Danni's Food For Thought Blog...
This serves as an easy guide to deli-icious cooking!
I try and test every recipe I make. Most are recipes I make up as I go along. I try and make it as easy as possible for everyone, no matter if you're a bachelor of long-time cook!
Enjoy!!
Let me put it this way... I don't like soup. I really don't. I can think of much more interesting things to eat when it's cold outside. But, unfortunatly for me, I have a husband who loves a good soup. So I tend to make a lot of soup in the Winter months. The only thing I like about that, is the fact that I have an excuse to bake a fresh bread... not that you really need an excuse?
Anyway, here is a soup that I actually DO like - with or without the bread! Try it, its easy, quick and tastes heavenly when the cold weather looms outside your door!!
• 20 ml Olive Oil
• 200 g Streaky Bacon, diced
• 800 g Boneless stewing meat (chuck works well)
• 2 Onions, diced
• 3 Garlic Cloves, crushed
• 2 Litre Beef Stock
• 1 Can Fine Tomatoes
• 5 ml Dried Thyme
• 5 ml Crushed Red Chilli
• 3 Carrots, peeled and skinned
• 8 Baby Potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 Medium Sweet Potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 Green Pepper, diced (you can leave this out, I do)
• Lemon or Lime Juice (about a tablespoon)
• and of course, Fresh bread from the oven!
1 Heat the olive oil in a deep pot, add the bacon and meat and brown. Add the onions and the garlic and stir for a few minutes.
2 Add the stock, tomatoes, herbs and chilli and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 1 /12 hours with the lid on.
3 Add all the veggies and simmer for another hour or until the meat is softend. Add the lemon or lime juice and garnish with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with your freshly made bread!
It just couldn't be easier.
Like I mentioned in the Soup-Recipe, I love baking bread - there is just something seriously theraputic about it. And the thing is, there are so many different kind of breads you can bake - its like trying to choose your favourite child???
Anyway, here is my favourite bread. It's a french bread, or rather, its a French Loaf Dough, but I use it to make buns or big loaves or I make the real French Baguettes. Serve this with any meal and your guests will think you are a super star!!! Keep an eye on the bottom of the recipe for tips that will make this bread gorgeous.
• 1 Packet Dry Yeast
• 1/4 cup Warm Water
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 2 Teaspoons Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 cup Boiling Water
• 3/4 cup Cold Water
• 4 1/2 cups White Bread Flour
1 Mix the yeast and 1/4 cup warm water and let it stand till further notice.
2 Add the butter, salt and sugar to a big mixing bowl. Pour the boiling water over it and whisk till the butter has melted. Then add the cold water to make the mixture luke warm.
3 Add the yeast mixture to the butter mixture and whisk together.
4 Add to cups of flour and whisk, This should almost look like pancake batter when done.
5 Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time to form a dough consistancy.
6 Knead the dough till elastic and smooth. If you need more flour to stop it from sticking, add some.
7 Place back in the bowl and cover with cling wrap. Let it rise to double in size.
8 Once risen, knead down and place in a loaf tin, or form your baguettes and let rise for another 30 minutes.
9 Place in an 190 degree Oven and bake for about an hour or till done.
*Tips and Tricks:
- To help with the baking process, place a pan with water in the bottom of the oven about 10 minutes before you bake the bread. Keep it there till about half way through and the remove it. This will help with making the crust and helping the bread to rise.
- Rub some melted butter over the loaf half way through the baking process - this will give it that nice golden colour and harden the crust.
- You can score the loaf or baguettes about 3 times accross to give it that rustic feel.
