RECIPE: Sage and onion bread rolls

I got this recipe from the Hairy Bikers' Best of British TV show. I love watching cooking programs and I think they are by far the best. Unlike some shows that go for a fancy "new cuisine" kinda thing, the Hairy Bikers actually cook, talk about and eat food that I'd actually want to eat instead of be weary of it's peculiar ingredients and names that I can't even pronounce. Call me unsophisticated, when it comes to food, nothing goes above a great comforting meal that fills your stomach and lightens your mood, and these delicious bread rolls are just the perfect accompaniment to such a plate of food.

My first ever attempt to even make bread, they turned out wonderful on my first try. I slightly altered the recipe, because I didn't really need eight rolls. Because they are so tasty though, I tried making it to the original recipe and somehow it didn't turn out right. So here's my adapted recipe for the Hairy Bikers' sage and onion bread rolls.

Here's what you need:

- 75 ml of whole milk (and a bit more for glazing)
- 75 ml of water
- 200 g of strong white flour (and a bit extra for kneading)
- half of a 7 g sachet of fast action dried yeast (the original calls for a whole sachet)
- 1/2 tsp caster suger
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 8 g of butter
- 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil (and some extra for greasing)
- 1/2 a large or one small onion, peeled and chopped
- about 4 tbsp full of dried sage (the original uses fresh sage leaves which I didn't have. If you want to use fresh, go for about 10 leaves)
- freshly ground black pepper

Here's what you do:

1. Heat the water and milk until lukewarm.

2. Sift the flour into a bowl and stir in the yeast, sugar and salt.

3. Make a well in the middle and stir in the water and milk with a wooden spoon or your hands. Make it into a ball and knead it for about 10 minutes on a floured surface.

4. Once kneaded, place your ball of dough into an oiled bowl and cover with oiled clingfilm (loosely) and leave to rise for about 45 minutes to an hour.

5. In the meantime you can fry the onion with the butter and oil until soft. If you like, you can add some fresh garlic. Just before it's done, add the sage to your frying onions and mix it through. Add lots of black pepper and leave it to cool.

6.  When the dough has risen, flatten it with your hands and add the onions and sage on top. Then knead the dough until it's all nicely incorporated. This will get very messy, if it's too wet add a little bit of flour.

7. Divide the dough into four little balls and place them against each other on some baking paper on a baking tray. Again, cover loosely with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise for another 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C.

8. Brush the rolls with some milk and scatter some sage on top. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool a little before serving. They're delicious warm with some butter.

Enjoy! 

RECIPE: English Style Flapjacks

This is a very easy recipe to make. Flapjacks are great for a quick breakfast, or with a packed lunch. I got this recipe from Lorraine Pascale's "Baking Made Easy", you can check out this show on BBC2 in the UK on Mondays at 20.30.

Here's what you need:
175 g butter
175 g golden syrup
175 g of soft light brown sugar
350 g porridge oats
zest of half a lemon
pinch of ground ginger
What to do:
Preheat the oven at 150 degrees C.

Melt the butter on a medium heat, brush a lined baking tray with some of the butter.
Add the sugar and syrup and heat it through gently. (You can also do all this in the microwave, just keep heating it for a minute, stir and heat up again until everything is dissolved)

Remove from the heat when everything is dissolved into a caramel-like gloop. Mix in the oats, lemon and ginger. Make sure all the oats are coated.

Pack the mixture into a baking tray/tin and pack it down tightly.

Then bake for about 40 minutes, when it's done take it out to cool. Once cooled you can remove it from the tray and cut it into squares.

Enjoy!

Welcome to The Powder Room!

Hi there, and welcome to the Powder Room!

If you've been looking for something girly and a bit different, you've come to the right place. Here you will find a fun collection of 'How-To's on make-up looks from way back when, now and everything in between; homemade beauty treatments; tasty recipes and movie reviews for a girly night in.

It doesn't matter if you're a 50's pin-up, a cool rock chick or something else entirely. If you like being feminine and experimenting with food, make-up and styles you'll find something here to interest you.

I'd like to hear from you so if you've got any ideas, comments or questions, please post a comment.

- Miss Daiquiris.