Chicken & Pineapple Curry - Hold the Flies

I love pineapple - it's one of my favourite fruits. They had pineapple on sale at my local over-priced grocery store this week, so I decided to get one. I'm pretty picky when it comes to my fruit, and since it's sometimes hard to gauge the ripeness of pineapples in the grocery store, I kinda have to go with my gut. I picked on out and went with it. I sat it on my counter as I usually do, partially because I was too lazy to chop it up, partially because I was waiting to see if it would ripen any more.

What a mistake! Less than two days later, I caught a whiff of my pineapple at the opposite end of my kitchen and knew I had to take action. When I cut the peel off, I could see that it was way past ripe and verging on...yucky. I chucked what parts of it seemed inedible and chopped & refrigerated the rest of it. The scraps went into the garbage. This was yesterday.

Today, I have an infestation of fruit flies in my kitchen garbage can. They are feasting on pineapple cores and peels, and seem to be making their way around the house. My roommate has a fruit bowl well away from the garbage and there has been some action there. I have also noticed the buggers fluttering around my office - and there is no food up here.

Garbage day is Wednesday, and it's hot out. We have special bags we have to put our garbage in in this town in order for our garbage to be collected on garbage day. These bags cost $1.50 each, so we can't just replace the bag and put the old bag with the peelings in it somewhere else. We live in bear country, so garbage has to be kept under lock and key until the day of collection.

So, what to you do?

You make curry.

I have no idea what to do about the fruit flies in the garbage, but I do know that pineapple goes well with curry flavours. I happened to have a bottle of Maya organic curry sauce on hand that I got in the bargain bin at my local over-priced grocery store for $1.99. I had an onion. I had some chicken and some rice. I even had some wilty and nearly finished cilantro in my crisper.

I managed to use half of my fresh pineapple in this recipe. And it was a very good dinner, if I do say so myself.

As for the flies, there were no left overs for them, but I doubt they'll be any the wiser.

Chicken & Pineapple Curry (serves 2 or 1 hungry person)

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup (or to taste) curry cooking sauce of your choice (Patak's is my favourite brand, and you could use, instead of a curry cooking sauce, some curry paste, a bit of tomato sauce, and some sour cream or yogur to get a similar result)
basmati rice, to serve

Brown the chicken in a TBSP of olive oil. Add onions & pineapple. Saute for five or so minutes. Add sauce and garlic. Simmer another 5 - 10 minutes. Top with cilantro; serve over rice.

I suppose you could use canned chunks of pineapple if you really must - but there is no comparison between fresh and canned, in my opinion. Canned does have its place, for sure; I just prefer the fresh, and once you know how to peel and core it, it's very easy to just chop it up and put it in your fridge.

Also, pineapple contains an enzyme that helps the digestion of protein, so it's a good idea to have it with meat, actually. I could have made any number of desserts, but for some reason, this idea appealed to me the most tonight. And I have enough left-overs for a second meal tomorrow night.

Enjoy!

Camping Grub

I went camping last weekend for the first time in 10 years. It was awesome, and I realized I really miss camping. I got too much sun and a bad sunburn, but I did eat some pretty awesome food.

I love cooking outdoors, and there's pretty much nothing that can't be done over a cookstove or campfire.

The occasion this time was my brother's birthday. He loves Black Forest Cake, and I made him one last year for his birthday trip, too. This time, I needed something that would travel better, so I opted for the chocolate biscuits I made here, which turned out great (note, I added extra butter and some extra buttermilk to get a much cakier biscuit). Since I couldn't whip any cream at the campsite, I bought a can of the whipped topping stuff, and a can of cherry pie filling. I topped it off with chocolate sauce. It was totally excellent and everyone enjoyed it. Who says you can't have a gourmet dessert while camping?

I also made Eggs Benny, which is something I treat my family to on special occasions. I've made a lot of EB in my professional cooking life, so it's really not a big deal for me. For the camping version, I didn't poach the eggs, I just fried them. As you can see, it wasn't a totally roughing-it camping trip; my sister-in-law brought out her parents' trailer which is equipped with a small stove. She made the Hollandaise sauce and toasted the English muffins with her nifty camping toaster, while I fried up the eggs and ham on the camp stove outside. It was just as yummy - even yummier, in fact, than traditional EB made at home or in a restaurant!

Then of course we have the ultimate, traditional camping food: 'Smores. I was only introduced to 'Smores last year and honestly, they don't quite do it for me. Although I love the concept of melty chocolate, graham crackers, and a nicely toasted marshmallow, I'm not overly keen on...well, nicely toasted marshmallows. I like 'em raw well enough (sort of), but I've never really been into the roasting of marshmallows, though I've tried my hardest to get into them. Anyway, here's the one and only 'Smore I ate on the trip. I over-roasted my marshmallow and the chocolate didn't melt, but you get the idea. I don't know; frankly, next time, I'll just have the chocolate and the graham crackers and skip the marshmallow.

And, just because I want to show off my cool wildlife shot to anyone who will look at it, here is a picture of the Columbia Ground Squirrel who came cruising for left-overs one morning. Isn't he sweet?


A few more wildlife shots can be seen here.

The rest of the camping story is here.

Magazine Monday #4: Mmmm Cookies

It's that time of the week again.

It's also that time if the month, and that means cravings. On Friday, I had a huge burger and fries, and today my palate screamed for sugar. I could have been wimpy about it and gone to buy some chocolate, but since I have baking/cooking on my schedule for Mondays, and this little blog event started by Ivonne, I caved and baked instead.

This recipe came from the November 2006 Bon Appetit issue, and, now that I reread the accompanying article, is actually a Dorie Greenspan recipe from her book Baking: From My Home to Yours. It's one of the best chocolate chip cookie recipes I've made. I know, I know; everyone has their own special chocolate chip cookie recipe, and there are bazillions of them out there. This one just happens to be one of my favourites.

I used my #16 cookie scoop and it was a bad idea. The cookies spread quite a bit and the #16 is actually equivalent to 1/3 cup - too large for a cookie in a home-baking situation. I could only get four per sheet. For the final bit of dough I used my #70 cookie scoop, which is equivalent to about 1 TBSP, and they turned out much better.

I highly recommend cookie scoops, by the way. They make cookie-baking so much easier and far more consistent. The number is engraved on the inner slide of the cookie scoop, and it tells you how many cookies you get per quart of dough (it's an American thing, I assume). So, #16 gives you 16 cookies per quart, etc.

My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies, by Dorie Greenspan, via Bon Appetit November 2006

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 ouncs bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 2 cups store-bought chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup finely chopped pecans

Sift, cream, blend, fold. Yadda x3. Bake at 350F (the original recipe says 375F, but chocolate is extremely heat sensitive and I don't bake anything with chocolate in it above 350F).

Enjoy!

Restaurant Review: The Flying Steamshovel

There aren't a ton of dining options in Rossland anymore, and when you're in the mood for a burger and fries, we have less than we used to. There was a popular place up near the museum that did great Mexican take away and also had the best burgers ever on their menu. Alas, the business was bought and it's now a more expensive Mexican place - without the burgers. Now, The Flying Steamshovel is probably Rossland's best bet for the ultimate burger.

The name may sound odd, but yes, there is an establishment in Rossland named The Flying Steamshovel. The building was erected in 1896 and used to house miners during the gold rush days. Now, The Shovel, as it's called locally, houses a liquor store, a small hotel, and a pub.

I do enjoy pub grub. Rossland has another pub, The Rock Cut, but, although I had a really good meal there a few weeks ago, I noticed that the prices have increased recently, and all other anecdotal evidence I've heard is that the food really isn't that good, or it's really inconsistent. You also need to drive out there, or hike for 45 minutes.

The Shovel is under new ownership. Granted, I was not around during the previous ownership, so I don't really have anything to compare the food or service to. The only time I've ever been there previous to 2007 was when I was 19 and I went out drinking for a friend's birthday. Back then, it was very much a drinking hole and less a restaurant. I will say that the interior of the pub is dated and needs some new furniture and updated decor. There is a sizeable patio out back, and on Fridays you can have a burger BBQed to your specs and a pitcher of beer for $10.

Last night I dined at The Shovel with my brother, Jem. Both starving, we started off with the spring rolls, which were very fresh and very hot. And because we were both in burger & fries moods, we each ordered the John Candy Burger. For $9.95, this enormous meal contains a whopping 1/2lb all-beef patty topped with caramelized onions, back bacon, and aged cheddar. With the generous portion of crispy, salt & peppered fries, I couldn't finish my meal. And it was an awesome burger, not just in size, but in flavour as well. You can't beat caramelized onions and back bacon on a burger!

Last night was actually the fourth time I've eaten at The Shovel in 8 months. Each time, I've had a really great meal. I've had The Hangover (a sandwich made with egg-dipped bread, chicken, ham, caramelized onions, swiss cheese) which was very filling and very good; I've had the clubhouse, which is made with garlic toast; the Italian club, made with focaccia bread and proscuitto. The side salads I usually choose instead of fries are always fresh, and the house dressing, a feta and dill combination, is tasty.

So yeah, The Flying Steamshovel gets two paws up from this coyote. And she gets to go back on Monday for a girls-only lunch!

NB: The picture of the spring rolls was taken after we'd already consumed two of them!

Edit @ 3:30, Monday June 23: Skip dessert. Especially the Key Lime Pie.

Magazine Monday #3: Shrimp Dumplings

Although I had quite a productive day today, my mood was low and I was craving comfort foods. Since I don't have a car, giving into the urge of chips and chocolate would have entailed walking downtown to the local overpriced grocery store, and I just couldn't be bothered. I wanted something filling and satisfying, not necessarily junky. I considered pasta, but this recipe for shrimp dumplings has been in my mind for a few days now, since I went through my magazine collection the other day. I happened to have the ingredients on hand, including won ton wrappers left over from my Beyond the Great Wall meal.

This is, once again, a Canadian Living recipe, and can be found here. I left out certain things, like the hot sauce (don't like it), the cooking wine (don't have any), and the edamame beans (purely for presentation). I also left out the egg white; when I made the pork dumplings for the BtGW meal, I didn't need it, so I figured I wouldn't need it here, either, and I was right.

I just wanted to dig in, so I didn't bother dressing this up at all to photograph it. I did use my new Asian noodle bowl set for the first time, which was kinda cool. To serve, I splashed some soy sauce over the dumplings and accompanied them with a simple Asian cabbage slaw made from shredded savoy cabbage, grated carrot, some green onions and cilantro, doused with seasoned rice vinegar and soy sauce. It was everything I wanted: yummy, fresh, filling, and totally satisfying. And the work wasn't so bad; much more worth it in the end than hiking down to the store for chips & chocolate (though, tomorrow is another day...).

Hummingbird Cake

I first heard of Hummingbird Cake last summer when I was away at a friend's wedding. I stayed with another friend at her parents' house, and one night we had Hummingbird Cake for dessert. It was fabulous! I think that version had blueberries in it. I found this recipe in an old cookbook while I was bored one day at the hospital. I finally had a chance to make it the other night for a pair of family dinners. It was awesome. It's very simple to make and is one of the most moist and wonderfully-textured cakes I've made.

I have no idea why this is called Hummingbird Cake, but if anyone has any insights, do let me know!

Hummingbird Cake

1 cup plain flour
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour*
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (or, I subsituted the same amount of apple sauce and it was great)
3/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained

Icing (optional)

100g cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350F and prepare an 8" square baking pan (i.e. butter & flour).

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Make a well in the centre.

In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, banana, pineapple together. Pour into the well. Stir to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake 50 minutes or until done.

For the icing, cream the cream cheese until soft and gradually beat in the icing sugar.

* Self-raising flour is available in Canada, but you have to look for it. Brodie is the brand I have and it comes in a white bag with blue writing.

Magazine Monday #2: Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

This recipe is from the June issue of Canadian Living, a magazine I've subscribed to for several years now, and a magazine I grew up with because my mother subscribed to it, too. I can't tell you how much I love getting this in my mail every month. The recipes are always reliable and pretty much foolproof, and there are tons of ideas in each issue that can inspire you do to your own experimentation.

I made these chocolate biscuits for the dessert that finished off our fish & chips meal. The original recipe calls for ice cream and chocolate sauce as an accompaniment, but I stuck with sweetened whipped cream and didn't bother with chocolate sauce. It was a good thing, too; the meal needed to end on a slightly lighter note after such a hearty feast.

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

3 cups sliced strawberries
1 1/2 cups cold whipping cream
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Chocolate Biscuits (makes 8 - 9)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cocoa powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp each baking soda and salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1tsp vanilla

1. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients with a whisk.
2. Cut in butter until crumbly.
3. Whisk together buttermilk, egg, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture, stirring to make a soft dough.
4. With lightly floured hands, press dough into a ball. Knead gently about 10 times. Pat into 1" disk. Using 3" round cutters, cut out rounds. Place on parchment-lined sheet.
5. Bake at 400F for 15 - 20 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

When you're ready to serve, slice the biscuits in half with a serrated knife. Place strawberries on the bottom half, then a generous dollop of whipped cream on top of that, then top with the other half of the biscuit. Voila!

NB: the picture of the finished product above is light on the strawberries and heavier on the whipped cream because this was my serving and I'm not the hugest fan of strawberries.

Restaurant Review/Rant: The Colander & The Colander Express

I am probably going to get death threats for posting this. But, I'm willing to take the risk.

Trail has a locally famous eatery called The Colander. Around WWII or shortly thereafter, there was an enormous migration of Italians who settled in Trail because there was well-paying work to be found at Cominco. The Italian immigrants have given the city a bit of cultural flavour. There is a Columbo Lodge, and Italo Canadese club, an Italian-run and influenced local grocery store, and if you look through Trail's phone book, you'll see that there are dozens of Italian surnames listed. If you go to the local graveyard and mausoleum, you'll see a lot of Italians are buried there. Growing up in the area, I remember shopping in Trail and hearing Italian spoken on the streets, and I knew that some people, especially the oldest in the community, barely spoke any English. Why bother when you could have your services, social networking, and neighbours all speaking Italian? And what better way to make your mark in the new world by starting a restaurant featuring Nona's famous spaghetti recipe?

The Colander (no web site, unfortunately) is a local icon. Boasting "authentic Italian" food, it has a sparse menu consisting of spaghetti, meatballs, chicken, potatoes, salad, buns, and spumoni for dessert. I believe they do ribs now, too. There is also a fast food version of The Colander in the mall, The Colander Express. It is here that I ate last night, in the vastly uncomfortable food court at Waneta Plaza. (The food court, incidentally, contains only two other places to eat and both are pretty bad.)

You can't really grow up in this area without knowing about The Colander and eating there at least once. I've eaten there several times, but not for a good 15 years. There was little atmosphere; you went in and were seated on uncomfortable, rickety chairs at long trestle tables with paper table cloths. The floor was cement, there was little adornment on the walls, and what was on the walls was cheap and silly-looking. There were some dividers set up so you had the feeling that there were smaller rooms within the big room, but the noise told you otherwise. It's basically a big hall/warehouse hybrid and thus the atmosphere wasn't that of a mom & pop bistro. It had more the atmosphere of a church potluck, only the menu was limited, church pot lucks are a little more jolly and pleasant, and the food is much better. And the kids tend to be better behaved.

My family was never fond of The Colander. My dad thought it was a waste of money because it lacked what, in his wannabe upper crust opinion, a proper restaurant should have, namely atmosphere, or at least an attempt at atmosphere, a decent menu, and decent food. In the three times I ate at The Colander that I can remember, it was always the same greasy spaghetti, greasy potatoes, and greasy chicken. The same people always dined there, and though it was a lot of food for not too much money, I could never really understand what the draw was. Although I don't consider myself to be too much of a food snob, I still don't get The Colander, and after eating at it's mall rat offspring last night, I am not inspired to give it another chance.

The Colander Express boasts sandwiches and various other items in addition to the famous spaghetti and meatballs. Having had a sandwich for lunch at work, I decided, against my better judgment, to have the spaghetti. What a huge mistake.

For $6.50 (or thereabouts) I was given a whack of spaghetti noodles, a generous ladle of The Colander's famous sauce, two meatballs, and a spoonful of that dreadful Parmesan cheese that looks like white powder and doesn't require refrigeration. Flavour-wise, I could have had something more tasty from a can of Chef Boyardee. The slick of tomato-coloured oil that coated my meal was unappealing to the eye and hard on the stomach. Had I not opted for meatballs, the dinner would have been over $1 cheaper, but when I actually ate the meatballs (which weren't that big), I didn't think they were worth the extra money. The meal sat heavily in my gut, which took a while to settle down. It was, in a word, terrible.

And this is part of what I don't get: everyone loves The Colander. It is consistently the best reviewed, most recommended place around. And I just don't understand why!

It doesn't help that I've been to Italy. I spent two months there and went from north to south, to Sicily, to Rome, to Milan, to Lago di Como. The food I ate during my trip came from a variety of sources; bakeries, delis, restaurants, bistros, pizzerias, grocery stores, market stalls. None of it ever, ever remotely resembled anything like what The Colander produces. Either this group of immigrants came from a very remote, specific part of Italy where this kind of food was common, or they were just bad, backwards cooks. And, I ate a hell of a lot of gelato in Italy - like every day, practically - and never once did I see spumoni. And do not get me started about antipasto!

Trail never was the culinary capital of the Kootenays (I'd have to say Nelson always was and still is) but it's much better than it used to be. If you're coming to town, let me know and I'll gladly recommend some other places where a way better meal will be served to you. Hell, I'll even cook for you and it'll 1000% better than The Colander.

Failing that, there is Dairy Queen.

NB: Photo from here. There don't seem to be many pictures online; there is probably a good reason for that.

Yuck!

If you want to read about some really, really bad food, go here.

Only the best on this blog, let me tell ya.

Feasting

Since my mom has been here, the feasting we've done as a family has been astounding. My sister-in-law is a brilliant cook, and runs a catering company with her mom in their time off. My brother, Jem, recently came back from an Alaskan fishing trip, a perk he got through his job. He returned with 35lbs of fish - mainly halibut. The resort cleaned and filleted all the fish for him, flash froze it and vacuum-sealed everything. The freshness is indescribable.

Last night, my sister-in-law made fish & chips with the halibut, accompanied by coleslaw, roasted asparagus, and stuffed mushrooms. It was a truly amazing meal.

Mom goes home tonight.

Magazine Mondays Inaugural Edition: Coconut Blondies

Ivonne over at Creampuffs in Venice started Magazine Mondays last fall, just to give some of us foodbloggers a bit of help with content and inspiration. Sometimes, I know for myself, I need that kind of structure.

I have subscriptions to Canadian Living, Bon Appetit, and Gourmet. It's like getting a series of cookbooks in my mailbox every month, and I love it.

The June 2008 issue of Gourmet featured four brownie recipes on the last page, which I just discovered yesterday. While I love a good brownie, I also adore a good blondie. I have a recipe I've used for a few years now, courtesy Granny Annie, that is wonderful and quadruples nicely for more commercial purposes. But this coconut version caught my eye last night as I re-read Gourmet over dinner.

Recipe here.

The result: OH.MY.GOD. Warm with vanilla ice cream: OH.MY.DOUBLE.GOD. Definitely a keeper!

Nutritional breakdown here.

101 Uses for a Roasted Chicken #5: Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom Lasagne

After recovering from my lasagne-making phobia, I seem to be plotting my next lasagnes on a regular basis. It's just so easy and satisfying to make a pan of this stuff, and the oven-ready noodles are a God-send. Usually, I make my own pasta sauce, but once in a while, buying one is perfectly acceptable to me, especially if I want to make a lasagne quickly and with even less fuss. This chicken version is awesome.

You will need, for a 9x13-inch pan (lined with parchment paper for ease of both serving and clean-up; or line pan with foil and spray liberally with cooking spray):

both breasts from 1 roasted chicken, skinned and diced or shredded
1 large tub (500g) 1% cottage cheese
1 egg
1 tsp each oregano and basil
3 cloves garlic, crushed, finely chopped or grated
1 bunch spinach, washed, dried and coarsely chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 cups pasta sauce, your choice (I used Ragu because it was on sale; it was fine)
2 cups part skim mozzarella cheese, grated
approx. 15 oven-ready lasagne noodles

Assembly: the golden rule with lasagne and oven-ready noodles: sauce, noodles, sauce.

So, here is how to assemble this version: 3/4 cup sauce, noodles (3 length-wise, one broken in half at the width end), sauce, spinach & mushrooms, noodles again as previous, sauce, cottage cheese mixture (mix cottage cheese with the egg, chicken, oregano, basil, and garlic), noodles again, the rest of the sauce, mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 400F for 30 minutes. Stab it in the middle with a knife and see if the noodles are pretty much softened, and, if so, remove the foil and continue baking for another 30 minutes, or until a deep golden brown.

When it's done, let it sit for about 15 minutes before serving. This gives your lasagne a chance to sort of "tighten up" and absorb any extra cooking liquids. It'll be much easier to serve and less soupy.

Nutritional info here.

Away...

...At "the spa." Details here.

The Ultimate Blueberry Muffin

Like cookies, there are a bazillion different muffin recipes out there. And, like cookies, some are better than others.

What do you look for in a muffin?

I personally like a muffin that isn't trying to be a cupcake (a la Costco), that isn't too oily, and that has a nice firm, even slightly crisp top. I look for a delicate crumb and simple flavours, a moist texture but one that isn't going to fall apart and crumble to to bits before I get it to my mouth.

This recipe is all these things. Adapted from Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse, I bring you...

The Ultimate Blueberry Muffin

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk mixed with 1 tbsp lemon juice; let sit 5 minutes)
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
zest of one lemon or one orange

Cream the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla. Whisk together the dry ingredients and add, alternating with buttermilk in 2 or three additions, to the butter mixture. Add zest. Fold in blueberries. Scoop into muffin tins, greased or with papers, and bake at 350F for 25 - 30 minutes. You should get 12 large muffins.

This is a versatile batter. You can replace the blueberries with any berry you want to, or make something like Orange Chocolate Chip, Lemon & White Chocolate Chip, Pineapple Coconut (drain the pineapple very well and pat dry with paper towels). Use your imagination; the sky's the limit!

NB: Nutritional information per muffin is here.

Kazakh Family Loaf

As you may have read, last week I made a meal using recipes from Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in the Other China. One of the items on the menu was Kazakh Family Loaf, made in a cast iron pot (see review). I feel the urge to make bread today, and that loaf turned out so well last week that I decided to use it as a base for my own version. It's a large recipe that would easily split into two smaller, more North American-looking loaves, and what I decided to do was make a square, flat version in a 9" dish and a more recognizable version in a loaf pan. After all, the original recipe has you baking the loaf in a pot; why not experiment with other shapes? We made loaves in springform pans in culinary school.

The flavour of this bread is impressive, and I think it has a lot to do with the addition of full fat yogurt. In my version, I've heightened the fibre content a bit by adding oatmeal and some seeds. I also used more yeast than the original recipe because not only am I high altitude (3500 feet) but I was skeptical that 1 tsp of dry yeast would rise up to 5 cups of flour (though I realized the yogurt contains its own bacteria, so who knows?).

Kazakh Family Loaf (adapted, by me, from Beyond the Great Wall)

2 1/4 tsp (or 2 1/2 if you're 3500 feet or more above sea level) quick rise or instant yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 tbsp each sesame seeds & poppy seeds
1/2 cup plain, full fat yogurt

See bread baking tutorial for instructions.

This is a lovely dough to work with. Split it in half for two small loaves, cook it in a cast iron pot as I did last week, or you could even make this into buns. It's very versatile. The crust is just as it should be - crusty! - while the inside is tender and sponge-like. It is, simply, awesome.

Enjoy!