Posted on

Home-Made Lavender Sugar Recipe

lavender sugar

Lavender Sugar is one of those things I’ve always looked at and loved the idea of, but never really known what to do with. I’ve always liked crystallised lavender – it’s both pretty and tasty – but aside from medicinal or household use, I’ve never really known how to actually use lavender in food. Partly due to its strong flavour and partly due to its very floral flavour, it’s something you have to use with care, but should definitely use!lavender sugar Making lavender sugar couldn’t really be simpler – the two ingredients are in the name, after all. If you don’t have a food processor you can just mix the two and stir, but I like making the sugar just a little finer, so it’s not so crunchy. Be careful though – I don’t like making it icing sugar either! Just a finely granulated sugar is perfect.

Leave the lavender for a week or so, allowing the flavours to infuse thoroughly into the sugar.  You can make Lavender Sugar ahead as a hostess gift, Christmas gifts, wedding favours and other gifting opportunities, and even include a recipe card or two with the jar. It’s a cheap and beautiful gift to make!lavender sugar

Make the Lavender Sugar two weeks before you’re going to gift it, and make sure to leave instructions to use withing 9 -12 months, so aside from drying out, I can’t image the lavender would go bad!

Recipe for Lavender Sugar

Lavender Sugar Recipe
Recipe Type: Dessert, Sweet, Condiment
Cuisine: Foraged
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1kg
Ingredients
  • 2 tsp lavender flowers
  • 1kg white sugar
Instructions
  1. Use a fork or your hands to remove the flowers from the stalk
  2. Add them to the food processor
  3. Add the sugar and blend together – depending on your food processor, adjust your speed to make sure you don’t end up with icing sugar.
  4. In the Thermomix, hit the Turbo button 2 – 3 times quickly.
  5. Decant the sugar into jars, and seal tightly.

PIN FOR LATER: 

lavender sugar

Posted on

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish – Savoury Crackers

Savoury Crackers

This little One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish project was a labour of love! The resulting savoury crackers were fairly stunning though, we think!Savoury Crackers

If you know Dr Seuss, you know this book title, I think? One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.

Bizarrely, despite the yellow colouring of the text on Two Fish (on our version of the book), there’s no ‘yellow fish’ reference in the book, but there is a black fish. This may seem irrelevant, except it’s not, when you’re trying to bake multi-coloured and multi-flavoured themed fish crackers!

I know my US friends have something called Goldfish crackers, but we don’t have anything like that, so I had to look for the smallest cookie cutter I could find. I did, in the end, find this one.

I used my regular crackers recipe, and made up a batch of the dough.

Split the dough into equal sizes of the colours you’re going to use. 

I used black, green, yellow, red and blue – just a few drops of a gel based food colouring* worked well so it doesn’t affect either the flavour or make it too wet.Savoury Crackers

  • For flavouring the black fish, I used black onion seed but I think Aniseed (almost licorice in flavour) would work too.
  • For the green fish, I immediately opted for basil, but I thought chive might work well too. And possibly some cheese, but that would reduce the shelf life of the crackers.
  • Yellow fish suit garlic powder or onion powder – I prefer powders, again for the shelf life extending.
  • The red fish had some smoked paprika, but tomato paste would be good too, or chilli if that’s your thing.
  • For blue I went with the sea theme and just sprinkled some sea salt on but these are already fairly salty, so don’t overdo it.

Savoury Crackers

If you’re using the same bowl and don’t want to wash between each colour mixing, do the yellow first, then the blue, followed by the green, then the red and then black.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish – Savoury Crackers
Recipe Type: Snack, Baked, Book Food
Cuisine: Savoury
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: lots
If you use a larger cookie cutter, you’ll take a lot less time than an hour. The mixing of the dough itself takes less than 5 minutes. With these tiny fish 3 – 4 minutes of baking is sufficient (I use a stone try, so just try one to be sure it’s cooked if you use steel or glass.)
Ingredients
  • 520g (4 cups) Plain Flour
  • 10g (2tsp) Salt
  • 4tbs olive oil
  • 250g (1 cup) water
  • Extras
  • 1-2 teaspoons each of:
  • Drieid Basil
  • Black Onion Seeds
  • Garlic or Onion Powder
  • Sea Salt
  • Smoked Paprika
  • Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Black food colouring
Instructions
Thermomix Recipe
  1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F
  2. Add all the ingredients to the Thermomix bowl
  3. Mix 10 Seconds/ Speed 5 till all mixed
  4. Then mix 1 Minute/Speed 3
  5. Split the dough into 5 equal balls
  6. Add one ball and its extras and colouring back into the Thermomix bowl and mix 10 Seconds/ Speed 8.
  7. Sprinkle flour on a clean surface and roll out the dough as thin as you can.
  8. Cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. Combine the left over excess, roll out and repeat, until all the dough is used.
  9. Repeat till all the colours are done.
  10. Bake for 5-8 minutes, but these fish are tiny so they don’t need long. Keep and eye on them.
  11. Loosen the fish from the baking tray as soon as possible, but leave to cool so they can crisp up. Transfer to an airtight container where they should last for a few days. If they lose their crispness, pop them in the oven for a few minutes again.
Regular Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F
  2. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and mix till well combined and pliable.
  3. Split the dough into 5 equal balls
  4. Add one ball and its extras and colouring back into the food processor and mix till it’s well combined.
  5. Sprinkle flour on a clean surface and roll out the dough as thin as you can.
  6. Cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. Combine the left over excess, roll out and repeat, until all the dough is used.
  7. Repeat till all the colours are done.
  8. Bake for 5-8 minutes, but these fish are tiny so they don’t need long. Keep and eye on them. Loosen the fish from the baking tray as soon as possible, but leave to cool so they can crisp up. Transfer to an airtight container where they should last for a few days. If they lose their crispness, pop them in the oven for a few minutes again.

Pin This Post:

One Fish Two Fish

*This post contains affiliate links. You will not be charged for purchasing through these links.

Posted on

Chia Raspberry Cacao Nib Peanut Butter Slice

Peanut Butter Slice

This peanut butter slice is adapted from the original Degustabox The Chia Co recipe. I had to make some changes to it as my kids wouldn’t eat cranberries if they were the last food on earth, and human survival depended on them. So I went for the freeze dried raspberries in the cupboard, and filled them out with some cacoa nibs for a raspberry and chocolate flavour to this ‘slice’ which could also quite easily be called a flapjack, except it has no sugar or butter and isn’t baked.Peanut Butter Slice

So, if you want a sugar free, butter free, no-bake flapjack, congratulations. You’ve found it in the form of a peanut butter slice.

I must then immediately caveat that by saying that in the 0 – 4C temperatures we’re having at the moment, these hold really well straight out the fridge. It’s likely that in hot temperatures, you could end up with a delicious peanut butter muesli. Try it and let me know?

Here’s the original recipe from Degustabox:

And here’s the adapted peanut butter slice version.

Chia Raspberry Cacao Nib Peanut Butter Slice
Recipe Type: Snack
Cuisine: Healthy, Free From
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 20 bars
Ingredients
  • 70g whole almonds, roasted
  • 150g oats, toasted
  • 75g raisins
  • 50g desiccated coconut
  • 50g cacao nibs
  • 5g freeze dried raspberries
  • 2 1/2 tbsp chia seeds (about 15g)
  • 105g honey
  • 100g smooth peanut butter
Instructions
  1. Pre heat the oven to 160C (320F)
  2. Place the oats on a baking tray and toast for 15 – 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t burn. On a separate tray, toast almonds for 10 – 12 mins, allowing to cool slowly.
  3. Add the almonds to the Thermomix, pulse quickly twice.
  4. Add oats, raisins, coconut, cacao nibs, raspberries, chia seeds, honey and peanut butter.
  5. Mix reverse/speed 4/ 2 minutes
  6. If you’re not using a pan with a removable base, line a 20cmx20cm tray or pan with baking paper, tip the mixture in and press down into the corners, flattening the mixture to make it even.
  7. Cover with cling film or plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
  8. Once it’s set, remove, slice and cut into bars or bites.
  9. Store in the fridge.

These are easily adaptable and are very tasty. They make fabulous breakfast bars on the go and can hold a plethora of hidden healthy foods that might not otherwise go down well. They are very filling and they freeze well too, so  you can make a huge batch, and keep some in the fridge and some in the freezer, so they’re ready when you need them.

Posted on

White Chocolate & Rosemary Biscotti

Rosemary and White Chocolate Biscotti

I love the unusual white chocolate and rosemary flavour combination. I actually don’t like white chocolate at all, so recommending this is high praise.Rosemary and White Chocolate Biscotti I have loads of rosemary from my summer on the allotment, so I’m glad for something extra to use it on too.

The sugar in this recipe is flexible. I normally make it with 45g brown sugar, but you can make it super sweet with as much as 90g. If you don’t want to use icing sugar for sprinkling on the tray, you can get away with using more cornmeal, but I prefer the end result with icing sugar.Rosemary and White Chocolate Biscotti

Keep an eye on the biscotti in the oven as different ovens run differently, but if you want the biscotti really crispy, return it to the oven for the second time. If you want it more chewy, don’t return it to the oven the second time.

White Chocolate & Rosemary Biscotti
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 20
Ingredients
  • 150g plain flour
  • 45g brown sugar
  • 65g yellow cornmeal
  • 2 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt (I use Himalayan pink)
  • 40g coconut oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g white chocolate
  • Extra: 2 tablespoons icing sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 150C
  2. Add everything (except the icing sugar) to the Thermomix bowl and mix speed 4/30-45 seconds. The mixture should be firm and pliable.
  3. Sprinkle the icing sugar on a baking tray, then add the dough and roll out to about 1cm thick
  4. Place in the oven and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until golden and firm.
  5. Set aside until cool enough to handle, cut lengthwise and then crosswise to make individual cookies. Return to the oven at 100C for 30 minutes.
  6. Allow to cool before serving

 

.

 

Posted on

Basic Butter Biscuits

Basic Butter Biscuits

I think it’s always good to have a fail safe basic butter biscuits recipe that you can call on at a moment’s notice. It’s one of those things everyone should have up their sleeve.Basic butter biscuits

I like this one because depending on the type of biscuit you’re planning on making, you don’t have to refrigerate the dough first. Unless you’re making some delicate shapes, you can easily get away without it.Basic butter biscuits

This recipe is very adaptable – add chocolate chips, add a curd, add colouring – it handles it all well, and it’s very good at keeping it’s shape too.

You can even cut out a little and fill in with hard boiled sweets – when it comes out the oven, leave for a few minutes so that the sweets can set again, but not too long as they’ll harden and stick on the tray. Then you’ll need a jackhammer to get them loose again!

Basic Butter Biscuits

Cut the insides out and replace them with a different colour – that’s super effective and very pretty!

Basic Butter Cookies
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 30
Ingredients
  • 225g butter
  • 200g sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 400g all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat over to 180C
  2. Add butter & sugar into the Thermomix Bowl. Mix at speed 4/10 seconds.
  3. Add the butterfly and mix at speed 3 for 60 seconds
  4. Add 2 eggs, vanilla, flour and other ingredients, then mix speed 4/30 seconds
  5. Set on the dough setting for 1min 30 seconds and tip out into a bowl. If it’s looking very sloppy you will need to refrigerate it for up to 30 mins, but it should be okay immediately.
  6. When you’re ready to roll out, tip it out onto a well-floured tray. Roll out, or make balls, and proceed with your cookie making fun.
  7. Place on a tray and bake for 8 – 15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie.
  8. Allow to cool a little before lifting the biscuits.

Basic Butter Biscuits

Posted on

Cheesy Straws

Cheesy Straws

These cheesy straws are a lovely snack for lunch boxes and last minute visitors. They can be prepared whenever you have time, and the pastry frozen – then just pop out a handful and bake when you need them.  I was setting an Autumn scene for some photos I had to do, so we broke up the straws to make a ‘woodpile’. I was glad when the kids walked in and said ‘Oh, look at the brooms!’  Always useful when people can tell what you’re going for!
Cheesy Straws

These cheesy straws can be made as straws, though simply baking them in rounds is okay too – I tend to freeze them as round biscuits, making them easier to use with dips. If you’re going to make brooms, I recommend that you use the stringy type of kids cheese, rather than regular blocks of cheese which crack rather than pull apart. And have more chives than you think you need as they break really easily too. Cheesy Straws

I also like to add paprika or rosemary to cheese strings – it just depends on what flavour you like, or whether you like something different from time to time! Also, you don’t have to add parmesan, it just heightens the cheese flavour. If you decide not to, just make another 50g cheddar cheese.

Cheesy Straws Recipe:

Cheesy Straws
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 60 sticks
Ingredients
  • 375g plain flour
  • 225g butter
  • 150g cheddar cheese
  • 50g parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp mustard (I use a grainy mustard, but powder will work too)
  • 2 egg yolks
  • pinch of salt
  • pepper to taste
Instructions
Thermomix Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients to the Thermomix bowl
  2. Mix speed 5/30 seconds
  3. Remove and shape into a log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes
  4. Heat the oven to 180C
  5. Break off pieces and roll into sticks using your hands
  6. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool before moving but be gentle as they are fragile
Regularly Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients to a food processor
  2. Mix until everything is combined and the dough forms a ball
  3. Remove and shape into a log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes
  4. Heat the oven to 180C
  5. Break off pieces and roll into sticks using your hands
  6. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool before moving but be gentle as they are fragile

 

 

Posted on

Borlotti Magic Bean Chocolate Brownies

Borlotti Bean Chocolate Brownie

I had my first experience of the Magic Bean Chocolate Cake phenomenon sitting in a friend’s garden in Australia in 2012. I strongly dislike beans, so when they brought out this mythical bean-chocolate cake I was highly suspicious and the surprise on my face after tasting had everyone laughing. If you aren’t told that there are beans in this brownie, you wouldn’t know.  In the years since, there have been dozens of ‘magic bean’ cakes that have sprung up around the web, and some of them have loads of ingredients. I like these Borlotti Magic Bean Chocolate Brownies because it makes a flatter brownie, and it’s highly adaptable.

Borlotti Magic Bean Chocolate BrowniesSometimes we make it plain, as it is. Othertimes we might add dried/freeze dried cranberries or nuts. My favourite is to add milk chocolate chips that provide gooey pockets of sweet chocolate throughout. Borlotti Magic Bean Chocolate Brownies

I recommend this brownie pan as the recipe below fills it perfectly, and when you’ve taken it out of the oven and allowed it to cool slowly, you can fit the cutting bit over it, and have perfectly sized brownies.

If you’re not using a Thermomix to make this, just make sure you pulse the chocolate and beans into a smooth batter, and you’ll be set. Allow it to cool, sprinkle with icing sugar, drizzle cream, or enjoy your Borlotti Magic Bean Chocolate Brownies as is.

Borlotti Bean Magic Chocolate Brownies
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 24
This recipe couldn’t really be easier, whether you’re using a Thermomix or not. It is also quite forgiving, but it’s IMPORTANT to note that all chocolate isn’t created equal. If you are using a rich dark chocolate, like 80% Lindt, you may want to have a taste of the batter and add a couple of tablespoons of sugar. If you are using a sweet dark chocolate, or a milk chocolate, you may want to add a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder. You can also add extras, like chocolate chips or dried fruit or nuts. It’s very flexible, very forgiving, and ends up tasting delicious either way.
Ingredients
  • 400g beans – we used Borlotti
  • 200g dark chocolate
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Optional:
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 50g dark chocolate or white chocolate chips
  • 100g freeze dried fruit chips
Instructions
Thermomix Instructions:
  1. Heat the oven to 180C
  2. Drain the beans and break the chocolate into blocks
  3. Add beans, chocolate, eggs and baking powder to the Thermomix bowl and mix Seconds 30 Speed 10. (In a regular food processor, add them one at a time till they are properly blended). It should resemble a creamy buttercream. Have a little taste of the batter.
  4. Add any of the optional extras.
  5. Tip the mixture into a brownie tray and bake for 20 minutes.
  6. Leave to cool and serve as is, drizzled in cream or lightly dusted with icing sugar.

 

Posted on

Carrot And Cheddar Shortbread Recipe

Carrot and Cheese Shortbread

An odd side effect of growing your own food is that sometimes you have very small amounts of produce. For example, we harvested a handful of carrots this week, thinning out space for the other carrots to grow bigger. This gave us about 8 small carrots which is barely a snack of one person, never mind a side for three, so I had to think of something we could make that use the carrots to best effect.

Carrot and Cheese Shortbread
Carrot and Cheese Shortbread served with Carrot Top Hummus

I decided a good snack for a picnic we were attending would be Carrot and Cheese Shortbread. I know shortbread is normally a sweet treat, but why should it be!?

This recipe was a bit trial and error, but it worked out so well, I’m really pleased with it. And if we have another small batch of carrots I intend to do the same again, but freeze the dough so that we have ready shortbread whenever we want – I think it’s a great way of saving summer produce too! I’ll let you know how I get on with that.

Shortbread

In the meantime, here’s the carrot and cheddar shortbread recipe.

Carrot And Cheddar Shortbread Recipe
Recipe Type: Snack
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 20 biscuits
In the Thermomix this just takes a few minutes, then there’s a 30 minute chill time. After chilling you need to slice the cookies or you can roll them out to make shapes.
Ingredients
  • 115g (4oz) salted butter
  • 90g (3oz) carrot and cheese*
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp rosemary
  • 220g (1 1/4 cups) plain flour
  • 1 tbs water (a bit more if your flour is organic)
Instructions
  1. (If you’re not using a Thermomix, grate the carrot first)
  2. Add room temperature butter to a mixing bowl and using an electric beater whisk it till it’s light and fluffy
(Thermomix: add the butterfly and mix on speed 3 for 30 – 40 seconds)
  1. Add a mixture of carrot and cheese to add up to 90g. In this case I used 45g of each, but more or less of whichever you have, to add up to 90g.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the water and mix until combined
(speed 6 for 1 minute)
  1. Add the water and mix till it combines and pulls away from the sides
  2. Tip out onto greaseproof paper, and shape into a sausage. Chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.
  3. After 30 minutes, turn the oven on to 180C/350F. Slice the sausage into 1cm thick slices and place on a baking tray. Bake for 20 -25 minutes.
  4. Leave to cool.

 

Posted on

Camping Food: Fireside Chocolate Brioche

Fireside Chocolate Brioche

As much as I love camping, I love eating good food. Being out in nature and eating pot noodles? Just not my thing. If the air is clean I feel like my tastebuds are enhanced, and I want fresh, tasty, good food as much as possible.

One of my best campfire breakfasts is a fireside chocolate brioche. When that comes off the fire it is warm, with melted chocolate chunks and it smells like sweet heaven.

I haven’t  yet mastered making dough out in the wild, (we normally go for non-electric pitches too!) but the secret to a simple fireside brioche breakfast is Jus-Rol. They last really well in a cool box for a few days, and if you’re camping in the UK they are easy to find in most supermarkets anyway, so picking a couple up every few days isn’t a big deal. Fireside Chocolate Brioche

To make a fireside brioche you need some equipment, and you’ll need a fire. On an open fire it takes a little longer, but it does work. It does need to be over an open flame. We do it on a mini gas burner* and it works quickly. Either is fine. You do need the heat though. Don’t put it IN the flame as you’re likely to have a cooked outside and a raw inside.

To make fireside brioche you will need: 

Fireside Chocolate BriocheA sharp knife, though you could tear them but it will be a bit messy

Two camping cooking pots – they need to fit inside each other with a lid that can go over both. (These are great to have in your camping kit anyway as they save space and mean you can cook real food!)

Two spoons,  or rocks or even twigs of similar size. They idea is that they create a little space between the pots for the heat to move around the bottom and sides but the space must be small enough that you can still fit the lid over both pots, creating an oven effect.

Jus-Rol Chocolate Brioche (also works well with cinnamon swirls)

Method

To make the chocolate brioche you need to open the Jus-Rol package, and cut the roll into six equal sizes. If your pots aren’t non stick you will need to oil or butter the smaller one first. Place the six rolls in the smaller of the two pots, five around the outside, one in the middle.Fireside Chocolate Brioche

Place two spoons or twigs into the larger pot. They need to be fairly equally sized to keep the smaller pot resting on them fairly straight.DSCN5679 (Copy)

Place the smaller pot inside, and put the lid in place.

Fireside Chocolate Brioche

Put the pots on the fire and leave. Remember, remember lifting the lid will cause the heat to escape like in a fire. Depending on how much space there is at the top, the top of the brioche may not look like it’s cooking. Fireside Chocolate BriocheWhen you can see the edges are browned and it’s starting to smell like fresh bread, you can tip it out gently and pop it back in upside down if you really want to, or just tip it over and serve it upside down.Fireside Chocolate Brioche

The top needs to be cooked obviously, but it will be a very light colour.

Fireside Chocolate Brioche

Put aside to cool slightly, but serve warm, ideally.

Happy Camping!

Posted on

Portuguese Rolls Recipe

If you want to truly torture a South African expat* ask them about Prego Rolls.

For a moment you’ll see a memory pass across their eyes. And if you were so inclined you could measure their spit production, because for most of us, there’ll be an immediate saliva release – drooling – in anticipation of something good. It’s practically Pavlovian .

The memory will most likely include Saturday mornings heading down to Pick n Pay to buy groceries, and stopping outside to pick up a Prego Roll from someone making them (and possibly pancakes) for a school, church or youth group fund raiser. Or just a family side business. Or if you weren’t a Saturday shopper, you’d find someone at the local fete selling them. Even our local Tuis Neiwerheid (popular home industries shops) used to  specially make them on a Saturday.

Portuguese Rolls

I’ve tried to make my own Prego Rolls over the many, many years I’ve been in the UK, but it’s never quite the same. I think you need that dry sand smell, baking sun on your back and maybe a Savannah to wash it all down with to completely complete the experience. Well. You do the best you can with what you have.

A lot of people don’t know this, but South Africa has quite a strong Portuguese influence. In school we were taught that Jan van Riebeeck ‘founded’ South Africa in 1652 – which I always took to mean he discovered it. It was only later that I realised that actually the first ‘discoverer’ of South Africa was Bartolomeu Dias – a Portuguese explorer, all the way back in 1488.

Remember this: “In 1652, het die wind gewaai, toe kom ek met my skippie in by Tafelbaai. Die wind het so gewaai, ons was almal op ‘n klomp. En so kry hy die naam die Kaap van Storms.”

So why the history lesson? Well, most people have eaten or at least seen a Nando’s restaurant at some point. Did you know that it was a chain started in South Africa? By a Portuguese South African. It is to South African food what curry is to British food! People should know this! **

Prego Rolls are Portuguese Rolls – Carcaças Rápidas – dusted in flour, filled with red wine and garlic marinated flash fried steaks, topped with piri piri sauce – or not, and aragula (rocket) – or not. It all depends on who is making and who is eating.  Hmmm.. drooling, yep, drooling here.

A few years ago I was living temporarily in Australia, and trying to convince a friend that she needed a Thermomix. Her husband, Jimmy, was very against it, and highly disbelieving when I told him he could even make Portuguese Rolls in it. (Jimmy is from Mozambique. His mother lives with them, and speaks only Portuguese). Jimmy didn’t believe I could make the rolls in the Thermomix, so when we had a New Year’s picnic a few weeks later, I took along a basket of fresh Portuguese Rolls (those in the picture). Jimmy couldn’t believe I’d made them in the Thermomix. I did see him have two! (Jenny and Jimmy now own a Thermomix!) JimmySo, how do you make these delicious, soft, crusty, light and fluffy Portuguese Rolls?

Here’s the recipe I use!

Portuguese Rolls
Recipe Type: European, Portuguese, Bread
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 200g warm water
  • 120g milk
  • 20g butter (or vegetable oil)
  • 2 (5ml) teaspoons dried yeast
  • 5g sugar
  • 500g baker’s flour (strong white bread flour)
  • 1.5 tsp salt (5ml teaspoon)
Instructions
  1. Add the water, milk, butter (or oil), yeast and sugar to the Thermomix bowl
  2. Bloom for 2 mins/37C/Speed 2. (NO MC)
  3. Add the flour and the salt.
  4. Mix for 3 mins on the dough setting.
  5. In the meantime prepare a glass bowl or Thermoserver by sprinkling flour into it and swirling it around. Add the kneaded dough and set aside until it doubles in size – around 30 – 40 mins.
  6. Divide the dough into 12 parts and form a ball from each. Place on a flour dusted oven tray and flour each breadroll too.
  7. Cut a slash into each breadroll from one side to the other, and leave it for another 30 minutes or until it’s looking nice and puffy again. Heat the oven to 180C
  8. Bake for 10 mins until it looks lightly browned, and allow to cool slightly.
  9. Save for later, or eat straight away with melted butter.
Regular Instructions
  1. Add the water, milk, butter (or oil) and yeast and sugar to a bowl and set aside for up to 10 mins.
  2. Add the flour and salt and mix to combine.
  3. Knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes, until the dough is no longer sticky and pliable.
  4. Set aside for 30 minutes till doubled in size.
  5. Split the dough into 12, form balls and slice slashes into each ball. Place on a floured surface and sprinkle flour on top.
  6. Set aside for another 30 minutes.
  7. Pre-heat the oven to 180C and bake for 10 minutes
  8. Leave to cool slightly before serving

 

*most of us. obviously we’re not all exactly the same.

** I’m really touch on this point. I have no idea why.