homemade flat bread

lebanese bread is nice, but not after a day of purchase when the moisture escapes, it becomes dry and gummy...
in order to enjoy some fresh flat bread, one has to make it on a sunny sunday!

here it is...
2 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tbsp gluten (to buff up the flour)
1 - 2 tsp salt
sprinkle of sugar
water to make dough

everything was put into my large ikea st st bowl and mixed, kneaded until elastic...
the round ball of dough was rested for an hour or two while i do chores around the home
dough was divided into 8 portions and rolled out into thin disc about 1mm thick...

large pan was heated up and discs were plonked on...

for some heating up...
when they puffed, it was time to turn them over...

nice charred marks...

the stack of flat bread kept warm by its residual heat... accompanied by salad and hearty ham and barley soup...

unleavened bread is so simple to make... and much more yummy when hot from the stove...

delish! a healthy meal for two under a fiver... (incl soup, salad, bread, cheese)... bargain!

tempur bargain

one day i got home, and was surprised to find a mail package waiting for me...
inside there was an intro letter, catalogue, DVD and a vacuum-packed sample...

then i remembered it requested a sample pack from the tempur website after looking around for posturepedic pillows...

the little sample is a square of viscoealstic tempur material... very handy as my new wrist support!

it even has its own removable "pillow case" - and can be removed for washing!

check out the viscoelasticity...

ooo... BARGAIN!

this freebie pack came into being as i have been searching for a better pillow... actaully come to think of it this freebie pack is not actually free as i did ventured out and purchased a tempur pillow (and then this freebie pack arrived afterwards as an after thought, a good after purchase surprise)...

my old pillow wasn't bad to start off with... i had a generic viscoelastic one...

then i heard about the tempur millennium pillow with rave reviews...

at nearly $200 a pop it wasn't exactly a bargain... but so far it has been giving me great neck/ head support - no more neck / head pains... priceless

and here it is dressed up with my cat... and my other VE pillow has become my leg rest pillow! no waste!

to get a tempur freebie pack, go to www.tempur.com.au

pao de queijo - brazilian cheese balls

after a lovely lovely homecooked all brazillian meal... i was inspired! to recreate my own...


we had this delish meal at f&a's place... an authentic feijoada - a slow cook smoked meat stew with black beans, served with pan-fried chinese broccoli, slices of oranges, fried cassava, sprinkled with cassava flour...
fatty but yummo...
there were also preserved hearts of palm...

and apparently cassava root is quite toxic - it contains cyanide compounds and if not boiled first, could kill instead of fill someone's stomach... and cassava root is the ingredient for tapioca flour!

and also the main ingredient for these lovely pao de queijo - brazillian cheese balls...

to recreate these nice snacks, i got myself:

500g tapioca flour

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup water

1 cup milk

1 tsp salt

180-200g parmesan cheese

2-3 eggs

put the oil, water, milk, salt in a pan and stir until boiling

switch off heat, then add tapioca flour by stirring it in into dough

when dough cools down, add the 3 eggs (may need more flour then), and knead into smooth dough

add the grated parmesan and knead & make into small balls

these can be frozen and baked at 180-200 degrees celcius, until golden brown

the dough is quite elastic and hard to knead... it tends to stick everywhere...

bite size cheese balls...

rising in the oven...

yummo...

crunchy on the outside...

chewy on the inside