Dinner Milk Rolls

Wow... I'm on a roll here aren't I? 2 recipes in a row! I got this dinner rolls recipes from this bread book I bought a long time ago. I think I bought it when mph had a sale or something. Anyway I tried it and it's yummy! Real easy to make. I think the most excruciating part of making the bread is the waiting time. You have to wait a bit more than an hour for the rolls to really double their sizes. I didn't use the bread machine. I did it all by hand. Really.. it's darn easy.

I changed the recipe a bit. The original recipe should make 12 rolls. I halved the recipe and added a bit of butter and milk. So this recipe I'm giving is the one that I used to make 6 gigantic rolls. lol!

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp dried yeast
1 cup hand-hot milk
cold milk, for glazing

topping: up to you!

Method:

1) Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Rub in the butter, and add in the yeast. Make a well in the center. Add enough of the hand-hot milk to make a soft dough.
2) Knead the dough on lightly floured surface for 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Shape into 6-8 rounds or fun-shapes such as knots, or mini cottage loafs.
3) Lightly grease the baking sheet
4) Place the shaped dough on the baking sheet, cover with plastic and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour or until they have doubled in size. Don't put them in the fridge. It'll take ages!
5) Preheat the oven to 230deg C / 450 F.
6) Glaze the rolls with milk and sprinkle over your chosen topping. Bake for 12 minutes, until the rolls are golden brown and cooked.
7) Cool on a wire rack.

Best eaten on the day they are made. Serve them warm.

Different topping you could try..

Knot shaped roll. Topped with brown sugar, sultanas and rolled oats

This one was topped with oregano and salt. ermm.. I shouldn't have added the salt. LOL

Soft texture. Nice!

These are plain - no topping - dinner rolls.. :) 

Caramel Bread Pudding

my favorite recipe book ever! 

I was a bit down today and decided to meet up a friend of mine. She's just given birth to a beautiful baby girl and I haven't even paid both the baby and the proud mummy a visit. As the decision was last minute. I decided to make a quick dish. Something that a mummy in confinement and a grandmother can eat. Something simple and delicious. I took out my Nigella Express book .. there it is.. caramel croissant pudding.

I didn't have croissant.. not even stale croissants.. but I did have white bread. The recipe also called for full milk and heavy cream for the custard.. I didn't have either. But I did have lots of low fat milk. :D Nigella also added bourbon.. she said if you don't have bourbon.. use sherry.. ermm.. I don't drink. So vanilla essence it is :p 

I'm going to give my version of Nigella Lawson's recipe. But here is the link to her recipe. 

Ingredients:

5-6 slices of white bread

100g caster sugar (less than 1/2 cup) 

2 tablespoon water

250ml low fat milk (1 cup)

a splash of vanilla essence (1 tbsp)

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup raisins/sultanas/cherries for toppings

so divine! 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180degC
2. Tear the bread into pieces and put in a small dish. I used a small 6" aluminum foil. 
3. Put the caster sugar and the water into a pan. Swirl around to dissolve the sugar before putting the pan on medium/high heat. Don't stir!
4. Caramelize the sugar and water mixture by letting it bubble away, DON'T STIR!, until it all turns a deep amber color. It takes about 3-5 minutes. Don't be too timid.. but keep looking to avoid the caramel to burn :D
5. Once you have that amber color, turn the heat down low and add the milk. Ignore the spluttering, and whisk away the milk. The solid toffee that forms in the pan will dissolve if u keep whisking over low heat.
6. After the toffee has dissolved, take the pan off the heat, still whisking, add the beaten eggs. 
7. Congratulations you've just made caramel custard. :) 
8. Pour the caramel custard over the bread and leave to steep for a few minutes if the breads are very stale.
9. Sprinkle with raisins/cherries/sultanas.. whatever you like. I had lots of raisins so I used those. :) 
10. Bake for 20 minutes in the heated oven.  
11. Like Nigella said in her book.. Prepare to swoon! :D  

Tomato-Cilantro Bruschetta

The SEA Games football match between Malaysia and Cambodia just ended and I was starving.. But I didn't want to cook and I wanted something light. Since my vege intake today has only been onions.. I thought of going vegetarian tonight. :)

Tomato-Cilantro Bruschetta

For times like these... I thanked God for Bruschetta. In Italian, bruschetta is pronounced [brusˈkeːtta]. It's an antipasto recipe originated from Italy. Usually consists of roasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. There are many variation to this bruschetta which includes toppings of tomatoes, avocado, cheese, meat.... It makes a great snack or appetizer.. Also great if you want to have something light for dinner. :)

For this recipe, I used the wholemeal loaf I bought from Carrefour. I simply love that bread. It's soft, delicious and it's cheap. It's very versatile too. I use it all the time for mini pizzas, bruschetta, garlic bread.. endless possibilities. :)

This recipe is enough for one.. or two if you're generous. If you're like me.. it'll only be enough for one ;p Enjoy the recipe :D

Ingredients:

3 slices of bread (sprinkled with olive oil)
1 small tomato chopped
some cilantro coarsely chopped
3 parts extra virgin olive oil
1 part lemon juice

black pepper and salt for seasoning

From Top Left: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon, Cilantro/Coriander, Tomato, Lightly Oiled Bread.

Method:

Toast the bread in 180degC oven for about 10 minutes

Toasted bread

Mix Tomato, Cilantro or Coriander, Lemon and Extra Virgin Olive Oil and season it with black pepper and salt. 

Tomato mixture

Top the tomato mixture on the toasted bread evenly.

Bruschetta ready to be eaten :) 

Sardine Rolls for brunch :)

my brunch with a grande cup of
hazelnut white coffee:)

It's Sunday, and you have half a loaf of Gardenia bread that's supposed to have expired about a week ago in the fridge, so what's a girl to make? Sardine Rolls of course. I always have a small can of sardine in the pantry. For rainy days.. actually more like days like this when I don't feel like creating a buffet of dishes.. or simply felt like having easy snack like foods like this.

Since I already had an egg-milk mixture leftovers from the mini quiches I made for YM aunty yesterday... All I needed was to make the sardine rolls filling. It doesn't really matter how you want to shape the rolls.. I made it into a roll because I prefer it rolled. Some just make it in the triangle shapes. If it's in the triangular shape, then you need not roll the bread first with rolling pin. Simply cut it into triangles and sandwich the sardine mixture. That'll do. But that's no fun ;p

Ingredients:

Sardine mixture

1 can of Sardine (small can will make about 6-7 rolls)

onion (small - sliced thinly)

bird chili (I used 2 small one and sliced thinly for heat)

1-2 tbs lemon/lime juice (this to get rid of that sardine smell)

2 eggs (beaten) + a bit of salt

6-7 slices of white bread (rolled with rolling pin - or just use the back of the pan, lined and smack the bread)

oil for frying

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients for sardine mixture together. I personally drained the tomato sauce in the sardine because I don't it to be too liquidy, thus absorbed by the bread and it becomes soggy. Plus it smells fishy.. :( Mash it up so the sardine is broken into smaller pieces.
2. Roll the bread with a rolling pin. Or if you don't have any rolling pins, use the back of your frying pan. Smack your bread with the back of your frying pan. Line it first though :p. This will make the bread easier to roll :)
3. Heat oil. I heated the pan first and then added the oil so the oil heats up quickly.
4. Take about a spoonful and a half of the sardine mixture and put it on the rolled bread. Just spread it on 1/3 of the bread. Roll it over.
5. Dip the rolled bread into the eggs and use the eggs to seal the bread.
6. Fry the roll in the heated oil until golden brown.

hehe my rolls.. a lil more brown than golden but who cares? :p