HOME-MADE RED TABLE WINE

[The full recipe is further down this post]



9th April 2013
I'm just about to start another batch of this wine - I've still got loads of cherries in the freezer I need to use up to make room for this year's crop. Hard to believe that'll be in about 3 months!

2nd October 2011
I started the wine on Saturday - 6 months since I made my last batch,  this should last me until Christmas at least! - and I put together 25ltrs of stout last night. The wine is pretty much to the recipe, except that I've included 1kg of Morello cherries. I picked 4kg back in July, so I've got plenty left back in the freezer.


4th April 2011 - my latest batch.


The recipe is as below, with 500g mixed frozen morello cherries and blackberries plus a jar of morello cherries. The must had an SG of about 83.

Here's the fermentation after only 12 hours. I used to tie a knot in the bag, but now I just drape it over loosely.

On the 8th of April, 4 days later, I made it up to 5 gallons. I took the bag out, squeezed as much juice out of it as I could, then poured the must into a large bowl. I washed out the fermentation bucket then added a couple of kettles of boiling water to 4kg of sugar and added cold water up to 4 gallons. At this point I washed the nylon bag of fruit in the sugar water, to get as much colour as possible in the wine, squeezed the bag out again and topped it up to 5 gallons. Halfway through adding the water I also added 5 teaspoons of yeast nutrient.


I left it in the bucket for 24 hours, in case the wine fobbed up. Before racking into a cubitainer - sealed with cling film - I took this pic of the fermentation, which I found quite unusual. Half of the surface was covered with bubbles, whilst the other half was a churning - well, maelstrom's perhaps too strong a word, but it was certainly seething with activity.

Now the wine is safe in its cubitainer - I'll check it in about two weeks.

Checked the SG today - and it was 988! Result! The best I have done in several years. It has cleared nicely and tastes great - hard to believe it's only 23 days old!

If I didn't have about 6 litres of my last batch left, I'd happily drink this with a meal.

Equipment:
Large (25L) fermentation bucket
Nylon straining bag
2 metres siphon tube
4 or 5 demijohns
5 solid bungs
25 Litre Fermenter with Large Cap, Bung & Airlock

Basic red table wine

I've been using this recipe for over 30 years. All I ever set out to do was make a drinkable red table wine of about 12%, and this is it.

Ingredients:
250g of dried elderberries
1 kilo tin of red grape concentrate – you can get various types. The one I’m using now is a Rich Red Italian concentrate
500g of one other red(dish) fruit. Morello cherries, blackcurrants, blackberries or whatever you like. If I’ve no fresh fruit I’ll use a large jar of morellos or bilberries.
4kg granulated sugar
Wine yeast

Method:
Place cherries or blackberries in a nylon straining bag and add elderberries. Put the bag in a 5gal fermentation bucket (with lid) and pour a kettle of boiling water over the fruit. Add grape concentrate and sufficient cold or hot water to make a lukewarm liquid up to the one gallon mark. (Rinsing out the concentrate tin as you do so.) This should bring the specific gravity (SG) to around 1080 (80 for short), which is the optimum SG for starting a wine off.

Add the yeast as per instructions on the tub. Mine says to sprinkle 2 teaspoons onto the liquid and stir. Put the lid (tight-fitting) on the bucket and leave it for around 4-5 days in a warm place. (I use a corner in my kitchen year-round.)

When you’re ready to make up to 5 gals, take out the bag of fruit, squeezing some juice out as you do so. Place on a dinner plate or similar. Pour the liquid (must) into another container (I use a 4litre mixing bowl). Rinse out the 5gal bucket and place 2 kg sugar in the bottom. Pour over a jug of boiling water and stir to dissolve. Add two more kg of sugar and another kettle of boiling water. Stir to dissolve then add cold water up to the 4 gallon mark.

If you want to get a bit more colour in your wine, dip the bag of fruit in the sugar water and squeeze it a few times. Take out the fruit and pour the must into the bucket then make up to 5 gallons. Add 5 tsps of yeast nutrient and stir. Replace the lid and leave for 24 hours. (I do this because I’ve found if I put it into straight into the fermentation vessel it sometimes fobs up and makes a right mess!)

Now you need to transfer it (rack it) into the fermentation vessel (which must be airtight). I use an old sherry container which I’ve had for thirty years. I don’t use a ‘bubbler’, instead I cover the hole with cling film held by a rubber band.
It stays in this container for 30 days – in somewhere warm if you’ve got a place – I just leave it in my kitchen under the breakfast bar. After 30 days it should have bottomed out at somewhere between SG990 and 994 and be clearing nicely. At this stage I rack the wine into demijohns – once again sealed with cling film – and 2ltr lemonade bottles. It’s drinkable after about 28 days from the start, with a meal, and it just gets better and better. Just when it reaches its peak, unfortunately, you run out!

I haven’t talked about sterilisation yet:
All equipment used must be sterilised. You need to make a solution of MetaBiSulphite (MBS) and use this to clean everything that comes into contact with your wine. I keep a bottle made up in a cupboard and I make sure that all my empty demijohns, bucket, bottles, etc, are stored with a little of this in the bottom. I also suck a bit through my siphon tube before I use it.

MUSHROOM TEAR AND SHARE LOAF

The veg shop didn't have any field mushrooms which I needed for Sunday dinner - I was planning to make stuffed mushrooms en croute.

Instead I decided to experiment with some smaller mushrooms in a loaf.

First of all I made a bread dough - 200g strong brown flour - with tomato puree, dessertspoon soy sauce, teaspoon mixed herbs, teaspoon curry powder , 4 s-d-tomatoes chopped small plus 30g sunflower oil from the s-d-tomatoes. Then I de-stalked 8 mushrooms and cut out a little of the insides, to enable me to include more stuffing.

I divided the dough into 8 pieces, and rolled them out into circles, nicking three triangles out of the dough to help me shape them better:

The dough is then 'cupped' around the underneath of each mushroom

The largest mushroom was placed in the middle, with the others around it:

The parcel at the top was made from the triangles cut from each circle of dough and contains the trimmings scraped from the inside of the mushrooms, with a little mushroom pate and a teaspoon of nutritional yeast 

Then each mushroom was stuffed with a mixture of mushroom pate (Pateole yeast spread - highly recommended!), vegan pesto and tomato puree with a little cayenne pepper mixed in:

The dough is already rising. You can tell I began with the centre one, followed by the one at nine o'clock and so on

The bread was then put to prove for a little while and baked for 20 minutes at 200C:

And served

As you've probably gathered by now, this was in the way of an experiment.

Conclusions:
This was very tasty, indeed, BUT - I have to say the bread was very doughy and undercooked. There was too much bread and not enough filling. Next time I'll use bigger mushrooms and make the dough a lot thinner. Possibly reducing the amount of flour to 150g. And i'll bake it at 180C.

HOT CROSS BUNS (Spicy fruit buns)

Ingredients:
400g (or 2 mugs) strong white flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp each mixed spice, cinnamon and nutmeg

200g (or 1 mug) dried fruit (currants, sultanas or raisins)

1 dessertspoon fresh yeast (or 1 teaspoon dried yeast and 1/2 tsp sugar)

250ml (or 2/3rds mug) lukewarm water

2 tablespoons olive oil (optional)

Topping:

When they come out of the oven, brush with a glaze made with 1 teaspoon sugar and 2 teaspoons boiling water.

Method:

1. Measure the water and stir in the fresh yeast. Place the flour, sugar, spice and dried fruit into a mixing bowl, pour in the yeast liquid, then add the olive oil.

(If using dried yeast, add to the liquid with the sugar, stir and leave for about five minutes. The liquid should foam up, when it's ready to be used. If it doesn't fob up, check the date on your yeast - it may be out of date.) 

2. Have a little water to hand to add if necessary. Remember, it is better for your dough to be wetter (slack) rather than drier (tight). Begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together with a knife, cutting through the dough as it forms. When it gets too stiff for the knife, use your hand to squeeze the mixture together. As it forms into a solid mass, keep turning it over and pressing it down to pick up the flour at the bottom of the bowl – but make sure it stays soft. Don’t be afraid to add more water to keep it soft! When all the flour has been mixed in, wipe the bowl around with the dough, turn it out onto the worktop and begin to knead.

3. Knead by flattening the dough out, folding it over and flattening it again. Knead until the dough becomes smooth – and then stop before you get fed up!

4. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and give yourself plenty of room on your worktop. Take one of the pieces in each hand and flatten them down with the palms of your hand. Keeping them pressed down, gently move them round in a circle. After a couple of circles, start to ease the pressure off. Still moving in circles, let your hands form a hollow shape. Gradually cup your hands and relax the pressure, whilst still making the circular movement. Your little finger and thumb should make contact in turn with the side of the roll as it tightens up. Ease off the pressure altogether, and you should have a couple of bun shapes! Place the buns either on greased bun trays or on oven trays lined with baking parchment.

5. If these are to be hot cross buns, press down on each one to flatten it slightly, then press a cross into it with the back of a knife. Cover with a teatowel.

6. When the buns have risen appreciably, bake at 220C, 425F or gas mark 7, for about 15 minutes. Check after about 10.

7. Whilst the buns are baking, mix 2 teaspoons of boiling water with a rounded teaspoon of sugar for a glaze (warm the jug and spoon first). When the buns are done brush them with the glaze straightaway. Place on a cooling rack.

Notes:

This is the basic, no-nonsense recipe. Play around with it as you will. Both the type and amounts of the fruit, spice, and sugar are just my suggestions. Increase or decrease - or change - them as you will.

To make a deluxe version of this recipe I would:
Double the amount of fruit and use a mixture of different fruits, such as chopped apricots, cranberries, etc. I would place all the fruit - including the mixed peel - in a jam jar, cover with red wine and leave in the fridge overnight - or for a couple of days. When I come to use the fruit I would drain off the wine - which is now a dessert wine - and drink it later.
Double the amount of spice.
Add some grated orange or lemon (or both).

(Having said all that, if my daughter's around, I have to make them with chocolate chips and leave out the spice! Kids, eh?)

I would also use the undercover (cloche) method to bake these buns. 5 minutes under the cover, then about 10-12 minutes with the cover removed.


When I used to make bread and buns for the Taunton WI shop (now called Country Shops) and friends, the buns I was able to make in the baker's ovens I used to borrow were absolutely superb. I was reminded of this when I met Pat and Colin in town this afternoon (20/1/11) - they used to be among my customers. 


These days, I can't make them as good using a domestic oven. However, you can get close to it by putting them undercover for the first few minutes of baking.

Listening to Women's Hour about 30 years ago I was intrigued to hear that the crosses on sweet buns pre-dated Christianity in Britain. Not being a Christian I was quite pleased to hear that!

You'll notice there's no pastry cross on my buns. They are a total waste of time IMO! When my (baker) dad made HCBs, it was my job, every hot cross bun day (the day before Good Friday), to stamp a cross in the top of each bun with a metal cutter. 24 to a tray, several trays to the batch.

When the buns came out of the oven, I had to give each one a sugar glaze.

For my labours I was allowed to eat one bun from each batch - and one year my dad made 13 batches!

Finally, a hot cross bun recipe is the basis for half a dozen or more other fruit breads, using different techniques. Check out this post - Now you've made Hot Cross Buns.

BREADMAKING IN WELLINGTON, FEB/MAR 2013

Wednesday 6th Mar 2013 
Focaccia, fougasse, pain au chocolat, jam doughnuts and iced buns in this session. Peter made the fougasse:

It's difficult to spread out the holes in the fougasse properly, since the oven trays are so small! Also in the pic are 2 jam doughnuts, 2 peitit pain au chocolat and two iced buns.

And the others all made focaccia:

Sallie’s focaccia and several of her buns. Sallie comes straight from work, so by this time in the evening, she’s ravenous!

Franks half-eaten focaccia with olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Plus his sweet buns.

A s-d-tomato and rosemary version 

Ben's (I think) rosemary focaccia

As you can see, I only remembered to take some pic pretty late in the session!

The three sweet varieties of bread are all made out of the same batch of dough. 

A comment from one of my students, Paul - "I've never known 2 hours to go past so quickly." :)

Wednesday 27th Feb 2013
Freeform loaves and Chelsea buns tonight - and already, it's evident that the students are no longer beginners! I did remember to take some pics, this time:

Frank getting to grips with a plait

A batch of Chelsea buns - seems to be missing one??

Cottage loaf - the gap at the bottom means it could have been left to prove for a little longer - but we're up against the clock! :(

A coburg loaf - sorry it's a bit blurred!

Another cottage loaf - lightly singed, I'm afraid

Ben's plait, I think...

...and Frank's

Wednesday 20th Feb 2013

A 5 week course began tonight, with 6 students - 5 of them new to breadmaking - made soda bread and fancy dinner rolls tonight. The other student had attended my course in Taunton and enjoyed it so much that he persuaded several of his friends to join him tonight.

I completely forgot about taking any pics, but all the bread turned out OK!

Th

5:2 RECIPES - CHILLI NON CARNE (VEGAN)

For anyone following the 5:2 WOE (way of eating), veggies are your friends! 

Basically this recipe is 6-800g of low calorie veg (whatever’s in season, mainly), with added red kidney beans. I have half of this with a diced vegan sausage plus a small baked potato and maybe some broccoli. The other half is for my second fast of the week - generally on a Wednesday.

In a small pan I put 2cms of water (I try and use saved vegetable cooking water) and a teaspoon of chili powder. Then I add, in no particular order, the chopped veg. Here’s what I used recently for my 2 fasting days:

155g celery - 12 cals
95g onion – 31 cals
115g cabbage – 15 cals
64g carrot -19 cals
100g cauli – 31 cals
115 mushrooms – 15 cals
200g red kidney beans – 254 cals (I cook 500g of dried r-k-beans, then freeze them, so I always have them to hand)
200g tinned tomatoes - 38 cals
10g bouillon powder – 24 cals
1 teaspoon chili powder - 8 cals
1 teaspoon mixed herbs - 0 cals

Total 450 calories. 

I measured this out onto two side plates (I use a side plate instead of a dinner plate these days) and it came to 7 large serving spoons – but I only used three yesterday, since that filled up the plate.

So, 450 divided by 7 = 65 - multiplied by 3 = 195 calories for the veg

To this I added a Fry’s vegan sausage, chopped into small pieces – 58 cals 
I had this with 120g microwaved potato – 86 cals

If you're not worried about calories, then I recommend seitan chunks instead of the sausages.

So my meal came to 339 calories - and I had it with a small glass of red wine (50g - 44 cals)

So, altogether the calorie count was well under 400 calories.

I vary the amount of r-k-beans depending on how many calories I have to play with. This dish works perfectly well with 100g of beans.

You could leave out the beans and sausage and make a very acceptable veg curry – I would probably fry the curry powder in a teaspoon of oil (16 cals)

I’m always full after this meal – especially if I have some broccoli with it.

Ps. I often use up the spare calories by having 100g of homemade stout before the meal - only 43 calories

5:2 DIET - VEGAN CARROT CAKE (134 cals/slice)

(For those who aren't sure what the 5:2 diet is, there's a great deal of info here on this thread)

Ingredients:

120g s/r flour

120g sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground ginger

80g grated carrots

40g vegetable oil
40g mashed banana

120ml water

Method:

•       Preheat the oven to 180C

•       Measure the flour, sugar, spices,carrot and walnuts - stir to distribute 

•       Add the oil, mashed banana and water to the mix and stir – initially with a large spoon or spatula, then with a whisk

•       Pour into an oiled and lined 18cm (7” inch) baking tin or cake tin

•       Put in the oven and cook for between 30-35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean

•       Leave on a cooling rack in the tin for ten minutes

•       Turn out on to the cooling tray

Calorie count:

120 flour = 355 x 1.2 = 426


120 sugar = 400 x 1.2 = 500


Spices = 6 + 3 + 4 = 13


40 oil = 900 x .4 = 360

40 banana = 38



Total= 1337

The cake weighed 424g after baking, so, dividing it into 10 pieces, each 42g piece will contain 134 calories

NAAN BREAD

Ingredients:

200g strong white flour

1/4 tsp salt

50g creamed coconut (grated)

25g black onion seeds

125ml yeast liquid, including 1 tsp fresh yeast

Sesame seeds for sprinkling

Splash of olive oil (optional)

Method:

1. Place the yeast in a measuring jug, add lukewarm water up to 125ml and stir to dissolve.

2. Measure the dry ingredients and place them in a large mixing bowl with the yeast liquid and oil if using. Have a little water to hand to add if necessary, remember, it is better for your dough to be wetter (slack) rather than drier (tight). Begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together with a table knife. When it gets too stiff for the knife, use one hand to turn the bowl round, whilst the other hand begins to squeeze the mixture together. Make sure the dough stays soft - don’t be afraid to add more water. When all the flour has been mixed in, wipe the bowl around with the dough, turn it out onto the worktop and begin to knead.

3. Knead by stretching the dough out, folding it over, stretching it out and so on and so forth. Do this until it is smooth – but stop before you get fed up!

4. Table naan: Roll out the dough into a large square. Place it on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, brush with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Leave to double in thickness.

5. Bake at 220C, 425F or gas mark 7 for 10-15 minutes. Check after 7-8 minutes. Turn it over if necessary to ensure the bottom is coloured enough.

Or:

4. Divide into 4 pieces and roll each piece out to about 10cm by 15cm (4" x 6"). Place on grill pan and leave to rise appreciably. Brush with oil or water and sprinkle with sesame seeds before grilling. Keep a close eye on them when grilling because they can swell up and begin to burn if you’re not careful. Turn over after 2 or 3 minutes, brushing them with oil once more. Go to step 5.

Notes:

I like the idea of a table naan with everyone tearing off a piece. With individual naans, I don’t bother with a teardrop shape – that comes from sticking the dough to the inside of a tandoori oven, which we don’t have.

Many recipes call for yoghurt, which I don’t use. If you wanted to use some, substitute, say, three tablespoons of yoghurt (possibly a bit more if the yoghurt's quite thick) for three of water.

Here are two other naan bread recipes - Peshwari naans and spicy fruit naans.

PESHWARI NAAN BREAD

Last night we had some friends over for an Indian meal – from our favourite Indian takeaway, The Miriam in Taunton.

I saw this as an excuse to make one of my favourite breads – a Peshwari naan.

I made it with yeast, took one third, and rolled it out to fit my cast-iron frying pan which I placed on a low heat (I figured we’d be eating this one quicker). I divided the remaining piece into three, rolled them out fairly thinly, and put them to prove. I turned the oven onto 220C.

After about ten minutes I turned the one in the frying pan over, increased the heat and cooked it for a further 4 minutes.

When the oven was warm I put the naan breads in for a brief minute to get a burst of heat. After a further ten minutes, they’d risen enough to go in the oven.

I gave them 6 minutes and turned them around on the baking tray so the outside of each naan was now facing inwards.

After another 6-7 minutes they were ready and the guests began to arrive.

They all agreed that the oven-baked ones were superior to the frying pan naan – which I put down to the fact that the oven-baked ones didn’t have to be turned over and were therefore lighter.

If I hadn’t been using the oven I would have started them in the frying pan and finished them off under the grill.

Here’s the recipe (which I increased by a half):

Peshwari naan
I use two different methods to make this – one of my most popular breads. I originally made it as a quick bread, using self-raising flour and done in a frying pan (baked in an oven it is not as moist). Now I often do it using a yeast risen dough, baked in the oven and also in a frying pan – both are good. Any dried fruit will do, but dried apricots - the unsulphured ones - make it special.

Quick bread recipe
Ingredients:
200g self-raising flour (or you can use plain flour with 2 tsps of baking powder mixed in – self raising flour’s just easier)
1/4 tsp salt
1 or 2 tsps curry powder
1 dsp sugar
50g grated creamed coconut
100g dried apricots, chopped small
Medium onion, finely chopped
125ml water
Olive oil

Method:
The secret of any quick bread is to have everything ready beforehand. So oil a large frying pan and put it on medium heat. Mix dried ingredients and measure liquids. When everything is ready, add the water and oil and stir it quickly into a dough. Be ready to add more water or flour if needed. Take it out, shape it into a flattened ball and, after flouring your worktop, roll out into a circle the size of your frying pan. Place it in the frying pan.
They should take about 4-5 minutes each side to bake. When the first one is ready, slide it onto a cooling rack, re-oil the frying pan and carefully place the second naan into it.

Yeast bread recipe
Ingredients:
200g strong white flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 or 2 tsps curry powder
1 dsp sugar
50g creamed coconut (grated)
100g dried apricots, chopped small
Medium onion, finely chopped
1 dsp fresh yeast
125ml lukewarm water
Splash of olive oil

Method:
Place dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Pour the lukewarm water over the yeast and stir to dissolve. Add the olive oil. Mix into a dough, adding more water if needed. Knead for about a minute or so to distribute the ingredients properly.
Using the frying pan, follow the instructions as above.
Oven baked, roll out to a size that will fit your baking sheet, place on the lined baking sheet and leave until the dough becomes puffy.

Bake at 200c/425F or gas 7 for approximately 12 minutes. Check for some colour underneath to see if it is cooked properly.

Note:
I make a version of this, 'Spicy fruit naan', (incl. pic) which I have daily for breakfast, spread with mashed banana.