"Light" Caraway Rye

I love caraway rye bread. I specifically love light, white, airy rye bread with lots of caraway seeds. I did a lot of searching and wasn't able to find what I wanted. This recipe looked good and promising so I gave it a shot. I won't include the recipe here since I copied the recipe almost exactly as the post mentioned (I didn't have molasses so I substituted with brown sugar and some lemon juice). The bread turned out nice but not exactly what I wanted. Not rye-y enough, and a bit sweet. Quite tasty as a bread but didn't come out how I wanted (I want something like this). Oh well. No worries.

Polenta Focaccia

Browsing through a copy of Woman's Weekly at the hospital, I stumbled on this easy polenta focaccia recipe. I whipped it up to serve for some friends for dinner as an appetizer to potato gnocchi and pesto. This recipe really was a winner. The bread topped with pesto and parmesan was an especially lovely treat.
Prepare:
-Sift together 2 2/3 cups self-raising flour, 3/4 cup polenta, 1 tsp sea salt, 2 tsp rosemary-Mix 1 1/2 cup warm water with 1 tsp instant dried yeast (7g) and mix well (whisk)
-Mix the flour with yeast-water and add 1/2 cup olive oil
-Knead together thoroughly -Set aside for an hour or so and let rise
-Re-knead for 5 minutes
-Divide into 2 balls
-Roll pretty flat (about 1 cm) on a floured surface
-Put on a pan that lightly has polenta flour spread on it-Place flattened dough on pan, sprinkle polenta on top and poke holes with a fork
-Let rise for at least 15 minutes
Cook:
-Preheat oven to 230C / 445F
-Once oven is hot place bread in and bake for 5-10 min, until golden brown
Tips:
-Mix in 1-2 tsp of freshly cracked pepper into the dough - I did it with only half and it was so good, I'd definitely do it for the whole batch next time. I also think I'd maybe mix in some minced garlic as well
-If you don't have self-raising flour, the equivalent to 1 cup is 7/8 cups plain flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt

Challah

Feeling nostalgia for home and its saturation of Jewish cuisine, I felt a craving for some challah. Sadly, here in Australia, I have never seen challah and would probably have to find some Jewish people and a synagogue in order to find one. So my solution was to make it. I got the recipe off the ever-proliferative AskMeFi, and would like to thank flakypastry for the post. This was not as difficult as I thought and amazingly delicious. Seriously, it was one of the nicest things I've made. This makes one big loaf.
Ready:
-2 egg yolks (save the whites for later) and 1 egg, beaten together
-2 packages active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
-1 cup warm water
-1/4 cup olive oil
-1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
-4 cups bread flour (plus more for later)
-2 tsp salt
-Some sesame/poppy seeds, if you like them
Prepare:
-In a large bowl dissolve yeast into 1 cup of warm water, wait till you see bubbles
-At this point, add the beaten egg mixture, oil, sugar, salt, and flour and mix until you can remove the dough from the bowl-Knead on a floured surface/board, adding more flour, about 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is not sticking to your hands, but still sticking together (you'll be able to tell)-Transfer dough to an oiled bowl (I sprayed with canola oil), and turn it a couple times till it's covered. Cover with a towel and leave somewhere warm for about an hour. It should have at least doubled in size and an indent made with your finger should stay in place-Knead dough for about 5 more minutes and then divide into 3 balls
-Roll out balls until they make 3 snakes, about a foot long or so-Press together 1 end of the three snakes, and proceed to braid them together
-At this point, get the egg white from previously and crack another egg in there, and beat it. Now, brush the surface of the challah with the egg wash, and then sprinkle sesame/poppy seeds on top-Place on a flat baking tray with baking paper
Cook:
-After you've seeded the challah, turn on oven to 350F/175C and wait for the oven to get warm while the challah rises a bit longer
-Bake for 30-35 minutes (mine took exactly 35), until it's starting to get golden. If you remove from the pan, knock the bottom - it should sound hollow

Tips:
-If you like/want a sweeter challah, you can up the sugar a bit and add raisins after the first rise. If you do this, you'll want to lower to the temperature to about 340/350 and bake for 40 minutes
-Keep the rest of the egg after the egg wash and fry it up into a little scrambled egg to eat with the fresh challah
-Enjoy with some hummus!

Gluten-Free Cheese Balls

This was another dish that I made so my Coeliac's teacher could eat without intestinal problems: this food is a pretty quick and easy savory snack that has an interesting texture and pretty unimpeachable taste. The recipe that I used claims that these balls originate in Brazil and are called 'Pao de Quiejo'.
Prepare:
-In a saucepan on medium heat, heat 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 cup milk, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it starts boiling-Remove from heat, add 1 1/4 cup gluten-free flour, mix and set aside for 5 minutes-Mix in 1 egg, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, and whatever flavoring you would like: I used garlic salt, dried basil, and Korean pepper powderCook:
-Preheat oven to 375F/180C
-Separate the dough into 12 balls, place evenly on a sheet of baking paper on a pan-Bake for ~20 minutes, flip over (bottom should be browning), turn down heat a bit and then bake around 10 minutes more. Make sure to do the toothpick testTips:
-These are very sticky when raw! You may want to flour your hands ahead of time - I was able to spoon the balls out but it wasn't the most pleasant thing ever

Sausage, Bean and Veggie Pita

Sometimes cooking isn't about careful measurement and complex cooking-processes. Sometimes it's just about having an interesting idea and going for it. The inspiration for this pita sandwich came to me as a sudden craving while I was in class, planning what to make for lunch.
Prepare:
-Toast a pita
-Slice, lengthwise, half a cucumber, half a tomato, some cheese (I used cheddar), and some red onion, and jalapeño-Crush some garlic
-Drain some beans (I used Borlotti or cranberry beans)
Cook:
-In a pan, lightly fry 1 sausage in garlic (I used kangaroo sausage)
-Slice sausage in half, lengthwise
-Pile everything on the pita, including the fried garlic (I'd do most structurally-sound items on the bottom: cheese, then moving up onion, cucumber, tomato, with the beans being on top)-Season as you like: salt, pepper, basil, cilantro, etc.
Tips:
-You can toast the pita with the cheese in it to give it a melted-er taste
-I used Borlotti beans by accident, actually, as I had intended to use chick peas, which I think would be very nice in this sandwich
-Substitute any meat, like bacon or chicken, and add any vegetables you like such as broccoli, carrot, lettuce, etc.
-Roasted or fried potatoes (or French Fries) would definitely match in this sandwich, as the Israelis eat it.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon Toast

I love soups. You may have noticed. Usually I just through a bunch of vegetables in a pot, boil it, puree and eat. This time I decided to focus the veggie a bit and add a little depth to the meal. I got the idea to serve the creamy pumpkin soup with cinnamon toast from a recipe on allrecipes and I decided it was just crazy enough to work.

Prepare Soup:-Peel and cube a bunch of pumpkin, maybe 3 cups worth. I find that peeling a pumpkin with a peeler is not fun and so I just used a knife and sliced off the rind. Alternatively, you could steam/boil the pumpkin for about 10 minutes and then the peel comes off easily. Also remove the seeds (but don't throw them away!)-Dice about half an onion. It doesn't matter the size of the pieces as you will be boiling and pureeing them
-Optional: get a hot pepper. I find that the pepper doesn't detract from the taste and gives it a nice kick. I used 1 habanero and that was just fine.
-Ready (soy) milk, cornflour, bay leaf, salt, oil or butter, some crushed garlic, cheese, and any other spice you like
Cook:
-Lightly fry the garlic and onion in butter or oil for about 5 minutes, or until onion is tender in a decent-sized pot-Throw in the pumpkin for about a minute or two, letting it coat itself in oily goodness-Add water: the level should be a bit short of the height of the pumpkin (the pumpkin condenses as you cook it and you don't want the soup too watery... as long as you mix every 5-10 minutes then everything should cook evenly)
-Add crushed bay leaf and other spices.
-Lower heat, cover, and let simmer for an hour, mixing every 10 minutes until the pumpkin is at the level of the water
-Puree once everything is very cooked-Put back on medium heat, mixing in 1/4 cup -1/2 cup of milk and a bit of flour to thicken it up. You can also add some cheese to give it a nice creaminess (I used fresh mozzarella)
-I like to throw fresh spring onion on top, adding to it a crisp oniony flavor

Prepare Toast (2 slices):
-Preheat (toaster) oven to 400F
-Melt a tbsp of butter (more if you like a more buttery toast)
-Mix with 1/2 tbsp of brown sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (more if you like cinnamony taste)Cook:
-Toast for about 10 minutes, or until top is bubbly/browning
Tips:
-I also fried up some bacon for this dinner. The salty smokiness of the bacon is really complementary with the creamy pumpkininess of the soup and the cinnamon sweetness of the bread
-You can quarter or eighth the toast and mix it in the soup
-You can fry the bacon with the onion when making the soup originally, and make it a pumpkin and bacon soup.
-Some people like this soup curry style and so add curry powder or cumin and tumeric as well as coconut milk for the milk. Others like it sweet pumpkin-pieish and so add cinnamon, nutmeg, etc

Pesto Pasta with Garlic Bread

Who doesn't love pesto? It's usually so expensive to buy those tiny jars, but it's amazing how easy it is to make. I served this with garlic bread since that, too, is easy to make and delicious.
Prepare Pesto:
-Destem a bunch of basil, wash the leaves well
-In a food processor, mix some pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan (optional), and the basil leaves: the proportions should be to taste and the olive oil to consistency. Start out with half the basil, a couple cloves of garlic, and maybe 1 tbsp of pine nuts... adjust as you tasteCook:
-Prepare some pasta, al dente
-Mix with pesto
-Garnish with fresh basil and grated Parmesan
Prepare Garlic Bread:
-Crush garlic
-In a small bowl, mash garlic and butter. -Spread onto pieces of bread
-I sprinkled some cheese on top of the bread, too.
Cook:
-Put bread in an oven/toaster oven for about 10 minutes or until bread is slightly brown and butter is completely meltedTips:
-The pasta goes well with sauteed onions and tomatoes, as well as chicken. Smear some pesto on halfway-cooked chicken breast and serve with the meal.
-For the garlic bread, I used regular sliced 9grain bread because that's all I had. This works better with baguette, French bread, Turkish bread, or anything else.
-For the garlic butter, you can add in some dried basil, crushed red pepper, or Parmesan to give it extra flavor.
Drink with a nice wine and enjoy!