Native American Fried Bread

This fried-bread looks very much like the Hungarian Lángos. However, the Hungarian version is leaven using yeast. While this Native American version uses baking powder ; which makes the process faster. Of course, there are difference in taste too.

For testing purposes, I have reduced the ingredients to a third of the original.

Native American Fried-Bread
via The Pioneer Woman

1 cup All-Purpose Flour
a pinch of salt
1 tsp Baking powder (slightly rounded tsp)
1/4 cup milk
water as needed
Lard or shortening , for frying (I used vegetable oil, will try lard the next round)

Instructions

Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir with a fork as you pour in the milk; keep stirring for a bit to get it to come together as much as possible. Add just enough water to get it to come together. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let it sit for 35 to 45 minutes to rest.

When you're ready to fry the bread, heat about 1 to 2 inches shortening/lard in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Grab a plum-sized piece of dough (or larger if you want larger fry bread) and press it into a circle with your fingers: place it on a clean surface and begin pressing in the center and work your way out, stretching it as you go.

When the circle is about 4 to 7 inches (however big you want it) carefully drape it into the skillet. Allow it to fry on one side until golden brown, about 1 minute, then carefully flip it to the other side using tongs. Fry it for another 30 to 45 seconds.

Remove the fry bread to a paper towel-lined plate and allow it to drain while you fry the other pieces.

Serve warm!

Hungarian poppy seeds / walnuts rolls { Bejgli II }

Two thumbs up for this recipe! which by the way , will replace the one archived here before.  What I like about this version is the fluffy bread texture as you see below.

With the exorbitant price of walnuts, I've opted to only make the poppy seeds fillings. That being said, both fillings are equally good. For us and especially my mother-in-law, she prefers the poppy seeds type.

The recipe linked below makes 6 rolls; but the quantity I stated below have been adjusted to only 2 rolls. In fact, I could have made into 3 shorter rolls instead of 2 long ones.

Bejgli
source : Receptneked

makes 2 rolls

Ingredients
For the dough
130ml sour cream (20% fat)
83g goose fat
1 medium-size egg
2 Tbsp sugar
pinch salt
30gm fresh yeast
400gm flour

For the filling

200gm ground Poppy seeds
100gm Honey
100gm water
vanilla extract
bunch of raisins, soaked and drained
1 zest of lemon
2 Tbsp of apricot jam
sugar, to taste


For glazing
1 egg, seperated

Preparation
For the dough
1) In a bowl, mix together sour cream, goose fat, egg, sugar and salt.
2) In another bowl, put in the flour and crumble in the yeast. Then create a well in the centre, and pour in the sour cream mixture (1). Mix until all ingredients are combine.
3) On a floured surface, pour out the flour mixture and knead until you get a smooth dough.
4) Let the dough rest in covered bowl , in room temperature for 1 hour.

For the filling
1) Heat water until hot. Combine it with honey and mix well.
2) In a bowl, put the ground poppy seeds, lemon zest, apricot jam, vanilla extract , soaked and drain raisins. The pour in the honey-water mixture. Combine well. Check for sweetness, if needed add sugar to taste. I needed to add sugar in consideration of my MIL taste buds.
3) Divide filling into 2 portions. Set aside until assembly.

To finish
1) 30 mins. into proofing the dough, start pre-heating the oven at 180°c
2) Once dough is fully proof, pour out on floured work surface, and punch out the air from the dough.
3) Divide dough into 2 equal size.
4) Take the first dough, roll out into a rectangle shape. Size according to your preference.
5) Spread a portion of the filling onto the dough , leaving some space on the sides to prevent leakage.
6) Roll up the dough just like Swiss roll, but not too tight to leave room for the dough to grow and not burst.
7) Repeat the same for the next roll. Glaze each roll with only egg yolk. Then let it dry for about 15 mins. After 15 mins. glaze with egg white.  Use a knife or fork to prick the roll all the way to let out the steam during baking.
8) Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30-35 mins. until golden brown.

Serving
It is better to let the roll sit for a day or two to enhance the taste even more. Just wrap the rolls in cling film and keep in a cool place.

Hungarian Steamed Buns { Gőzgombóc }

Going forward, I'll switch to this Hungarian steamed buns recipe when making Chinese steamed buns. Unlike my previous chinese recipes, this produced buns which were so light and fluffy! It has to be said that they are best eaten hot out of the steamer. If you do have left over, then re-steam for short few minutes to soften it again.

Gőzgombóc

serves : 6 pcs.

You must go to the source for a detailed pictorial at Aprosef

Ingredients :-

Dumpling

250gm Flour

15gm yeast

20gm sugar

1 gm salt

1/2 egg yolk

1/2 egg (size “m”)

125ml Milk (2.8%)

10gm butter

1 lemon zest

Stuffing

60gm plum jam, thick divided into 6

To serve with

egg custard

ground poppy seeds

Preparation :-

1. Mix all ingredients for dumplings, knead until a smooth round shape. Place shaped dough in a greased bowl. Grease also the top of dough. Coer with cling film. Let it rest at warm place for 60 mins. Or until size doubled.
2. Once dough doubled in size, roll out and divide into 6 smaller balls. Use you hand flatten it a bit and wrapped in the portioned jam. Take note the jam should be stuffed in centre to avoid leakage. Close dough by pinching it. Shape into nice round.
3. Set aside the stuffed dough. Cover with cling film. Meanwhile set the steamer and when water is boiling. Steam dough on high heat for 15 mins.
4. Serve with custard and sprinkle with ground poppy seeds.

Hungarian Fried Bread Lángos recipe

Yes! I finally decided not to be lazy anymore and venture into making lángos at home. It is not difficult at all! Just like making pizza, except it is fried. Don't get me wrong, I'll still be buying ready-made ones from my Sunday market. However, if you need to feed or serve a hugh crowd doing it at home, will be more economical.

Lángos
Via visitbudapest.travel

300 g all-purpose flour, sifted
7 g dried (instant) yeast
250 ml water (*** I used luke warm)
1/2 teaspoon salt
sunflower oil (for frying)
toppings: sour cream, grated cheese, garlic

Method
1) Dissolve instant yeast in luke warm water. Set aside for 10 mins or until yeast has been activated (froth / foaming)

2) In a bowl, sift together flour and salt. Add in the activated yeast water. Mix together by using your hand or wooden spoon. The dough is very sticky! Just mix it until the dough is smooth and not stick to bowl.

3) Let the dough rest , covered, for 30-40 mins. or until the size of dough doubled.

4) Stretch out the dough onto a floured surface, into square shape. Cut rounds by using a round cutter of 10cm or any desired size. Stretch the round doughs a little , thinning the centre. Let it rest for 30 mins.

5) After 30 mins. Heat oil in deep fryer. Fry until golden brown.

6) Serve hot with the suggested toppings.

Updated : Oct 18, 2015

I've come across another easy fried dough recipe  ; which is fluffier and faster
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/county-fair-fried-dough-recipe

2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour*

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, in 1/2" cubes

3/4 cup lukewarm water

  Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2) Work in the cold butter, using a pastry blender, your fingers, or a mixer.

3) Stir in the warm water to make a soft dough. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.

4) Divide the dough into eight pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll into a thin 5" round, about 3/8" thick.

5) Heat about 3/8" vegetable oil to 375°F in an electric frying pan, or in a pan over a burner. If you're using a 10" diameter pan, this is 2 cups of vegetable oil. If you're not using an electric frying pan, use a candy thermometer to take the temperature of the oil; or guesstimate it by seeing if the first piece of dough fries nicely in the time specified.

6) Pick up one dough disk, and carefully lower it into the pan. Let it cook for 60 seconds (it'll puff up on top and become light brown on the bottom), then flip it over and cook until light brown on the other side, about 60 seconds. You don't want to cook these too dark; they'll become overly crisp.

7) Remove from the oil and set on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Place in a 200°F oven to keep warm while you make the remaining fried doughs.

8) Serve warm, with maple syrup or cider syrup; confectioners' sugar, or cinnamon sugar; or the topping of your choice — some folks enjoy a savory version, with marinara sauce and cheese.

Yield: 8 servings.

No knead Cinnamon Rolls { Cinnamon Buns }

Last night I couldn't resist anymore and finally broke down to bake this popular cinnamon rolls originated by the Pioneer Woman tweaked by Little Teochew.

For someone who hasn't got a good track record with baking bread, this recipe was extremely hard to fail! The only difficulty is the waiting time.

Go to the links above for the full recipe and quartered recipe respectively.

Poppy seed bread pudding {Mákos Guba}

Okay, I know this looks strange..haha. If you like poppy seed desserts you will like this.
After many years living in Hungary, strangely I haven't tried Mákos Guba before this. Perhaps because I am still getting use to poppy seeds. Slowly, I got used to it, but only in poppy seeds pie! Well, I think it is time to  add another dessert which feature this ingredient into my limited experience.

Poppy seeds bread pudding {Mákos Guba}
adapted from I like Baking

Ingredients for 6 servings:

6 pcs stale crescent rolls (you could also use sweet bread, baguette)

450 ml milk

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped (or sub. with vanilla sugar)

40 g unsalted butter

75 g ground poppy seed (I used much more for 3 pax)

75 g castor sugar (or to taste)

4 tbsp honey

1 finely grated lemon rind

1 pinch of ground clove (sub. with ground cinnamon)

Method (for pictorial, check out the link provided!)
1) Pre-heat oven at 180°c. Lightly grease baking pan (26x17cm)
2) Slice up  the rolls/bread and set aside.
3) Add vanilla seeds, honey and butter into milk and bring it to boil.
4) Pour boiled milk over the rolls/bread prep. earlier.
5) Mix together poppy seeds, lemon zest, ground cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle all over rolls/bread. Mix well. Be careful not to mush up the bread.
6) Pour the mixture onto the greased baking dish, prep earlier and let it bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 mins. or until the edges of bread are crispy.
7) Serve warm. To serve, you could sprinkle with icing sugar and drizzle over some custard.

Fried Pizza

There's no way I'm turning on the oven in summer; so, I thought let's try fried pizza!

My pizza dough recipe was based on http://www.italianrecipesmadeeasy.com/fried-pizza.html . Please visit the link to see different stages of this recipe but I'll still post the recipe below just in case the link doesn't work in the future.

Fried Pizza
Italian Recipes Made Easy

serving : For about 8 mini pizzas

300g of strong white flour
1 tea spoon of dry yeast
1 tea spoon of salt
1 tea spoon of sugar
20ml of extra virgin olive oil
190ml of warm water
vegetable oil

1)For the dough put flour, yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil in a bowl.

2)Using your hands and adding slowly the water mix all the ingredients together until you obtain a soft and smooth dough (if too dry add more water, if too sticky add more flour).

3)Cover and let the dough rise for a couple of hours or until has doubled in size.

4) At this point take small pieces of dough, shape them into mini pizzas and fry in hot vegetable oil. Drain them on kitchen paper.  To me this recipe is good not only to top with pizza garnishes but also good with sour cream, cheese or just plain powdered sugar.

To make into pizza :-
5) In the middle of each mini pizza pour one or two table spoons of the tomatoes sauce and grated parmigiano to your taste.
Serve immediately.

Quick & Easy Donuts

Quick & Easy Donuts
Source : Ste/ A te recepted Sep 2011
Makes 12-16 donuts

Ingredients
150gm plain flour (changed to 130gm)
pinch of salt
1 sachet x 10gm baking powder (half baking powder + baking soda)
1 egg
150gm yoghurt, natural flavoured (changed to 1x130gm tub)
Oil for frying

To serve with dips
sweet option Good quality fruit preserves/jam or dust with powdered sugar,
savoury option sour cream and grated cheese

Method
1) Whisk together  egg and yoghurt, then mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until well combine. Let it rest for 10 mins. Meanwhile , heat oil in frying pan
2) Make sure oil is hot enough, or it will be too greasy. Use a spoon to scoop out batter and fry 1.5 mins. each side until golden brown. Drain fried donuts on kitchen paper.
3) Serve while still warm with preferred dipping sauces.

Focaccia

I hardly bake bread because the result is never as good. Thank goodness I come across this recipe as when this recipe says it is the easiest focaccia ; it really is! It has restored some confidence in me to continue to try baking bread :)

Easiest Focaccia

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/easiest-focaccia-recipe/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

4 g white sugar

7 g active dry yeast

80 ml warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

250 g all-purpose flour

30 ml olive oil

2 g salt

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with flour; stir well to combine. Stir in additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all of the flour is absorbed. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly for about 1 minute.

3. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).

5. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface; knead briefly. Pat or roll the dough into a sheet and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the dough with oil and sprinkle with salt.

6. Bake focaccia in preheated oven for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on desired crispness. If you like it moist and fluffy, then you'll have to wait just about 10 minutes. If you like it crunchier and darker in the outside, you may have to wait 20 minutes.

Simple Milk Buns

Snaps of my first successful batch of bread were posted on my flickr but somehow I didn't write about it here. The recipe was through the food blog The cocoanut . Since the link to the blog is inactive currently, I've pasted the recipe below for anyone interested in trying out this lovely loaf (made into buns).

Simple Milk Buns
Source : The cocoanut

500 g plain white flour*
350g milk (I used skim milk)
20 g honey, about a tablespoon-and-a-bit’s worth
25g warm melted butter
1 x 7g sachet instant dried yeast
1 tsp salt

In a large bowl, whisk the yeast with the milk and honey. Add the flour and salt, and combine until you get a soft, sticky dough. Pour over the warm melted butter, and mix this into the dough. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, or if you have an electric mixer like me, you can use that instead. Simply attach a dough hook and let it do all the work for you, around 7-10 minutes.

Leave the dough in the bowl for an hour to proof. After an hour has passed, punch down the dough to release all the carbon dioxide. Transfer the dough to a loaf tin, and let it proof for another hour. The dough will rise again to about twice its size, and this time you want all that gas inside to remain. At this stage, I like to brush the top of the dough with water and sprinkle poppy seeds. This is entirely optional, and I only did it because I happen to have a jar of poppy seeds in the pantry.

Set the oven to 210oC, and when hot enough carefully place the dough into the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 180oC and bake for another 25-30 minutes, or until the top of the loaf is dark brown. Remove from the tin, and leave to cool on a wire rack.

*I used all purpose flour, because that’s what I had at home. However, you might want to try using strong white flour or bread flour, which are more glutinous and will ‘jump’ over the top of the tin much more than normal flour.

I filled some buns with homemade red bean paste. Yum!

Coconut yellow split peas "dhal" with flat breads

I've always dreaded making bread; however, this recipe is so easy I know it will be featured frequently on our dinner table. The breads were to accompany the coconut dhal (recipe below) but we had some left over of which we sandwiched the flat bread by spreading cucumber tzatziki and baked beans .... simply yummy!

Flat breads
adapted from BBC Good Food
Serves 8

Ingredients
140g plain flour
140g bread flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
200ml water

Method
1) Put the flours and 1 tsp salt into a large bowl and mix. Stir 1 tbsp vegetable oil into 200ml water into , then mix this into the flour, stir until you have a smooth dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 mins, then return to the bowl, cover and leave in a warm place to rest for 20 minutes.

2) Divide the dough into 8 balls. Roll out each ball on a lightly floured surface to a rough 18cm circle the thickness of a 10p coin. Prick each one well with a fork to stop them rising. To cook on a barbecue: put the breads on the centre of the grill. Cook for a few mins, then turn and cook the other side.

3) Brush the breads with more melted butter. Reheat the griddle between batches and stack them on top of each other to keep warm

Coconut Yellow Split Peas "Dhal"

Receipe from BBC Good Food

I've substitute red lentils with yellow split peas which works fine. This recipe is also a keeper :)

Hungarian sweet bread { kalács } with cinnamon fillings

This is a result from stumbling upon this link How to make kalács (Hungarian sweet bread) http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Kalacs-%28Hungarian-Sweet-Bread%29

Kalács is usually braided ; but I have simply rolled it to form a huge piece of sticky bun.

Hungarian sweet roll (Kalács)
Ingredients
3-1/2 Cups Flour
1 Package Active dry yeast ( I used 7g packet)
1-1/4 Cups Milk
1/4 Cup Butter
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Egg

Preparation

1. Combine 2 cups flour and the yeast in a large mixing bowl.
2. Heat milk, butter, sugar, salt in a pan until the butter is melted (about 115°F).
3. Add the milk mixture to the flour and yeast. Mix well, add the egg and beat well.
4. Add remainder of flour. Knead, if you wish, or don't knead, just make sure that everything is well mixed.
5. Transfer to a greased bowl. Cover and put in warm place to rise for 1 hour to 1-1/2 hrs. The size of the dough should about double.
6. While the dough is rising, prepare filling (if you make it from scratch, see recipe below, but if you have the sweetened chestnut puree already, then it's easy)
7. After dough has risen, put it out onto a floured bread board and allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes.
8. Divide the dough into two halves.
9. Pat out or roll out each half with a rolling pin to about 1/4 inch thickness.
10. Spread half the filling on the dough and roll the dough up like a jelly roll. Tuck the ends over to close the loaf. Repeat with the second half of the dough and the rest of the filling.
11. Place each loaf in a greased loaf pan and let rise about 30 minutes. Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes until lightly browned.

*Note - Please check link provided above to see ingredients for fillings. As I have altered the filling to an easier alternative - sprinkle of melted butter, followed by sprinkle of brown sugar , next spread cinnamon all over and finished off with raisins.

Don't throw away old bread 2

while sorting out my recipes folder, I was reminded of this yummy sounding recipe - Toasted bread with honey, butter and sesame seeds, bookmarked from food site - Pinoy cook. The name itself guranttees the snack will be a hit! Also, this easy recipe helps to take care of the days-old bread which otherwise would be binned today. We had it for breakfast a while ago. I could still feel the buttery, sweet and crunch in my taste bud ..I highly recommend this :))

You'll need
day-old bread
butter
honey
sesame seeds

rest of recipe, check out
Pinoy Cook

Pumpkin in the air

Did I bake on valentine's day? you bet! I had wanted to make something fancy but decided on something simpler, something not at all romantic! Anyways, the motivation came from a can of pumpkin purée and I haven't baked pumpkin bread before.. further the recipe sub. butter with olive oil..hmmm another first for me. The exact experience needed for a novice like me!

At the time of typing this post, the pumpkin bread is still in the oven. The baking time needs 50-60 mins. In the meantime, fingers crossed . Because I have used extra virgin olive oil..wonder it would turn out too rich?

50 mins. 're up! The bread risen nicely (although sunken a little after cooling) ,the colour an appetising golden orange, moist and not too sweet, overall thumbs up from me.


Pumpkin Bread
1 1/2 cups (210g) flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (1/4 L) pumpkin purée
1/2 cup (1 dL) olive oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup (1 dL) chopped walnuts
(metric measurements in parentheses)

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts. Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a straw poked in the very center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on a rack

source :
http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000842pumpkin_bread.php#comments