Are you a bread lover? If yes, I will surely recommend this home made raisin bread recipe to you. It is simple, soft and delicious. Since, my family is bread eater and they love bread to bits, I made this the other day and the result was satisfying. I will make it again and add nuts into it the next time. Nevertheless, bread is a healthy choice of breakfast and it can goes well with butter, jam, peanut butter, cheese or maple syrup! So, why not give it a try and eat them at home? *wink*
This recipe was adapted and modified from
Daily Delicious website Instead of making 2 separate dough for baking. I only made 1 dough and baked as a loaf.
For bread dough kneading:After searching for some bread kneading methods on the net. I saw a few on YOUTUBE and found this video is simply the best.
The method shown in steps, easy to follow and clear, especially for a first timer like me! Watch this if you are a first timer in making kneading bread. It is very helpful in how to knead a bread dough.
VIDEO on Kneading bread dough here
Ingredients:
200g Bread flour (I used Alce Nero Whole Wheat Spelt Flour)
1 tsp Instant dried yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
25g Unsalted butter (Soft)
140ml Whole milk
100g Raisin (I used Raisin & Mixed Fruits)
2 tbsp Dark rum / Water (I used water)
Egg wash (1 egg + 1tbsp water)
Methods:
1. Soak raisin in rum or water for at least 2 hours, preferable over night. Drained.
2. Place the baking paper in the baking loaf pan. This is to prevent bread stick on the tray.
3. Sift flour and yeast in a mixing bowl, whisk to combine. Add sugar and salt, whisk again.
4. Pour milk into the bowl, use a large spoon to mix everything together into a soft mess.
5. Take the dough out of the bowl, rub in the butter. Knead until dough is soft, smooth and elastic about 10 mins.
6. Roll the dough into square and sprinkle the raisin (drained) on the dough.
7. Knead lightly to incorporate the raisin into the dough.
8. Put the dough into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size about 1 hour.
9. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Take the dough out of the bowl.
10. Gently press down the dough and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to press the dough into a round shape about 18cm.
11. Roll into cyinder shape and place the dough to the baking loaf pan.
12. Cover the dough with cling film, let it rise until almost doubled size, about 30 minutes.
13. Brush with egg wash on top of the dough. Bake for 15 - 18 mins or until golden brown.
14. Test with a skewer, if the skewer comes out clean, the bread is well done.
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Making something simple, quick and easy is my all time favourite especially during week days which I have limited time for preparation. To ensure a wholesome nutritious meal, I just need to combined all these ingredients in an omelette, isn't it simple?
I had some fresh basil, chicken fillet & button mushroom in hand. It could be a good idea to combine all of them and make an omelette. To enhance the taste, I added some shredded cheese in between... hoala... what a savory dish!
Need not to say fresh basil is high in fibre, vitamins & plenty of goodness in it. By combining all the ingredients in an omelette you can also coax your little picky eater to eat all the vegetables in it too .... isn't it great?
With a touch of creamy cheesy shredded cheese in between makes the whole omelette more special & appetizing! A simple yet delicious dish for dinner is simply my all time favourite as a working mum!
Ingredients:
250gm Chicken fillet, diced
10 Fresh basil leaves, chopped
One handful of shredded cheese
10 pcs Button Mushroom, sliced
4 eggs, beaten lightly
Dash of white pepper
Dash of ground black pepper
Methods:
1. Marinate chicken fillet with chopped basil, ground black pepper & dash of salt.
2. Beat eggs with dash of white pepper and set aside.
3. Heat olive oil, sautee chicken fillet till 3/4 cooked, add in slice mushroom & sautee for 1 minute. Set aside.
4. Heat up olive oil again, pour 1/2 of the egg mixture in the non-stick pan.
5. Add in chopped fresh basil on the omelette, add in chicken and mushroom.
6. Add cheese and fold the egg into half. Fried both sides until omelette is set.
7. Dish up and repeat with the other 1/2 of the egg mixture.
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I would like to share with you some other simple yet delicious recipes
with fresh basil leaves here! Hope you like it!:
Pan Fried Fish with Basil
Stir Fry Prawns with Basil & Chilli
Basil Potato Patties
Seafood Baked Rice
Pesto is a very versatile sauce and can be used for variety of cooking. The most popular & well known, Pesto Pasta. It is simple and easy to prepare. Pesto sauce is made from fresh basil leaves, salt, garlic, pine nuts, cheese, olive oil and other optional ingredients. All these ingredients are combine and blend for a smooth flavored sauce
What is Pesto?
The name pesto comes from the same Latin root of "pestle," which is fitting as the sauce, in its simplest form, is made by crushing a few key ingredients together. There are two forms of pesto sauce, pesto alla genovese and pesto alla siciliana. The forms of the sauce are from Genoa and Sicily, respectively.
Pesto alla genoese is made with garlic, salt, extra virgin olive oil, Pecorino Sardo cheese, and Genoese basil. (It is important to note that Genoese basil is just one member of the large basil family.) The recipe for pesto alla siciliana is similar, but with tomatoes and less basil. It is widely accepted that the Genoese recipe for pesto, was the original recipe.
Pesto sauces, made with numerous different ingredients, have been part of Italian cuisines since Roman times. In addition to the two basic pesto recipes, others include red bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, walnuts, parmesan cheese, and ricottacheese. In fact, some pesto sauces are made with arugula instead of basil.
Pesto is a very versatile sauce and can be used as a bruschetta topping, on pasta, on cooked meats, and even in soups. A lovely way to explore pesto sauces is to buy a few different kinds, and make a platter of pesto bruschetta using each sauce.
In general, basil is a hearty plant. If you happen to live in a climate that favors basil plants, you may quickly find yourself with a garden full of the aromatic herb. Most basil plants grow year after year and will increase in size if they are planted in nourishing soil. While the herb is delicious to eat fresh from the bush in salads or as a pasta topping, it can also be preserved in the form of a pesto sauce.Reference from WiseGeek
When I first started being introduced to Pesto sauce, I was wondering besides than making pesto pasta which just toss with some spaghetti or fettuccine, what other way of cooking with pesto sauce? I started pesto sauce with "Toasted Bread with Pesto Sauce", added some sausages and cheese. It tastes so amazing! Since then, I have this liking of Pesto sauce and I find that it is one of the fantastic sauces for many ways of cooking! The fragrant of fresh basil, pine nuts, cheese & olive oil just a perfect combination!
This round I wanted to try out this simple recipe of stir fry chicken with pesto sauce, you may add in extra vegetables such as capsicum, asparagus, broccoli or carrot! This simple recipe can be ready in just 15 mins if you need to prepare a quick dinner! I might make some homemade pesto sauce in the future and keep it for quick cooking! If you do love Pesto sauce, give this a try!
 Ingredients:
400gm Chicken fillet (choose those that is suitable for stir frying)
200gm Cauliflower, cut into florets
2 tbsp Pesto Sauce (I used Alce Nero Organic Pesto Sauce)
Olive oil for stir frying
Marinate:
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Ground black pepper
1 tsp Dried basil leaves / mixed herbs
Methods:
1. Cut chicken fillet into strips. Marinade with the marinate ingredients.
2. Blanch cauliflower with hot boiling water for 3 mins. Drained and set aside.
3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil, stir fry chicken fillet till 3/4 cooked. Set aside.
4. With the remaining oil, fold in pesto sauce and bring to simmer.
5. Add in chicken fillet & cauliflower. Cook for 5 mins or until chicken is fully cooked.
6. Dish up and serve with rice or pasta.
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Happy 4th Birthday to my little boy! It was my boy's birthday last weekend. I had been thinking of making something special for him this year, something that is lovely, fantastic, creative and sweet looking! It has to be "Cupcakes with lovely decoration".
I was thrilled by those lovely and sweet looking decorated cupcakes long time ago, a new trend to replace the traditional birthday cakes. Those cupcakes have been populated in currently for birthdays, weddings, house parties, bridal's showers, baby full moon and many many more! Looking at those beautifully done cupcakes on the internet and some online cakes' house, I was inspired by them in making some myself for my son's 4th Birthday! Oh dear! Can you believe it those lovely cupcakes laying on the table with some candles lid on them? I just love to do it for my boy and to make the event more lively!
So, here I was, searching on the internet on those beautiful decorated cupcakes, some recipes on icing cream, cupcakes decoration and tips on doing icing piping! It is rather tough for a first timer like me, need to practice on those piping techniques! I had been searching for a new set of piping equipment but unable to get one that is suitable. So, I used my Mother-in-law's old piping tools. It was hard to adjust at the beginning, need a lot of practice and concentration to do it. So, instead of doing those difficult piping and decoration, I started with something simple and easy to make. I just wanted to write my boy's name on each of the cupcakes and accompany by some other decorated cupcakes! Simple experiment for the first time.
Adjusting and combining colours also is a challenging job for cupcakes decoration. You need to plan ahead on those combination of colour tones and design. What a awesome project to be done! But, the satisfaction is great and to get a smile on my little boy's face is worthy! Here are some of the simple decorated cupcakes on my boy's birthday!
Instead of using cupcake recipe, I used my "humble muffin" recipe. Hope you will like it too!
Recipe for Muffin here
Recipe for Cupcake here
Recipe for the icing:
Ingredients:
500gm icing sugar
250gm Butter (I used Anchor brand)
Colouring Liquid
Methods:
1. Combine both ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Gently cream until well combine or light cream colour.
3. Divide into few portions. Add each of your desired colour separately.
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A cupcakes site that I admired:
I love Cupcakes- This is a lovely home based cupcakes online business which comes with variety of designs and flavours. I really admire those beautifully decorated cupcakes done by this Mommy!
