Homemade Pizza Dough

Ever since I learned how to make my own pizza dough last year, we hardly order pizza at a restaurant anymore. This dough is very easy to make, plus it's natural, healthier and convenient to use. It can be stored in the freezer for 3 months. Just take it out to thaw, knead again, and cut off a piece, to roll and make a fresh, new pizza.

It doesn't matter if your pizza is not perfectly round as you roll it out. Let it have a rustic look. The kids just like to make strange shapes with the dough, so it's fun!

But if you sometimes have pangs of OCD like me, just turn over a plate on top of the rolled out pizza dough, and trim off the excess.

Homemade pizza crust with salami, mozzarella, chili flakes and fresh arugula.

Baked French Toast with Caramelized Bananas

This is a delicious breakfast, and making it will fill your kitchen with the scent of cinnamon and caramelised bananas. It reminds me of Christmas mornings.

Salmorejo (Spanish Tomato & Bread Puree)

Went on a family trip to Spain last month and it was wonderful and unforgettable! Still missing Spain up to now. :(  We were able to taste a variety of food, some of which are very similar or exactly the same as Filipino food, such as Cochinillo (suckling pig, which we Pinoys call lechon), Callos a la Madrileña (tripe and chorizo stew), paella, among many others. One dish which made a strong impression on us was a dish from Southern Spain called Salmorejo.

We visited Cordoba (the home of the famous religious and architectural wonder, the Mezquita), and Salmorejo is a dish that originated from there. It is a puree made from fresh tomatoes, bread, garlic, and sherry vinegar, and is served cold, perfect for the summer months and during our visit in August, the hottest month in Spain. Salmorejo is topped with chopped jamon serrano and hard boiled eggs and is eaten with warm bread.

We fell in love with this dish and I've replicated it here.

My homemade Salmorejo, served with chopped hard boiled eggs and jamon serrano.

Beer & Cheddar Spicy Pull Apart Bread

(This post is part of an ongoing series on the 2014 Singapore Blog Awards, sponsored by Panasonic.)

This is a savoury, delicious and impressive looking bread that is good enough to eat at home, or serve at parties. I've made this a few times by making the dough by hand and it is always a conversation piece. The kids love to participate in shaping, stuffing and baking it, as it is quite fun to make, and half the fun is waiting for the bread to "bloom" and transform into something really beautiful.

The bread itself has the taste of stout beer, accentuated by the spicy, cheesy, herb filled filling.

This time, instead of doing the bread by electric mixer and hand kneading like I usually do, I used the Panasonic Bread Maker and it not only saved me at least 2 hours, but also resulted in a smooth, perfectly kneaded dough, which gave way to a bigger, puffier loaf! From now on, I am going to use a bread maker to make this bread. (I never thought I would ever say that....my Le Cordon Bleu Boulangerie teacher will kill me! Shhhh!)

Polenta Dough: for Extra Crispy Pizza & Flatbread Canapes

(This post is part of an ongoing series on the 2014 Singapore Blog Awards, sponsored by Panasonic.)

Homemade Flatbread with with Cheese & Horseradish Cream, Dill & Roe 

My family makes pizza dough from scratch, and we usually make it by hand. Homemade pizza is much healthier than commercially available ones (whether from a fast food restaurant or the frozen food section of the supermarket.). In addition, it challenges the family's creativity in using different ingredients versus your run-of-the-mill ham and pineapple or pepperoni and cheese.

I make the dough in advance and if the kids don't devour it right there and then, I store the extra dough in the freezer, oiled, wrapped in plastic wrap in a plastic container, so it doesn't dry out. Then we just take it out a few hours before we want to eat pizza. What makes this dough different is that it makes for extra crispy pizza (see tips below).

This time, I tried using the Panasonic Bread Maker, instead of making the dough by hand. It turned out well and saved me a lot of time! What would've taken me 2 hours to make took only 45 minutes with the bread maker.

So in this post, I'm going to share 2 recipes using the same dough. I will share some very different pizza flavours, and another recipe to show how you can use the very same dough to make some mini flatbread, topped with a mix of cream cheese and horseradish sauce, fish roe and dill. It really looks impressive and fancy, and makes for good hors d'oeuvres, but it's actually easy to make! My kids actually  helped to cut the dough into squares and once baked, top them with the cheese mix, the cut fresh dill and the roe. Too beautiful to eat and definitely more than presentable enough to serve at parties. But we didn't have a party this weekend, so the kids just devoured them for their afternoon snack!

QUINOA, FLAXSEED & CRANBERRY LOAF

(This post is part of an ongoing series on the 2014 Singapore Blog Awards, sponsored by Panasonic.)

Quinoa, Cranberry and Flaxseed Loaf

For the past year, my husband and I have been baking our own bread for the family, because commercially sold bread is simply not healthy, what with the high amount of sugar in it, and chemicals like dough conditioners and preservatives.

Whole Wheat Skillet Buns with Caramelized Onion & Bacon Cheese Dip

This is a visually arresting, gooey, warm appetiser, and your guests will be so impressed when they see it. I saw this a few weeks ago from Seasons & Suppers website, and this dish is adapted from their Warm Skillet Bread and Artichoke Spinach Bread Recipe.  I've made my own variations by making the buns from a combination of whole wheat and bread flour (to make it healthier), and I've made the dip with cheese, caramelised onion and bacon.  If you prefer the vegetarian version, just omit the bacon.

This recipe also contains some tips for bread making which I learned from local bread making classes in Singapore, as well as from Le Cordon Bleu Boulangerie class.

Crown of Nutella Rolls

This may look very fancy and hard to bake, but it is actually one of the easiest doughs to handle. The dough is easy to make, and who doesn't love Nutella? The buns have that hazelnut goodness, and are crisp on top, due to the polenta. I balance the sweetness and richness of the Nutella with some chili powder and sea salt.

If you're not eating all of it once it gets out of the oven, reheat the rolls in an oven toaster or oven to enjoy the same warm, gooey goodness. Best enjoyed with coffee and tea.

My Crown of Nutella Rolls

Baked Mushroom Crisp

This mushroom dish is so easy to make that my teenaged son makes it by himself. It's actually adapted from Jamie Oliver's Italian Style Baked Cheesy Mushrooms but we modified it by using Asian mushrooms, and putting the bread layer on top of, instead of under the mushrooms. When we tried putting the bread underneath the mushrooms, they turned mushy after baking. :(  Thus, in this dish, my son opted to put the bread and cheese on TOP of the mushrooms instead, making a crispier texture which is much better than Jamie's version.