One thing I
discovered was a new respect for fresh yeast, which I hadn’t used for some
time. I also found a Canadian extra strong flour with which I made the thinnest
pizza bases I’ve ever made. I was a bit slow with the camera and they got eaten
before I had a chance to record them.
The poppy
seed loaves were a big hit with the family particularly as I'd made some crab apple jelly.
Tea brack is an
old family favourite for Halloween and a great thing to have in store for
callers in at this time of year. The muesli flapjacks are also great to put
into a school lunch box for days when extra energy is needed for sports or just
to make it home. Sometimes I just use a mixture of porridge and seeds instead
of muesli for people who don’t like dried fruit.
The back to basics
class were treated to a pot of colcannon as the class was just before Halloween
too.
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| White bread loaves topped with poppy seeds. |
White Bread
Dough
150 ml boiling
water
250 ml cold
water
20g fresh
yeast or 2 level tsp dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
700 g strong
white flour
4tbs oil
Mix together
the boiling and cold water to make hand hot water.
Mix the yeast
and sugar in a cup and pour in some of the warm water, stir and leave in a warm
place to froth, for about 10 minutes. Add the salt to the rest of the water and
keep warm.
Weigh out the
flour and sift it into a bowl.
The yeast is
ready when it has a head like a pint of stout, pour the yeast into the flour
and rinse out the cup with some of the warm water and pour into the flour. Add
the rest of the water and 3 tablespoons of oil.
Flours vary in
the amount of water they need, you may need more or less.
Mix the water
in and knead the dough, either in a mixer with a dough hook or by hand. Keep
kneading until the dough is smooth and springy. This could take up to 10
minutes by hand or about 5 in a mixer.
Pour in a
tablespoon of oil to the bowl, put the dough back into the bowl and smear it
with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic and leave to rise. The time taken to rise
depends on temperature, one and a half to two hours somewhere warm or all day
somewhere cooler.
When the dough
has doubled in size and has a domed top it is ready to use.
Turn the dough
out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes.
Let the dough
rest for about 10 minutes.
Grease the
inside of two 1kg loaf tins. (22cmx11cmx6.5cm)
Cut the dough
into two pieces and put them into the greased loaf tins.
Cover with a
tea towel and let rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour till coming to the top of the
tins.
Put the oven
on to heat up to 220˚C, GM 7
Brush with egg
wash and sprinkle on poppy or sesame seeds. With a sharp knife cut a line down
the centre of the loaf about 1cm into the dough.
Bake in the
hot oven for 20 minutes and then turn the heat down to 180˚C, GM 4 for another
20 minutes.
Remove the
loaves from the tin and put them onto the oven rack to crisp the out side of
the loaves for 5-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
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| Licking lips! |
Milk
Loaves/Rolls
You can
replace 2/3rds of the water with milk and the oil with 50g of butter, rubbed
into the flour before you add the yeast and liquid. Instead of making two
loaves after the first proofing divide the dough into 12-18 balls of dough and
put them on a greased roasting tin. Let them rise for 20-30 minutes and bake
for 20-30 minutes in the hot oven.
Tea
Brack
375g
mixed dried fruit
200g
brown sugar
225ml
hot strong tea
275g
self raising flour
1 egg
Put
the mixed dried fruit and sugar into a large bowl and cover with the tea. Stir
well and leave over night.
Preheat
the oven to 180˚C, GM4. Grease and line a 1kg loaf tin.
Sift
the flour into the bowl with the soaked fruit and stir well add the egg and mix
thoroughly. Pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the centre of the oven
for 1 hour*.
When
done, turn the brack out onto a wire rack to cool.
When
cold serve sliced and buttered.
*To
test for doneness push a skewer into the centre of the brack and if it comes
out clean the brack is ready. If the skewer is sticky with batter leave in the
oven for another 5-10 minutes and test again.
Colcannon
600g
potatoes
1
bunch or bag of curly kale
1
bunch of scallions
100 ml
milk
70g
butter
salt
and pepper
Peel
and wash the potatoes. Put them in a pot and cover with water and a good pinch
of salt. Bring to the boil and cook until a knife goes into the centre of a
potato easily.
Meanwhile
wash the kale and remove the central stalks, cut the leaves into narrow
ribbons. Put these into the top of a steamer and put 2 cm of water into the
bottom and bring to the boil and steam for 4-5 minutes. Or steam them over the
potatoes.
Cut
the roots off the scallions and cut them into half centimetre lengths. Put
these into a small saucepan with the milk a pinch of salt and some pepper.
Bring
to the boil.
When
the potatoes are cooked drain off the water and mash them in the pot with half
the butter and some pepper. Beat in the milk and scallions and then add the
kale, stir it in well.
Pile
the colcannon on to a plate and shape into a mountain, make a hollow in the top
and put in the rest of the butter.
For
good luck coins are added to colcannon, but do wrap them in foil first.
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| Muesli Flapjacks. |
Muesli Flapjacks
6dsp sunflower oil
3dsp golden syrup
110g soft brown
sugar
225g muesli
2dsp sunflower
seeds
Set the oven to GM
4/350˚F/180˚C.
Line a Swiss roll
tin with baking parchment.
Put the oil, syrup
and the sugar into a saucepan and warm on a low heat.
Mix with a wooden
spoon and when the sugar has melted add the muesli and sunflower seeds. Mix
them in well and pour the contents of the saucepan on to the Swiss roll tin.
Spread the mixture out well and smooth down with a spatula or the back of a
spoon.
Bake in the oven
for about 15-20 minutes. When they are done the edges will have darkened a bit,
take the tin out of the oven and mark the flapjacks into squares and leave to
cool in the tin. When they are cold take them out of the tin and break into
pieces along the marked lines.
