365 and A-Z!

Day 3, Sourdough breads cooling...

This works for more than one thing of course! I love to multitask.  So, it's simultaneously a Bread from my A - Z, a B2/M2 and my picture for the day, I just love it when a plan comes together.

  Country Bread from Flour by Joanne Chang

First up, get this book, seriously, not one failure from it yet, everything has turned out great and been really easy to put together.  And, best of all it's in metric measurements! I love, love, love this!

So, for the bread sponge...

175g plain, unbleached flour

180g blood temperature water (neither hot nor cold to touch)

1.7g fresh yeast

 Mix 140g of the flour, the yeast and all the water together into a sloppy dough, cover and leave out at room temperature for 4 - 8 hours.

Add the remaining 35g flour and stir again, the dough with stiffen up a little.

Cover and place in the fridge overnight.

 Now you have your sponge starter, over time this starter gets better and better, I leave mine in the fridge until I want to bake then the night before feed it 175g flour and 180g water, stir and fridge it overnight so it's nice and active for the next day.  Take what I need for baking and return the pot to the fridge till next time.  I vary the flours I feed it with too, a bit of rye, spelt or gram flour makes for an extra delicious loaf.

Country bread recipe (this rather assumes you have a stand mixer... if not roll up your sleeves and prepare to get messy)

360g water at room temperature

280g plain flour

300g bread flour

340g bread sponge

pinch of fresh yeast

2 tsp salt (actually, I use a tablespoon)

1 tsp sugar (honey and malt syrup work too)

In your stand mixer stir together the bread flour, plain flour, yeast, water, sugar and salt, knead for a couple of minutes, until it forms a rough dough.

Leave this dough to rest for ten minutes... it helps with the texture.

Add the bread sponge and knead for about 7 minutes, it should clear the sides of the bowl and feel a little like an earlobe when you pinch a piece of dough between your fingers.  if it's too loose add a little more flour, gradually, you don't want to bake a brick!

Scrape your dough into a large, oiled bowl and leave to rise at room temperature for three hours.

When that time is up remove it from the bowl, divide the dough into two and shape into tight, round loaves.  At this point it's nice to flavour the loaves if you like, knead in some nuts and fruit or cubes of cheese... around 100g of each.

Scatter course cornmeal or semolina onto a tray and place the breads onto it, flour the loaves and leave them to rise for about two and a half hours.

Preheat your oven to 250 and place a sturdy metal tray in the bottom, boil the kettle!

When the oven is really hot (give it plenty of time to get up to temperature) pour the boiling water carefully into the metal tray.  Slash the tops of the loaves anyway you like, it gives a lovely crust and looks pretty.  Place the tray in the oven and bake for half an hour.

 Remove your gorgeous breads, gloat, buy a lot of butter.

Project 365, satisfying numerical opportunity missed...

Mmm, yes, 11/01/11, it greatly appealed to my hung up on numbers side, but then I failed totally to take any pictures! lol, 11/11/11 would be good too, but I'm not waiting till November, that would be crazy.  So, I guess I started project 365 on 12/01/11, it's not so bad really, I suppose.

 So, with no further ado...

Day 1, Rocking horse on our Christmas tree (which we were belatedly dismantling)

Day 2, Drag kings and Martha's pies, could there be a more obvious combination? Thank you Oxfam.

ooh.. blog laziness!

Oh yeah! been ages hasn't it? well, it has, because, because I failed on baking strike (it snowed, it hit -18, I baked) and didnt get to my goal weight before Christmas, because our pipes froze and it's dark and horrid for photos in Scotland in the winter and because I get discouraged very easily!

 But here I am, back at the wheel, helm, keyboard, whatever.  It's 2011 which is way, way better than 2010.  I have resolutions goals for the year, mostly I see to do with fitness and health, as well as a few financial and random others.  My first ones to work on are get to 10 stone something and start some new exercise. 

 I reported in at lighterlife tonight and weigh (fuck, damn, drat and oh no!) 11.10 stone, how on earth did that happen? actually, dont answer, I know how that happened!  Never mind, I can get it back off again.  Exercise, well, I'm thinking of trying a session with these nice folks tommorow, but my general aversion to being cold, wet and uncomfortable makes me question my sanity!

 I am reinstating my reward chart, stickers (shiny stars and rainbows) for everyday rewards and something else (that I totally have my eye on, I know my reward!) for when I hit that magic number.  And this time I will actually get it, I have a horrible track record of promising rewards then not following through.

 What else, I've baked a lot and photographed nothing, sadly... but this is set to change with list item 41 which is participate in project 365.  I love this idea and have my camera on charge tonight. 

 I crashed my car into a lampost and ate chocolate, hmm, still have food issues to tackle.  Not to mention the reasons for crashing! lol, I just thought "when I get to therapy next I'm going to have so much to say"

Dear A, I crashed my car into a lampost, because I was on a giddy high because I passed as a guy in a supermarket, was pondering this thing of oddness and wondering a little why it gave me a happy when I crashed, my immediate reaction was to eat a wispa bar (and would have eaten two if I'd had them) and get the giggles, followed by the blood sugar crash sobs, followed by the giggles (lather, rinse, repeat).

 Yes... well, we all have issues, right? right!

 And so to bed, there are no pretty pictures on this post, but that should improve considerably in the following days. 

The butch can't bake... (and other wittering)

Yeah, I'm calling a two week (from right now, this minute, 23:39 UK time) baking strike.  I have to, I'm on lighter life and the baking makes it very, very hard to stick it out.  Seriously, can you make cookie dough and not try some raw? can you smell fresh bread without wanting to chow down right there and then (and for the love of monkeys pass me the butter!) on its warm, yeasty loveliness?

 Thought not.  Me neither.

 My strike rules (aliens are all about rules)

1. no cookies, no cookie dough, no damn cookies.
2. no cake, no cake batter.
3. no steamed puddings.
4. no flaming brownies, blondies or bars!
5. no crumbles, crisps, slumps or cobblers, not even in the case of a family crisis.
6. no sweet breads, babkas, croissants, scones or coffee cakes.
7. no pancakes, griddle cakes, johnny cakes or welsh cakes.
8. no fun (kidding, kidding, I can still have fun)
9. no pies, no tarts, no crust.
10. nice, normal bread is permitted, but only for other peoples consumption.  I shall be at the other end of the house till the nice smell vamooses.

 This should help me focus a little in any case... and looking on the bright side if I don't lose weight I'll at least save money on unsalted butter and eggs.  Apart from the weight thing the moratorium on baking sweet stuff should allow me to check back in with the bready part of my list which is languishing under a pile of cookie/cake/brownie recipes almost as heavy as me.  Today I made a very lovely bread with red wine and walnuts, but, alas, it doesn't count towards the B2/M2 project as it's from a library book.  I have no pictures either, for shame.

 For entertainments sake lets have a ticker... yes, a nice, ticky, ticker (yep, ocd still here) which represents my goal using pie and cookies.  I also have a wicked sense of irony.

So dear reader (or voice in my head, whatever) there you go, no cake, just bread. But bread is good, bread is better than good, it's bloody great stuff.  I meant to post pics of the challah I made but it was devoured before I got the camera out, see, everyone loves bread (apart from those Atkins folks, but we don't care about them).



Challah back girl

Yeah, I know, just couldn't resist.  I loved making challah, I started out with it (from a totally generic, non artisan inspired, not real sourdough, stoneground  bread making book I bought in a pound shop) as one of the first breads I really made a lot.  Worked every time, looked pretty, tasted great.

 Then I lost my challah mojo, who knows why? maybe it's like the Kirkcubright centipede Check the video out! I over thought the braiding? made the dough too wet, dunno.  Maybe a combination of these factors.  Anyway, does it matter? no! I've joyfully embraced many other breads and techniques, but in my heart I've missed my challah.  Chocolate chip challah, raisin challah, pumpkin challah... *sigh*

 Last night, whilst watching Shrek 2 with one eye and reading The Complete International Jewish Cook Book (1980 edition) by Evelyn Rose I decided to try again, I mean if she cant help me who can?  Her dough was simple and quick to prepare, then required a long, cold rise.  Perfect, I'd been up since four so a bread that didn't mind me going back to bed was ideal.

 I braided the dough using the fabulous video on you tube, see it here.  Absolutely the easiest and clearest instructions to follow.

 The recipe, pictures will be along tomorrow, I mean, it's dark here! really dark.  I love November.

Fresh Yeast Challah

15g fresh yeast (Asda/Sainsburys/Tesco give it away for nearly free, Sainsburys, or free, Tesco, Asda.  Just ask someone on the bakery counter)

200g warm water

2 tsp salt

3 tsp caster sugar  (I used honey)

2 tbsp oil

480g bread flour

1 large egg (plus 1 to glaze)

 poppy seeds or whatever you like to sprinkle on top

Mix the water, yeast, sugar and a third of the flour together on a bowl.  Stir till a smooth, pastey batter forms, then leave it covered for 20 minutes.  It should have frothed up and be bubbly.

 Now add the egg, oil, salt and the rest of the flour.  Knead together until a smooth, springy dough comes together, it should be slightly sticky but not excessively wet.

 Oil a bowl lightly and refrigerate the dough for 12 to 24 hours.

 Remove the dough from the fridge and leave at room temperature for a while, to take off the chill.  Divide the dough into evenly sized pieces and shape as you desire, I did a six strand braid, but you could equally well do two smaller loaves or rolls, whatever!

 Allow to prove for half an hour in the warm kitchen.  Glaze with the beaten egg and top with seeds if you like, then bake at 220 for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 180 and continue to bake for 35-45 minutes depending on size.

 The book gives many variations on shape and flavour, all using the same basic dough.  Pletzels, bialys, even bagels.

Halloween battenburg take #2

'Cause once just wasn't enough! lol.  Same cake, but better I think, just things I learned from the first time.  Fridge the cake between sticking it together (tightly wrapped in cling film) and applying the marzipan.  Work very clean, use lots and lots of cling film, lol.

 Instead of pumpkins we have poisonous (obviously, they are after all red with white dots, it screams poison dont you know?) toadstools and foil wrapped pumpkin sweets.  Yum, unfortunately.

 

Happy Halloween!

Yay! my favourite holiday.  I was actually invited to (rather than hosting, lol) a Halloween party last night.  Any excuse being a good excuse in my eyes I decided to push the boat out and make Martha Stewarts candy corn sugar cookies.  Push the boat out? yeah, living in the UK and all I usually flip right past recipes involving candy corn (which costs around a whacking $4.50 here)  or a half pound of butterscotch/cinnamon/peanut butter chips/Hershey kisses... all far too pricey for a midweek cookie session. 

Anyhow, these are the cutest damn cookies ever! quite tiny, just a little larger than the candy corn itself, but cute and delicious.  I weighed both the chocolate and vanilla doughs and the (raw) cookies were 7g each.  I was really worried, but they baked up just fine, though I thought I let the vanilla ones go a minute or two too long, next time I'll get them out faster.

 Recipes goes like this...

Makes about 36.


4 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
About 36 candy corns

Preheat oven to 350/180 degrees. Place butter and sugar in a medium bowl; beat with a wooden spoon until combined. Beat in egg yolk, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add flour, and mix until a dough forms.


Scoop out level teaspoons of dough (or weigh each ball then roll), and roll into balls (chill dough briefly if it becomes too soft to handle). Place balls on baking sheets, 2 inches apart.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are firm and cookies are dry to the touch (do not let cookies color), 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from oven; gently press a candy corn into center of each cookie (surface of cookies may crack slightly). Cool on sheets 1 minute; transfer to a rack to cool completely.
 
For the chocolate cookies use half a cup of flour and add a quarter cup of cocoa powder.