PULL APART LEMON BREAD
I have ALWAYS wanted to bake a loaf bread ever since I was in high school, and yes that was a LOOONNG time ago. I remember when I was in form 3 (grade 11) one of my classmates had a bread cook book that I borrowed for quite a long time and I read it from cover to cover every other day for about a month and I was kind of hooked on the idea of making bread.
Well almost a decade later and I never tried to make a loaf of bread till last weekend.
I saw this recipe first on Pinterest. When I followed the link I found it on Clockwork Lemon she calls it pull apart lemon coffee cake, but I didn’t see the “coffee” part nor feel the cake part so I dropped the two tags. Any who I thought it looked sooo interesting and sooo delicious, I just had to try it.
So last weekend my gals Mo and Mona came over and as Mona drunk, I kneaded and Mo wrongly filed my recipes (the girl has no idea about file organization!!! She even punched all my recipes on the wrong side!!!!!! <3) Anyway I digress. The process was not as hard as I thought. For the first part I used my hand mixer and the kneading was not for that long BUT the waiting was excruciating. In total you have to let the dough rest and rise for about 2 hours, bake for about 40 mins and not forgetting the time it takes to prepare, look for ingredients etc so you can easily get impatient. So we sat, napped, drunk and 4 hours later the bread was ready and smelling amazing. Of course we all baked the bread the drunkard and the faux secretary included. The bread was so nice, it tasted as though it had marmalade on it already. I think I would use a little less sugar the next time though. This is what the original bread from Clockwork lemon looked like
I did not have cream cheese so I did not make the icing but I honestly think it is not really necessary due to the fact that the bread has a lot of sugar but could be worth the try. Because this was my first attempt on bread I did not change a thing, But with too much sugar or not this bread is definitely worth trying out.
HAPPY BAKING!!!
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (You might not use all of this)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) instant yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 2 ounces unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (2 fluid ounces) water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- Zest of three lemons
- 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
- 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
In the microwave heat the butter and the milk together until the butter melts. Set aside to cool slightly.
While it is cooling Mix two cups of the flour with the yeast and the sugar in the bowl of a mixer.
add the water to the milk mixture and stir in the vanilla extract
Pour the milk mixture over the flour mixer and stir until combined.
Turn the mixer on low speed and add the eggs one at a time, mixing each egg until it is combined. Add another ½ cup of the flour and the salt and mix till combined.
Sprinkle the dough with 2 tbsp of flour and knead it with the dough hook for 3 minutes. The dough will be sticky but should become soft and smooth from the kneading. Place the dough in a large bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
Make Ahead Tip: If you want to make the dough the night before you bake it just gently deflate the dough after its first rise, place back in the bowl and cover it with plastic. Stick it in the fridge overnight (it will continue to rise, but at a much slower rate. Plus you get added flavor in the bread from the benefit of a slow, cold rise) The next day take the dough out and bring it to room temperature before proceeding with the next steps. I like to cover my dough with a damp piece of paper towel and stick it in my oven at the lowest temperature until it is room temp
Mix the sugar, lemon zest, and orange zest. It will draw out the citrus oils and make the sugar sandy and fragrant.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan or spray it will baking spray
Forming the loaf: Deflate the dough with your hand. Flour a work surface and roll the dough into a 20" by 12" rectangle. This part is a lot easier with a ruler on hand! Use a pastry brush to thickly coat the dough with the melted butter
Use a pizza cutter, pastry cutter, or a sharp knife to cut the dough crosswise in five strips, each about 12" by 4" (it might not be this exact size, but try to make the five strips be equal sizes).
Sprinkle 1 1/2 tablespoons of the lemon sugar over the first buttered rectangle and gently press the sugar in. Top it with a second rectangle, sprinkling that one with 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon sugar as well. Continue to top with rectangles and sprinkle, so you have a stack of five 12" by 4" rectangles, all buttered and topped with lemon sugar.
1Slice this new stack crosswise, through all five layers, into 6 equal rectangles (each should be 4"by 2".) Carefully transfer these strips of dough into the loaf pan, cut edges up, side by side. it might be a little roomy, but the bread will rise and expand after baking. Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until puffy and almost doubled in size, 30 to 50 minutes.
Bake the loaf for 20 minutes and then check to make sure that top isn’t browning too quickly. If it is, just cover the top of the loaf with tinfoil and continue baking. My loaf took a little over 50 minutes to bake completely ( I think this is because I was using a microwave convention the original recipe took about 40 mins). When done, transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the cream cheese icing. Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth, then add the milk and lemon juice. Stir until creamy and smooth. Spread over the warm bread (you might want to put some plastic wrap or parchment paper under the bread to catch the drips)
15. HAPPY EATING!!
https://www.themothershipvillage.com/pull-apart-lemon-bread/
HASSELBACK POTATOES
So I saw this photo up on Pinterest. I actually saw it through a friend I was following and one of her friends had Pinned it, I know long string.
Anyway I just had to try it, I love potatoes anyway they are made I love them. My friends like making fun of me and saying its because of what part of the country I am from, well maybe it is 🙂 but bottom line is potatoes are GREAT. It was put under the name of sliced baked potato but I did some research and found out that it’s a Swedish version of roast potatoes with the above name This meal took about 30mins in the oven. Its easy as. I made two I used salt in one and aromat (spiced salt with flavouring) in the other they were both as good. Next time I’ll try and put in some garlic see how it goes.
The last photo is the one that was pinned on pinterest, looks a bit different from mine guess coz the potato was bigger and they cooked for longer. But truth be told it is very hard to get a meal looking like what someone else has posted on the net. I had this with a seared steak and it was quite nice. HAPPY EATING!!
Method
Thinly slice the potato almost all the way through. drizzle with butter, olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 220 degrees Celsius for about 40 min. EASY PEASY!!! HAPPY EATING!!
CITRUS CHICKEN WITH CORIANDER SERVED WITH GREEN SALAD
A couple of my readers have been urging me to post a few healthier recipes once in a while seeing as they are all trying to loose some weight. According to my cousin Ciku its time for operation nyorosha tumbo (flatten stomach). I tend to love green salads. Unfortunately for you guys I did not mix this one, I bought the premixed out available in the fresh food section of Nakumatt, they sell it for Ksh.99/=. I think they mix baby spinach and romaine lettuce, it is great. If you do not want to buy the premixed one you can make your own using lettuce, rocket, baby spinach etc. I then added one tomato, grated half a large carrot and sliced half a small onion into it. I reckon it’s quite a healthy meal save for the fact that I am obsessed with 1000 island dressing so I used that. I think it would be just as great with the healthier and less fatty dressing.
The chicken is about 270 cal per serving and it tastes great. The biggest advantage to it is how fast it is to make, I came from the office yesterday at around 6.05pm I sliced the chicken mixed up the marinade and chicken and was of to work out by 6.15. Came back at 7.30pm put it in the oven hit the shower and by the time I was out dinner was ready :-). HAPPY COOKING!!
Ingredients
- 500g chicken breast fillet
- 60ml (¼ cup) olive oil
- 80ml (1/3 cup) lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)
- 3 tablespoons fresh coriander
- salt and pepper to taste
- Green salad (pre made)
Instructions
Slice up the breast fillet into strips Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, coriander, salt and pepper in a bowl
Place the breast into the bowl and mix up. At this point you can place it in the fridge to marinate or cook immediately
Bake for 15-20 mins or until tenderloins are tender ( when I make enough just for me about 10 mins is enough)
Serve with the green salad
You can swap the coriander for oregano if you wish. Many people say chicken goes well with oregano but i honestly can not stand that herb but I guess you can always try it for yourself.
