Breads and more!!

Hi! today's post is on some traditional swiss breads that we sampled in the past few days...

This one is called Butterweggli 

It has a hard crust and a soft center...Its very popular and is easily available at all supermarts, for about 80 cents each.

This one here is very popular not only with the Swiss but also the tourists, especially the Germans...
Its called a Laugenbretzel (pretzel)...It comes for Sfr 1.40 each..

This is the most basic preparation...they are available with sesame, poppy, sunflower, pumpkin or caraway seeds, melted cheese and bacon bits are other popular toppings...yum yum!!
Usually and the most common topping is the salt crystals....

St.Gallerbrot ruch (which means made out of wheat)...

St. Galler bread is a bread made of yeast dough with a characteristic round shape. It is one of the most popular breads in the German-speaking Switzerland.

It has a regular, compact crumb and a thick, shiny, crunchy crust. The shaping of the dough is still handmade. The baking time is relatively long with an hour.

Easily available again and popular because it has a longer shelf life...comes for about Sfr 2.60...

And the last one, but not the least... Butterzopf. (Swiss braided bread)..its absolutely yummy and my favourite...

A wonderful treat for a breakfast or brunch it is traditionally made every Sunday in Switzerland.

It is available at all supermarts and a 300g will be for about 3.20 sfr...

This is a recipe I picked up from the web...seems simple...will try my hand at it soon...

Make your own butterzopt as follows …

1. Mix ingredients bellow allow to sit a few minutes until bubbles form.

500 grams milk 
2 eggs
42 grams yeast
30 grams sugar

2. Add the rest of the ingredients below. Knead the dough for about 15 minutes, until the dough is smooth & elastic

1000 grams flour
200 grams butter
20 grams of salt

3. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth & allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

4. Cut the dough in half & roll into 2 long ropes about 24″ long, thicker in the middle than the ends.

5. Braid into a braid, check out the link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OG64AN6R-c

Allow  the braid to rise for about 20 minutes in a warm place, or until it looks a bit puffy.

Then, brush with the following mixture:  2 egg, 10 grams sugar, and a pinch of salt.

Place into a preheated 400-degree F oven and cook for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

All this food blogging makes me hungry :-)

See you later....

Treasures from France :-)

Hello dearies!

I happened to be in France last week and found a cute little treasure shop for kitchen accessories...
This shop is in St.Louis...very close to the French and the swiss border...

Please don't miss the yummy looking cake and pudding dishes....The dishes were made of ceramic, costing about 30 euros or so...

Tuiles coudees amandes

Hello!!

These are freshly baked almond cookies...picked them up at the french supermarket...

They are crisp and heavy on butter, but absolutely authentic..

Delicious!!

The recipe follows:

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar, granulated
2 egg whites
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup almonds, finely ground
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream sugar and butter together. Whisk in egg whites and then remainder of ingredients. Grease well a sheet pan. Dollop about 1 ½ Tsp. of mixture onto pan. Spread thin in round shapes and place into a 375 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes. Keep them as far as possible. When the cookies are light golden brown remove from oven and allow to sit for a few seconds. With a flat pastry spatula remove cookies from pan and allow to cool on waxed paper. Repeat until all dough is gone.

Enjoy!!

Baguette - au sesame

Baguette, with its crunchy, crisp crust and a soft, delectable center, is a traditional white bread served in France, and a staple of French cuisine. French “une baguette” is translated into English as a “stick”, which truly describes the unique form of this most popular French bread – it is shaped as a wand of about 60 cm long, and weighs 500 grammes (about 1 pound)..


We bought this one at the french supermarket in St.Louis...This is made with sesame seeds...

Bubbling Pots, takes off

Hello people!

Let me introduce myself as an amateur food explorer... I am totally inspired by anything to do with food; utensils, vegetables, fruits, dishwashers and even the supermarts...

I aspire to be a chef, maybe not gourmet, but a one whose food may be simple and plain but will be loved by everyone...

With this blog I am going to attempt to explore all my dreams and share them with you, who knows they may all become a reality for me some day...

I will dedicate this blog to my darling mother; with whom I have spent hours as a kid sitting and later leaning on the kitchen slab, taking in all the delicious, mouth watering aromas and lip smacking sizzling sounds. 

Just hope that I do justice to this small diary that I start today and I sincerely hope that all of you enjoy it.

So lets get started:

I have this wonderful opportunity to be in Switzerland for sometime...so will start my explorations here...

These days we a savouring their variety of breads...

This is the one we had today:

"Ruchbrot" : Wheat Bread

It is a wholewheat bread and has a tough crust but soft and a bit granular inside...It is a little salty....and is easily available at all the Supermarts for about 1.75 sfr...

Hope you also get the opportunity to enjoy it someday..:-)