Atta Hot Cross Bun Recipe

I've been teaching my daughter to sing the nursery rhyme "Hot Cross Buns... Hot Cross Buns...". She sings "Hot hot buns... hot hot buns!". LOL

Here is my own recipe for making hot cross buns using Atta. I did without the icing glaze this time, but next week I will make them with icing!

Ingredients:

650g atta flour
2 teaspoon instant yeast (or use 1 sachet)
1 tablespoon milk powder
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup warm water
1 egg
150g mixed dried fruit
egg + a dash of milk for glazing

Combine all the dry ingredients (leave out the dried fruit) and mix well, then add the water and egg.
Knead for about 10 minutes (I use the dough hook on my kitchen mixer)
Combine in the dried fruit until evenly mixed.
Leave to rise for 1 hour.
Shape the dough into balls (about 5cm in diameter) and leave to rise for another 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to about 210 degrees.
Use a knife to cut a cross on each bun and glaze.
Bake for about 15 minutes.

Yummy Icing:

3 tablespoons icing sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Place in a piping bag and draw a cross on the buns :)

"Don't take my hot hot bun!"

Creamy Roast Pumpkin Soup (Dairy and Gluten Free)

We often have soups for lunch, and one of our favourites is roast pumpkin. I used to frequent a popular soup chain here in Singapore, but their roast pumpkin does not taste "roasty" at all.

Here's how I make mine...

Whole wheat caraway seed buns

I sensed that the store-bought sliced wholemeal bread (as well as other fruit loaves and "multi-grain" loaves) that we usually buy, are laden with preservatives. After leaving them out at room temperature for days at a time, no mould appears. I've always disliked what I call "wussy bread" from the local supermarkets anyway... even the whole grains ones are so light and airy, and the fruit ones taste like they have been perfumed. So decided that I would bake bread again. The first batch being whole wheat caraway seed buns, followed by onion bread. Yumm! Nice heavy buns! :p

How to grow sunflower greens

I love sunflower greens but they are not readily available. So I've been sprouting and growing my own, it's much easier than I thought!

Here's a step by step guide on how to grow your own:

1) Wash and soak about 2 heaped tablespoons of sunflower seeds in a glass jar, after about 24 hours, they will begin to sprout, with  little roots jutting out from the seeds. Drain.

2) Prepare a container (with holes at the bottom for drainage) by filling it about 3 inches deep with potting soil. I use a recycled clear plastic container which nectarines and plums are sold in. Spread the seeds on the top.

3) Pour some water all over till a small amount begins to drain from the bottom.

4) Sprinkle a thin layer of potting soil over the top.

5) Spray with a little water daily. In about 36 hours, you will begin to see the shoots poking out from the soil.

6) The sunflower greens will be ready to harvest in 3-5 days!

7) To harvest, just snip off the taller ones just above the soil with a pair of scissors. I prefer to harvest them in 3 stages as some seeds take a bit longer to sprout than others.

Doesn't this look fresh?

I seldom buy a whole fish coz' I'll be the only one eating it after scrapping off bits for Little Missy. But this red fish (I can't remember the name) looked so fresh I couldn't resist. I like to fry bits of garlic, ginger and corriander root (and some stems) to add to the soy sauce and sugar mixture before I send poor fishy to the steam room.

Top off with corriander leaves and sliced chilli

Cream of broccoli and cauliflower soup

We love soups and broths of all sorts! They are so quick and easy to make. Roast all your veges in a pot with olive oil, top off with water or stock and simmer. Then stick in your hand blender, and viola!

Served with potato bread and lots of love :)

Sakura Chicken -- a disappointment this time

Whenever I get a whole chicken from the supermarket, I would get "kampong" for soups or Sakura Chicken for roasts. Sakura chicken is really more tender (esp the breast), but this one time, I was very disappointed with what I got. It was quite tough, and worst of all, the feet had "burn marks". From what I saw on Jamie Oliver's Fowl Dinners, birds with such burn marks on their feet indicate that they have been bred in an overly crowded farm where the ammonia levels in their waste actually cause their feet to burn. :( I really hope that the welfare of the chickens isn't declining, coz' I'd imagine that it affects the consumers' health.