FFTO 10 - Oct 2011 - Cinnamon Buns.

This month's Fresh From The Oven challenge was set by Claire from Things We Make.

Here is the link to Claire's original blog post with the recipe. 

These buns were amazing and still tasted great 3 days later.  I used the buttery icing.  I wouldn't like to think about the calories in these things but for a treat with a cup of coffee they were brilliant.  I gave some of them to my Dad and he enthused about them next time he saw me.  I can definitely see these becoming a regular feature in our family.  I might just have to get a nice deep round tin I can use to make them next time as the round versions do look nicer than my square one.  

As these are so simple to make, I love the idea of assembling these the night before then leaving the tin in the fridge overnight and baking first thing in the morning.  What a great idea for Christmas morning!  Last Christmas we had the cranberry-oat scones straight into the oven from the freezer from my second FFTO challenge.  Maybe I'll start a tradition of doing FFTO recipes for Christmas morning.  

Have a look at Fresh From The Oven to see the round up.

Fresh From The Oven 8 - August 2011 - Vegetable Bread.

Sweet potato bread.

Courgette bread.

This month I have made two types of bread.  One, a courgette bread from the recipe given to us by Sally from My Custard Pie who challenged us to create breads with vegetables in them; and the second, a sweet potato loaf.  She gave us the recipe for courgette cluster rolls as she found it to be a great way of using up a glut of home grown courgettes.  The recipe is adapted from a recipe by Roz Denny printed in House and Garden magazine.  

My courgette rolls all just amalgamated into one big loaf so we just tore off chunks to have with our soup.  Another sneaky way of getting vegetables into the children - my boys are bread mad so this worked like a treat!

Courgette Cluster Bread 

Makes 8 rolls or clusters

Ingredients - 

450g courgettes, grated coarsely
Salt (for degorging and for the dough)
675g strong white bread flour
2 sachets of easy-blend/fast-action yeast or 14g instant dried yeast
3 tablespoons parmesan, grated
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Tepid water - about 200ml
Milk, to glaze
Sesame seeds, to sprinkle

Method - 

1. Place the courgettes in a colander, sprinkle lightly with salt. Allow the juices to drain for about half-an-hour, then rinse well in cold water and pat dry.

2. If using instant yeast whisk it into 90 ml of the tepid water until frothy and dissolved. Mix the flour, yeast, parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and some black pepper together in a bowl, then stir in the olive oil and courgettes. Add some more water until the mixture comes together as a firm, soft dough. 

3. If kneading by hand, turn the dough onto a lightly floured board or work surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Or use a stand mixer with a dough hook. 

4. Lightly oil a bowl and put the dough into rise, covered with cling film or a cloth, for about one hour or until doubled in size.

5. Knock back the dough in the bowl (punch the air out of it) and then turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead again briefly until smooth.

6. Divide the dough into eight equal pieces and roll to shape into even balls. Lightly grease and line the base of a 23 cm cake tin with baking parchment. Place one ball of dough in the middle and all the others around it.

7. Brush the tops of rolls with milk and sprinkle over some sesame seeds. Cover again with oiled cling film or a cloth and leave to prove until doubled in size and the balls touch each other - about 30 minutes.

8. Put into a preheated oven at 200 C for about 25 minutes until golden brown and cooked. Cool on a wire rack. Tear each roll off to eat as a bun.

I then decided I would like to try making a loaf with sweet potato.  I felt the sweet potato would be quite soft (like the courgettes in the fluffy bread above) and, for this one, I wanted a bit of texture so I decided to try and adapt my favourite recipe for a seeded loaf.  The recipe is Seeded Honey Loaf from Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite.

The basic recipe makes a really lovely every day seeded loaf and here is a photo of one I have made recently.

I will continue to make the basic one but I will also add the sweet potato version to my repertoire.  It is quite different - obviously quite sweet and a bit more chewy.  A lovely taste and will go very well with soup.  In fact, I would say that this is one of the tastiest breads I have had and I am very pleased with it indeed.  The fact it will sneak more vegetables into the kids is the cherry on the top.

Here, I will put the basic recipe and my changes in red.

Recipe -

Makes two 500g loaves. 

Ingredients - 

15g fresh yeast or 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast

275ml tepid water (I halved this when making the sweet potato loaf as there is a lot of moisture in the sweet potatoes then just added a few drops at a time until I got to the right consistency)

225g wholemeal flour

225g strong white flour

1.5 tsp fine sea salt

50g mixed seeds - poppy, sesame, pumpkin, linseed and sunflower (I used pumpkin, sunflower and sesame and added probably about 80-90g)

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp milk, to glaze

(1 large-ish sweet potato (about 280g), grated)

Method - 

1. If using fresh yeast, put 3-4 tbsp of the water into a warm bowl, crumble in the yeast and stir to dissolve.  Leave to sponge for a few minutes.

2. Put the flours and salt into a large mixing bowl, add the seeds and stir to mix. (If you're using fast-action dried yeast, stir this into the flour mixture.) Make a well in the centre and add the olive oil, honey, yeast mixture and remaining water (all of it if using dried yeast).  Stir with a wooden spoon to combine, adding more flour if the dough seems too wet.  It should be soft, but not sticky. (I kept the seeds and the sweet potato out until I had kneaded the dough for a while then I added them in to finish the kneading.)

3. Press the dough into a ball, then knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5-10 mins until smooth.  Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with lightly oiled cling film and leave the dough to rise in a warm part of the kitchen for an hour or so until doubled in size.

4. Punch the dough down onto a lightly floured surface and knead it lightly.  Divide into two pieces and shape each one into a round loaf.  Place each on a lightly oiled large baking sheet and cover with lightly oiled cling film.  Leave to prove in a warm spot until almost doubled in size.

5. Heat the oven to 200C/GM 6.  Remove the cling film and brush a thin layer of milk over the loaves.  Bake for about 20-25 mins until light golden in colour.  The loaves should sound hollow when tapped underside.  Leave to cool on a wire rack.  Best served slightly warm.

Thanks for a fun and healthy challenge, Sally. 

Fresh From The Oven 7 - July 2011 - Posh Toasties.

What a brilliant challenge this month - really tasty Italian flatbread sandwiches - Piadina - with any filling of our choice.  Thanks to Alex of Dear Love Blog for this challenge.  She had spent time researching and trying to recreate a recipe that she had loved when she tried it in Milan when she was 15.  Well I'm so glad she did as this lovely little toastie is going to be a regular lunch around here.  The fillings ideas are endless so we can vary it and never get bored.  

This time, I made two fillings.  The first was spinach and nutmeg with Taleggio cheese and the second was roasted peppers with mozzarella.  I loved them both.  My next one is going to be one of Alex's ideas - gorgonzola, pear, rocket and walnuts.   Oh yum.  But really you can't go wrong with any cheesy filling so I'll just play about with whatever I fancy or whatever is in the fridge.

This recipe is made with olive oil instead of lard and it tasted perfect to me but you can just replace the oil with lard if you fancy.

My 3 year old took the above photo.  He is obviously going to be a food blogger!

Recipe - Piadina.

(Makes 8 flatbreads which will serve 4 people easily and probably 6 for lunch with a salad.)

Ingredients - 

500g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp finely ground sea salt

100ml olive oil (or 100g lard)

200ml warm water.

Method - 

1. Place the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and olive oil in a large bowl.  Gradually add the water, stirring with loose fingers until the mix comes together to form a soft dough.  Turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough becomes smooth and shiny, about 5-10 mins. (Okay, okay, I used my Kenwood Chef to do all of this for me!).  Divide into 8 equal balls, loosely cover with lightly oiled cling film and allow to rest for 30 mins.

2. Heat a non-stick cast iron skillet over a high heat for 5 mins.  (I just used my BBQ because it was a nice evening.)  On a well floured surface, flatten each ball and roll out into a disc 2-3 mm thick. Prick all over with a fork.  Place a disc of dough flat in the centre of the pan and press down gently.  Cook for 2 mins or until the dough is crisp and brown and brown spots begin to appear, then flip and repeat on the other side.  Cook the piadina one at a time until all the dough is used.  Cover with a clean tea towel to prevent them drying out while you prepare your filling.

3. Place one piadina on the bottom, cover evenly with filling and top with another.  If you like your fillings cold, cut into wedges and serve.  Altenatively heat through in the ven or sandwich press and serve hot. (I cokked four pieces of dough on the BBQ then with the others, I cooked one side, flipped over, added my filling and one of the cooked piadinas thereby letting the filling warm through while the bottom of the piadina was cooking).

Fresh From The Oven 6 - June 2011 - Sandwich Loaf.

This month, Jo from Jo's Kitchen challenged us to make Michel Roux Jnr's sandwich loaf recipe from the BBC programme The Great British Food Revival.  I loved the series.  It really inspired me to use seasonal produce local to us but Steve felt the programme was a bit naff and I must agree that sometimes it seemed that it was a programme slung together a bit rather than being based on something the presenters really believed in.  I can't remember exact examples but I'm sure there were times when they would make something using ingredients from half way across the world in their attempts to get us to revive something so there didn't seem to be a huge consistency in their message.  I loved the programme anyway - it's about food and it had recipes!!!

  

This made a lovely, versatile loaf.  It made excellent sandwiches and excellent toast.  You could vary it in any number of ways too.  We don't eat a lot of white bread so our first attempt at varying it will be to try to make it wholemeal.  Thanks Jo for the challenge as I am really pleased to get to try recipes for really simple, everyday bread as well as the more exotic things we sometimes do.  This will certainly be my staple white loaf recipe from now on.

The recipe can be found on the BBC site here but I'll write it out below to make sure I always have a copy of it.

Recipe.

Ingredients - 

20g/1oz golden syrup

25g/1oz melted butter

350ml/14 fl oz warm milk

10g/ 1/2oz fresh yeast (I used one 7g sachet of dried)

250g/8 oz plain flour

250g/8 oz strong bread flour

10g/ 1/2oz sea salt

Method - 

1. Stir the golden syrup and melted butter into the warm milk until well combined.  Crumble the yeast into a large bowl, then pour over the warm milk and stir until the yeast has dissolved.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until a smooth dough forms.  Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside for 5 mins.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 mins, or until smooth and elastic (I used my Kenwood chef - it was a very sticky dough).  Return the dough to the bowl, cover with cling film and place into a warm place for 1 hour, or until the dough has nearly doubled in size.

4. Meanwhile grease and flour a 12cm X 20cm/5" X 8" bread tin.

5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface again and knock back a few times.  Divide equally into two pieces and shape into balls.  Place the dough balls side by side in the prepared tin, cover with cling film and set aside to rise again, until doubled in size.

6. Preheat oven to 220C/410F/GM 7.

7. Using a sharp knife, slash the dough a few times and place into the oven immediately.  After 10 mins, reduce the heat to 180C/350F/GM 4 and bake for a further 30 mins, or until the bread is golden-brown.

8. Leave the loaf to cool on a wire rack. 

Have a look at Fresh From The Oven to see other versions of this loaf or to join in the challenges.

Fresh From The Oven 5 - March 2011 - Oatmeal Bread.

This month Helen from Fuss Free Flavours gave us a really different challenge.  She basically let us make whatever we wanted but we had to use flour that we knew either where it was grown or where it was milled.  In other words, supporting local, small growers and millers.

I didn't successfully locate a flour local to me but as soon as I saw the challenge I thought of The Oatmeal Of Alford.  This is a staple of my kitchen cupboard and we use it for loads of things.  Best of all, the oats are grown in Laurencekirk just a few miles south of Aberdeen and then milled at Montgarrie Mill in Alford, just a few miles west of Aberdeen.  Very local.

I thought that there would be loads of bread recipes with oatmeal as a main ingredient but my cook books didn't have any.  They had bread made with flour and then some oats scattered over the top and they called it oat bread.  Not what I was looking for.  So I went to The Oatmeal Of Alford Website and, of course, they had a recipe for Oatmeal Bread.  

I would just like to point out that I have no connections at all to this company and am not sponsored by them.  I have used their oatmeal all of my life, though.

So, I made two loaves.  They didn't rise a lot and seemed a little dense, but, toasted, it is a lovely bread.  It has a really wholesome nutty flavour.  Spread with the fancy butter with the big chunks of sea salt - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Loved the challenge - thanks Helen.  I now have a new, easy, bread recipe using a local, healthy ingredient.  I will also continue to be on the look out for other local ingredients and producers.

See here for a round up of how the others fared at finding local flours and what they made with them.

Fresh From The Oven 4 - Feb 2011 - Braided Challah Bread.

Dom from Belleau Kitchen hosted this month's Fresh From The Oven challenge.

He challenged us to make a traditional Jewish challah bread.

I was delighted as I really like the look of braided breads and Dom had very helpfully produced a series of step-by-step photos to show us how to do it.

This loaf was huge and, unfortunately, the edges burned a little by the time it was cooked through, however it tasted wonderful.  Just how freshly baked loaf should taste.  I served it as part of the buffet table at Adam's birthday party and it was eaten up very quickly - I should have made two!

I will definitely be making this bread more often.  A very versatile loaf and easy to make.  I particularly like braiding it!  Next time I will go for a beautiful golden finish.

Here is Dom's recipe and his photos for how to do the braiding.

Recipe - 

Braided Challah Bread

1 sachet easy blend dried yeast

1tsp clear honey

8fl oz lukewarm milk

50g melted butter

16oz plain flour

1 tsp salt

2 eggs lightly beaten - in separate bowls - one for the mix and one for glazing

Poppy seed or sesame seeds (optional)

Combine the yeast, honey, milk and butter, stir and leave for 15mins to dissolve

In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt.  Make a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture and one of the beaten eggs.  Stir to make a dough. (It will be very sticky and will definitely need extra flour for kneading)

Knead till smooth and elastic (a good 15 mins) then transfer to a clean bowl, cover and leave to prove for 1 1/2 hours.

Grease a baking sheet. Knock back the dough and divide into 3 equal pieces.  Roll to shape each piece into a long strip for plaiting.

Lay 2 of the strips over the third to make a star shape and plait from the centre, tucking the ends under.  Do this on the baking sheet, then cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 30 mins.

Brush with egg and bake in a hot oven at 190 for 35 - 40 mins or until golden and sounds hollow if you tap it.

Fresh From The Oven 3 - Jan 2011 - Khrushchev Dough.

A Russian recipe this month from Silvia and Ivan from Mushitza (a very beautiful and stylish blog!).

They tell us that this was the favourite dough recipe of the Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev.  It is a very versatile dough and Silvia and Ivan gave us free rein to do with it what we liked.  I decided to simply fill my rolls with peanut butter and Nutella as I knew my husband and boys would appreciate this for their breakfasts.  However, I have since seen other members of the group do amazing things with cheese, garlic and herbs, jam and a whole host of other ideas so I am inspired to do something different next time.  Certainly I think making these into little garlic rolls to serve with pasta or soup would be perfect.

Recipe - 

Ingredients - 

40g fresh yeast (or 10g powdered dry yeast and 30ml water)

10g salt

250ml cold milk, directly from fridge

150g unsalted butter, cut into cubes, room temperature (NOT melted)

1 tbsp sugar

500g plain flour (and extra for counter)

Method - 

1. If using fresh yeast: use an ordinary tablespoon to rub the salt through the yeast block until it becomes liquid.  If using dry yeast: mix salt and dry yeast then add the water.

2. Add in the milk, butter, sugar and sift the flour on top.

3. Mix with an electric mixer equipped with dough hook until all the ingredients are combined and a soft dough forms.

4. Cover the bowl with an air tight lid or cling film and place in the fridge overnight.

5. The next morning, dust the counter with flour, place the dough on top, roll it out and shape it as you like. (The dough will be stiff since the butter goes firm in the fridge but work with it straight form the fridge).

6. Preheat the oven to 180C/GM 4.

7. To make the rolls as above, roll out to a 3mm thick rectangle.  Place your filling (I used a tsp of peanut butter and one of Nutella) onto the dough and roll up to tight rolls. 

8. Arrange them in a baking pan leaving some space between them.

9. Brush the tops with a mixture of egg yolk, a few drops of water and a few drops of vegetable oil. (I also sprinkled mine with flaked almonds which gave a lovely crunchy texture and an extra flavour.) 

10. Bake for around 15 minutes or until golden brown.

The dough can also be used to make many other treats - baked or fried.  Like doughnuts, sweet or savoury rolls, pizza or pirozhki (Russian small stuffed rolls - filling ideas - stewed fruit, mushroom, onion and rice, etc).  For more information take a look at the round up that will go up shortly on the Fresh From The Oven site.

Fresh From The Oven 2 - Dec 2010 - Half-An-Hour Scones.

This month Anet from Waiting For Good Dough challenged us to make Cranberry-Oat Sourdough Scones which could be frozen before baking and then baked quickly when needed.  Perfect for when you have guests at Christmas time.  In fact, I baked mine on Christmas morning and they were a lovely breakfast setting us up nicely for the present opening to come!

And sorry for the rubbish photos but it was more important for me to get back through to my children on Christmas morning.

I loved the scones.  They were easy to make, tasted great - I used oatmeal instead of oat flour so they had a lovely wholesome texture as well as having the juicy tang from the cranberries.

I used my cheat's sourdough starter (ie I bought the sour dough starter - very naughty! - see this post.)

I have had two batches of scones now from this recipe and still have about half a dozen in the freezer to be used whenever we need them.  I love the convenience of this recipe!

Here is the link to Fresh From The Oven so you can see the others' versions of this scone and also details incase you wish to join this baking group.

Here is the recipe for the scones which Anet has adapted from original recipes from Wild Yeast and The book Wholegrain Baking by the King Arthur Flour Comapny.

Cranberry-Oat Sourdough Scones

Yield 6-8 large scones

•                50 g (or 3/8-1/2 cup) dried cranberries

•                87 g (or 3.1 oz) white whole wheat flour

•                40 g (or 1.4 oz) oat flour

•                17 g (or 6 tsp) nonfat milk powder

•                1.5 tsp baking powder

•                3/8 tsp baking soda

•                5/8 tsp salt

•                50 g (or 1/4 cup) sugar

•                1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

•                113 g (one stick or 4 oz) cold butter

•                40 g (or 1.4 oz) rolled oats

•                340 g (or 1+1/3 cups) mature 100% sourdough starter

•                milk for brushing

•                coarse sugar (opt.)

1.              If baking scones now, preheat oven to 400F/205C.

2.              Cover cranberries with warm water and soak for 10 minutes, then drain well.

3.              In the bowl of a food processor, place the flours, milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and lemon zest. Pulse a few times to combine.

4.              Cut the cold butter into 1/2 inch cubes and add to the processor. Pulse several times until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal with a few larger (pea-sized) pieces of butter remaining.

5.              Transfer the mixture to a bowl and mix in the oats and drained cranberries lightly with your fingers.

6.              Add the sourdough starter and mix quickly and lightly just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. The dough will be wet and sticky. Do not attempt to make a smooth dough, no kneading needed! Lightness is a virtue! Mixing the dough briefly will avoid developing the gluten which toughens the scone. If the dough is too sticky, wait a minute or two

7.              Turn the dough out onto a well-floured counter and pat into a rectangle about 5x9 inches or a round shape about 7x7 inches, 1 inch thick.

8.              With a dough cutter, divide the dough into desired shapes . . . wedges are easy.

9.              Place scones on ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet.

10.           At this point the scones can be baked (or frozen***). Brush with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for about 23 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm. Some recipes have the baked scones as soon as out of the oven covered with a cotton or light kitchen towel to 'breathe', to keep from becoming hard on the surface but not soggy. Wait about 10-15 minutes then serve.

***Freezing instructions

If you want to freeze the scones for later, do not bake --- place cut scones uncovered on parchment paper on flat sheet and put in freezer. Leave until quite frozen about 2 hours. Remove and put in freezer bag or container, label with baking time and temperature, and save for up to three months time.

When desired take out however many frozen scones you need, place on ungreased or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush with milk and optional sugar. Placing the scones closer together will bake into softer sides, otherwise about 1 inch apart will create crusty sides. Preheat the oven to 400F/205C.

When oven is ready, bake for about 25-28 minutes, watch carefully. do not overbake. Serve warm.

Fresh From The Oven 1 - Nov 2010 - Kiflice.

This is my first challenge with the Fresh From The Oven Bakers.  I wanted to join a bread making challenge as bread is something I have never really made much effort with.  Steve makes all the bread in our house (well, all the home-made bread in our house which is a rather small proportion of all bread consumed - I think Tesco makes the lion-share of all the bread eaten here!) and so, I thought that if I started doing these challenges, it would improve my skills enough that I could maybe catch up with him in this area!  Yes, I'm a competitive wife! 

So, my first challenge was hosted by Maja from Cooks and Bakes. She challenged us to make kiflice - or Serbian cheese rolls.  We have a friend from Serbia so my first question to her was how to pronounce kiflice - apparently it is keefleetse (the 'c' is pronounced as in tsar).

I then asked her if she thought my pictures looked like the real thing and she said they did! Yay.  She said that it was impossible to replicate the taste of a strong, distinctive Serbian cheese but that if I do them again, next time I should try Wensleydale instead of the cottage cheese as that is what her Grandmother used.  She also told me that the kiflice can be done with a jam filling instead of the cheese.


So, here is the recipe - it is Maja's own family recipe.  She lives in Belgrade. 

Ingredients - 

Dough -

500g plain flour

1 tsp salt

20g fresh yeast (or 2 tsp instant)

1 tsp sugar

250 ml milk

75 ml sunflower oil

1 egg

Filling - 

200 - 250g cottage cheese (or feta, or as above - Wensleydale)

1 egg white, optional

And more - 

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp milk

100g butter or margarine

Method - 

1. Crush the cheese with a fork.  Add some salt if it tastes neutral.  Stir the egg white in if the cheese is too crumbly.  Filling shouldn't be runny, but thick and compact, thicker than cream cheese, and pretty salty.

2. For the starter - dissolve yeast with some lukewarm milk in a cup , add a tsp of sugar and a tbsp of flour, stir to get smooth batter.  Set aside at room temperature, or near the stove top, to let the yeast activate and fill the cup.

3. Sift the flour, add salt.  Add activated yeast, egg, oil and milk then combine using a wooden spoon to get smooth dough.  The dough seems like too soft and too sticky at the beginning, but don't worry, continue with kneading, and soon your dough should start to separate from the bowl, and thicken.  Grease cling film with oil, cover the bowl and set aside for at least an hour in a lukewarm place, to let the dough double in size.

4. Re-knead the dough, divide into 5 equal parts, shape them into balls.  Each part should make 8 rolls so you'll end up with 40.

5. Flatten each ball by hands over the floury work surface, then use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a circle, a few millimetres thick.  Use a sharp knife to cut the circle into 8 triangles.  Take on triangle, stretch it in the air with your hands, to get it extended as much as you can, gently.

  

6. Put some filling at the triangle base then fold the edges of the base to avoid the filling leaking out during baking. Roll.  Arrange the rolls in a baking tin lined with parchment paper.

7. Lightly beat the egg yolk with a tbsp of milk then brush the top of the rolls with the mixture.  Sprinkle with some sesame seeds if you like.

8. Arrange small pieces of butter between the rolls.  Don't skip this step or you'll end up with just ordinary cheese rolls, the fat they absorb during baking is what gives them the extra softness and taste and a kind of "fried" and crispy bottom of the rolls.

9. Bake in an oven preheated to 180C for about 20 mins.  Be careful not to overbake them.