Sardinian carta da musica

Ingredients:
140g strong white flour
60g yellow semolina
1/2 tsp salt
125ml lukewarm water
1 teaspoon fresh yeast or teaspoon of dried active yeast or half a sachet of fast action yeast

Method:
1. Measure the water and stir in the yeast until it’s dissolved. Place the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and add the yeast liquid.

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, starting with the yeast, cutting through the dough. 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 stretching the dough out, folding it over, stretching it out and so on and so forth. Do this until it is smooth – or until you get fed up!

4. Divide the dough into 8 pieces, using the side of your hand to cut through the dough. This has the effect of forming the dough into rolls as you cut.

5. Roll these out as thinly as possible and leave to prove on some baking parchment until the dough is risen and puffy.

6. Switch the oven on to 240C and bake for about 10 minutes, checking after 5, and turning them if necessary to make sure they are cooked evenly. They should puff up like balloons.

Note:
I've found the best way to bake these is to have a heavy metal tray heated in the oven to act as a bakestone. Have the baking parchment with the dough on top of an upturned baking sheet, then slide the baking parchment onto the hot tray. You'll probably have to bake these in batches.

Ariannina, on the BBC Food board (whose mother is Sardinian), made some suggestions about possible uses for these breads, one of which was Pane Frattau – it was complete surprise, and absolutely gorgeous. One I have done often, since.

Thanks, Ariannina!

Tarte Alsace

From the Alsace region of France comes this French version of a pizza. Otherwise known as Tarte Flambe - but only, IMO, if it is flashed in a wood-fired oven! The original recipe calls for lardons of bacon where I've used tomatoes or mushrooms.

(This amount of dough will make 2 tarts 45cm by 30 or 4 tarts 30cm by 25)

Ingredients:

400g (or 2 mugs) strong white flour

1/2 tsp salt

250ml (or 2/3rds of a mug) lukewarm water plus 1 teaspoon yeast

For the topping:

200g tub creme fraiche (or Philadelphia or other soft cheese)

2 medium-sized onions, thinly sliced 
6-8 medium tomatoes or mushrooms and black pepper

Method:

1. Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Measure the water, stir in the yeast until it dissolves, then add the yeast liquid to the flour.

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 (starting with the yeast first, to dissolve it properly), cutting through the dough. 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 stretching the dough out, folding it over, stretching it out and so on and so forth. Do this until it is smooth – and stop before you get fed up!

4. Divide your dough according to the size of your baking sheets and form each piece gently into a cob shape. Roll out each portion of dough very thinly, flouring the worktop and the dough, to the size of the baking sheet.

5. Prepare the topping (the dough will be rising while you do this). Slice the onions very thinly and the tomatoes or mushrooms not quite so thin.

6. Place each rolled out piece of dough onto a prepared baking sheet. Spread each tarte with creme fraiche (or the soft cheese), cover with the sliced onions then place the tomato or mushrooms on top, followed by black pepper to taste.

7. Leave to prove until the dough is risen and puffy, then bake in a hot oven 230C, 450F or gas mark 8 for between 10-15 minutes. Check after about 8 minutes and turn round in the oven if  necessary. To check if they are finished lift up the side with a spatula to check the bottom is beginning to get some colour. The whole side of the tarte should lift up together.

These are best eaten straight away, but if you have some left over, it will freeze well. Reheat in a low oven for 8-10 minutes - or in a dry frying pan for a few minutes.

My top recipe for students

Bread – and pizza is a type of bread - is perhaps the easiest thing you can make in your kitchen. It only requires four ingredients – three, if you discount the salt, which is not strictly necessary. These three – flour, water and yeast - when mixed and kneaded, left to rise for a while, and baked will result in something wonderful!

Once you’ve made this pizza, there’ll be no turning back! Home-made pizzas taste far and away better than bought ones – and this one will cost you less than a packet of own-brand flour. (A young friend of mine swears she financed half her social life by selling her pizzas to fellow students whilst away at university!)

If you're using a mug, use a standard coffee mug for this recipe - but any old cup or mug will do; just make sure you use the same container for measuring the flour and the liquid. Really, this recipe is all about the base - once you've rolled it out, in truth, you can put virtually anything on it. But more than that, once you've made this pizza dough, it can be turned into a whole range of other breads. At the end of this recipe, I'll list a few and link to them. I'll add more as I get time.

Basic cheese and tomato pizza (with variations)

Ingredients:

200g (1 mug) strong white flour

1/4 tsp salt (optional)

125ml (1/3^rd mug) lukewarm water

1 teaspoon of any sort of yeast, stirred in the water until it is dissolved

Splash of olive oil (optional)

Topping:

Tomato topping – passata, 1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes or similar

100g Cheddar cheese grated

Method:

1. Place flour and salt (if using) into a mixing bowl. Measure the water in the same mug and add the yeast. Stir to dissolve then add to the flour. Pour the olive oil into the water in the bowl.

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 your fingers. Stir round in big circles, pulling the flour off the sides of the bowls into the middle. 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, stretching it out and so on and so forth.

4. Form the dough into a round bap shape. Have plenty of flour to hand and scatter flour over the dough and worktop. With a rolling pin, roll it into a circle around  25-30cm (10-12”) across. Keep turning the dough around and refreshing the flour. Place the rolled out dough onto a tray lined with baking parchment (baking paper).

5. Pour the tomato topping over the pizza and spread it out with the back of a spoon, leaving it 1cm or half and inch from the edge. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the tomato, and leave to rise.

6. When the dough at the edge of the pizza has become puffy, place in a hot oven - the hotter the better - for 10-15 minutes, checking after 8. When they're done the pizza will lift up all along one side when you check underneath, using a palette knife. The bottom should be browning from the edges.

To get a crisp bottom to the pizzas, there are several things you can do:

• Make sure you keep the wet topping away from the edges – and don’t overload the pizza;

• Have a heavy metal tray at the bottom of the oven to use as a pizza stone. If you do this, have your pizzas on baking parchment on an up-turned tray – then you can just slide the pizzas into the oven.

• Finish them off in a large, dry, frying pan.

Variations:
Use slices of cooked potato (new potatoes are nice) instead of tomato - and sprinkle the cheese with a strong herb such as rosemary or oregano.
Cover the base with a soft cheese such as Philadelphia, then thinly sliced onions, then chopped bacon bits - or sliced tomatoes or mushrooms.

The dough for this can also be used in many other ways - here's a couple of suggestions:
Sizzlers: divide the dough into four, roll each out into a circle, place a line of sliced tomatoes, mushrooms or onions across the circle and sprinkle with grated cheese. Then fold the sides over the top, place on a baking sheet and leave to rise.

Sausage and mustard parcels: Divide the dough into 6 pieces; flatten each piece out and wrap it round half a frankfurter or similar (I use vegan sausages) with a smear of wholegrain mustard.

Pasties: again, roll out 4 circles of dough, and place your chosen filling in the middle (mashed potato and cheese is good - perhaps with some onion, and maybe a teaspoon of curry powder). Bring one side over to the other and seal all the way round.

(More recipes to come based on this pizza dough)

Breadmaking courses Autumn 2011

I have two courses running in the Autumn - both at far-flung places (for me!).

Essential Breadmaking Made Easy (First Steps) at:

Burnham  - Mon 19th Sept 19:00-21:00 for 5 weeks; and

Williton - Tues 15th Nov 13:00-15:00 for 5 weeks.

I'm also running pizza-making workshops for the youngsters of Halcon, Taunton, every Wednesday morning through the summer holidays in the wonderful new wood-fired dragon (I mean oven!).

Just heard the Burnham course is going ahead - 6 have enrolled, so there's still room for a couple more!

Celebration (Birthday) loaves

I've decided to make a couple of 'Birthday loaves' for some friends of mine (twins) who've reached the grand old age of 70.

It's going to be a richer version of my Christmas loaf, and to that end I've been soaking some dried apricots in Benedictine for the past fortnight.


Here's the story as it unfolded over last Friday and Saturday, beginning at 10.00am on Friday:

About the loaf, as well as the soaked apricots it will contain red and yellow cherries, some angelica and yellow marzipan.

I've run into a little trouble, I'm afraid. None that I can't get out of, but it's going to require some time and effort!

I made up a dough with 200g of flour, plus sugar and spices and 125ml of yeast liquid, which I then allowed to prove - and it rose normally.

I wanted to add another 100g of flour plus liquid, so I boiled up 50ml of the Benedictine syrup - allowed to cool - and added both flour and liquid to the original dough - so far so good. I then added 370g of soaked apricots - forgetting that, when I kneaded these in, they would release more Benedictine into the dough. The consequence was that the dough then refused to rise.

Undaunted, I took another 10g of yeast, mixed it with a further 15g of water, added it to the dough and gave it a short knead. Then I left it to prove.

Then I did something I haven't done for years - I put the dough in a measuring jug so that I will be able to see the smallest rise if it occurs. It's now just after midnight and I'm going to leave it overnight on the worktop and see what happens. If there's no movement tomorrow morning, I shall repeat the adding yeast and water bit until I get some reaction. It will work, in the end, just a question of how long it takes! 

Oh, I've also taken Sue's suggestion (from the Wildfood thread) and added some Benedictine to the marzipan - tastes lush!

Well, the bread did rise a little overnight - from 750ml it went up to just under 1000ml - so there is some life in there.

Nevertheless I thought it better to add more yeast, so I dissolved 10g of yeast in 10ml of water and kneaded it carefully into the dough. I didn't see much movement over the next hour or so, so I've now put it back in the jug and placed it in the microwave with a mug of boiling water.

The dough levelled out at 900ml, so I'll see what it's like in another hour.

I kept the dough in the jug with a mug of hot water most of the afternoon - and eventually I saw a rise! It went from 900ml to 1000ml - and stuck!

By this time I'd decided on some more drastic action - I'd add another 150g of flour to the mix, with some yeast, and see if that wouldn't get it going. With a bigger dough I needed some more dried fruit so I placed 50g of sultanas and 50g of chopped prunes into a bowl, covered it with water and microwaved it for a couple of minutes. Then I put the jug of dough back in the microwave along with the bowl of dried fruit. More in hope than expectation.

I made a 'sponge' with 150g of flour and 60ml of water, plus 15g of yeast and left it until this evening.

When I came to mix it altogether I thought about taking all the apricots out of the dough and just folding them back in - which is what I should have done in the first place!

This took me about 25 minutes and I rescued the grand total of 281 pieces of apricots - ranging in size from miniscule to about a quarter of an apricot.

Then I mixed the dough in with the sponge, the rest of the flour and the sultanas and prunes (by which time they had increased in weight to 170g).

Once again I'd made a rod for my own back by including the prunes! As I kneaded the dough, and it needed a lot of kneading to mix the two doughs together, the prunes kept releasing liquid, making the dough really sticky. I added a further 60g of flour trying to counteract this and come up with a manageable dough.

Once I'd mixed up the dough to a reasonable consistency, I placed it in the oven with a dish of boiling water.

I've just checked it, after 40 minutes - and it's at least doubled in size! So I know I'm on the right track at last! Phew!

All I have to do now is to fold in the alcoholic apricots, gently, and let it rise again. If that works  I can go ahead and shape the loaves - I've got enough dough for 3 instead of the 2 I originally planned! 

Well, that's just what I did.

I folded in the apricots - very gently, no kneading! - and stuck it in the oven with some more hot water. After 25 minutes it was well on its way to doubling in size. So I could now go ahead and shape the loaves!

I weighed the dough, which came to 1340g, and divided it into three and rolled the pieces out into circles.

I spread the soft marzipan/Benedictine mixture across the middle of two of the circles (these were for my friends) and placed a rope of plain marzipan across the third (mine). Then I placed red and yellow cherries with angelica over the top of the marzipan on two of the circles - on the third one I just put some red cherries next to the marzipan.

The smaller loaf is the surplus one, I didn't have enough angelica and yellow cherries, so it's not as fancy as the other two. 

Then I rolled the dough over and tucked in the ends. I placed 3 cherries on top of two of the loaves and 2 on the top of mine - just so I don't get them mixed up.

Ready to go into the oven

I brushed the loaves with soya cream and left the loaves to rise, which they did pretty quickly, and baked them for about 35 minutes at 175C. By the time I'd finished all this it was 1.45am - I was well and truly knackered!

The finished article(s). It's ironic that the neatest loaf is mine - but I'm sure they'll all be very tasty

This morning I brushed them all with a sugar glaze, wrapped them in baking parchment and a plastic bag and put them in the freezer. One of my friends lives locally, but he's on holiday ATM, so I'll deliver it when he returns.  I'll have to post the loaf to his twin - perhaps tomorrow. The third one awaits the arrival of my mother-in-law, this coming Thursday.

This was an interesting project and I learned a lot - as usual with me the learning was mainly through trial and error. (It's a good job I love breadmaking or I might easily have lost interest halfway through!)

What lessons have I learned? When using fruit which has been soaked in alcohol, just fold in the fruit - don't attempt to knead it in. Really soft fruit, such as soaked prunes should also be folded in carefully. And, when using marzipan and alcohol mixed together, make sure you seal it in the loaf properly. I'm afraid it leaked out onto the floor of the oven and made a right mess! 


I'd love to see how these loaves look when they're cut open, so I'll ask the twins if they can take a pic. Or I'll make sure I deliver the local one personally - and hope for a slice!

Chocolate and beetroot bread

Ingredients:

200g strong white flour (or 50:50 white and wholemeal)

2 dessertspoons sugar - any sort

1 dessertspoon cocoa powder

1 medium or large cooked beetroot, grated

125ml lukewarm liquid including

1 dessertspoon fresh yeast
2 tbs olive oil

Plus:

50-75g roughly chopped vegan chocolate 

And:

1 teaspoon sugar and 2 of hot water for a sugar glaze

Method:

1. Place dry ingredients and the grated beetroot in a large mixing bowl. Stir to mix them evenly. Place the yeast in a well in the flour, then pour the water over the yeast to start it dissolving and add the olive oil.

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). Stir the yeast, then the rest of the ingredients, with a table knife or similar, 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 stretching the dough out, folding it over, stretching it out and so on and so forth. Do this until it is smooth – or until you get fed up!

4. Leave to prove for about an hour on your worktop, covered with a dry tea towel. Or place in an oiled plastic bag until you are ready for step 5.

5. Press the dough out into a circle on your worktop and sprinkle the chocolate over it. Roll the dough up, enclosing the chocolate and knead gently to distribute the chocolate through the dough.

6. Shape the loaf by pulling up the dough at the sides with your fingertips and pushing it down in the middle; do that all round the dough. This will have the effect of smoothing the underneath of the dough. Then turn it over and shape it into a round.

7. Leave to prove until it has risen appreciably. Then bake at 220C, 425F or gas mark 7 for between 15-20 minutes. It is done when it is browned underneath. If your oven is browning the top of the loaf too fast, cover with foil or baking parchment.

8. Place on a cooling tray and brush with a sugar glaze made with 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2 teaspoons hot water.

The last one I made I used 110g of grated beetroot (just to finish up the pack). The resultant bread was soft and spongy – almost like a sponge cake in texture. When you think it only contains a little olive oil, it’s a healthy alternative to a Victoria sponge.

Note:
I've taken the comment from below and incorporated some chocolate into the bread - just lifts a little! :)

Socca (gram flour 'pancakes') vegan and gluten-free

[Other variations on socca - faina/farinata.]

Friday 26th August.
Had this again for dinner with a filling of lentils and mushrooms - and then I had a socca pudding!


100g gram flour
235g water
1/4 tsp salt


I cooked a small pancake and dusted it with sugar. Meanwhile I'd blitzed some strawberries and raspberries with a little sugar in the microwave. Using a slotted spoon I placed the fruit down the middle of the pancake then placed slices of vegan ice cream (Swedish glace chocolate ice cream) over the top of the fruit. Then I lifted the sides of the pancake over the filling and, with some difficulty, scooped it up and onto a plate. I then drizzled the fruit 'couli' over  the dish and served it up.


Very nice indeed!


TBH, the pancake fell apart quite a bit whilst maneuvering it around. On reflection I should have:
Oiled the pan a bit more, so the spatula would slide underneath easier;
Allowed the pancake to cook a little longer so it would keep its shape better;
Used a spatula on both sides to lift it out.


But there's no getting away from the fact that this is a very nice pud indeed!


Saturday 20th August.
Following a conversation with a friend whose daughter is on a fat-restricted, gluten-free diet, I tried this recipe without the oil - and found absolutely no difference. That's not quite true, I found it held together slightly better without the oil! (I've taken some pics which I'll post soon.)


I shall start another thread on 'Received wisdoms - batters and pancakes' on the BBC Food board shortly - I make some lovely vegan pancakes without either eggs or milk. (I started a similar thread recently questioning the use of butter and eggs in sponge cakes.)


27th May 2011.
Made this again today, substituting 20g of oatmeal for some gram flour and once again it was lovely. Only difference is you need to keep stirring the batter as the oatmeal tends to settle.


17th October 2010.
I came across this blog today, with a recipe for this bread very similar to the one I made yesterday:


I used:
100g gram flour
1 teaspoon Marigold bouillon powder
225ml water
20ml olive oil


I blitzed this for a couple of seconds, and poured in enough to make a 20cm pancake. I did think the batter was very thin, but, no, it was just right.


Then I placed some curried lentil and cabbage (that I’d had sitting on the stove) on one side of it, and folded it over like an omelette, and cooked it a bit more.

I have to tell you it was absolutely wonderful! The combination of flavours was just perfect!

For lunch I made the recipe I intended to make last night – I finely chopped 3 s-d-toms and some ‘Misto funghi’ from Lidl, stirred them into the batter and made a pancake with the mix. After a couple of minutes I turned it over, since I wasn’t sure the middle was done on top. I had this with some fried tomatoes and, once again it was lovely! 


Tonight I repeated the lentil-filled omelette, but this time I took a couple of pics:

Gorgeous, just gorgeous!

Home made vegan chocolate spread

I've been meaning to have a go at this for ages. So often I make a bread with chocolate spread - and I can't eat it because it isn't vegan.


I googled several recipes and got an idea of what I could use. Most were about making a nutella-type spread, using a food processor - which I don't have, but it gave me the basis. In the end, by adding a bit of this and a bit of that, I ended up with these ingredients:

100g soya cream
50g olive oil
55g cocoa powder
55g icing sugar

I blitzed the cream and oil together and added most of the dry ingredients - then I stirred in a dessertspoon of each until I finished up with a thick spread. I've got this in a jar and we'll see how much of this I use in the morning.


I used just over half in making a chocolate and cherry swirl loaf [recipe and pics to come].


I took the jar into work the next day and invited three friends to taste the spread. Two of them said that while it was very nice, there was an underlying 'off-flavour' they detected, which I put down to the olive oil. However, when the other friend - a chef - tasted it, she only said it was too chocolaty for her.


Both these problems are easily solved - firstly by using a bland vegetable oil, such as sunflower oil instead of the olive oil, and secondly by adjusting the amount of cocoa powder.


It's now firmly established in my repertoire - and I shall play with the ingredients no doubt every time I make it.


One thing I will try next time is to add some ground almonds I found lurking in the cupboard - then it will be my own version of nutella!

Ciabatta

Ingredients:

300g strong white flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

250ml lukewarm water with 1 rounded teaspoon fresh yeast

2-4 tablespoons olive oil

Plus, if desired:

1 dessertspoon each, sun-dried tomato paste and pesto; 25-50g sun-dried tomatoes (in olive oil) chopped; and 25-50g olives, halved. Use all, or any, or none of these. If using, add them with the olive oil and liquid.

Method:

1. Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. When the yeast liquid is ready, add to the mix and pour the olive oil into the liquid. This dough is mixed and beaten entirely in the mixing bowl and should be halfway between a dough and a batter. Have some extra water to hand to add if necessary, to achieve this. Mix by holding the bowl with one hand and stirring the ingredients together with the fingers of the other. Beat the dough for two or three minutes –as vigorously as you can!

2. Cover with a dry tea towel and check after about ten minutes. It should not have spread out too much in the bowl – if it has, beat in another 25g of flour. Leave the dough, covered, for about another hour. If you intend leaving it longer than that - and you can leave it all day if you wish - place the bowl inside an oiled plastic bag.

3. When you are ready to proceed, don't knock the dough back, but scrape it carefully out onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Don't worry about the final shape; it should be fairly rough looking. However, you can smooth it out a little with wet fingers, if you wish.

4. Leave it to recover – it should have risen appreciably from when you first began proving. Bake at 220C, 425F or gas mark 7 for between 20-25 minutes.

5. Look for some colour underneath to see that it is done.

The wetter this is, the more it spreads out on the baking sheet, and the less wet it is, the more it will stand up. You may need to try this several times to get the right consistency – but anyway this turns out, it’s a tasty loaf!

Ciabatta is a technique as much as anything. I think it’s one of the easiest breads to make. Try a ciabatta fruit loaf with chopped dried apricots, chopped walnuts and a little nutmeg.