Tomato and Olive Braai bread

Ok, this will be the last indulgence for the week….

You simply have to” braai” before you go on a diet, and what is a “braai” without the bread?

For the next six weeks I will be dieting like a mad woman, exercising like crazy and cooking much much, much, healthier meals.

Why am I doing this? Well we have a little in-house competition. The person to shed the most kilo’s and centimeters around the waist in the next six weeks win a R 1000.00 to spend as they please….Yeahhhh!  Naturally my husband and son believe that they will be each other’s biggest competition, off course I know better.

Serve 6

1 x loaf of bread (white or brown)

Garlic butter for spreading

3 x tomatoes

Spring onions

100 g pitted Kalamata olives

Salt and Black pepper

4 tbs Chutney

250 g mozzarella cheese

 

Cut your loaf of bread length ways. You will get about 6 slices out of a loaf, we will only be using four. Spread the slices with the garlic butter.

Cut the tomatoes in slices and add to two halves. top with some chopped spring onion, salt and pepper and finish off with the olives.

Top with the mozzarella cheese. Spread the chutney on both sides of the other halves and assemble the sandwich. Place in between your BBQ hand grid and “braai” over hot coals, until bread is toasted and cheese melted.

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Quick Olive, Onion and Cheese bread

“There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

The smell of bread baking in the oven, what a privilege to experience.

I’ve used my muffin recipe to make this quick bread last Saturday.

Firstly because everybody stared at me with starvation in their eyes and I just realized nobody is going to wait for me while I try to spoon the mixture into paper cups.

 Secondly because I was tired, and if I have learned anything from myself in this lifetime it is that I should not be near the kitchen when I don’t feel like cooking. Besides our little town no longer have a fire brigade!

This is the basic recipe:

500 ml Cake flour

15 ml baking powder

5 ml salt

1 large egg

225 ml Milk

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Whisk the egg and the milk together. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and add any of the following variations to the batter.

Batter used above: Olive, Onion and Cheese

1 onion finely chopped, fry in a little olive oil.

50 g chopped Kalamata olives

50 g Grated Matured Cheddar Cheese

or

Bacon, Feta, Olive and Thyme

125 g Bacon bits, fried until crisp

50 g chopped Kalamata olives

1 Wheel of Feta, crumbled

5 ml dried Thyme or 10 ml fresh chopped Thyme

or

Parmesan, Sage and Onion

100 g Fresh parmesan cheese grated (divide, one half added to batter and the other half sprinkled on top before baking)

10 ml chopped fresh Sage

1/2 onion chopped finely

If you are baking this in the form of muffins, bake for +- 20 minutes in a 180 degree pre heated oven. If you bake this as a quick bread bake 25-30 minutes, test with a skewer to make sure it did cook through.

I’ve used a round oven dish instead of a bread pan.

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Steak and Onion, Cheese burger salad

 

 

You know I could never understood how some moms could complain about their children being fuzzy eaters or simply refusing to eat veggies. Honestly I always thought it was the mother’s fault for not introducing their children to the different textures and taste of veggies at a young age.

But off course with all “know it all mommy’s” like myself  I  sit with a teenager that suddenly don’t eat any veggies! Seriously!? We are talking about a little 3-year-old boy who made his mommy look so good in the supermarket in front of other mommy’s by asking me to buy broccoli.

Which reminds me, I never got to thank the producer of Power Puff girls for that broccoli episode where the aliens invaded the broccoli and the children had to save the parents who ate the broccoli by only means of eating the broccoli themselves.

So since my son don’t eat any veggies anymore (unless it’s on a pizza or a hamburger),I’ve decided to make a hamburger salad.

Yes I know what you’re thinking…She is from South Africa, pumpkin in the muffins and salad with grated cheese, pure bribery and corruption!  :)

Ingredients 

Serve 4

1 Iceberg lettuce

6 Gherkins sliced

2 Tomatoes cubed

1 Onion thinly sliced

300 g Steak cut into strips

2 Bread rolls

1 Avocado  cubed

Olive oil for frying

1 cup grated Cheese

Freshly ground pepper.

Fry your onions in a little oil till caramelized and set aside.

Fry the steak with a little seasoning of your choice and set aside.

Cut the bread rolls in big cubes and transfer to baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and toast under a hot grill on both sides.

Assemble salads individually and top with grated cheese and a dash of  freshly ground pepper.

Tips

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Avocado is great first foods for babies, mash without adding any salt.

Freeze leftover veggies in ice cubes for the little ones. Next time you’re in a hurry simply reheat for a quick healthy meal.

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Food Porn – Sausage meets Bun

And then it happened, the most beautiful love story of all times, Sausage meets Bun. The warm sausage was carefully place in the middle of the soft bun covered with chunks of tomato love oozing with a silky mayo and mustard sauce. As the first bite entered my mouth I could taste the sausage and sweet tomato teasing my tongue. Bite after bite it left me craving more. It was love with first sight.

………earlier that same day………….

Oh what a lovely lazy public holiday it was! I went to bed so early the previous night (not by choice, no electricity), woke up feeling completely  refreshed. Breakfast was a simple slice of dark Danish rye bread toasted and topped with creamy scrambled eggs and then just before we got too lazy another power failure leaving us looking for charcoal and fire lighters to make our “Worsrolletjies” for lunch.

Ingredients

1 Pack of sausages

6 White Bread rolls

3 medium tomatoes

1/4 onion

4 tbs light mayonnaise

1 tsp English mustard

Salad leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

On the barbeque grill your sausages.

Deseed tomatoes and dice up. Finely chop the onion and mix with the tomatoes. Add the Mayo and mustard and Salt and pepper to taste. Assemble your Hot dog cutting the bread roll open on the top but not right through. Butter and place salad leaves on both sides. Add a dollop of the tomato mixture onto the bun and place grilled sausage on top. Voila! Enjoy.

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Highveld Rye Bread

Ingredients

 4 cups of flour

75 ml brown sugar

2 envelopes of instant yeast

1 tbs salt

1tbs of unsweetened cocoa powder

 1 teaspoon coffee granules

2 tbs Canola oil

 2 cups of rye flour

2 cups warm water

In a large bowl combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, cocoa and undissolved yeast and salt. Mix the coffee with the warm water and add with the oil to the dry mixture, mixing it either by hand or by electric mixer. Stir the rye flour in with a spoon and and the remaining flour to form a soft dough. Knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough into two and form into a oval shaped bread, cover and let the bread rice until doubled in size (about an hour). With a sharp knife make slashes in a criss-cross fashion on top of each loaf. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees until golden brown.

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Healthy Microwave Cornbread

 

This humble bread is quick and easy to make and always a winner.

It is a great side dish for any “braai”, also perfect with a little grated cheese for a simple lunch, or served with

Lamb chops or kebabs for supper with a salad on the side.

The texture of the cornmeal in this bread is wonderful and is greatly complimented by the sweet taste of the corn.

The original recipe calls for 60-100ml of sugar, which tends to be too sweet for my liking, adjust to own taste.

Healthy Microwave Corn Bread 

Paprika to dust the ring mould

30 ml flour

60 ml sugar

5ml chopped parsley / spring onions

150ml maize meal

100ml  oat bran

7 ml baking powder

2,5 ml salt

15ml canola oil

3 x eggs

125 ml low fat milk

1 tin sweetcorn

1. Spray a microwave safe ring mold with spray n cook.

2. Dust with paprika

3. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

4. Mix the oil, eggs and milk together and add with the dry ingredients

5. Add the tin of sweetcorn to the mixture.

6. Transfer mixture to the ring mould and microwave for 12 minutes at 70% power and then

    for 2 minutes at 100% power. Rest for 10 minutes.

7. Cut into 20 slices.

One slice of bread equals to: 1 starch

GI (63) GL 8

Carbohydrates 12g

Protein 2g

Fat 2g

KJ 304

Original Recipe from the book ” Eating for sustained energy”

 

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I did it my way French toast!

My mother was not the greatest cook, but when she made French Toast it was always perfect!

Only years later I have learned that “Eier brood” as my mom would call it is indeed French toast and traditionally  not served with Butter and Aromat seasoning but with Cinnamon or Maple syrup.

Could you imagine my husbands surprise when I made Savory French Toast the first time as a young married couple while he grew up with French Toast sprinkled with Cinnamon sugar.

The look on his face said it all, well needless to say I still look at him like he is the crazy one and he is still eating my savory French Toast!

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Tips

Don’t use fresh bread. 

Use a hot pan! This will give your bread that lovely golden color. 

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This is my version.

I’ve used sliced whole-wheat bread.

Assemble a sandwich with ham in the middle and cheese on both sides.

Pop into the microwave oven for +- 20 seconds or just enough time to let the cheese

melt in order to keep the sandwich together while  frying.

Press the sandwich flat with your hands while still warm and set aside while you

beat the eggs. Season with chopped chives, salt and pepper.

Dip the sandwich in the egg batter on both sides  and fry in a hot pan with butter or olive oil.

Serve hot.

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Portobello Mushroom and Guacamole Hamburgers

I love Home made hamburgers and will much rather make one than buy one.

Last Saturday I asked (*forced*) the strong man to light up a fire to grill

hamburger patties and Portobello mushrooms, they just tastes so much better

done this way and how lovely it was to enjoy the winter sun after being cooped

up inside the house most of the winter.

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Tips 

I’ve baked my own brown bread rolls for this burger but certainly won’t do that 

again as the bread was too dense to enjoy the burger filling. 

For a vegetarian version ditch the patty. 

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For the Burger patty

500 Ground beef

1 packet of Bacon

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp Robertson Steak & Chop spices (any other spices of your choice will do)

1 onion

1 green chillie

1 egg yolk

In a food processor, finely chop the onion and chillie, add bacon. Mix with the rest of

ingredients. Roll into balls, press flat and shape to form patties.

Pop into the freezer for +- 15 minutes, grill.

Grill Portobello mushroom brushed with melted garlic butter.

For the guacamole 

1 avocado

1 tomato, deseeded and diced

Lemon juice to taste

salt and ground pepper to taste

Mash the avocado and mix in the rest of the ingredients.

Assemble Hamburger and garnish with fresh lettuce leaves.

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Panmarino

Panmarino – Italian Rosemary Bread

“With a crust that sparkles like diamonds”

Panmarino - Italian Rosemary Bread

Panmarino - Italian Rosemary Bread

3 3/4 teaspoon of instant yeast

1 cup warm water

1 cup milk (room temperature)

1/2 cup olive oil

3 1/2 tablespoons fresh and finely chopped Rosemary

1 tablespoon salt

900g flour

1 to 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt

Whisk together the yeast, flour and salt. Mix in the water, milk and olive oil.

Add the Rosemary. Knead util smooth.

Place dough in a oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled, +- 1 1/2 hours.

Gently knead the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in half and

shape each half into a round ball. Sprinkle flour on your baking sheet.

Slash the top of each loaf with a sharp knife/blade and sprinkle the sea salt over

each loaf. Bake at 180 degrees for +- 30 to 40 minute

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