Mommy Y(o)u

Mommy: cooks, bakes, sews, teaches, pampers, travels, etc.

[mommyyu]

Yes, some improvement to my #sourdough #rye #bread ! A healthy #sourdoughstarter is key ... and improved #kneadingtechnique I learned in handling #stickydough. I also mixed some whole wheat flour to substitute portion of rye flour. #Breakfast today is #butteredbread with sides and my boy likes his with nutella. #homebaking #homebaker #breadbaking #mommyyous https://www.instagram.com/p/CEK9v1bAXcT/?igshid=ilonkutav8q8

[mommyyu]

Yes, some improvement to my #sourdough #rye #bread ! A healthy #sourdoughstarter is key ... and improved #kneadingtechnique I learned in handling #stickydough. I also mixed some whole wheat flour to substitute portion of rye flour. #Breakfast today is #butteredbread with sides and my boy likes his with nutella. #homebaking #homebaker #breadbaking #mommyyous https://www.instagram.com/p/CEK9v1bAXcT/?igshid=1u00y87l4d9pr

[mommyyu]

My newest creation - #Sourdough #Rye #Bread. I was a little bit worried that my sourdough starter was at the brink of death (hehehe) as my dough was still "sluggish" after an overnight proofing in the fridge. I was prepared for a version of unleaven bread but lo and behold! A thing of beauty came out of my dutch oven. Whew! A thick slice with nutella is my hubby's dessert. 😝 #homebaking #sourdoughbread https://www.instagram.com/p/CDsjJqrgjET/?igshid=1pm6avuu7flol

[mommyyu]

#Breakfast for this morning is #grilledcheese #sandwich on freshly baked #brioche #buns. #gouda and #cheddar goodness is heaven on earth. Have a good Sunday everyone! https://www.instagram.com/p/CDpeSK_AkLU/?igshid=1bakid8c4oghg

[mommyyu]

Been experimenting with just the right amount of dough with just the right amount of cheese and the right kind of cheese for these pillowy rolls ... #cheddar goodness is key. Good with coffee or tea. Brought these at work and their positive feedback is the kind of positive you love nowadays. Another win for Mommy Y(o)u’s oven! ;) #cheeserolls #bread #homebaking https://www.instagram.com/p/CDkU1DrgVCd/?igshid=17k0ug2x7z4cb

[mommyyu]

Baked another version of 4-cheese #focaccia last night for #breakfast today. My hubby says it is like an overgrown #pizza. 😛. #parmesan #gouda #cheddar #mozzarella #bread #homebaking #cheesygoodness https://www.instagram.com/p/CDfI-rHA5Ji/?igshid=1bjgus19oyso6

[mommyyu]

Holiday mean more time to experiment on #breadbaking! Two of MommyY(o)u’s latest creations: Cheesy #Focaccia is 2 ways - Sundried Tomatoes / 4-Cheese (Giant) Rosemary dinner rolls #homebaking #bread #focaccia #Cheesybread #dinnerrolls #mommyyous https://www.instagram.com/p/CDSuAuRAJ_8/?igshid=zvr5nsbj933l

[mommyyu]

Just baked my fluffy honey butter dinner rolls. Love them! #baking #bread #dinnerrolls #homebaking https://www.instagram.com/p/CBViIaaAfsp/?igshid=1x9dhun3iha19

[mommyyu]

Whole Wheat Pandesal

Who does not want to wake up in the morning to a brewing coffee and hot pandesal? The trick for soft fluffy bread is in the rising. So patience is an important virtue even in baking that bread next door. Haha! Here is my version:

Ingredients: 1 Cup of Warm Water 2 Tsp of Active Dry Yeast 1 Tbsp of Brown Sugar

2 Cups of Bread Flour 1 ¼ Cup of Whole Wheat flour plus 1 to 2 cups more for kneading ¼ Cup of Brown Sugar 1 Tsp of Salt 4 Tbl vegetable shortening 1 Egg ¼ Cup of Warm Water

Bread crumbs

Direction:

Dissolve 1 tbsp sugar and yeast in a cup if warm water. Let it rise for 15 to 30 minutes until it bubbles.

Meanwhile, mix well together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the shortening, egg and warm water. I recall watching my Aunt’s bakers use their hands to mix the dough so I do just this. Using disposable plastic gloves, I totally ditched the hand mixer and stand alone mixer and mixed the dough by hand. Add the yeast mixture. Knead well until well blended. Add some more flour and mix well (here, you may now switch to a blender to make sure everything is well incorporated). Dust a flat surface with more flour then knead more.

Place in a greased bowl and cover for at least 45 minutes to an hour or until it doubles in size. Punch down at the center of the dough. Divide the dough into equal parts and shape into balls (around 50 grams each). Coat with bread crumbs. One time I had left over honey wheat loaf slices, I toasted them, ground them to crumbs and used these. Adds character to the pandesal. Place on a well greased baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Cover with a cloth (I use cheese cloth) and let it rise for at least another hour to double the size. Bake at 175 degrees C for 15-20 minutes.

[mommyyu]

Whole Wheat English Muffins

One thing I missed about London is the english muffins for early morning breakfast.  I guess this is the Brit version of our Filipino pandesal.  They are perfect for sandwiches too.  Look, I made me an Egg (Mc)Muffin with grilled cheese!

So here is my version, if you want to try baking some. I made it half-whole wheat an half-white flour.  I am still not confident with my capability of baking edible 100% whole wheat bread.  Next time. ;)

Whole Wheat English Muffin (Makes 8 buns)

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast

2 1/4 cups fine whole wheat flour (plus more for dusting)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 3/4 cups whole milk, warmed

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 egg, large and slightly beaten

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, mix the wet ingredients (milk, butter and egg). Set aside.

In a separate large bowl, mix the dry ingredients really well.  Whisk them all together.  Make a well at the center and pour the wet ingredients.

Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix together until dough is formed.  Knead on a lightly floured surface.

Flatten the dough using a rolling pin to about an inch thick.  Use a round cutter to cut at least 8 doughs (or more depends on how big the cutter is).  Place on a cornmeal or wheat flour dusted baking pan. Cover with towel or cheese cloth for about 20 to 30 minutes. Pre-heat oven at 162 deg. Celsius.

Place the muffins on a non-stick grill pan and grill for 5 minutes each side, on low fire. 

Bake the muffins for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

[mommyyu]

Nutty choco-banana loaf

Here is something for breakfast or snacks that is easy to prepare and not as messy.  No dough to knead so you do not smell like flour after baking and no waiting times for first and second rising (i.e. yeast free).  

Some would prefer creaming the sugar with softened butter.  This would pack some air into the loaf making it fluffy when done right.  I used melted butter instead as I want my loaf a little bit dense this time.  So it actually depends on your preference.

I like the tangy effect of baking soda (this is different from baking powder, fyi) and crunchiness because of the choco chips and nuts.  Hope you will like it too.

Nutty Choco-Banana Bread Recipe (Makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ cup butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, room temperature

½ cup greek yoghurt

½ cup walnut, coarsely chopped

2 large (over)ripe banana, mashed

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 175 deg C.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar.  Add the vanilla extract and eggs.  Mix well.  Stir in the flour mixture.

Fold in the yoghurt, walnut, banana and finally the chocolate chips.

Pour evenly on a 9x5 inch well-greased or non-stick loaf pan.

Bake for 60 minutes.  Cool for at least 10 minutes then place on a cooling rack.  

Slice and serve!

Pretty yummy with coffee too. :)

[mommyyu]

Sweet Dinner Rolls

Here is another snack idea for your kiddos.  The rolls came out soft and yummy and not too sweet.  My husband says it was like a croissant but without the crumbly texture.

Sweet Dinner Rolls (makes 16 rolls)

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup warm milk

1 egg, room temp.

1/3 cup butter, softened

3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter softened

For the chocolate filled variant: chocolate spread or nutella or chocolate chips or buttons

1 egg with splash of water, slightly beaten for egg wash

Instructions

In a large bowl, dissolve 1 tbsp sugar and active dry yeast on warm water. Let it rise and bubble for 10 to 15 mins.

Mix in warm milk, egg and 1/3 cup softened butter.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.  Slowly mix this to the yeast mixture.  Mix well.

Knead on lightly floured surface until just slightly sticky and smooth.

Let rise on a bowl covered with plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel. About an hour.

Punch down at the middle of the dough. Divide into two (2).  With a rolling pin, flatten each dough to a 12-inch diameter disc. Spread softened butter on top. Slice into 8 pizza-like wedges.  Roll each wedge starting from the edge (wide part).

For the chocolate filled variant: place chocolate filling on top before rolling the wedges.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Let rise again for another 1 hour or until doubled in size. Meanwhile, preheat 176 degrees C.

Brush each roll with egg wash. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Brush with butter. Cool a little bit before serving.

[mommyyu]

Honey-Choco Whole Wheat Bread

I just made another version of my Honey Whole Wheat Loaf.  Since, I bake at least 2 loaves at a time, I usually put some twist on one of the loaves.  This time, I made it into a rolled chocolate bread using Goya's milk chocolate buttons.  See that little slice of bread at the bottom photo?  Yep, that's what it looks like after a few minutes of serving "as a dessert".  Winner!

Recipe of the orig. plain version is here.  For the choco-roll version, just add the following ingredients and steps:

Ingredients:

Chocolate chips or buttons (I use either or mix of Goya EasyMelt Milk Chocolate or Dark Chocolate Buttons or even Nutella!)

Steps:

After the dough doubled in size (in a large bowl), you punch down and divide to 2 doughs.  Flatten the dough.  

Line up the chocolate button on top of the dough until it covers the dough but leave at least an inch margin so the chocolate does not ooze out of the bread.  (If you are using nutella, just spread a thick layer on top of the dough noting the same margins.)

Roll the dough and pinch the end to seal.  

Put in the loaf pan and wait for it to rise again (until it fills the pan).  

Bake for 20 mins in a pre-heated 175 deg C oven.  Wait for it to cool a bit before slicing.  Enjoy!

[mommyyu]

Cheese roll in 2 ways

In a few days, my pre-kinder son will be going to school while my daughter’s will start in a little more than a month.  I am in a hunt for baon recipes because I find the baon packs in the grocery expensive and not too healthy too.  Here is a really soft cheese roll recipe which I just baked this afternoon.  I used two (2) kinds of cheese just to try out the mix and contrast of the flavour of the filling against the bread.  I believe both are winners.

Cheese Roll in 2 ways (makes 5 dozens of mini rolls)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/3 cup warm water

3 eggs and 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1/3 cup water

½ cup oil

4 ½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar

½ cup powdered milk

1 teaspoon salt

Cheese cut into strips (I used Eden cheese and Cream Cheese) – 60 pieces  (½ inch wide, length is the whole width of the regular cheese box)

Butter

Whole milk

Instructions:

Prepare the wet ingredients:  In a medium bowl, dissolve 1 tablespoon sugar in warm water.  Dissolve yeast and let it rise for about 10 to 15 minutes.  In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, water and oil.  Mix this to the yeast. Set aside.

Prepare the dry ingredients:  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, powdered milk and salt. Make a well in the center then pour in the wet ingredients. Blend well and knead until smooth.

Let the dough rise in room temperature until double (approximately 1 ½ hours). Punch down the center of the dough.

Divide the dough into 60 pieces (25 grams each).

Use rolling pin to flatten the dough. Spread butter on top.  

Place a strip of cheese a little bit at the edge of the flattened dough, fold each end over the cheese, rolling the dough to completely cover the cheese, then pinch the ends together to seal.

Arrange on a well-greased and lined jelly roll pan.  Let rise until double (around an hour).

Halfway through the second rising, pre-heat oven at 162 degrees C.  

Brush the dough with milk before baking. Bake for 15 minutes. 

Brush with butter and sprinkle generous amount of sugar.  

The bread came out really soft.  I am trying to recall the consistency of Mary Grace’s cheese roll.  I am guessing they use a little bit of cake flour in that recipe.  I will experiment on that next time.

Before the first batch cooled, we already ate more than half.  My daughter ate three before she took off for her ballet class.  :)

[mommyyu]

Parmesan Loaf Pan

My husband prefers to have a sandwich for his lunch at work. This is why our weekend grocery list always include bread. However, since I started baking bread at home, I realised I can be as creative as I can.  So I try to put variety to the bread I bake.  My Focaccia was a winner ... I already got orders!  Here is another bread which you can enjoy just by itself, or with olive oil-balsamic dip, or can be used in a sandwich.  Enjoy!

Parmesan Loaf Pan Recipe (makes 2 medium loaves)

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water 

1 tablespoon sugar

2-1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

3 cups flour, sifted and divided (2 cps / 1 cup)

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (see recipe here)

1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 to 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (”evoo”)

Instructions:

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Then dissolve yeast and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes until bubbly. 

Add 2 cups flour, 1/4 cup butter, egg, sugar, salt and seasonings. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat at low speed until mixed, about 30 to 60 seconds. Increase speed to medium and continue beating for 2 minutes. Stir in remaining flour and 1/3 cup cheese and beat until smooth. Dust a flat clean surface with flour and parmesan cheese. Knead until just a little bit sticky. 

Place in an evoo-greased bowl. Cover bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 to 60 mins. 

Divide dough into two and spread in two separate medium loaf pans. Spray or brush with more evoo and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. 

Let rise uncovered until doubled, about 45 to 60 minutes.  Pre-heat oven at 175°C. 

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes before removing from the pan.  Cool completely before slicing.

Adapted from tasteofhome.com

[mommyyu]

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Cinnamon Raisin Bread Recipe (makes 2 loaves)

Ingredients:

½ cup warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast

¾ cup milk, warmed

2 medium-sized eggs

1⁄2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1⁄4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup raisins, soaked in warm water then squeezed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

4 cups bread flour, sifted

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, melted (approx.)

Instructions:

Dissolve 1 tbsp sugar in warm water. Combine and dissolve yeast. Set aside until yeast for 10 to 15 minutes (until bubbly). 

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter.  Stir in sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in milk slowly. Add salt and raisins.

Using a hand mixer with dough hook and on low speed, add the flour gradually. Increase to medium speed until dough becomes stiff and creeps up of the hook. 

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes until smooth.

Place in a large, buttered, mixing bowl and turn to grease the surface of the dough.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, usually about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Punch down the center of the dough.  Flatten on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick.

Moisten the dough by rubbing a tablespoon milk  all over the dough.

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tbsp cinnamon.  Sprinkle mixture evenly on top of the moistened dough.

Roll up tightly lengthwise.  Cut in half.

Place loaves into well greased loaf pans and lightly grease tops of loaves.

Let rise in warm place, uncovered, again for about an hour.

While waiting for the 2nd rising, pre-heat oven at 175 degrees C. Bake for 20 minutes or until loaves are golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool on rack. 

Take melted butter and spread over tops of loaves. Allow to cool before slicing.

Adapted from http://www.food.com

[mommyyu]

Cheesy Chicken Nuggets

Chicken nuggets has been part of my kids’ diet. First, it is easy to cook. Second, it is easy to buy.  I tell you a secret though ... the best nuggets in town are those prepared at home. No preservatives. No fillers. I am sharing with you my recipe, which is a winner with my kids.  

Cheesy Chicken Nuggets Recipe

Ingredients:

Ground chicken

Salt and pepper, garlic powder

Cubed cheese (Quickmelt, mozzarella, etc.)

Breadcrumbs (I use Panko, that really nice crumbs used in tempura)

Italian Seasoning (homemade recipe below)

Parmesan cheese, grated

Flour

Eggs, whisked 

Oil for frying

Directions:

Season ground chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  

Take a handful of chicken and roll into a ball, flatten a little bit. Place a cube of cheese in the middle and wrap chicken around. Form into different nugget shapes. 

Prepare breading:  Season breadcrumbs with Italian Seasoning (see recipe below) and grated Parmesan cheese (to taste).

Take the nuggets, coat with flour, dip in egg and coat with the breadcrumb mix.  

Deep fry until golden brown.

Remove the chicken to a paper towel lined plate. Cool a little bit since the  core gets pretty scalding hot.

Serve warm with (or without) dip/condiments of your choice. (My kids are not fans of dips/condiments.)

You can prepare this a night before, freeze overnight and dump in a deep fryer straight from the freezer in the morning. Easy peasy!

Italian Seasoning Recipe (adapted from food.com)

The best thing about preparing your own Italian Seasoning is you can add/omit herbs as you like.  I always have this on hand.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons dried basil

3 tablespoons dried oregano

3 tablespoons dried parsley

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper

1⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional - I usually skip this because I use this seasoning for my kids’ meals)

Preparation:

Mix in a bowl.  Crush with the back of spoon. Or put in a blender and pulse.  Can be stored in an airtight jar for 6 months.