A sweet treat and more...

This was just a salad starter that I made for my husband and myself one evening, followed by spaghetti with a deconstructed pesto. For the starter I used two gem leaves for each of us and filled it with a mixture of cheese, green olives, tomatoes and parsley in a light salad dressing. It was good fun eating salad in this fashion! This is officially one of the best loaves of bread I've made this far:

I mixed 500g flour with 300ml handhot water and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then I dissolved 20g fresh yeast in a couple of tbsp of water and added this along with 2 tbsp sourdough starter, 10g salt and a handful of flour and kneaded for ages and ages. How come I knead for an eternity and still no windowpane??? I did stretch and fold a couple of times and I think it was slightly over-proved in the end but it did not damage the end result. I shouldnt have bothered scoring it though, lesson learned!

Then an other day I made focaccia to go with tomato soup. There was also some left for my husband to take to work as sandwiches.

Nigella's Italian Tomato and Pasta soup:

Ever since I spotted British tomatoes in the shops I've been itching to make tomato soup. I usually make Linda McCartney's recipe, but this time I decided to give Nigella a go, and it is from Nigella Kitchen. It is the very last recipe in the book.

Approx. 575 g ripe and fantastic tomatoes

3 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1 large oinion, finely chopped

1.5 litres cold water

1 tsp sea salt

freshly ground pepper

2 tsp caster sugar

150 g soup pasta

sour cream to serve (optional)

Fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Skin the tomatoes by placing them in a bowl and pouring hot water over them. Nigella says to start frying whole garlic cloves and then discarding them before adding chopped onion. I didnt do that, I sauteed onion and added minced garlic cloves and fried a little longer. I skinned tomatoes, you were also supposed to get rid of seeds and white membrane, but not me thanks! Had quite a few small tomatoes and I just couldnt be bothered. Then add tomatoes to onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Now add water and let it come to a boil, then add salt, pepper and sugar and leave it to simmer for 20 minutes for chunky soup and 40 minutes for smooth soup. I chose the smooth option and proceeded to give it a few goes in the blender, then back in the pan for 10 more minutes along with the pasta. Check seasoning.

Verdict: It is a really nice soup, but I think it would greatly benefit from some more flavour, such as a few parmesan rinds while simmering...mmm.. now that's a thought!



OK... this turned out to be a slightly odd meal! I made a Mediterranean Pepper Salad, from Nadia Sawalha's Stuffed Vine Leaves Saved My Life. I thought it was really nice, but the rest of the family thought the dinner was rather poor. I also made some pasta dressed in lemon infused olive oil, but it was rather boring, I should have just mixed the pasta into the salad. We live and learn. The flatbreads are from River Cottage Bread Book, and not unlike naan, only naan is tastier in my opinion. I also made use of them the next morning for breakfast by sandwiching two together with grated cheese, English mustard, parsley and tomatoes and then frying them on the griddle pan. Very pleasant.

Now finally for the sweet finale! This is also from Nigella Kitchen and is called 'No-fuss fruit tart', and it definitely lived up to that. No-fuss it was. Basically, all I had to do was to blitz 375 g digestive biscuits with 75 g unsalted butter in the food processor. Press these crumbs into a 25cm tart tin and put it in the fridge while you mix the filling. In a clean processer bowl, mix 400 g cream cheese with 240 g lemon curd, take your tart tin out of the fridge and fill with the cream and curd mixture. Then decorate with berries of your choice. (actually, she lists 125 g each of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, redcurrants or pomegranate seeds and strawberries.. but I sort of just did my own thing). I let it stand overnight in the fridge. It didnt set completely and was still a little runny, but it was very tasty. Very cheesecaky flavour.
Definitely worth making.

Some more baking

I am baking bread fairly regularly, sometimes every day. 1) like it fresh, 2) small freezer. Now that my husband is converted to homemade bread, I have to bake more often as he takes it to work too. This first bread was absolutely gorgeous and I shall be making it again very soon. It's from Ursula Ferrigno's 'The New Family Bread Book'. It uses half strong brown flour and half strong white, but I think next time I will go just strong brown as I think this bread will carry it really well. And it's only myself and Miss 1 who eat bread with dried fruits anyway and we don't mind a bit of wholemeal. I did not follow the recipe to the letter... and I rarely do. Here is the recipe as I made it. Treacle and Date bread: 250 g wholemeal flour 250 g strong white flour 20 g fresh yeast (or 3.5 tsp dried yeast) 50 g butter, cold and cubed 1 tsp fine sea salt 85 g dates, chopped (note: 100 g would be nice I think) approx 300 ml tepid water For some reason blogger wont let me write this recipe neatly on different lines. So bare with me....(as the ladies on the phone say). Rub butter into the flour and add salt (and dried yeast, if using). Mix your fresh yeast into a little of the water and add to the dry ingredients, then add more water until the dough comes together. Add the chopped dates and knead the dough until smooth. I did about 5 minutes. Form into a ball and leave to rise for 1 hour or when it has doubled in size. Then knock back gently by spreading the dough flat onto the worktop and fold the 'ends' in to the middle until it makes a round shape. Then turn it around and tuck the dough under itself to make a nice ball. Leave to prove for 30 minutes and score the bread so it has several diamond shapes. Bake at G7/ 220'C for about 30 minutes. This all depends on your oven. Mine needed to be turned down to G6/200'C half way through. Lovely as it is or with butter. Even after 3 days it was yummy. Some people has not quite got the hang of scoring yet: This bread is the plain white loaf (with some wholemeal in my case) from River Cottage. UK residents can view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc4lqdBiizM&list=SL (PS. Totally MUST have an outdoor pizza oven like that. First I need a garden though!) For every kg of flour, you need 10 g dried yeast (I used 20g fresh), 15 g sea salt and water to form a dough. Even though I mostly do stretch and fold, I did some good old kneading here and then left it to rise in the fridge overnight. Formed the loaves this morning before the school run and baked them when I came back. Simple and delicious. That people think it's hard to bake bread is a mystery to me. It seems like someone has had a slice of the bread to the left..I wonder who... :D

This bread is half strong white flour and half fine semolina. Didn't take note of how much I put in of what, but I reckon I used about 500 ml of water.

I hope to start a sourdough adventure when I come back from holiday.

Mushroom Stroganoff and baking joy

We had our wedding anniversary recently and we're both very keen on mushrooms and so the choice fell on a most delicious dish, Mushroom Stroganoff. I turned to my very favourite cookbook - Nigella's Feast - and to the tried and tested Mushroom Stroganoff recipe in the 'Meatless Feasts' Chapter. I didn't get the chance to take a photograph when it was all dished up, but took one as it was bubbling in my beloved Le Creuset buffet pan. You can find the recipe here: http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/mushroom-stroganoff-with-basmati-rice Next up is Floyd's Daily Bread: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/mydailybread Made with a poolish it has lovely flavour and the high hydration gives a great texture.

This is my favourite Focaccia from Ursula Ferrigno's Truly Italian. That book is a real gem and a must have for any lover of the Italian Cuisine in my opinion.

I first saw this cinnamon pull apart bread on Joy the Baker's blog. http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2011/03/cinnamon-sugar-pull-apart-bread/

I admit that I didn't follow her recipe, but used my usual sweet dough recipe and copied her way of layering the dough.. although to be fair, hers is a little bit prettier.. what can I say, I am a rustic baker! As usual I didn't pay attention to the order I uploaded the pictures, but I think you can see what is the finished product.

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Danish Tebirkes, A Vegetarian Lunch and Lebanese Pasta Bake

Tebirkes Some of you might have heard about Danish Tebirkes before, some of you might be introduced to them this very moment! Birkes in Danish are Poppy seeds which the breads are topped with. I didn't have any and I'm sure any Dane would tell me off if they knew. I don't really feel that bad about it. So what are they? Tebirkes are made from a dough that has cold butter folded into it and has thus a buttery and flaky taste and appearance. Much like croissants, but these are much easier to make. It's all made in one go and left to prove, then baked. I felt that there was something missing in this recipe which is why I will try to adapt it a bit and post it when I am happy with it. It's very easy to put together for a weekend breakfast and also freeze well if you should choose to do so. Indian-style Chaat

I love a traditional Channe Chaat (chickpea salad), but this particular day I did not have any chickpeas nor any tomatoes, so I had to improvise. If you have tomatoes, do add it because it really tastes nicey-nice.

1 400g can tinned blackeye beans

3 medium potatoes, cooked and cubed

1 avocado

1/2 red onion, sliced

2 tsp (or to taste) Chaat Masala (should be fairly easy to obtain)

Chilli powder (to taste)

Salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)

Juice of 1 small lemon

A handful of fresh coriander , chopped (optional)

Mix all the ingredients and and season to taste. I love eating this as a simple lunch. It is very easy to prepare, you just have to wait for the potatoes to cook, which can be hard if you are starving. This serves two adults. It can be kept in the fridge to the next day if you are eating alone (cover with clingfilm or else the smell will poison the rest of your fridge!).

Lebanese Pasta Bake with chicken and mushroom w. vegetarian option

We had some leftover roast chicken (as one has) and I wondered (as one does) what to do with it this time. Then I remembered a dish suggested by one of our Lebanese members @ www.throughtheovendoor.com and I decided to make it.

Basically, you make a roux and then add chickenstock and milk powder to make the sauce. Fry some mushrooms and add whichever spice you fancy (I really like thyme and parsley with mushrooms) and then season. Boil some pasta, tagliatelle is good, although this time I had farfalle. When it is al dente, drain and mix with the sauce along with fried mushrooms and shredded cooked chicken. Top with a generous grating of parmesan and bake at 200'C/Gas 6 for 30 minutes. I haven't specified quantities, but it all depends on how much leftover chicken you've got and how many you are cooking for.

I would quite like this as a vegetarian dish too, which I am intending to try. I am thinking.. obviously swap chicken stock for vegetable stock, perhaps griddle or grill some vegetables, such as courgettes, aubergine and peppers (You might have had roast vegetables earlier that you need to use up?) and add a generous amount of mushrooms, and parmesan-style cheese. If you belong to the meat-substitute-quorn-eating group, then you could always try it with chicken-style quorn pieces. Although I think it would taste fab with vegetables.

Some of the pictures in the wrong order.. I will try to upload them reverse to how I intend to post next time.