Tag Archives: Bread

Hardcore Hobbit: Bread and Jam

Posted on February 18, 2013 | 3 comments

I thought long and hard about this one. After all, the game makes this one just a little too easy. A ball of dough and some blackberry jam. I need a challenge! So, I made a bread specifically to match with the jam. As it says hobbits LOVE nothing better than bread and jam. I have to make it the best I can! Afterall, what says “I’m serious about bread and jam.” more than making your own bread to showcase your homemade jam? A flavour that I love to pair with blackberries is lime. I know, you would think it’s all tart enough but, I love a lot of zing in my tasty treats sometimes. Especially for something that is so perfect to serve at tea time. I could see this doing just as well with orange instead of lime though if you are looking for a milder flavour. Want to see what I did? Behold, the yogurt lime bun with blackberry jam.

workingwithjam 011

  • 1 1/2 cup of flour, divided (1 cup and 1/2 cup)
  • 1 cup probiotic fat free plain balkan style yogurt (I’m sure greek would work fine too)
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • juice of two lime wedges
  • Hardcore Hobbit blackberry jam
  1. Combine 1 cup of flour and the yogurt in a bowl. Sprinkle with sugar. Loosely cover with a damp towel and set aside in a warm place for 3 hours to proof.
  2. Add the remaining flour, baking soda, baking powder and lime juice.
  3. Lightly roll out the dough on a floured surface. Don’t push out all that air we proofed for!
  4. Using a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, cut out 16 shapes and place on a sprayed baking sheet.
  5. Bake at 425F for 10-15 minutes.
  6. Allow to cool for a few minutes, serve warm with a 1/2 tsp of blackberry jam.

Makes 16 buns or biscuits. Each one contains 51 calories, 0.1 gram fat, 9.6. grams carbs, 0.3 gram fibre, 2.7 grams protein. Add the nutritional values for your jam and you have one pretty guilt free tasty tea time treat. Wow, a quadruple T. Win.

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Posted in Breakfast, Comfort Foods, Snack, The Hardcore Hobbit

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Banh Mi

Posted on August 24, 2011 | 4 comments

Otherwise known as the Vietnamese sub. This is one of those times that food network helped me find a new food to try. The show that clinched me having to try these subs featured a food truck named nomnom (you can already see why my curiosity was piqued.). Everyone flocked around this truck to get their unique sandwiches. I had to try it. So on our next visit out to Vancouver we hit vietsub, which many claim makes the best banh mi in Vancouver. I’m not a connoisseur yet but that was definitely one tasty sandwich.  It was spicy, the pickled veggies had a delightful crunchy pungency that coupled blissfully with the creaminess of the dressing. Oh yes, I am a banh mi fan. I can’t go toddling off to Vancouver everytime I crave one though. So, this is my attempt at my bon ami the banh mi.

  • 2 sub buns
  • 1 tbl light mayo
  • 1/2 tsp sriracha sauce (optional, I like my bahn mi to bite back)
  • 2 tbl liverwurst
  • 2 tbl fish sauce
  • 2 tbl soy sauce
  • 2 tbl canola oil
  • 2 tbl brown sugar, unpacked, divided
  • 2 cloves garlic, pressed
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 lb thin flash fry top sirloin steak
  • 1 carrot, thinly julienned
  • 2 oz daikon radish, thinly julienned
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbl rice wine vinegar
  1. Combine the mayo and sriracha, cover and refrigerate.
  2. Combine the fish sauce, soy sauce, canola oil, 1 tbl sugar, garlic and pepper in a bowl. Add the flank steak. Cover, refrigerate and allow to marinate for atleast 4 hours.
  3. Combine the carrot, daikon, remaining sugar, salt, and rice wine vinegar in a bowl. Cover, refrigerate and allow to pickle for 4 hours. Turn once during this process. Drain.
  4. Heat a skillet to medium. Sear the steak for 2 minutes on each side. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice across the grain.
  5. Cut open the rolls, spread the cut top side with half the spicy mayo mix and the bottom half with 1 tbl of liverwurst.
  6. Top with the beef and the pickle mixture. Repeat with the other bun. Serve.

Serves two bon ami. Each serving (without bun) contains 216 calories, 10.8 grams fat, 1.4 grams fibre, 8.7 grams carbs, and 20.3 grams protein. Check out that protein! This is a great post workout treat.

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Posted in Comfort Foods, Craving Buster, Dinner, Lunch

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Hardcore Hobbit: Hard Tack Ration or Green Onion Cakes

Posted on May 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

Now, the description in game for these does not sound like a very fun dish at all. They keep you alive and complaining about the bad food for days. Well this will not do for hobbitses such as ourselves. The ingredients for this dish are flour, salt and water, to make it epic we add chives. Well, let’s upgrade those chives to green onions! So here I’ve made an easily transportable and tasty green onion pancake style hard tack ration. I love how the green onion gives them a subtle sweetness too. Suitable for keeping soldiers alive and happy with their food for days.

  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbl canola oil
  • 3/4 cup boiling water
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onion
  • butter flavoured cooking spray
  1. Combine the salt and flours in a bowl. Add the boiling water and oil, stir until a dough forms. If it is a bit too sticky add more Whole Wheat flour. Knead the dough for five minutes.
  2. Roll the dough into a long snake and cut into twelve pieces.
  3. Roll the pieces into flat rounds, spray the top and sprinkle with a bit of green onion.
  4. Roll it up like a jelly roll.
  5. Press the roll down a bit on the seam and then coil it into a snail shape. Allow them to rest for 30 minutes.
  6. Flatten each of your “snails”, roll them into a pancake shape. You can allow these to sit until ready for cooking if you are premaking or cook right now.
  7. Preheat pan to medium and spray. Heat the pancake on one side until golden, flip and press down a bit. When golden on both sides they are ready to serve! Great hot or cold.

Makes 12 hard tack rations. Each ration contains 72 calories, 1.4 grams of fat, 13.7 grams of carb, 1.3 grams of fibre, and 2.2 grams of protein. These are great served with a bit of that asian hot sauce with the rooster on it. Num!

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Spicy Mini Sandwich

Posted on January 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

The perfect tasty treat for the hobbit on the go! There are so many wonderful ways to make variations of club sandwiches and this is one I had this week. I love these mini bagels I have found, they are boiled and baked and full of bagel goodness. One or two is all you need with a tasty side dish like baked chips or a salad. Then tada! You have been to the deli. A very good lunch indeed. Hah, and now I just realized why I am so amused by the title of this sandwich…I play a mini in LOTRO…I could see her eating this…but then I’m just a big ol’geek.

  • leaf of lettuce
  • 1 small chicken breast
  • 1 slice of bacon, cooked crispy
  • 1 tsp half the fat mayo
  • 1 mini bagel
  • 2 tbl piri piri sauce or seasoning
  1. Marinate chicken breast in the piri piri spice the night before.
  2. Slice bagel, toast, spray with butter cooking spray if desired.
  3. Pan fry or grill the chicken breast. Slice thinly after resting the meat for 5 minutes. Place 1 ounce of chicken on the bottom bagel half. Reserve the rest for future sandwiches or sharing…if you dare.
  4. Top with bacon slice broken in half. Spread mayo on the top half of the bagel, top with lettuce leaf.
  5. Assemble!

Makes one immediate serving…and ofcourse chicken for future servings. One mini sandwich is 167 calories, 6.4 grams of fat, and 1.1 grams of fibre. If you need to reduce the fat go with turkey bacon, I went with bacon because sometimes you just need to indulge. Another great version is using avocado instead of mayo. NUM! Like your sandwich extra spicy? Add some of that piri piri seasoning to your mayo.

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Hardcore Hobbit: Roasted Chicken with blue cheese and onion stuffing

Posted on January 17, 2011 | 3 comments

Oh num! I love my cheeses very sharp and this definitely did the trick for me. Ofcourse, if you are not as much of a fan of sharp cheese or the idea of blue cheese just oogs you out, you can just substitute with any other cheese you love. This hardcore hobbit was so simple to start with. The game suggested: chicken, salt, and a pouch fine seasonings. With that chicken so tasty and roasted your vitality will be renewed. Well, I felt a tasty chicken like that needed a stuffing and the grocery store had this lovely blue cheese on special and roasting chicken….well….I think you know what happened.

  • 3-4 lb chicken
  • 4 slices of whole wheat bread
  • 1/2 medium onion, sliced
  • 40 grams blue cheese
  • 1 tbl dried parsley
  • 6 fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary
  • 1 tbl extra virgin olive oil
  • black pepper and sea salt to taste
  • butter cooking spray
  1. Cube or tear bread into pieces. Season with parsley, black pepper and salt.
  2. Saute the onions in a sprayed pan until golden, pour into the bread mixture. Add olive oil and toss to coat.
  3. Crumble the blue cheese into the mixture and stir in carefully.
  4. Stuff into the chicken. Truss the chicken using cooking twine to help it keep it’s shape. Some stores will do this for you. Spray with cooking spray. Season the chicken with basil, rosemary, salt and pepper.
  5. Place in roasting pan and bake uncovered at 425F for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375F and bake for 1 hour.

Serves 4. Each serving contains 191 calories, 8.2 grams of fat, and 1.7 grams of fibre. This assumes that your portion comes from the breast meat mostly and that you remove the skin before eating. Sure, I had a bit of skin but I was being naughty. Shhhh.

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Posted in Comfort Foods, Dinner, The Hardcore Hobbit

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Fall Fruit Stuffed French Toast

Posted on November 12, 2010 | 2 comments

The fruit during the fall season is just so tasty. I especially love the abundance of apples and pears. So many varieties of delicious awesomeness. Once again my husband has provided an awesome special breakfast on the weekend. Have I mentioned publicly how much I love his special breakfasts? Screw that coffee stuff, they are definitely the best part of waking up. This time my husband was inspired by another Bobby Flay throwdown loss…hehe. For the bread we just used a store brand whole wheat bread that turned out to be our best nutritional option. Check them out! You don’t have to break the bank on silly expensive bread just to eat right.

  • 3 egg whites
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 pear, peeled, cored, chopped
  • 1 apple, peeled, cored, chopped
  • 1 tbl low fat yogurt cheese or fat free cream cheese
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbl brown sugar, unpacked
  • 4 slices whole wheat bread
  1. Combine fruit, vanilla and sugar in a saucepan. Cook for a few minutes on medium high until tender. Allow to cool. Stir in the yogurt cheese.
  2. Combine egg whites and cinnamon in a large bowl. Heat a skillet on medium high.
  3. Dip bread in the egg mixture. Allow the bread to rest in the egg mixture for a just a few seconds to allow it to absorb the mix.
  4. Pan fry the slices of dipped bread. Once the sides are cooked top one slice with a bit of fruit filling then top with another slice. Heat for one minute and serve. Top the toast with 1 tbl of filling.

Serves two. Each serving contains 304 calories, 4.3 grams of fat and 7.7 grams of fibre. Take a look at that nice fibre! We had this as a brunch so I felt full for most of the day, ended up just having an afternoon snack instead of lunch really. I was still too full! French toast for breakfast is always a total win!

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Posted in Breakfast, Craving Buster

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Hardcore Hobbit: Shire Pudding

Posted on November 1, 2010 | Leave a comment

Now, this one was an easy one to figure out. A shire pudding must be quite similar to a yorkshire pudding. York-shire…pudding….aaaah. Pretty sneaky LOTRO. Oh, how I love a yorkshire pudding. Typically though before my new eating style I used to just pick up a package of premade yorkshires and save myself the trouble. I had no idea they were so easy to make! I feel silly now. All this time I could have had a healthier version. In the game a shire pudding is made from a cup of spring barley flour and a chicken egg. Quite simple, just like those yorkshire puddings.

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  1. Combine the ingredients with a whisk. Whisk until smooth.
  2. Allow to sit 30 minutes in the fridge.
  3. Spoon into 12 sprayed muffin cups.
  4. Bake at 425F for 25 minutes.

Makes 12 servings. Each serving contains 58 calories, 1 gram fat, and .3 gram fibre. How do I like my shire puddings? Why with a good old fashioned crockpot roast with onions ofcourse!

Num! Don’t worry, I had some cooked carrots on the side as well. A delicious meal for those cold days. These little shire puddings really soak up the gravy once you open them up. Good times!

 

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Posted in Comfort Foods, Dinner, Sidedish, The Hardcore Hobbit

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Hardcore Hobbit: Galadhrim Ration

Posted on October 25, 2010 | 2 comments

Are you an Elven soldier on the go? No? How about a person of nerdy repute that loves to make hardcore hobbit recipes? Me too! Hehe. This time I tackled the Galadhrim Ration from LOTRO. The game tells me this contains a ball of dough, royal tater, and beef. The ball of dough is an ingredient recipe that contains water and winter barley flour. Well, to me all these things make me think of a stuffed meat bun that is inspired by a tortiere (o.k. maybe that last bit is my canadian nature shining through). Especially the bit about it being for elven soldiers on a battle field…a pie might not be practical, buns  it is! Hehe buns…

Dough ingredients:

  • 2 cup flour
  • 1 tbl brown sugar, unpacked
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 5 tbl light cooking margarine
  • 1 cup pureed cooked sweet potato
  • 1/3 cup water

Filling Ingredients

  • 8 oz extra lean ground beef
  • 8 oz ground pork
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
  • 1 tbl poultry seasoning
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tbl red wine
  • 1 pkg oxo beef (optional)
  1. Prepare the dough according to the hard biscuit directions Here. This dough is just a slight variation on that recipe. It works so well!
  2. To prepare the filling spray and heat a pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Add beef and pork. Brown and drain any fat.
  3. Add the remaining filling ingredients. Bring to a boil and reduce the sauce by half.
  4. Roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness and cut 16 rounds using a large round biscuit cutter. Fill each round with 1-2 tbl of filling. Pull up the side of the dough to form the bun and cover the filling. It’s ok if some of the meat ends up in your dough. I think it looks rustic. Ofcourse thats my excuse for most mistakes…it’s rustic!!!
  5. Bake at 425F for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Makes 16 buns. Each bun contains 160 calories, 6.6 grams fat, and 1 gram of fibre.

If you want to make this into a pie instead just spoon the filling into a pie plate and cover with the dough. Fold over the excess to create a raised edge. Bake 425F for 25-30 minutes.

Nummy for the Elven soldier not on the go.

One pie divided into 8 portions is 319 calories, 13 grams fat, and 2 grams fibre per serving. The pie version of this was so tasty that my personal hungry soldier (well, sailor really) ate the majority of the pie throughout the evening. I count that as an epic win considering my husband hates sweet potato.

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Onion Mini Buns

Posted on October 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

I like big buns and I cannot lie…but these mini buns I can’t deny. Hehehe…o.k. I’ll stop. So I have tackled yet another slider version but this time I wanted a different type of mini bun to go with my new sliders. I love onion buns, the gargantuan ones in the grocery story are just filled with calories and fat though…if you can even get your hands on them. So, it was time to work a little hobbit kitchen magic to get the job done. The only way these could be better is if I was actually able to wood fire them in that supreme oven over in Michel Delving. Mmmmm wood fired buns and all the giggle worthy naughtiness that involves.

  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tsp cooking margarine
  • 2 tbl brown sugar, unpacked
  • 3 cup flour
  • 2 tbl onion soup mix, dry
  • 4 1/2 tsp yeast
  1. Combine the ingredients using a kneading motion once moistened. Allow to proof twice. Use dough setting if you have a bread maker.
  2. Form the dough into 20 balls, flatten each ball slightly to form a disc.
  3. Bake 350F for 20-25 minutes.

Makes 20 mini buns perfect for sliders. Each bun contains 75 calories, .4 grams fat and .6 grams of fibre. Really tasty with the beef sliders I have posted before or with my newest sliders I will post tomorrow. Actually, my husband has found these great for snacking with a bit of margarine too! Enjoy!

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Posted in Dinner, Ingredient, Lunch, Sidedish, Snack

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Hardcore Hobbit: Hard Biscuit

Posted on October 5, 2010 | 1 comment

For a twist on these biscuits I made them with puree sweet potato. Oh yum! It helps to add a bit of nutritional value to an otherwise less than nutritional treat. According to the game folks make hard biscuits out of spring barley flour, chicken egg, and water. So these biscuits may not be as hard as the name suggests but I have a feeling most hobbits would heartily approve of this variation. The reason why my biscuits are not as orange as you would expect is because I used a white sweet potato. I heard they were sweeter, no real difference really. So either sweet potato variety you choose will do just fine.

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tbl brown sugar, unpacked
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 5 tbl cooking margarine, chilled
  • 3/4 cup puree cooked sweet potato
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup of water or fat free milk
  1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
  2. Cut the margarine into the dry ingredients until the mix resembles coarse meal.
  3. Blend the sweet potato, milk or water, and egg together in a blender. Add to the flour mixture until just moist.
  4. You can roll these out on a floured surface and cut using biscuit cutter or form with floured hands into flat disks for a more rustic looking biscuit.
  5. Bake 400F for 30 minutes.

Makes 16 biscuits. Each biscuit contains 83 calories, 1.4 grams of fat and.8 grams of fibre. These values are based on using milk instead of water. If you went with water it would be lower in calories and slightly lower in fat. I went with the milk because what hobbit would turn down a richer tasting biscuit? Best right out of the oven…mmm!

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