New Year Goodies – Beer Bread, Savoury Chocolate Biscuits and Ginger Snaps

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beer bread, biscuits, brunch, cheese, cookies, ginger, savoury biscuits, snack

The beautiful antique plate is Minton’s China Aster dating from 1861. Many thanks to The Collector for the kind loan.

Happy New Year everyone! It’s the first week of 2013 and I’m wondering what it has in store for us. The New Year finds me in the middle of a huge change, as I’ve packed in my “proper” job (you know, one that actually pays me a salary at the end of the month) to go off and work for a friend of mine who is starting his own company. Yes, a startup. A very popular word nowadays! There are people out there who surely think I’m nuts, especially since my job was with the British civil service. In these days of “The Crisis” the advice one tends to hear is “if you have a job stay put”. Well, I don’t really agree. Actually I think it’s kind of a miserable approach towards the one activity that takes up the largest chunk of our day – and our life for that matter. And we have enough misery around us, just by turning on the news. Of course not all situations are the same, and yes, I have the luxury of a support network, but I truly believe everyone should try their hardest to do something they are happy with. Don’t get me wrong, I spent 5 happy years working for an organization I have a lot of respect for, but the time was slowly arriving when I’d be ready for a change. So when the opportunity presented itself I grabbed it.

What will I be doing? Well, I’m going to keep you in suspense for a while. I have to work out what I can say here and when. Some elements have to be kept secret for a bit.  Gosh doesn’t that sound interesting?!

So for now I’ll stick to these gorgeous recipes. This is a platter of goodies I put together on New Year’s Day, most of which I spent lying in bed reading a good detective novel, drinking tea and snacking! I made these on New Year’s Eve, during a sudden urge to bake; they are perfect for midmorning snacking as they’re all somewhere between sweet and savoury and can be enjoyed as either. The chocolate biscuits are really interesting as you get the satisfaction of chocolate without too much sweetness and they can be paired fabulously with mature cheddar – just as Pigling Bland suggests in her Tales. It’s made me seriously rethink the amount of sugar I normally use in cookies; do I really need it? The ginger snaps are pure heaven smeared with a bit of butter – a discovery made by my mum the previous evening – but are also lovely dunked in tea. The strong ginger taste combined with the hot tea gives your mouth a sort of burning feeling but in a good way. Try taking a bite, chewing a bit, then washing it down with a gulp of hot tea. Aaahh. Can’t describe it.

Finally, the beer bread tipped the scales a bit further towards the savoury, creating a perfect balance. Again, butter makes it better. But what isn’t made better with butter? (I think I’ve got a bit of a slogan going there…). I remember seeing something on a blog, or maybe it was Twitter, about an apron that said on the front “Life is short, eat the damn butter”. I want that apron! The original recipe calls for pouring melted butter over the bread when it comes out of the oven. Surprisingly I haven’t tried that yet, but will do soon. This is my own version and it turned out great, but check my “Next Time” notes for my thoughts on improving it.

As I didn’t really make any changes to the first two recipes, I’ll just link back to the original sites. So we have:

• Savoury Chocolate Biscuits (Cookies) by Tales of Pigling Bland. I didn’t have poppy seeds so I left them out, thus not using the egg wash either. They would have been prettier with the seeds.
• Ginger Snaps by Alton Brown on the Food Network. I couldn’t be bothered to grate fresh ginger so left that out. The biscuits were gingery enough, but if you like them proper gingery then take the time do it. Or maybe add more dried ginger.

Top right: beer bread, bottom: ginger snaps, top left: savoury chocolate biscuits

Beer Bread with Sundried Tomatoes and Amfilochia Cheese

Adapted from Beer Bread, 4 Ways by Bake at 350

Ingredients

3 cups self-raising flour
5 Tbs (60gr) chopped sundried tomatoes
3 Tbs sugar
1 ½ tsp dried oregano
330ml (about 12oz) Newcastle Brown Ale
1 cup Graviera Amfilochias (a strong Greek cheese, substitute with Parmesan or Pecorino or Grana Padano)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a loaf pan with grease proof paper (parchment).
2. Put the flour in a large bowl. Spoon a little bit onto a plate and add the chopped sundried tomatoes. Mix them up so the tomato pieces are coated with the flour. Set aside.
3. Mix the sugar and oregano into the flour in the bowl.
4. Add the beer and stir.
5. Mix in the cheese and sundried tomatoes, folding until you can’t see any flour. Don’t over mix.
6. Spoon the mixture into the loaf pan (it will be thick, level as best you can) and bake for approx. 1 hour.

Next time:
I will use a lighter tasting beer. Newcastle Brown is quite strong, and although I like the taste it leaves, I have a feeling it’s overpowering the cheese. I will try it with a lager as well, just to see what happens. I will also use more sundried tomatoes, maybe 100gr.

Before I go, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has nominated me for blogger awards during the past few months. I have been really useless at reciprocating and I’m sorry for that. I will try to do something about it!

Beet Greens and Red Pepper Frittata – Brunch for December’s Breakfast Club

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beet, beet greens, brunch, eggs, frittata, red pepper, The Breakfast Club

“Breakfast Club: because breakfast should be more interesting than tea & toast or coffee & cereal.”

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while now, and the perfect opportunity just presented itself. The Breakfast Club is a bloggers’ challenge created by Fuss Free Flavours, and this month it’s being hosted by Bangers & Mash. The theme? Brunch. I love brunch. I would have brunch everyday if I didn’t have that annoying thing called an office to go to.

This eggy frittata is ideal for brunch or even a light lunch with salad. It takes a little longer to make than your usual frittata recipe, because you have to sauté the greens till they soften, but it’s a very easy dish to prepare and the result is tasty and healthy. It could still make a quick breakfast if you sauté the greens the night before and cook the frittata while you get ready for work, school etc. Don’t forget eggs are packed with protein so they’re great for providing sustenance and keeping you full for longer, without the crash that follows a carb-fuelled energy rush. I read recently that when you have eggs for breakfast (or brunch!) you tend to consume less calories during the rest of the day. Now that’s an incentive!

Another reason I love this recipe is that is uses up those lovely beet greens that many people throw away. What a waste! Here in Greece beet greens are usually boiled (to within an inch of their life) and served with vinegar and olive oil. This is the classic way to serve most greens, of which we have loads. There are hundreds of varieties, from those growing high up on mountains to those growing –as if by magic- out of rocks at the side of the sea. Many of these varieties are slightly bitter, so they are brought to a boil in lots of water, drained, and boiled again in fresh water until the stems are soft. All these greens are fantastically good for you, but I have a feeling they could be even more healthy without all that boiling. Sautéing seems a better way to preserve nutrients. Having said that I’m not sure all types are suitable, some might just be too bitter, but my experiment with the beet greens turned out great. I’ll be doing more experiments of this kind!

Recipe inspired by Kalyn’s Kitchen and her Swiss Chard and Mushroom Squares recipe.

Egg Frittata with Beet Greens and Red Pepper

Ingredients

2 Tbs olive oil (divided)
1 small onion, chopped
½ tsp sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups (tightly packed) roughly chopped beet greens, stems removed (just the thicker stems that protrude from the leaves, no need to cut out the leaf “spines”)
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 ¼ cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
1 cup cheddar, grated
7 eggs, lightly beaten
¾ tsp salt
4 grinds of pepper
½ tsp Italian herb mix

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C and grease a ceramic pie dish.
2. Sautee onion with sugar in 1 tablespoon oil, over medium heat, till translucent. Add garlic and gently cook for a few minutes longer, till fragrant.
3. Add red pepper and cook for a few minutes till it starts to soften. Transfer onion and pepper mixture to a large bowl.
4. Wipe pan with kitchen paper, return to heat and add another 1 tablespoon of oil. Add beet greens and cook gently till stems start to soften, about 10 minutes. Pinch one of the thicker stems (or the bits left at the base of the leaves) to check for doneness (should “give” a bit between your fingers).
5. Add beet greens to the bowl with the pepper and onion. Mix in the breadcrumbs and cheese.
6. In a separate bowl lightly beat the eggs and add the herbs and seasoning. Add eggs to the greens mixture and stir well.
7. Transfer egg mixture to the greased pie dish and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Other Eggy Breakfasts (Frittatas, Casseroles or Bakes):
Recipe for Kale and Feta Breakfast Casserole by Kalyn’s Kitchen
Bacon, Potato and Egg Breakfast Casserole by The Kitchn
Mini Egg Frittatas with Broccoli, Cheddar Cheese & Chipotle Pepper by Cookin’ Canuck
Mini Greek Frittatas by Healthy Green Kitchen