stroppycow - @ 20six.co.uk

something for the week-end

Since I keep landing on pages which feature recipes for cinnamon rolls I expect they must be the must-bake of the moment. I gave up long ago on following clothes fashion (I don't have the legs or the shopping-fu for it) but I wouldn't want to feel left out of a trend that justifies my eating vast quantities of sugar for breakfast.

So here we go:

Pile up the dry ingredients. 300g flour (I used chapati flour because it comes in a huge packet and my cupboards are small but any bread or plain flour will do), a sachet of yeast, a sachet of vanilla sugar, a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of sugar.

Pour the wet ingredients: 150ml of warm milk, 25g of melted butter and an egg yolk.

knead until you get an elastic dough.

cover and leave it to rise for an hour or so. I think the usual thing is to say until it has doubled in volume.

Roll out into a rectangle (it doesn't have to be thin)

Spread some melted butter on the dough (about 25g looked plenty to me but some recipes advocate more), sprinkle a mix of cinnamon (about a tablespoon) and brown sugar (I used 150g but you could probably get away with 100g).

roll it loosely (think swiss roll). Cut slices out of the roll and place them on their ends in a baking dish. Leave a little room to allow for further rising.

Cover and put in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, get up, make tea, while tea is brewing take the dish out of the fridge to allow for a bit more rising.

Declare it's too early to be up on a Sunday and go back to bed. Remember to take the tea bags out and to take the tea with you because it won't be so nice when you get back to the kitchen if you leave it to stew and cool down on the worktop.

Go back to the kitchen a little while later, warm up the over to 190o and bake the rolls (20 minutes should do it).

mix a little icing sugar with a bit of lemon juice and drizzle over the rolls and serve with the usual warnings about hot sugar.

26.10.07 20:28

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10 for creativity 1 for execution

Have you ever wondered what lengths some people will go to to avoid having to get dressed and walking the 5 minutes it takes to reach the corner shop?

If you have, wonder no more.

MFC's flatmate for example will go to the extent of fashioning her own loo roll by hacking a roll of kitchen towel in half with a bread knife.

I am still unsure why trimming to the right side was a worthy effort (it's not like it was then placed in the holder) but I am shallow and easily amused so I have to confess to have derived much amusement from the sight which welcomed me in their bathroom.

I also derived much amusement from MFC rolling his eyes and mumbling when he saw it (did I mention I'm shallow and easily amused?) but that's another story.

29.10.07 21:17

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Note to self

Remember to try and go back to Kastoori on a Sunday, just to try the items on the menu which are not available during the other days of the week. Not that what I picked wasn't pretty good, it did hit the spot, it's more that I wondered what was special about the Sunday only dishes that they can only be made once a week.

I guess while I'm at it I should make a another note not to scoff all the halwa. I guess I'll have to either dig up my recipe or try Vee's and make an other batch so MFC gets to have more than half a bite from the contents of the box this time.

30.10.07 19:53

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Happy pumpkin day

I wanted to make a charred corpse (via Not Martha ) for Halloween but the craft supplies were more expense than I could justify and MFC said it was too cold to even consider him digging up the body of one of the 'oes he buried on the Common.

Instead we had a pumpkin and I amateurishly carved it after emptying it of its innards. Of course I followed Diamond Geezer's guide to a greener halloween and used the flesh to make soup (see below) and I fried up the seeds with smoked paprika and salt to make a handy snack. I am still waiting for the kids to turn up so I can implement 6) of the guide though. Looks like local parents aren't so keen on reducing their family's footprint by sending them to knife wielding strangers (odd that no?)

Right, now for the soup. Unfortunately the pumpkin flesh was more yellow and tasteless than bright orange, sweet and tasty so it couldn't stand alone and needed help from a few extra ingredients.

Gently fried chopped onion; add 2 chopped carrots and the pumpkin innards; spice up with garam masala, cinnamon and chilli powder to taste; add a handful of orange lentils to thicken and enough vegetable stock to cover. Simmer until the veg are cooked, blitz until smooth, serve with freshly ground black pepper.

31.10.07 19:34

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