Parmesan and Basil Rusks

Yesterday I made a savoury version of the Sarf African Rusks.
I made it with Izani in mind. I think it's a good way to sneak in some fibre into his diet.
okay, first the recipe, even thought it's not really that different from the sweet version.

Parmesan and Basil Rusks

1.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups wholewheat flour
3 heaped teaspoons baking powder
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons dried chopped basil
a pinch of salt

125grams cold butter
1 egg beaten
360grams Labneh or sour cream

Mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Rub butter into the dry mix to form breadcrumbs.
Beat the eggs. Add eggs into the crumb mix bit by bit. Then add the Labneh/sour cream into the mix, a spoon at a time, making sure it is well mixed each time. Mix/Knead until the dough forms a ball and does not stick to the bowl.
Turn dough into a 5" by 8" cake tray and press to form a uniform flat shape.
Bake in a preheated oven @350F for 45 minutes.
Take out and let cool, then cut into finger sized pieces.
Arrange on a flat cookie sheet (or line your oven wire rack with aluminum foil and arrange right on the rack). Set oven to the lowest heat possible and let fingers dry out overnight.

The house smelled so yummy when the rusks were in the oven!
It turned out yummy too. The parmesan taste wasnt so strong and once in a while you'd get a taste of the basil which give it a little kick. Next time i'm gonna try with different savoury ingredients and herbs.. Maybe add chicken stock granules and parsley?
Today I had these rusks dunked inside a bowl cream of mushroom soup. Say it together now: Yummeh!

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The little amateur entrepeneur in me is wondering: would this be a saleable item?
Kalau buat business, rasa-rasanya laku tak? Ada ke orang nak beli roti keras ku?
Would you buy my rusks?

Easy Peasy Cheese and Olive Loaf

I bet you thought I'd never get around to making a culinary jam post, eh? Well, I thought so too. But this recipe is so easy, i managed to squeeze it in in between cooking dinner.

I got this recipe from a magazine at a friend's house (I think it's a compilation of recipes from Women's Weekly). It looked easy enough, and the picture looked yummy, and the ingredients were pretty simple and readily available, so i thought I'd give it a try. I'm gonna give the recipe in it's originality and then tell you what I changed in mine.

Easy peasy Cheese and Olive Loaf

1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
2/3cup (50g) coarsely grated parmesan
2 tablespoons coearsly chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup (120g) seeded black olives, chopped coarsely
75grams mortadella, chopped coarsely
4 eggs, beaten lightly
80grams butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400F(200C). Lightly grease 8cm by 26cm bar cake pan.
Sift flour into a medium bowl, add cheese, mint, pepper, olives and mortadella.
Add egg and melted butter, stir until well combined. Spread mixture into pan, bake about 35minutes or until browned lightly.
Turn onto wire rack to cool. (Serves 6)

luvleh and yummeh!!!

I don't really like the taste of mint, except when it's in laksa, toothpaste or a breath freshening candy, so I omitted the fresh mint. I didnt have enough grated parmesan coz Anis ate most of it when I made spaghetti the day before so I added a bit of shredded mozarella instead. I didn't use black pepper, but them powdered white pepper instead. I brought pre-sliced black olives, the kind you would put on pizza, and just ran a knife through them so that it wont be so chunky and my kids wouldnt be able to pick them out. I used beef mortadella, and only realized that I had bought the kind that already had olives in them. I used more than 75 grams.. tee hee. I guess if you can't find mortadella, you can use any type of deli meats. Giant Kelana Jaya has a counter that sells halal ones, the last time I was there.

The end result was a little dry, I don't know why. The next time I make it I'll probably put some kind of fresh herb , maybe it'll moisten it a bit. but even so, it was still yummy. The combination of olives, cheese and cured meat was just right on delicious. I think the next time i try this maybe I'd add sun-dried tomatoes and basil, and I'd call it a pizza loaf!

Cubalah! (Go on, try it!)

Hope that this will tie you over while I'm away in Makkah for a few days.