Bacon & Cheese Quick Bread.

It's Friday. 
TGIF!


My mind keeps on floating with cakes. 

And cookies.

And cheesecake. 


I need to stop them. Or never. 


Who on earth will get sick of all these? Or is it just me?
Ever since I started baking, my mind is overwhelmed by all these sweet stuffs everyday. 

ANYWAY.

About this bread.


It's with BEER.

AND BREAD. 
And it's QUICK BREAD. 

Obviously I have not tried it before when I look at the recipe. 

Curiosity kills the cat and I just tried it.
I still remember I'm down with stomach problem that day. 

It smells heavenly.
I'm a sucker at liquors and beer. 

So I feel like I'm flying after the first piece.

JUST KIDDING.
Maybe I'm hallucinating.





Bacon Cheddar & Beer Quick Bread. 

Ingredients:

8 slices bacon, chopped into bite size and fried. (reserve the bacon grease!)
3 cups - 375grams all purpose flour
1/4 cup - 50grams granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces - 56 grams gyuere cheese, shredded
2 ounces - 56grams cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can - 330ml beer (I use tiger beer)
4 tablespoon - 56grams unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoon reserved bacon grease

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F/180C
Grease a loaf 9x5 inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Set aside. 
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
With a wooden or a spatula, stir in the bacon and cheese until evenly distributed. 
Add the beer and 2 tablespoon of melted butter and stir again until the batter is evenly moist. 
Pour the remaining butter into the bottom of the prepared loaf pan.
Spoon the batter on top. The batter will look slightly dry but do not worry, it's fine. 
Drizzle bacon grease evenly over the batter. 
Place batter in oven to bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.


Notes: 
Leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in room temperature for up to 3 days.

Bacon Cheddar Pull Apart Bread

Happy belated Easter everyone!


Was so busy during the weekends that I was literally sleepwalking the wholeday.


Just kidding.


Oh ya, my tripod died on me. 
The handle couldn't be tighten.
This means I have to get a new one replaced. 
This means I have to spend money.

FINE.

SIGH.

I did this pull apart bread over the weekends. 
I was actually thinking about it since last week. 

About the cheese.
About the bread.

About the pepperoni.
Originally was with pepperoni.
But I replaced it with bacon.

And it's still great. 
Almost perfect.

The bread was literally screaming 
"EAT ME!!''

And I have to risk my hands to pull out the hot loaf of bread from the tin.
And I nearly burned my fingers.

GREAT.

It's just my hands...
y' know.
Itchy hands.

Bacon Cheddar Pull Apart Bread. 


Ingredients:

2 cups - 254grams bread flour
3/4 cups - 93 grams all purpose flour
(you can use all AP flour instead)
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1/3 cup - 80grams whole milk
6 tablespoon - 85grams unsalted butter
1/4 cup - 60ml water
2 large eggs, room temperature


Toppings:

1/2 tablespoon oil
12 strips of bacon, cut into bits (about 150grams)
1 cup - 100grams shredded cheddar cheese (or more, if you like.)


2 tablespoon - 28grams unsalted butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced


Method:


In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine milk and 6 tablespoon of butter over low heat till melted. 
Remove from the stove and add in water.
Let it cool down till about 120F/48C.
Pour the milk mixture over the dry ingredients.
Using a spatula or a pastry scrapper, fold them until just combined.
Using your hands, knead on the bowl and 10 to 15 times until fully incorporated. 
Or if you are using a stand mixer, attach your dough hook and knead the dough on low speed until fully incorporated.
Add the eggs, one at a time, kneading in between each addition so that the eggs are fully incorporated.
Take the dough out of the bowl and begin to knead for about 15 to 20 minutes by hand.
The dough will feel very sticky, you can add about 2 more tablespoon of flour BUT do not be tempted to add more. 
I just stick to the original recipe and did not add any more flour.

If you are using a stand mixer, it should takes you about 5 to 7 minutes.
Knead until the dough is smooth and soft, but still slightly sticky.
Lightly floured your work desk and fold it close until it comes together as a ball.
Lightly greased a large bowl.
Place your dough in the bowl and cover with a plastic/cling wrap. 
Allow the dough to rest in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours or until it doubled in size.
On a frying pan, 
Heat oil and fry the bacon till golden brown, about 5 minutes. 
Set aside and let cool. 
Take the dough out of the bowl and gently deflate it to remove any gas.
Roll it into a rectangle measuring 18'' x 10''.
Sprinkle your dough with cheese and topped with the bacon.
Trim the edges, discarding any scraps to make straight line along the rectangle.
Cut the rectangle (lengthwise) into 5 equal strips. (2 inch per strip)
Stack the strips atop each other and then cut into 4 equal parts.
Lightly buttered a loaf pan. 
Stack the squares against each other, cut sides down.
(There will be space on both sides)
Lightly cover the pan with plastic/cling wrap and let it proof for another 45 minutes to 1 hour or until it double in size.
Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
Stir together the melted butter and minced garlic.
Place the loaf into oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and brush the top of the loaf with garlic butter and return it to the oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove pan from oven and let it cool before serving. 



Have a CHEESYYYYY day.

Caramelized Onion with Cheesy Swirl Bread.

I don't understand why my photos turns out so yucky at times. 


The light?  The display? Or I just doesn't know how to photograph nice food. 


I understand why it is not easy to be a food blogger. You have to be satisfied with your photos. You have to make the audience feel that your food is like fantastic.

HOW AM I EVER TO DO THAT?

I just feel like screaming my lungs out. It's frustrating at times. 


I really need to practise alot in this area. Especially photography. 

ok. Back to this topic. I made this bread over the weekends. It's amazing. The only regret I had was not adding enough onions. This bread smells and taste nice. With caramelized onions and cheese bursting in your mouth. It's super yummy. 

Caramelized Onion with Cheesy Swirl Bread.


Ingredients:

200 grams all purpose flour
175 grams bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
A pinch of pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup - 236ml milk, warm slightly
1/4 cup - 54grams

2 red onions
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Pinch of salt

150grams cheese, grated (Whatever cheese you like, seriously)
a little bit more olive oil, about 1 1/2 teaspoon


Method:

Combine flour , salt, pepper, sugar and yeast together.
Add in milk and 1/4 cup of olive oil and mix together to form a dough. 
Take the dough out of the bowl and knead for about 10 to 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and santiny. Place dough in a bowl and cover with cling wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place till double in size. (About 1 1/2 to 2 hours)
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. 
Chop the onions into bite size.
Heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium low heat and add the onions and pinch of salt.
Stir fry occasionally for 30 to 45 minutes until the onions are soft and are in dark brown colour.
Take the pan off the heat and set it aside to cool.
Take the dough out of the bowl and place dough on a floured surface and roll into a rectangle round 9x12 inches. 
Top the dough with cheese then the onions. 
Starting from the shorter end, roll the dough as tightly as possible into a 9 inch log.
Using a sharp knife, cut the log into 9 equal pieces and arrange them in a baking pan, evenly spaced.
Brush the top of the buns with the remaining olive oil.
Cover the pan with cling wrap and let the buns rise in warm place until they doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. 
15 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the buns are golden and the cheese is bubbly.

Curry Potato Buns.

I'm always trying to improve on my photography.. Always. But it seems that I still have alot to learn. Bit by bit, looking at other people photographs. I am still very new to all this. Trying to handle and understand my camera everytime when I take photos. Still have lots to improve i guess!!

Makes 9 buns

Bun dough:

400grams

20g Sugar

1 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Instant yeast

220ml Cold milk

1 cold Egg (55g)

30g Butter (soften at room temperature)

Fillings:

400g Potato (About 4 potatos)

150g Chicken fillet 

2 cloves Garlic (chopped)

1 large Onion (chopped)

Curry sauce (4 tbsp mix with 6 tbsp hot water)

4-5 tbsp Hot water or more for the mixture if too dry

Salt to taste

Glazing:

1 beaten egg

Method:

Filling:

Cook potatoes in boiling water until just cooked (do not cook till to soggy).

Saute garlic and onion until fragrant, add curry sauce, saute over low heat till aromatic.

Add chicken and fry briefly, return potatoes and add water, mix well.

Add salt to taste and cook for a while. Dish up. Leave to cool completely before using.

Bun Dough:

Mix all dry ingredients and egg together in the mixing bowl and add milk, mix to form a dough. 

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead for about 2 minutes.

Add butter and knead to become smooth and elastic. 

Knead for about 10 to 20 minutes.

Dough should pass the window pane test. (Try stretching part of the dough, if it can stretch into thin sheet without breaking it means you have kneaded enough.)

Place dough into a big bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it proof until double in size. About 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour.

Take the dough out of the bowl and gently deflate to remove air.

Let dough rest for 10 minutes. 

Divide dough into 60g each, roll into ball, rest for another 10 minutes.

Flatten the dough with roller pin and wrap with curry fillings.

Seal the opening tightly and roll into ball and leave it on baking tray lined with parchment paper for second proofing, about 1/2 hour.

Egg wash and bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for about 15 minutes till golden brown.

Bacon & Garlic Roll Bread

It was a Sunday.. And since I did not make any bread the day before, I decided to make it for breakfast for Monday. Kneading is very therapetic for me. You will feel the satisfaction especially if the bread turns out so soft and fluffy. I read alot of online forums, alot of them says that home baked bread seldom can stay soft till next day. So this round, I brought a bottle of bread softener hoping it will help. Well.. It really does! Actually.. I don't know is it because the hydration level of this bread is high or is it because of the bread softener I use.. But I will use this bread softener again to do another bread ^^ 
This recipe originally use all bread flour.. but I change and added abit of whole wheat flour. 

Makes 7 rolls

Dough:

130g bread flour

70g whole wheat flour 

3g instant yeast 

20g sugar

3g salt

20g unsalted butter (soft)

140g milk

3-4g bread softener (optional)

Filling:

90g bacon (sliced to small bits) 

1 clove garlic (chopped)

Method:

Put the flour, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Whisk to combine, add salt and whisk again.

Pour the milk into the bowl.

Use pastry scraper to mix everything together and knead briefly to bring all ingredients together. 

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead for about 2 minutes. 

Add the butter and knead for another 10 to 15 minutes until the dough is soft, pliable and smooth.

Dough should pass the window pane test. (Try stretching part of the dough, if it can stretch into thin sheet without breaking it means you have kneaded enough.)

Put dough into lightly buttered bowl.

Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size. (About 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour)

Filling:

Put sliced bacon into frying pan and put the pan over low heat. Stir until bacon oil begin to come out of bacon. 

Add in garlic and fry until golden brown. 

(**Be careful not to let the bacon dry up.)

Off fire and leave the filling aside

Take dough out of the bowl and deflate it gently to remove air. 

Roll out dough to 20 x 22cm size. 

Scatter bacon filling all over evenly. 

Roll up your dough like a swiss roll. Cut in into 7 pieces and place it into baking tray.

Let it proof for second round about half an hour.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C.

Bake bread for about 12 to 15 minutes.