Baguette with Prawn and Cream Cheese + Baker's Delight giveaway!

One of the things on my to-learn list is to make my own bread.

I mean, you can imagine how satisfying it must be to bite into your homemade sandwich right? (Better yet, grow the vegetables and butcher your own meat to make that sandwich!)

But so far in my kitchen I have been shying away from yeast. It's just one area that I have a really bad feeling about. So I am just going to continue buying my bread until I overcome this fear of yeast...and of course, until I have time to do such thing.

Luckily for me, when I first moved to Melbourne a few weeks back, Baker's Delight sent me some of their new Artisan range - which includes a Ciabatta, Turkish Bread and French Baguette (go to the end of this post for instructions on how you can score a voucher to sample one of this new range from Baker's Delight!) I was delighted because at that time I could not see a Baker's Delight in my area and also because I had a whole bunch of ideas on what I could make with these.

I was told that all of the breads from this new range are crafted by hand, allowed to rest for 20 hours and then baked on stone for a crusty finish. Sounds good to me!

I couldn't wait to get my hands on the ciabatta. It is one of my all time favourite bread and I love it because of its delicious crunchy crust and porous and chewy interior.

Doesn't this ciabatta look beautiful?

Straight away, I filled the ciabatta with whatever ingredients I had in my fridge and toasted it in the oven.

Before going into the oven...

So goood. I was in a bread coma afterwards that I went back to bed for the rest of the Saturday morning....

I noticed the baguette was bigger and wider than the baguettes I normally see at the markets. So I had an idea...actually I had two. So I only used half of the baguette for this...

This is a french baguette stuffed with prawns, asparagus and cream cheese and I guess it's appropriate for the upcoming summer because it is not meant to be eaten toasted (otherwise the fillings will melt!) They go beautifully as an entree/snack or served as a side with some white wine!

Of course, the bread centre didn't go to waste, they were stuffed back as fillings ;)

I didn't have anyone to share these delicious baguettes with so I ate them all myself (don't judge me!) They were garlicky, creamy but not overly so - just the way I like them. They may look a bit fancy but they are in fact quite simple. But I do recommend that you share these over a meal with friends. Bring this over to their place for your next gathering. Just because food tastes better when shared...especially the entertaining season is now upon us with the longer daylights!

Oh, and don't forget to scroll to the bottom of the post to find how how you can win the vouchers! :D

French Baguette with Prawn and Cream Cheese
Adapted from Masa cookbook

• 1/2 Baker's Delight French Baguette
• 100g cream cheese
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• ~8 prawns (fresh uncooked only!)
• drizzle of white wine
• 4-5  stalks of asparagus (chopped to around 3cm)
• 4-5 cloves of garlic (or less if you don't like garlic), chopped finely
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine the cream cheese, mayo and butter in a bowl and let them sit at room temperature until soft.

2. Peel the prawns and devein.

3. Add a bit of oil in a pan and add the garlic. Just before it turns brown, add the raw prawns.

4. When the prawns have turned red, add a drizzle of white wine (optional).

5. Add the asparagus into the pan (I have slightly boiled the asparagus before hand) and stir around until the asparagus are fully cooked through. Turn of the heat and let it sit until cool.

6. With the 1/2 baguette, cut off the end of it. With a small knife, insert it into the centre and carefully cut around the border and remove the inside. Be carefully not to remove too much and also reserve the innards for the filling later on.

7. Make sure the cream cheese mixture from step 1 has softened. Mix them well together and add in the centre cut out bread from step 6 above.

8. Once the prawn and asparagus have cooled down (do not use when still hot/warm) add them to the cream cheese mixture and combine. Taste as you go along and add salt and pepper to taste.

9. Stuff the filling inside the hollow baguette with a small long spoon.

 How was it that I was able to take this photo whilst filling? They don't call me a multi-tasker for nothing ;)

10. Wrap the filled baguette with plastic wrap/cling film tightly and store in the fridge for a few hours until the fillings have set properly.

11. To serve, eat the sliced baguette at room temperature. Do not bake as the fillings inside will melt!

Now, for your chance to win 1 of 5 $5 vouchers to be used in any Baker's Delight store in Australia...

How to enter:

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post! :)

Oh and why not tell me what your best 'match' is with your favourite bread? This would be one of your recipes, your favourite cheese and wine or even a gourmet sandwich!

• The 5 winners will be chosen at random.  
• This giveaway is only open to Australian residents only.
• If you do not have a blogger account, just select 'Name/URL' next to 'Comment as' and remember to leave your e-mail addresss so I can contact you for your mailing address.

The Baker's Delight giveaway closes on Sunday 5th December 2010 at 10pm AEST and the winner will be announced on Monday December 6th 2010.

Have a blessed week ahead and I hope you smile :)