soft bread rolls

i've been making these rolls for months now and everybody loves them. they are so soft, light and fluffy...very versatile as well.

more recently, i made them on new year's eve and for breakfast for new year's day (they were THAT popular) for the wigs and miss k and her friends, who stayed over after watching the fireworks with us over the harbour. i have to say the fireworks this year were especially spectacular.

roux

120g water
25g strong bakers' flour

remaining dough

500 grams strong bakers' flour
200 grams water
2 tsp yeast
1 tbsp powdered milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
30 grams sugar
20 grams butter

place the water and flour for the roux into thermomix bowl and cook for 3 minutes at 70ºC on speed 3.

place the remaining ingredients into the thermomix bowl. mix for several seconds on speed 6 until a dough forms. it is a slightly sticky dough. with dial set to closed lid position, knead for 4 minutes on interval setting.

remove dough from thermomix bowl and throw several times onto a lightly floured surface (this will improve the texture). thwack it onto bench and consider it exercise or therapy. that said, i must admit that i have on 2 occasions forgotten this step and can't say the bread suffered too much - still delicious and eaten to the last crumb

divide the dough into 16 portions and form into rolls and arrange on a baking tray lined with baking paper. allow to rest for 1 or 2 hours (time permitting) before baking for 20 minutes at 180ºC. i find the rolls are really fluffy with the longer resting time. i rest my dough in a cold oven to get it out of the way and prevent them from drying out too much.

after baking, if you prefer a soft crust, cover the rolls with a clean teatowel as they come out of the oven.

if you're feeling adventurous, you can fill the rolls prior to forming and baking - some suggestions - cheese, ham, chocolate (uhuh...chocolate), custard (make sure the custard is nice and firm; alternatively, you could pipe it in).

my gluten free yummy thing

originally, my intention was to make a salad, along the lines of a waldorf salad....

juice of one orange
rind of one orange
30 mls rice bran oil

blitz together on speed 10 until emulsified.

throw the following into the thermomix bowl

1 apple, cored and quartered
200 grams red seedles grapes
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
1/3 cup pistachio nuts

and i blitzed on speed 7.....for just a bit too long (like 3 seconds) and i ended up with something that looked somewhat like bircher muesli, but gluten free.... i wondered what i was going to do...use it as a dressing for a still to be made salad? no...i ate it instead as it was, and it was very nice.......

homemade granola

a couple of years ago, miss c went camping with a group of friends and they had to rough it (read: bring their own food and cook it). by chance, i made a batch of this truly delicious concoction and insisted that she bring a couple of snaplock bags of it along. she wasn't keen to bring it, not because it wasn't yum, but because she felt it might have defeated the purpose of the camp, but brought 2 packets along.
on her return to civilisation, she expressed her regret. everyone wanted some of her precious snack, and not only that, they wanted the recipe!!!!
take this recipe as a base and add to and subtract, so you can customise it to your own liking - i like adding my fruits and nuts to the granola just before serving so i can vary it to what i'm feeling like having on the day. if you like your nuts toasted, add them while the granola is being toasted.
no need to say, this also makes a fine snack and a good trail mix substitute.

4 cups rolled oats
2 cups shredded or dessicated coconut
2 cups sliced almonds
3/4 cup light olive oil
1/2 cup honey
6 cups of your favourite dried fruits and nuts - i like cherries, cranberries (craisins), apricots, pears, cashews, pepitas, raw almonds

preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
toss the oats, coconut, and almonds together in a large bowl.
whisk together the oil and honey in a small bowl and pour over the oat mixture and mix it around with a wooden spoon until well combined and all the oats and nuts are coated. pour onto the baking sheet and spread evenly and lightly - you don't want the clumps of granola to be dense because they'll be rock hard after baking. *
bake, stirring every now and then, until the mixture becomes golden and toasty, about 45 minutes. make sure your granola dries completely because any dampness will cause it to go stale quickly.
remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. if you wish, add your dried fruits and nuts of choice at this stage and combine well.
store the cooled granola in an airtight container.

*these days, i use my thermomix to do a lot of the work; i melt the honey and oil together in the thermomix and toss the oats, coconut and almonds into the bowl and let the machine do all the stirring before tipping everything out onto the baking sheets for baking.

lyn's spiced fruit compote

my friend, lyn, and i go back some 22 years now. i met her in april, 1986, so in a way, more than 22 years. when i was first getting to know her, she made this for dessert when i had her over to my place. i've enjoyed it over the years, with lashings of cream. make sure you also eat the orange slices, rind and all. that and cream.....yum.
more recently, in 1996 (march 28, to be precise), i made this, and in an effort to give the impression of being "healthy", i bought yoghurt from harris farm fruit markets. at the time, really thick, heavy yoghurt was new on the scene and the selling point was that it only had 4% fat and it still had a rich and wicked mouthfeel. so there i was flogging this fantastic, low fat, good for you yoghurt to people at the table - "have this with the compote; it's low fat".

1 cup dried apricots
1 cup prunes
1 orange cut in thin slices
1 cooking apple, peeled and sliced
1 stick cinnmon
3 whole cloves
1 cup red wine (not too heavy or dry)(i often use 1/2 cup muscat or port)
2 cups water
1/3 cup honey

microwave on high for 15 minutes and stand for 15 minutes.
remove cloves and cinnamon before serving.

honey and oat pancakes by whisks

i first made these scrummy pancakes on a beautiful spring day on my backyard verandah. i bought an induction hotplate a while ago, and it has been wonderful to use. i really love it because i had to do most of my cooking outside, since the kitchen we had didn't have an exhaust fan. now that it does, i still continue to cook outside because it works so well.
cooking these pancakes outside allowed me to sit down at the little table and read the magazine section of my sunday paper and enjoy my coffee - it was bliss. i was multitasking - cooking pancakes, reading my magazine and sipping a coffee.

now for what you'll need:

the ingredients:

2 cups self raising flour

1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 cups buttermilk (don't worry if you don't have any - just add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to regular milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon melted butter

extra butter to coat griddle

1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds

the utensils:

a griddle

mixer

mixing bowl

measuring cups and spoons

ladle

pancake turner

here's everything mixed and ready to go on the table i've set out outside. because this is a real life home demonstration, i have to let you know that the griddle i had set up on the hotplate decided to crack when it was heated. hence the pancakes were cooked on the frypan:

here at not just cake, we know how to improvise. and here is what the pancake looked like when it has been flipped:

and here's a whole pile of the pancakes:

as you can see, these look rustic, and i like that.

honey and oat pancakes

2 cups self raising flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon melted butter
extra butter to coat griddle
1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds

combine the flour, oats, salt and bicarbonate of soda. add the buttermilk, eggs, honey and melted butter. use the mixer to give it a mix. don't worry if the batter is slightly lumpy. you can either use the pancake batter straight away, or you can leave it the the fridge for a couple of hours until you are ready to make the pancakes.
when you're ready, melt some butter on the hot griddle, then use the ladle to pour 1/4 cup batter (more for larger pancakes) onto the griddle. immediately sprinkle each pancake with 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds. if you don't like the sunflower seeds, you can use something else, or not use anything else - the pancakes are nice however you like them. Cook one side of the pancake until bubbles begin to break on surface and underside is brown.
flip pancakes and brown other side.
makes about 10 servings...or one or two really big ones.