Three Countries, Two Recipes and a dash of Christmas and Baker's Delight!

Brought to you by Baker's Delight...

On Sunday, I popped into Baker's Delight to pick up some goodies for a few Christmas posts I have coming up. The lady went into the back to get them for me and walked out with two shopping bags laden with Christmas goodies...then she reached behind her and said "Oh and these" and out come a beautiful loaf of bread and two giant French Bread Sticks.

Immediately my brain started ticking with ideas and when I got in the car I came up with a few recipes so I could use those sticks up. I resisted the urge to munch on them (I hadn't had lunch and the car smelt bready amazing! Yes, bready) and when I came home I was able to use them without even going to the supermarket.

In case you didn't know, I'm Egyptian but I was born in Australia and I have an Australian husband. I cook with love, passion and spices! But I can also make a mean parma. So I put together these three countries- France, Egypt and Australia to bring you some simple recipes which will hopefully give you a little inspiration this Christmas.

Garlic Bread
This is so simple! It's perfect as a little appetiser before the main course or to serve with the main meal. I can see it being used to mop up all that beautiful gravy off a plate at Christmas!


















Ingredients
1. French Stick from Baker's Delight
2. Margarine or softened butter
3. Italian Herbs
4. Minced Garlic (fresh or jar)

Directions
1. Slice French Stick into thick, even pieces
2. Spread butter/margarine on each slice
3. Sprinkle Italian Herbs onto bread
4. Place on baking paper and grill until brown



Dukkah

My mum used to make this and whole house would smell of it. She would store it in a large jar and my brother would eat it in a sandwich. Which was very weird to me. I didn't understand how good it was until I had it when I was older, served like below, with a glass of wine. You can add all sorts of things, including hazelnuts, but I kept mine simple.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
A pinch of salt
A pinch of peppercorns
French stick, olive oil and balsamic vinegar to serve

Directions


1. Brown sesame seeds with a small amount of olive oil
2. Add all the ingredients to a mortar and pestle or blender
3. Grind until coriander and peppercorn seeds are finely crushed 
4. Taste and season to your liking with more salt or pepper

Serve with chopped bread, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Yum!

Link-up for IBOT with Jess at Essentially Jess