Soft Raisin Bread: My Childhood Favorite

I ate a lot of raisin bread when I was a child; my aunt always bought a loaf for us (me, my sisters and brother), a snack that we won’t say no. The texture of the bread is so soft or I think it a bit collapsed (but for a children it’s so good, maybe I start love soft food from that time ^ ^). But this time it’s not my call, my friend want to make raisin bread and ask me about it. I made this recipe many time before, sometimes with rum sometimes not, I love them both ways. The bread is a basic and easy to make recipe but because the raisin had been soaked so the moisture from it make the bread moist and soft. If you like you can put a few drop of vanilla extract with water to pump up the raisin; the bread will smell great too.

Raisin Bread

Makes 8 x 20 cm loaf

200 g	Bread Flour
1 tsp	Instant dried yeast
2 tbsp	Sugar
½ tsp	Salt
25 g	Unsalted butter (soft)
140 ml	whole milk
100 g	Raisin
2 tbsp	Dark rum (if you don’t like the smell or taste of the rum, use 2 tbsp of water instead)
	Egg wash
	1 egg + 1tbsp water

Soak the raisin in rum (or water) for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Butter the loaf pan or place the baking paper inside.

Put the flour and yeast in a bowl, whisk to combine, add the sugar and salt whisk again. Pour the milk into the bowl, use large spoon to mix everything together into a soft mess.

Take the dough out of the bowl rub in the butter; knead until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic about 10 minutes

Roll the dough into square and sprinkle the raisin (drained) on the dough. Knead lightly to incorporate the raisin into the dough.

Put the dough into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Take the dough out of the bowl. Gently press down the dough and a rolling pin to roll the dough to press the dough into a circle, about 18 cm. Roll into a cylinder and cut the dough in half. Roll both half into a ball and place in the loaf pan.

Cover the dough; let rise until almost doubled in volume, to 30 minutes. Brush with egg wash before baking.

Bake for 15-18 minutes (or until golden brown).

Bread recipe from: みかさんの手づくりパンのある楽しい食卓

Fusilli with tuna, capers and parsley

Ok, I’m a bit tried lately, maybe I had too much of dessert, haha. So, I really long for the real meal, real dish that will brighten me up and doesn’t weight me down. In fact my family likes to eat pasta but the hearty dish is too much for me, I want a light and low fat version of my pasta. This dish is like the answer, with a bit spicy and tangy taste. The best point is the ingredients are simple; you don’t have to travel far away than your cupboard and a refrigerator to get them. After that all you have the ingredients next thing you do is mixing them, what a good dish to make when you don’t want to do anything.

Fusilli with tuna, capers and parsley

Sevres 4

425 g (15 oz)	tinned tuna in springwater, drained
2 tablespoons	olive oil
2	garlic cloves, finely chopped
2	small red chillies, finely chopped
3 tablespoons	capers, rinsed and squeezed dry
15 g (3/4 oz)	chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
3 tablespoons	lemon juice
375 g (13 oz)	fusilli
125 ml (4 fl/½ oz cup)	chicken stock

Put the tuna in a bowl and flake lightly with a fork. Combine the oil, garlic, chilli, capers, parsley and lemon juice in a small bowl. Pour the mixture over the tuna and mix. Season.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well and return to the pan to keep warm.

Toss the tuna mixture through the pasta, adding enough of the hot chicken stock to make it moist.

Serves warm.

Cocoa Brownies

My friend came to visit last week, and she wanted to try some of my chocolate recipe, in fact I could make my old brownie recipe but I took it as a chance to try a new recipe (haha, I always be like that). This recipe comes from ...................... again (ok, I fall in love with this book, it’s not the design of the book that touch my heart but the contents and recipes are great, I have to admit). The method is quite easy and the result is good, as always I reduce a bit of sugar (I use 210g of sugar, but I give you the original amount in the recipe). I find the taste of the brownies is better after one day of resting, and the texture is moister. It’s a good alternative recipe if you are run out of the chocolate bars and still want to make a good brownie.

Cocoa Brownies

MAKES 16 SQUARES

115g / 4oz	butter
45g / 1½ oz	cocoa powder (Dutch-Process Cocoa)
2	eggs, beaten
225g / 8oz	caster sugar
1 teaspoon	vanilla essence
55g / 2 oz	self-raising flour (or ¼ tsp baking powder with cake flour)
115 g	any kinds of nut, chopped (I use cashews)
55g/ 2oz	chocolate chips

1 Heat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ gas mark 4. Grease and line the base of a 20cm/ 8 in square tin.

2 Melt the butter over a low heat, then stir in the cocoa powder. Leave to cool.

3 Beat the eggs with the caster sugar until pale, then fold in the cocoa mixture.

4 Stir in the vanilla then sift the flour over the mixture and fold in.

5 Spread half the mixture into the prepared tin and sprinkle with half the walnuts and chocolate chips. Cover with the remaining mixture then the rest of the walnuts and chocolate chips.

6 Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes or until set. A wooden cocktail stick inserted into the centre should come out damp but should not have any uncooked mixture clinging to it.

7 Place the tin on a wire rack to cool before cutting into squares.