LENTILS AND RICE WITH MUSHROOMS AND CABBAGE

I'm a great lover of lentils - they are the most versatile ingredient, IMO, and they're so quick and easy to cook they're almost a fast food!


Here's what I did after coming home late from the cricket on Saturday - it took me exactly 30 minutes:


Boiled the kettle, put 100g each lentils and rice in a pan, covered them with the hot water and left them to simmer.


In another pan, in a little sunflower oil, I fried a chopped onion, a teaspoon of cumin seeds, a couple of teaspoons of my own curry powder plus a teaspoon of asafoetida. (Not for everyone - most people use a pinch or two, but I love the stuff!)

To this I added several chopped mushrooms and some shredded Savoy cabbage. (I like to keep the cabbage in strips.)

After several minutes I added boiling water to this and let them cook until the veg were soft - meanwhile stirring the lentils and rice.

To the vegetables, I added a teaspoon of stock powder, a good dash of mushroom sauce, a sprinkle of dried herbs, several squirts of tomato puree and a dessertspoon of vegan pesto (Meridian).

When the veg were cooked I added them to the lentils and simmered the dish for a little while, while I defrosted, sliced and olive oiled a wholemeal roll. (I use olive oil which has been frozen and kept in the fridge as a spread - it stays solid and acts just like marge.)


With a glass of home-made red wine, this went down a treat! (And there's loads left for tomorrow!)


(Thanks to Mamta, who introduced me to asafoetida!)

Petit pain au chocolat

I'm not a great fan of pain au chocolat made with a croissant dough. I much prefer  them made out of a plain, slightly sweetened dough. (As does Elizabeth David!)


Ask yourself - what could be easier than pressing a piece of chocolate into a golf ball sized piece of dough and squidging the dough around it?

(Here's a step-by-step pictorial guide to shaping these - in an on-line baking session report.)

Ingredients:

400g strong white flour

2 dessertspoons sugar

1 rounded teaspoon fresh yeast

250ml lukewarm water

Splash of olive oil

Plus:

16 pieces of decent eating chocolate

Sugar glaze:

1 rounded dessertspoon of sugar and two dessertspoons of boiling water

Method:
1. Place flour and sugar into a mixing bowl, followed by the yeast. 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). 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 – 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. When you are ready to proceed, take the dough out of the mixing bowl and place it on your worktop. This time, don't 'knock the dough back'! Just divide the dough into 16 pieces. Use the side of your hand as a 'knife' and cut the dough into 2, then 4, etc.

6. Press the chocolate gently into the middle of a piece of dough and squidge the dough together to seal the chocolate inside the dough. Place seam side down on the baking tray.

7. Cover and leave to prove until they have grown appreciably in size. Bake at 220C, 425F or gas mark 7, for about 15 minutes.

8. Whilst the rolls are baking, make a sugar glaze with a dessertspoon of sugar and two dsps of boiling water. When the rolls are done (look for colour underneath) brush them with the glaze straightaway.

Variation:

Put a dried apricot along with the piece of chocolate in each parcel.

Some recent breads

The one on the left is supposed to be a traffic light pizza, with grated carrot in the middle and  spring onions (the green bits) at the bottom, says my granddaughter. They're both vegan, one with a tomato sauce and mushrom pate - the other with the pate plus vegan pesto.

Jam and banana (and chocolate) calzone. The chocolate was a late addition by my granddaughter.

This didn't last long!

Grape and mushroom calzone

Soft and moist and oozing with marzipan!

Woodburning chiminea come pizza oven

Well, I finally got my chiminea/woodburning pizza oven!

I would have got it earlier in the summer, but we had to get a three piece suite first (don’t ask!), and we ordered one of those last Saturday! (Hooray!)

I bought it from these people – certainly the cheapest I could find on the net at £158.99:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COSEYFIRE-PIZZA-OVEN-BBQ-CHIMENEA-CHIMINEA-COMPACT-/250683598856?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Conservatory_Patio_bbq_Patio_Covers_Heating#ht_2857wt_924

And, as we were passing close by on the way home from visiting my son and his family, we collected it and saved £30 delivery costs.

I’ve put it together and it now sits happily in my garden awaiting its first firing – hopefully tomorrow. I’m told I need to fire it a couple of times before I bake any bread in there – I wonder if I’ll be able to resist! 

Saturday:


I had to finish a few chores first, but finally got around to fixing the door on this afternoon and lighting my first fire:

Just a small fire to start with - not sure about the location, though - just outside the kitchen door..

And here it is in the barbecue mode. No bread yet, but I'll get  a couple more fires going over the next couple of days - and then we'll get cracking!

Click here for more of my chiminea adventures! (Start reading at the bottom.)

120 bread rolls for a birthday party

I've been asked by a long-ago acquaintance to make 120 bread rolls for a party next Saturday.

This would have been dead easy had I still got access to my friend's bakery, but, alas, that was long ago.

I should have said, "No, I don't make bread any more, I only teach these days," but - I like making bread, and I thought it was doable.

We agreed that I would deliver in two lots, Wednesday and Saturday - 60 white, 40 wholemeal and 20 granary. 100g rolls (before baking) - I figured I would make them in batches of 20.

I thought I'd get ahead of myself and bake a batch today which I could put in the freezer overnight.

Accordingly, after lunch I began - and because I had plenty of time I thought I'd use method B from this recipe:

http://is.gd/edtPJ:

1200g white bread flour
12g salt
840g liquid, including 10g of fresh yeast
50g olive oil

I mixed this together and found it extremely wet. I realised I'd only ever used wholemeal flour in these amounts before, and, of course, wholemeal requires more water than white.

So, while I was kneading for short periods every ten or so minutes, I began adding flour to get the manageable dough I was looking for.

Unbelievably I'd added an extra 250g of flour before I finished!

This gave me a dough weighing in at 2350g - giving me 24 rolls in total.

I left the dough, covered by the upturned bowl, until after dinner when I set about shaping the rolls. (I had to keep knocking the dough back, since it kept trying to creep out from under the bowl.)

Four hours after I started, I began shaping some fancy dinner rolls. It took me about a minute a roll - clearly I wouldn't be able to make all the rolls this way, there just wouldn't be time.

By the time I'd shaped the last one, the first rolls were beginning to rise, so I put the oven on to heat up while I brushed the rolls with water and sprinkled seeds - poppy and sesame - on top.

Sprinkled with poppy seeds

And with sesame seeds

I baked them one tray at a time for about 20 minutes, turning them round in the oven after 10.

The finished article:

Poppy seeds at the top, sesame seeds at the bottom

I really enjoyed making these - but with the next 100 or so I'll be much more up against the clock, I reckon! And next time, I'll use much less water.

Day 2:

Made a white batch (1200g flour to 750g water) and a wholemeal batch (1200g to 840g) this afternoon. Both were sticky doughs which I kneaded at intervals.

I left them for an hour, then shaped them. Some of the wholemeal rolls were baked under the roasting tray and some were baked normally. You might be able to see the difference in size, which, in real life is substantial. I had more time with the last tray of white, so I did some more fancy dinner rolls, but mostly the rolls were plain.

The 'undercover' rolls, on the right, came up much bigger than the ones on the left, baked normally.

You've got to admit - I'm having fun!

I delivered the first 3 batches tonight - the recipient was very pleased. I'll finish the order off on Saturday, so the rest will be fresh for the party.

For the last 60 rolls, I was asked to make a few smaller ones, so I reduced the amount of each batch to roughly 1.7kg -1kg of flour to 700g of water for wholemeal, 650g water for white and 625g for granary – with 50g of olive oil in each batch.

I divided each dough into two unequal pieces – 1kg and 700g – and then divided each piece into ten, giving me 10 rolls at 100g and 10 rolls at 70g.

After shaping the rolls I brushed some of them with water and sprinkled them with sesame, poppy and sunflower seeds


It was a 60th birthday party, and the birthday girl said she'd have me back again to make some rolls for her 70th!


I did enjoy making these - but I don't think I'd bother doing it again. Teaching pays better! (and I'll be in my 80s in 10 yrs time!)

Pitta (pita) breads

The pitta on the left was done in a hot oven

The one on the right was done in a frying pan

(Makes about 8 medium sized pittas)

Ingredients:

200g strong white flour

200g strong wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp salt

250ml lukewarm water

1 teaspoon of any sort of yeast, dissolved in the water

Tablespoon olive oil (optional)

Method:

1. Measure the water and stir in the yeast. Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. When the yeast is dissolved (dried will take longer than fresh) pour in all the yeast liquid, then add the olive 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). 

2. Hold the bowl with one hand and begin to stir with the other. Mix together into a soft dough, stirring and bringing in the flour round the side of the bowl, adding more flour or water as needed. 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! (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).

4. Leave the dough on the worktop, covered with the mixing bowl for about an hour – or go ahead and shape the pittas straight away.

5. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape them into rounds. Flour the worktop and roll each piece out into circles about 15-18cm across.

6. Place them in pairs on a piece of baking parchment and cover them with a dry teatowel. Leave them to rise for about 20 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, turn the oven on to its highest setting – mine is about 245C and place a couple of baking trays in there.

8. When the oven is hot enough, place each pair of pittas on an upturned baking sheet and slide them off onto the hot baking sheets in the oven. Bake four at a time. The pittas should swell to form the pocket. This should take around 4-5 minutes, take them out when they begin to colour. Repeat with the other four pittas.

9. Wrap them in a teatowel to keep them soft.

Why not start with some sizzlers - great for lunchboxes

Yeast is a scary thing for some people, but all my teaching is geared towards removing that fear and showing it to be the simple tool that it is.

All my recipes follow the same path – and they all contain three simple breadmaking rules.

For those who haven’t made bread before, bear in mind that if you mix flour, lukewarm water and yeast together – you cannot stop your bread from rising!

Your dough will be soft and squishy, and it will rise like a dream.

Remember that!

The three simple rules which you should bear in mind when making bread are:

1. Use strong, breadmaking flour – look for the words ‘strong’ or ‘bread’ on the packet. Plain flour will work in an emergency, and a mixture of strong and plain will work fine.
2. Use lukewarm water, and don’t put your dough anywhere too hot. Forget airing cupboards and radiators, the bread will rise on your worktop.
3. Give your bread time to rise before it goes into the oven. White bread will double in size – a pizza base should look puffy compared to when you rolled it out.

And that’s it!

There’s also a couple of things to bear in mind, but aren’t rules a such:
1. Make sure your dough is soft and squishy – never be afraid to add more water whilst you’re mixing the dough.
2. If you have the slightest doubt whether your bread is done or not, put it back in the oven for a few more minutes. Look for colour on the bottom of your bread.

Whatever yeast you’re using – fresh, active dried (comes in a tin) or easyblend (comes in sachets), treat them all the same.

Mix them in the lukewarm water until dissolved, then add them straight into the flour.

Here we go – vegan cheese and mushroom (or tomato, or pepper or onion) sizzlers. So called because when the come out of the oven you can hear the cheese sizzling. They’re like a bread wrap and they’re gorgeous. Check out this video of the method.

Sizzlers

(Makes 8 sizzlers - but this amount of dough will make 8 rolls; or a medium sized loaf; or two large pizza bases! ):

Ingredients:
400g strong white flour 
1/2 tsp salt
1 rounded dessertspoon fresh yeast (or good teaspoon dried yeast, or a sachet of easyblend yeast)
250ml lukewarm water 
Splash of olive oil (optional)

(Or: 2 mugs of flour to 2/3rds water)

Filling:
6 medium tomatoes or 8 mushrooms or a combination of these
150g grated vegan hard cheese - Violife mature, or Applewood

Method:
1. Measure the water and stir in the yeast. Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. When the yeast is dissolved (dried will take longer than fresh) pour in all the yeast liquid, then add the olive 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). 

2. Hold the bowl with one hand and begin to stir with the other. Mix together into a soft dough, stirring and bringing in the flour round the side of the bowl, adding more flour or water as needed. 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! (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).

4. Divide the dough in two and put one piece to one side. Divide the other into 4 and form each piece into a bap shape. Flour the worktop and roll each piece out into a circle about 15cm across. As you roll out the dough, keep turning it to make sure it isn’t sticking.

5. Place slices of tomato across the middle of each circle. Sprinkle grated cheese over the tomato and fold the sides of the circle over the filling, leaving the sizzlers open at each end. Place on a baking sheet and repeat with the other circles.

6. Repeat with the second piece of dough.

7. Leave to prove until the dough is risen and puffy and bake at 220C, 425F or gas 7 for about fifteen minutes. There should be some colour under the sizzlers to show that they are cooked right through.

Suggestions:
For 4 sizzlers use half of the ingredients.
Experiment with different vegan cheeses - these are improving all the time
Use peppers or onions instead of tomatoes/mushrooms.

Have fun!

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!:(]