Inspired: Herbed Salami and Cheese Bread

Ok so I vanished for a bit… but not in vain.

I’ve actually been quite busy in the kitchen… Some days trying new recipes… some days making birthday cakes… and some days simple trying to give a spin to tried and tested all time favorite recipes.

It’s been a hectic week… so hectic that I couldn’t even manage to get myself to the gym more than thrice… (for those who know me … know how important my gym is to me.) However, in all the chaos I managed to stumble on some fab recipes… that will definitely make an appearance here in the near future.

As part of the chaotic week … my father (for perhaps the first time) asked me to make him my pepperoni bread. Now to make my life simpler I could’ve just left it at that and whipped up the tried and tested recipe in no time. But NOOOO !!! I have to make things difficult for myself … I have to try new things… what’s the point in making the same thing again and again eh?? Experimentation is the spice of life … right? Well kinda… but that doesn’t mean its gotta be easy! Don’t get me wrong… the end result is fabulous but it’s just the process that was so strenuous.

Anyhow… I’ve got this cool app on my phone that lets me gawk at recipes and blogs on the go …(I am a self proclaimed recipe hoarder remember). So while my browsing I came across this wonderful recipe that was a perfect way to re-do my pepperoni bread. The recipe called ‘Herbed Salami and cheese rolls’ was inspired by ‘Red Shallot Kitchen’

I was dying to try out the recipe, so excited that I overlooked so many things before starting… for one the conversions! Anyone and everyone who knows a bit about baking knows that it is very scientific and one needs to be precise with measurements. Well I made the cardinal sin! Anyways … about half hour into my kneading and the dough still not coming together… I realized my mistake and corrected it (…its never to late I say).

Also, I only had plain flour at home and no bread flour… so I improvised… I had some extra gluten and bread improver that I had bought from a bakery near my house, which I used to cover up for the lack of gluten in plain flour.

Baking bread is not as difficult as people believe it to be. You need to try it at least once to understand the difference between store bought and fresh bread and I can guarantee that you will be tempted to do it over and over again.

Herbed Salami and Cheese Bread

What you will need:
Large Mixing Bowl, 2 small bowls, a set of measuring spoons, saucepan, grater, table scrapers, large 10 inch rectangular casserole dish / two bread loaf tins, flour sifter, pastry brush.

Ingredients

Flour                                                          285 gms / 2 ½ cups

Sugar                                                         2 Tbsp

Salt                                                           ½ tsp

Egg                                                           1 (extra for egg wash)

Warm Milk                                               ½ cup

Water roux                                               120 gms (35 gms flour + 1 cup water)

(a mixture of flour and water combined over low heat in a saucepan until thick)

Bread improver                                         2 gms

Gluten                                                      2 gms

Yeast                                                        Instant 2 tsp / Fresh 10gms

Butter, cubed                                             60 gms

Hot salami, roughly chopped                      150gms

Cheddar cheese, grated                               100 gms

Fresh Basil, chopped                                1 Tbsp

Paprika                                                    2 Tsp


How do you start:
Start by preparing the water roux. Combine 35 gms flour with 1 cup water in saucepan and whisk together over low heat. Continue whisking over heat until the mixture is thick and smooth. Take the saucepan off the heat and let the mixture cool.

In a small bowl, combine the yeast with warm milk and let it sit for 5 minutes until it is slightly frothy.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, bread improver and gluten. ( if you have good quality bread flour then you do not need to use gluten and bread improver… as I said… I made do with what I have… so should you).

Add the egg and water roux to the flour mixture and combine. I unfortunately don’t have the fancy kitchen aid stand mixers to do my mixing and kneading for me… so I did the kneading process the old fashioned way… by hand. If you are one of the lucky ones with a mixer… your life’s way simpler. Just click on the paddle attachment, add the ingredients to the bowl and mix for 20 minutes and you should have ready gorgeously smooth dough.

If your like me, then you gotta put in a little bit extra manual labor (I quite frankly did not mind… because that’s way I’ve been making bread forever now).

After you egg and water roux is combined with the flour, rub in the butter into the mixture. Now you have to knead this dough for about 20 minutes and it will be a sticky kneading process. You need to keep dusting your work surface with flour to prevent the dough from sticking.

You will know the dough is ready, if by taking a chunk you are able to stretch it to a really thin membrane before it breaks, and when it does break, the break should form a circle ( for those of you familiar with the bread making process… the dough for this bread is similar in consistency and texture to the dough for ‘Lavash’, the middle eastern bread).

Next add in the chopped salami, cheese and fresh basil. Knead well until all the ingredients are well mixed. Gather the dough and shape into a ball and transfer to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a wet towel / cling film (this creates a warm atmosphere for the yeast to start acting in).

Leave the dough in a warm place for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.

After an hour, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide either into 8 equal portions of two equal portions and cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for another 15 minutes.

(If you are using the casserole dish, then divide the dough into 8 equal portions… this will make 8 small individual sized bread rolls. However, you could also make two medium bread loafs with the dough using bread tins, in which case we divide the dough into two equal portions).

Grease your chosen baking dish and dust with some flour. Take one portion of the rough and flatten it by hand and roll up from one side, shaping it into a ball, sealing up the edges. Repeat the process with the remaining portions. Transfer to the casserole dish or to the bread tins. Cover and rest again for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180-degree C. Beat an egg and using a pastry brush, brush the top of the rolls lightly.

Optional: press in salami rounds on each loaf and sprinkle with some extra cheese.

Sprinkle with some paprika and bake the bread rolls for 30 minutes or until they turn golden.

Enjoy warm with some fresh salsa or as is.

Cookbook Hoarders Sticky Citrus sponge cake

Ok so I love collecting recipes… and I mean all sorts of recipes…I might not ever cook most of them…(partly cause half the ingredients are not even available where I stay) but I do have a lot… I would go to the extent of calling myself a ‘Cookbook Hoarder’. I mean from cookbooks, to following blog’s (which how I decided to write my own), to endless shows on food network and TLC, to food magazines, I go wherever the recipes call me (creepy much). Jokes apart I am extremely proud of my collection and I love sharing my passion with the world.

This hoarding quality of mine led me to discover this yummylicious (if that’s even a word) recipe in one of the many food magazines I subscribe to. Now for some reason, us Indian people prefer chocolaty cakes. When in doubt we stick to our safe chocolate cake and dare not venture into uncharted territory. But trust me, the wonderful sweet and citrusy aroma coupled with the zesty kick from the orange and the richness of the almonds is like a match made in heaven.

The lusciously juicy oranges bring a burst of warmth during these cold cold days and when combined with sticky honey in the form of a cake it is just pure heaven. You can serve this up as a dessert at dinner parties with some custard or ice cream, or just cut it up into tiny little squares and serve it up at a tea party, either way its perfect comfort sweet for this weather.

I decided to bake this for one of my closest friends who claimed that and I quote “… you never bake for me, I am beginning to doubt if you actually even know how”. Hence… in order to prove my love for baking to her (… basically just an excuse to try out a new recipe :P), I decided to surprise her at work the other evening with a fresh out of the oven sticky citrus sponge. Needless to say she was surprised… we got in a bit of a gossip session and she now believes that I can bake J So everything turned out great… even the cake :P

Its so simple to make … I am sure you will end up making this more than once or even twice !!!

Cookbook Hoarders Sticky Citrus Sponge Cake

What you will need:
Utensils:
Two large mixing bowls, a set of measuring spoons, weighing scale, flour sifter, spatula, pastry brush, 23 cm round cake tin, a handheld electric mixer, a set of knives including a serrated knife.

Ingredients:
Oranges, medium                                            4

Honey                                                          6 Tbsp + extra to serve

Butter                                                          200 gms + extra to grease

Brown sugar, softened                                   200 gms

Flour                                                           200 gms

Baking soda                                                  ¼ Tsp

Baking Powder                                             1 Tsp

Almonds, ground                                          100 gms

Eggs                                                              4

How to start:
First things first, start by greasing the cake tin with butter and some oil (… using both butter and oil is just a precautionary measure to ensure that the cake just slides out). Drizzle the base of the tin with the honey. 

Preheat the oven to 180 degree C

Grate the zest of the two oranges and set aside. Using a serrated knife cut the pith from all the oranges and cut into thick slices. Arrange the best slices, over the honey in the base of the cake tin, making sure that the base is mostly covered (…This turned out to be the trickiest part for me coz the orange just refused to slice into proper shaped circles… anyhow don’t fret about getting the perfect shape, it works equally good if you have half circles instead of full) 

The leftover orange slices you will chop up finely and add to a large mixing bowl and along with the zest of the orange and all other ingredients.

Using a handheld electric mixer, combine all the ingredients until the batter is smooth. (The batter would not be very runny but rather of spooning consistency). Spoon the batter on top of the honey and oranges in the cake tin and spread out evenly.

Now use the back of the spoon and make a dip in the centre of the cake batter (this ensures that the cake rises evenly).

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Let it stand for about 5-7 minutes or until it comes to room temperature. Take a butter knife and slightly take it around edge of the cake and tin, loosening the cake from the tin. Cover the top with an inverted plate and invert the cake out onto the plate, tapping gently on the cake bottom.

Drizzle with some more honey and enjoy!!!

Oriental Soupy Noodles w/ Chicken, Pak Choi and Mushrooms

If you’ve read my blog, then you would know that mostly I am inclined towards baking. However, I love anything and everything food and though baking is my passion it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy cooking different cuisines.

I love experimenting with all kinds of recipes in the kitchen. My adventures in the kitchen started as an attempt to make a meal for myself. I have come along way since then I would say…

So yea… primarily am all about baking… but once in while (like last night) I enter the kitchen to just whip up a quick meal for myself that a bit different than my daily food and yet doesn’t demand hours of my time.

Last night, it was just my brother and I at home and we were pretty fed up of ordering take out every second night…considering my parents were out of town. So I decided to cook us up a hearty healthy meal. Debating over senseless ideas with my brother… I choose to ignore any suggestions he had to give regarding food and decided to just go with a oriental dish. I would like to call it a Chinese dish… but my friend in China (Shiyu Yu) seems to disagree with anything us Indians call Chinese food… hence to be on her safe side, I would just say I cooked up a some what Oriental bowl of food.

The recipe was a culmination of a lot of different recipes…, which is why the name is somewhat undecided, but I like to call it ‘Soupy Noodles w/ chicken, Pak Choi and Mushrooms’. Honestly, I had been to the grocery store in the day and bought some really fresh Pok Choi, which kinda just influenced my decision to make this dish. The combination of flavors turned out to be gorgeous and the whole meal pretty wholesome.

If you love oriental food (… like my entire family) you are bound to have these basic ingredients in you store cupboard and refrigerator. If not then you could find them at gourmet food stores in India (Nature’s Basket, Le Marche or even Modern Bazaar).

Everything can be simplified… such as if you don’t have time to make fresh chicken stock, just buy those little cubes available in the market, where all you have to do is add hot water to a cheese cube look alike and Voila you have ready Chicken stock. 

Oriental Soupy Noodles w/ Chicken, Pak Choi and Mushrooms

What you will need:

Utensils:
A large Wok, 2 large saucepans, a chopping board, a set of knives, a wooden spatula, a ladle, a set of measuring spoons, measuring cup.

Ingredients:
Egg Noodles, packet (such as Ching’s)                   1

Chicken Stock                                                      2 cups

Star Anise                                                           2

Dried Red Chilli                                                  2

Honey                                                                 2 Tsp

Five-Spice Powder                                              3 Tsp

Soy Sauce                                                          1 Tbsp + Extra

Chicken Breast, sliced                                         2 or 250 gms

Onion, sliced in rings                                          1 large or 2 small

Shitake Mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced               5-6

Garlic, Minced                                                    4 cloves

Ginger, minced                                                   2 Tsp

Pak Choi                                                            1 bunch

Shaoxiang Rice Wine                                          2 Tsp

Chinese Hot pepper Chilli paste                           1 Tbsp

Sesame Oil                                                        3-4 Tsp

Chilli Oil                                                           2 Tsp

Salt and Pepper                                                   to taste

Spring Onion, rings                                            to garnish 

How to Start:

Don’t be scared looking at the length of the list of ingredients… Oriental food, like in Indian food, is very flavorful and has a lot of ingredients and spices, but is pretty simple to make.

Start by marinating your chicken with some five-spice powder and chilli oil. Then start preparing the noodles as per packet instructions, which would usually be boiling it in a saucepan with 2 cups water until al dente. Drain the water and set aside.

Next, in another saucepan, add the chicken stock, star anise, dried red chilli, soy sauce and honey and bring to a boil. As soon as it comes to the boil, lower the heat and add half the sliced shitake mushrooms and simmer for about 2 minutes. Next add the five-spice powder and season with some pepper. Add half the Pak choi leaves and let the stock simmer on low heat while you prepare your chicken.

In a Wok, heat the sesame oil and chilli oil together. Add the minced ginger and garlic and sauté for 1 minute and then add the sliced onions. Sauté until the onions are tender, about 1-2 minutes, and then add the marinated chicken slices. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink.

Add the left over shitake mushrooms and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add the hot pepper paste and miz everything together until well combined. Next add the remainder of the pak choi leaves and let it cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add some Five-spice powder, shaoxing rice wine and cook until chicken is well cooked.

I used this Hot pepper paste.

To get the whole dish together, firstly drizzle some chilli oil over the noodles and work with your hand to make sure they aren’t sticky anymore.

In a medium round bowl or any serving bowl you prefer, firstly place a handful of the now oily noodles in the centre. Next add 1 ladle of the infused stock on top of the noodles (make sure you get a bit of everything… the mushrooms, pak choi and even chilli). Lastly place the spicy chicken on top of the noodles… Now at this stage, if you want the noodles to be soupier you can add another ½ ladle of the wonderful soup. Drizzle some soy sauce and sprinkle some chopped Spring onion and there you have it… a wholesome meal in a bowl.

Bon Appetite!

Late or early for christmas: Lemony Yoghurt Cake

So I know it’s a bit late to write about last years Christmas but its never too late to share a good recipe yea ??

So Christmas is all about hearty food and plum cakes. But I’m just not a plum cake lover. So I wanted to do something that was in sync with Christmas and yet in my genre of flavor … which is why I did a lemony yoghurt cake that had an almost snow like sugary frosting with a acidic blackberry preserve drizzled on top.

Can I just say, the day I baked this, the entire house smelled Christmassy too (if that’s even possible)! The fresh lemony aroma is just so refreshing and surprisingly festive… it just alleviates your mood.

What you will need:

Utensils:

A 10-inch bundt cake tin, Two large mixing bowls, a set of measuring spoons, weighing scale, flour sifter, spatula, pastry brush, a large whisk, a set of knives, a zester or grater, a lemon squeezer.

Ingredients:

Oil                                                                       180 ml

Eggs                                                                        2

Lemon Rind                                                         1 Tbsp

Lemon Juice                                                         2 Tbsp

Thick Yoghurt                                                      280 gms

Caster Sugar                                                         350 gms

Flour                                                                   300 gms

Baking Powder                                                     1 Tsp

Baking Soda                                                          ½ tsp

Frosting

Granulated Sugar                                                100 gms

Lemon Juice                                                        ¼ cup

Blackberry Preserve, warm                                    50gms

Canned Fruits                                                      1 can

How to start:

Preheat the oven to 180 degree C.

Using a pastry brush, grease the bundt cake tin well.

In a mixing bowl, combine oil, eggs, lemon rind, juice, yoghurt and sugar and whisk until well combined.

Sift in the flour, baking powder and baking soda and fold in gently, until all the flour is well mixed with the yoghurt mixture.

Pour this lemony batter into the greased bundt tin and bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake stand for about 5-7 minutes before unmolding from the tin.

Let it cool completely at room temperature before frosting.

The frosting for this cake is so easy that you would be amazed at how only three simple ingredients can transform a simple cake into lemony heaven.

For the frosting all you have to do is in a mixing bowl add the sugar and just enough lemon juice to lightly soak the sugar. Mix the juice with the sugar gently but not to much.

Drizzle this frosting on the cooled cake, and you don’t have to be precise with the drizzling, if anything let the frosting slither down the sides of the cake, which almost makes it look like a snowy pillow enveloping a tree.

Now you can either just serve it up now after the lemony sugar frosting or take the blackberry preserve, heat it up in the microwave for like 30 seconds and drizzle it on to of the lemony sugar frosting.

To give it a more festive appeal, I popped open a can of mixed fruits, and assembled them in the centre of the bundt. Sift some icing sugar on top before serving and you have a fancy dessert to serve.

Scrumptious Carrot Cake

According to TLC food network, carrot cake (...not the singapore version) is presumed to be one of the 10 most popular desserts in America. And for some reason I've just been hearing a lot about carrot cake. 

Honestly, I never really cared much for carrot cake until I tried it at my patisserie class. I can now say with guarantee that carrot cake is perhaps one of the most delightful blends of sweet and spicy cake lathered in creaminess.

The goodness of carrots can be used to trick yourself into thinking this is perhaps a healthy dessert option too ;). And just incase you are one not to fall of the diet band wagon, you could choose to lighten up the dessert by reducing the level of the decadent cream cheese frosting and a few other minor adjustments like reducing the amount of sugar and oil, while adding pineapple juice or orange juice to preserve the moistness.

But even without making these adjustments, you would be getting enough nutrients from the carrots by themselves. Carrots are considered to be an excellent source of vitamin A, and good sources vitamins C and K, fiber and potassium.

I am quite impulsive with my baking... I bake whenever I can… and this was just one of those days where I just needed to bake… You honestly don’t need any excuse to make this easy, moist and scrumptious dessert, which is sure to vanish in like a nano second. Even if it doesn’t, the frosted version of this desert stores well for a few days in the refrigerator almost as well as the plain cake, which lasts for a week or maybe even two in the fridge.

What you will need:

Utensils:

Three large mixing bowls, A large whisk, a set of measuring spoons, weighing scale, flour sifter, spatula, grater, aluminum foil, baking paper, a pair of scissors, pastry brush, 8-inch ring cake mould / 8-inch loose bottomed cake tin, a serrated knife and a handheld mixer

Ingredients:

Eggs                                                                        2

Walnuts, chopped                                                50gms

Baking Powder                                                     ½ tsp

Baking Soda                                                         ¼ tsp

Flour                                                                     100gms

Cinnamon Powder                                                ½ tsp

Caster Sugar                                                        100gms

Carrot, peeled and grated                                    100gms

Oil                                                                          100gms

Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese                                                        100gms

Icing Sugar                                                              2 Tbsp

Orange Juice                                                           2 Tsp

Vanilla Essence                                                       2 drops

How to start:

Start by preheating the oven to 150 degree C.

Next prepare your cake mould.

Cover the bottom tightly with tin foil and place on a baking tray. Now use a pastry brush and grease the foil bottom and sides of the ring mould. Using the rim of the mould as your guideline cut a circle shape out of the baking paper and place at the bottom of the mould, on top of the greased aluminum base. Similarly, taking the height of the mould as a guideline cut a long strip to go around the side of the mould. And that’s your mould ready to be filled in.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla essence and whisk together.

In a separate bowl, sieve the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Add walnuts and combine everything.

Slowly fold in the flour mixture with the egg mixture. (You can do this with a spatula or even by hand… Folding by hand ensures you do not overmix the batter)

Squeeze the grated carrots for any excess liquid and fold into the batter. If the batter is too dry/thick, add some of the squeezed carrot juice.

Pour this batter into you prepared ring mould and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25inutes.

Insert a toothpick in the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean, your cake is ready.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes before you remove it from the mould ( you better wait for it to cool or you might burn yourself against the hot mould)

Cool completely before removing the baking paper from the cake.

Once the cake is cooled, use a serrated knife to split the cake horizontally so that you now have two round cakes.

Prepare the frosting:

In a large bowl, add the cream cheese and beat with a handheld mixer until smooth and lump free. Sift in the Icing sugar and mix on low speed until well combined. Lastly add the orange juice and vanilla essence and mix well.

Refrigerate the frosting for 20-30minutes before frosting the cake (Refrigerating the frosting makes it easier to work with and set faster on the cake).

To Assemble:

Take two big spoons of the frosting and put it on top of one of the two cake rounds.

Use a butter knife and evenly spread the frosting to completely cover the cake top. Cover this frosting layer with the second cake round and press gently (If you press too much the frosting will ooze out on the sides… adding cleaning the cake sides as another task for you).

Frost the top and sides of the cake the same way and leave to set for 15 minutes. 

You can decorate the cake with carrots made of cake, (Ill put up instructions for that soon) or just with some chopped walnuts and grated carrot.

And Enjoy with a warm cup of tea or coffee or just as an indulgence. 

Master Class inspired: Bacon and Mushroom Creole Loaf

So the Master chef series is quite big in India now, probably still not as much as Australia or America, but we are getting there. Specifically the first season, which was hosted by Bollywood’s number 1 Khiladi, Akshay Kumar, garnered a lot of attention.

Well… lucky as I am, I recently had the opportunity to attend a master class by one of the top semi-finalist of Master chef season 1, Mrs. Kandla Nijhowne. It was a cold winter evening, but I did not let my lazy bones bring me down and miss an opportunity of a lifetime.

Kandla ji, as everyone lovingly calls her, is the definition of simplicity in brilliance. The simplicity and honesty in her communication to each individual raised a respect for her in me. That being said, she is truly a blessed chef, with an ever-supporting family.Though the master class started an hour post the scheduled time, leaving most people shivering in the cold, her warm and loving personality kept most of us occupied in discussion.

Kandla ji shared 5 of her favorite recipes, the first of which (A Braided Loaf in Creole style) was coveted as Akshay Kumar’s favorite in Master Chef season 1. Due the delay in the start of the class, the following recipes were slightly rushed along, but Kandla ji managed to cover all-important aspects trying to answer each inquisitive question I had. The class focused on the advantages of using organic produce and I was actually amazed to hear so many facts that I would normally give no relevance too.

The braided loaf in Creole style is basically a baked savoury pastry based dish that’s folded in a braid fashion and is heavy on spices, which gives it a rather unique and appetizing appearance and makes it suitable to our Indian palette. Creole cuisine, also called Louisiana Creole cuisine, in short, is said to have “…originated in Louisiana, which blends French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Native American, and African influences, as well as general Southern cuisine.” In general, the balance of flavor in this cuisine suits us…the heavy on spice Indians the best.

As tough as it sounds, honestly its quite simple… that is if you get the pastry right. And if you stick to the recipe you are bound to end up with a fantastic looking crumbly pastry.  You can serve this delicious desert just as it is with some fresh salad on the side or cut it into little triangles and serve it as an appetizer at parties

Inspired by Chef Kandla, I choose to make my own version of the braided loaf in Creole style… and since I am pretty much a hardcore non-vegetarian, my rendition of the dish includes Bacon. But don’t you vegetarians worry… I am not that biased and I will give you a vegetarian option alongside.

Bacon and Mushroom Creole Loaf

What you will need:

Utensils

Large bowl, set of measuring spoons, weighing scale, set of knives, frying pan, grater, pizza cutter, baking tray and a pastry brush.

For the Pastry

Flour                                                                                   200gms

Butter, cubed                                                                       100gms

Salt                                                                                     2 pinch

Egg                                                                                     ½

Water                                                                                  1 Tbsp

Note: For an eggless option for the pastry, omit the egg and water and instead add 4-5 Tbsp of cold milk.

For the Filling

Mushrooms, wiped and roughly chopped                          225gms

Streaky Bacon, roughly chopped                                      225gms

Onion                                                                                  1

Garlic Paste                                                                     1 Tbsp

Dried Oregano                                                                 1 Tsp

Powdered Oats                                                                 1 ½ tsp

Mustard Powder                                                               1 ½ tsp

Milk                                                                                 ½ cup

Emmental / Swiss cheese, grated                                       25gms

Olive Oil/Refined Oil                                                       1 Tbsp

Salt and Pepper                                                                to taste

Black sesame seeds                                                           to Garnish

How to start:

It always important to chill your pastry before rolling it out as it makes it easy to work with. So, I suggest you start by preparing your pastry.

For the pastry:

In a large bow, sieve the flour… (Sieving the flour creates a light and airy pastry, so be sure not to skip this part) and then add the butter and salt.

Rub the butter into the flour with your finger tips, until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, working as quickly as possible to prevent the dough becoming warm.

Add Egg and water or milk, if you are making an eggless option, to the mixture and stir with your hands to combine and bind the dough together... you may add more water milk, one teaspoon at a time,  if the dough seems too dry. (Do not over knead the dough… as it loses the air in it and the end result is far from a crumbly pastry).

Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for about 30 minutes (This is the same as a sweet crust pastry sans the sugar… hence the longer you chill the pastry the easier it is to roll it out).

Preheat the oven to 180 degree C.

For the Filling:

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic paste and onion and sauté for about 2 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Add the bacon and sauté until bacon is crispy. Next add the mushrooms and sauté for another 3-4 minutes until the mushrooms give out water and are golden.

Add salt, pepper and mustard powder. After about 2minutes, when the mushrooms are tender, turn off the heat and sprinkle in the oregano and oats powder.

Stir in the milk, then cook again on a low flame, until everything is coated with the creamy sauce. Stir the grated cheese into the mushroom and bacon mixture.

To Assemble:

Remove the pastry dough from the fridge, thaw for about 5 minutes and roll out to 1/3-inch thickness on a surface lightly dusted with flour. Trim the sides of the pastry to form a rectangle shape.

Tip: Place the dough between two sheets of baking/parchment paper… this makes it easier to roll, ensures the dough is even on all sides and also prevents the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. Roll dough outwards from the center to each side, rotating the pastry as you roll.

Place the prepared stuffing in the centre of the rolled out pastry in the shape of a log.

Using a pizza cutter, make slashes on the longer side of the rectangle pastry, at a 45-degree angle, making strips on either side of the pastry. Brush the sides with some egg wash/milk.

Alternately fold the strips over the filling, as you would make a braid. Close the ends by folding the pastry over and trimming any excess. The video below would be more descriptive than my words.

Transfer the braid to a baking tray and brush with some egg wash / milk. Sprinkle with some black sesame seeds and bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden.

Serve warm.