Yeast-Free Dough // Chicken Tikka Pizza

Things I'm loving at this moment: sweet milky coffee, linen scented candles, The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding, the smattering of snow I can see through the window.

Things I'm not loving at this moment: the seemingly never ending winter, my long to-do list, the loud rumbling of diggers outside, tired eyes from too little sleep. 

It's been a long past week or so and I've got a busy upcoming schedule (الحمد لله) so this Tuesday will be a little haven amongst all the hectic. I'm planning on baking some red velvet later but we'll see how that goes as I'm currently feeling a little 'cooked-out', meaning that in the past few days I did a hell of lot more cooking than I usually do. There was cake, banana bread, chicken tikka, various curries, naan, pancakes, pasta etc. and pizza of course.

  Chicken Tikka Pizza to be precise, with a yeast free dough because ain't nobody got hours to spare to wait for rising dough or the patience to go that long without consuming said pizza, for that matter. I've already shared a pizza recipe on this blog before but whereas that base was naan-like in texture this one is more what you'd expect from a traditional pizza base.

Rest assured its still easy and super delicious, doubly so when piled high with this chicken tikka and other toppings then baked until the cheese is all bubbly and golden, drool. 

The recipe uses cup measurements but I've recently added in a cooking conversions page so do check that out if you need to.

So to make the make the base, you will need the following ingredients:

- Plain flour

- Baking powder

- Salt

- Milk

- Butter

Begin by combining 3 cups of plain flour, 1 and 1/2 tblsp of baking powder, 1 tblsp of salt in the bowl out your stand mixture.

To this add in 1 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of water, 1 tblsp of unflavoured oil and 1/4 cup butter.

Using the dough hook attachment on the mixer combine all ingredients together on low speed until a ball of dough forms. You may need to add additional flour if it is too sticky or a dash more liquid if too dry.

Sprinkle some flour onto a surface and knead the dough slightly to reduce excess stickiness.

Divide the dough according to how many pizzas you want to make.

Using a rolling pin roll out the dough retaining a reasonable thickness for the base.

For the first stage of the cooking pop the base onto a hot ungreased pan aka tawa. You can stretch the dough or alter the shape slightly at this stage. 

After a few minutes, flip and cook the other side. Note that the dough is not fully cooked at this point. 

Over an open flame heat the base to cook the remaining parts and add some colour. 

Prepare the toppings: the no-cook tomato sauce, chicken tikka, sliced red onions, red peppers and cherry tomatoes.

Place the base onto a baking sheet, spread with the tomato sauce, add the toppings along with grated cheddar and sprinkle of mixed herbs. Omit the chicken for a tasty veggie alternative. 

Bake in a Gas Mark 8 oven for about 10 minutes until the cheese has melted and is golden. Remove from the oven, slice and serve.

😋

Enjoy!

 Q x 

Peri-Peri Chicken Pepper Fajitas

It's my day off and I'm quite content right now; it's snowing outside but inside the fire is roaring, I have a slice of homemade nutella cake, the fairy lights are twinkling, there's a vase of the most beautiful orange roses on my table and we just watched the latest episode of TWD. Now not to branded an entitled snowflake millennial (middle finger emoji) but little acts of self-care are quite important, especially considering that day to day we are bombarding with a never-ending cycle of bad news. That's why its essential to sometimes step back, relax and do things that you enjoy. 

One of my more productive forms of enjoyment is cooking (more specifically baking) for other people, but I find cooking for one a big old hassle and so on days when its just me I sometimes end up skipping lunch. Although this isn't so true if I've had the foresight to do some meal prep or if the fridge is stocked with pre-cooked goodies. A great recipe in this case is this chicken pepper mix which tastes just as phenomenal a day later as it does fresh from the griddle.

The chicken is flavoured using a homemade peri-peri style sauce and cooked with red onions and peppers making it both spicy and incredibly flavourful. Traditionally fajitas are made with cuts of beef so feel free to substitute if desired. Either way you can pair it with your flatbread of choice and pile it sky-high with toppings for an easy yet delicious lunch//dinner meal option! 

So to make these peri-peri chicken pepper fajitas you will begin by creating a marinate:

In a jug blend together 3/4 of a bell pepper, 2 green chillies, 2 garlic cloves, 3 tblsp lemon juice and the spices - 1 tsp salt, 1tsp dried mixed herbs, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp red chilli flakes, 1 tblsp paprika, 1/2 tsp tandoori masala.

Followed by 4 tblsp of olive oil, 2 tblsp of natural yogurt, 2 tblsp of malt vinegar, 1/2 tsp of green chilli sauce and 2 tblsp of peri peri sauce.

Blend ingredients together using a hand mixer until no lumps remain.

Add the mixture to 1 pound of boneless chicken cut into pieces, mix well to ensure everything is well coated then cover the bowl with clingfilm and set aside (this should be left to marinate in the fridge for a few hours if possible or it can be cooked straight away).

The next step is to finely slice up some red onion and coloured peppers. Heat up a few spoons of oil in a frying pan or griddle then cook the onions/peppers until the have softened.

Pour in the chicken along with all the marinade and stir to ensure it is incorporated. Cook on a high heat for a few minutes until the chicken is white in colour then lower the heat slightly, cover the pan and leave to cook for around 8-10 minutes.

The chicken will release its water, allow this to dry out and cook on a high heat for a few minutes to allow the flavour and masala to cling to the chicken pieces.

In the meantime gather up you condiments, grate some mature cheddar and slice up some fresh veggies such as bell peppers, cucumber and tomatoes.

To assemble grab a flatbread (I opted for a herb tortilla wrap), add a generous amount of the chicken mixture, top with grated cheddar, the sliced fresh veg and drizzle on your condiments (in this case, chilli sauce and natural yogurt. 

Wrap up your fajita and grill on a hot pan until nice and toasty. Stack up and serve with salad and sides; chips, guacamole, sour cream, whatever you fancy.

😋

Enjoy!

 Q x  

Soft Pretzel Buns

In theory I love the idea of making bread, the almost therapeutic putting together process and then the smell of the baking (has some revolutionary captured this bread bakery-esque scent in candle form yet, because if so I need) and finally the consummation aka devouring of soft, fresh, fluffy, bready goodness. In practice however I've only made bread from scratch a handful of times, mostly because I rarely have the foresight to plan in advance and also bread making can take a great deal of time and skill. A colleague of mine is actually trying to sustain a sourdough pet, admirable but something I wouldn't even consider. A couple of weeks ago however I did venture into bread territory, the reason being that it was my grandmother's birthday and I wanted to bake her something. She's diabetic so sugary things weren't an option and upon doing a little internet searching I settled on pretzels. 

This particular recipe* that I ended up using yielded incredibly soft and fluffy buns with a golden brown exterior. Now I'll be honest I've never had soft pretzels before, those small hard-baked pretzels are the extent of my culinary experience in this field, but I'll be completely biased in saying that these are the nicest soft pretzels, ever. They are also amazingly easy to make aka virtually no proving time required aka music to my ears.

So to make these soft pretzels buns you will need the following ingredients:

- Plain flour

- Fast action yeast

- Water

- Butter 

- Brown sugar / salt

- Bicarbonate of soda

In the bowl of a stand mixer begin by stirring 1 sachet of fast action yeast into 360ml of lukewarm water, allow this to settle for 1 minute before stirring in 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of cooled melted butter. If using unsalted butter add 1 tsp of salt otherwise add 1/4 tsp of salt.
Add 3-4 cups of plain flour to the liquid mixture, one cup at a time, beating well using the dough hook attachment. Judging by the texture, add a 1/2 cup more flour if required - at the end of this stage the dough should be springy to the touch. 

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes, once done pop the dough back into the bowl and cover with a tea towel. This rests for around 10 minutes and in the meantime we can create the bicarbonate of soda bath. To do this bring 9 cups of water mixed with a 1/2 cup of bicarbonate of soda to the boil. 

To create the traditional pretzel shape follow the picture diagram above, note that the thicker the dough rope used the more bun-like the pretzel will be. 
Then using a slotted spoon, submerge the pretzels one at a time into the boiling bicarbonate bath, remove after 30 seconds, drain as much water as possible and place onto a lined baking sheet. This treatment step is important because it gives the pretzels their golden colour and traditional flavour via the Maillard reaction (click the link for more nerdy info). 

Sprinkle the pretzel buns with your desired flavouring, I opted for salt and black cumin (also known as Nigella seeds or fennel flower). Then pop the baking tray into Gas Mark 6 oven until the pretzels are golden brown, around 18 minutes. 

Have the pretzel buns whilst their warm, either plain or slice and add a filling or even dunk in a dip of your choice. 

😋

Enjoy!

 Q x  

*recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction