Cheesy garlic swirls

I got inspired to do this by DNA. Recipe looks easy enough and it turned out awesome. I've been playing around with this recipe and made awesome variations lol.

Ingredients for basic dough

300g bread flour
100g plain flour
30g sugar
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
250 ml milk
30g butter

Method:

The queen of efficiency (thats me) says dump everything but the butter into a mixer, let it do its thing for 10min before adding the butter and letting it mix for another 5.

Leave it to rise for 1 hr.

Filling:
50g softened butter (add pinch of salt of using unsalted)
1 tsp dried/fresh parsley or chives or spring onion (make sure pieces are small n dry)
2 garlic, mashed
1 tbsp parmesan or any dry cheese

Mix everything up.

Once dough has risen, roll it out to abt 1cm thickness, spread the filling before rolling it (think swiss roll) and cutting it up into 3 cm pieces. You can arrange the pieces into any pan or into muffin cups.

Let it rise for another 15 min while you preheat the oven at 160C and bake.

Cheesy garlic swirls

I got inspired to do this by DNA. Recipe looks easy enough and it turned out awesome. I've been playing around with this recipe and made awesome variations lol.

Ingredients for basic dough

300g bread flour
100g plain flour
30g sugar
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
250 ml milk
30g butter

Method:

The queen of efficiency (thats me) says dump everything but the butter into a mixer, let it do its thing for 10min before adding the butter and letting it mix for another 5.

Leave it to rise for 1 hr.

Filling:
50g softened butter (add pinch of salt of using unsalted)
1 tsp dried/fresh parsley or chives or spring onion (make sure pieces are small n dry)
2 garlic, mashed
1 tbsp parmesan or any dry cheese

Mix everything up.

Once dough has risen, roll it out to abt 1cm thickness, spread the filling before rolling it (think swiss roll) and cutting it up into 3 cm pieces. You can arrange the pieces into any pan or into muffin cups.

Let it rise for another 15 min while you preheat the oven at 160C and bake.

Cheese pizzas

So Ive discovered that the easiest and softest pizza doughs only need these:

300g bread flour
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
5g yeast
Warm water (amount depends on where you are)
3tbsp olive oil

You simply put everything but the oil in and knead for 10 min. Add the oil last and knead for another 5 min and leave it to rise. Thats all! An hour later, dough is ready. Ive used this to make dinner rolls, bread sticks, pizza balls...

Bake at 220C for 15 min

Soft sponge cake

This fluffy lovely is done in 15 min. Here goes:

3 large eggs

200g optima flour 

50ml milk

1tsp vanilla essence

50g melted butter

Preheat oven to 170C (yes kids this is gonna be a quick one). In a mixing bowl, add everything except the butter. Mix at high speed for about 10 min. Then, fold in the cooled melted butter. But it all in a cake tray and bake for approx 20min. 

Varieties:

I marbled the cake by separating the mixture into 2 then adding 1tbsp chocolate emulco into one half before pouring in the batter in an alternating fashion. You can change chocolate to any berry purée. That's it!

Shix cooks: Pumpkin and summer squash

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter 

1/2 Spanish onion (cubed)

750g butternut squash and pumpkin (cubed)

1l stock

1 tbsp curry 

Salt pepper and sugar to taste

Method:

1. Melt butter in a saucepan  and fry the onion till yellow

2. Throw in Squash and pumpkin till it's browned.

3. Add in stock and curry and mix it up

4. Let everything boil and ensure the squash n pumpkin are soft. 

5. Once cooked, blend the squash and pumpkin. 

6. Add some water if it's too thick.

The end

Shix bakes: Blueberry muffin

This lazy (pan) muffin came to be because 

A) there were blueberries on sale ($5 for 2 boxes of 120g berries-and yes that's super cheap here in SG)

B) I had to mark quickly because I HAD to go to the airport

So I needed something fast and sweet. The easiest bake I've done next to the cheese balls lol. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup self rising flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup white sugar

1/3 cup oil

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

200g blueberries

Optional:

1tsp ground cinnamon + 2 tbsp sugar sprinkle (I didn't cause I couldn't bear to have one more thing to wash)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170deg (when I start w the oven, you know it's gonna be a fast one)

In a larger mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Make sure to mix well so tt the baking powder is properly distributed. 

In another smaller bowl, mix the oil, egg, milk and salt together. (I choose to add the salt here coz I use Himalayan salt and it's usually coarser)

Using a spatula or fork, mix in the wet to the dry ingredients. Mix till everything is just nicely done. Then throw in the blueberries. Mix it a few more times. Mixture should look like lumpy oats. Don't over mix!

If you're not lazy, scoop the mixture into lined muffin pans. If you're lazy, dump everything into a greased pan (I used an 8" sq silicon pan). Bake it for 20 mins and you're good to go. 

I especially like this recipe coz it's not too dry or crumbly and it cuts relatively well too. 

Original recipe from http://www.inspiredtaste.net/18982/our-favorite-easy-blueberry-muffin-recipe/

Shix bakes: crabmeat wholewheat rolls

For breakfast today, Mr R and I had these

You can fill the rolls up with anything you want. Since Mr R wanted crab meat I made him eat it with a wholewheat roll. 

Prep time: 1.5 hr

Baking time: 30 min

Ingredients:

Roll

2 cups bread flour

2 cups wholewheat 

1 sachet (11g) yeast

3 tbsp milk (optional)

400ml tepid water

3 tbsp sugar

1tsp salt

50 ml olive oil

Filling

300g crab meat

2 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tbsp tartar sauce

1 heaped tsp mustard 

1 tsp pepper

Dash of thyme and basil (I use dried)

Salt to taste

Method:

Filling

Steam the crabmeat. Mix everything up and then you're good. 

Rolls

Dissolve the yeast in the bowl of warm water and let it bloom. In a mixing bowl, put the salt, sugar and flour together and mix well. Slowly add in the milk and yeast+water mixture till it forms a dough. You might need slightly more/less water depending on which part of the world you are in. Knead it well and then add the oil. Work it into the dough. If it gets too sticky, add a bit of flour. It should be tacky and easy enough to work with. Let it rise for two hours. Once the dough's approx twice it's original size, separate the dough into 20 balls. Let it rest for 15 mins before filling it up. Once you've filled the rolls with a filling of your choice, let it rest for 1/2 hr before baking. Bake at 160degC and 30min and you're ready to eat!

Shix cooks: Baked potato with chili con carne

Last night, I made this: 

Baked potato with chili con carne

Prep time: 10 min

Cooking time 1h30min

Ingredients

4 russet potatoes

3 tbsp olive oil

5 cloves shallots

4 cloves garlic

3 whole red chilli

2tsp cumin

1 capsicum, cubed

300g ground beef

1 can whole tomato

1 can tomato puree

2 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp cayenne pepper powder 

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

2 cups water

Salt to taste

1 can kidney beans, washed and drained. 

4 tbsp grated cheese

Method:

1. Wrap the washed potatoes in foil. Put it in the oven for 1hr at 180degC.

2. Blend the shallot, garlic, chili and cumin into a rough chop. 

3. In a pot, heat up the oil. Throw in the blended stuff and capsicum. Stirfry for abt 15min. 

4. Add in the beef and cook till it browns. 

5. Add in all the tomato, herbs and chili powders.  

6. Add in water and salt to taste. 

7. Simmer for an hour. Be sure to stir once in a while and add in more water if necessary.

8. Sometime in between, potatoes will cook. Take it out to cool slightly. 

9. Mix in beans and let simmer for another 10mins then turn off flame.

10. Dress your potatoes with the chili and cheese then feel free to eat!

Potato alternatives:

- any Indian bread. 

- rice

- tacos

Ps: I made this spicy. Reduce the amt of chili powder to reduce the heat. 

Variation: 

I made the chili more hearty (in my mum's words, "anak banyak" style) by adding chickpeas, mushrooms,carrots and celery and increased the amount of water by 1 cup.

I also made a vegan version, chili sin carne, by omitting the beef and adding on more veges & beans. You can also add more mushrooms to give it more flavour.

Shix bakes: cheesy muffins (but not)

After half a day of preparing resources for next year, I needed a treat and was tempted by DNA's muffins. So what did I do? Bakes these babies

 I know I said muffins but I didn't have any cups. So I baked it in a loaf lan coz I was too lazy to scoop them into my mini muffin silicon tray. Lol. 

So here's how you make this lazy bake

Prep time: less than 10 min

Cooking time: 35 min

1 cup flour

1/2 cup wholewheat flour 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

1egg

1/2 cup oil or melted butter

1 1/2tbsp sugar 

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups cheese (leave 1/2 cup to dredge on batter)

1. Preheat your oven to 180deg. (You know shit just got serious -seriously easy- when I start the oven first)

2. If you're ysing butter, nuke it now. 

3. Put everything into a bowl and mix it up. Don't over mix. 

4. The end. Ok no not really. Now put the batter in a greased pan and sprinkle the cheese on it. 

5. Bake for about 30 min ( different ovens differ). Check doneness with a toothpick. 

6. EAT!

Note: 

1. Omissions: I omitted the eggs but they're still awesome. 

2. Substitution: I subbed 1 1/2 cup of plain flour with a mix of 1 cup plain and 1/2 cup whole wheat. Product is dense but still flavorful. 

3. Additions: I'm sure adding ham, herbs and cayenne pepper would make it more awesome. I

Shix bakes: Brazilian cheese bread

Today's peckishness resulted in this simple bake. It's quick, it's satisfying and best of all, it's gluten free. 

  

Prep time: 5 mins

Preheat oven: 200 deg

Baking time: 15 min

Ingredients:

1 egg (rm temp)

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup grated cheese 

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup tapioca flour

Directions:

Dump everything in the blender and whizz. That's all! Bake and eat it all!