Whole wheat sourdough discard sandwich bread

 Ingredients:

• 100 g Sourdough Discard unfed sourdough starter
• 285 g Water (divided)
• 400 g Whole Wheat Flour (freshly ground white wheat)
• 100 g Bread Flour or All Purpose Flour
• 12 g Salt
• 20 g Sugar (divided)
• 60 g Butter room temperature
• 7 g Instant Yeast

INSTRUCTIONS

 

• Combine the sourdough discard, water (260 gr) and flour into your stand mixer and mix until it forms a shaggy dough (really shaggy) (around 30 seconds will do it). Leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
  
• In a small bowl mix 25 gr water with the instant yeast and 5 grams or sugar. Let stand for about 10 minutes. 
• Now add the salt, sugar (15 gr), butter and yeast mixture to the bowl and knead the dough for around 8 minutes.

  You want the dough to be elastic, silky and slapping the sides of the bowl. Just keep the mixer going until you achieve this. If you are using a stand mixer you'll need to use your dough hook attachment for this step.
• Now you need to let your dough rise. You are using instant yeast as the leavening agent in this recipe, rather than sourdough/wild yeast, so it will rise very quickly, particularly if your home is warm.

  Leave it for around an hour (it will take longer if your house is cooler). You want it to double.
• Lightly butter or spray a 9x5 pan so it's ready to go when the dough is shaped.
• Once the dough has doubled, tip it out onto the counter top with the smooth side underneath and the sticky side on the top. Gently ease the dough out into a rectangle. It should be quite easy to do this as the dough is very elastic.
• Now you want to shape your dough into a sandwich loaf. This is fairly easy. Make sure that the short side of the rectangle is in front of you. Fold each side of the dough into the middle, then roll the dough into a tight log with the seam underneath. Tighten the top of the dough by putting your hands at the base and pulling the dough towards you, without lifting if off the countertop.
• Once the dough is shaped, gently place it into the buttered loaf tin. Leave the dough to rise until it's just above the rim of the tin.

  This will take around an hour, depending on the temperature of your home.
• Once the dough has risen, you'll need to bake your loaf.

  Turn your oven on and set the temperature to around 180C/350F.

  Let it warm for around 10 minutes. Spray the top of your dough with some water mist and place into the oven.

  Make sure that there's plenty of room for it to grow in the oven as it will generally keep rising.
• Bake your bread at 180C/350F for around 40 to 45 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown.
• Remove from the loaf tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Beef Rendang

 I have another rendang recipe on here but this one is even better and more authentic. I do substitute pork if I dont have beef on hand. 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs beef or pork cut into cubes
5 Tbs cooking oil
1 stick cinnamon , about 2 inch length
3 cloves
3 star anise
3 cardamon pods
1 lemongrass, cut into 4 inch length and pounded
1 cup thick coconut milk, coconut cream (I just use a whole can of coconut milk)
1 cup water
2 tsp tamarind pulp, soaked in some warm water for the juice and discard the seeds
6 kaffir lime leaves, very finely sliced (I sometimes leave these out when I dont have them on hand)
6 Tbs kerisik, toasted coconut
1 Tbs sugar or palm sugar to taste
salt to taste

Spice paste:

5 shallots
1 inch galangal (I used dried)
3 lemongrass (white part only)
5 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
10-13 dried chilies, siaked in warm water and seeded

Instructions:

1. Chop the spice paste ingredients and then blend it in a a food processor until fine.

2. Heat the oil in a stew pot, add the spice paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and cardamon and stir-fry until aromatic. Add beef or pork and the pounded lemongrass and stir for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk, tamarind juice, water and simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently until the meat is almost cooked. Add the kaffir lime leaves, kerisik, sugar, stirring to blend well with the meat. 

3. Lower the heat to low, cover the lid an simmer for 1 - 2 hours or until the meat is really tender and the gravy had dried up (I like to let it simmer for multiple hours). Add more salt and sugar to taste. Serve immediately with steam rice (l like to use coconut rice).

Notes: To prepare the kerisik or toasted coconut, just add the grated coconut to a dry wok or cast iron pan or any pan ;) and stir continuously until they turn golden brown. 

Chili

 Ingredients: 

1 lb Beef

1 C onions - diced

1/2 C red/green pepper

28 oz tomatoes 

1 can red kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can chili

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp sugar

2 clove garlic

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 C ketchup

Tuscan Tomato Soup

 Ingredients: 

3 T Olive Oil
5 C of diced, seeded, skinned tomatoes (I love to use fresh garden tomatoes when available in the summer)
1 small can of tomato paste
3 C chicken stock
1 large onion - diced small
1 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in soup pot. Add onions and cook until transparent. Add tomatoes and tomato paste and allow to simmer. Add chicken stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Add cream and pesto. Blend in blender. Season with salt and pepper. 

Breadsticks

 

These were so easy to make and turned out great. 

Dough:

• 1 cup warm water 
• 1 tablespoon instant dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Butter Topping:

• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese (optional)
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm water, yeast, sugar, salt, and olive oil.
• Add in 2 cups of flour. Using a dough hook, turn the mixer on to a low speed. Once the flour starts to incorporate into the dough, increase the speed to a medium range. Slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough mixture should be slightly sticky and soft, but shouldn't stick to your hands. Add more or less flour until the dough reaches the desired consistency.
• Transfer the dough to a lightly greased mixing bowl. Cover with a towel and let rise 30 minutes.
• Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Punch dough down and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 9 to 10-inch long rope or snake. Place on the prepared baking sheet and let rise for 20 minutes while the oven preheats.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake breadsticks for 16 to 18 minutes (mine where only in for about 12-13 minutes), until golden brown on top.
• While the breadsticks are baking, whisk together the melted butter, salt, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Brush on top of breadsticks immediately after baking. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese or dried herbs as desired.

Homemade pasta dough

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 3 large eggs
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ Tbs olive oil

Instructions

• Place the flour on a clean work surface and make a nest. Add the eggs, olive oil, and salt to the center and use a fork to gently break up the eggs, keeping the flour walls intact as best as you can. Use your hands to gently bring the flour inward to incorporate. Continue working the dough with your hands to bring it together into a shaggy ball.
• Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes. At the beginning, the dough should feel pretty dry, but stick with it! It might not feel like it’s going to come together, but after 8-10 minutes of kneading, it should become cohesive and smooth. If the dough still seems too dry, sprinkle your fingers with a tiny bit of water to incorporate. If it’s too sticky, dust more flour onto your work surface. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Dust 2 large baking sheets with flour and set aside.
• Slice the dough into four pieces. Gently flatten one into an oval disk. Run the dough through the Pasta Roller Attachment three times on level 1 (the widest setting).
• Set the dough piece onto a countertop or work surface. Fold both short ends in to meet in the center, then fold the dough in half to form a rectangle (see photo above).
• Run the dough through the pasta roller three times on level 2, three times on level 3, and one time each on levels 4, 5, and 6
• Lay half of the pasta sheet onto the floured baking sheet and sprinkle with flour before folding the other half on top. Sprinkle more flour on top of the second half. Every side should be floured so that your final pasta noodles won't stick together.
• Repeat with remaining dough.
• Run the pasta sheets through the Pasta Cutter Attachment (pictured is the fettuccine cutter). Repeat with remaining dough. Cook the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes.

No knead Pizza dough

This is my favorite pizza dough recipe. It is so simple, easy and fast to make. 

• 3 1/2 cups warm water
• 7 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon salt
• Your choice of pizza toppings (I like to keep mine simple to allow the beauty of the crust to shine through. I usually choose a simple fresh tomato sauce, fresh basil leaves, sliced mozzarella, and a dab of pepperoni, and maybe a sprinkle of garlic salt…)

You don’t need to knead the dough, just mix all the ingredients together. It will look like messy dough, but that is what you want. 

I usually make it at night and then let it rise all night long. Just cover it with some plastic. I let it raise for about 12 hours. This is what it will look like. 

Then dump it out and divide it up in six pieces. 

Make sure to make balls out of the dough so once you use them they will be easier to handle it once you make the pizza. 

Now put the dough in individual containers and put them in the fridge. I leave the dough in the fridge for several hours before using it at night. You can even leave it in the fridge for several days. Make sure to take it out of the fridge about an hour before using the dough so it can come to room temperature. 

Once you are ready to cook the pizza take it and coat in in some flour (will make it easier to work with - less sticky and easier to get it off the pizza peel). I just put some flour in a bowl and coat both sides with the flour. 

Make sure to put corn meal on the pizza peel so the pizza wont stick. Be generous. 

Now take the dough and carefully stretch it with your hands and fists. (DO NOT roll it out with a rolling pin - if you do this you wont get the air pockets in the dough). 

Put on your sauce and brush some olive oil on the crusts. 

Put on your toppings. 

And now cook it either in the oven on a pizza stone that has been preheating in the oven for at least 30 minutes. Preferably 45-60 min at the highest temperature possible. My oven comes up to 500 F. But even better put it on a pizza stone on the BBQ. I can only do this in summer because in the winter my BBQ doesnt get to a high enough temperature. 600 or 700 F in summer on the outside BBQ makes the pizza turn out AMAZING. 

(These pizza's here were cooked in the oven)