I have been busy In My Kitchen recently. Whilst our vegetable garden has yet to produce its winter crop, dad’s garden is in full production. He appeared on my doorstep one day with a massive armful of kale. What else could I do but make kale chips. I doubled the cheesy coating, and made a huge batch that disappeared in record time. There have been suggestions from both Mr Grumpy and The Princess that I really should make more. Kale chips are popular in this house.
In addition to the kale, Dad gave me a small cabbage, and large bags of both eggplants and mandarins (although all the mandarins were eaten before I thought to photograph them). The cabbage was finely shredded, and mixed with caraway for a simple sauerkraut. Some of the eggplants went into my Hidden Vegetable Chilli, but I was stumped as to what to do with the remainder. After reading that eggplant is very nice fermented, I mixed chopped eggplant with curry leaves, cumin, coriander and chilli, and am hoping for a fermented Indian pickle.
I was captivated by this Crock Pot Nutella Swirl Bread that appeared in my Instagram feed last week, and was seized by a need to try it. First up I had to make a Nutella substitute, as the commercial variety contains far too much sugar, palm oil and other additives that we don’t eat. I used the Nut-ella recipe in Sarah Wilson’s I Quit Sugar book, which turned out to be absolutely delicious. I doubled the recipe, and it is so moreish that The Princess (and maybe me) have taken to eating it off the spoon. This jar is all I have left, so I may need to make more.
The dough for the Swirl Bread is the Whole Wheat Brioche dough from Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I only used half of the brioche for the Swirl Bread, so have frozen the rest in 500g packets for future desserts (or maybe more bread).
The bread was a great success. It cooked really well in the slow cooker, although I did give it about ten minutes in the oven just to firm up the top of the loaf. Whilst it doesn’t look like the one on the website, the two teenagers in the house came back for seconds so it can’t have been that bad.
I try and mix up the bread rolls I make for The Princess’s lunchbox, and I recently made a batch of rye bagels for something different. The Princess valiantly ate her way through most of them before telling me that she wasn’t really a fan. So they wouldn’t go to waste, I thinly sliced the remaining bagels, and turned them into rye bagel crisps. I have been enjoying these spread with pate for a mid-morning snack.
At some point during the last month at least one of us has been sick with the many different bugs that are circulating around Perth at the moment. After reading this article about the immunity-boosting powers of chicken broth, I decided to try it for myself. Whilst I make my own chicken stock, investing in some good quality stock powder seemed a good idea for those days when I wanted a quick drink. At best I will not succumb to any more colds, and at worst I have a tasty drink every day. It’s worth a try.
That is about it for my kitchen this month. Don’t forget to drop by Celia’s at Fig Jam & Lime Cordial to see what’s happening in other kitchens around the world.
How cool, I didn’t know that Broth of Life did stock powder. Very handy.
And I’ve yet to be convinced that kale chips can beat potato chips, but with cheese on them, I’d say they’re in the running.
I agree Amanda, it will come in very handy when I forget to defrost chicken stock for dinner (which is often) 🙂 Cheesy Kale chips beat normal kale chips hands down 😉
The nutella recipe is on my my to-do list. Everything is always very wholesome in your kitchen – loving the rye bagel chips.
P.S.I made some of your roasted coconut butter a couple of weeks ago and it’s been going onto the overnight oats with cacao nibs – delish!
You must make the Nutella Nancy. It is really good. Even my husband likes it and he is not usually a fan of spreads. I love the sound of the coconut butter in overnight oats!! I must give it a try. Thanks for the idea.
Wow, you have been busy! : ) The bread looks fab! xx
For once I have Liz. Thanks 🙂
Those kale chips look great!! As does the bread 🙂 Jan x
They are delish Jan (if I do say so myself;) )
Great looking bread. I do love a swirly loaf. Clever idea slicing up the bagels. Sometimes a whole bagel is just a little too much, but slicing them is a great way to portion them. (Plus it increases the spreadable surface, for umpteen topping options…. I like I like 🙂 )
Thanks Kirsty 🙂 It was the first swirly loaf I have made so was happy with the result. Bagel chips are a great way to extend a few bagels, although I do need to make more toppings now.
What an incredible and tasty IMK post! Wonderful.
Have a super day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thanks Mandy 🙂
Just viewing your post, I am now in the pickling mood!
What a great bread in the crock pot and think that will be on my list to do!
Thanks for this month’s kitchen views too!
Thanks for dropping by Joanne. The crock pot bread worked well. Great for summer I think.
Those kale chips look great. Interested in that chicken stock – where did you buy it?
that nutella swirl bread looks the business. yum. kale chips? mm not a fan of kale but it sounds interesting:) the eggplant pickle looks wonderful- we love eggplant here! we too have had a sick household; seems to be bugs everywhere this winter… keep warm x
The bread disappeared quite quickly Sherry 🙂 To be honest I am not a great kale fan either, but turn it into chips and I can eat it all day 😉
What glorious bread and bagel crisps! I used to eat kale in Australia but only see it very rarely here in Deutschland…Such a good IMK this month!
Thanks Cate 🙂 We mostly eat kale as chips, although it can find its way into other meals from time to time 😉