Johnny Bread

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Most Bermudians wake up mornings and crave Johnny Bread. Well…any right in their mind Bermudian anyway.

The quest for the perfect Johnny Bread is something that has drove me a little nutty. So I turned to my fellow Bermudians on this quest and asked for a few recipes that they use. I received 3. Although the ingredients where the same the amounts of each ingredient differed. Also the technique in executing the delicious breakfast bread differed as well.

My first attempt was with baked Johnny Bread. Although easy to execute I felt I failed because my bread was a tad dry. Perhaps I should NOT have baked it in my cast iron pan. Perhaps I should have cut in the butter better. However, the taste was great! And  my 13 year old teen boy child enjoyed this one more so over the others.

This recipe came from my friend Jenita. I will definitely be making this again and updating you on the outcome!

 

Jenita’s Recipe for Johnny Bread

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup butter

Mix dry ingredients.  Cut in butter.  Add beaten egg and milk.  Make dough in to a ball adding more flour if dough is too wet.
Put dough in greased rounded cake pan and flatten into circle.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

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My next recipe comes from Julianna. The is out of the Ethiopian Orthodox Cookbook. It uses less sugar.. and less butter and the outcome was not only pretty Johnny Bread like but also darn delicious. It’s technique was to roll the dough and cut round circles which is the typical way to prepare. It allows for good judgment in sizing your bread so that it is perfect enough to cut and butter up and put cheese on. Johnny Bread is friggin delicious toasted with your favorite melted cheddar.

Ethiopian Orthodox Johnny Bread

1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp margarine
2 tsp baking powder

Mix dry ingredients then add water. Knead lightly into a ball. Let sit for 10 minutes. Roll out on lightly floured board and bake in cast iron frying pan on low heat. I use a glass and cut round circles and fry in a hot pan with a little vegetable oil. Keep an eye on them low heat. I have also baked in the oven. Flip to brown other side.  Enjoy.

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My third and final recipe comes from a recipe that I have wanted to try for ages. Again..same ingredients but vastly different in amounts. This one has more volume of ingredient therefore making more bread which is good for my family of 5. I found the execution very difficult as I tried to follow directions on each one as they were written so I can compare. This recipe suggest that you break of the dough in tennis ball size pieces. Now that is pretty big size pieces…and the trick to perfect Johnny Bread is when you are “baking” them in the pan over low heat you have to make sure your inside is baked as well. This method caused me to over cook the outside and under cook the inside. I had to make the dough more like 3/4 of the size of a tennis ball!

This recipe got my vote for BEST tasting recipe! They are all similar and great in taste but this one reminded me of my younger days spent in Bermuda eating toasted Johnny Bread with cheese.

I am going to try this recipe again with the technique of rolling and cutting dough in circles and this recipe in full does suggest trying it that way.

Lambes Johnny Bread

source: Big Oven

 

Pictured sliced and toasted with cheese! YUM!

3 cup Flour

3 tbsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

1 cup Sugar

1 cup milk

1 Egg

1/2 cup Margarine; or shortening

Oil; for frying

 

Cut margarine into dry ingredients until crumbly.

Mix the milk and egg together and slowly add to the crumb mixture.

Combine thoroughly and knead on a floured board until well incorporated and not too sticky.

Break off pieces about the size of a tennis ball. Flatten to about 1/2 inch and fry in shallow oil over a low to medium flame until golden. Repeat on other side. –  (((I would use the roll out on floured board and cut in circles technique instead.)))

Drain on paper towels and serve with butter and/or cheese.

Enjoy!

 

Apple Crumble Pie

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I really have a beef with dough. So before you judge this is pre-made package Pillsbury ready-made pie dough .. Yeah.. I know .. such a sin. GASP. Well, it works..less stress when out of time. And when you taste this pie it doesn’t even matter. This is pie is so good!

Recipe:

adapted from: Allrecipes 

Pie

1 (nine inch) deep dish unbaked pie crust. ( I let Pillsbury do the work for me)

5 cups apples …peeled, cored and sliced thin (thank you hubsta)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup flour

 

Topping

1/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup flour

6 tablespoons butter

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Mix apple slices with sugar and cinnamon making sure they are covered.

Add flour to the apple mixture and gentle stir to incorporate.

Arrange apple slices in your unbaked pie crust

For topping:

In bowl cut butter into flour and sugar until crumbly. Spoon this mixture evenly over apple.

 

Bake in preheated oven until apples are soft and top is lightly brown, which is about 1 hour and 15 mins.

 

So.. after writing this I have decided that the next time I make this I will make my own dough. Yes.. I have to conquer what ails me. And this pie is totally worth it.

Didn’t last a night in my house.

Roasted Fish with Chickpeas and Ginger

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My mom is visiting from Bermuda and it was much needed as the past few months were rough. Her delightful spirit is very much welcome around here. As well as the goodies she always brings me when she visits!

Amongst the goodies, she brought me Bermuda Fish. She couldn’t tell me what kind it was but hey.. does that matter? As long as it is from the waters of Bermuda..it is all good!

I pondered on what to do with it as it thawed, so I went on pinterest for some ideas. Found a recipe that included Chickpeas and we love chickpeas round these here parts. The recipe was simple to execute as well. That works for me.

I made a few substitutions and hands down this fish recipe was KILLER! It will remain a staple dish in our house!

Recipe:

adapted from: bbcgoodfood

Ingredients:

4 White fish fillets

1 15 oz can of tomatoes

1 15oz can of chickpeas

1 large ginger root, peeled and grated

chili seasoning to taste

3 tsp graham marsala

3 tbsp vegetable oil

 

Directions:

Season fish with your preferred fish seasoning and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Heat oil in deep ovenproof frying pan.

Add the graham marsala and let it sizzle for a moment, then add the chili and the ginger and stir.

Add chickpeas and stir to coat.

Pour in the tomatoes and bring to a boil.

Now, once boiled bring in the fish and place on top of the chickpea tomato mix and gentle scoop a little of the sauce on top of the fish.

Place in oven and bake for approximately 12 to 15 mins or until fish flakes when pressed with a fork.

 

I served this with a Mexican rice but it is also very good with white rice. I also had it with just salad with Greek dressing and it was delicious. This recipe is very easy and can be suited to your taste!

Paw Paw Casserole

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…its

plain old good…

 

A dish I had never made before but used to be made by my late Grandmother Irene has been haunting my soul to try it.  My granny never passed down her recipe for this.. .or anything she made. Not to me anyway. But I have a few dishes that hold dear memories of her such as Codfish and Potatoes, Christmas Pudding and this one,Paw Paw Casserole.

Paw Paw casserole was always served at her house on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. We would gather there once a year and eat and talk and wait for the Gombey Dancers to grace her street with their presence. my Gran Irene loved the Gombeys and she danced and dance and laughed and smiled each time they performed on the streets. Paw Paw casserole and Gombey’s go hand in hand to me because I only ate Paw Paw Casserole on boxing day and boxing day in Bermuda always drew the Gombey Dancers out to the streets.

Now, older and no longer residing in Bermuda I wish to bring some of my dishes in my family household and introduce them to foods that I grew up with.

This dish was very hard for me because I didn’t know exactly what Paw Paw was. I mean… I couldn’t find it here in the United States.. and people looked at me side eye when I asked about it.  It wasn’t until a friend told me that pawpaw is the same thing as Papaya.  They said we cook it before it ripens…while it is still in its green form. Despite reading this on the internet and being told as such…I still was skeptical…but…….. I saw this in Bermuda at the Bermuda Aquarium and Zoo on my last visit home.

Then I was convinced.

 

 

I have a few recipes in Bermuda Cookbooks and I also reached out to a friend on Facebook for her recipe which included sage! YUM. However, I chose to keep it simple. Just as Gran Irene did. Then once I get the hang of it perhaps I would try different versions.

I was pleased with the outcome of this simple yet delightful dish.

This dish is basically prepared much like Scalloped potato. 

 

 

Paw Paw Cheese Dish

source: adapted from Traditional Bermuda Recipes

 

Ingredients:

2 Cups cheese, grated

6 cups green paw-paw

4 cups  diced fresh tomatoes (I omitted)

pepper and salt to taste

 

Directions:

Peel paw-paws and dice them. I kept them in slices as my Gran Irene did.

Cook in boiling, salted water till tender. But you don’t want them to be too tender that they break apart.

Place 3 cups of paw-paw in casserole dish and cover with 2 cups of tomatoes if you are using them.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add about 1 cup grated cheese.

Repeat the layer as above ending with the cheese as a final topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes.

 

 

Oh boy.

You can find Paw Paw …known here in the USA as Papaya at your local Farmers Market. Note that the greenest Papaya I found was at Harry's Farmers Market… the greener the better!

 

Beautiful Paw Paw tree! Picture Credit to Tropical Plants and Decor.com

Easy Breezy Roasted Potatoes.

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I was recently on Reggae Vault Classic Magazine. Not that many of you may know what that is but my hubsta plays on an internet radio site called Daflavaradio.com. Daflavaradio.com plays Caribbean music and my hubsta being a talented Deejay has a show with his brother and it airs 2 nights a week. Well, hubsta asked me to interview one night for his radio magazine show. I was very reluctant but he made it easy. I was proud… not of me.. but of him. He put me at ease and asked all the right questions. Despite me having the microphone up to close to my mouth at times I think I did okay.

One question he asked was what was my intentions now that I am a working mom. Oh.. I didn’t tell you all that… but yes…a working mom. Am I going to integrate that with my blog? I am.. I intend on making a few easy dishes. Dishes that working moms can throw together when they walk in the door with their heels and blazers still on.

I have a few dishes on my blog that fall into that category already! And this one I am putting high on rotation. This one goes great with meatloaf or tilapia. This one was a hit with all of us!

I saw this on pinterest. GAAH!! Not that pinterest word again??!!? Well what good is pinning if you are not going to attempt anything you pin?

Okay.. here is the recipe.. it is simple and it comes from Iowa Girl Eats. Thank you Iowa Girl.

I call it..

Easy Breezy Roasted Potatoes.

(They are too good to just call them roasted potatoes.)

 

Ingredients:

Russet potatoes (how ever many you wish)

butter

Lawry's seasoning salt

grated parmesan cheese

…all the above ingredients are to your taste…

Directions:

Wash and pierce the potato all over with a fork. Cook in the microwave until the potato is soft all the way through – about 6-7 minutes total, flipping halfway through.

Cut the potato in half, then cut each half into squares. Don’t cut all the way through, just down to the skin.

Season with butter, parmesan cheese and Lowry’s seasoning salt, then place on a baking sheet under the broiler for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

 

Don’t blame me when your kids want more.

 

Oh so nice I had to post it TWICE: Red Velvet Cake/Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Italian Meringue Buttercream.

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How do you decorate your red velvet cupcakes?

 

I discussed how red velvet has a distinct taste in my first post on this delicious delicacy.  So to me .. .decorating them with the perfect topping is hard. You don’t want to overpower the taste..especially since we top red velvet with cream cheese frosting most times.

I experimented with some cupcakes I had to take to a family barbeque. I decorated them with some colorful non-pareils…for the kiddies because colors attract them and I was right. I also did black non-pareils which to me was not aesthetically pleasing to the eye..but delicious none the less. I also did the pretty little white non-pareils which were on the top of my list because I love them on any cupcake.  I left some plain and I placed some toasted coconut on others.

    

Well… in my test.. they all went.. they all were eaten. What I do notice is that besides my girl going for the colorful ones and my littlest son going for the coconut ones (which was a big shock to me) everybody took a while to pick out a cupcake. Amazing what a little sugar sprinkle can do to a cupcake. Its a serious game changer. Same flavor cupcake…same frosting.. just different toppings.

Anyway, I am reposting my recipe with a minor change in the amount of red food coloring. A good judge of what color your cake or cupcakes will be is to simple look at the batter… more likely then not your pretty cake will be the exact same color.

I note that this recipe has coffee and I think that aids in deepening the red therefore I found that less coloring was much better.

I also sift the cocoa powder in the dry ingredients so that it mixes better. And I have also change the cream cheese frosting recipe that I used to use…

I will note that Big Bill's carrot cake cream cheese frosting is extremely delicious. But for a better hold in frosting swirl world… Cream Cheese Italian Meringue Buttercream was much better.

 

Recipe:

CAKE

Ingredients:~

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

2 Tablespoon of unsweetened, cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar

2 teaspoon of vanilla

1 oz. red food coloring

1/2 cup of coffee

Directions:~

Preheat oven 325 degrees.

In a large bowl add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt & cocoa powder. Whisk until well combined. Set Aside.

In a separate large bowl, add sugar and oil. Mix until combined.

Add in eggs, buttermilk, vanilla & red food coloring. Stir until combined.

Next add in the coffee & vinegar. Stir until combined.

Pour the flour mixture into the sugar mixture a little at a time. Beating until well combined.

Pour the batter into 2 greased & flour 9 inch round cake pans. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. (Another way to check for doneness is to lightly press the cake on top, if it springs back then it is done, if the dent remains in the cake then it is not done. Do not over bake.)

Let cool for 10 mins then remove on to racks to cool completely before frosting.

Please note…as I made cupcakes my cooking time was reduced to 19 mins. I recommend checking them at 15 mins first in order not to over bake.

Now for the ….

 

FROSTING ~ as posted in Blood Orange marmalade Cake.

Kaye’s Italian Meringue Buttercream

source: Whimsical Bakehouse

In a saucepan, bring to a boil:
1/2 cup water
2-1/4 cups sugar

Use a clean brush and cold water to wash
down any sugar crystals that form on the
sides of the pan as the water heats. When
the sugar comes to a boil set a timer for 7
minutes, and let boil.

After 5 minutes, in the bowl of an electric
mixer, begin to whip at high speed:
1 cup egg whites (about 12 large egg whites)
Whip until stiff. They should be done when
the timer goes off.

With the mixer on high speed, slowly beat
the sugar syrup into the egg whites, pouring
the syrup to the side of the bowl to avoid
the whip.

Continue to beat until the bowl is cool to
the touch, about 10 minutes. Slowly add:
1-1/2 pounds (6 sticks) unsalted butter at
room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces
When the buttercream begins to jump out of
the bowl, reduce the speed to low.

Mix in at low speed:
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Beat until light and fluffy. At some points
the mixture might look curdled. Just keep
beating; it will become smooth again.

YIELD: 8 cups

Now .. .to make this into cream cheese frosting for your cake treats you need to whip your cream cheese first. I used 16 oz of cream cheese with approximately 3 cups of buttercream.

Add about 1/2 of a cup of Italian Meringue Buttercream to your whipped cream cheese. Whip for about a minute on high speed.. then gradually add the rest of the IMBC to your mix with the mixer turned to medium high. 

Doing it this way instead of adding the cream cheese directly to buttercream prevents the fats from separating. What's wrong with fats separating in your buttercream you ask? A gritty mess… that's what. Ask me how I know.

Anyway, frost to your hearts content. And please… there is nothing wrong with taking a knife and smothering cream cheese frosting on your cupcake… the taste is still the same. Guaranteed.

End cap… if you notice my cupcakes were already packed for travel.. check out the neat cupcake carrier I purchased from TJMaxx Home Goods…

It holds 24 cupcakes. OR .. 1 14 inch cake and 12 cupcakes OR 1 14 inch or smaller cake.

And the top collapses. I LOVE IT!!!!!

 

Thanks TJ MAXX.. seriously you all go look for it on AMAZON.com !

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Waffles

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and bacon.

 

I so wanted to crumble the bacon and put it in the waffles.. but I didn’t. I am not a breakfast person. I like breakfast being made for me, I dislike making it. It seems like a whole lot of work that goes into a meal that needs to be eaten right away to enjoy it. And it leaves entirely too much dishes too early in the day for me.

Regardless, I made waffles… from scratch and I am damn well proud of it. No .. they aren’t fancy…but that is why I love them. Simple easy and delish for a meal that I don’t like to prepare but I love to eat. Also pair that with the fact that I just acquired a waffle maker to add a little excitement to my non love for making breakfast.

I adapted the Classic Waffle from Allrecipes to suit my taste. I love buttermilk and cinnamon and brown sugar. Simple.

 

Waffles

 

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon white sugar and brown sugar; set aside.

Preheat waffle iron to desired temperature….I like between 3 and 4 on my Cuisinart Waffle Maker.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, butter and vanilla.

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture; beat until blended.

Ladle the batter into a preheated waffle iron.

Cook the waffles until golden and crisp.

TIP:  Place waffles in warm oven directly on oven rack to keep them from getting soggy before serving.

 

Oh.. and bacon.. I usually fry my bacon in a cast iron pan… but sometimes I don’t feel like doing the extra. So I decided to use this oven method by Kittencal to make the bacon. I now love it and not sure if I will ever fry bacon again. Okay.. that is a little extreme.. I love fried bacon.. I prefer this oven method to be used if I am going to crumble the bacon in a recipe…such as was planned for this waffles.

It didn’t bother me that my bacon was on the side. Not one bit…

And it certainly didn’t bother my daughter.. who prefers to have fruit and syrup in every bite…