Tarte flambée

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

Ingredients:

400g strong white flour

1/2 tsp salt

250ml water including 1 teaspoon fresh yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)

For the topping:

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

2 medium-sized onions, thinly sliced

8-12 sun-dried tomatoes (preferably soaked in oil) cut into strips

6-8 medium tomatoes or mushrooms

Black pepper

Method:

1. Measure the water and stir in the fresh yeast. Place the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, pour in the yeast liquid, then add the olive oil if using.

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 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 quite 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 s-d-tomatoes and fresh 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.

8. 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.

Bagels

Ingredients:

400g strong white flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh yeast

250ml lukewarm water

2 tablespoons olive oil

Method:

1. Measure the water and stir in the fresh yeast. Place the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, pour in the yeast liquid 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). 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. If the dough is too sticky, instead of putting extra flour on your worktop, place some in the bowl, put the dough back in and turn it round to coat it all over. That way you keep the flour under control and you won’t be tempted to add too much. Knead until the dough becomes smooth – and then stop before you get fed up!

4. When you are ready to proceed, put a large pan of water on to boil, about 5-6cm deep and put the oven on at 220C, 425F or gas 7. Place the dough onto your worktop and either divide it into 12 pieces (for large bagels) or 16 pieces (for medium sized ones).

5. Form each piece into a bun shape and make a hole in the centre. The hole needs to be at least three times the thickness of the dough, otherwise the hole will close up – and you’ll just have a dimpled roll! Start by pushing your finger through each one, gradually enlarging the hole until it is wide enough to put two fingers in from each side – and keep going. Another fun way to enlarge the hole is to put one on the floured worktop, put your finger in the hole and gently ‘whizz’ it around. Good for kids (and I confess I haven’t grown up yet, so I enjoy this method!). Place on a floured chopping board.

6. Let them rise for a little while until you see that they’ve increased slightly in size. Take your bagels over to the pan of water. With the water just simmering, gently lower several bagels into the water, one at a time. Don’t overcrowd the pan because the bagels will plump out considerably in the hot water.

7. Using an egg slice, flip the bagels over after a minute or two (wet the side of the pan first, so they don’t stick). Give them a minute or two on that side then take them out, place them on a prepared baking sheet and put them straight into the oven.

8. Now bring the water back to the simmer and repeat with the rest of the bagels. The bagels are done when they are brown underneath.

Variations:

Like a lot of bread recipes (ciabatta springs to mind), bagels are a technique as well as being a bread in its own right. Many different recipes can be converted to bagels, starting with a spicy fruit bun recipe 

Fruit braid

Ingredients:

200g (or 1 mug) strong white flour

2 dessertspoons sugar

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

1 teaspoon yeast (any sort)

2 tablepoons olive oil

For the filling:

1 large or two medium Bramley apples, diced

100g (1/2 mug) sultanas

2 dessertspoon sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix the fruit, sugar and spice together

Glaze: Make a glaze with a teaspoon of sugar and a dessertspoon of hot water.

Method:

1. Measure the water and stir in the fresh yeast. Place the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl, pour in the yeast liquid, then 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). 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. If the dough is too sticky, instead of putting extra flour on your worktop, place some in the bowl, put the dough back in and turn it round to coat it all over. That way you keep the flour under control and you won’t be tempted to add too much. Knead until the dough becomes smooth – and then stop before you get fed up!
4. Shape the dough into a round and roll it out into a 25cm square, roughly. 
5. Spread the filling down the middle of the square– and cut each side cut into strips. Fold the top and bottom of the bread over the filling, then braid the strips over the top of the fruit. 
6. Leave to rise until the dough has grown puffy, then bake for 15 minutes at 220C (425F, gas mark 7). Check by lifting the edge of the braid with a palette knife - the bottom should be browning. Brush with the sugar glaze.
7. Either eat straight away with cream, custard or ice-cream, or wait until it is cold and slice and eat as a cake. 

Variation:

Make this as a sweet focaccia – roll the dough out into a circle about 20cm across and spread with the topping.


These breads in the picture were made by my special needs students - with a little help from me.


[Note: I hate blogging! In the draft this recipe has no spaces between the title and the text, and  each step is numbered - no idea where the flowers came from!:(]

Seitan

Latest effort on the seitan front (much more info here.)

300g veg curry, blitzed to a lumpy liquid + 150g gluten powder.

Mixed to a dough – about a minute.

I cut off enough dough (150g) to shape into a cutlet and put the rest into a small casserole dish which I baked at 220C for 60 minutes. The rest of the dough I flattened out into a cutlet about 12-13cm across. This I fried for about 5 minutes on each side.

I had the cutlet with some pan-fried potato wedges and some vegetable curry.

The rest of the seitan (260g) I shall chop into chunks - for stews, chilli non carne, etc - and I shall also mince some for a bolognaise sauce, etc.

Here it is:

Peshwari naan bread

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 equally good. Any dried fruit will do, but apricots are my favourite - the dark, unsulphured ones, of course.

Yoghurt is fairly traditional in this recipe, but as I'm a vegan I don't use it. If you wanted to use some yoghurt as part of the liquid you may need to add a little more liquid - depending on how thick the yoghurt is.

Similarly, almonds are often used in this recipe - but I'm not a fan.

Once again, this is a recipe that anyone can play around with - just use the ingredients that suit you.

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 or 2 tsps curry powder
1 dsp sugar
50g grated creamed coconut
100g dried apricots, quartered
Medium onion, finely chopped
125ml water
Splash of olive oil (optional)l

Method:
The secret of any quick bread is to have everything ready beforehand and work quickly. So oil a large frying pan and put it on a low 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 and increase the heat to medium.
They should take about 4-5 minutes each side to bake.

Yeast bread recipe

Ingredients:
200g strong white flour
1 or 2 tsps curry powder
1 dsp sugar
50g creamed coconut (grated)
100g dried apricots, quartered
Medium onion, finely chopped
1 dsp fresh yeast
125ml lukewarm water
Splash of olive oil (optional)

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.

Cornbread with roasted peppers

Cornbread is one of the breads I don't make often enough!

I made this recently with some friends in a local care home - so I had to go easy with the chilli, otherwise I'd have included more.

I used a jar of roasted peppers from Aldi.

Ingredients:
125g strong white flour
75g polenta or maizemeal
1/2 veggie Oxo cube
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 dsp fresh yeast
125ml lukewarm water
Splash of the oil from the roasted peppers

Plus, 50g or so chopped red and yellow roasted peppers (folded into the dough)

Method:
Measure the water and stir in the yeast until it has dissolved. Place the flour, crumbled stock cube and chilli powder into a mixing bowl. Stir the dry ingredients to mix them and prevent any streaky bits in the bread, then pour in the yeast liquid and add the oil.

MIx into a soft dough and knead only until it is smooth.

To add the peppers, press the dough out flat and spread the peppers over. Roll up the dough and gently knead it a few times to mix the peppers through.

Shape it into a round and place on an oiled baking sheet or one lined with baking parchment and make some deep cuts in dough - to expose the peppers - in a pattern of your choosing.

(I made one with four cuts in a 'star' shape, but my students were not so hidebound - their 'rough cuts' made their bread look much more attractive than mine.)

Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise until it has appreciably grown in size - about half as big again.

Bake at 220C for about 15-20 minutes. It's done when it is brown across the bottom of the loaf.

Place on a cooling rack.

Variations:
The inclusion of some green chillis would make this bread even more colourful - as well as making it tastier.
Play about with the ratio of flour and maizemeal as you will. Even all maizemeal will work, although you'll only get a minimal rise.

Bara brith

Ingredients:                                      

400g strong white flour                                                                  

50g soft brown sugar

75g raisins or sultanas

75g currants

50g mixed peel

1 teaspoon each, mixed spice, nutmeg and cinnamon

250ml lukewarm liquid (but hold back a little if you've steeped the fruit overnight)

1 dessertspoon fresh yeast (or 1 teaspoon of dried)

1 or more tablespoons olive oil     

(Soak the dried fruit overnight in either tea – traditional – or water)

Method:

1. Place the flour, sugar, spice and dried fruit into a mixing bowl, and mix to distribute the ingredients. 

2. Measure the liquid and stir in the yeast until it dissolves (dried yeast will take a little longer to dissolve than fresh). Add the yeast liquid, holding a little back, to the dry ingredients, and then the olive oil.

3.  Remember, it is better for your dough to be wetter (slack) rather than drier (tight). Holding the bowl with one hand begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together with your fingers. Check how the dough feels as you mix – it should stay soft and squidgy – and add more flour or liquid as needed. 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.

4. Knead (gently, the fruit will be very soft) by flattening the dough out, folding it over and flattening it again. Knead only until the dough becomes smooth – and then stop before you get fed up!

5. Cover with a dry tea towel and leave to prove for an hour or so.

6. When you are ready to proceed knock back the dough and place in a greased 2lb loaf tin (or one lined with baking parchment). Cover and leave until it has risen appreciably.

7. Bake at 200C, 400F or gas mark 6 for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C, 350F or gas mark 4, for a further 15-20 minutes, checking after 10. Look for the sides of the loaf shrinking away from the tin.

8. The loaf is done when it is brown underneath. You may need to turn the loaf upside down and place it back in the oven for a few minutes.

Notes:

Bara brith means ‘speckled bread’. There are many variations to be found in cookery books and on the web – this is mine (bearing in mind I’m a vegan!:))

This bread (any yeast-risen bread) can also be made using the ‘several short kneadings over a 30-45 minutes period’ detailed here.

Teaching breadmaking - and other things

Since I took up teaching at the age of 55 - and never thought I could be a teacher before that - I'm of the opinion that there are many others who could teach, given the opportunity.

So this part of my blog is aimed at those cooks, not necessarily bread makers, who think they have something of value they'd like to pass on to others.

I was trained as a teacher of adults, but I've sort of drifted into teaching families (parents and children) - and a large part of my teaching is with Adults with Learning Disabilities and Difficulties.

My teaching style is relaxed, non-judgmental, welcoming. [Carl Rodgers]

Always at the back of my mind when I'm teaching is my early training as a teacher of adults, when we examined the many 'barriers to learning' that hold a lot of adults back from returning to education.

So I try and make the learning situation as friendly and as relaxed as possible.

(I'll add to this as I get time.)

Worksheet for a Family Centre session

Welcome to the wonderful world of breadmaking

Morning everyone! With the help of your child, you are going to make a ‘sizzler’ (a bit like a wrap), and playdough – out of which we’ll make a house and other things.

Session aims: To show you just how easy and satisfying it is to make bread; how much fun you can have making bread with your child; how little home-made bread costs; and how healthy and full of flavour home-made bread is!

Please note:

• This is a fun session for you both, so you can relax and enjoy yourselves

• Let your child do as much as possible – only step in if your child is too young to do the task we’ve set for her. Or you could do the activity together, like mixing the dough hand over hand

• Give your child time to react to any request or instruction – it takes a little while for it to sink in

Labels: Everyone needs a large name label: if I’m busy with someone else, come and help yourself. Please write in large letters so I can read it from a distance!

One batch of dough:

300g strong white flour

1 rounded dessertspoon of fresh yeast

200ml lukewarm water

Method: Crumble the yeast into a jug and add water up to 200ml. Stir and add to the flour. Mix into a soft, squishy dough. Knead the dough (flatten and fold) just until it is smooth. Divide the dough into three pieces and put two to one side. Cut the other into 2 pieces.

Plus:

For the sizzlers : Sliced tomatoes or mushrooms and grated cheese

Demo from Paul

Shape and put to prove. (Put your child’s initials, made out of dough, on top of one of the sizzlers – then we can re-unite you with your own bread!)

Now the playdough (if you run out, just let me know):

• Here’s a few ideas for different shapes. Put them on a sheet of baking paper as they’re shaped:
• ‘House’ bread: roll out the dough, cut out a triangle and a square and form a house shape. Cut out holes for windows and put a boiled sweet in the hole. Make doors and a chimney from the trimmings..
• Teddy bears, made with different size balls of dough – one large for the tummy and five small ones – rolled out a bit for the arms and legs. Your child will decide where eyes, mouth, buttons, etc, will go.
• Little person – roll out a piece of dough like a sausage, slit one end for the legs, make two diagonal slits halfway up for the arms and two little cuts for the head. Tuck in the head to make it neater. Make little balls of dough for eyes, etc.
• Snake bread: Roll out a piece of dough to about 15cm long and coil it on the baking tray. Use little balls of dough for the eyes. Make a little tongue and slit the end.
• Hedgehog rolls. Make an oval roll and point one end for the nose. Use little balls of dough for the eyes. From behind, snip spikes with a pair of scissors held at about a 30-degree angle.
• Caterpillars – small balls of dough placed next to one another with a larger one for the head
• And of course you can invent your own shapes!

Grandchildren and breadmaking

Collected the youngsters, Alfie, 4, Olivia, 6 and Phoebe, 8, on Sunday, to stay with us for a few days over the half term.

Yesterday morning we decided to make some bread – pizzas for dinner were on the agenda, plus assorted other stuff.

In the event, Alfie made a sweet dough and the girls each made a plain dough.

1 mug bread flour - 1 dessertspoon sugar (for the sweet dough – nothing for the savoury dough) - 1/3 mug water - 1 tsp fresh yeast

Alfie made half a dozen pains au chocolat (a la Elizabeth David – not the unpleasant [to my taste] croissant variety). Phoebe made four doughnuts and a small pasty with the rest of the sweet dough. 2 containing (her idea) a glace cherry and chocolate spread, 1 with a glace cherry and apple sauce, and one containing all three ingredients.

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the cherry and chocolate one!

After much playing with the dough (the original playdough!), Olivia produced a ‘snake pizza’ which looked more like a rabbit, Phoebe made a cheese and tomato pizza, and I made one with Pateole spread and vegan pesto.

(Can see I’m going to have to work harder at this if I’m going to blog about every bit of breadmaking I do…)