Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Curried Pumpkin and Lentil Soup

This rich, smooth Curried Pumpkin and Lentil Soup is filled with a homemade spice blend on top of curry powder, featuring a selection of Selefina Spices. Make this spicy or mild - the flavour is amazing either way!

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I love that no matter how crazy life gets, my mom and I can always count on soup to get through it. We do this in different ways - I channel the energy fueled by emotions or stress or what have you into creating a pot full of comforting and ever changing flavour. My mom takes comfort in the care and love I put into the food and the nourishment of the meal bolsters her. 

We've recently had to clear space in our pantry, fridge and freezer to fit in items my grandmother had - the experience was a mixture of laughter, tears, frustration and "what the heck is this?" moments. At the end of it, I had pulled out the fixings for soup that was spicy, smooth and packed full of nutrition. Letting everything simmer away perfumed the house in the best way possible, and the sense of joy that came from my mom seeing lunch was made was immeasurable. She laughed that I had made her "danger soup" given my coconut allergy - which is what I'm going to wind up calling all coconut based soups and stews from now on!

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Garlic Confit Focaccia #Breadbakers

Luscious garlic confit (and its oil) is the star of the show in this Garlic Focaccia. The crisp crust and pillowy soft interior is reminiscent of a perfect pizza, while pockets of sweet garlic will make you wonder why you ever made garlic bread any other way.

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There are a few scents that are guaranteed to make you hungry: baking bread, freshly made cookies, and garlic! Well, I don't have any cookies for you today, but this garlicky bread more than makes up for it - between making the garlic confit and baking the bread our house smelled like the best garlic bread for days.
 
My sister had spotted a garlic confit focaccia on social media one night, and immediately sent me the photo with the note "you need to make this". I mean, who am I to say no? Life got in the way however and the bread kept getting pushed to the back burner again...and again. By the time I got to it, she had forgotten about the email altogether! All was not lost though, because once the garlic started cooking she was all in for some new bread. 

 
Now, this loaf is a bit more time intensive than your standard sandwich bread, but the hands-on time is pretty minimal.The confit takes 2 hours in a slow oven to transform the sharp, in-your-face taste of raw garlic into a mellow, slightly sweet one. Luckily, while it cooks the dough can me made and have it's first rise, and while it cools down the dough will be doing a second, slower proof in the fridge. I was honestly worried about the garlic burning in the oven while the bread baked, but it stayed perfectly sweet and intact. The best part about this bread is not only does it get studded with garlic cloves and bathed in the garlic oil, but whatever's left (if anything!) is a perfect accompaniment if you love the allium as much as I do! We spread the confit cloves on chunks of the still-warm loaf and dipped it in the re-warmed oil.


#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. http://www.pinterest.com/flpl/bread-bakers/ Links are also updated after each event on the BreadBakers home page. https://www.foodlustpeoplelove.com/p/breadbakers.html 


We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. 

 

BreadBakers