings with a 3-tablespoon scoop. Bake 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes then invert pan onto a rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Mix confectioners’ sguar and hot water in a bowl until smooth. In another bowl, add the chopped white couverture chocolate. Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and melt the chocolate. Coat the doughnuts with powdered sugar icing or melted white chocolate and sprinkle the chopped pumpkin seeds on top.

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Bulgur Patties with Lemon Balm Yogurt

Monday, October 15, 2012

When you're in need of a healthy and delicious meatless dinner, you can always turn to these fiber-rich, flavourful and delicious bulgur patties with an oriental touch. If you don't have lemon balm in your garden, substitute it with mint and lemon zest.

Bulgur Patties with Lemon Balm Yogurt

adapted from Küchen Götter

250 g Bulgur
250 ml Vegetable stock or water
1 Shallot, diced
1 clove Garlic, minced
3 tbsp Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp Cumin powder
2 Eggs
4-5 tbsp Breadcrumb
200 g Plain yogurt
Lemon balm leaves, chopped

Bring the vegetable stock to a boil. Turn the heat off and ad in the bulgur. Let soak for 15 minutes.
Peel and finely dice the shallot and garlic clove. Cook in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, and season with salt, pepper, and cumin powder.
Season yogurt with salt and pepper. Fold in chopped lemon balm leaves.
Stir together the soaked bulgur, eggs, prepared shallots, garlic, and breadcrumb. Season to taste. Form the mixture into 16 patties. In a large skillet, heat the rest of olive oil over medium-low. Cook patties until browned and firm, 5 to 6 minutes per side. Serve with lemon balm yogurt.

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Dried Apple Sourdough Bread

Thursday, October 11, 2012

I found this recipe on daheim und unterwegs, and couldn’t resist the temptation to give it a try. With some aromatic homemade dried apples, crunchy peanuts and sunflower seeds, soaked rye berries, this sourdough bread has a hard crust, soft interior and makes a filling and wholesome lunch with a generous helping of salad. For the bread add-ins, don't limit yourself to just dried apples, peanuts and sunflower seeds. Great alternatives include dried figs, pecans, pumpkins, or dried beet. The original recipe calls for the combo of dried apples, carrots, celery root and hazelnuts.

Soaked Rye	Starter	Final Dough
200 g Rye berries 4 g Salt 200 ml Water, cold	175 g Bread flour 4 g Fresh yeast 4 g Salt 120 ml Water, at room temperature	225 g Sourdough, 100% hydration 404 g Soaked rye berries 303 Starter 200 g Wholewheat flour 125 g Light rye flour 180 g Bread flour 15 g Fresh yeast 12 g Salt 310 ml Water, at room temperature 200 g Dried apples, cut into smaller pieces 200 g A mix of peanuts and sunflower seeds

Place rye berries, salt, and cold water in a bowl. Set aside on counter overnight.
Mix all the ingredients of starter in a bowl. Cover and set aside for an hour at room temperature. Refrigerate it for 15-24 hours before using.
In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, place in sourdough, soaked rye berries, starter, flours, fresh yeast, salt and water. Stir until a soft, pliable dough forms. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Add in chopped dried apples, and a mix of peanuts and seeds. Knead until all ingredients are well-distributed .
Dust the dough with a little flour and cover it with a clean kitchen towel. Allow it to proof for about 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 2 portions. Shape each into a log and place them into two parchment paper lined loaf pans. Dust lightly again with some flour. Cover and proof for an hour until the dough reaches 90% of the pan.
Place a baking tray at the bottom of oven and preheat to 230C/450F. Place the bread into the hot oven and pour a cup of hot water into the baking tray. Close the door of the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 190C/375F and continue to bake for 40-50 minutes until nicely golden brown and crusty.