Nibbles
Breadsticks and Pretzels. Here are recipes with plenty of room to adjust flavourings. I've even eaten Marmite flavoured pretzels in my time (although not home-made). Have also included a couple or so other recipes which might work. If not they certainly will when served with dips.
Sesame Breadsticks: makes about 25 - 30
8 oz (225g) white bread mix
2 tblsp olive oil
about 5 fl.oz (150ml) warm water
about 3 oz (75g) sesame seeds
Put the bread mix into a bowl, add the oil and enough warm water to make a soft dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Roll out to form a large rectangle 17"x 8" (43 x 20cm) and 1/4" (1cm) thick. Cut in half to kake two long strips (17 x 4"), then cut each strip across in 1" (2.5cm) widths. Then roll each of these strips until 10" (25cm) long.
Spread the sesame seeds onto a clean board, lightly brush each strip with oil and roll into the seeds. Place on greased or floured baking sheets and leave in a warm place to rise for 10 minutes. Bake the breadsticks at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for about 15 minutes or until golden and crisp, turning them over halfway through the cooking time. Cool on a wire rack. Serve cold. Store in an airtight container.
Variations: add 1 - 2 tsp dried Italian herb seasoning to the bread mix before adding the oil and water, then shape and bake as before.
Similarly, add Parmesan cheese to the bread mix and continue as above.
Pretzels: makes about 16
14 oz (400g) strong plain white flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
1 1/2tsp easy-blend dried yeast
1/2 oz (15g) butter, melted
4 fl.oz (125ml) warm milk
about 4 fl.oz (125ml) warm water
1 egg, beaten (for glazing)
coarse sea salt, caraway seeds , or sesame seeds
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl then stir in the sugar and yeast. Make a well in the centre and pour in the butter, milk and enough water to make a soft dough.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Shape into a round, then place into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place to double in size.
Return the dough to a lightly floured surface and knock back, the divide into 16 equal portions. Roll each into a long thin rope about 10-12" (25-30cm) long, and bend each into a
horseshoe shape lifting up the ends and crossing them over, then lift up the ends and bring them back over onto the curve of the horseshoe, pressing them in lightly where they meet the curve, to give a knotted effect. Place onto greased or floured baking sheets, cover and leave for about 20 minutes or until just beginning to rise. Brush each with beaten egg, sprinkle with salt, caraway, or sesame seeds (why not some of each?) and bake at 200c, 400F, gas 6 for about 20 minutes or until slightly risen and golden brown. They will be slightly crisp on the outside and soft in the centre. If you wish them crispy throughout, cook them a little longer (testing often) or leave them in the turned out oven until cool.
Tip: when first baking pretzels, keep back a couple of strips (unshaped), cut these in half and test one at the finish of the given cooking time, if not crisp enough, carry on cooking and then test a further one, if still not satisfied, continue until the pretzel has crisped to your satisfaction.
Really crispy, dried out pretzels (like the ones sold) can be stored in an airtight tin. The softer ones should be made and eaten on the day.
Parmesan Sesame Swizzle Sticks: makes about 3 dozen
4 oz (115g) self-raising white flour
pinch salt
1 tsp mustard powder
4 oz (115g) self-raising wholemeal flour
1 1/2oz (40g) butter, diced
2 oz (50g) finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
about 4 oz (100ml) milk
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Into a bowl sift together the white flour, salt and mustard powder. Stir in the wholemeal flour. Rub the butter lightly into the flours. Stir in the Parmesan, add the egg and just enough of the milk to form a soft dough (keep back spare milk for brushing).
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently. Roll out to form a 9" (23cm) square, trimming to give straight edges. Lightly brush with milk and sprinkle over the sesame seeds as evenly as possible.
Cut the dough in half, then cut each half crossways into strips 1/2" (1cm) wide. Twist each strip and lay onto greased baking sheets - leaving a gap between each one. Press the ends of each stick firmly onto the baking sheet to help keep their shape when baking.
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 180C, 350F, gas 4 or until lightly browned and crisp. Cool on a wire rack. Can be served warm or cold. Store in an airtight container.
Variations: Use other finely grated hard cheeses instead of Parmesan, use poppy seeds instead of sesame seeds.
The following recipe is not of the crispy type, but a good savoury nibble nonetheless. Worth filing away for future use.
Pesto Whirls: makes 20
8 oz (225g) self-raising white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mustard powder
pinch salt, good pinch black pepper
2 oz (50g) butter, diced
1 egg, beaten
3 - 4 tblsp milk
5 tblsp green pesto (bottled or home-made)
3 oz (75g) finely grated Parmesan cheese
extra grated Parmesan/sesame seeds (optional)
Into a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and mustard. Season to taste and rub in the butter until like breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre and add the egg with enough milk to mix into a soft dough. Turn this onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently.
Roll out to a rectangle app. 14"x 10" (35 x 25cm) and spread over the pesto sauce, almost to the edges but not quite. Then sprinkle the cheese evenly over the pesto. From the long side, roll up tightly (like a Swiss Roll) then - using a sharp knife - cut into 5/8" (1.5cm) slices.
Place the whirls on greased baking sheets (if you wish sprinkle with more grated cheese or sesame seeds), leaving space between each, and bake for 12-15 minutes at 200C, 400F, gas 6 or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cold.
This next recipe is intended for using with dips, but I don't see why they shouldn't work on their own. Once prepared they can be frozen, to be baked later. Worth making a few for a family dip, keeping a couple back to store in a tin to be tried later as a crispy nibble. Oh, yes, have included a recipe to make your own pitta bread, just in case.
Crispy Pitta Fingers: (F) serves 10
6 oz (175g) softened butter
3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
handful fresh parsley leaves, chopped
salt and pepper
12 pitta breads
Put the butter in a mini-blender with the garlic and parsley (or use a pestle and mortar) and season to taste. Blitz or pound until smooth. Split each pitta in half, spreading the garlic and herb butter on each of the cut sides (it is at this point they can be covered with clingfilm, frozen, then bagged up to keep for no longer than 2 weeks). If not freezing, cover loosely with clingfilm and chill. Either grill the pitta breads (butter side up) for 3 - 4 minutes, or bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for 6 - 8 minutes until sizzling and crisp. Cut diagonally into fingers and serve (it says immediately) with dips.
Pitta Bread: makes 8
12 oz (350g) strong plain white flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp. easy-blend dried yeast
1 tblsp olive oil
8 fl.oz (225ml) warm water (approx)
Into a bowl sift the flour and the salt, then stir in the sugar and yeast. Make a well in the centre, pour in the oil and enough water to make into a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, then shape into a round, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave until doubled in size.
**Knock back the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 equal portions. Roll out each to form an oval about an eighth to a quarter inch (3 5 mm) thick, and about 6" (15cm) in length. Lay the ovals on a floured clean tea towel, cover and leave to rise at normal room temperature, for about half an hour (could take a little longer in winter).
Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 230C, 460F, gas 8, putting in 3 baking sheets to heat up at the same time. Place the pitta breads on the very hot baking sheets (taking care not to burn yourself), and bake for about 10 minutes or until puffed up and golden.
Serve warm, wrapped in a clean towel, or cool on a wire rack, to be re-heated (if you wish)under a grill when required. To serve, split open and stuff with your favourite filling.
To make using a bread machine: use ingredients as listed but amend the water to 8 fl.oz (225ml), use 1 1/2 tsp salt, and1 tsp of the fast acting yeast. Add ingredients as specified with the machine and use the basic dough (or pizza) setting, then continue from **.
Palmiers can be made by thinly rolling out short-crust (even very thinly rolled puff pastry) into an oblong, spreading with Pesto or even peanut butter (or whatever filling you fancy - could be mincemeat), then rolling up tightly from each long side so that the rolls meet in the middle. Then, starting at one end, cut off fairly thin slices, and lay flat on a baking sheet. Bake at 200C etc. until golden and fairly crisp (timing depends upon how thick you wish them to be).
Sesame Breadsticks: makes about 25 - 30
8 oz (225g) white bread mix
2 tblsp olive oil
about 5 fl.oz (150ml) warm water
about 3 oz (75g) sesame seeds
Put the bread mix into a bowl, add the oil and enough warm water to make a soft dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Roll out to form a large rectangle 17"x 8" (43 x 20cm) and 1/4" (1cm) thick. Cut in half to kake two long strips (17 x 4"), then cut each strip across in 1" (2.5cm) widths. Then roll each of these strips until 10" (25cm) long.
Spread the sesame seeds onto a clean board, lightly brush each strip with oil and roll into the seeds. Place on greased or floured baking sheets and leave in a warm place to rise for 10 minutes. Bake the breadsticks at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for about 15 minutes or until golden and crisp, turning them over halfway through the cooking time. Cool on a wire rack. Serve cold. Store in an airtight container.
Variations: add 1 - 2 tsp dried Italian herb seasoning to the bread mix before adding the oil and water, then shape and bake as before.
Similarly, add Parmesan cheese to the bread mix and continue as above.
Pretzels: makes about 16
14 oz (400g) strong plain white flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
1 1/2tsp easy-blend dried yeast
1/2 oz (15g) butter, melted
4 fl.oz (125ml) warm milk
about 4 fl.oz (125ml) warm water
1 egg, beaten (for glazing)
coarse sea salt, caraway seeds , or sesame seeds
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl then stir in the sugar and yeast. Make a well in the centre and pour in the butter, milk and enough water to make a soft dough.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Shape into a round, then place into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place to double in size.
Return the dough to a lightly floured surface and knock back, the divide into 16 equal portions. Roll each into a long thin rope about 10-12" (25-30cm) long, and bend each into a
horseshoe shape lifting up the ends and crossing them over, then lift up the ends and bring them back over onto the curve of the horseshoe, pressing them in lightly where they meet the curve, to give a knotted effect. Place onto greased or floured baking sheets, cover and leave for about 20 minutes or until just beginning to rise. Brush each with beaten egg, sprinkle with salt, caraway, or sesame seeds (why not some of each?) and bake at 200c, 400F, gas 6 for about 20 minutes or until slightly risen and golden brown. They will be slightly crisp on the outside and soft in the centre. If you wish them crispy throughout, cook them a little longer (testing often) or leave them in the turned out oven until cool.
Tip: when first baking pretzels, keep back a couple of strips (unshaped), cut these in half and test one at the finish of the given cooking time, if not crisp enough, carry on cooking and then test a further one, if still not satisfied, continue until the pretzel has crisped to your satisfaction.
Really crispy, dried out pretzels (like the ones sold) can be stored in an airtight tin. The softer ones should be made and eaten on the day.
Parmesan Sesame Swizzle Sticks: makes about 3 dozen
4 oz (115g) self-raising white flour
pinch salt
1 tsp mustard powder
4 oz (115g) self-raising wholemeal flour
1 1/2oz (40g) butter, diced
2 oz (50g) finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
about 4 oz (100ml) milk
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Into a bowl sift together the white flour, salt and mustard powder. Stir in the wholemeal flour. Rub the butter lightly into the flours. Stir in the Parmesan, add the egg and just enough of the milk to form a soft dough (keep back spare milk for brushing).
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently. Roll out to form a 9" (23cm) square, trimming to give straight edges. Lightly brush with milk and sprinkle over the sesame seeds as evenly as possible.
Cut the dough in half, then cut each half crossways into strips 1/2" (1cm) wide. Twist each strip and lay onto greased baking sheets - leaving a gap between each one. Press the ends of each stick firmly onto the baking sheet to help keep their shape when baking.
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 180C, 350F, gas 4 or until lightly browned and crisp. Cool on a wire rack. Can be served warm or cold. Store in an airtight container.
Variations: Use other finely grated hard cheeses instead of Parmesan, use poppy seeds instead of sesame seeds.
The following recipe is not of the crispy type, but a good savoury nibble nonetheless. Worth filing away for future use.
Pesto Whirls: makes 20
8 oz (225g) self-raising white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mustard powder
pinch salt, good pinch black pepper
2 oz (50g) butter, diced
1 egg, beaten
3 - 4 tblsp milk
5 tblsp green pesto (bottled or home-made)
3 oz (75g) finely grated Parmesan cheese
extra grated Parmesan/sesame seeds (optional)
Into a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and mustard. Season to taste and rub in the butter until like breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre and add the egg with enough milk to mix into a soft dough. Turn this onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently.
Roll out to a rectangle app. 14"x 10" (35 x 25cm) and spread over the pesto sauce, almost to the edges but not quite. Then sprinkle the cheese evenly over the pesto. From the long side, roll up tightly (like a Swiss Roll) then - using a sharp knife - cut into 5/8" (1.5cm) slices.
Place the whirls on greased baking sheets (if you wish sprinkle with more grated cheese or sesame seeds), leaving space between each, and bake for 12-15 minutes at 200C, 400F, gas 6 or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cold.
This next recipe is intended for using with dips, but I don't see why they shouldn't work on their own. Once prepared they can be frozen, to be baked later. Worth making a few for a family dip, keeping a couple back to store in a tin to be tried later as a crispy nibble. Oh, yes, have included a recipe to make your own pitta bread, just in case.
Crispy Pitta Fingers: (F) serves 10
6 oz (175g) softened butter
3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
handful fresh parsley leaves, chopped
salt and pepper
12 pitta breads
Put the butter in a mini-blender with the garlic and parsley (or use a pestle and mortar) and season to taste. Blitz or pound until smooth. Split each pitta in half, spreading the garlic and herb butter on each of the cut sides (it is at this point they can be covered with clingfilm, frozen, then bagged up to keep for no longer than 2 weeks). If not freezing, cover loosely with clingfilm and chill. Either grill the pitta breads (butter side up) for 3 - 4 minutes, or bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for 6 - 8 minutes until sizzling and crisp. Cut diagonally into fingers and serve (it says immediately) with dips.
Pitta Bread: makes 8
12 oz (350g) strong plain white flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp. easy-blend dried yeast
1 tblsp olive oil
8 fl.oz (225ml) warm water (approx)
Into a bowl sift the flour and the salt, then stir in the sugar and yeast. Make a well in the centre, pour in the oil and enough water to make into a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, then shape into a round, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave until doubled in size.
**Knock back the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 equal portions. Roll out each to form an oval about an eighth to a quarter inch (3 5 mm) thick, and about 6" (15cm) in length. Lay the ovals on a floured clean tea towel, cover and leave to rise at normal room temperature, for about half an hour (could take a little longer in winter).
Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 230C, 460F, gas 8, putting in 3 baking sheets to heat up at the same time. Place the pitta breads on the very hot baking sheets (taking care not to burn yourself), and bake for about 10 minutes or until puffed up and golden.
Serve warm, wrapped in a clean towel, or cool on a wire rack, to be re-heated (if you wish)under a grill when required. To serve, split open and stuff with your favourite filling.
To make using a bread machine: use ingredients as listed but amend the water to 8 fl.oz (225ml), use 1 1/2 tsp salt, and1 tsp of the fast acting yeast. Add ingredients as specified with the machine and use the basic dough (or pizza) setting, then continue from **.
Palmiers can be made by thinly rolling out short-crust (even very thinly rolled puff pastry) into an oblong, spreading with Pesto or even peanut butter (or whatever filling you fancy - could be mincemeat), then rolling up tightly from each long side so that the rolls meet in the middle. Then, starting at one end, cut off fairly thin slices, and lay flat on a baking sheet. Bake at 200C etc. until golden and fairly crisp (timing depends upon how thick you wish them to be).
posted by Shirley at 5:31 am
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