Yesterday in my blog I mentioned making a Red Lentil Bread from a recipe I found on the internet. And brother it was DELICIOUS! It is the best bread I've ever made. I made a bit of a substitution, however - instead of using the plain strong bread flour it called for I used a seeded grain flour. I think it really made all of the difference, if for looks if nothing else. It's a really doughy bread - perfect with soup. In fact we enjoyed ours with a Curried Red Lentil Soup, a winter favourite. The recipe is from my beloved Vegetarian Times magazine, which is a magazine I highly recommend, even if you're not a vegetarian, because they have so many unique ideas that can easily be converted to meat, if you're so inclined. I USED to be a veggie, but since moving to England I've gone back to eating meat - mostly because the industry isn't as tainted here as it is in America. At least that's how it seems. And even if I have the wool pulled over my eyes, I feel like that's OK for me right now. But before this blogs turns into something political and a soap blox platform - which is not my intention with this blog in the slightest - that's all I'm going to say on the matter.
So yes, bread. Mmmmm. Bread. I find cooking to be my other creative outlet. I was in the kitchen yesterday for about 4 hours baking bread, making soup, and then making caramel corn. That's almost as much time as I dedicate to my art studio each day! But there's room for both in life, right? I think they're intrinsically connected on some level or another anyway. By the way, if you happened to open up the link to that caramel corn recipe you'll find that it says there are so subsitutions for the butter. Well, that's not exactly true. I made mind last night with a sunflower spread (because I think my dear husband might be lactose intolerant - imagine finding that out after 33 years! So we're doing a lactose-free diet to test it out and so far so good) and you it turned out just fine. It actually made more sauce somehow - I think maybe because it made it runnier? Anyway, it certainly wasn't as good as if it were made with butter, but if you want to make a batch with less calories and saturated fat, go ahead and make it with a substitute. It's still plenty good - and Dave loved it. In fact he said it was my best batch ever! So there you go. That's the thing I'm learning about these days - it just takes courage to try something different. Receipes reinforce that point for me time and time again. It might call for something very specific - and yes some things you can't change (like baking soda and baking powder let's say), but other things you sure can....all it takes is a bit of courage!
And with that I leave you for today. We've got a friend coming over for a couple of days and he should be arriving very shortly - and I've got an apple crumble to make!
So yes, bread. Mmmmm. Bread. I find cooking to be my other creative outlet. I was in the kitchen yesterday for about 4 hours baking bread, making soup, and then making caramel corn. That's almost as much time as I dedicate to my art studio each day! But there's room for both in life, right? I think they're intrinsically connected on some level or another anyway. By the way, if you happened to open up the link to that caramel corn recipe you'll find that it says there are so subsitutions for the butter. Well, that's not exactly true. I made mind last night with a sunflower spread (because I think my dear husband might be lactose intolerant - imagine finding that out after 33 years! So we're doing a lactose-free diet to test it out and so far so good) and you it turned out just fine. It actually made more sauce somehow - I think maybe because it made it runnier? Anyway, it certainly wasn't as good as if it were made with butter, but if you want to make a batch with less calories and saturated fat, go ahead and make it with a substitute. It's still plenty good - and Dave loved it. In fact he said it was my best batch ever! So there you go. That's the thing I'm learning about these days - it just takes courage to try something different. Receipes reinforce that point for me time and time again. It might call for something very specific - and yes some things you can't change (like baking soda and baking powder let's say), but other things you sure can....all it takes is a bit of courage!
And with that I leave you for today. We've got a friend coming over for a couple of days and he should be arriving very shortly - and I've got an apple crumble to make!
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