Thursday 22 December 2011

Blogging Catch Up - breads, raw brownies, cheezly pizza and more

End of year is time for trying to get our life, our house and/or our blog in order before a new year is upon us.  Last night a draft post disappeared in frustrating circumstances.  I decided instead to gather some photos and recipes that I had good intentions to write about but they had fallen by the wayside.
Granary Bread from Mealtime Meltdown.  
I was all prepared to post about this, weeks after I made it in early November.  Then I accidently deleted my version of the recipe.  So I think it is best to just go to the original recipe.  The only change I remember making was to add a couple of tablespoons of malt syrup because I don't have granary flour.  It was nubbly and flavoursome.  I hope I will make it again and write more about it.  It was great with brie and tomato.

Vegemite Chips
Coming up with new ideas for crisp flavours is either desperate work or a huge amount of fun.  Either way, this is an inspired idea.  It works as novelty but I am not sure how much it would work as everyday.  I would love to see some spin offs of my favourite vegemite flavour combinations - vegemite and cheese, vegemite and tomato, vegemite and walnuts!

Raw Brownies from Wayfaring Chocolate
I've had two stabs at the beloved brownies from Hannah.  The first time they were too dry because I used the wrong dates.  The second time in late October was better.  I could sort of understand the chewy brownie base but the topping was too sweet.  I want to try again with maple syrup.  E thought it would be better microwaved.  My problem with keeping them in the freezer was that I just kept forgetting about them and they were sadly neglected.

Cheezly Mozzarella on pizza
I bought some vegan mozzarella cheese recently out of curiosity.  It was actually really good sprinkled over pizza with tomato sauce, mushrooms and red pepper.  It was a lot softer than regular mozzarella, nor so stringy.  What I liked best was that it was a lot lighter.  E also liked it thought I think he would prefer real cheese.

Chocolate cut out biscuits that I have made before
I have raved about these before.  These bikkies are great and look so cute I wanted to share them.  They have so much butter that the mixture needs a good amount of time in the fridge but the biscuits melt in the mouth once cooked.  They also fall apart easily if you use the snowflake biscuit cutters.  We used them for gifts this year.

Sun-dried tomato bread from Dan Lepard
I am not sure why I never posted this bread.  Possibly because I served it with a forgettable soup and it got sullied with the same memories.  Or maybe I just felt the photos didn't do it justice.  It was quite good but as I made it back in June, I don't remember it so well.  I did enjoy the orange hue and chunks of sun dried tomato.

9 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry about the disappearing draft! I understand the frustration. However, these pictures and thoughts are great, so I'm almost pleased we got this post instead :) Cute biscuits and fantastic bread efforts.

    I think we need to average our approach to Hannah's brownies...my brain seems to permanently remember they're in the fridge and I think I ate the batch in about 5 days :/

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  2. Vegemite and walnuts! How crazy, but I can definitely see it working :) I love that you had a second go at the raw brownies. I would posit that, perhaps, the sweetness of the icing could have something to do with the variable sizes of the avocados used? I can't remember if I specified weight in mine... also, I love my maple syrup version of them more than the honey ones :)

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  3. I'm slightly addicted to those Vegemite chips! I must keep myself away from them as they're too moreish! :P

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  4. I'm so glad you posted these because they all sound delicious!

    And really...what ISN'T good with brie and tomato? Though that bread does sound extra delicious.

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  5. What a genius idea for a post! I may have to follow suit but those brownies look as though they are to die for!!

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  6. I really am intrigued by those vegemite crisps!!

    wishing you and your family and lovely festive season xx

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  7. The sun-dried tomato bread looks fantastic! It seems to have a nice crust which I am never able to achieve when making bread. What a shame that the soup was disappointing.

    Pizza and calzones are about the only things I use cheezly in these days. I don't really like using it too often as it's so processed and doesn't taste that great anyway.

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  8. Thanks Kari - I think I would have preferred Hannah's brownies in the fridge rather than the freezer and probably eaten them faster. I think I need a post like this at least once a year because there is always stuff that falls by the wayside despite good intentions

    Thanks Hannah - try vegemite and walnuts in a sandwich - I loved it when I was little and still have it occasionally - don't know where the idea came from - maybe my mum - must ask! I must try these brownies again with maple syrup - have found honey a bit strong in a few things lately so I should be careful in adding it - will get there with them

    Thanks Lorraine - those chips are hard to resist at 50c a bag - and it is such an odd idea but it does work!

    Thanks Joanne - nothing like a great dense bread with brie and tomato - even seems a little festive

    Thanks Chele - would love to see what you have in a catch up post - I like how claire at melb gastronome calls it a blog amnesty

    Thanks Lisa - hope you get to try the vegemite crisps (though am not sure if they are GF)

    Thanks Mel - The bread was delicious though smaller than I expected and maybe didn't rise as much as it should but the soup was one of those sludgy ones that taste ok but will impress no one. Interesting to hear your views on cheezly - I do love some cheese on pizza but I liked the lighter taste of this

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  9. Love the sound of that sun dried tomato bread!

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