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Being on a diet and avoiding carbs for a considerable amount of time - I had a really strong craving for some soft white bread and something sweet.....
This is a new recipe I've created and although I DID have one, the rest were eaten by staff and people in adjacent units in rapid quick time. Carb fest over - it's back to the diet :-(
I do love making bread. There is something really satisfactory in kneading the dough, watching it rise and the smell from the oven and knowing there is no preservatives. Nothing beats the smell for fresh bread and coffee.
We are opening a cookery school in Attleborough, Norfolk, NR17. First class is a bread class on Friday 14th June - where students will be making and baking various types of hand made breads including sour dough.
Future cookery classes at Sarah-Jane's Kitchen will appear on www.siliconemoulds.com very soon. These will include chocolate work, macarons, structural cakes, cupcakes, cookies etc.
Ingredients - makes 10 > 12
250ml coconut milk
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp golden syrup
1 sachet instant yeast
500g white bread flour
Put the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl, making sure to keep the salt away from the yeast.
Combine the coconut milk, golden syrup and eggs and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix together and then turn out and hand knead for around 10mins. Cover with cling wrap and leave until doubled in size.
When doubled in size, divide into 10 > 12 pieces and shape into finger buns.
I made mine into 10 x 85g pieces and these made generous sized finger buns !
Cover with oiled cling film and leave again until doubled in size. Bake for approx 8 > 10mins at 180deg C Fan.
Remove from oven and immediately apply the icing and coconut.
For the icing, I used powdered sugar (sorry - didn't weigh) - maybe around 400g - some coconut milk and a couple of teaspoons of Malibu if you have any plus a teaspoon of glycerine. Mix together until you have a thick and stiff paste. Pipe this straight on to the top of the buns in a thick line and allow it to melt over the bun then quickly scatted some flaked coconut over the top.
They'll be very soft and dense but fluffy if that makes sense in the inside. A complete dream in a bite that made me think of summer sunshine.
A May bank holiday day out with Oliver to the seaside.....
We didn't get the terrible twos, or the terrible threes but we often get a stroppy 4yo !
In a mood and not getting his own way at Orford Castle. Mummy and Daddy hadn't finished looking - Oliver had done it all and was ready to leave.....
I love bagels. To me, they're the king of all bread.
Store bought ones are NEVER the same - they're one of these things that really are at their best made and eaten the same day. Chewy but soft and fluffy and with crispy bottoms right from the oven....mmmm.
I also really like sourdough. Not really sour sourdough.... that's enough to make me heave. Some sour doughs have a really over-acidic lactic (think vommit) taste. Yuk ! Instead, I work with a milder tasting version.....
What better combination than sourdough bagels ? These are not something you are likely to buy in a shop ! Only trouble is - bagels are made with quite a dense dough and sourdough is already quite dense. To make these stay that little bit lighter and less sour, I admit that I add a small amount of instant yeast for extra lift. I also don't leave my sourdough sponge to sit as long as many artisan bakers do .
I was dubious as to how well this would work, since I wasn't following a traditional bagel recipe. However, I can tell you that without any doubt, these turned out the BEST darn bagels I've ever eaten.
Ok - so I topped them off with extra onions that got a little over done - but I don't mind crispy onions ! :-)
My sourdough starter has been live since the mid 1800's. Not that I created it ! From the pot of rye starter I was initially given a couple of years ago, I modified it to 1/2 white, 1/2 rye. I generally have a couple of small vats in the fridge and feed 50:50 with rye and white.
It's perfectly happy to sit in there dormant for months. Until this week. the last time I used it was around Christmas !
For the sourdough sponge, I used about 3 tablespoons of dormant starter and added approx 1/2 a cup of white bread flour and enough water to make it similar to a cake batter in dropping consistency. Cover with cling film and leave to stand for 24 hours. This basically wakes the starter up by feeding it. It should now be bubbly and active.
I then added about the same volume of flour to amount of starter in the bowl and more water to get same consistency as before. This then sat for 7 hours (as I mixed it up at 2am !) and was ready to bake for 9am. You could easily leave it another 2 > 3 hours - or up to another 24 for a more sour taste.
At this point, it was nice and bubbly right through (it had had a stir and deflated a bit). I guess it had risen by about 30%. If I wasn't using instant yeast as a boost, I'd definitely have left it until around 75% increased - probably another 6 hours.
Ingredients
4 cups of strong white bread flour
1/4 cup onion salad crispy bits (if you can obtain them)
Dissolve the sugar and black treacle in the warm water.
Put half the flour in the bowl, then the salt, the rest of the flour followed by onion crispy bits, garlic instant yeast, sour dough sponge and the warm water / sugars mix.
The reason we add in this order is to initially prevent the yeasts coming into direct contact with the salt. Direct contact at this stage will retard or even kill the yeast !
Mix all the ingredients to combine, and then either knead by hand on a bench for 10 minutes, or for around 5 in a stand mixer with dough hook and then a couple of minutes to finish by hand.
This is going to produce a firm and heavy dough, but you still must ensure it's sufficiently kneaded and gluten properly developed.
Put in a bowl, cover and set aside for around an hour to rise.
Divide into 12 equal balls. Stick two fingers through the middle of each ball and spin a little to widen the hole in the centre. Let these sit for around 30 mins on an oiled tray to rise a little more.
Turn oven on to 200deg C Fan.
Fill a deep pan with water and add 2tsp of black treacle and bring to the boil. You can also substitue with a little malt extract. This helps add flavour and colour.
Drop in the bagels. You need to allow them plenty space, but I could boil 4 at a time in my large pan.
Boil for one minute each side and then flip oven and repeat. This is what makes the biggest difference between a roll and a bagel !
Remove with a slotted spoon and place on the oiled baking sheet.
I sprinkled the tops with some Maldon sea salt, fennel seeds, some thinly sliced onion (pre-cooked until transparent).
Fake at 200deg C fan for 10 mins, then flip them over and bake another 10 mins.
As you can see - the onions on top got a bit well done. There would have been no way of avoiding that.... but I dont mind extra crispy onions !
Allow to cool and then eat or freeze same day.
These were served with some oak barrel smoked ham, cream cheese and watercress / and rocket salad.
Sarah-Jane Nash - www.siliconemoulds.com - May 2013
This blog entry is for Rach86. Rach 86 asked on one of my earlier blog posts if I had (or knew of anyone) who had used sour dough to make pizza base / crust.
Basically - the answer was no. I started playing with sour dough some months ago, but have been so busy over recent weeks that it my starter has been in a neglected, dormant state in the refrigerator.
Well - this is what I found when I went to get it out....
Eww. Not nice. Looked like a cross between worms and a shag pile carpet. Needless to say, this MUST have got contaminated some how and gone off. On scraping off the thick carpet on top, it LOOKED ok underneath and didn't smell untoward..... but it went in the bin anyway !
Thankfully, I had another two containers with starter in the fridge. Mother and Daugher. This one had been Grand-daughter and the one I tended to use the most.
I took a good spoonful of Mother and the same of Daughter. These went into a bowl with some wholemeal flour (because that's what I already had out) and some water. I left it on the counter, and 24 hours later it was bubbling rather ferociously and ready to go.
Most recipes seem to then add more water and flour and leave overnight to make a sponge. More flour and water, sugar and salt are added to then make a dough. I've skipped that step.
Here is my Not So Sour White Sourdough Recipe.
2 tablespoons of starter from your vat in the fridge
5 well rounded tbsp of strong white bread flour
1 well rounded tablespoon of rye flour (gets it "going")
mix with enough luke warm water to reach a dropping consistency (much like cake batter !)
Cover with clingfilm and leave on the kitchen counter overnight.
Thankfully, I had another two containers with starter in the fridge. Mother and Daugher. The woolly one was Grand-daughter and the one I tended to use the most.
I took a good spoonful of Mother and the same of Daughter. These went into a bowl with some wholemeal flour (because that's what I already had out - I normally use white as above) and some water. I left it on the counter, and 24 hours later it was bubbling rather ferociously and ready to go.
It should be nice and bubbly by the morning. Discard about half (of put it in another bowl if you intend making more than one loaf and do the next following steps to both lots of gloop).
To the remaining gloop, add about 2 > 3 times the amount of white wheat flour and enough water to get it back to dropping consistency. Leave for about 6 hours and it's then ready to bake. If it's not bubbling nicely, this step can be repeated. As long as there are a good amount of bubbles there, don't worry if it is not as foamy as it was after sitting for 12 hours. I've been doing this bit by eye as above and without weighing.
For the bread dough :
550g white bread flour
10g salt
265g water
tablespoon of honey (or golden syrup !)
220g gloop as above
I made my dough, gently kneaded for about 10mins and then left if in the bowl covered with cling film for about 6 hours whilst I was out.
On return, I used some of it right away rather than waiting for an extra rise. The rest went back in the bowl, in the fridge and was made into a loaf this morning.
Sour dough is EXCEPTIONALLY sticky. I floured the bottom of this tray and then rolled the sour dough out on to it. The dough was very thin - the way I like it - in the middle and a bit thicker on the edges. In retrospect, I should have oiled the centre of the base of the tray. It was a bit of a devil to get off after baking .... but I did manage eventually without tearing it.
Incase you are wondering HOW sticky sour dough is.... it was strong enough to "fix" one of Oliver's broken toys when super glue just couldn't do it. Oliver and Steve found it pretty hilarious that I'd mended the truck with bread dough !?!
DO make sure you put anything that touches sour dough immediately into water. If it gets a chance to dry out first, it sticks rock hard and is near impossible to move.
Here you go - it's nothing fancy.
Some tomato base, THREE left over meatballs, meat from two chicken drumsticks, a bit of onion, a grilled red pepper and some chilli. Basically that was everything in the fridge.
Turned out nice. Base was lovely and crispy. Would I do it again? Yes.
Hope that helps !
Well - what have we been up to ? Not a lot .... really.....
This is Echo. My other baby. Besides Oliver that is. He's the loveliest, cuddliest, kindest horse in the whole wide world. Echo is 14yo (maybe 15 - I need to check !) and he's been with me since a foal.
Echo has been really poorly this last week as he had a laminitis attack. I had to phone for an urgent vet call out on Monday as Echo was lying down and in too much pain with his feet to get up. It was a worrying hour or so whilst we waited on the vet to come with strong painkillers to give him into the vein. Oliver was really concerned too and spent quite some time in the field with his arms round Echo. A little surprising perhaps as he's a bit scared when Echo is stood up ..... he's just so little in comparison. He's not normally allowed round the ponies unless he's being carried.
Poor Echo - poor Oliver. Echo was very unhappy and wanted cuddles. Oliver was a bit worried and wanted cuddles. Thankfully, it was one of the few days in the last 6 weeks without rain - so we sat on the ground in the field and mass cuddled whilst we waited on the vet.
When the vet arrived - he was instantly chastised.
"Excuse me - You were a long time. Our pony is sick you know."
"This is Echo - he needs medicine. He's not well and we've been waiting ages."
"Excuse me - is that the medicine ? Will it hurt ? Will Echo get up ? Will he get better now ? "
"Excuse me - I'm worried."
My boy is pretty good at manners, but for once, I realised just how little he really is.
A few hours later, we Echo much more comfortable in the stable and the farrier came that night to pack his feet up.
He's improving - though needs to stay shut in for a couple of weeks.
April was SO wet. It rained almost every day. Crazy to think that the photos above were taken last week of MARCH in the most northern part of Scotland and we were paddling about in the sea ! Just a week later, it was all under 6" / 15cm of snow.....
We've barely seen much of the sun since. Roll on some more nice weather.
Forgive me. This could be quite a large blog entry and photo heavy as I've got loads of photos etc this time to share. Unfortunately, the photos of my Jalousie do it no justice at all - but time and light were not in my favour....
Jalousie is a fancy name for an otherwise basic slatted / latticed tart or freeform pie. It can be as simple or as fancy as you wish. With so many lovely autumnal vegetables freshly available, it seemed silly not to put them to good use. I've come up with this amazingly delicious combination. It doesn't look overly special, but hey ho - we all have bad photo days. You'll struggle to go wrong if you choose to create your own. Whether sweet or savoury - shove all your favourite things in.....
jalousie[ˈʒælʊˌziː]
n
1. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Furniture) a window blind or shutter constructed from angled slats of wood, plastic, etc.
2. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Furniture) a window made of similarly angled slats of glass
[from Old French gelosie latticework screen, literally: jealousy, perhaps because one can look through the screen without being seen]
Jalousie shown above was served with fresh beetroot steamed in a foil packet with cumin
Recipe (serves approx 4 > 5)
I prepared this the night previous to cooking and refrigerated overnight - simply for convenience.
1 x 500g block pre-made puff pastry
2 > 3 good quality butchers sausages (omit for vegetarian option)
3 medium sized chestnut mushrooms (optional)
8 > 10 cooked chestnuts
1 small butternut squash
50g grated gruyere
some finely chopped fresh sage (if available)
Peel, de-seed and cube the butternut squash into approx 2cm chunks. I think I had around 350g of prepared raw weight. I drizzled these with olive oil and quickly roasted them on the top grill of my halogen oven at about 220deg until starting to brown. You could put them in your jalousie raw, but I wanted faster cooking time and something that could be shoved in the oven after work the next day...
Next. prepare the chestnuts. I used fresh sweet chestnuts and roasted them quickly on the top shelf of my halogen oven. I find that after cooking, cover them with a damp cloth to keep them hot and moist makes them easier to shell. I've made a rubbish little video of this... You may prefer to use canned or vaccum packed chestnuts for convenience !
Next, roll the puff pastry out on a silicone pastry rolling mat to approx 12" x 14". Using a blunt table knife, cut this down the middle into two equal pieces 6" x 14" (approx).
Start layering the ingredients - starting with thinly sliced mushrooms and chopped chestnuts. You can see I've then added the squash on top, sausages (removed from skins and rolled into balls approx 1cm dia.) before finally topping with the gruyere.
Top with the second piece of pastry and crimp round the edges. I use a fork handle and pull it up and over. This jalousie was so full, I really thought it may well burst out the seams !
If refrigerating overnight before baking, do cover with cling film to stop it drying out.
Glaze with a beaten egg before baking. I baked this at 210deg C Fan oven for about 25 mins.
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It's Autumn here in the UK, and it's been bright, sunny, warmer and drier than is generally normal for this time of year. We live in East Anglia - which is also known as the "Bread Basket" of Britain. It's prime agricultural land that offers the best of UK growing conditions.
Being lucky enough to live in a rural area like this has lots of advantages. In the (almost) 10 years I've lived here, I have NEVER bought eggs from a shop. Ok, so we have chickens now, but prior to that or in winter months when they don't lay so many - it's so easy to stop by a farm or house with a stall and honesty jar by the side of the road. Simply take what you need, put your money in the jar or tin and off you go. Easy as that. Good, locally produced, seasonal fruit and vegetables on our doorsteps.
I stopped just down the road earlier this week to buy a pumpkin and also saw those pears for sale. I love the photo above - they look so appealing. What an absolute shame I cannot stand pears ! I love the fact that this way of life often allows me to get hold of some produce I'd never find in the supermarket and unbeatably fresh (as well as inexpensive).
The other direction from home, I can currently get wet walnuts, honey and duck eggs - oh - not forgetting cider vinegar and more varieties of pressed apple juice than you can dream of.
There are lots of local farmers markets. These are generally run on Saturday mornings at local villages. Most alternate, so you know which Saturday where the market is. Wymondam Farmers Market is probably my favourite and on the 3rd Saturday of the month. This time of year, I generally work Saturday mornings - so getting to one of the markets is a rare occurrence.
I was at work today, but took last Saturday morning off due to being very poorly the day before. Oliver and I took a quick trip to Wymondham market to grab some goodies on offer....
Here is Oliver - munching on a cracker given to him by the lady on the fish stall. I don't know whether it because he was looking cute or half starved that he managed to wangle a cracker, but it certainly raised a huge smile ! Of course, he had to carry his own bag. He likes to choose things. He carries the light ones and I get the heavy stuff. First stop was for vegetables (loads of teeny weeny onions, butternut squash and broccoli.
From the fish lady, we got some lovely oak hot smoked salmon and a fresh dressed crab as well as a little pot of peeled brown shrimps. An expensive treat - but made a lovely Sunday evening meal with some thinly sliced toasted sour dough.
This guy is from ChillisGalore.co.uk . I used to mail order from them a long long time ago. They make some awesome chilli sauces, jams and jellies. My dad particularly likes their limited addition Lemon Drop Chilli Jelly and I managed to bag 3 jars for him last weekend...
Beautiful selection of Artisan Breads. I generally don't tend to buy this sort of bread as I adore making it myself given any excuse.... So much of it is such an irresistible smell though at the market ! Oliver picked a huge Rosemary and Olive oil Focaccia and a good 1/4 of had GONE in his tummy before we even got it home ! I chose a couple of little savoury tarts for tea - goats cheese and red onion and I think the other was pea, spinach and feta ? Sorry - I've forgotten. They were eaten a week ago...
The cake at the front is a new creation from Dr Tim Kinnaird (pastry chef and runner up of Masterchef 2010). I brought it home for my husband - but did have a little taste. I cannot find what it is online, but it was some sort of creamy brulee type top with a chocolatey middle and alcohol soaked sponge base. I'll tweet him and maybe we'll be lucky enough to find out.
This is some of the stuff we came back with. Notice I trimmed the focaccia up at the back since Oliver had eaten huge chunks on the way home !
Oliver ADORES macarons and picked a Salt Caramel macaron from Tim which was demolished in no time at all. After spending a small fortune at the market, we went into the library down the road for a little while. I'm ashamed to say we left about 20mins later without me even having a chance to read to Oliver - attempting to do so just resulted in continuous coughing fits and an inability to breathe. He had to put up with just having a browse on his own ! I'm a bit better now since the doctors started me on some steroids at the beginning of the week.....
On getting back to the car, Oliver found some massive piles of leaves and had such a ball jumping in them and kicking them in the air. If his back had not been facing me most of the time, I'm sure I could have got some super shots ! After that was over, Oliver was BEGGING for another macaron (rolls eyes). We walked back up to the market and he snagged the very last salted caramel macaron. I did ask nicely for a bite - but was told "NO WAY MUMMY !" I'd have bought my own macaron, but believe it or not, the diet is still going strong and I'm now 2st down..
That wasn't the end of the day.... from there we ended up at Goodies Farm Shop for locally stone milled flours and some locally reared meat from their in-house butchery. A coffee in the cafe was very welcome and Oliver munched his way through a lunch of some rather nice looking sausages and chips.
Coming home, we made some of those Rye Crackers I showed you from the sour dough bread course.. Well - I put the ingredients out to sit overnight and we made the crackers the following day. Good rolling Oliver (ok - you had a LITTLE help !) These were MASSIVE !
I'm popping the recipe in here for my convenience - since I often use my own blog recipes on the Ipad in the kitchen !
Knead for 10 > 15 mins in Kitchenaid. Cover and leave overnight.
Next day, roll out balls of approx 50g as thinly as possible on to a silicone mat floured with rye flour. Prick with a fork. Brush with water and top with flaked sea salt and seeds / spices etc ( we used fennel on some and cummin on others).
Bake at 200deg C for approx 10mins
Couple of girls out riding on a stubble field one morning this week....
Some of my ponies in the field.... growing winter woolly coats. The one in the middle is Digger who you may remember was born in January this year.
Henrietta and scruffy looking Chicky (the chick we hatched a few weeks back).
Oliver (still sporting a chocolate face) and I - taking photos of yourself with a camera is never a great idea.... But here we are !
