Tomato rye bread with rosemary and garlic

Once on the weekend my husband took me out for lunch. The place was beautiful so was the food. For the appetizer while we were waiting for our order a lovely waitress brought a bread basket with some butter. The bread looked unusual but was sooo good that I had to ask them what kind it was.
I was told it was tomato bread. Since then I was determined to made more at home.
After that I got another reason to make bread like that as I got beautiful fresh local tomatoes.

I as well had some cravings for rye bread so I was looking for a recipes that would include both of these ingredients. Although there is a huge variety of breads available, rye bread is not common in the area where I live now. For me it is a memory of my childhood. Rye bread was something we would eat with soups or some other hearty dish with, make a sandwich or just spread some butter and have a bite. And ohh it was so good to have a fresh crispy crust rubbed with some garlic. I love raw garlic and onion, oh yeah they are also good for you. (the only problem all this smell, but I make sure I don't go out or meet someone right after I eat it.)

After quite an extensive and thorough search I found the recipe that suited all my requirements. Tomato-rye bread with rosemary and garlic from allrecipes.com.

It may sound quite unusual (knowing the way I usually cook by recipes it does sound unusual to me) I followed the recipe exactly as it is without any changes. Well.... I did use a different kind of yeast which I added right into the flour mix and oh yeah, I used whey instead of water. Well I guess I did make some changes. But anyway I followed the process exactly as it is written there and the bread was amazing.
I loved it, my husband did to, even my little daughter chewed it with pleasure.

Another thing that I really liked it stays fresh for a couple of days after you actually make it. We couldn't eat the whole loaf at once and I kept it in a bag, so next morning and even the morning after when we were finishing it, the bread was still soft and so aromatic. I sliced the loaf and warmed it slightly to make it even yummier.

So you can go to the original recipe or here are the ingredients that I used:

1/2 cup crushed and strained tomatoes ( or just tomato juice)
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp whey (you can use water)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (I took out some of it later as I had whole leaves, or just crush it finely and leave it)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
5 g instant yeast (add directly to the flour)
2/3 cup (80 g) rye flour
2 cups (280 g) strong bread flour (if not available use all-purpose flour)
1/3 cup (30 g) finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I took in oil but squeezed the oil slightly)

Preparation:

• Put first six ingredients in a small pot and bring to simmer. You can try the mixture (be careful it is hot) for the taste and if you feel rosemary is too overpowering discard some of it. Transfer to a mixing bowl and let it cool down.
• In the meanwhile mix both kinds of flour and yeast together. Gradually add the flour mixture to the tomato mixture and knead until dough comes together and is workable. It will be a bit sticky but quite thick. Add chopped sun-dried tomatoes and mix well for about a minute or so. I used my lovely food processor to do all this work. ahem. Leave for some time and then knead again for about 5 minutes.
• Lightly cover a big bowl with some olive oil and place your dough in turning once to coat with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel, put it in a warm place and let it rest and rise for an hour or until double in volume. It actually took my dough about 45 minutes to rise.
• Punch the dough down. (That's a great opportunity to let your negative emotions out in case you are angry or frustrated with something). You know there is a saying in Russia that dough is the only thing that benefits from punching. Lightly coat a 1 lb loaf pan (the size is about 23 cm x 11 cm) with oil. Place the dough in a tin pressing it to the corners, cover and leave for another hour or until doubled in volume. It should rise a bit above the top of the pan. I lightly covered the top of the bread with oil somewhere i the middle of its rising process, but be careful not to punch it down again.
• Preheat the oven to 190C. Bake until the loaf sounds hollow or for about 40 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool down. And here you are you own delicious fresh, crunchy on the outside and soft inside tomato rye bread. I won't say it is fluffy as rye flour is not that light, it has distinct flavor and taste but I love it.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

TIP:

To quickly freshen your breath after eating some smelly food like garlic or onions, try chewing a spring of fresh parsley. Apart from eliminating bad breath parsley is high in vitamin A, beta-carotene and vitamin C. 

To remove the scent of garlic from your hands, try rubbing them on your stainless steel sink for 30 seconds. If you don't have this kind of sink, you can actually buy a stainless steel bar of soap. Its purpose is to remove not only garlic smell but fish odors as well. And you know what? Somehow it does work. 

roast chicken roll

Hi everyone,

you know sometimes I get cravings for some quick and easy sandwich, but the problem is I don't usually buy any processed meat like mortadella or other rolls from shops.

So, I did make roast whole chicken, but it is more suitable for dinner or some occasion.

So i asked myself, there is roast turkey (chicken) in shops, why not making it at home.

I was surfing  through internet, trying to find any recipes that even slightly resembles what I wanted to cook. Couldn't find any, well I saw turducken which actually looked a bit odd, but seemed tasty. Anyway I wanted to use only chicken so I had to improvise.

I bought fresh whole chicken. I wanted boneless chicken meat wrapped in chicken skin to shape.

So I washed the chicken and started skinning it. Make sure that the knife you use is really sharp, it will help you a lot.

So I started by cutting the skin across the breast. Then the skinning itself comes. If I can anyhow compare it with anything, I would say it is like taking off a sleep suit or a shirt. First you start from the breast and slowly and steadily pull the skin towards wings.  Help yourself with a knife but try not to cut the skin, remember we want it intact, one piece. When it comes to wings or legs (later) it can be a bit tricky. What I did I skinned the place where wings (legs) attach to the body and then cut them off and pulled them removing the skin. Don't worry much if the skin tears on upper part of wings you already have enough skin from the lower part to cover this hole. After wings skin the back, use the knife around the tail, I cut the tail itself leaving it attached tot he skin. The last will be legs. I left fat on the skin as you know chicken breast is quite dry when cooked and I wanted my roll to come out moist and soft.

When you are done with skin and after admiring your own abilities to do so, you can start deboning the chicken. Remove breast meat, meat from legs and thighs and wings if possible. If you have too little meat on wings, leave it, don't bother removing it.

** I don't throw bones, you can make really simple and yummy chicken noodle soup. So you can keep the bones aside for now or go to this recipe to start making soup alongside this roll. **

So now you have the chicken skin and meat separate and it is time to assemble the roll.

I covered the working surface with cling film (it is easier to roll later and your table stays clean). I spread the skin on the film, seasoned with salt and pepper. It's meat time now. let's start with chicken breast, you know how it can be easily divided into halves, then I cut a thicker part into halves again. I laid them on the skin. I didn't use a lot of various spices, just crushed sea salt, freshly crushed black pepper and some garlic (I cut each garlic clove into 3 slices lengthwise).

Sorry I was so busy with the process that didn't take any single picture till this point.

So season the chicken breast with salt and pepper, put some garlic slices here and there,

 and cover with thigh and leg meat. Again salt pepper and some garlic. 

You can use any spices you'd like, such as red chili powder to make it spicy or maybe a sprinkle of rosemary or thyme which beautifully complement the taste of chicken. I wanted to make it simple.

Now it is time to roll all this yumminess. Roll it the same way as sushi roll, using cling film to shape, Try to keep the skin on top of the roll. when done wrap like candy in cling film and let it sit, marinating for some time (I think I left it for about 30 minutes.)

After some time remove the film and you will see it hold its shape well.

I still secured the skin with some toothpicks.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Put some wax paper on the oven tray, spray with oil and place the chicken roll

and spread a bit of oil on top as well.
I put the roll in the preheated oven for about 10 mins till it gets the shape and begins to brown. The I lowered the temperature to 165C and let it cook through. I honestly have no idea how long it was in the oven, but I checked the temperature inside and it was 77C and when pricked with a toothpick the juices ran clear. Turn off the oven and leave it for some time to rest.
Take out and slice. The chicken turned out to be very moist and tender.

I reserved the juice to make some gravy for mashed potatoes or rice.
Uffff I think that's all.
Let me know I you cooked it, whether you liked it or not and if anything is not clear.
See ya!

easy garlic yogurt roast chicken

Hello everyone, anyone. :)
I was a bit busy yesterday so didn't have much time to think of complicated multiple dish dinner. I had some half frozen chicken thighs in the fridge and knew I was gonna make something with them. As the time was coming closer to my husband to come home I needed something quick and easy while I was on my project. (seems like crafting is more important than eating? ;))
So I just made fast yogurt marinade, washed thighs, left the skin on, tossed them in yogurt, let them to sit there for a while, put them in the oven and cooked. I was actually still kind of busy with my project and then with my baby.

So you will need:
8 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on (900g)
350 - 400 grams plain yogurt
5-6 medium size garlic cloves
25-35 black and white whole peppercorns (about 1 tsp I would say)
1 tsp sea salt (I used fine one, but coarse will do as well)
20-25 whole coriander seeds (I guess it is about 1/3 teaspoon)
your mortar, deep bowl and oven.

First a washed chicken, left the skin on, it helps to preserve juices inside chicken.
Put pepper, salt, coriander and garlic cloves in your mortar and make paste. (I have a marble mortar which I really love but it is a bit noisy. Using it becomes a big issue when my baby is asleep, so I usually go to the room, not the one where my baby is sleeping, sit on the carpeted floor and mash everything. this way it is much quieter and easier. Well at least for me.) Anyways.

After making a paste, mix it with yogurt in a deep bowl, toss the chicken in and let it marinade for some time. I would say 30 minutes at least.
When the chicken is ready to be cooked, place it on the oven tray and bake at 200C.
I usually have some yogurt left, after about 20 minutes in the oven I put the rest of yogurt marinade on the chicken.
After 35 minutes of cooking the thighs were getting beautiful golden color from outside but were not yet cooked through, so I decreased the temperature to 180C for additional 15 minutes or so. I am not sure how long it was in the oven but it is easy to check if your chicken is cooked through. Just prick it with a fork and if the juices run out clear, without blood then it is all done and yummy.
Hope you will enjoy this recipe.

Let me know if you liked it.

By now take care there...

P.S. Sorry, no picture. We ate it (not the picture of course).