Tuesday 24 April 2012

What I Made Last Week

On Friday last week, I threw a party for those of my friends who had not been able to attend my birthdy party four weeks ago.
I did not want it to be an exact repeat, and altogether make it a less formal affair with food that does not need to be eaten with cutlery, and so I decided to nick Pete's idea and make what he calls breadshots.

There is no recipe on his post, but I imagined it couldn't be too complicated, and simply made two bowls of pizza dough. You can find the recipe for my pizza dough here.


I bought black olives and a small bag of pine nuts and prepared the bruschetta mixture I got for Christmas:
Very practical - it comes as dry mixture in a small jar, and you simply stir one part bruschetta mixture with two parts of water and one part of olive oil, et voilĂ , you have a bruschetta spread that smells lovely, looks nice and tastes deliciously! (I have two more such jars, one is for alioli and the third one makes a nice herbs-and-spices dip which you can prepare with joghurt or sour cream.)

Shaping the pizza dough into small rolls wasn't difficult, but once I had done the first batch, I realized they were maybe going to be a bit on the large side, and made the second batch slightly smaller. Next time I'll make this, I'll roll even smaller "shots".

With the blunt end of a knife handle, I made deep dents into each breadshot and filled them with the bruschetta spread. (Of course, most people would use their thumbs for that, but my finger nails were a bit long pre-cutting.)

Then I put a black olive and/or some pine nuts in each dent. Since I don't like olives (I like olive oil, just am not keen on eating whole or sliced olives as such), I didn't put one in each breadshot. I think Pete said he used dried tomatos, pieces of chorizo and olives; the nice thing about such recipes is that you can vary and either use what you already have at home anyway, or what you like most yourself.

The two batches of breadshots then went into the oven for somewhere between 20 minutes and half an hour (I always need to check frequently with my oven) and came out like this:
The olives already were black to begin with, so they looked a bit burnt (they were not), but all but one of the breadshots were eaten (I think RJ alone had about three of four), and I had one myself, so I guess they were alright.

This was the first time I ever made this, but it won't be the last time, and they will improve with practise!

13 comments:

  1. Hello Meike:
    This looks a lovely idea for an informal party, Meike, although we doubt very much that we should be able to make these for ourselves however easy you make it sound.

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    1. Hello Jane and Lance,
      if I was able to make them, you wouldn't have any problem, either - I am not a very practised cook or baker at all.

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  2. Aha! Bravo! A splendid attempt. They look pretty good. I shall share my recipe on my "other" blog. There are a couple of little twists that make for a better crust and a "more even crumb" as the DVD I plagiarised the idea from puts it.
    Pine nuts... hmm.. an interesting idea. I wonder where I can find pine nuts that don't have "may contain.." I might try that.

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    1. Thank you! I shall look for your recipe on the other blog then.
      RJ is allergic to nuts, and he simply left them at the side of his plate. He is alright when there are just a few in a mixture of seeds that I like to throw over my leafy salads, but they were easy to avoid with the breadshots.

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  3. That looks like a good thing to try which is very different from anything I've ever done before.

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  4. Dear Meike,
    What a great idea for party food! And I love your mug with your name on it!

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    1. Dear Kay, thank you! That mug was a present; it is so rare I come across anything with my name on it, my parents bought this for me at a Christmas market many years ago. I actually always use it for making vinaigrette. You surely have seen it before on my blog with a salad recipe :-)

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    2. Oh, yes, I am sure I have seen your mug before. The wonderful thing about my memory is that the world is all fresh and new each day, that's what I tell myself anyway, dear Meike. Honestly, I drive myself crazy sometimes!

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  5. A wonderful idea, Meike....One could try all sorts of things in the center. Pine nuts are insanely expensive here, but I could imagine toasted hazelnuts or pistachios, chopped up. It is very nice of you to have this party for people who couldn't make the first one. And I do so love your blue and white "Meike" mug.

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    1. Kristi, thank you! Oh yes, I am sure all sorts of nuts will go well with this. Or how about a cube of goat cheese?
      As for the "replacement" party, that was of course mainly for my own benefit - there were MORE presents for me, and my friends were helpful in reducing the amount of alcohol and other drinks left over from the first party :-D

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  6. This is a very useful idea. I can't eat dairy products, shop bought pizza always has cheese in it. I might have a go myself.

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    1. True, pizza usually comes with cheese (and when I make pizza, I always use cheese, too), but of course when you make it yourself, it is up to you what you put on or in it. Can you eat lactose-free cheese?

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