Since the weather is starting to change here in the UK I thought it was time I cooked a lovely wholesome snack that goes perfect with a cup of fresh hot tea.

My tea bread recipe is a cross between a fruit cake and a fruit bread.

It is very delicious and there will be plenty to go around, you can eat it as a piece of cake or like us - eat it sliced with a thin spread of butter, yum yum!

All you have to do is soak your dried fruit in some hot tea over night then the recipe is almost done, yes its that easy! Why not give this delicious recipe a try?

See Jeenas full step-by-step tea brea recipe below.

2 cups channa dal (Bengal gram)
½ tsp Turmeric powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
Salt to taste
4 cups flour
Ghee or Oil for deep frying
Wash dal and boil with turmeric and salt till its soft (but not mushy) in just enough water (2 cups) so that water gets absorbed when its done. Kneed flour with water to a stiff dough and keep aside. Strain and grind dal to a fine paste, add cumin powder. Adjust salt to taste. Divide the dal paste into equal portions for puris. Take a ball of dough, make a depression and add the dal paste. Close and then roll out to a thin puri or flat bread. Heat oil in a deep pan till smoky. Fry the stuffed dhal puris one at a time on a high flame for a few minutes till done. Serve with chutney

Hot bread-based dishes like this one are a popular party food in Iceland. I have rarely attended a birthday party, graduation, or other get-together in the last 10 years or so where the hosts didn’t serve at least one hot bread dish, either a stuffed bread roll or a casserole.

These dishes generally contain cheese, usually either mushrooms or asparagus (often both), and sometimes chopped bell peppers or crushed pineapple. In the beginning the sauce was usually a can of Campbell’s condensed mushroom or asparagus soup mixed with cream, and the dish was topped with cheese, but these days the sauce is usually made from scratch, using some combination of:

• melted white or blue mould cheese (e.g. Camembert or Brie), or
• melted flavoured block cheese, or
• cream cheese, or
• cheese spread

mixed with cream and/or mayonnaise and the liquid from the mushrooms and/or asparagus.

Protein is usually provided in the form of ham or shrimp, but chicken can be used as well.

The spices vary. I have seen recipes that use sweet paprika like this one, but also curry powder, Season-All, or garlic. This is the first and only dish of this kind I have tasted that uses mustard as a flavouring, and I have to say it stands out for that reason, especially if you use hot Dijon-style mustard. However, not everyone likes hot mustard, so if you want a crowd pleaser, use sweet mustard instead, or leave it out altogether.

Fresh substitutions can be made for the canned mushrooms and asparagus, in which case don’t forget to prepare some mushroom and asparagus stock to replace the liquid from the cans. Water will not do as a replacement for the liquid, and you will lose some flavour if you use extra cream or milk instead of the liquid.

The recipe:

• 50 ml cream
• 200 g mushroom-flavoured cheese spread
• 1 tbs mayonnaise
• 1 small can green asparagus, liquid included
• 1 small can mushrooms, liquid included (looks better with whole small button mushrooms, but the big sliced ones taste the same)
• 2 tbs mustard. The original recipe says to use sweet mustard, but I like the bite Dijon mustard adds to the dish

• 3-4 slices of bread. I prefer whole wheat, but white is fine too. Crusts may be kept or removed according to taste.
• 150 g chopped ham (vegetarians can use tofu or just leave it out altogether)
• Sweet paprika powder

Mix everything together in a saucepan except the bread, ham and paprika. Heat through (do not boil) and stir to mix well. Tear the sliced bread into pieces and put in the bottom of a casserole dish or small lasagna pan (dont line it completely, just sprinkle the bread over it). Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the ham. Pour evenly over the bread, sprinkle a little paprika over the top, and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at 200°C (180°C if you have a convection oven). Serve in the casserole dish/lasagna pan.

This dish also makes a nice little meal for 2-3 people, served with a fresh salad.

Variation:
You can use the sauce as a filling for a bread roll, in which case substitute the roll for the sliced bread, spread the slightly cooled filling on the roll and roll it up, then mix together:

• 2 stiffly whipped egg whites,
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (e.g. Gouda or Monterey Jack)
• 1 tsp sweet paprika powder,

and spread over the top and sides of the roll and bake at 180°C until the cheese is golden and bubbly.

This dish can be frozen before baking and popped in the oven when needed.

This is simple, basic, delicious, hearty whole wheat bread. I got this recipe from my mom and Ive made it a lot. Sometimes I do part wheat, part white flour depending on what Im in the mood for. Any way you make it, its delicious. (Usually I do all wheat, but the last time I made it, I did half and half just to switch it up and it was great!) Enjoy!


Dont worry about measuring your flour. Just add enough so it clears the sides of the bowl. It may be 8 cups, or it may be 13 cups. The dough will be slightly sticky.

Whole Wheat Bread

5 c. hot water
2/3 c. vegetable oil
2/3 c. honey
4 tsp. salt
2 T. yeast
10-12 c. whole wheat flour (about; see note above)

Combine hot water, oil, honey, and salt in mixer bowl. Add 6 c. whole wheat flour and blend thoroughly. Add yeast and blend again. Add rest of flour 1 c. at a time and knead for a total of 10 minutes in mixer. (When dough clears the sides of the bowl (cleans your bowl), youve added enough flour. Dont add anymore!)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Grease 3 bread pans (9x5 in.). Rub oil in on your hands and remove dough 1/3 at a time. Form in hands until the top is smooth, then place in the bread pans. Turn off oven and place the loaves in the warmed oven for 20 minutes to rise. After 20 minutes, turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes (leave the bread in the oven the whole time). Remove from pans, brush with butter, and let cool.

If the rating system for this recipe was 1 to 5 stars; I would rate this a 10. It is absolutely delicious and will be perfect for your holiday table!! It is very easy to make (doesnt even take an electric mixer) and yet it is unique enough for gift giving. I hope you try it, it is SO GOOD... extremely moist, total comfort food!!!


 Preheat your oven to 350, and grease and flour two 9" x 5" loaf pans. Set out two large bowls. In the first one mix:

3 cups all purpose flour
3¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoon salt

In the 2nd bowl, mix:
3 cups granulated sugar
(1) 15 ounce can pure pumpkin (see note)
4 eggs1 cup vegetable oil
½ cup orange juice (see note)
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (see note)
.
Whisk the first bowl (with the flour in it)until the dry ingredients are well mixed. Whisk the 2nd bowl (with the pumpkin in it) until WELL mixed and oil is completely incorporated. Pour the wet into the dry and mix with spoon just until moistened. Stir in cranberries gently.
.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pans. Bake 60 to 65 minutes (my oven took 70 minutes). Cool (in the pans) for about 10 minutes, then turn them out. Wrap the hot bread IMMEDIATELY in plastic wrap, covering tightly. Let the breads cool completely in the wrap.


NOTE: Make sure you use a 15 ounce can of plain packed pumpkin and NOT pumpkin pie filling (big difference).

NOTE: Recipe calls for ½ cup of orange juice, which I didnt have, so I used pineapple juice instead.

NOTE: Wash and sort your cranberries. Try to use the darkest berries. Make sure they are thawed out before mixing into batter.

NOTE: It is OK to put the plastic wrap on the hot bread as soon as it comes out of the pan. This forces the moisture back into the bread as it cools.

NOTE: My oven took 70 minutes to cook these loaves. Use the toothpick test to determine doneness.