​These breadsticks are soft, fluffy and so easy to make.

One thing that 2020 brought me is time, more time at home with my family, more time to try new things in the kitchen, things I may have been too busy to try before. Baking bread is a great example of this. I had always wanted to bake bread, but it needs time, so it was on a to do list, but I never quite got around to it.

But now, I love baking bread, I love how easy it is, I love the aroma of fresh bread wafting through the house. I love that when all I need to go to the shops for is to buy bread, I don't bother, I just bake it. I now have a few bread recipes that my family love, and I just make it.

These are called Olive Garden Breadsticks in the recipe that I found, but as I have never tried Olive Garden Breadsticks, I didn't want to use that name. 

Although these are best eaten warm, they do keep really well for the next day.

I have added the option of 1-2 tablespoons sugar, you adjust the sweetness to your liking, I prefer it with one tablespoon, but they are delicious even with two tablespoons.

These are easy to make, a deliciously soft and fluffy, my family love them, hope yours do to.

​Recipe adapted from lilluna.com/

Makes 12 breadsticks

Breadsticks:
1 cup and 2 tablespoons warm water
1 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1-2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons oil
3-3 1/4 cups bread flour

Garlic butter:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoons garlic salt or 1-2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped


In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit 5-10 minutes, or until foamy. Add the salt, oil, and two cups of flour, and mix until combined. Add additional flour, ¼ cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is soft and only slightly sticky to the touch.

Knead the dough until smooth, sprinkling with flour as needed to make the dough manageable. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let rise one hour, or until doubled.

After the dough has risen, punch it down gently and divide it into 12 equal sized balls. Roll each ball out into a 22cm rope, and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Repeat with remaining dough, using two baking sheets. Cover and let rise one hour.

During the last ten minutes of rise time, preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan forced. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and brush with melted butter, then sprinkle with garlic salt. (If using fresh garlic, chop it finely and add it to the butter while it is melting to infuse the garlic flavour into the butter, then brush it on the breadsticks).

Serve warm.

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​This one is one of my daughter's favourites.

I love easy to make cocktails, and this one is really easy. Mix everything together in a jug and serve.

This gin-based cocktail has both fruity and floral notes, it's a great party cocktail.

​You can use normal apple juice, as I did, it doesn't need to be cloudy apple juice, I might even try it with sparkling apple juice.

If you find it sweet you can make it with a little less apple juice and add some mineral water instead. The mineral water also makes it more sparkling, which I like.

​Recipe adapted from www.bbcgoodfood.com/ 

Serves 8

250ml gin
200ml elderflower cordial
1 litre cloudy apple juice or normal apple juice
​Mineral water, to taste (optional)

Apple slices and ice, to serve
​
In a jug, mix gin with cordial.

When ready to serve, divide the mixture between 8 glasses, top up with apple juice (and mineral water, if using), apple slices and ice.

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The 14th country in our Eating Around the World Adventure is Benin.

A very important part of any trip around the world for me is discovering new foods and people, and getting a glimpse of local traditions. My family discuss the country, what they eat, how they eat. Who their neighbours are, where is the country, what continent. It's a great way to discover the world, even though we don't really go there.

I always find it interesting trying food from countries I know nothing about. I love researching recipes, trying to find something that the people in that country eat.

In Benin they have largely a vegetable diet as meat is quite expensive. Of the meats, chicken and fish is cooked mostly there, however they do also eat beef, pork and goat. They tend to serve there food with either a peanut or tomato based sauce.

The food I have tried has been delicious and my family have loved our visit to Benin.
​

This is what I made:

​Spicy Peanut Sauce
​Beninese Peanut Soup
​Moyo
Yovo Doko
​

Spicy Peanut Sauce: This spicy peanut sauce is so easy to make and is delicious. It can be served over meat, rice, sweet potatoes or other vegetables. Before serving, I drizzled some of the peanut sauce over the chicken and sweet potato I served it with, then put the remainder in a bowl for my family to drizzle over the rice and bok choy that I cooked to accompany this dish.

Here is how I made it:

1 large brown onion, roughly chopped
1/2-1 Habanero chilli, to taste
2 beef stocks cubes
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 cups water
1 cup peanut butter 

Blend onion and habanero pepper together in a food processor until smooth. 
In a frying pan over medium heat, add oil, the onion and chilli, tomato paste, salt, and stock cubes. Fry for about 5 minutes. 
Add peanut butter and water to the pan. Mix to combine. 
Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, add more water 1/4 cup at a time, if your mixture is too thick. The oils in the peanut butter split, it will come back together with constant stirring.
Serve with pan fried or barbecued meat, roast vegetables, rice, or potatoes.
Enjoy!
​

Beninese Peanut Soup: If I am going to go on this adventure I am going to try dishes I would not consider cooking otherwise. This soup is something I would never have considered cooking if it wasn't for our visit to Benin. This was delicious, the flavours were amazing, but the discussion from my family at the table was this is not a soup. Now in Benin this is a soup, it is filling, flavourful, and if you don't have meat, you need a hearty soup that will fill you up. But for my family, they call this a delicious satay sauce that would be amazing with meat or fish. Now this made a large quantity so we all had soup the first night and with the leftovers the next day I did use it as a satay sauce with skewers I made of fish, prawns, beef and chicken, and my family were right it was delicious. But here I post it as a soup, but it really can be used as a delicious satay sauce.

Here is how I made it:

2 cups vegetable stock
2 x 270g cans coconut milk
1 small brown onion, diced
4 shallots, diced
1 stick celery, diced
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large jalapeño, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon powdered turmeric
1 sweet potato, diced, you need around 2 cups of it
1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
½ tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon Maggi seasoning
1 ½ tablespoons Berbere spice mix
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander

Fresh coriander leaves, chopped, for garnishing

Place the vegetable stock in a 3-4 litre saucepan. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the peanut butter and coriander. Place over medium-high heat, bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove about 1 cup of the liquid and place it into a small bowl. Add the peanut butter and stir until creamy. Return the mixture to the pot, stir well, add coriander and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Use a stick blender and purée the soup to a smooth consistency. Garnish with chopped coriander before serving.
Enjoy!

And here it is, the same soup served as a satay sauce, which was absolutely delicious with chicken, prawn, fish and beef. Not traditional, but oh so delicious. I served it with Asian greens.

Moyo: This is a salad popular in Benin, similar to a south american salsa really, tastes absolutely delicious and goes with so many dishes. Everything is finely diced and it just freshens up a meal.

Here is how I made it: 

​3 ripe tomatoes, diced
1/2 white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 green capsicum, diced
1 chilli, optional, I used a jalapeno, finely diced
3 green onions, sliced
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
4 tablespoons sunflower oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
​

Try to dice everything in similar sizes so it looks pretty. In this recipe you do not throw out the tomato pulp, the whole tomato goes into the salad. 

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, season, adjust vinegar, if needed, to taste, refrigerate for an hour, before serving.​
​

Yovo Doko: Yovo doko is typical Beninese street food they are fritters that are traditionally topped with powdered sugar. They can be deep fried for round fritters or fried in a little oil for flatter fritters.
Attempt 1: Now we didn't love these, I found them dense and they took way too long to fry them. Now maybe I should have deep fried them, but the recipe I used, didn't. These were okay, but not something I would make again. 

Yovo Doko Attempt 2: For some reason after yesterdays failed attempt, I wanted to try these again. I found another recipe, nearly identical to the first recipe, the only difference was these used 20g less sugar and the main difference was after you mix the dough, you set it aside for 2 hours before frying. What a difference, the mixture puffed up, so when I went to fry them the puffed up into little light and airy doughnut like balls. These I deep fried. This is like Croatian fritule, which I had all the time growing up. These I would definitely make again and again. 

Here is how I made them:

500g plain flour
1 x 7g packet of dry yeast
150g sugar​
1 x 10g sachet of vanilla sugar
1 pinch of salt
2 teaspoons (10ml) vegetable oil
​500ml of lukewarm water

Vegetable oil, extra, for deep frying

Put flour, yeast, sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, oil and water in a bowl. Mix with a fork or whisk until the mixture is well combined.
Cover with cling film and a tea towel, and let stand at least 2 hours.
Heat oil over medium heat in a medium sized saucepan or deep frying pan. You need at least 4cm of oil.
Take 2 teaspoons, using one spoon take a dollop of batter, and using the second spoon carefully push the batter into oil, being careful not to overcrowd. Fry until golden on the bottom. Turn over once to brown both sides. The first batch will be your tester to see if your heat setting is right to ensure you get the right oil temperature. If they burn before they cook through, turn down the heat, if they take too long to cook, increase the heat, they should only take 2-3 minutes, depending on their size. 
Remove the fritters with a slotted spoon onto layers of paper towels to drain. Repeat until batter is finished. Sprinkle fritters with powdered sugar while still hot.
Enjoy!
​

​Now to add another sticker to my world map.

Next Stop Greenland.

​Nutella buns, oh sweet nutella buns. 

These are delicious. 

I already have a cinnamon bun recipe on my blog, so when I came across this nutella version, I had to try it. The dough is amazing, it is soft and delicious with the nutella filling. The mascarpone frosting was perfect.

My kids loved these. They are delicious warm, straight out of the oven, they are delicious at room temperature. But can I say I also love them straight out of the fridge, when they are cold.

This is a recipe worth trying, we loved them, hope you do to.

​Recipe adapted from kristinakuzmic.com/

Makes 12 buns

For the dough:
2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup warm milk
4 ½ cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, slightly beaten

For the filling:
approximately 1 to 1 ½ cups Nutella
​
For the frosting:
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, softened
3 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar


In a large bowl combine yeast, 2 tablespoons sugar, and warm milk. Let sit for about 5 minutes.

Add the rest of the dough ingredients and mix, using a stand mixer with a hook attachment (if you don’t have a stand mixer, combine the dough with your hands). Knead for a few minutes until smooth.

Spray a large bowl with cooking spray, place the dough inside, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rest for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Place the dough on a floured surface and roll out into a large rectangle (about 40 x 53cm).

Scoop Nutella into a microwave safe bowl, and heat in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Spread the Nutella over the dough. Roll the dough into a large log, and cut into 12 segments.

Place the rolls inside the pan, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about 30 minutes (or overnight in the refrigerator).

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 205C/185C.

Make the frosting. Using an electric mixer, beat the frosting ingredients until well incorporated. Set aside.

Bake the rolls for about 15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Do not over-bake. Immediately spread the frosting on the rolls. Serve warm.

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​I must confess to telling a lie. I already have a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies on my blog and there I stated I would never look for another recipe, as it was perfect. But as I have just bought another cookbook, I came across this recipe. while flicking through my new book. Now I did not make these because I needed a better recipe, these ones I simply made because I like Joanna Gaines. 

My kids loved them, I loved them. Are they better than the ones I already make, no, but they are equally as good. So I felt another cookie recipe can never hurt, can you really have too many cookie recipes.

These cookies are chunky, chocolatey and delicious. They have a softness in the centre, but an edge that is crisp.

The cookies will keep in an airtight container for 5 days.

Baked cookies can be frozen, defrost for 2-3 hours at room temperature before eating.

Unbaked cookies can be scooped onto baking paper lined trays as if you were going to bake them, freeze until solid. Then you can place them in resealable bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake directly from the freezer, no need to thaw, just add 2-3 minutes to your baking time. You can also keep them refrigerated unbaked for up to 3 days and bake as needed.

Now I have two perfect cookie recipes. I will never look for another cookie recipe again, or will I.

​Recipe adapted from Joanna Gaines' cookbook Magnolia Table

Makes about 15-20 cookies

2½ cups plain flour
1 heaped teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
114g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips


Position a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat the oven to 175C/155C fan forced. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer), beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until blended. Add the vanilla and beat until blended.

Turn the mixer off and add the flour mixture to the bowl. Mix on medium just until the flour is mixed in, then turn the mixer to high speed for a few seconds to pull the dough together; it will be chunky.

Add the chocolate chips and beat on high for about 5 seconds to thoroughly and quickly mix in the chips.

Drop by large spoonfuls on the lined baking sheet; don't flatten them. Bake until lightly browned on top, 10 to 11 minutes. Cool on the pan on a rack for 1 minute, then transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Store the cookies in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days.​

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​When I first got married my mother taught me how to make this cuttlefish stew. My family absolutely love it. This is her recipe. It amazes me how well she cooked, as she taught herself how to cook, she made up recipes and everything she made was brilliant.

Since I got this recipe from my mother my husband has taken over making it from me. Every time we have cuttlefish he now takes charge in the kitchen. He has added anchovies and chilli to my mum's recipe and improved the recipe, even though it was already brilliant. He loves this recipe.

On Christmas Day I had prepared to serve stuffed capsicums for lunch, but at the last minute I was expecting two more guests. Now the more the merrier I say, but I wouldn't have enough capsicums, so I had to think what else I would cook. My husbands friend Alex catches cuttlefish for us, so I knew I had some in the freezer, so I quickly defrosted a massive cuttlefish (thank you Alex), all the other ingredients I had at home, so my husband got cooking.

It was spectacular, my guests could not get enough of it. They ate with such joy it was lovely (my husband loved that they loved it). Anyway Christmas lunch was a hit, I actually gave all the leftovers for my guest to take home, as we will make this again for ourselves.

If you love cuttlefish, give this a go, it really is lovely.

​Serves 8-10

1 1/2 - 2kg cuttlefish
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 long red chilli, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green capsicum, diced
1 x 45g tin anchovy fillets
2 medium potatoes, diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon vegeta
Salt and pepper, to taste
​

Clean the cuttlefish: Cut the body cavity on the soft side, open out, remove and discard cuttlebone and gut. Remove ink sac, discard. Cut of tentacles from the head, just below the eyes, remove beak and eyes. Rinse under cold water.
​

 Place in a large saucepan, top with cold water, bring it to the boil over high heat. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove cuttlefish from the saucepan, allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, slice into small bite sized pieces. Remove any skin that feels thick and tough (usually big cuttlefish need thick skin removed).

In a saucepan put the oil, onion, chilli and capsicum and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, anchovies and oil from the anchovies, continue sautéing for a further 2 minutes. Add the diced cuttlefish, sauté for 10 minutes.

Add the potatoes, stir through, add the tomato paste, stir well to incorporate, sauté for 3 minutes.

Add enough water to just cover the cuttlefish. Add vegeta and pepper. Do not salt at this stage, it may not need any.

Simmer for approximately 2 hours or until the sauce has thickened. If it is too thick, add a bit more water during the cooking time.

Taste for seasoning. Serve on a bed of rice, cous cous or my favourite polenta.

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​I love pie, so with peaches in season, I had to make this peach pie.

This pie is delicious, my kids absolutely loved it.

The pie crust is probably my all time favourite pie crust. It is buttery, crisp, crumbly and flaky, it is a great shortcrust pastry, just so good. I like to vary my pie crusts so not every pie tastes the same, and this is an absolutely brilliant one. It is easy to make, all in a food processor, but if you don't have one, just cut the butter in by hand, using fingertips or use a pastry cutter.

The filling was lovely, the peaches still had texture, but they were baked perfectly. 

Only add enough water into the pastry dough to get it to just stick together. When pressed between your fingers it should stick together, not feel dry.

This recipe uses US measuring cups and spoons, they are available everywhere these days. But if you don't have them US 1 cup = 236ml and US 1 tablespoon = 15ml. But in all honesty my favourite way to measure things is in grams or millilitres, that leaves no room for error, so buy a set of scales and this is the best way to bake. 

This is a perfect pie to make when peaches are in season and you have a few hours to spend baking with or for you family and friends.​

Pie dough recipe adapted from Gesine Bullock-Prado
Pie filling adapted from www.tasteofhome.com/

Makes 1 Pie

240g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt 
1 tablespoon caster sugar 
225g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled in the freezer for 10 minutes 
120ml ice water 
1 teaspoon lemon juice 

Pie filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 1/2 cups sliced peeled peaches
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter

​Vanilla ice cream, to serve


Make the pie dough: In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, pulse together the flour, salt, sugar and butter until the mixture resembles cornmeal with some pea-size pieces of butter remaining.

In a small bowl, stir together the ice water and the lemon juice. Slowly add the liquid to the flour mixture, pulsing, until the dough just comes together. Squeeze a small piece of dough between your thumb and index finger to make sure it holds its shape.
​
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. Gently turn over each piece of dough a few times so that any dry bits are incorporated. Form each piece into a loose disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
​

Make the filling: In a large bowl, combine sugars; add peaches and toss gently. Cover and let stand for 1 hour.
​

Lightly spray with cooking oil a 22cm pie dish.

Between two sheets of baking paper, roll one half of dough to a 3mm thick circle that will cover the base and rim of your pie dish; transfer to your pie dish. Trim even with rim. 

Roll remaining dough to a 3mm thick circle; cut into 3.5cm wide strips. Arrange on a sheet of baking paper in a lattice pattern. Refrigerate, until you finish the filling.
​

Preheat oven to 205C/185C fan forced.

Drain peaches, reserving juice. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt; gradually stir in reserved juice. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in lemon juice and butter. Gently fold in peaches. Pour into crust.
​

Arrange lattice pastry over filling. Trim and seal strips to edge of bottom crust; flute edge. Cover edge loosely with foil. Bake 40 minutes; remove foil. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 10-20 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

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