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

Pretty and Poachy with Baker's Delight and Tassal Salmon

I was invited to a Blogger's Breakfast Challenge last week by Keep Left PR. I was such a newbie and so nervous, but this event was so up my alley, that I just had to suck it up and go! And I am SO glad I did. I had so much fun creating with Baker's Delight, Tassal Salmon and Weetbix. I got so in the zone. Man, I love to cook! And you know how important I think cooking and eating healthy food is with children...you don't? Just check out some of these posts.

So I created the Pretty and Poachy for my savoury dish. I create the perfect poached egg in a controversial way. I use glad-wrap. Seem a little crazy? Yes, but it works! Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

* Baker's Delight bread (Any will do, but I'm loving the Nutritional Range for Active Kids)
* Avocado
* Egg
* Tassal Smoked Salmon slices
* Asparagus
* Lemon Juice
* Vinegar
* Olive oil
* Cracked Pepper








Steps:

1. Place 2 cups of water and a splash of vinegar in a saucepan on a medium heat and bring to a simmer.

2. Lightly brush olive oil on large square of glad-wrap

3. Crack egg onto glad-wrap and bring glad wrap up at edges, twisting at the top. I use a small bowl or something similar to crack the egg so it doesn't slide all over the glad wrap!

4. Place egg with glad-wrap into saucepan and allow to simmer for 2 minutes. Ensure the saucepan does not boil or your yolk will become hardened.

5. Gently take egg out of glad-wrap and place onto Baker's delight bread that is spread with avocado.

6. Place Tassal Smoked Salmon and blanched asparagus on top of poached egg.

7. Create a light hollandaise sauce by whisking egg yolk and a squeeze of lemon juice. Place on top or around the dish.

8. Add some cracked pepper to serve.

9. Voila! A Pretty and Poachy Delight!

Here was the result after Melbourne chef, Allan Campion cut into it. Runny goodness. I was so proud (and relieved!). I didn't win the challenge, but I was stoked to get an honourable mention from such a cool chef, or any chef really!

When is the last time you went to a bit of extra effort for a tasty breakfast?

*All images courtesy of Keep Left PR.