Bread Machine Recipes: Garlic and Cheese Monkey Bread

I've been eyeing up monkey bread for ages. Traditionally it is a sweet dish made with cinnamon and sugar (and don't get me wrong, I'm dying to make it that way too!) but I thought I'd try a savoury version that I knew Al would like. I mean, who can resist cheese and garlic? I made this for Real Bread Maker Week but have only just had time to upload it.

It was actually pretty easy. After reading the comments on this recipe, I decided to modify the recipe a bit; halved the recipe, added more flour, changed the method slightly. It was tasty and a nice change from the standard garlic baguette from the supermarket. The bread fell apart a bit when I took it from the loaf pan (hence the rebuilt loaf pictures!) but that didn't matter. It meant it was easy to portion our and share.

I think this would be a great recipe for a barbecue or picnic. The bread is easily doubled to serve a crowd and as the bread machine does all the hard work it's really easy.

Ingredients
For the bread
150ml water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
225g flour
1 tsp yeast
2 tbsp strong cheddar, grated
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tsp dried oregano

For the topping
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tbsp butter, melted
Black pepper, mixed herbs and oregano to taste (around 1 tsp each)
Grated cheddar

Method
Place all of the ingredients for the bread into the bread machine pan and choose the Dough cycle.
Towards the end of the cycle, mix the topping ingredients (except the cheese) together in a bowl. Prepare a 1lb loaf tin by greasing with a little of the topping mixture.
Once the dough is finished, divide into 1 inch balls and dip each ball into the topping mixture before layering in the loaf tin. Sprinkle each layer with some of the cheese and finish the final layer with cheese so that it melts and browns in the oven.
Place the bread into a preheated 180C over and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown on top and cooked through. If it browns too much on the top then cover loosely in foil.
Serve warm.

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30 Days of Food and Drink and National Real Bread Maker Week.

Today marks the start of 2 UK food events.

First, we have 30 Days of Food and Drink which is sponsored by Sainsburys and hosted by the people of 30days.co.uk. It's a celebration of all things food and drink offering a host of competitions, discounts and information about food events all over the country. To find out what's on go here!

Secondly we have National Real Bread Maker Week running between the 1st May and 9th May. This week celebrates the humble bread machine and the estimated 10 million of them gathering dust in people's cupboards across the land. They are even hosting bread machine swaps where you can take your old bread machine and give it to somebody else!

As you know, I love my bread machine and think people should use these marvellous gadgets to make all kinds of things! Look out for some bread machine recipes this week and check out all my bread machine posts here.

Celebrate your bread machine!

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Spicy Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

As you know I love nifty kitchenware. I'm often found in the kitchen department of random shops just looking to see what I might be missing out on. Luckily, other people know I'm a sucker for this stuff and I sometimes get things as presents.

It was my birthday last week and I received these funky soup mugs from my brother as a gift. I'd seen them around Christmas time and had pined over them for a while. He'd tried to get some then but they were soon sold out. However, the boy triumphed and I now have 2 of the little beasts in my collection. I am happy.

So, I've had soup on the brain for a week or so even though the weather is toasty. So I wondered what kind of flavours would make a tasty soup for this summery weather. I ended up choosing tomato and red pepper. The flavours are sweet and bright and I added some chili to give it a warm heat to perk it up a little. This was a real throw together dish with ingredients I had kicking about but it was delicious!

Ingredients
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp oil
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 roasted red pepper (from a jar - you can easily make your own!)
1 tin tomatoes
1/2 pint chicken or vegetable stock (fresh or from a cube)
Pinch of dried mixed herbs
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp Peri Peri spice
A few dashes of Smoked Tabasco
1 bay leaf (2 if they're small)

Method
Gently fry the onion, garlic and peppers in the oil until softened but not browned.
Add the tin of tomatoes and the hot stock and bring to a boil.
Add the herbs, spices, Tabasco and bay leaf. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes.
Blend the soup with a stick blender or liquidiser until it reaches the desired consistency (add more water if it's too thick).
Serve with crusty bread.

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