Bread Plait 3 Strand

Today I had fun making three new things with my kitchen aid. I started with Chapatis to eat with lunch and for tomorrow at work. They turned out well although tougher than the ones I like. Better than last time I attempted them though. Then I made the dough for a three strand bread plait. I left it to rise then plaited it then left it to prove. I made it using honey and seed bread flour from our local farm shop. The only problem was when I put it into the oven and set the alarm on our new combo timer and thermometer device I forgot to press the start button after setting the time so my bread came out rather burnt having been in the oven for 30+ mins rather than 20. Oh well below is a picture of it looking gorgeous before I burnt it! After cutting the brown crust off the inner bread and base was still amazing!! I dipped it in oil and raspberry vinaigrette and Doug had his with Strawberry and Vanilla jam. I also helped Doug to make garlic pasta Doug in the kitchen aid. As a garlic fiend I couldn't resist the smell of the dough. Mmm!

Dairy Free Creamy Curry

This curry is one I have been playing with for a little while, mainly in my slow cooker. It reminds me of Korma. Initially I just threw stuff into my slow cooker that I thought would work and hey presto it actually turned out to be great. This curry is very much a sweet mild creamy curry but for those of you who haven't had a creamy curry in a long time due to lactose intolerance or being a vegan then this is defiantly a nice change to my normal tomato based curries!

I found that this works well in the slow cooker on the low setting for about 4 - 5 hours. I tried it in my slow cooker last night for 3 hours on high setting and it burnt. My version does not use any meat, but I am sure if you were to seal some chicken in a pan before throwing it in it would do well!

Serves 3 - 4

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped
1 mushroom, quartered
1 caugette, cut into chunks
2 bananas, cut into chunks
2 tsp easy garlic or 2 - 3 garlic cloves pressed
Handful raisins
1 can coconut milk
1-2 cups of ground almonds dependent on our thick you like your curry
3 tsp mango chutney
2 tbs tikka massala paste
Handful chopped coriander

Instructions

1) Chop the mushrooms, courgette, onion, garlic, bananas.
2) Gently fry the onions with the garlic, then add the mushrooms and courgette.
3) Add the tikki massala paste to the vegetables and coat well, leave to fry for a few more minutes.
4) If using a slow cooker, transfer to the pot otherwise keep in the pan.
5) Add the coconut milk, ground almonds, banana, mango chutney and chopped coriander to the pan or slow cooker.
6) For the slow cooker leave to cook away until ready, use a high heat for 2 hours cooking time or a low heat for 4 hours cooking time.
7) if using a pan, leave to simmer with the lid on, and the pan on a low heat for 20 minutes. Now is a good time to put the rice on!

After years of sewing, perfecting my cake recipes and trawling the internet for inspiration I felt the time has come to record my discoveries somewhere for myself and others who may benefit.  Most of the females in my family can't eat wheat and fortunately while I can dig into a nice chunck of freshly baked break I can't eat dairy so I have learnt to cook without these ingredients. My mum and I have been adapting recipes, making minor changes to being just plain adventurous.  I would like to pass these onto other people who struggle to find a good victoria sponge cake or a nice chocolate brownie recipe!  So  I hope that you enjoy my new blog as much as I enjoy creating it :-D

Clare x