Category Archives: bread

Mexican Pulled Beef with Jalapeño Cheddar Corn Bread

20 Replies

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Mexican Pulled Beef with Jalapeño Cheddar Corn Bread, comfort food at its best!

        

Ingredients Chili;

  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 2.5 lbs. boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2 thick slices
  • 1 tsp. Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp. All Purpose Unbleached Flour
  • 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped fine
  • 3  garlic cloves, peeled and grated
  • 2 tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa (this is a must)
  • 2 tbsp. ground Cumin
  • 2 tbsp. sweet smoked paprika
  • ¼ cup tomato paste
  • 2 Tablespoon fresh oregano leafs or 2 teaspoon dried
  • 1/2 tsp. dried Thyme
  • 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, or to taste
  • 1/4 C. Chopped Coriander
  • 1 (15-ounce) cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 C. beef stock
  • 1-2 tbsp. Liquid Smoke
  • 1 – 2 tsp. chopped chipotle (depending on how hot you like it)
  • 1 tbsp. coconut sugar or sweetener of choice
  • 1/2 cinnamon stick
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tbsp. fresh Coriander leafs

Toppings; scallions, avocado chunks, sour cream, cheddar cheese, fried onion rings

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Method;

Turn on your slow cooker, set to high.

Meanwhile heat a large frying pan and add 3 tbsp. of oil. Season the beef with the salt and pepper and toss with the flour. Sear the beef on both sides and brown until quite dark. Transfer to the slow cooker

Next fry the onions in the pan with the remaining oil until golden add the garlic and cook for an other minute. Transfer to the slow cooker.

Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker, except the beans and Coriander leafs

Cook on high for 4 hours. After three hours add the beans. The cooking time depends on your slow cooker and the quality of the beef. So just check by pulling away a piece of beef with a fork. If it loosens easily transfer the beef to a cutting board or large platter. Leaving the beans in the pot. Pull the beef apart into chunky bits and shreds with two forks. Return to slow cooker. Heat thoroughly again for about half an hour  until ready to serve. Sprinkle generously with fresh Coriander leafs. Serve with Pumpkin Corn Bread and lots of toppings.

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Ingredients Jalapeño Cheddar Corn Bread;

  • 1 C. corn meal
  • 1 C. Spelt Flour
  • 2 tsp. Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp. dried Onion Powder
  • 1 tsp. honey
  • 1/2 C. corn kernels form a can, drained
  • 1/2 C. Cheddar cheese, grated
  • 3/4 C. unsweetened plain yoghurt
  • 1/2 C of milk  + 1 tbsp.
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1/2 Jalapeño, sliced and deseeded
  • 3 tbsp. olive oil

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Method;

Pre heat the oven to 425° F / 220° C

Put an 8″ cast iron skillet in the oven too to pre heat

In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients and stir to mix. Add the wet ingredients and stir to combine.

Remove the cast iron skillet from the oven with an oven mitt! Oil spray generously and pour the cornbread batter in the skillet.

Place on a rack in the middle of the oven and bake from 20-25 min.

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Maybe get some Mexican beer to go with it!

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High Fibre Health Bread

11 Replies

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Here is my go to bread, for daily use. Very high in fibre and super healthy. It’s a small compact loaf,  but one slice is an equivalent to a normal sized slice of bread, only ten times healthier. Pure grains and goodness and very filling.

Makes 1 small loaf

Needed : 8 Inch x 4 Inch Loaf Pan

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 C. + 2 tbsp.  milk of choice, warm about at 100 ° F
  • 2 tsp. Yeast
  • 1 tbsp. Organic Coconut Sugar
  • 2 C. Dark Rye Flour
  • 1 C. Plain Spelt Flour
  • 1/4 C. Oat Fiber
  • 1/4 C. Ground Flaxseed
  • 1 tsp. Pink Himalayan Salt
  • 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1/2 C. Cooked Rye or Organic Spelt Berries

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INSTRUCTIONS:

In a bowl, mix the warm milk with the sugar, add the yeast and stir to dissolve. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes until frothy. Add the olive oil.

In the bowl of your mixer fitted with the hook attachment, place the flours, the fibre and flax. Stir to mix a little.

When the yeast mixture is ready pour is slowly into the bowl with the flour. With the machine running on low. Once the yeast liquid is mixed in add the salt.

Knead for ten minutes on medium. The last minute add the whole cooked grains and mix in gently with the machine on low.

Turn out the dough, Knead a little and form in to a ball. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with oiled cling film. Let rise for at least two hours. Although is doesn’t rise much leave for this amount of time.

After this time, place the dough into the oiled baking tin, sprinkle over some oat fibre if you like. Cover loosely with oiled cling film and leave to rise again for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile pre heat the oven to 375 ° F / 190 C

Place the tin in the middle of the oven on  a rack, bake for about 40 minutes. Tap to see if it sounds hollow after this time. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely before slicing.

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Fig and Walnut Whole grain Spelt Braid

11 Replies

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I had been walking around with this recipe in my head for a few months now, but with the temperatures we’ve had this summer there was no way I was turning on the oven.

So, finally the weather has become more apt for baking and to be honest I have really missed baking.

This bread is great for accompanying cheeses like blue cheese or goat cheese because  of the slight sweetness of the figs. It also goes very well with Pate or Serrano ham.

Toasted the next day is delicious too…and it freezes well.

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Makes 1 small loaf

Ingredients:

1 C. warm milk regular or unsweetened soy , about 100° F

2 tsp. yeast

2 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. melted butter

1 1/2  C. whole grain spelt flour

1 1/2 C. plain spelt flour

1 tbsp. cocoa

1 1/2 tsp.salt

1/2 C. walnuts, chopped

2 1/2 oz. dried figs, chopped roughly

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Method:

Soak the figs in warm water for about 30 minutes.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk together with the honey. Let the yeast sit for 5-10 minutes or until frothy. Add the melted butter.

Put the flours with the cocoa in your mixing bowl, turn on the mixer fitted with the hook attachment and slowly add the milk/yeast/butter mixture. Mix it in and now add the salt.

Knead for 10 minutes, add the nuts and figs at the last minute, just enough to mix them in.

Turn out the dough to a floured surface and knead a few times, pushing the dough away from you with the palms of your hands and pulling it back with your fingers.

Shape into a ball and place in an oil sprayed bowl. Cover with cling film and let rise until double in bulk, about two hours.

Take the dough out of the bowl and place back on your floured work surface, give it just a little knead and shape into three sausages. Form a braid.  Place into a greased loaf pan. Cover again with cling film (which has been sprayed with oil) and cover loosely. Let rise again for 30 minutes.

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Pre heat the oven to 190 C / 375° F

Remove the cling film and place on a rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes. Check by tapping on the bread, if it sounds hollow it’s done.

Every oven is different so you really need to check the bread at around 30 minutes to see how it is going.

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Rye-Spelt bread

3 Replies

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Being a bread lover, I’m always looking for new ways with bread that don’t include wheat.  Not that I am gluten intolerant but I know that the wheat we consume today is a far cry from the original grain from 50 years ago. It has been terribly manipulated and now we are stuck with a grain that does more harm than good. It inflames our bodies, causes our guts to leak, and it triggers autoimmune diseases just to mention a few.

Nothing beats a home made bread and this way I know exactly what ingredients are used.  It takes fairly little time once you get the hang of it, and I don’t add as much salt. If you do like the salty flavour you could add some nutritional yeast to the recipe together with the salt I use, which is usually half the amount you are used to. Do give it a try, it is so much healthier than store-bought bread.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2  C. Whole grain Rye flour
  • 2 1/2  C.  plain Spelt flour
  • 2 tsp. instant yeast
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/4 C. luke warm water
  • 1/2 C. leftover black coffee, at room temperature. Either regular or decaf.*
  • 1 tbsp. cocoa powder*
  • 1 tbsp. coconut sugar
  • 1 egg beaten for glazing (omit for vegans)
  • 1 tbsp. oat flakes for decorating
  • optional: 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast, add with flour.
  • Add ins: 1 tbsp. whole flax seed, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a mixer fitted with the hook attachment, mix the two flours, the yeast, the cocoa, the sugar, the water and the coffee. Add seeds if you want. Mix on low for about five minutes, then add the salt. Now knead on medium speed for about ten minutes. Remove the dough, form a ball and put it to rest in an other bowl sprayed with some oil and cover with a damp cloth or some cling film. Leave to rise for two hours.

Now take the dough out of the bowl and spray the kneading surface with cooking spray. Knead briefly until it has a smooth even consistency (this will only take several turns of the dough to accomplish).  Place in greased loaf pan, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle over the oats.  Let rise in warm place until doubled. Bake at 375ºF for 25-30 minutes. To check if it’s ready tap on the bread, it should sound hollow.

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*The coffee and cocoa may sound odd in a bread recipe, you don’t really taste either one much, it just gives it a nice color and the cocoa does give it a velvety texture. You’ll see.