This Week: Persian Saffron Chicken & Home-made Pizza Loaf

Am a big fan of long weekends… the chance for a lie in on at least one of the days, which is not a normal occurrence on any given weekend.

I’ve been trying out some Persian recipes from my new cookery book ‘Pomegranates and Roses‘ by Ariana Bundy, and doing some experimental bread baking this last week. So here is this weeks’ meal plan with a few success stories. I’ll add recipes for the Saffron Chicken (by Ariana Bundy) and my delicious Pizza Bread in the next few days.

Saffron Chicken cooked by Elaine. Recipe by Ariana Bundy ‘Pomegranates & Roses’.

 

 

Day one – Coriander, Coconut & Lime Sea Bass (the sauce can be used for chicken or fish)
Day two – Pizza Bread; Black Olive, sun-dried Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil
Day three – Saffron Chicken with French Beans and Basmati Rice
Day four – Jacket Potato with Bolognese
Day five – Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta Bake

Coriander, Coconut & Lime Bass

Homer Simpson Bread

“How do you make Homer Simpson Bread????”
“With……D’oh!”

I lovingly blame my kids for that bad joke (even though I made it up). Following a recent trip to their cousin, and Christmas, we have had a month of knock knock and cracker jokes, and now its just getting very silly. The kids don’t entirely get the jokes but crease up with laughter when delivering random punch lines, which in turn makes us laugh, which makes them laugh, and so on….

But, back to bread. As blogged before, my new years resolutions include baking more bread than I buy this year. Here is an easy and tasty bread recipe for basic white bread…

Makes 4 loaves, eat one fresh and warm, freeze the others. This gives me enough bread for the week (2 adults, 2 toddlers and a baby….).

1.5kg strong white flour
800ml warm water (approx 35 degrees celsius)
6 tbsp. oil (I use Rapeseed or Virgin Olive)
2.5 Tbsp. instant (dried) yeast
1 tbsp. salt
1tbsp. sugar

Place the yeast in a bowl with 4 tbsp taken from the warm water and sugar. Set to one side to froth. Put flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, mix by hand. Add oil, frothy yeast mixture, and remainder of warm water, and mix and then knead by hand, or, use a mixer machine with the dough hook on low-medium speed for approx 5 minutes until the dough has lost some of its stickiness and forms a soft stretchy dough. Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth or cling film and leave for 1 hour.

In Singapore room temperature is 25-28 degrees, so perfect for proving dough. If you live somewhere cooler put your dough some place cosy like the airing cupboard or next to a radiator. Just keep it covered to stop it drying out. The dough should increase its size by half or even double.

Next turn your dough out onto a lightly oiled surface. Knead by hand and divide into four equal amounts. Shape your dough by hand and then place on an oiled and floured baking tray, leaving enough space for your loaves to increase in size by half again. Leave covered for another hour.

Heat oven to 250 degrees. Place a large roasting tin at the bottom of your oven. Boil a kettle of water. Place your loaves in the oven. Immediately pour the boiled water into the tin below. BE CAREFUL, USE OVEN GLOVES, THE WATER WILL BUBBLE AND STEAM A LOT! Shut the door quickly and bake for 20-25 minutes until bread is a rich golden brown.

Test bread by knocking on underside, it makes a hollow sound when cooked. Place bread on a cooling rack to cool. Voila!

Move over Boys…it’s the Fabulous Baker Girl

Michelle doing what she does best…

So whilst I may not rock the red velvet dress like Michelle, I can say with some confidence that my baked baps are the bees knees!! Beautifully risen, with a crunchy crust, wonderfully fragrant and oh so delicious warm out of the oven smeared in butter and jam. Literally, scoff, scoff.

There are 3 main benefits I can think of to baking your own bread in Singapore.

Firstly, it tastes great.

Secondly it is healthier than pre-packaged sliced bread from the supermarket and you can decide what goes into it…less sugar, less preservative chemicals and so on….

Third and final it’s cheaper than buying freshly baked bread in Singapore – approximately $7-10 for a similar loaf at Chef & Baker, and similar outlets….

It took me an hour and 15 minutes prep and cooking time today to do a batch of 4 loaves, enough for the week. Eat 2 fresh, freeze 2. easy lah.

Based on a recipe from my baking bible, my recipe for Basic White Bread (click here) has been tweaked slightly to fit my store cupboard and taste…

My home-baked baps (loaves technically speaking but not so funny)

And here they are in the making…

Monkeys waiting for first ‘proving’ of the dough…

Kneading the dough ready for making into loaves and 2nd proving… that’s the last time hubby helps with the photography.                 But let’s see if my website stats improve – hah!

Voila! Freshly baked bread.