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Thursday 20 October 2016

Summary of Food Blogs 101-150

I have had numerous requests from individuals for recipes that were published in the past. A couple of people have asked that I publish all of them in a book, and others have suggested a compilation blog, with links to the kitchen blogs only. I'll keep the book idea on ice for now, but here is the third installment of the summary blogs in the meantime. Links, photos, and introductory paragraphs all included. Enjoy!
Recipe Blogs 51-100
Recipe Blogs 101-150


Blog 101 - Baking Extra Fiber Rusks
"I have shared a number of recipes for rusks with you, but I am always experimenting and recently perfected one of my newer favorite recipes. For this one I concentrated on adding extra fiber to the rusks to help with you know what. Not only does it serve its purpose, but it is delicious as well. Let me walk you through the recipe."


Blog 102 - Making Green Curry Mince
"I love a good curry and have blogged about a number of curries before. Yet, I have not shared a recipe for a quick mince curry with you yet. I start this one in the morning before work, allow the meat to marinate during the day, and cook it for supper. Aside from the marinating time, it is a quick and easy dish to prepare that is ready in minutes."


Blog 103 - Baking Wholewheat Buchy With A Sourdough Starter
"This popular breakfast bread originates from the regions of Poland and Germany. It is slightly sweet and makes for a wonderful meal with an early morning cup of coffee. Traditionally it is baked with White Bread Flour only, by I add a cup of wholewheat flour for taste. This way I loose none of the tender softness of the bread, but I gain loads in flavour. As always, I bake it with my sourdough starter as raising agent, but I'll give tips for using alternative raising agents in the text."


Blog 104 - Making Delicious Cheese & Corn Flapjacks
"I had been sewing all day and did not even look in the direction of the kitchen, when it suddenly dawned on me that it was time for dinner. It was a wild scramble deciding what to put on the table that could be achieved in a very short time. My mom suggested flapjacks and we brainstormed until we settled on cheese & corn flapjacks. I grabbed the camera to record what we did in case it worked out brilliantly and we wanted to do it again. It did! And we will! Fortunately that means I can now share this brand new family favourite with you as well."


Blog 105 - Baking Kachakuri With Chakalaka Using A Sourdough Starter
"Kachakuri is a traditional Georgian bread parcel filled with cheese. However, down here in the South of Africa, we like our meals with a bit of zing and what better way to add it than to use good ole traditional Chakalaka? I show you how to give this ages old tradition an African twist in today's blog. As always, I use my Sourdough starter to give rise to the occasion."



Blog 106 - Baking A Sicilian Scroll With A Sourdough Starter
"The Sicilian Scroll is baked with 80% Semolina and only 20% White Bread Flour. Semolina is slow to digest and therefore you will feel full for longer. This is truly a natural Los GI bread! As Semolina is derived from Duram Wheat, you sacrifice nothing in taste. Use this same recipe in a traditional bread pan, and you will have a wonderfully tasty Low GI home-baked bread."


Blog 107 - Baking Mallorcan Ensaimadas With A Sourdough Starter
"Ensaimada is Spanish for cake made from sweet coiled pastry and it originates from Mallorca. I have shared a number of sweet bread recipes with you, but none is such a firm favourite with everyone as this is. It is a deliciously soft pastry that seems to melt in your mouth with a feint hint of caramel due to the use of sugar and butter. Irresistibly good!"


Blog 108 - Baking A White Bread Using Your Sourdough Starter
"I have shared a previous recipe for baking white bread using your sourdough starter. However, I have developed a much simpler recipe for this common household bread and share this with you in today's blog. As always, I will give advice for the use of alternative raising agents as well."


Blog 109 - Deep-fried Viskuite in Hondeklipbaai
"If you find yourself in idyllic Hondeklipbaai in the Northern Cape of South Africa, you have to make sure that you wait at the docks for the fishermen to return with their catch of the day. You can buy a whole snoek for the price of two meals at a cheap restaurant! They will clean and salt it for you while you wait. If you are really clever, you will ask them to collect some viskuit (spawn) in a bag for you. Ask them nicely, and they will clean that for you as well. This was my introduction to viskuit and it was prepared by a friend, but let me share this Coastal delicatessen with you today."



Blog 110 - Baking a Western Cape Loaf With A Sourdough Starter
"Today's loaf is a lovely White Bread Loaf that is good on its own. However, I add a twist to the loaf when I add some leftover goodies from my trip to the Western Cape to the dough. We all have things like these around the house, though they may differ from the ones I used. I'll walk you through some options when we get to it in the recipe."


Blog 111 - Baking Parker House Rolls With A Sourdough Starter
"Today's delicious buns has their origin in the famous Parker House Hotel of Boston. It is a rather ordinary white bread bun, but what makes it very intriguing is the fancy way in which it is folded over. We add a bit of a twist when I show you how to use your sourdough starter to give rise to these rolls."


Blog 112 - Making Creamy Garlic Snails
"Snails may not be everyone's idea of a delicious meal, but those of us who enjoy it are usually sold out lovers of the dish. I share a friend's recipe for cooking creamy garlic snails in less time than you could imagine in today's blog. This is truly an incredibly delicious meal served with any of the freshly baked breads I have blogged about. My preference leans towards a plain White Bread Loaf."


Blog 113 - Baking a Quick Milk Bread Loaf Using A Sourdough Starter
"There are times when I have very little time to bake a loaf of bread and at those times it is necessary to know how to approach the art of bread baking in a way that allows for a much shorter time span. In today's blog I show you how to cheat time and still deliver brilliantly home-baked bread to your guests. I bake a Milk Bread Loaf in this blog and then adapt the same recipe in tomorrow's blog to bake a Wholewheat Loaf as well."


Blog 114 - Baking a Quick Wholewheat Loaf Using A Sourdough Starter
"In the previous blog I showed you how to 'cheat' at baking bread when you are pressed for time so you could deliver a delicious home-baked bread in half the time. I use the same recipe that I used to bake yesterday's Milk Bread Loaf, to bake today's Wholewheat Loaf, swapping out a couple of ingredients only."


Blog 115 - School Holiday Project 33: Baking Fruit & Nut Scones
"While waiting for the glue and paint to dry in the previous project, the kids asked me of we could bake something. I figured this was a fun way of passing the time and agreed that we could bake some quick and easy scones. To make things a little more interesting, I decided to add some fruit and nuts and this turned out brilliantly. The whole batch disappeared within seconds of coming from the oven and I was lucky to be able to grab one to photograph before it too disappeared. You really have to try these!"


Blog 116 - School Holiday Project 34: Baking Lemon Meringue Pie
"In yesterday's blog I showed you how to do a very quick and easy baking project with the younger kids. In today's blog, we do something a little more tricky with the older and more experienced kids when we bake a delicious lemon meringue pie. The only reason this project is a little more challenging, is because it requires of the child to make a pastry, a filling as well as a meringue. The techniques, however, are as easy as ... well ... pie!"


Blog 117 - Making Bottled Curry Beetroot
"I love vegetables and can not imagine cooking for anyone who is not as sold on the idea of fresh veggies as I am. However, sometimes this quest for making fresh veggies land me in hot water when I buy too much at the local vegetable market. This is what happened recently when I got beetroot at an incredibly good price! Has that ever happened to you as well? As beetroot does not have a very long shelf life there was nothing else for it, but to bottle the excess. I share my recipe for bottled curry beetroot with you in today's blog."


Blog 118 - Baking A Quick Light Rye Bread
"It is true that we don't always have time to bake a proper bread where we wait for the sourdough to develop, knock back the dough and start the waiting all over again. Life gets rushed and we need to find quicker ways of doing the things we like. This is why I have started sharing a couple of recipes with you for baking your own bread in a fraction of the time required for proper sourdough bread. In today's blog I share one of these quick recipes for baking a light rye loaf."


Blog 119 - Baked Spinach & Feta Pie
"I had bought a huge bag of Spinach at the market and we all loved it, but after eating about half of what was prepared it was time to do something new with the leftovers. This was the perfect time to bake a Spinach & Feta Pie. I show you how easy this is to do in today's blog. Best is that this is extremely healthy as well!"


Blog 120 - Baking A Kumquat Marmalade Butter Cake
"This recipe happened as a result of having bought some kumquats that were too sour to eat. I played around with a number of ideas and decided to turn the fruit into a lovely marmalade. However, as everyone was begging me to bake them a cake, I decided to bake a plain butter cake and to use the marmalade as a topping for the cake. It turned out beautifully and this may very well be my new favourite marmalade. You can, of course, use the marmalade on toast as well!"


Blog 121 - Baking A Moist Carrot Cake
"I have been craving a deliciously moist carrot cake for over a week. Normally I would wait for such a craving to pass, but when this one didn't I decided that there was nothing else to do, but to bake it. I have been wanting to experiment with my proven recipe for a while and today was going to give me the opportunity to do so. It was everything I hoped for, satisfied my craving, and was such a hit with the family that I decided to blog the recipe for your benefit as well. Fortunately I had gotten into the habit of taking photos of everything I make or bake, making it easy to blog about those things that turn out too good not to share!"


Blog 122 - Baking An Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake
"I am sure that if you have been following my blogs regularly, you will know that I am always open to new ideas and influences and I share these with you. However, every so often, I long for something from my childhood years and I recently got an urge to bake a typical old-fashioned chocolate cake. To do this, I went back to one of the very first recipes I ever baked and this is what I share with you in today's blog."


Blog 123 - Sourdough Women
"I have done a number of blogs on sourdough and using your own sourdough starter in your baking. Today's blog overlaps these previous blogs to a degree, but it has a completely different aim. I once again start off by showing you how to grow your own sourdough starter, but the intention of the blog is slightly more inspirational than practical. In my travels and dealings with people, I continue to cross paths with women who I refer to as sourdough women. These are women, who on a small scale, have a huge impact on their community. Just like a little bit of sourdough has the ability to leaven a whole batch of dough, these women have the ability to transform their own communities. This blog is a tribute to those women."


Blog 124 - Baking A Bread Loaf Using Baking Powder As Raising Agent
"The norm is certainly to bake bread with yeast or a sourdough starter as raising agent. Equally, the norm is to bake cake using baking soda or baking powder as raising agent. This has not always been the case. Before the arrival of baking powder and baking soda, yeast and sourdough starters were commonly used to give rise to cakes. Today we turn the tables on bread when we bake a loaf using baking powder as the raising agent. Quite delicious, I might tell you!"


Blog 125 - Baking A Georgian Beer Bread
"Today's bread is completely different from what we have become accustomed to. This time we do not use any yeast or sourdough to make the bread rise. We do not even bake the bread with a dough! Instead, we mix a batter with baking powder as its raising agent. This lovely light and very flavourful bread hails from Georgia and is traditionally baked with beer as the added liquid."


Blog 126 - Baking A Sourdough Double Cheese Pizza
"I have shared a couple of blogs about making homemade pizza using your sourdough starter. The truth is that we have become quite spoiled by this and find store-bought pizza lacking in taste. It is not so much the toppings, as it is the dough itself. Even the crusts get eaten! I share another of these great pizza recipes with you in today's blog. This time I use a double cheese topping to make it a little more special."


Blog 127 - Baking A Sourdough Garlic Loaf
"If you like the taste of pizza, then today's loaf is for you. It has all the flavours of Italy captured in one loaf. We use the traditional Italian spices, garlic and polenta  to make today's loaf. It goes without saying that we once again use our lovely sourdough starter to give rise to this treat."


Blog 128 - Baking A Wholewheat Soda Bread
"Soda Bread is a little known type of bread that uses no sourdough or yeast to rise. Instead, baking soda is added as raising agent. This is the ideal bread to bake when you have zero time to wait for yeast to react, as you simply mix the dough and pop the loaf in the oven, just as you would do with a cake. It will never be my favourite bread as it lacks somewhat in elasticity and flavour, but it certainly is very handy to know this recipe when you suddenly find yourself in a pinch and need to produce bread in next to no time."


Blog 129 - Baking A Pumpkin Bread With A Sourdough Starter In A Kettle Braai
"This blog covers two things we have not done with bread yet. We add a vegetable, namely pumpkin, to the dough. I'll share some more recipes for these delicious options in the future. What is even more extraordinary though, is that we then bake the loaf inside a Kettle Braai over the fire. I'll share the info for traditional oven baking as well, but it does open up new possibilities, doesn't it?"


Blog 130 - Baking A Moroccan Ksra With A Sourdough Starter In A Kettle Braai
"Ksra is a flat bread traditionally baked in Morocco. I have adapted the recipe ever so slightly to accommodate our lovely sourdough starter, although I am quite sure that there will be a traditional recipe out there that already makes use of a sourdough starter. Ksra is a wonderfully flavoured bread with a distinct aroma of aniseed. It is slightly chewy and is traditionally torn off and dipped into a stew made in a tajine. It goes just as well with cheese and tomato, or accompanying a soup. I baked my Ksra in a kettle braai over the fire, but I will give you directions for conventional oven baking as well."


Blog 131 - Baking Greek Honey & Lemon Cake
"When asked to bring something to eat to an afternoon tea party, I was unsure whether it had to be sweet or savoury. A non-committal answer to the question did not clarify it either. This is a good time to bring Greek Honey and Lemon Cake. This lovely cake is not overly sweet, is definitely not savoury, yet leaves a very fresh after taste in the mouth due to the use of lemons. It is also a slightly healthier alternative to most cakes as it does not have any refined sugar added, and a large part of its starch is made up of semolina. This certainly makes it the perfect cake for an afternoon tea."


Blog 132 - Slow-Cooked Mediterranean Beef Stew
"It is not always possible to make a wholesome meal when we are living such rushed lives. This is when a slow-cooker comes in very handy. I share a lovely recipe for making a slow-cooked beef stew with tastes reminiscent of the Mediterranean, in today's blog. The beauty of this dish is that you can put it in the slow-cooker before you leave for work, and will be ready to serve when you walk back in the door."


Blog 133 - Homegrown Stirfry
"There are some veggies that are truly South African and probably available in every house at just about any give time. In today's blog, I show you how to make a delicious stirfry with these everyday vegetables, without compromising anything on the quality or taste of the dish."


Blog 134 - Cheesy Bacon Muffins
"I was visiting a friend recently to assist her in launching a huge fund raising function. On the day before the event, we were to join the decor team at the venue to oversee the setup. The sound team, and various other parties were also scheduled to drop by. As the venue was a little removed from the town and ready access to shops, we decided that we would prepare a refreshment station with snacks for the different role players. I volunteered to bake some muffins. The problem was that I did not have any recipe books with me. This simply meant that I had to experiment a little and that is how these muffins came to be late at night during a very busy week. I am very happy to report that they met with everyone's satisfaction and turned out quite delicious. The cheese and bacon ensured that they were lovely and moist, as well as flavorful, the ideal snack for people on the go."


Blog 135 - Flapjacks With Baking Soda
"Today's experiment is actually the result of a kitchen mishap. A friend of mine inadvertently filled her cocoa container up with baking soda. She was convinced that she would have to dump the odd mixture when I happened upon her. I asked permission to experiment a little and she left the mixture in my care. As the ratio of baking soda to cocoa was only about 2:1, I figured I did not even have to take the cocoa into too much consideration. An effortless batter to mix would be flapjacks and I quickly came up with this recipe that proved quite delicious. Happily, as always, I took photos of the process and can share the results with you in today's blog."


Blog 136 - Summary Of A Pretty Talent's Bread Recipes
"I have shared a number of lovely bread recipes with you over the course of the past couple of months. Included in these are sweet and savory varieties, some rusks and even some tea cakes. While most of the recipes make use of yeast or sourdough, some use baking powder or baking soda as raising agent. These recipes have been conveniently collected in this one summarizing blog so you could have a quick and ready access to these blogs. Happy baking!"


Blog 137 - Baking A Herb Loaf With A Sourdough Starter
"When visiting a friend recently, I took my bottle of sourdough starter along. To be completely honest, I tend to always do this when going away for an lengthy time. My friend was happy to turn her kitchen over to me and I rummaged through her cupboards to see what I had to work with. I found a great selection of dried herbs in this kitchen and promptly decided to bake a Herb Loaf. Unfortunately the oven was somewhat less than reliable. However, my friend had a handy tabletop convection oven and I decided to try this out. It would be my first time baking a loaf in an oven like this and I was curious to see how well it performed. I share this, as well as conventional oven methods in the blog today."


Blog 138 - Baking Chili & Tomato Flatbread With A Sourdough Starter
"Today's loaf is a wonderful accompaniment to any meat dish and especially with a braai (barbecue). The delectable flavors that go both into and on top of the bread makes this a popular one with most of the family. Adding the chili sauce could be considered optional, but I highly recommend it. The fact that it is a flatbread hastens the time it takes for the bread to rise and it could very well be ready under two hours on a hot day."


Blog 139 - Baking A Honeymoon Loaf With A Sourdough Starter
"Today's Loaf is a very interesting one. We actually prepare both a white bread and a brown bread dough, seasoned with some sweet spices. The dough is then rolled into two 'strings', which are twisted into each other, before being rolled up in a pan.. It is exactly this intertwining of two individual components, combined with the sweet spices, that led to the name of the loaf."


Blog 140 - Beef Short Rib Stew In The Slow Cooker
"In the previous blog I shared the recipe for the aromatic Honeymoon loaf that has been flavored with sweet spices. This tear and share loaf is the perfect accompaniment for a spicy meat dish. In today's blog I share the recipe for Beef Short Rib Stew prepared in a slow cooker. When done, the meat will literally fall from the bone and the dish will be lovely and hot. How hot, depends entirely on how generous you are with the addition of hot sauce. However you prefer it, I recommend you put this large pot in the middle of the table along with the Honeymoon Loaf, allowing everyone to tear a piece of the bread off and dip it in the stew."


Blog 141 - Bake A Wholegrain Curry Loaf With A Sourdough Starter
"We are busy with all sorts of flavoured breads and I am having a great time, as I like my food a little hot and spicy. Today's loaf is filled with flavour. It has a combination of three flours, sour milk, and the sourdough starter at its heart. And then, as if that is not enough, we add a dash of curry powder to boot! The flavours in this bread will actually increase with time, although it may prove a challenge to keep any for the next day!"


Blog 142 - Bake A Coconut Wheel
"Today's bread is a delicious blend of all the flavours I love in my favourite crunchy cookies. The bread is semi-sweet and filled with coconut. A hint of peanuts adds a whole new dimension to the taste experience. This bread wheel is delicious on the tea table, or as an accompaniment with a meal."


Blog 143 - Potato Salad With Homemade Mayo
"Potato salad is nothing new, but it remains eternally popular with potato lovers the world over. We were well on our way with making a potato salad today when we suddenly realized that there was no mayo in the house! No problem. It takes only a few minutes to make your own delicious homemade mayo. I show these easy steps in today's blog."


Blog 144 - Strawberry & Coconut Scones
"A young teenage girl came to visit and expressed the desire for scones. I told her we could whip it up in next to no time and we moved to the kitchen to do just that, when she suggested we add coconut and jam. I liked this idea and turned on my heel to grab the camera in case it turned out to be a winner. It was! We did not have any cream handy, but I can just imagine how great that addition would make it!"


Blog 145 - Making Green-pepper & Onion Flapjacks
"I was still away from home, visiting a friend who was going through a rough patch. One slow Saturday morning, we awoke a little later than usual and it was well passed breakfast time before we finally made our way to the kitchen. Supplies were running low and it was time to hit the shops. I scrounged around before coming up with the idea to use our last egg to make us some flapjacks for brunch. We had one green-pepper and a few onions left. I decided to add this to the batter and quite accidentally developed a very delicious variation on this trusted favorite. Of course I photographed the whole process for possible blogging purposes!"


Blog 146 - Baking A Pepper Ring Using A Sourdough Starter
"Today's bread is so filled with flavour that it is hard to summarize it in a few short sentences. We add three different peppers to the dough, and add beef stock as a liquid. Then pack it with green-peppers, onion and tomato to boot. This is indeed a must-have loaf!"


Blog 147 - Baking Split Rolls With A Sourdough Starter
"Today we are baking very simple rolls. There isn't much to the ingredients, as they are very plain in taste, but we dandy them up a little by giving them a double split on top. These very neutral tasting rolls are a guaranteed hit with everyone and very easy to include in a lunchbox. I sprinkle some flour on before baking them, but if you are baking these for smaller kids, you may prefer to leave this off, as it could become a little messy when they eat it."


Blog 148 - Baking An Aniseed Rye Loaf Using A Sourdough Starter
"I arrived home after an extended trip to find my mom in agony with her digestive system acting up. With me being absent, they had reverted back to eating store-bought bread and it was telling on her. I fed my sourdough starter and set about baking a flavorful bread for everyday use. I decided on a light rye loaf with my mom's favorite aniseed added for extra flavor. I share this lovely recipe in today's blog. Relief was not instantaneous for my mom, but in a few days, we had her digestive track in a much healthier state once again."


Blog 149 - Baking A Magnesium Replenishment Fish Pie
"A tummy bug had been doing the rounds and, though we were all better, we were still feeling lethargic and weak. Pilchards are rich in magnesium and a quick pick-me-up after such an event, or even after severe blood loss. I decided to make a quick fish pie that would not require too much effort. I share this surprisingly delicious recipe in today's blog."


Blog 150 - Baking A Banana Loaf Using A Sourdough Starter
"Visiting my sister-in-law, I saw a couple of overly ripe bananas in her kitchen and suggested she baked a banana bread. She admitted that she had intended to do so, only to discover that her oven wasn't working. I opted to take the bananas with me and return with a banana bread for a second visit. Arriving home, I thought it would be a great opportunity to experiment with using my sourdough starter to bake a banana bread. I did exactly that and was so impressed with the results, that I simply had to share the recipe."


Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
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