bread Archives | Planet Veggie

Review: Diablo Toasted Snack Maker

20th October 2015 3 Comments

Everyone likes toasted sandwiches but no one likes cleaning the toasted sandwich maker afterwards, so Aerolatte Ltd invented the Diablo toasted snack maker. Unlike a traditional sandwich maker, you heat the Diablo on the hob so, as it says on the box – no plugs, no mess, no problem.

When I first opened the box, I thought, ‘blimey, that’s small’ and it is small but, as you can see in the photos, it holds a lot of filling. I had planned to make a baked bean and cheese toastie using normal bread but there was none in the freezer, so I used a tortilla wrap instead. I placed the tortilla wrap on one of the Diablo plates (after heating it up first for a couple of minutes), piled my filling on top, then folded the wrap over to make an envelope. I clipped the handle of the Diablo, trimmed off the edges of the wrap and heated it on the hob for a few minutes, turning it over frequently. Because I’m a der-brain, I scorched the chopping board by placing the hot Diablo on it after pre-heating it. Which isn’t a big deal to me but if you like to keep your chopping board pristine and un-branded, you should probably put the hot Diablo on a trivet or something.

Diablo - no mess — Only a tiny amount leaked out

A crispy pie-like sandwich, with sealed edges, slipped out of the Diablo easily, leaving only a tiny amount behind and no mess on the hob. You can unclip the two parts of the Diablo for easier cleaning – either by hand or in the dishwasher.

A Diablo makes a great little snack and the filling combinations are endless (you just know I’m going to make a pizza one, don’t you?) You’re not even confined to using it on the hob, as it’d be great for camping or used on a woodburner (which I’m going to be doing).

If you’d like more information and to watch a video demonstration, visit the Diablo website. The Diablo is available on Amazon for (at the time of writing) about £13 including delivery.

Aerolatte Ltd sent me the Diablo toasted snack maker to review but all opinions (and toasted sandwiches) are my own.

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Recipe: Olive, Jalapeno, Cheese and Sundried Tomato Bread

13th October 2014 1 Comment

My university friend, Montana, shared on Facebook the other day a photo of the swirly jalapeno, cheese and sundried tomato bread she made. It looked so fab, it inspired me to make my own, although without the swirly bit as my breadmaking technique is to throw the ingredients in the bread machine and press start.

The original recipe, which came from The Bread Machine Book by Marjie Lambert, didn’t have olives but I thought olives would go well and I was right. This bread smelt amazing as it was cooking, tastes absolutely wonderful and is great with home made hummus (if you’ve never been able to make hummus as nice as that found in the supermarket, try this recipe. You’ll never buy hummus again.)

Olive, jalapeno, cheese and sundried tomato bread (makes 1lb loaf)

125ml water
60ml milk
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried basil
25g grated vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese
350g white bread flour
2 tsp yeast
40g sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp chopped jalapenos
6 olives, chopped

Put all ingredients in the order suggested by the bread machine instructions. Set machine for white bread, medium crust. Press start.

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Date Nut Bread

3rd May 2014 No Comments

I did one of those quizzes on Facebook last night. This quiz was ‘What ridiculous food day is your birthday?’ My friend Helen got some weirdy meat thing so I wasn’t feeling too hopeful I’d get anything decent but I was happy when ‘date nut bread’ popped up for my birthday as I thought that sounded suitably vegetarian.

Helen said ‘you should make it’ and I agreed, so today I scouted around the internet looking at a few recipes, then came across one for which I already had all the ingredients. Sorted.

Apparently, the flavour improves after standing for 24 hours but I can’t imagine how it could be any nicer – it’s absolutely blinking delicious. I’m going on a 45 mile charity bike ride tomorrow, and the date nut bread will be coming with me to keep me going (if there’s any left by then).

I’m going to post below how I made it, as I somewhat deviated from the original recipe, as I didn’t have a sieve, so I just stirred the ingredients and hoped I’d got the floury lumps out; I didn’t add the egg and sugar to the dates, alternatively with the sifted ingredients, as I didn’t know what they meant by ‘alternatively’ (yes, I know what ‘alternatively’ means, I just didn’t know what they meant here); I didn’t dredge the nuts in flour, and I forgot to add any salt at all. Also, it said to let it rise, but mine didn’t rise at all, so you could probably skip that bit – unless there’s some scientific explanation to do with the baking powder that means it should sit for a while.

If you want to follow the proper instructions, you can see the original recipe at Food.com.

Date Nut Bread

1 cup dates, pitted and chopped (I used soft dates)
1 cup boiling water
1 tbsp butter (I used Flora)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup nuts, chopped (I used cashews)

Combine the first three ingredients in a bowl, cover and let cool.
Grease a loaf pan.
Beat sugar and egg together and add to the dates.
Add the flour and baking powder and mix thoroughly.
Pour into prepared pan and let rise for 20 minutes.
While batter is rising, preheat oven to 160C.
Bake for 50-60 minutes.
Turn out onto cooling rack to cool.

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Bread Machine Cinnamon Sultana Bread

10th April 2014 No Comments

One of the best things about a bread machine is the timer. Put all the ingredients in the bread machine tin in the evening, set the timer, press start and in the morning, you’ll wake up to a gorgeous aroma instead waking up to the stink of kitty puke.

It’s not very often I get round to doing this, but I did last night and woke up to a loaf of freshly baked cinnamon sultana bread. The recipe is from The Bread Machine Book and that recipe calls for raisins, but I prefer sultanas. The sultanas did get mushed up as my bread machine isn’t a posh one with a dispenser so they went in at the beginning with everything else. And yes, I know you’re not supposed to leave milk and butter in the machine all night but hey ho.

Cinnamon Sultana Bread (makes 450g/1lb loaf)
(Adapted from The Bread Machine Book)

125ml/4 fl oz water
60ml / 2 fl oz milk
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
250g white bread flour
75g wholewheat bread flour
2 tsp yeast
50g sultanas

Put all ingredients in your bread machine in the order suggested by your bread machine instructions. Set for wholewheat bread, medium crust. Press Start. Add the sultanas after the first kneading, or when the machine signals it is time to add fruit.

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Basil, Vegetarian Parmesan and Olive Bread

15th March 2014 No Comments

I should have waited a few hours before making this bread, then I could have put it on the timer to have the smell of fresh cheesy bread throughout the house when I woke up.

But, I didn’t wait. I didn’t even get to eat it fresh and warm straight out of the machine, as by the time it finished, I’d just stuffed myself with pizza and garlic bread for dinner.

I had some toasted this morning though, and it was delicious. Tesco’s Everyday Value Italian Style Hard Cheese is now vegetarian, and perfect for any recipe that calls for Parmesan. Yay to Tesco.

Sainsbury’s Basic Italian Style Hard Cheese used to be vegetarian, but isn’t any more. Boo to Sainsbury’s. (Update: Sainsbury’s Basic Italian Style Hard Cheese is once again vegetarian, hurrah!)

The original recipe from The Bread Machine Book has sun-dried tomatoes, but I used black olives instead.

Basil, vegetarian Parmesan and black olive bread (makes 1lb loaf)

125ml water
60ml milk
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried basil
25g grated vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese
350g bread flour
2 tsp yeast
40g black olives, chopped

All all ingredients except olives in the order suggested by the bread machine instructions. Set machine for white bread, medium crust. Press start.
Add the olives to the dough after the first kneading, or when the beeper indicates it is time to add fruit.

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Vegan Monday: Black olive and sundried tomato bread

26th November 2013 No Comments

Okay, I slipped up with the lip balm thing again. And the hot chocolate thing. I am officially rubbish at Vegan Monday.

Still, breakfast (fruit), lunch (leek and potato soup) and dinner (leftover aubergine and lentil curry from last week) were all vegan. As were the snacks – I had peanut butter bars, raw vegan chocolate fudge and I made some black olive and sundried tomato bread in my new bread machine. This bread was so delicious it was fine on its own without any butter – it was Vegan Monday, after all.

Sundried tomato and black olive bread
(recipe taken from Bread Making Recipes)

2 tbsp olive oil
240ml water
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
150g strong wholemeal bread flour
300g strong white bread flour
1 tsp fast-acting dried yeast
75g sundried tomatoes, chopped (if in oil, pat off the excess with kitchen roll)
70g pitted black olives, chopped

Add all the ingredients except the sundried tomatoes and olives to the bread machine in the order set out in the instructions that came with it.
Set the bread machine to the basic setting, light crust and press start.
When the bread machine bleeps for extra ingredients, add the sundried tomatoes and olives.
When the bread machine’s done its thing, remove the bread and leave to cool on a wire rack.

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Warburtons Half and Half Rolls

9th January 2013 No Comments

I’m one of those people who, although know that brown bread is healthier, sometimes just wants some good old-fashioned comforting white bread. Warburtons Half and Half Rolls give the best of both worlds.

And what’s even better is that they’re ready-sliced so ideal for lazy people like me and these soft, tasty rolls are perfect to go with my lunchtime soup.

Warburtons Half and Half Rolls are available nationwide. Each pack contains 8 sliced rolls at a MRSP of £1.23.

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Warburtons Winter Fruit Loaf

30th October 2012 No Comments

‘You won’t like it, it’s got cinnamon and nutmeg in it’, I said to The Meat Eater when he spotted the Warburtons Winter Fruit Loaf on the table. ‘All the more for me, yay’, I thought.

He gave it a sniff and said it smelt delicious, like hot cross buns, so I had to share it. Dammit! Although he’d better be quick as he hasn’t had any yet and there’s not much left to share as I can’t stop eating it. It’s the perfect warming winter snack; I love it toasted with butter, and a mug of hot chocolate.

It can also be used in recipes, like this one:

Warburtons Chilled Winter Fruit Loaf Pudding with Cranberries

Serves 4
Nutritional Analysis: 200cal/1g fat per portion

Ingredients:

2 slices of Warburtons Winter Fruit Loaf
1 tablespoon of dried cranberries
1 cup of fresh cranberry juice
Brandy (optional)

Method:

Sprinkle the cranberries in the base of a dariole/ramekin dish
Roughly tear the slices of bread and place over the cranberries
Mix a little brandy with some cranberry juice and pour over the bread, ensure the bread is fully soaked but not soggy (for a deeper coloured pudding mix cranberry juice with a little blackcurrant juice)
Press the bread firmly down into the mould
Chill for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator before turning the pudding out onto a serving plate

For that extra Christmas touch, flambé with brandy and serve with brandy butter