The Hypo Foodie

Here's a recipe consisting of various inspirations collected in a new creation; a fusion of cultures and personal experience. 

the Indian roti. it is the perfect versatile dough to make anything simple in an elevated complete dish. The base recipe is from my "vegetarian times" cookbook, but I add spices and use olive oil instead of the canola oil recommended. I favor this dough instead of the regular one because it does not rise too much, and risen dough full of air tends to make me feel bloated sometimes. 

Second element: a crockpot chicken stew. To be honest, mine wasn't very good. It was a quick and missguided attempt at cooking a good quantity of chicken breasts in a mexican type broth. I had used vinegar from my hot peppers to make it tangy, but it turned out to be too much. Eating it on its own wasn't enjoyable, and I froze it in hopes of finding an idea. Turns out balancing it with sugar, adding frozen mixed vegetables and black eyed peas did the trick, but the texture being between that of a soup and a stew, i decided to use it as filling. I will not give you the recipe, if you have used crock pots before, you know the kind of leftovers would suit this idea: not too liquid ( you might thicken it with corn starch if need be).

Final element: stuffing the roti with the filling and baking it instead of cooking as a flatbread served on the side. That comes from my mother who got tired of doing regular egg rolls and decided to put pizza stuffing instead. It was a hit with the kids, but obviously, fried pizza in dough wasn't the healthiest regular food, so we only had it a couple of times.

Roti recipe:

4 c all purpose flour,

2 ts baking powder,

1 ts salt,

1 tsp curcuma,

1 tsp all-spice ( jamaican blend ),

1/4 olive oil.

1 c of water.

Paprika to sprinkle before baking.

Filling:

Chicken stew or beef chilli.

Grated cheese of your choice.

Instructions:

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Gradually mix in the oil and water.

Turn the dough in the bowl until it forms a ball.

Knead on a floured surface until soft.

Cover and let sit for 15 minutes.

Roll in a cylinder shape.

Cut rinds of approximately 2 cm wide.

Roll into a flat circle about 5 mm thick.

Put one spoon of filling in the center.

Add a little cheese.

Fold the dough and pinch the sides to form the turnover.

To my own and my guest's enjoyment, my husband makes one of the most delicious whole-grain wheat bread. My husband's name is Pascal, hence the name of this bread. There was a time when we used to have a bread machine. In hopes of freeing our burdened countertops and also for the simple pleasure of kneading your own bread, he has developped this recipe of a hearty bread with no sugar in its preparation. Surprisingly, it is very moist despite the use of whole-grain wheat flour wich we buy in  bags at the Moulin-de-la-Seigneurie-des-Aulnaies, near Montmagny. Curiously, a lot of bakers mix other flours to the whole-graim one to make bread. We think that it is to ultimately please people who are not used to the whole-grain taste i.e: people who buy your everyday white bread at the grocery store. As for us, if we use something else than white flour, it is because we want another taste and, nutritionally speaking, a lot more fibers. This bread is so good that we find ourselves wondering: why do we take off all the good stuff from the wheat grain anyways?

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups whole-grain wheat flour,

1 tsp. salt,

2 tsp. chemical yeast, 

400 ml. room temperature water,

Margarine, butter or olive oil for your the mold,

If desired: one egg yolk.

Instructions:

Mix the dry ingredients together. 

Pour the water in the middle of your bowl.

Mix until the dough becomes sticky.

Knead 10 minutes on a floured surface.

Form into a ball and put it in a bowl previously oiled.

To rise in the oven, put a hot water bowl at the bottom of the oven, then place dough, covered with a humid cloth, on the middle rack for approximately 1:15.

Take out of the oven, punch the dough to let the air out. Knead 5 minutes.

Form to your mold's shape ( a little smaller as it will rise ).

Oil your mold, put in the dough ( once again covered with humid cloth ) and let rise in the oven for 1 hour.

Take the hot water bowl and the dough out of the oven.

Preheat at 350 F.

If desired ( for crunchy crust ), brush the egg yolk on the top.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Once cooked, take out of the mold and let the bread cool before cutting.

The bread is good at room temperature 3 to 4 days, but longer than that, it is best to refrigerate.