TWD BWJ - Semolina Bread

I really love making bread. I love the way the dough feels, the aroma when it bakes and of course nothing beats eating it warm from the oven. Making this bread was also a reminder that I need to read recipes properly because I didn't realise until I started that each step took 2 hours. Oops!

This bread was new to me because it contains semolina which I've never used before. The result was a slightly dense but incredibly flavourful loaf. I didn't love it straight from the oven and thought it was a little too salty. But it was wonderful toasted the next day and I think it would make fabulous garlic bread.

I have no idea if I slashed the top the way I was supposed to. Was it just me or were the directions a little confusing?

We ate most of the loaf toasted with some slow-cooked baked beans (recipe to come!) and it was the perfect accompaniment to soak up all the sauce.

Our hosts this week are Renee of The Way to My Family's Heart and Anna of Keep it Luce. They will post the recipe today so make sure you check it out!

Meatless Monday - Peanut Sesame Noodles

I just realised most of my vegetarian meals contain chickpeas. We go through a lot of chickpeas in this house! So it's definitely time to try something different.

I've always loved satay but hubby hasn't been keen. So when he mentioned he'd like to try one I jumped at the chance to try this recipe from Smitten Kitchen that I've had my eye on for ages!

The original recipe called for plain tofu but that gives me the heebies so I used a marinated Thai style tofu instead. Sweet chilli tofu nuggets would also be a great choice. The fresh vegetables were lovely and crunchy and honestly, I could have just eaten them with a bowl of the sauce to dip into and been a very happy girl.

Fresh, creamy, crunchy and absolutely delicious!!!

Peanut Sesame Noodles

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup boiling water

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbs ginger, grated

1/2 ts chilli paste

2 ts honey

1 tbs sesame oil

1 green capsicum

1 medium carrot

1 cup firm tofu, plain or marinated

2 packs hokien noodles

3 tbs toasted sesame seeds

1 lime

Place the peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, chilli, sesame oil and honey in a large jug. Pour over the boiling water and whisk to combine. Slice the capsicum and carrot into thin batons. Fry the tofu until it is crispy and golden then slice into small cubes.

Cook the noodles in salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes then drain, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water. Return the noodles to the pot and add the sauce and chopped veges. Stir well to combine and add a little of the reserved cooking water if it looks a bit gluggy (I needed about 1/2 cup).

Serve topped with sesame seeds and a squeeze of lime.

Serves 4 as a main or 6-8 as an entree.

Crepes for Bastille Day and a blogiversary!

Happy Bastille Day! And happy blogiversary to me!

It's been 4 years and 285 posts since I started this little blog. I had zero clue about what I was doing or where I wanted to go with this, all I knew was that I loved to bake and wanted to share that with my little corner of the interwebs. You can find my first post here. Read it and cringe along with me!

I definitely lost my blogging mojo after the boys were born but now that they are a little older I have a bit more time and am committed to posting at least twice a week and broadening my food horizons. To all my lovely readers and followers, thank you for sticking with me!

In honour of Bastille Day today we made crepes for breakfast served my favourite way, with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar. Delicious!

Crepes

From The Australian Women's Weekly Original Cookbook, ACP 1970 p180

1/3 cup plain flour

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

pinch of salt

1 tbs oil or melted butter

Place the flour in a large bowl along with the eggs, salt, oil and 2 tbs of the milk. Whisk until smooth then add in the remaining milk and beat well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place a heavy bottomed frypan over medium heat. Grease with a small amount of butter. Pour about 1/8 cup of batter into the pan, tilting to cover evenly. Cook for about a minute, or until the top is dry. Flip and cook on the other side for 10-20 seconds. Turn out onto a plate and repeat until all the batter is used. Makes approx 10-12.

Sausage and Bean Casserole

This was a really delicious dinner so I hope you can look past the horrible photo! We are having a run of very cold weather at the moment and as a result we're all looking for comfort food. This casserole is an easy weeknight meal and with sausages, beans and rice it fit the bill perfectly.

I feel a little ridiculous putting my copyright info on a such a bad photo but I recently discovered that not one but two lowlifes had stolen virtually every post and photo from my blog. It's taken a little while but both blogs and the other sites where they had used my stolen content seem to have all been taken down. I actually feel quite violated by the whole experience.  Anyone else had this problem? How do you protect your work online?

Anyway. You can see that comfort food is most definitely required.

Make this!

Sausage and Bean Casserole

6 sausages of your choice

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 large carrots, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tin diced tomatoes

1 tin five bean mix (or any beans)

1 heaped ts hot english mustard

1 tbs brown sugar

1/2 dozen shakes of worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180 / 160 degrees celsius fan forced. In a large fry pan fry off the sausages until mostly cooked. Remove and place into a 3 litre casserole dish and once cool enough to handle, slice into 2cm rounds.

In the same frypan add the onion, garlic and carrot and cook, stirring frequently until the vegetables are beginning to soften. Add the tomatoes, beans, water, mustard, brown sugar and worcestershire sauce. Stir until well combined. Bring to the boil, season to taste and then add to the sausages. Mix well to combine then cover and place in the oven for approx 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked through and the sauce has thickened.

Serve with rice or crusty bread for a hearty winter meal.

Meatless Monday - Moussaka

So it's not the most photogenic dish in the world. Trust me it looked worse after it was served up. But this was delicious!!!

I've never made a vegetarian moussaka before and this one was all vegetables, no fake mince, and let me tell you, even my meat-loving husband really loved it! This is a great alternative to lasagne if you are trying to cut back on carbs. Or even if you're not, it's well worth a go and perfect for this time of year.

Moussaka

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, grated

2 zucchinis, grated

2 large eggplants

3 cloves garlic

1 ts mixed dried Italian herbs

1 tin diced tomatoes

1 tin red kidney beans

2 ts chicken style veggie stock powder

2 x 2tbs olive oil

60g butter

1/4 cup plain flour

2 cups milk

125g grated tasty cheese

2 tbs grated parmesan cheese

2 tbs dried breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsisus fan-forced. Lightly grease a lasagne style baking dish and set aside.

To prepare the eggplant - slice crossways into 1cm rounds. Spread the pieces out on 1 or 2 baking trays, sprinkle each piece with salt and leave for around 20 minutes. You should see liquid on the top of each piece. Rinse them well under running water and pat dry.

To make the sauce - heat 1 tbs olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Fry off the onion, garlic, carrot and zucchini until they are soft and any liquid has evaporated. Add the herbs, tomatoes, beans and stock powder, along with 1/2 tin of water. Stir well and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer while you prepare the rest of the dish. Season to taste.

Once your sauce is simmering you can cook the eggplant. Heat 1 tbs oil in a large non-stick frypan over medium high heat. Fry off the eggplant in batches until it has softened and is golden brown on each side.

To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Once melted add the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the milk all in one go and whisk well. Keep stirring until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the cheese, stir to combine and set aside.

To assemble the moussaka, place layers of tomato sauce, eggplant and white sauce into the baking dish finishing with a final layer of white sauce. Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. Bake for approx 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and everything is bubbling and golden. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving with plenty of crusty bread to soak up the sauce.

Serves 6-8.