Long time but a promising return - Polish Poppy Seed Bread

Well it has been ages since my last post! Have you missed me? I have been super busy with my work at the library. But I have also had problems with my computer that meant getting a new one.

So what have I been up to? Well a lot of baking and trying new things. I have recently been trying to perfect a bread that I had as a child at around Easter time. It was full of lovely poppy seeds and sweet but not sickly. So I found a recipe that sort of had what I wanted in it and made that. It came out good but wasn't quite what I had in mind nor remembered.

So back to the drawing board and trying to remember what it tasted like, etc. So new recipe thought of and devised and again another set of trials. I've made about 5 or 6 of them now and I think it is about as good as I'm going to get without getting the recipe from the source.

Polish Poppy Seed Bread

Bread
250 grams strong bread flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons caster sugar
50 grams unsalted butter
about 90 ml tepid milk
1 1/2 teaspoon easy-blend yeast
1 medium egg

Filling
150 grams poppy seeds
250 grams marzipan
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract or half a vanilla pod (with seeds first removed and put in with poppy seeds) and then both blitzed in food processor with the poppy seeds

Glaze
1 egg, beaten
flaked almonds(optional)
pearl sugar (optional)

Mix flour, salt, sugar and yeast together. Cut the butter into the flour until the butter is of the size of small peas. Add tepid milk and egg and mix until a ball forms.
Knead for about 10 minutes and place into a bowl to rise for 1 1/2-2 hours or until doubled in size. Meanwhile, add poppy seeds to a bowl and cover with boiling water - let sit for 5-10 minutes (more is OK - they will just soften more). Drain in a fine sieve and put into food-processor and pulse for 2-3 minutes. Add marzipan and vanilla extract or pod, and blend until it is a smooth paste.

Roll dough into a rectangle, 1/2 inch thick and spread poppy seed paste to within 1/2 inch of border. Roll up jelly-roll style and seal edges by pinching them together. Roll ends under roll and seal. Place on a cookie sheet (seam side down) lined with parchment paper. Cover with cling film and let rise for 1-1 1/2 hours. Pre-heat oven to 190 C (375 F). Glaze outside of dough with beaten egg and sprinkle with flaked almonds or pearl sugar and place in oven. Bake until golden brown (about 35-45 minutes) and remove from oven. Cool on wire rack immediately.

Makes 1 medium loaf and will keep 4-5 days in a paper bag. Not suitable for freezing.

So there you have it - Polish Poppy Seed Bread and I hope it was worth the wait. I will try to be better about posting but I am going away for 3 weeks to America. I'm going to finally see my niece who is now 3 1/2 years old for the first time! What excitement.

When a door closes...

You know I've always had faith that when a door closes a window opens. Essentially that things were 'meant' to happen and that you needed to have faith in fate or whatever you want to call it. However, there comes a point when you wonder how can people live with themselves and be so unkind? I do often wonder how well they sleep but perhaps it is only me that is not sleeping because the other party obviously is! I know all of this sounds cryptic and it will to but only a few people who ever might read this posting or who will know what I'm referring to, but for now I won't commit it to print. At least not while the liable laws are/could be in their favour and not in mine. When they are in mine you can look forward to a song....

Until then, this isn't goodbye but so long. I have faith that things work out and when we look back on this date in a few months time we'll be able to laugh and see that after all it was how it was meant to be!

Muffins - English or otherwise...

The other day I wanted to have a what I call 'eggy muffin'. Very similar to that horrid thing those crappy golden arcs sell by what I imagine is a comfortable margin but everything to my own standards. Well of course - what else would you expect?

I've always just bought the muffin parts but since getting on the baking bandwagon I've now decided it is time to take the plunge and make my own. So armed with a recipe (Rose Levy Beranbaums's from the Bread Bible) away I went.

Her recipe was quite easy and although you can let the sit for longer (24 hours if you like) I didn't. I made it with the minimum hours needed and they still turned out great. My only thing since making them is that I would probably form them by hand (using my largest cutter yielded too small of a muffin) and I would finish them off in the oven to keep them warm while continuing the cooking on the cast iron griddle. Only because mine seems to make them blacker than even I like.

However, all I can say is how easy they are. I will no longer buy them and instead will just freeze the leftovers. Now...on to brioche! Wish me luck!

You say Tabouleh or tabouli, or tabbouleh, or tabbulah even...

Well rather a strange title but rather fitting for my post. It goes under several different names and many different ingredients. I think the best bit about this dish is that anything goes really. I saw it in a magazine (although I have a number of variations in my cookbook collection) and thought, that sounds easy.

So off to the kitchen I trot to make me some and how great it was. I'm always looking for something that is good, easy and doesn't take a lot of effort when you've worked all day. This recipe is just the answer. It doesn't cost a lot either since if you have a glut of one thing - just add that and skimp on the something else. Who is to know? Isn't the best part of making salads putting in what you have more of orr less of what you don't like?

I only decided on this recipe (aside from the ease of it) to help me overcome my fear/loathing of couscous. Yes, tabbouleh is traditionally Bulgar wheat but you can put what you have - I have done both Bulgar wheat and couscous. The fear/loathing - reason well I won't get into it here - suffice to say it isn't a pretty sight!

So now for the recipe - and remember you can adjust or delete or add things you like. I just happen to like this combination.

1 cup Bulgar wheat
2 cups stock (any kind you like - I used vegetable) or water

Pour boiling stock or water over Bulgar wheat which has been placed in a bowl. Cover with cling film and let sit for 30 minutes to soak up the water/stock. After the 30 minutes test to make sure it is softened enough. Leave longer if needed or drain in a fine-meshed sieve if done.

Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber
Coriander (large bunch)
Juice from 2 lemons
Zest from said 2 lemons
3-4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Halloumi - several slices, cubed
Black olives - chopped (or kalamata olives if you have them)
Pine nuts - toasted
Salt & Pepper to taste

Chop the tomatoes into quarters and place in a big bowl. Cut the cucumber into small cubes (you can de-seed it if you like - I didn't because I didn't want to waste it) and put those into the bowl with the tomatoes. Roughly chop the coriander and put that into the bowl. Add the olives, halloumi and zest. Add the drained Bulgar wheat.

Pour over the lemon juice and olive oil and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss in pine nuts and have a final stir. Serve at room temperature. If you don't eat it all it will keep for several days and gets better! Pull out 30-45 minutes before dinner if it have been put into the fridge.

I did the above but also with couscous which I used 300 grams of couscous to 600 mls of stock. I found this seem to work well (as I always get it too water logged!). I at least now enjoy couscous - and you might too! Enjoy!

Falling behind...

Well again a long time between posts as I have been super busy. Do what you may ask? Well cleaning and getting ready for the summer. You know the house faeries don't just come and clean for me because I'm a nice person. What? You mean they should? I knew it! Well until they come I guess I'll carry on - it has to be done.

Last week I made some home-made granola bars. I saw a recipe for energy bars and I thought - yeah easily done and not a lot of expensive ingredients. So I set about to make my own with of course my own twist.

I brought them into work the next day for one of our meetings and everyone thought they were pretty good. I didn't make them very crisp (although I like crunchy things) but I did find them crunchy and soft enough. So here is the recipe for those of you wanting to give it a go.

MysticBunny's Granola Bars

300 grams Rolled Oats (not porridge oats!)
100 grams flaked almonds (or any other nut you prefer - I just happen to have this kind)
100 grams pistachio nuts (see note above)
75 grams dried berry fruit (cherries, cranberries, etc. work well)

Put all of the above into a bowl and toss to combine.

100 grams unsalted butter
175 grams honey (use something neutral)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Melt all of the above in a small saucepan until it is melted and amalgamated. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Place on a shallow oven tray that is lined (parchment or greaseproof work well). Flatten out to the edges of the pan so that it is even. Please into a pre-heated oven at 180 C or 350 F and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until it is a nice toasty brown colour.

50 grams dark chocolate, melted

Melt chocolate and once bars come out of the oven score and cut them. Then to make your bars and then drizzle the melted chocolate over them. Allow to cool to room temperature and store in a tin.

Really you can use just about anything you want nut or dried fruit wise. The recipe is very adaptable and that goes for chocolate - if you like milk more than dark or white - use that. I just happened to have used what I had in the house. Now I'll begin to make these rather than buy those things at the store...just more of a reason for you to get into the kitchen! Enjoy!

Marinating and inventing...

I got an organic leg of lamb the other day at the store (reduced of course!) and was stuck for something new to do with it other than roast it like usual. So quick inventory of the fridge and larder yielded some possibilities and I soon got to work.

I decided to marinate the meat since it was a work night and I don't have time to do much when getting home but put dinner in the oven and get it quickly to the table. So decided that I had a few lemons - always good for juice and zest. I also had some garlic and a bit of onion. Again just chopped it roughly - pretty doesn't matter in a marinade. I then got out the olive oil - an essential! Then some fresh herbs from the window sill containers - some chervil, parsley and coriander. Oh yeah, and some dried herbs too - oregano (my fresh kind has only just come up), some ground coriander and finally a few coriander seeds as well.

So into a zip lock bag goes the leg of lamb, juice of three lemons and zest, some garlic, onions, good few glugs of olive oil, and herbs. All get put back in the fridge for the day (I did this in the morning before work) and turned at lunch time (yes, I work so close to home I can often come home for lunch!).

When I got home it all got dumped into a dish and into a hot oven for about 80 minutes or so and it was lovely. The lemons did their job and it was permeated throughout but not in a over-powering kind of way. Lamb is usually quite tender but roasting it usually if done too well is tough. this was just right.

My point in all of this is - there was no recipe. I see people all the time (telly especially) going through a recipe and such and really it is about your own tastes and what you like. I just put together things I thought would work - worst case is you have a crap dinner - but you learned!

I have had only one real disaster - the fruit disaster (see previous post). Others might have more - I do too I just don't always reveal them. But that you try and can laugh (usually at a later date!) then that is half the battle. I might recount some day the petit four disaster - but it was an editable disaster! I'm not quite at the laugh stage!

BTW, earlier in the week I went with the librarians who buy our promotional items for the libraries. Our title for this month's promotion was 'Food for Thought' - quite apt. Anyway, I went as 'cookery book' advisor. Translated that meant I got to pick the cookery books. I also got to help getting some of the fiction stock as well. I had a blast going through the books and deciding what was good/bad. I only wish we had more money - but alas we made do. Enjoy!

How does your herb garden grow?

Well it has been a while without posting but time flies when you are so busy. I have a few pictures though to keep you interested. I took a few of the herbs that I planted. However, since these were taken they have grown mighty big. I have already begun to harvest them and use them.

This one is coriander which I love to use in just about everything!

This is my parsley which again is used everywhere imaginable. They rather look the same but they are different!

I have also sown a few more since taking these. I planted chervil, lovage, basil (two kinds), and some oregano. The lovage however, is not co-operating and refuses to grow. I will give it another week and then pick something else. I'm not sure why the seeds didn't take.

Anyway, that's all for the moment...more soon!