Dada's breads

One of those weekends when hubby bakes... Awakened by the devine smell of freshly baked croissant makes one feels like grabbing a cup of coffee.. He is not sharing the recipe but, ssshh, i will eventually make it (wishful thinking (*_*)..)

The little one indeed was delighted to wake up with dada's bread!!!  Croissant with chocolate filling is her favorite! and there were not only croissants, got burger buns and Dada's signature bread.

Flat Bread

This flat bread is a 5 star for my daughter..  I wish I could acknowledge that Chinese Chef I saw on tv way back before my daughter was even conceived.  I remember his face but couldn't remember his name.  He used this flat bread  recipe  for a peking duck recipe he once showed in one of his shows. You bet I owe a thank you to that chef, so I might come back to put his name here for acknowledgment  if I catch him again.

Well, this is very simple easy to do flat bread.  Now, i can do it in less than 30 minutes. Fresh flat bread would be served on the table.

Normally I do it with eyes half closed, I meant i don't measure anymore, just estimate the amount but for the purpose of posting it here, I did measure this time. :-) and took a step by step photos for a guide.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 warm water

In a mixing bowl add flour and salt, make a well at the center and add olive oil and sesame oil.  Gradually add the warm water while mixing the mixture (use the tip of a wooden spoon, or tip of the fork to mix) until it forms small lumps, continue adding water whilst mixing until the flour gathers together and form bigger lumps.  Gather all the lumps to form a dough.  On a flat working surface, knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic.  Form into a log and cut into pieces.  Form each peace into a ball.  Flatten it with the palm of your hands and then flatten it further using a rolling pin until it becomes thin.  Make it as thin as possible.  Sprinkle some flour if needed so it wont stick to the surface or to the rolling pin.  Preheat a flat pan,  and place the flattened dough. Cook in high heat until the surface starts to rise like bubbles. Flip it over to cook the other side.  Use a flat turner to do this, and if you are tempted to flatten the bubbly surface, go ahead.   Once there are black spots visible, the bread is done!

Make a well in center and add olive oil and sesame oil

gradually add warm water while mixing, it will start to form small lumps 

flour starts to form larger lumps

After adding the water, gather the lumps around the and knead like a dough

Place the dough on a smooth and lightly floured surface

Form into a log

cut into pieces

form into small balls

flour the surface and the rolling pin

flatten it using the palm of the hands

Flatten the dough using a rolling pin

Cook it on a flat pan

It will rise like bubbles

Flip it over 

ready to eat..

The bread is good as it is, use it as wrap or stuff it with goodness inside.

Some of the variations below:

stuffing it with thin cheese

add ham 

wrap it like an envelope

in the pan it goes

waiting time won't be that long :-)

Croissant

I’ve been itching to make croissant since a very long time and I finally made a dip to commit myself to make it and eventually dedicated to succeed in making one which was quite a challenge for me. I didn’t make it perfect, but its edible so-to-speak, anyway, hubby and I were the only judge and we evaluated the result. It wasn’t flaky enough and the layers of dough are a little bit thick as it should be. It took time to cook that what was stated in the recipe, the recipe says 15-20 minutes at 190 degrees C to brown but it took 45 minutes to brown. My croissants didn’t fluff much.

I’m not giving up just yet, I’m going to make it again.

I’m trying to figure out where did I went wrong in the process and possible factors and concluded the ff:

a) The recipe didn’t say what particular kind of flour to use, I used Bread flour type “00” Maybe there is not enough gluten in the flour causing the dough not so elastic.

To correct: use flour with high gluten content.

b) The flattened butter was a little bit thick and there was not enough space to spread it thinly, so during the folding process, some of the butter got out of the dough folds at the sides.

To correct: Allow a space at least about 2 inch at the sides to seal the dough when the butter is folded in.

My source of the recipe is from video jug;The video looks very easy to do, all you need is patience. The text version of the recipe I just paste it below; for easy reference.

CROISSANTS

You will need:

· 500 g flour

· 15 g active dry yeast

· 90 g sugar

· 15 g salt

· 300 ml warm milk

· 340 g butter , room temperature

· 1 egg, beaten with 2 Tbsp water

· some extra flour

· 1 rolling pin

· 1 knife

· 1 baking tray lined with parchment

· 1 mixer with hook attachment

· 1 mixing bowl

· 1 tea towel

· 1 plastic bag

· 1 brush

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Step 2:

Begin the dough

Put the flour into the mixer. Add the salt, sugar, milk and yeast. Mix it on low for 8-10 minutes until it has a smooth elastic consistency. Dust the dough and a large bowl with flour. Remove the dough from the mixer and transfer it into a bowl. Cover it with the towel and let it rise until it doubles in size. This should roughly, take 1.5 to 2 hours.

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Step 3:

Prepare the butter

Put a sheet of cling film onto your working surface. Place the butter on top and cover it with a second sheet of cling film. Flatten it with your hands, roll it into a rectangle of about 20 X 25 cm with your rolling pin and place it into the fridge to chill.

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Step 4:

Roll out dough

After the dough has doubled in size, sprinkle it with a little bit of flour. Punch out the air with your knuckles and place it onto a floured work surface. Dust the dough with flour and roll it out into a large rectangle that is big enough to hold the sheet of chilled butter. Move the dough around in the flour. You may have to dust the table again, if you need to.

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Step 5:

Fold in butter

Unwrap the chilled butter and place it onto the upper part of dough. Fold the dough around the butter to enclose it completely. Lift the dough and sprinkle the table with flour. Turn the dough around and roll it into another long rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds, brushing off the excess flour as you go. This completes the first turn. Now wrap it in cling film and place it into the fridge for a minimum of 25 to 30 minutes.

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Step 6:

Turn the dough

At the end of the 30 minutes sprinkle your working surface with flour. Unwrap the dough and place it onto the work surface. Make sure that the dough has the seam vertically placed. Dust it with a sprinkling of flour and roll it out into another rectangle. Fold, brush and wrap, exactly as before. This now completes the second turn.

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Step 7:

Chill and turn again

Place it back into the fridge for another 30 minutes. Once removed, roll and fold for the third and final turn. Make sure that the dough is well wrapped before placing into the fridge once more to chill overnight.

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Step 8:

Shape the croissants

One chilled, cut the unwrapped dough into half, on a floured surface. Dust the dough with some flour and roll one half of the dough into a rectangle. Reflour the surface when necessary and continue to roll until the dough is roughly less than half a centimetre thick. Turn the rectangle around. Flour the surface and trim the edges of the dough neatly. Cut it into triangle shapes. Take the bottom of the triangle at its widest part and using your hands, tightly roll it up into a croissant shape. You can freeze the other half of the dough for use another time, or repeat the process and make more croissants.

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Step 9:

Allow to rise

Place the croissants onto a prelined baking tray. Cover them with a clean plastic bag and leave to double in size.

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Step 10:

Preheat the oven

Set the oven to 190ºC (375ºF/ gas mark 5).

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Step 11:

Wash and bake

Once the croissants have risen remove the plastic bag. Very gently brush them all over with the egg wash. Place them into the centre of the oven. Bake them for roughly 15 minutes. When they are a deep golden brown remove them from the oven.

Hummus - A Spread that makes a difference!

My first entry to GYO (Grow Your Own), a monthly food blogging event that celebrates that we grow ourselves and the dishes we make using our homegrown products. For more information about GYO, click

Here

.



Hummus is a popular dip or spread in middle eastern countries. Its primary ingredient is chick peas mixed with garlic and lemon juice. There are many variations with spices as well.



The hummus takes the center stage of this recipe - The spread that makes the difference! Since we are not in Middle Eastern country, we can’t easily find a good hummus unless you make it at home

Since Hubby and I have lived in the middle east for quite some time, it is not unusual for us to crave for some Arabic foods that have influenced our palates like Shawarma – a popular street food made of flatbread filled with meat either chicken, beef or lamb and of course with hummus as spread. In other countries it is popularly known as wraps, but the spread is not hummus, made of mayonnaise with other variations but it’s the same idea, it is a wrap basically, but its a makes a complete meal coz it has the basic food groops, ie, carb, vegetables, meats, and its worth mentioning, the chickpeas is full pack of protein, iron and vitamin C.

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas (cooked)
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
Juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves garlic (grate)
½ Cup Olive Oil
Fresh Parsley and basil (chopped)

Procedure:

Grate garlic and set aside. Drain chickpeas and put in a food processor or blender, add lemon juice, grated garlic, cumin, paprika and cinnamon powder. Blitz for few seconds and stir. Blitz again for few minutes, while the machine is running, add the oil gradually until very fine and smooth. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and basil.

For this recipe which has garlic, it is essential to have fresh herbs to go with it to fight the garlic breath – a distinctive odor after having some sauces with garlic. One of the cures of garlic breath is having something green, means with chlorophyll. This works wonders! Usually in Middle Eastern countries, they serve this with lots and lots of rockets, the purpose of which is to avoid garlic breath. Parsley also works well with garlic. Having that in mind, that’s why I added some parsley to the hummus.





As my option is not very limited, I just asked hubby to get me some parsley and pass it across the kitchen window, I got a handful of parsley and sweet basil, which was a great idea. So, having some greens at hand is very useful.

Straight from my tiny garden are fresh parsley and basil which we have grown them ourselves. We have a tiny garden in our terrace which original a space for ornamental plants but we squeezed them to one side to give a space for some herbs. We planted some seeds when we came back from vacation. So now, we have parsley, sweet basil, Thai basil, and Kangkong. Now I’m enjoying my little harvest for garnishes.





While the hummus is ready, prepare the meats to go with it.

Ingredients:
Beef
Sausage
White onion
Tomatoes
Cucumber

Slice onions and tomatoes thinly. Set aside

Slice the beef thinly and set aside

Grill the sausage.

While the sausage on the grill, in hot pan with a teaspoon of oil, sear beef by adding one slice by slice so that the beef will not curl up when cooked. Stir-fry until the sides of the beef is done. You can tell when its done when the sides of the beef slices turn dark brown. Remove from pan. Add the sliced onions to the same pan. Do not be tempted to add oil. Just brown the onion by moving it around, taking the flavor of the beef at the same time. Remove from pan. Take out the sausage on the grill and slice thinly.

Assemble the dish on a big tray and serve with flat bread on the side. Serve while the meats are still warm.

Chicken Sandwich with eggplant dip

Chicken Sandwich with eggplant dip

Flat bread

Eggplant dip

Grilled chicken breast (thinly sliced)

White onion (thinly sliced)

Red bell pepper (cubed)

Tomatoes (thinly sliced)

To make flat bread:

1 cup flour (sifted)

1 tsp. salt

¼ cup water

Mix salt and flour in a mixing bowl. Add 1 Tablespoon water at a time while mixing until it forms rough dough. Add water if its too dry, this depends of the strength of the flour you are using. Knead the dough in a floured flat surface for about 3 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Form dough into sausage shape and cut 1 inch thick. Form each into a small ball and flatten with a rolling pin.

To make eggplant dip:

1 large eggplant

1 cube chicken stock

1 cup water

Red pepper (diced)

Tomatoes (diced)

Onion (diced)

Garlic (finely chopped)

juice of ½ lemon

chili powder

pepper

Determine a base for the eggplant and slice the skin off thinly; so that the eggplant will lay flat. Slice the skin off of the opposite side and carefully take the meat of the eggplant using a spoon. Dice the meat into cubes. Rub the exposed eggplant meat with lemon juice, wrap with plastic and refrigerate while making the dip. Sauté garlic and onion until translucent add eggplant meat, add red pepper, water and stock. Bring to boil and simmer for about 5 minutes until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Season with pepper and chili powder. Place the cooked mixture into the prepared eggplant case. In a hot pan, add onion and red pepper; cook until caramelized.Assemble sandwich. Arrange in each flat bread with chicken onion, pepper as desired. Serve with the dip.