Dimbleby's Breastfeeding Bread #BreadBakers

A flavorful, low gluten bread made with spelt flour, this subtly spiced loaf is divine toasted, which enhances the nuttiness of the pumpkin seeds, pine nuts and sunflower seeds.

First, let me set your mind at ease by saying that I am not going to tell you my lactation stories, although I did nurse both daughters until they were 13 months old. Nor will there be a single photo of anyone’s breastal region, although I firmly back your right to bare yours if you are feeding your baby, even in public. (Oh, the strange and wonderful places that I have bared mine for the cause... but I promised.)

The name of this bread recipe comes from its creator, one Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of the highly successful Leon restaurants and food writer for the Guardian, who wanted to use up a packet of spices given to him to make an infusion for his wife, supposedly to stimulate her milk production, just after she had given birth. He made the hot drink, tasted it and decided that his wife had suffered enough. So he used the rest of the spices to bake bread, which seemed to have the desired effect in a much more appetizing package. He assures his readers, so I duly assure you on his behalf, that it works only on lactating women; the rest of us can enjoy it for the taste.

This month Bread Bakers is hosted by Robin of A Shaggy Dough Story, who challenged us all to make bread using only ancient grains, defined loosely as grains that have remained largely unchanged/un-hybridized over the last several hundred years, which means NO MODERN WHEAT. Some examples include spelt, quinoa, millet, sorghum, amaranth, teff, freekeh, chia seeds, farro, kamut and einkorn. I already had a bag of spelt flour hanging out in my freezer from before I made these super fudgy brownies, so that’s where I started my recipe search. Many thanks to Robin for this most excellent challenge! If you haven't read A Shaggy Dough Story, do head over there. Robin is an over-achiever that grinds her own flour, bakes gorgeous loaves and takes beautiful photographs, but I love her most because of her fabulous sense of humor.

Mr. Dimbleby’s recipe makes three loaves so I have adapted the ingredients for only one deliciously nutty spelt loaf. Check out the original, if you’d like three on hand. He says they freeze well in freezer bags.

Ingredients
Soft butter, for greasing your loaf pan

For the bread dough:
1 teaspoon aniseed
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek
4 1/8 cups or 500g strong wholemeal spelt flour
7g fast-acting dried yeast (I used Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise.)
2 teaspoons sea salt flakes (Use less if yours is fine grain.)
1/4 cup or 50g pine nuts of which: 1 tablespoon set aside
1/4 cup or 50g pumpkin seeds of which: 1 tablespoon set aside
1/4 cup or 50g  sunflower seeds of which: 1 tablespoon set aside
3 tablespoons or 45ml extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups or 350ml warm water

For the egg wash:
1 egg
Splash water

To decorate:
1 tablespoon of each of the pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, set aside from the original amounts for the dough.

Method
Grease your bread pan generously with softened butter and set aside, along with your one tablespoon of each pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds for decorating.

Grind your spices with a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder.

Mix all of your dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer or in a bowl large enough to knead the dough in.

Add in the oil and mix well.

Add in the warm water and mix again.

Knead with your bread hook or by hand in your bowl for just a few minutes, until smooth. Mr. Dimbleby says you can add more flour if necessary but “wetter is better.” I was using my bread hook so I just kept going. The dough was very slack and it would have been very sticky to knead by hand, so do what you need to, if you don’t have a machine.

Scrape the dough out of the bowl and use damp hands to shape it into a loaf and pop it into your buttered loaf pan.

Whisk the egg with a splash of water to create an egg wash.

Cut some slashes into the top of the dough and then brush it with your egg wash.

Sprinkle on the reserved seeds and nuts, tapping them down gently so they stick.

Place in a large plastic bag in warm place and leave to rise until doubled. When my kitchen is cold, as it is this time of year, I like to partially fill one basin of my sink with hot tap water (about halfway up the loaf pan) and place the loaf pan in the water, covering the whole basin with a large cutting board and “sealing” the gaps with multiple dishcloths. Behold!

When your dough is nearly ready, preheat your oven to 450°F or 220°C.

Bake the bread for the first 20 minutes at that temperature, then turn the oven down to 400°F or 200°C for an additional 15-20 minutes. Cover with foil if your toppings look like they might begin to scorch.

Turn out to cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Do you like to bake using ancient grains? Hope we inspire you to try if you haven't before. And give you a few new ideas if you are already a fan. Here's what our creative bakers came up with.

• Ancient 4 Grain Breakfast Bread from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Ancient Grain Carrot Bread from The Schizo Chef
• Barley Flour Donut Muffins from I Camp in my Kitchen
• Blueberry Peach Quinoa Oatmeal Muffins from Magnolia Days
• Buckwheat Savoury Pancakes from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Dimbleby's Breastfeeding Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Eggless Sorghum and Pearl Millet Banana Muffins (Eggless Jowar and Bajra Banana Muffins) from G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Foxtail Millet Bagels from Cooking Club
• Garlic Cheesy Einkorn Crackers from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Injera Bread from Spiceroots
• Little Millet Banana Bread from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Millet Idli from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Multigrain Seeded Loaf from What Smells So Good?
• Quinoa Banana Bread from Wholistic Woman
• Seeded Spelt Boules from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Spelt and Buckwheat Soda Bread from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Spelt and Einkorn Sourdough with Caramelized Onions from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spelt Bread from Hostess at Heart
• Spelt Sweet Potato Paratha from Cook's Hideout
• Teff Crepes with Spinach and Mushrooms from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Yeasted Jowar Naan from Sneha's Recipe

#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. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

.

Piperies Yemistes me Pligouri - Bulgur Stuffed Peppers

These colorful roasted peppers are stuffed with a hearty filling of nutty bulgur wheat and tomatoes, seasoned with onion, parsley and cilantro, perfect as a side dish or main course.

Growing up in a Catholic family, I understood about not eating meat on Fridays, especially during Lent – those 40 days before Easter Sunday – but I never thought of it as fasting. Fasting was when you didn’t eat at all. Perhaps it was just my ignorance but, turns out, in the Orthodox church, it’s considered fasting when you abstain from meat as well and there are certain sects that will eat no meat, fish, dairy or eggs for the whole of Lent. 

How did I learn this? Well, about five years ago a girlfriend had to go into the hospital for treatment, nothing too serious – I think it was gallstones perhaps, but it meant being away from home for several days and leaving her husband and daughter to fend for themselves.

So a group of us decided we should make and deliver meals to help out. I asked if there were any dietary restrictions and she said her husband was fasting. Her husband is Greek Orthodox and, since it was Lent, that meant no meat, no poultry, no fish, no dairy, no eggs! There went my plans for several cheesy casseroles that travel and reheat well. Thank God for the internet! A search for Greek Orthodox Lent recipes led me to several very useful sites, which I shared with the other ladies who were cooking.

Note: If you are actually cooking for a strict Greek Orthodox friend, double check whether they also abstain from olive oil during Lent, and substitute canola or the like.

These stuffed peppers were so good that after I had made a batch for my friend’s family, I made a batch for us. And, still do, every once in a while. When this week’s Sunday Supper theme of Heart Healthy was announced, I knew these would be perfect. Meatless, cheese-less but, oh, so tasty! And I think they are quite pretty as well.

I adapted this recipe and serve them as a main course, with a salad on the side.

Ingredients
6 large bell peppers (Any color will do but the red and yellow are sweeter than the green.)
1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil, plus more for sautéing the onion and drizzling on the peppers before roasting
1 large onion (Mine weighed 7 oz or almost 200g)
1 cup or 210g bulgur wheat
1 can (14.5 oz or 400g) tomatoes (crushed or chopped)
1 teaspoon of sea salt or to taste
1 vegetable stock cube
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
Small bunch fresh parsley
Large bunch fresh cilantro
Optional: 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Method
Cut the caps off the top of the peppers and remove the seeds and any lighter colored fibers from inside. Set the caps aside for later.

The original recipe says to put them in a tight-fitting baking pan and to add crunched up parchment paper to fill any gaps but I like to use foil instead. Wedge them tightly together so they stand upright.

Peel and quarter your onion and put it in a food processor with the 1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil. Process until very finely minced or pureed. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can grate the onion for almost the same effect.)

In a large skillet, add a drizzle of olive oil and sauté the onion for a minute or two.

Add in the bulgur wheat and stir well to coat it with oil and onions.

Stir in the canned tomatoes along with the salt, vegetable cube, black pepper and 1 1/4 cups or 300ml water.

Bring to boil over a medium heat then turn the fire down to simmer and cover the pan loosely with a lid.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and chop your parsley and cilantro roughly.

Cook the bulgur for about 10 minutes and then taste to see if it needs more salt. I don’t usually have to add more salt, but I do add some crushed red pepper for a little spice.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped parsley and cilantro. Allow to cool for about five minutes.

Fill your peppers with the stuffing and top with the reserved pepper caps. If you have a little stuffing left over, consider that the cook’s treat and eat it straight from the pan with a spoon. Delicious!

Drizzle on a little olive oil and roast the stuffed peppers in your preheated oven for about one hour or until the peppers are softened enough for your liking. Check part way through and cover the tops with foil if they are browning too much.

The original recipe said to allow the peppers to cool and serve them at room temperature but we prefer them warm.

Enjoy!

Please join my Sunday Supper group and today’s hosts, Lori from Foxes Love Lemons and Ethel from eating in instead, as we celebrate National Heart Month with loads of delicious heart healthy recipes!

Better for you breakfasts:

• Apple Pie Oatmeal by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Scones by Brunch with Joy
• Create-Your-Own Overnight Oatmeal by Rhubarb and Honey
• Orange, Mango, Lime & Ginger Smoothie by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Pear Bran Muffins by Magnolia Days
• Stovetop Fruit & Honey Granola by What Smells So Good?

Jump start your health with these appetizers and snacks:

• Almond Crusted Chicken Nuggets by Momma's Meals
• Chipotle Black Bean Dip by Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
• Lemon Aioli with Spring Vegetables by Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Mala Baked Tofu Bites by Palatable Pastime
• Parmesan Pistachio Kale Chips by The Texan New Yorker

Soups that'll win your heart:

• Asian Soba Noodle Broth Bowl by Hip Foodie Mom
• Kale, Spinach, and Bean Soup by Ruffles & Truffles
• Mushroom Quinoa Soup by Pies and Plots
• Quinoa Chickpea Soup with Roasted Garlic & Veggies by Sue's Nutrition Buzz
• Turkey and Black-Eyed Peas Soup by Cindy's Recipes and Writings

Veggies, Sides, & Salads your heart will thank you for:

• Collard Greens with Cumin and Paprika by Nik Snacks
• Salmon Caesar Salad by Casa de Crews
• Kale Roasted Beet Salad with Honey Balsamic Dressing by Noshing with the Nolands
• Lightened-Up Creamed Spinach au Gratin by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Roasted Teriyaki Green Beans and Mushrooms by NeighborFood
• Salmon Salad Niçoise by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Seasoned Spinach & Bok Choy by Nosh My Way
• Spinach Berry Salad by Country Girl in the Village
• Sweet & Smokey Cauliflower Salad by Take a Bite Out of Boca
• Winter Citrus Salad with Avocado-Basil Dressing by Foxes Love Lemons

Healthy is the center of attention in these main courses:

• Baked Eggplant Parmesan by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Celeriac Noodles with Mushroom Ragu by The Joyful Foodie
• Gluten Free Roasted Chicken and Kale by Gluten Free Crumbley
• Heart Healthy Salmon Bento by The Ninja Baker
• Lemony Grilled Chicken by Peaceful Cooking
• Moroccan Salmon Tagine by Curious Cuisiniere
• Olive Oil-Poached Salmon with Pickled Cherry Salsa by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• One Pot Mexican Quinoa by Having Fun Saving
• Oven Baked Tilapia Tacos by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Piperies Yemistes me Pligouri - Bulgur Stuffed Peppers by Food Lust People Love
• Salmon with Mango Salsa by Cooking Chat
• Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Quinoa Bake by Food Done Light
• Vegetable and Ginger Congee by eating in instead
• Vegetarian Cuban-Style Black Beans & Rice by MealDiva
• White Bean, Corn, Tomato and Rice Skillet by Family Foodie

Staying healthy doesn't mean giving up desserts!

• Baked Figs with Vanilla and Honey by Happy Baking Days
• Caramelized Pear Tart by PancakeWarriors
• Cherry-Blueberry Trifles by The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch

We heart wine.

• Wine Pairing Recommendations for Heart Healthy #SundaySupper by ENOFYLZ Wine Blog

Pin these Bulgur Stuffed Peppers! 

Spicy Loli - Breakfast Flatbread #BreadBakers

Spicy and savory, flakey and rich, loli is a traditional breakfast in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It's tasty, quick to make and goes perfectly with a cup of hot sweet tea.

More akin to shortcrust than more traditional roti where gluten is developed by kneading, loli dough is made quickly, adding fat to the well-spiced flour, then just enough hot water to make it come together.

Our host for Bread Bakers, Anshie from SpiceRoots challenged us this month to share griddle breads and just with that one word, griddle, my head began to spin. A few years ago, I was reading a great book on bread, Going with the Grain - A Wandering Bread Lover Takes a Bite Out of Life by Susan Seligson, (<Amazon affiliate link) and I could only nod in agreement as the author discussed all the ancient ways that bread making sustains civilizations, whether cooked over hot coals in the desert or the communal brick ovens of northern Africa and Europe, both centuries ago and now. Every indigenous community seems to have its own flat or griddle bread, some more than one. If you are a fan of food memoirs and bread, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

A quick Google search revealed that Ms. Seligson is indeed correct about the myriad breads, especially griddle and flatbreads since they are the easiest to make at home or in rudimentary kitchens without proper ovens, even outdoors. I was intrigued by loli, sometimes called koki, because it is savory and considered a breakfast bread in its native Sindh. I’m all about a savory breakfast. Another quick search brought me to this recipe on The Odd Pantry, which I’ve adapted to share here.

Thanks to our host, Anshie, for this excellent challenge and also for her advice on loli, specifically 1. make sure the chapatti atta says 100 percent on it and 2. do use ghee; it’s not the same with just oil.

This recipe is quick, easy and makes only two side plate sized flatbreads, perfect for your breakfast any day.

Ingredients
1/2 small purple onion

1 spicy red chili pepper
Good handful cilantro leaves
3/4 cup or 90g chapatti atta (100%) or whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter, plus extra for spreading on the loli while cooking
2-3 tablespoons hot water

Method 
Finely chop your onion and mince your chili pepper. Chop the cilantro.

Add the seasonings to the flour in a large mixing bowl, along with the salt.

Mix well making sure to separate the bits of onion and pepper, coating them with flour. Add in the two tablespoons of ghee.

Use a fork or your fingers to mix it into the flour, rather like you are making piecrust, until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

Add in two tablespoons of hot water and mix again till it just starts hanging together. Add a little more hot water, if necessary, if it’s still too dry to form a ball.

Form the dough – no kneading, remember – into two balls.

Roll or press them out with your hands, one at a time, into rough circles. I found that mine stayed together better on the griddle if I pushed in on the sides after pressing the dough out, to sort of even out the edges. Tiny bits tried to fall off the first one as I turned, but the second loli was perfect.

Very lightly score the dough circles with a sharp knife.

Transfer the first dough circle onto your hot griddle and cook it for one minute. I put it scored side down on the griddle, to help it cook through.

Carefully turn it over with a big spatula and spread the top with some ghee. Cook for a minute on that side.

Turn it over once more and spread a little ghee on the other side. Cook for another 30 seconds to one minute or until it’s golden on both sides. You can turn it again, if you need to.

Repeat the same steps with the second dough ball. You now have two loli flatbreads to enjoy with a cup of hot sweet tea, which is their traditional accompaniment in a Sindhi breakfast.

Enjoy!

Are you a fan of griddle breads? Check out all the other regional specialties the Bread Bakers have for you today!

• Amaranth (Rajgira) Paratha from Herbivore Cucina
• Cheese and Potato Gözleme from Cook's Hideout
• Corn Pancakes from Magnolia Days
• Cornmeal Griddle Cakes from Noshing With The Nolands
• English Muffins from La cocina de Aisha
• Fruity Hemp Seed Pancakes from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Griddle Scones from Hostess At Heart
• Homemade Corn Tortillas from Kylee Cooks
• Lachha Paratha - Indian Layered Flatbread from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Masala Poli - Spicy Potato Masala Stuffed Poli from I Camp in my Kitchen
• Masala Roti from Sneha's Recipe
• Paneer Kulchas - Griddle Fried Cottage Cheese Flatbread from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Paruppu Poorana Poli from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Peanut Butter and Apple Griddle Cakes from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Phool Makhana Parathas (Puffed Lotus Seeds Parathas) from Seduce Your Tastebuds
• Saffron Unleavened Bread from Kidsandchic
• Satpadi - Spiced Griddle Bread from Spiceroots
• Scallion Pancakes from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Sourdough English Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spicy Loli - Breakfast Flatbread from Food Lust People Love
• Spinach and Feta Gözleme from Spill the Spices
• Stacked Apple Arepas from The Schizo Chef
• Staffordshire Oatcakes with a Bacon & Cheese Filling from Ruchik Randhap
• Stove-Top Muffins (Diphaphata) from Wholistic Woman
• Swedish Polar Bread from G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Vitumbua (Coconut Rice Pancake Balls) from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Welsh Cakes from Passion Kneaded
• Yeast Raised Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pancakes from Pastry Chef Online

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

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

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send me an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

.

Cheddar Mielie Bread with Sun-Dried Tomatoes #BreadBakers

Celebrate the bounty of summer with sweet corn and sun-dried tomatoes in a cheddar loaf with a hit of spicy chilies. This rich bread is fabulous toasted until crunchy, bringing out its extra cheesiness. 

You’ve heard me wax lyrical about summer cherries when we were living in France and how they are my favorite treat when in the States each summer, but I’ve been holding out on you about my love affair with sweet corn, the cobs of early summer, their tender pale yellow kernels bursting with milk and sugar, cooked ever so briefly and delicious just as is. They don't even need butter or salt. I could eat my not inconsiderable weight in those as well.

As I searched online for inspiration for this month’s BreadBakers challenge to use summer’s bounty in bread, I was looking for something that would celebrate my love of sweet corn. But I didn’t want cornbread. I wanted corn bread, that is to say, bread with corn, if you know what I mean. It was quite a challenge to make The Google separate the two.

Corn. Maize. Maíz. Jagung. Maïs. Milho. These I knew from living in various countries but mielie, pronounced mealy, was new to me. (Even better: Suikermielies which means sweet corn, or literally, sugar corn.). I kept coming across recipes for mielie bread or mealy bread, both of which intrigued me. The first because I was unfamiliar with the Afrikaans word for corn and the second because my immediate thought was, Who the heck wants to bake mealy bread? It didn’t sound like a nice thing. Mealy is not a desirable quality. It also put me in mind of mealy bugs. Shudder. Turns out that mielie bread and mealy bread are one and the same and there is no actual mealiness or bugs involved. Some have cornmeal as well as corn, others are quick bread with corn kernels. Exactly what I was looking for!

My lovely cheesy loaf was adapted from this recipe on Simply Delicious Food.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups or 315g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/3 cup or 75g butter, melted and cooled
1 cup or 240ml buttermilk
 1 large fresh corn on the cob
1 small can (8 .5 oz or 241g) cream style sweet corn
8 oz or 227g cheddar cheese, grated
1 oz or 30g sun-dried tomatoes (store bought or make your own!) http://www.foodlustpeoplelove.com/2014/05/sun-dried-tomatoes-how-to.html
2 hot red chili peppers

Method
Boil your corn on the cob for about 3-5 minutes in lightly salted water. Drain and rinse with cool water. Leave until cool enough to handle and then slice the golden kernels off the cob with a sharp knife.

I cut the cob in two to make it easier to hold.

Meanwhile, pour some boiling water over your sun-dried tomatoes and leave them to rehydrate.

Once plumped, drain the water and squeeze any excess out. If you are using tomatoes packed in oil, dry them off thoroughly between some paper towels.

Chop the tomatoes roughly with a sharp knife and mince your red chilies.

Divide your grated cheddar into two relatively even piles and add a small handful of the chopped tomatoes to one of them. Mix thoroughly.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease a standard size loaf pan.

Meanwhile, sift all of your dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and then add the fresh corn kernels and the tomato-less pile of cheddar to the bowl and mix well to make sure all the kernels are coated with flour. This will help ensure they stay suspended in the bread batter, rather than sinking to the bottom.

In another mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, butter, buttermilk and creamed corn. Add in the minced chilies and the chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Whisk again.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold until just combined.

Pour the thick batter into your greased loaf pan.

Cover the top of the batter with the cheddar/sun-dried tomato mixture and place the pan in your preheated oven.

Bake for 55-65 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean. If the loaf is browning too fast, cover the top with aluminum foil.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool down for 10 minutes before removing the loaf from the bread pan.

Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing to serve.

Enjoy!

Have you ever baked bread with corn that wasn’t cornbread? What’s your favorite summer fruit or vegetable? Here to encourage you to bake some bread with the bounty of summer is our talented host Pavani of Cook's Hideout and the rest of my Bread Bakers group.

• Almond and Carrot Biscuits from Basic N Delicious
• Cheddar Mielie Bread with Sun-Dried Tomatoes from Food Lust People Love
• Cherry Bread Pudding from Bakers and Best
• Eggless Rosemary Garlic Dinner Rolls from Spill the Spices
• Garden Herb Focaccia from My Catholic Kitchen
• Herb and Cheese Biscuits from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Herb and Cheese Grissini from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Herbed Butterflaps from Sneha's Recipe
• Herbs, Spinach and Cheese Bourekas from Cooking Club
• Jalapeño Summer Squash Quick Bread from Magnolia Days
• Mango Kolache from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Peach & Blueberry Meringue Pull Apart Bread from Passion Kneaded
• Peach Pull-Apart Bread from Recipes, Food and Cooking
• Peaches and Cream Bread from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Pizza Cipolla - Onion Pizza from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Rosemary and Garlic Fougasse from Spice Roots
• Rosemary Breadsticks from A Baker's House
• Spinach Semolina Bread from The Schizo Chef
• Studded Zucchini Yeast Bread from What Smells So Good?
• Sundried Tomato Focaccia with Sauteed Summer Veggies & Garden Salad from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Tomato, Onion, Parmesan Focaccia from Noshing With The Nolands
• Walnut Oat Crumble Courgette Bread from Baking in Pyjamas
• Wholewheat Onion, Spinach & Red Pepper Bread from Hostess At Heart
• Wholewheat Zucchini Bread from Cook's Hideout
• Zucchini Oatmeal Bread from Cali's Cuisine
• Zucchini/Jalapeño/Cheese Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme.

Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send me an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

.

Irish Lamb Stew

Lamb shoulder is one of the tougher cuts so it is perfect for stewing, becoming melt-in-your-mouth tender as it simmers, creating its own rich gravy flavored by thyme, onion and garlic. Add in some Irish whiskey and lemon juice to brighten the whole pot. 

This week my Sunday Supper group is throwing a Spring Fling to celebrate spring recipes and my thoughts went immediately to lamb. It is the meat of choice in many cultures and countries for spring, as the weather starts to warm and the lambing begins.

We eat a lot of lamb at our house, whatever the season. It’s funny because in my growing up home, we never ate lamb. My grandmother thought it was too strong in flavor and she passed that prejudice on to my mother. It wasn’t until I started dating my British husband, that I discovered the delight of lamb and embraced the baaaah, as we used bleat when discussing lamb. Mom also didn’t like goat cheese for the longest time because she said she could taste the goat. My mother is a most adventurous eater, as I’ve written about here, so I am pleased to say that she got past her own childhood embargoes and will now eat both goat cheese and lamb chops. I am still working on her for leg of lamb or shoulder.

This stew starts with browning the lamb shoulder then adding onions, garlic and celery, along with Irish whiskey and lemon juice to the sticky pan. Then a long slow simmer makes sure that the meat is falling off the bones. When the nights are cold, as they still are in the frozen north of the US - never mind that we have passed the first official day of spring and it’s still SNOWING as I type this in Providence, Rhode Island - this dish will fill the kitchen with fragrant aromas and warm you, body and soul.

Ingredients
2.25 kg or almost 3 1/2 lb lamb shoulder, cut in thick slices
Flakey sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 large onion
2-3 stalks celery
3 cloves garlic
Handful sprigs fresh thyme plus more for garnishing before serving, if desired
1/4 cup or 60ml Irish whiskey
2 tablespoons or 30ml fresh lemon juice
3 medium sized potatoes or more to stretch your lamb to feed more people
1-2 medium sized carrots or more to stretch your lamb to feed more people

Method
Season your lamb shoulder on both sides with a good sprinkling of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Dice your onion, celery and garlic.

Pan-fry the lamb in a little olive oil, just a few pieces at a time, so you don’t crowd the pan and they can brown well.

Remove them to a plate and continuing pan-frying until all the lamb is well browned on both sides.

Add the onions, celery and garlic to the pan and give it a good stir.

Cook for a few minutes over a medium flame and then add in the whiskey and the lemon juice. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to make sure all the sticky bits on the pan are loosened.

Add the lamb back to the pan, along with any meat juices that have accumulated on the plate.

Toss in a few sprigs of thyme and cover the pot with a tight fitting lid.

Simmer, covered for at least an hour, but, really, you could leave it for two, checking the liquid level occasionally and adding in a little water if it looks like the stew is going dry.

Meanwhile, peel your potatoes and carrots and cut them into chunks. Keep them in a bowl of cool water until you are ready to add them to the pan.

When the lamb is tender, drain the potatoes and carrots and add them to the pan. Give the whole thing a good stir to coat the potatoes and carrot with the pan juices. Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper and add some water to almost cover the meat, if more liquid is needed.

Cover your pot again and simmer another hour or so. Check the salt and pepper and add more if necessary. Garnish with a few more sprigs of thyme, if desired.

I always serve my lamb stew over white rice because I may not have been raised on lamb but rice and gravy was a childhood staple. In this, my grandmother would have been in complete agreement. Nothing better for a still chilly spring Sunday Supper than rice and a rich gravy.

I must confess that I also chose to share this recipe because lamb stew is one of my husband's favorite dishes. It's our 29th wedding anniversary today and although I am in Providence making new memories with our daughters, it is never far from my mind that I owe all of this to him. All of it.

Enjoy!

Are you ready for spring? I’ve got plenty of recipe inspiration for you today, along with our fabulous hosts, Valerie from Lifestyle Food Artistry and D.B. from Crazy Foodie Stunts and the Supper Sunday crew.

Beverages

• Easter Egg Smoothie by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Home-made Limoncello by Manu's Menu
• Meyer Lemon Rosemary Martini by The Redhead Baker

Appetizers

• Asparagus and Roasted Garlic Hummus by Palatable Pastime
• Baked Lemon and Goat Cheese Dip by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Cauliflower Salad by Wallflour Girl
• Green Asparagus Soup with Seared Scallops by An Appealing Plan
• Panzanella Primavera by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Salmon Berry and Almond Salad with Lemon Honey Dressing by Family Foodie
• Skillet Spinach Artichoke Dip by Life Tastes Good

Sides

• Asparagus Gribiche by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Early Peas with Pearl Onions in Cream by Lifestyle Food Artistry
• Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Mustard Vinaigrette by Food Done Light
• Sauteed Artichokes & Potatoes by Carrie's Experimental Kitchen
• Spring Green Rice by Magnolia Days

Entreés

• Artichoke Pesto Pasta by PancakeWarriors
• Crispy Honey Chicken Spring Salad by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Early Spring Risotto by Cooking Chat
• Honey Lemon Shrimp by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Irish Lamb Stew by Food Lust People Love
• Perfect Scrambled Eggs with Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Chives by Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
• Quiche Florentine by Curious Cuisiniere
• Roasted Lamb Chops, Fontina Cheese Polenta with Asparagus and Mushrooms by Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Root Vegetable Risotto by Momma's Meals
• Spring Lemon Pasta by MealDiva
• Spring Pea & Chèvre Souffle by FoodieTots
• Spring Vegetable Risotto by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Salmon and Strawberry Spinach Salad with a Kentucky Maple Vinaigrette by Dandelion Greens
• Tilapia with Classic Pesto by Whole Food | Real Families
• Veal Stew with Spring Greens by The Texan New Yorker

Desserts

• Berry Shortcakes by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Blueberry Coconut Macaroons by Pies and Plots
• Blueberry Rhubarb Muffins by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Carrot Cake Cookies by Noshing With The Nolands
• Carrot Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing by Take A Bite Out of Boca
• Gluten Free Healthy Hummingbird Cake by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Lemon Cream Pie with Girl Scouts Lemonade Cookie Crust by Our Good Life
• Lemon Meringue Pie by Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
• Low-Fat Strawberry Muffins by Small Wallet, Big Appetite
• Matcha Strawberry Cake by Brunch with Joy
• Palm Sunday Easter Bread by Love and Confections
• Pretzels, Peanut Butter, and Beer Cake Recipe by Recipe for Perfection
• Sticky Carrot Squares by What Smells So Good?
• Three Berry Coconut Crispies by Simply Healthy Family

.