Fresh from the Oven - Artisan Flour

This month's challenge on the FFTO blog was set by Helen and it was to bake a loaf using small production artisan flour.  Luckily for me a few months ago I went to a Farmers market and picked up Wight Rye Flour from the Stoneground flour co. (based at Little Duxmore Farm on the Isle of Wight) and some Organic Strong White Stoneground flour from Wren Davis Ltd (Collings Hanger Farm, Great Missenden). But Helen did give a couple of links in the challenge to other small time producers that I will have to investigate!

I have been using them both in little bit for a while and this was the perfect opportunity to make a loaf where all the flour was small production artisan flour.

I used an adapted version of a recipe I have used many times before combing Rye flour, White Flour, Cornmeal and (in this case) sunflower seeds for a really tasty loaf.

Recipe

300ml water
50g Rye flour
450g White bread flour
25g Cornmeal
1tbsp light muscovado sugar
1 tsp salt
25g butter
1 tsp dried yeast
50g Sunflower seeds
Cornmeal for dusting

I put everything (in the correct order for your bread machine) into the bread machine on the dough cycle and let it do its thing.

Once it is done and punched down I shaped it into a oval loaf and put it on a baking tray which I had first dusted thickly with cornmeal (this stops the loaf from sticking gives it a crunchy bottom.  I left cover it with oiled cling film and leave it on top of a radiator to rise until it has doubled (about 40 mins).

About now I preheat the oven to 220 degrees C, Gas Mark 7 and put a roasting tray full of hot water on the bottom shelf of the oven.

Then I dust the top of the loaf with cornmeal and put three slashes in the top with a knit to encourage it to rise even more.  I leave it uncovered in a warm place for 10 more mins (or roughly until the oven has reheated.

Then place in the over and bake for 25-30 mins or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the based.

The resulting loaf is perfect for toasting and yummy although it will be denser than a pure white loaf because of the other grains. It has a great savory flavour, and is great with marmite!

Fresh from the Oven - Cholla

I was very excited when the Belleau Kitchen proposed that this month's Fresh from the Oven Challenge would be Cholla.  This was one of the earliest breads I made when I first started baking bread when I was 20 and so it was a great blast from the past.  I was insanely pleased with the results and the instructions on how best to braid it made it much easier than I remember the first time.  The quantities in the recipe made for a very large loaf - but my aunt and uncle were stopping off here for breakfast after their flight from Singapore got in so it was eaten up very easily. 

The final loaf had a beautiful soft crumb and rich flavour.  The egg wash also came out wonderfully giving it a fantastic golden sheen and yet more flavour.  I think I will definitely make this recipe again (for special treats and when lots of people visit).  This isn't an everyday bread - this is bread for celebrations and occasions and I will be keeping it for best!

I switched out my usual yeast this time for a faster acting version made by sainsburys - obviously there were lots of other variables in the recipe but I did get a faster, better rise this time so once my pack of Allisons is finished I might move on to these sachets full time - I have a few more weeks of testing left in the packets though to make my mind up fully.

The amazing recipe is below and thanks to the Belleau Kitchen for reminding me of a really good bread.

Note - all the photos in the recipe below are Dom's from the BK.

Braided Challah Bread

1 sachet easy blend dried yeast

1tsp clear honey

8fl oz lukewarm milk

50g melted butter

16oz plain flour

1 tsp salt

2 eggs lightly beaten - in separate bowls - one for the mix and one for glazing

Poppy seed or sesame seeds (optional)

Combine the yeast, honey, milk and butter, stir and leave for 15mins to dissolve

In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt.  Make a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture and one of the beaten eggs.  Stir to make a dough. (It will be very sticky and will definitely need extra flour for kneading)

Knead till smooth and elastic (a good 15 mins) then transfer to a clean bowl, cover and leave to prove for 1 1/2 hours.

Grease a baking sheet. Knock back the dough and divide into 3 equal pieces.  Roll to shape each piece into a long strip for plaiting.

Lay 2 of the strips over the third to make a star shape and plait from the centre, tucking the ends under.  Do this on the baking sheet, then cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 30 mins.

Brush with egg and bake in a hot oven at 190 for 35 - 40 mins or until golden and sounds hollow if you tap it.

Fabulous!

Valentine's Day Meal

I dislike going to restaurants around Valentine's Day.  The experience is usually disappointing and below the normal standards of the restaurant in question.  Also since V-Day is so close to J's birthday (for which we always go out to a nice restaurant) I don't tend to feel like so many meals out in such close succession.

Enter our first, small attempt at a homemade V-Day meal.  I took the pudding course, J took the main.  For people who love food and love to cook - this could have gone a lot better.  J bought mussels, and then kept them too long and they all died, then we dragged the steak out that we were going to be sharing later in the week and he made a quick sauce dianne and our favourite homemade chips (which are surprisingly healthy).  It was very tasty and retro.

I had already been making some little bread rolls to go with the now deceased moules and so at the last minute (for extra cute) I made a little paper template of a heart and sprinkled the rolls (brushed with milk) with a mixture of poppy and sesame seeds.  I had no idea how it would turn out but I was really pleased with the results.

I was a bit more organised with the pudding, having already decided a few days earlier to make a chocolate mousse.  Chocolate is one of J's favourite flavours but I wanted to surprise him with something unusual and out of the ordinary.  So I went searching on the BBC website (not a bad place for recipes in general) and found this epic pudding:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chocolatecashewmouss_85284

Chocolate mousse flavoured with chilli, cinnamon, ground roasted salted cashew nuts and made using only eggs and lots of honey (no cream and sugar which I thought was interesting).  Well this was a very strange pudding.  The first spoonful was amazing and like a little piece of heaven and second was nice but rich and the third was enough.  The flavours were really nice but the whole thing was super rich.  We enjoyed it but didn't manage to finish it.  I would be tempted to make it again but probably 1/4 the serving sizes.  Still I haven't made a proper pudding in a long time so it was really great to flex my muscles there.

I also have a fairly big bag of roasted salted cashew left and am thinking it would be fun to try making my own nut butter with them.  I have heard many people rave about how amazing homemade nut butters are and I do like the idea of being able to use flavours other than peanut!  Watch this space.

To Done

1. Visited Dentist
2. Picked up parcel from Post Office
3. Sent 3 books out with BookMooch
4. Cycled to Dentist
5. Joined Library
6. Did extra shopping for dinner
7. Loaded and Unloaded Dishwasher twice
8. Put a load of washing on and hung out.
9. Put on Black Beans to cook.
10. Repeat Prescription put in Chemist
11. Worked on MBA
12. Made Rye bread

Fresh from the Oven - Kiflice

This months' FFTO recipe was Kiflice - Serbian Cheese Rolls.  These are apparently a great tradition in Serbia with each family having their own special recipe. Our recipe was posted by Maja this month and it was a really interesting one!


I made the basic dough in the breadmaker and immediately noticed how rich it was - milk instead of water, 75ml of sunflower oil and an egg.  That is before we get to the amazing and unusual cooking method.


Making the little rolls was slightly more fiddly.  The dough had a great texture and was very easy to work with.  I split it into 5 pieces (as per the instruction) and then rolled each piece out into a circle which I cut into 8 triangles.  It was a very good way of getting roughly equal triangle and made so much easier when I decided to make the cuts with my pizza wheel! 

Each triangle was filled with about a tsp of crumbled feta.  Cottage cheese was recommended by Maja but as soon as I saw her note to make sure it was well salted I just decided to use feta instead and this was a very good move.

I was surprised that no rising time was given for the rolls after they had been made but since I couldn't cool them straight away anyway they did get a rise of an hour or so in a cold house - temperatures in the UK have suddenly plummeted to around 0 degrees which is very cold for November.

To finish them off I took the route of putting optional sesame seeds on top.  I am very pleased I did that and would happily have used poppy seeds as well.

This is the finished picture of about 1/2 the final amount.

The recipe made 40 which was a fairly large amount.  I was visiting friends on the day I made it and so shared the rolls with them as J and I would never have got through them on our own. They tasted stunning and I would definitely make them again - probably for a special party or other occasion. 

The full recipe by Maja is below including the unusual (and so very tasty) cooking method.  Do check it out...

Dough:
500 g all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
20 g fresh yeast (2 tsp instant yeast or 2.5 tsp active dry yeast)
1 tsp sugar
250 ml milk
75 ml sunflower oil
1 egg

Filling:
200-250 g cottage cheese (you may use feta or other fresh cheese)
1 egg white (optional)

And more:
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
100 g margarine


Directions:
1. Crush the cheese using a fork. Add some salt if it tastes neutral. Stir the egg white in, if the cheese is too crumbly. Filling shouldn't be runny, but thick and compact, thicker than the cream cheese, and pretty salty.

2. For the starter - dissolve yeast with some lukewarm milk in a cup, add a teaspoon of sugar and a tablespoon of flour, stir to get smooth batter. Set aside at room temperature, or near the stove top, to let the yeast activate and fill the cup.

3. Sift the flour, add salt. Add activated yeast, egg, oil and milk, then combine using a wooden spoon to get smooth dough. The dough seems like too soft and too sticky at the beginning, but don't worry, continue with kneading, and soon your dough should start to separate from the bowl, and thicken. It is not necessary to knead the dough by hands, the wooden spoon works just fine (you may use any spoon, of course, the wooden spoon is common tool for all stirring and kneading works here at the Balkans). Grease the cling film with oil, cover the bowl, and set aside for at least an hour, at lukewarm place, to let the dough doubles in size.

4. Re-knead the dough, divide into 5 equal parts, shape them into balls. Each part should make 8 rolls, so you'll end up with 40 rolls, which should perfectly fit the regular oven pan, if lined in 5x8 order. Flatten each ball by hands over the floury working surface, then use a rolling pin to roll the dough out in a circle, a few millimeters thick. Use a sharp knife to cut the circle into 8 triangles. Take one triangle, stretch it in the air with your hands, to get it extended as much as you can, gently. Put some filling at the triangle base, then fold the edges of the base as shown at pic2, to avoid the filling leak out during baking. Roll. Arrange the rolls at the pan (5x8).

5. Lightly beat the egg yolk with a tablespoon of milk, then brush the top of each roll with the mixture. This is used to prevent forming thick crust, and to improve the color of baked rolls. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds, if you like.

6. Arrange the small peaces of margarine between the rolls, then bake in the oven preheated to 180°C for about 20 minutes. Be careful not to overbake them. Let them cool a bit, be careful as the filling is always more hot then the dough, take a seat in your favorite armchair, and start enjoying the softest cheese rolls ever. And don't think of calories, please :)

A place to note books/authors I may want to read...

The Hathor Legacy had a list of great authors of colour who write SF and Fantasy novels (other than my personal heroine Octavia Butler).  So I am just popping them down here so that when I get through my current backlog of around 40 unread books (I know I know) I can read them...

N. K. Jemisin, 
Nisi Shawl, 
Alaya Dawn Johnson, 
Terence Taylor, 
Ted Chiang, 
Shweta Narayan, 
Chesya Burke, 
Moondancer Drake, 
Saladin Ahmed, 
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz

Handkerchief making

J uses a lots of hankies which I approve of heartily as a very green option (compared to throw away tissues).  But given how well he uses them he also needs a lot.  So I used some left-over cotton bed sheets to make a few for him to add to the pile.

I have finished 2 out of the 4 I have on the go, the last two only need embroidering which has been good fun as I have done any free hand embroidery for a long time.

So here are the first two in the hope that putting them up here will encourage me to finish the other two.  Although I have discovered that this sort of embroidery makes for even worse RSI pain in my shoulder than knitting which is unfortunate.  I don't remember getting all these aches and pains from sewing and knitting when I was in my early twenties - I blame computers and computer mice!

I also discovered (thankfully) that the embroidery silks are far more colourfast than I was expecting and can be washed on a 40 degree cycle with no ill effects at all!