Farmersgirl Kitchen

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Fresh from the Oven round up

You can see all the Fresh from the Oven loaves HERE in the round up.

Sunday, 28 February 2010

Fresh from the Oven - No Knead Bread

The January challenge at Fresh from the Oven was to make this No Knead Bread in a cast iron casserole! It sounded quite easy and didn't involve too much work so I had a go. Here is the recipe supplied by Claire:

No Knead Bread

The Mix

15oz Strong White bread flour - it works best with all white I think
¼ tsp instant easibake yeast (out of a sachet)
1 tsp table salt

Stir together well then add 10.5 fl oz of lukewarm water (a mugful)

Slosh it round into a gooey lump of dough with a fork

Leave in a big bowl and cover with cling film or put the bowl in a bin bag
Leave it in kitchen for 16-18 hours – or more if you forget.

The 16hr Sloosh

Use a dough scraper/cutter or your fingers, to scrape the wet porridgy dough away from the sides, using plenty of flour to stop it sticking, and shuffle it back into a nice round shape. Don't be tempted to knead it.

Cover with a tea towel and leave for 2 more hours.

The Bake

Preheat oven to 200-220 and put in a lightly oiled Le Creuset or other large cast iron casserole with a lid on until the oven and the pan are super hot.

Again use the scraper and a good sprinkle of flour to detach the dough from the bowl without puncturing it’s airy goodness. Then quick as you can, without losing the heat from the oven and pan, tip the dough onto one hand then flop it into the hot pan the right way up again and put the lid back on and get it back in the oven immediately.

Bake for 30 minutes lid-on
Then cook for 10-12 minutes more, lid-off until golden brown

If it’s not hollow sounding on the bottom put it back in, without it's tin for an extra 5 minutes. Tip out and cool well before trying to slice

Tips

I find this works best for me if I make the dough around the school run (3.30pm) then do the first dough slooshing when I get up, then bake it mid morning. As you can see, the times can be very approximate! Another option might be to mix the dough on a Friday when you get in from work, sloosh it mid morning on Saturday and bake it at lunch time ready for Saturday evening. It seems like a long process but it really is no effort when you get your head round it.

If you haven’t got one yet it’s worth getting a dough cutter/scraper to save on sticky fingers. My plastic one was only 90p from a local cook shop.

My new Le Creuset (25cm) is a little bit too big for this recipe so I sit my lightly oiled 20cm mermaid pie tin in the bottom to help shape the loaf to be a bit taller and rounder. I also sometimes scatter a bit of semolina in the base for an extra crunchy bottom. You can use oil instead of flour to de-stick the dough from the mixing bowl, but it makes for a wetter and slighty denser outcome like the one shown at the end of this post. It is one of those loaves that comes out a little bit different every time anyway due to the extended prove.

If you fancy turning it into something a bit different to the normal loaf you can make the dough into ‘Fougasse‘ that's at the bottom of this blogpost:http://thingswemake.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/make-it-crusty/or I sometimes split it and make 2 fougasse and a 1Ib tin loaf baked with the loaf tin placed inside the cast iron pot.
There is a video of this recipe (but they accidentally forget to mention the extra 2 hours proving) on the NYT:http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=13Ah9ES2yTU

The picture above is the gloopy, fermenting mixture of flour, yeast, water and salt.

and here is the cooked bread in it's Le Creuset casserole, it came out remarkably easily, I was a bit concerned that it would stick.

The loaf is remarkably like a Ciabatta, it has the same open texture and chewiness, it also kept very well. I would definitely recommend this loaf and I know that other bakers who didn't have a Le Creuset casserole used other kinds of pots with lids (it's the steam that is important), so why not check out their blogs via the Fresh from the Oven blog and have a go yourself.

Labels: Bread, Fresh from the Oven, Le Creuset

Thursday, 31 December 2009

Fresh from the Oven Round Up

The Fresh from the Oven Round Up of all the lovely Stollen can be seen on the blog HERE

Labels: Fresh from the Oven

Monday, 28 December 2009

Fresh from the oven - German Stollen

The challenge this month at Fresh from the Oven was set by Jules , here is what she says:

"As this is the December challenge I thought we should try baking something festive. It's tradition in our house to bake a stollen for Christmas and this year is no exception. The shape of stollen is meant to represent Jesus swaddled in a blanket."

Well I love Stollen so thought I would have a go at this, I'd not managed to do the last two challenges and I was delighted when I also noticed in another book that you could freeze Stollen.
The recipe made two large loaves and was very easy to make, I mixed it in my bread machine on the dough setting then baked in the oven in the traditional way.

What I really liked about it was that it is not too sweet in the way bought Stollen can be, it is more like a semi-sweet fruit bread. It was delicious as it is but my favourite way to eat it is toasted with butter or apricot preserve. We have been eating it for breakfast over Christmas and everyone who tried it was very complimentary.

Stollen

based on a Simon Rimmer recipe

100ml/3½fl oz warm milk
6g (1 sachet) fast action yeast or 2 tsp dried yeast or 20g fresh yeast
pinch salt
1 tsp caster sugar
225g/8oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp ground mixed spice
200g/7oz mixed dried fruit (including glacé cherries)
25g/1oz flaked almonds
50g/2oz unsalted butter
1 free-range egg, beaten
250g/9oz marzipan

To finish
rum
25g/1oz butter, melted
50g/2oz icing sugar
Method

1. Place the milk and yeast into a bowl and mix well. Leave to sit for 5-6 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, sift the salt, sugar, flour and mixed spice into a large bowl. Add the dried fruit, almonds and butter and mix well then stir in the yeasty milk and mix well.

3. Add the egg and stir to form a dough. Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes, then cover and leave to prove for 20 minutes. Uncover the dough and turn out onto a clean, floured work surface. Knock the dough back to reduce the volume, then knead the dough for 3-4 minutes.

4. Push the dough out by hand into a flat oval shape about 23cm x 18cm/9in x 7in. Roll the marzipan into a sausage shape about 6cm/2in shorter than the dough. Place the marzipan into the centre of the dough, then fold over the sides of the dough to seal in the marzipan. Then fold in the ends of the dough to contain the marzipan and help give the dough shape. Place the stollen seal-side down onto a greased baking tray. Cover and place somewhere warm to prove for one hour.

5. Preheat the oven to 180C/365F/Gas 4. Place the stollen on the baking tray into the oven to bake for 40 minutes, or until golden-brown and cooked through.

6. To finish, remove the stollen from the oven, brush with the rum then melted butter and dust liberally with icing sugar immediately. Allow the stollen to cool, then serve in slices.

Labels: Bread, Fresh from the Oven, German Stollen, marzipan

Sunday, 27 September 2009

Fresh From the Oven - Stuffed Bun

I've joined 'Fresh from the Oven' an on-line baking community. Here is what the bakers say on the public blog:

"Welcome to Fresh from the oven. A bread baking community where we bake one loaf at a time. Challenges are announced on the group's private blog on the first of each month and then on the 28th of the month each member posts their bread on their blog."

For September, Ria of Ria's Collection challenged us to make 'Stuffed Buns' using a sweet bread dough and filling it with a mixture of chicken and spices.

Here are the circles of dough with the filling in them ready to be pinched up into a bun.

And here is what happened the first time I made the buns :(

My oven is quite hot and although I thought I had compensated enough, they were very burnt. The photo shows the tray of the buns that were edible, the other two that were on a higher shelf were totally inedible.

Nothing daunted, I decided to have another go and reduce the oven temperature to 160C and the time to 6 minutes.

I also filled the buns with a mixture of onion, sweet potato and green pepper along with the ginger and garlic that was in the original chicken mixture, I think I preferred it to the chicken.

Here is the recipe:

Stuffed Bun
Yields 12 buns

For the dough:

Ingredients
Dry yeast-1 tbsp
Warm water-2tbsp
Milk-1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Oil-1/2 cup
All purpose flour-2 cups
Sugar-1/4 cup
Egg-1, beaten
Egg white-1,for egg wash
White sesame seeds for sprinkling

Method

Dissolve the yeast in warm water with 1/2tbsp sugar and 1/2 tbsp of all purpose flour. Leave aside for 10 minutes.
Boil the milk and allow to cool down till it is warm to touch. Add sugar, oil and salt.
Mix well with a wooden spoon till the sugar dissolves and add 1 cup flour and mix to a smooth paste.
Add the beaten egg, yeast and mix.Add the remaining flour and mix well till it forms a smooth dough.
Knead well for 10 mins.[We knead it using our hands]
Let it rest till it doubles in volume.
Punch down the dough lightly using your palm and divide them equally.
Flatten them into small discs and fill them with 1 tbsp of the filling. Re-shape them into a ball.Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds.
Let it prove for another 20 mins.
Bake them in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for 10 mins. When it starts to brown, give them an egg wash using 1 slightly beaten egg white.

Spicy Indian chicken filling
Ingredients
Boneless chicken-200g, boiled and shredded
Onions-4 big, finely chopped
Ginger garlic paste-1 tbsp
Chilli powder-1/2 -1tbsp [depending on your spice level]
Coriander powder-1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil-3 tbsp

Method

Heat oil, add the ginger garlic paste and saute till it gives out a nice aroma.
Add the onions. Saute them till soft and transparent.
Reduce the heat and add the powders and mix well for 2 mins.
Add the shredded chicken and mix well.
Keep it off the fire and let it cool.
Use it for filling the dough.