Sesame and Nigella Seed Flatbread

February 5, 2015April 24, 2015 ~ annie ~ Leave a comment

Bread, bread, bread, where would I be without glorious bread? Eating rice, potatoes or pasta, most likely. I do love my carbs. Too much of them messes up my blood sugar and makes it difficult to run long distances (I recently discovered) but moderate amounts consumed with other foods, like oily fish, fresh nutrient rich vegetables or beans, is fabulous. This recipe is based on the bread served in Anadolu Restaurant in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is like a gigantic pita with deliciously savoury seeds on top. In fact, that’s exactly what it is.

Ingredients

250g plain flour

150ml water

7g yeast

pinch salt

pinch sugar

1 egg, beaten

nigella seeds

sesame seeds

Method

Step 1: preheat oven to 180c. Place yeast in a mug or bowl with about half the water (tepid) and the sugar. Leave for 10 minutes.

Step 2: add salt to flour and mix through. Make a well and pour in the yeast, which should have started frothing. Start kneading, adding more of the water as you go.

Step 3: knead for about 5-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic – but soft! (If it’s not soft then it’s probably too dry.) Set aside for about 45 minutes to an hour to rise.

Note: you should leave bread to rise in a warm, slightly damp environment. If I’m cooking, the kitchen usually takes care of the “warm” part; a damp tea-towel draped over the bowl will take care of the “damp.” Another trick is to turn on the oven for a minute or two and stick it in there. Just make sure you don’t forget you’ve turned the oven on…

Step 4: knock back the dough, which should have roughly doubled in size. Separate into two, equal-sized balls and roll out into a long, roughly oval shape. It should be thin, but not pasta-thin. Hope that makes sense.

Step 5: place on grease-proof paper-lined baking trays and glaze with beaten egg. Sprinkle liberally with sesame and nigella seeds and stick in the pre-heated oven at 180c for about 7-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it; once it gets going, it will puff up like magic and brown fairly quickly which makes it easy to burn.

Step 6: remove from the oven and consume warm with any of the following: butter and cheese; curry; hummus; smoked mackerel pate; salad; soup; anything else that you can think of.

Irish soda bread

December 21, 2014January 14, 2015 ~ annie ~ Leave a comment

I was talking to my mother earlier this week, and she “commented,” ahem, that my recipes have been a bit complicated of late. Apparently the peeled roast peppers in my last post pushed her over the edge. So, in response to this observation, here is a recipe that’s about as simple as it gets. Foolproof, you might even say.

Ingredients

450g flour

large pinch salt

8g bicarbonate soda

300ml milk

100ml yoghurt

butter, to grease bread tin

Method

Step 1: grease bread tin with butter and pre-heat oven to 210c.

Step 2: mix together dry ingredients in one bowl; mix yoghurt and milk in another.

Step 3: add yoghurt and milk mix to dry ingredients, bit by bit, until it is all combined into a sticky dough.

Step 4: spoon dough into greased bread tin and smooth the top, poking the dough down into the corners as you do.

Step 5: place in preheated oven at 210c for 35 minutes.

Step 6: remove from oven and bread tin and allow to cool on a metal rack.

That’s all folks! No proofing, no knocking back, no kneading. Just mix it all together,whack it in the oven, and 35 minutes later you have one of the best things in the world – freshly baked bread. Have it for breakfast, lunch, as an afternoon snack or even for dinner, as I did today, with smoked salmon pate. You’re welcome.

Home made pita with yellow lentil, pink bean, red pepper and green parsley dip

November 9, 2014January 14, 2015 ~ annie ~ 1 Comment

I was at work on a Friday afternoon daydreaming about…not being at work. And I got to thinking about how brightly coloured I could make food without resorting to food coloring. I present to you: yellow orange lentils, pink butter beans, sweet and spicy red peppers, and green parsley dip. Served with straight-from-the-oven-homemade pitas, these were an excellent weekend treat.

Yellow lentil dip

Ingredients

60g split orange lentils

40g sheeps cheese

1 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 clove garlic

1/2 orange zest

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

salt to taste

Method

Step 1: boil the lentils with about equal amounts of water. Simmer for 10 mins. Turn off and allow to cool.

Step 2: add all the other ingredients and mix through with a metal spoon.

Step 3: using a handheld liquidiser, blend the mixture together, adding a tbsp of water as necessary to loosen it up. Add salt to taste.

The orange zest and peanut butter make this a very more-ish tasting dip. Is it dhal? Is it hummus? Who can tell, all you know is you want morrrrre.

Pink bean dip

Ingredients

1 can butter beans, drained

1/2 beetroot

1/2 clove garlic

1 tbsp peanut butter

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

juice 1 lemon

salt to taste

Method

Step 1: boil 1/2 a beetroot for about 20 mins. Run under cold water, peel and chop.

Step 2: add beetroot to all other all other ingredients, except salt and lemon juice, and stir.

Step 3: blend with a handheld liquidiser. Lemon juice and salt to taste.

You will be shocked at how bright even half a beetroot will make this dip. Beetroot is also a lot sweeter than you might imagine, which is why I used quite a lot of lemon juice to balance out the flavour. Think of it as pink hummus, except without the chickpeas. Or the tahini. What the hell, just think of it as pink bean dip. Perfect for a party.

Red Pepper Dip

Ingredients

4 sweet long red peppers

1 tbsp chilli flakes

juice 1/2 lemon

salt to taste

Method

Step 1: roast peppers at about 180c for 45 mins. Set aside and allow to cool.

Step 2: once cooled, peel the peppers and dump the flesh into a bowl, along with seeds. Add chilli flakes.

Step 3: blend with handheld liquidiser. Lemon juice and salt to taste.

This is a sort of Turkish/Mediterranean-inspired dip. Great as a starter with just some bread and olive oil.

Green parsley dip

Ingredients

80g sheep’s cheese

2 big handfuls of parsley

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic

juice 1/2 lemon

Method

Step 1: wash parsley and chop it roughly.

Step 2: crumble cheese onto parsley and add olive oil and garlic. Stir with metal spoon.

Step 3: blend with handheld liquidiser. Lemon juice to taste.

So goood. This one is my favourite – it’s a take on a dip served in my favourite restaurant in Kosovo, Restaurant Tiffany. I could make myself sick on this stuff.

Pita Bread

Ingredients

250g strong white flour

150ml water

1 sachet yeast

pinch of salt

dash of olive oil

Method

Step 1: preheat your oven to 220c.

Step 2: throw all your ingredients into a bowl together. Mix it up by hand. It should be a dry-ish mix that doesn’t stick to your hands or the bowl. Throw in a dash more flour if it’s too wet.

Step 3: knead the dough for 5 minutes on a floured surface. Stick it back in the bowl and place it somewhere warm and a bit humid for about an hour, until it’s doubled in size.

Step 3: knock it back and knead again. Leave it for a further 15 minutes.

Step 4: separate out into 6 balls and roll out pitas on a floured surface. Arrange on a floured baking tray and place into pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes, turning once toward the end. 2 trays should do the whole lot.

And there you have it: no frills, no fuss – just pitas. Serve warm with a variety of dips. Though not quite naans, these are great for mopping up a curry.