Vegemite cheese straws

2 sheets puff pastry
1 tablespoon vegemite
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 220 C. Line oven tray with baking paper.

Spread one pastry sheet with half the vegemite then sprinkle with half the cheese. Top with remaining pastry sheet and spread vegemite and remaining cheese.

Cut pastry stack in half, place one stack on top of the other and press down firmly. Cut crossways into 24 strips. Twist each strip, pinching the ends to seal. Place on tray and bake 12 minutes.

Blueberry muffins

1½ cups self-raising flour, sifted 

1 cup brown sugar 

¾ cup blueberries 
1 egg, lightly beaten 
¾ cup milk 
4 Tbs butter, melted

1. Mix flour, sugar and blueberries in a bowl. In a separate bowl lightly whisk egg, milk and butter together.
2. Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour and stir with a spoon until ingredients are just combined, do not over mix or muffins may become tough.
3. Fill muffin liners with mixture, level with the top.
4. Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes, until muffins spring back when lightly touched.
5. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack.

Beer Bread

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp. honey
1 can beer (12 oz)
4 tbsp. melted butter

Preheat oven to 180 C and grease a loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add in honey and beer and mix until just combined. Pour batter into pan and pour melted butter on top.

Bake for 50 min to an hour.

Jalapeno Cheese Bread

4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup minced jalapenos
1 tbsp. white sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup warm water
1 package dry yeast
2 tbsp. olive oil

In large bowl, combine flour, cheese, jalapenos and salt; mix well.

In separate bowl, combine water, yeast and sugar. Let sit 10 minutes then stir until the yeast is dissolved.

Add the oil to the liquid mixture, stirring. Add half the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and mix with your hands. Add remaining liquid and mix well.

Turn onto a floured surface and knead by hand until elastic and smooth. (about 15 min)

Place in a large oiled bowl, cover with a towel and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour.

Punch dough down and divide into three equal portions. Place into 8.5" x 4.5" loaf pans and allow to rise another 45 minutes.

Bake at 145 C for 45 minutes. Remove from pan 5-10 minutes after taking out of the oven and let cool 1 hour before slicing.

Spinach & Feta Scrolls

• Smear sun-dried tomato pesto all over a sheet of Puff Pastry, leaving a little gap at the top.
• Add lots of chopped up spinach and feta
• Put a little of water on the free edge of pastry, roll it up and join together the join to stop it springing open.
• Cut into pieces and arrange on a baking tray. Cook for 15-20 minutes at 175 °C or until brown.

Recipe from Beth at BabyMac: http://littlereginald.blogspot.com/

Spinach & Feta Muffins

Serves 12

Canola oil, to grease
375g (2 1/2 cups) self-raising flour
250g (about 1/2 bunch) English spinach,trimmed, washed, dried, shredded
150g feta cheese, crumbled
110g (1/2 cup) chopped semi-driedtomatoes
2 tbs finely grated parmesan
330ml (1 1/3 cups) milk
90g butter, melted
1 egg
1 tbs chopped fresh dill
2 tbs finely grated parmesan, extra

Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush twelve 80ml (1/3-cup) muffin pans with canola oil to lightly grease. Sift flour into a bowl. Add shredded spinach, feta, tomatoes and parmesan, and stir to combine. Use a fork to whisk together milk, butter, egg and dill until well combined. Add milk mixture to flour mixture and use a metal spoon to stir until just combined (do not over mix).
Spoon mixture into prepared pans. Sprinkle with extra parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn out onto wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
recipe from http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/12981/spinach+feta+muffins

Banana Bread

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 175°C. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Recipe and photo from Simply Recipes

Saffron & Basil Breadsticks

Makes: 32 sticks

Serving suggestion: with hummus or tzatziki

Generous pinch of saffron threads
2 Tbsp boiling water
4 cups strong white bread flour
1 Tsp salt
2 Tsp rapid rise yeast
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

Lightly oil three or four baking sheets. Put the saffron threads in a cup and pour over 2 Tbsp boiling water. Leave to infuse for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the yeast. Make a well in the centre.

When the saffron liquid has cooled to lukewarm, add it to the well in the flour with the remaining water, oil and basil. Mix to a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 8-10 minutes.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for one hour.

Divide the dough into 32 pieces and shape into long sticks. Place well apart on the baking sheets. Cover with lightly oiled film and leave to rise for 15-20 minutes, until puffy.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Spiral Herb Bread

Makes: 2 loaves

3 cups strong white bread flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp salt
2 x 7 g / 1/4 oz sachets rapid rise yeast
2 1/2 cups hand-hot water
2 Tbsp butter
1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 large bunch parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper
milk, for glazing

Sift the flours into a large mixing bowl then stir in salt and yeast. Make a well in the centre and add enough of the water to make a rough dough. Knead on a lighly floured surface for about 10 minutes, until smooth.

Melt the butter in a small frying pan and fry the spring onion and garlic until soft. Stir in the parsley with salt and pepper to taste.

Lightly grease 2x 1lb loaf pans. Divide the dough in half. Roll out each piece into a 35x23cm (14x9 in.) rectangle. Spread each rectangle with half the herb mixture taking it just to the edges of the dough.

Roll up each rectangle loosely from a short side. Pinch the ends of each roll to seal. Place each roll in loaf pan, cover loosely with oiled clear film and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 190C (375F)

Glaze loaves with milk. Bake for 50 minutes.

Irish Brown Soda Bread

Yeilds: 2 loaves

3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 Tsp baking soda
4 Tsp brown sugar mixed (use more for a sweeter bread) with 1 Tbsp water
2 1/4 cups buttermilk

Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat to 325F. Place both flours, the baking powder, baking soda and brown sugar in a large bowl and mix very well. Add the buttermilk and stir until a soft dough is formed. Knead the dough in the bowl, then empty onto a wood board or counter and knead a bit longer. If the dough seems wet, use extra whole wheat flour. Knead until dough comes together.

Divide the dough into two portions and shape each into a round loaf. Press down just to flatten a bit. Place the loaves on an ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle some additional flour on top of each loaf. Using a sharp knife, make a cross on the top of each. Allow to rest for 10 minutes, covered with a cloth, then bake for 40 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown. Allow to cool then serve with butter and jam.

Cheese Straws

I've only made these once with D's mom's help. I am not used to making pastry and needed some guidance, it's not easy to understand from a recipe if you've never done it before. At D's parent's house, the cheese straws usually come out at Christmas time and they are EXPENSIVE! So I tried making them. They aren't that hard and a lot cheaper to make rather than buy. I would try spicing these up more next time with either jalapenos in the mixture or more cayenne pepper or sprinkling them with paprika. Oh, and I never said these were healthy!

14 tbsp butter. room temperature
3 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, plus some for rolling
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

*Apparently the trick to pastry is incorporate the flour as quickly as possible into the butter. *

Put the butter in a bowl and cut to pieces using a knife. Quickly work the flour, cheese, Worcestershire, salt, and cayenne pepper into the butter by rubbing the mixture between your thumbs, middle and ring fingers, using only fingertips and being as gentle as possible. Lift it up high while doing this and let the mixture fall back into the bowl to incorporate air. Do this long enough to make the mixture crumbly with a few odd lumps here and there. Chill mixture for at least an hour.

Roll small amounts of dough into a long tube about the width of a straw and cut into desired lengths. Gently twist. Arrange on ungreased baking sheets and bake at 300F for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Irish Soda Bread

My nana used to make this quite often. She would tell us as kids, don't run through the house and don't make loud noise or my bread won't rise! So we had to tiptoe around while the bread was rising for an hour. It always turned out great. She also used this same recipe but made them into rolls. Either way is good. Best served straight from the oven or eaten the next day as toast.

4 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 tbsp butter
1 cup raisins
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk

Rinse the raisins and dry with a paper towel. Preheat oven to 425°. Add flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture, then stir in raisins. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add beaten egg and buttermilk to well and mix in with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir. Dust hands with a little flour, then gently knead dough in the bowl just long enough to form a rough ball. Do not over-knead. Shape dough into a bread loaf pan (or muffin tin). Cut a cross in the top of the dough. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Stromboli

Serves: 6

pizza dough (recipe to follow)

About 8 slices of pepperoni, salami and ham

4 slices of each cheese (Provolone or Mozzerella)

thinly sliced onions, red or white
Italian dressing (I like Paul Newman's)
Optional: jalapenos, olives, capsicum, tomatoes

Pizza Dough:

1 cup warm water

1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 cups bleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, sugar, and 1 tablespoon oil and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is still slightly sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes. Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Roll the dough out to about a 4mm wide thickness. Brush with Italian dressing. Layer meats and cheeses. Roll up and place seam side down on well-greased cookie sheet. Bake in over for 25-30 minutes at 350. Serve with a side of marianara sauce or ranch to dip.

Spinach & Feta pull Apart

photo courtesy of Notebook Magazine

This is really tasty and great for a snack. It's usually gone within 15 minutes of coming out of the oven.

1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp dry yeast (1 sachet)
2 tsp salt flakes, plus extra to sprinkle
1 tsp caster sugar
2/3 cup warm water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra
2 cups finely shredded English spinach
150 g feta, crumbled

Preheat oven to 200C. Combine flour, yeast, salt, sugar and water in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Add the combined water and oil and stir. Turn on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl. Cover with damp tea towel and place in a warm spot for 1 hour. Grease 10x20 loaf pan. Gently punch down dough. Knead for 2 minutes. Divide into eight equal portions. Roll 1 portion into a 10x20 cm rectangle, about 5mm thick. Top with 1/8 of the spinach and 1/8 of the feta. Roll to enclose filling.Cut in half width wise. Place side by side and cut side down in the pan. Continue with remaining ingredients. Cover and place in warm spot for 30 minutes or until dough has risen to the top of the pan. Lightly brush dough with olive oil, sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 180C and bake for a further 20 minutes or until bread is golden brown.

Rosemary Bread

Makes 2 loaves
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rosemary
2 tablespoons butter

Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly. Mix in 1 T butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour. Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add more flour if necessary. Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel. Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled. Punch down dough and divide in half. Let dough rest about 5 minutes. Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray. Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface. Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375° F. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter and salt.

*** I love this bread but a few tips for next time:

• use about 1 more cup flour so it's not so sticky
• use another tbsp rosemary
• brush top with egg white to make it more crusty
• bake slightly longer (I had to guess since we have a convection oven)