Vegan Parmesan

Date Published: Feb 8th, 2022 | Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2022
Author: Abby |Category: basics, easy, healthy, how-to
Serves: 1.5 cups | Prep time: 1 minute | Mix time: 30 seconds

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I’m not vegan, nor could I ever go vegan, but I do often try to cut down my intake of dairy for health reasons. The hardest part of cutting down dairy is the cheese. My idea of a perfect picnic is a giant cheese board with crackers and fruit pastes. Mmmmmm. I could eat cheese all day every day. I’m a cheese fiend!

Although I have yet to find a replacement for an ooey gooey cheese, I have found a replacement for Parmesan from Minimalist Baker. This recipe uses nutritional yeast as the source of its cheesy flavour and it’s super easy to whip up. Although it won’t melt, you can still use it anywhere you’d use Parmesan. I sprinkle it over pizza, pasta, and add it to savoury baked goods like tuna cakes.

What is nutritional yeast?

Nutritional yeast is a strain of deactivated yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that is often used in baking, brewing, and wine-making. The yeast is grown, deactivated, dried, and packaged. It has its own nutritional benefits, but best of all it has a nutty cheesy flavour. It’s a very popular vegan product as a cheese replacement. You’ll usually find nutritional yeast in the health food section. A little goes a long way!

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

180g (1.5 cups) cashews (raw or roasted/salted)
6 Tbsps nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt (skip if you’re using salted cashews)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until you get a consistency that looks like parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Done! Use immediately or store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3-4 weeks.

Summarized Recipe:

Vegan Parmesan

Ingredients:

180g (1.5 cups) cashews (raw or roasted/salted)
6 Tbsps nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt (skip if you’re using salted cashews)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until you get a consistency that looks like parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Done! Use immediately or store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3-4 weeks.

February 8, 2022February 8, 2022

AbbyLeave a comment

Knedlíky (Czech Bread Dumplings)

Date Published: March 28th, 2021 | Last Updated: March 28th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: basics, easy, breads, sides
Serves: 4 small loaves (6-8 serves)| Prep time: 1.5 hours | Cook time: 20 mins (per loaf)

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As an Asian person, the term “dumpling” has always been known to me as pockets of meat wrapped in a thin dough so it confused me greatly when I learned that the European definition of “dumpling” is generally an overarching term for a dough without any filling. European dumplings can vary greatly in ingredients and textures and can be vastly different between different regions and countries. I was actually low-key disappointed when Toby first told me he was going to make Czech dumplings and it ended up being a bread dough 😂. Nevertheless, these dumplings came out super fluffy and was fantastic at absorbing all the delicious sauce on the plate.

Knedlíky is a traditional Czech bread dumpling that is commonly served in many traditional Czech foods, especially in those dishes that have a lot of sauce or a soup/stew to soak up the delicious flavour. The texture of knedlíky are very similar to Asian-style steamed buns or baos – in fact, they’re so similar that I’m thinking of trying to make bao zi with this recipe by stuffing some mince pork in them 😜. They’re fluffy and ever so slightly sweet. Although they’re like bread, you don’t bake or steam them – you boil them! I never knew you could get such a fluffy texture by boiling dough, it completely blew my mind when I first saw Toby’s mom make them.

These dumplings are traditionally made with ‘sharp flour’ or ‘continental flour’ which is a coarser flour made from hard wheat that is common in Europe, but actually super difficult to find in Australia in regular grocery stores. I followed this recipe initially to make these dumplings and used all-purpose flour instead but they came out too dense. I’ve since tweaked the ratios of the yeast and they came out perfectly the second time! This recipe uses all-purpose flour, but if you can get your hands on some sharp flour, feel free to follow the original recipe and see if you can notice a difference.

These dumplings are pretty easy to make, but please allow enough time to cook them all. If you don’t have a really big pot, you may have to cook them one at a time (which is what I always end up doing) and it takes 20 mins each time (allow 1 hour to cook all 4). Don’t crowd them in a pot – they will expand quite a bit while you cook them, but will shrink down a little once removed from the pot and cools down. Knedlíky also freezes really well wrapped up in cling wrap or aluminum foil – just steam or microwave them when ready to use.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1.5 cups (325ml) milk
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp instant active dry yeast
1 large egg
4.75 cups (635 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt

Directions:

Microwave the milk until warm to the touch. Mix in the sugar and yeast and set aside for ~10 mins until frothy. Once the milk/yeast mixture is frothy, beat in one egg to the mixture.

Tip: Test the temperature of the milk by dipping your finger into the milk. If it’s too hot, let it cool down or else you’ll end up cooking the yeast. If it’s too cold, then the yeast won’t activate.
If your mixture doesn’t froth, then you’ll likely need fresh yeast.

In a large stand mixer bowl, add in the flour and salt and mix it around. Turn on the stand mixer on medium speed and gradually pour in the milk/yeast/egg mixture to the flour. Let it knead until you get a smooth elastic dough. If your dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. (You can also knead this dough by hand.)

(See tip on how to proof dough in the oven)

Cover the tough with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm place to proof until doubled in size (~1 hr).

Don’t have a reliable warm place? See my method on how to proof your dough in the oven here.

Once your dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl, knead it a couple of times on a lightly floured surface to release any excess air bubbles and divide it into 4 even portions (you can use a kitchen scale for this or just eyeball it). Shape them into fat logs that are no longer than the diameter of your pot. Set them aside covered with a tea towel and let it rest for another 15 mins.

In a large pot, boil half a pot of water with 1 Tbsp of salt and drop in 1 to 2 dough logs at a time (do not crowd them. If you don’t have a large pot, you may have to cook one at a time). Boil for 10 mins, flip the dough and boil for another 10mins (20 mins total). Remove the dough log from the water and use a toothpick or chopstick to poke lots of holes into the cooked dumpling to let the steam out. Repeat for the rest of the dough.

Let the cooked dough cool then slice. Ready to eat!

Tip: If you’re not using it right away, they freeze really well covered with some cling wrap. Steaming would be best when ready to use or microwave.

Summarized Recipe:

Knedlíky (Czech Bread Dumplings)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups (325ml) milk
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp instant active dry yeast
1 large egg
4.75 cups (635 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt

Directions:

Microwave the milk until warm to the touch. Mix in the sugar and yeast and set aside for ~10 mins until frothy. Once the milk/yeast mixture is frothy, beat in one egg to the mixture.
- Tip: Test the temperature of the milk by dipping your finger into the milk. If it’s too hot, let it cool down or else you’ll end up cooking the yeast. If it’s too cold, then the yeast won’t activate.
- If your mixture doesn’t froth, then you’ll likely need fresh yeast.
In a large stand mixer bowl, add in the flour and salt and mix it around. Turn on the stand mixer on medium speed and gradually pour in the milk/yeast/egg mixture to the flour. Let it knead until you get a smooth elastic dough. If your dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. (You can also knead this dough by hand.)
Cover the tough with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm place to proof until doubled in size (~1 hr).
- Don’t have a reliable warm place? See my method on how to proof your dough in the oven here.
Once your dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl, knead it a couple of times on a lightly floured surface to release any excess air bubbles and divide it into 4 even portions (you can use a kitchen scale for this or just eyeball it). Shape them into fat logs that are no longer than the diameter of your pot. Set them aside covered with a tea towel and let it rest for another 15 mins.
In a large pot, boil half a pot of water with 1 Tbsp of salt and drop in 1 to 2 dough logs at a time (do not crowd them. If you don’t have a large pot, you may have to cook one at a time). Boil for 10 mins, flip the dough and boil for another 10mins (20 mins total). Remove the dough log from the water and use a toothpick or chopstick to poke lots of holes into the cooked dumpling to let the steam out. Repeat for the rest of the dough.
Let the cooked dough cool then slice. Ready to eat!

Tip: If you’re not using it right away, they freeze really well covered with some cling wrap. Steaming would be best when ready to use or microwave.

March 28, 2021March 28, 2021

Abby1 Comment

Nokedli (Hungarian ‘Dumplings’)

Date Published: March 19th, 2021 | Last Updated: March 19th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: basics, easy, < 30mins, sides
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 5 mins

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Get ready to make the quickest and easiest “pasta” you’ve ever made. Nokedli is a Hungarian “dumpling” which I can best describe as a gnocchi but slightly squishier and fluffy. It’s made with only 4 ingredients and takes 15 minutes to whip up and a few minutes to cook. It’s so easy and versatile, you may never want to buy pasta again. They may not be the most beautiful, but you just can’t beat the texture of a fresh pasta at such minimal effort. You can make them as big or as small as you like. It’s fantastic sautéed in a dish or tossed in something saucy to soak up the flavour. My new favourite way to have it is mixed in a rich creamy mushroom sauce. This recipe makes 2 servings but if you’re tossing it in a dish with lots of other ingredients such as meat or veggies, it will easily bulk it up to 4 portions.

As an Asian person, the term “dumpling” has always been known to me as pockets of meat wrapped in a thin dough so it confused me greatly when I learned that the European definition of “dumpling” is generally an overarching term for a dough without any filling. European dumplings can vary greatly in ingredients and textures and can be vastly different between different regions and countries. I was actually low-key disappointed when Toby first told me he was going to make Czech dumplings and it ended up being a bread dough 😂. I still find it weird to use the term ‘dumpling’ for anything else but Asian-style dumplings but I’m sure I’ll adjust.

I first came across the idea of making nokedli through my friend’s oma’s recipe for Pumble and Knockle which is a simple hearty Hungarian dish of paprika potatoes cooked in buttery bread. She made hers without any egg which I thought was a bit dense so I went hunting for more traditional nokedli recipes and put this one together (food.com and venturists.net had a couple good ones that I based this one off of).

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup (80ml) water
~1 cup (~150g) all-purpose flour (you may not need the whole cup)

Directions:

In a mixing bowl beat together the egg, salt and 1/3 cup water.

Add in the flour gradually to the bowl, mixing with a fork, until you get a thick sticky dough – it should be roughly thicker than cake batter (you may not need to use the entire cup of flour). Set aside to rest for 10 mins.

While the dough is resting, boil a medium pot of water with 1-2 teaspoons of salt. When the dough has rested, mix it around one more time and drop half a teaspoon of dough into the boiling water at a time. (Tip: lower the spoon into the boiling water for the dough to release from the spoon). When the dough floats to the top, it’s ready (2-3 minutes). Strain and ready to use!

Note: you may want to cook your nokedli in batches to not overcook them or get someone to help you spoon the dough into the pot so they all go into the pot faster.

If you’re not using them right away, rinse them in cold water to prevent them from sticking together. Otherwise if you’re serving it in a sauce, you can add them directly in the finished sauce and serve.

Nokedli served in Pumble and Knockle (Hungarian paprika potatoes with buttery bread)

Nokedli tossed in a creamy mushroom sauce 🙂 mmmm

Summarized Recipe:

Nokedli (Hungarian ‘Dumplings’)

Date Published: March 19th, 2021 | Last Updated: March 19th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: basics, easy, < 30mins, sides
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup (80ml) water
~1 cup (~150g) all-purpose flour (you may not need the whole cup)

Directions:

In a mixing bowl beat together the egg, salt and 1/3 cup water.
Add in the flour gradually to the bowl, mixing with a fork, until you get a thick sticky dough – it should be roughly thicker than cake batter (you may not need to use the entire cup of flour). Set aside to rest for 10 mins.
While the dough is resting, boil a medium pot of water with 1-2 teaspoons of salt. When the dough has rested, mix it around one more time and drop half a teaspoon of dough into the boiling water at a time. (Tip: lower the spoon into the boiling water for the dough to release from the spoon). When the dough floats to the top, it’s ready (2-3 minutes). Strain and ready to use!
- Note: you may want to cook your nokedli in batches to not overcook them or get someone to help you spoon the dough into the pot so they all go into the pot faster.
- If you’re not using them right away, rinse them in cold water to prevent them from sticking together. Otherwise if you’re serving it in a sauce, you can add them directly in the finished sauce and serve.

March 19, 2021March 19, 2021

Abby2 Comments

So Easy Flatbread for Wraps

Date Published: August 19th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 19th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: breads, easy
Serves: 4 medium flatbreads | Prep time: 5mins + 30mins rest | Cook time: 20 mins (5 mins per flatbread)

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Flatbread is the overarching term for a flat piece of bread (duh) which encompasses countless variations from all over the world including paratha, roti, naan, pita, bing…etc. This basic recipe was adapted from Julie Goodwin and makes a flatbread that best resembles a paratha x pita with slightly crispy edges and a soft centre that’s perfect for wraps. You can even roll it out thinner and make pita chips for dipping! (If you’re looking for a more sturdy flatbread for pizzas, check out my basic dough recipe.) There are only a few ingredients you’ll need for this recipe and it is so simple and straight forward that you’ll never buy store-bought wraps ever again! You don’t even need to turn on the oven or proof the dough. Just mix the ingredients into a bowl, knead for a couple minutes then rest it for 30 mins and you’re ready to cook it! There’s no baking involved, just cook it on a pan for a few minutes on each side and you’re ready to serve. Easy, huh?

This recipe makes 4 medium pieces of wraps. If you prefer larger full-sized wraps then double the recipe and divide your dough balls into 6 pieces instead of 4. I love making these because I can control how thick, thin, or large I want my wraps and also control how crispy and toasty it is. I can make as many as I need and not worry about leftover wraps that might go mouldy in a few days if I forget to use them and there’s also no waste from food packaging. It’s a win-win!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

2 cups (300g) all purpose flour + more for dusting
3/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 Tbsp (50ml) olive oil
3/4 cup (185ml) milk

You can also sub the olive oil in the dough for butter to make it more buttery, but the taste difference is pretty minimal so I omit it for the health reasons.

You can also use whole wheat flour but the result will be a bit more dense and dry. It also won’t puff up on the stove and you may need to add more oil.

Directions:

In a large wide-based bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add in the olive oil and milk to the centre.

Push the flour into the centre of the well

Mix the ingredients together with your hands by bringing in the flour from the sides of the bowl into the centre until you get a rough sticky dough. Knead the dough in the bowl (or onto a flat surface if your bowl is too small) for about 2-3 minutes until you get a smooth elastic dough ball. You can add more flour as you knead if your dough ball is sticky. Cover your dough with a clean tea towel and let it rest for 30mins at room temperature.

Alternatively you can also use a stand mixer for this step but there’s so little kneading required that I couldn’t be bothered getting out my machine and washing extra bowls.

After 30mins, divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece out to about 3-5mm thickness.

Rolling it out thinner makes it crispy and difficult to use as a wrap without cracking (but might make some good chips for dipping!). Rolling it too thick will result in a doughy dense flatbread.

Heat a skillet on MED heat and when the pan is heated, add a small drizzle of olive oil (~1 tsp) and swirl it around so it coats the pan. Put a rolled out dough onto the oiled pan. After a few minutes the flatbread may form puffy pockets of air (some bigger than others) – this is normal but not all flatbreads will puff up so don’t worry if yours doesn’t. Check the bottom of the flatbread and flip it when you see toasted golden brown spots (~3 mins). Cook again on the other side until golden. Repeat this cooking method with the other 3 flatbreads, adding a small amount of oil to the pan each time you start cooking a new dough. Stack the finished flatbreads on top of each other to keep them soft and warm until ready to serve. Done!

Note: You can make these ahead of time and keep it in the fridge covered. Just microwave them when you’re ready to use or toast them in the oven until warm. You can also freeze the cooked bread or keep the dough in the refrigerator for a couple days, wrapped.

I used this flatbread to make a wrap with leftover garlic rosemary lamb roast, creamy mint yogurt sauce and quinoa with dill. It was SO good!

Summarized Recipe:

So Easy Flatbread for Wraps

Ingredients:

2 cups (300g) all purpose flour + more for dusting
3/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 Tbsp (50ml) olive oil
3/4 cup (185ml) milk

Directions:

In a large wide-based bowl, mix the flour and salt together.
Make a well in the centre of the flour and add in the olive oil and milk to the centre.
Mix the ingredients together with your hands by bringing in the flour from the sides of the bowl into the centre until you get a rough sticky dough. Knead the dough in the bowl (or onto a flat surface if your bowl is too small) for about 2-3 minutes until you get a smooth elastic dough ball. You can add more flour as you knead if your dough ball is sticky.
Cover your dough with a clean tea towel and let it rest for 30mins at room temperature.
After 30mins, divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece out to about 3-5mm thickness.
Heat a skillet on MED heat and when the pan is heated, add a small drizzle of olive oil (~1 tsp) and swirl it around so it coats the pan. Put a rolled out dough into the oiled pan and cook until you see toasted golden brown spots on both sides (~3-5 mins per side) on both sides. Repeat this cooking method with the other 3 flatbreads, adding a small amount of oil to the pan each time you start cooking a new dough. Stack the finished flatbreads on top of each other to keep them soft and warm until ready to serve. Done!

August 19, 2020August 19, 2020

Abby1 Comment

How to Make Brown Butter

Date Published: August 10th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 10th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: how-to, basics
Serves: — | Prep time: 2 minutes | Cook time: 5-8 minutes

Brown butter is literally butter than has been “browned” by cooking it down. The process is as easy as placing butter on a skillet and waiting until it’s brown. No other ingredients needed other than butter itself. The end result is this beautiful fragrant nutty magical brown liquid that adds amazing flavour and depth to a dish. Although it’s very easy to brown butter, there is room for error so that’s why I’ve written a step-by-step guide with photos on what to look out for to ensure you get a perfectly browned butter every time.

Butter itself is not only fat. It’s composed of 1) fat, 2) water, and 3) milk solids and all 3 of these will separate during the process of browning butter. In a nutshell when you brown butter, you melt it down and the water content will evaporate as the mixture sizzles. Once the water has evaporated, you’re left with fat and milk solids. The milk solids will toast during the process which is what gives us the nutty bold flavour so make sure you scrape as much milk solids out of the pan when transferring! The water content of butter is roughly 13-17% (thanks Google), which means that the amount of brown butter you end up with will be 13-17% less than the amount of better you started with (ie. 100g of butter will result in 83-87g of brown butter) so make sure you calculate properly how much butter you need to start with for your recipe.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

Butter (either salted or unsalted)
- I like to use unsalted butter which is what most baking recipes call for and I add my own salt at the end for savoury dishes.

Directions:

Cut the butter into even sized cubes so they melt evenly.

Heat a skillet (ideally one with a silver and white bottom so you can easily see the colour changes) on MEDIUM heat and add the butter to the skillet.

The butter will go through several stages during this process. Make sure you’re frequently stirring during this whole process to keep everything moving:

Butter blocks will all melt to a liquid state and sizzle.
The butter continues to sizzle and you’ll start to notice white foam forming. These are the precious milk solids.
The foam will start to subside a little and the mixture will start to brown (timing will depend on how much butter you put in the pan, but usually 5-8 minutes). You will notice that some of the milk solids will have sunk to the bottom of the pan and start to turn brown. KEEP AN EYE ON THESE MILK SOLIDS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAN!
Once the milk solids at the bottom of the pan turns toasty brown, the brown butter is done and quickly transfer the contents to a heat-safe bowl. Done!
- DO NOT leave it in the pan, otherwise the heat from the pan will continue cooking the butter. There are only a few seconds between brown butter and burnt butter, so once those solids are toasty brown, you’re done! There should be a a delicious nutty aroma that fills the air. Make sure you get all the milk solids out of the skillet when transferring because that’s where most of the flavour is!

Recipes that use brown butter:

Brown Butter Thyme Mushrooms

August 10, 2020August 20, 2020

AbbyLeave a comment

Easy Moist Chicken Breast

Date Published: August 10th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 10th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: basics, how-to, healthy, easy
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 30 mins

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Chicken breast is one of the things I always have in my freezer. It goes well with so many things and it’s so easy and quick to make. You can have it as part of a healthy meal seasoned with simple spices and paired with a veg or pack it full of flavour with a kickass sauce and toppings. The most common way I like to use it is in salads. It’s amazing how you can turn pretty much any side salad into a main dish just by adding chicken breast.

Chicken breast often get a bad rep for being dry and bland which is why some people avoid it. There’s not much fat on the meat and thus it’s easy to dry out when cooking. Follow this basic tutorial and I’ll show you how I like to prepare chicken breast so it comes out moist and perfect every time! I use a combination of baking and steaming to ensure the chicken stays moist.

If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

Chicken breast – as many as you like, but try not to crowd them too much in a pan so they cook evenly.
Olive oil – roughly 1 tsp per breast. You don’t need much oil since you’re steaming.
Water – enough to fill 1 cm of the pan
Salt & pepper
Optional: any seasoning you like – I keep it plain with just salt and pepper if I’m using it as a base with a sauce, but if I’m adding it to a caesar or garden salad, I rub some Italian seasoning or oregano over it.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 180˚C (~350F) and arrange a rack in the middle of the oven.

Rinse your chicken breasts and place them in a baking tray. Add a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, any additional spices you like, then rub it all over the chicken breasts on both sides.

Pour 1 cm of water into the pan (it doesn’t have to be exact).

Cover the tray with aluminum foil and make sure the edges are sealed (otherwise steam will escape while baking and could result in a dry chicken). Bake in the oven on the middle rack for 20-30 minutes. You can check the doneness of the chicken by either cutting the thickest part and if the juices run clear, it’s finished. If it’s pink, then put the foil back on and bake for another 5 minutes. Alternatively you can use a thermometer and poke it into the thickest part of the breast until it reads 65˚C.

*Caution: HOT steam will escape when you unwrap the foil so please be careful when checking on your chicken!

Once your chicken is cooked, serve it on a plate immediately or rest them for 5 minutes before slicing. It’s VERY important not to slice them when they’re steaming hot, otherwise the juices inside the chicken will evaporate and your chicken will be dry. By allowing them to rest, it lets the juices redistribute throughout the meat.

Enjoy!

Tip: if you’re adding this to a leafy salad, wait until the chicken comes to room temperature before adding it in otherwise the heat might wilt your salad leaves.

Summarized Recipe:

Easy Moist Chicken Breast

Ingredients:

Chicken breast – as many as you like, but try not to crowd them too much in a pan so they cook evenly
Olive oil – roughly 1 tsp per breast. You don’t need much oil since you’re steaming.
Water – enough to fill 1 cm of the pan
Salt & pepper
Optional: any seasoning you like – I keep it plain with just salt and pepper if I’m using it as a base with a sauce, but if I’m adding it to a caesar or garden salad, I sprinkle some Italian seasoning or oregano over it.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 180˚C (~350F) and arrange a rack in the middle of the oven.
Rinse your chicken breasts and place them in a baking tray. Add a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, any additional spices you like, then rub it all over the chicken breasts on both sides.
Pour 1 cm of water into the pan (it doesn’t have to be exact) and cover the tray with aluminum foil. Make sure the edges are sealed (otherwise steam will escape while baking and could result in a dry chicken). Bake in the oven on the middle rack for 20-30 minutes. You can check the doneness of the chicken by either cutting the thickest part and if the juices run clear, it’s finished. If it’s pink, then put the foil back on and bake for another 5 minutes. Alternatively you can use a thermometer and poke it into the thickest part of the breast until it reads 65˚C.
- *Caution: HOT steam will escape when you unwrap the foil so please be careful when checking on your chicken!
Once your chicken is cooked, serve it on a plate immediately or rest them for 5 minutes before slicing. It’s VERY important not to slice them when they’re steaming hot, otherwise the juices inside the chicken will evaporate and your chicken will be dry. By allowing them to rest, it lets the juices redistribute throughout the meat. Enjoy!

Tip: If you’re adding this to a leafy salad, wait until the chicken comes to room temperature before adding it in otherwise the heat might wilt your salad leaves.

August 10, 2020August 10, 2020

AbbyLeave a comment

My Go-To Basic Dough

Date Published: July 13th, 2020 | Last Updated: July 29th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: basics
Serves: 1 large pizza/flatbread or 6-8 small personal pizzas
Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 90 mins to proof

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I used to hate making dough. Any kind of dough. No matter how hard I tried, it never turned out perfectly right – either my arms were tired from kneading or the dough would never rise properly. These days I’m singing a different tune. I’ve discovered the easiest way of proofing dough that always gives me fool-‘proof’ (hah!) results (click here to see how I proof my dough) and my awesome mother-in-law has been letting me use her stand-mixer which has made my life infinitely easier.

Apart from the stand-mixer and easy dough-proofing, this basic dough recipe is my easy go-to dough for almost everything from a quick snack to a main meal. I’ve used it for flatbread, pizzas, cheese pies, pizza pockets, wraps…etc – the possibilities are endless!

Do remember that this is just a BASIC dough. There’s no doubt hundreds of other fancier dough recipes out there, but this one was designed to be quick and easy. You can also easily customize it by adding spices, herbs, garlic…etc. to the dough for more flavour depending on what you’re making (be careful not to make it too heavy or wet) but I usually just keep it simple and then decide on my flavours later on when I’m making the dish rather than incorporating it into the dough.

Rolling the dough out thicker will give you a fluffier bread consistency great for pizzas and flatbreads, whereas rolling it out thinner will result in a crispier base (which is usually how I prefer some of my mini flatbreads).

This recipe is pretty straight forward but becomes a little wordy when I type it out so it seems like a lengthy recipe – I promise it’s easy. Watch the video below to guide you through it and you’ll see how quickly it comes together.

Ingredients:

You only need 6 basic ingredients that you likely already have in your pantry:

1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup (250ml) warm water
3 cups (432g) all purpose flour + extra for dusting/kneading
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil

This recipe makes enough for one big flatbread or pizza, or you can divide up the dough into 6-8 balls and make small personal pizzas/flatbread.

Directions:

Yeast mixture with a layer of white frothy microbubbles and some larger bubbles

First, activate the yeast by mixing it in warm water with the sugar. Stir until combined and make sure you have no clumps in your mixture. Leave this aside for about 5 minutes until it becomes frothy at the top. (If your mixture does not become frothy, your yeast may be too old or your water is too hot.)

Knead until all ingredients are incorporated and a ball forms

Fresh out of the stand-mixer, slightly moist

In a stand-mixer bowl (or regular bowl if you’re doing this by hand), add the flour, salt and olive oil. Mix on a low/knead setting for a minute until combined, then slowly add in the yeast mixture. Knead until you get a smooth damp ball of dough and all the ingredients are incorporated – see photo above. (You can add a bit more flour if your dough is too wet.)

Smooth non-sticky dough ball after kneading in some flour

Take your dough ball out of the mixer and knead it on a lightly floured surface for a minute until you get a smooth non-sticky soft dough ball.

Place your dough ball in a bowl and rub a little olive oil over it (this will help it stretch as it rises). Let the dough rise in a warm place covered with a damp tea towel until doubled in size (~1.5 hours) OR alternatively try out my favourite way of proofing dough here.

Risen dough. Note the bubbles below, forming a airy dough

Once the dough has doubled in size, punch and knead it for a couple minutes to release the air bubbles. Your dough is now ready to use! 👍🏼

If you aren’t using the dough right away, you can freeze it by wrapping it in cling wrap. Be sure to freeze it asap before the dough expands more. Just let it thaw out to room temperature before using it. I like to divide my dough into 6 portions and defrost a portion at a time for an easy late night snack by making a quick flatbread or Nutella pizza. Mmmmm. There are seriously SO many things you can do with this dough.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Recipes that use this dough:

Za’atar Manakish (Lebanese Flatbread)

Halloumi Cheese Pie

Watch the Video Tutorial!

Summarized Recipe:

My Go-To Basic Dough

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup (250ml) warm water
3 cups (432g) all purpose flour + extra for dusting/kneading
1 tsp salt
1/2 (125ml) cup olive oil

Directions:

In a bowl, activate the yeast by mixing together the yeast, sugar and warm water. Stir to combine then set aside and leave for 5-10mins until frothy.
In your stand mixer bowl, add together the flour, salt and olive oil. Mix on low/knead setting and slowly add in the frothed yeast mixture until the dough forms a sticky ball. (If your dough is too wet and not a ball, add in a bit more flour.) Take out your dough and knead it on a lightly floured surface, dusting with more flour as needed, until you get a smooth non-sticky soft dough ball.
- If you don’t have a stand mixer, just mix the dough by hand.
Once your soft dough ball is done, rub some olive oil over it and place it in a bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size (will take ~1-2hrs) or alternatively follow my favourite proofing method here.
Once the dough has doubled in size, punch and knead it for a couple minutes to release the air bubbles. The dough is now ready to use! If you’re freezing the dough, wrap it up in cling wrap and freeze asap.

July 13, 2020August 11, 2020

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