Sunday, May 23, 2010

Spinach-Feta Puffs for 'Adaptation: Blog Bites #3'






Spinach Feta Puffs as Appetizers


Puffpastry squares ready to be filled-spinach feta mix alongside.




Squares ready with filling to be popped into the oven




Had made up my mind about taking part in the event hosted by Nupur of One Hot Stove, Blog Bites # 3 - ADAPTATION.

Most of us due to many reasons surely adapt a recipe from blog and for me, Blogs, ever since I have discovered them, have been my cooking bible - nothing hardly goes wrong from a tried and tested recipe.

This recipe below is from Asha of Foodies Hope/Aroma from one of her thousands of recipes! We had dined out and I was amazed at the use of Feta-Spinach in rolls which appealed to my kids, making me try this lovely Spinach and Feta Pockets by Asha (incase you feel lost, its at the end of the post, in the link alongside).

I have chosen this many times tried recipe because it fits Nupur's theme perfectly. Asha has used crescent whereas I have used puffpastry squares. My family loves the filling and daughter even has the filling with chapatis. Just a perfect recipe for me.

SPINACH N FETA PUFFS (click here for Asha's Recipe)
Yields : 12 pcs


Ingredients :
10-12 cubes of frozen spinach(approx one cup)
100gm Feta cheese (I used Almarai Full cream Feta Cheese)
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Italian herbs
Tiny pinch of red chili flakes
1/4 tsp pepper powder
salt to taste
12 frozen squares of puff pastry (I used Sunbullah brand)

Method :
In a microwave (mw) safe dish, on high power, mw the frozen cubes for 5 minutes. (Mw till all the water has evaporated and spinach looks dried, take care not to burn it. Mw it for 10 seconds everytime and check if it has not got done in 5 minutes.)
Cool it. Add the garlic powder, herbs, flakes, pepper and salt, mix well.
Combine the cheese with a spoon in the spinach mixture.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C (that was as per instructions to bake on the puff pastry wrapper)
Line a roasting tray or baking tray with parchment. In each square, place a tablespoon of the mix and pinch the sides. (Remember: If the spinach filling is watery, it will make the puffs soggy, hence ensure a dry mixture.) I pinched the opposite edges of the square with light touch of water as in above image. Place with an inch of spacing on the prepared tray and bake for 10-12minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot.


Tips :
1. While making these, I experimented with mw to bring the frozen puff squares at a room temperature. I placed two squares from freezer on a plate and mw'd on a high for 10 seconds, one square for 5 seconds. It works fine if you have forgotten to thaw the squares.

2. Divide the filling to 12 portions or just place a tbspn each. If you have some spinach feta filling as left over, have it with chapatis, Chapati roll with spinach-feta : good lunch box idea for kids.


Enjoy these Puffs as Appetizers or even as Snacks.

Off the post goes to Nupur for Blogbites # 3, hope my entry is valid for your lovely event.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Apricot Tea Bread








This recipe comes from ' 200 Cakes n Bakes' by Sara Lewis incidently my first ever 'purchased' book on baking.

The use of tea decoction and using up my apricots made me go for this recipe.







APRICOT TEA BREAD

Preparation time : 25 mins, plus soaking
Baking Time : 1 hour

Ingredients :
100 gms ready-to-eat dried apricots
100 gms sultanas*
100 gms raisins*
150 gms caster sugar
300 ml of strong tea
275 gms self raising flour*
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten

Method :
Put the dried fruits and sugar in a mixing bowl, add hot tea and mix together. Soak for 4 hours or overnight.
Mix the flour, soda, cinnamon together, add to the soaked fruit with beaten egg, combine well.
Spoon into a greased 1 kg loaf tin, its base and 2 long sides lined with wax paper. Spread the surface level, bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven @ 160 C for about 1 hour or until well risen, the top should crack and skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then loosen along the edges and lift out of tin using the lining paper, transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely. Cut into slices and spread with little butter to serve. Store, unbuttered, in an airtight tin for upto 1 week.

* I used tutti-frutti in lace of raisins and sultanas. The bread tasted good when warmed.

Sliced Apricot-Tea Bread


Happy Baking to all my dear friends!