Allotments 4 All
Produce => Recipes => Topic started by: tim on April 22, 2004, 12:02:38
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SO - up at 6am & ready for the oven! = Tim
PS SORRY again - tried to reduce it but ran out of time.
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mmm - looks delicious! I just adore homemade bread. I shall have to make some next week while I have the time.
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Pity we can't smell and taste it instead of just looking !!!! :(
Warm from the oven, covered in butter, with a hot cup of freshly made tea YUM. Blimey my mouth is actually watering here. :P
Eileen.
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Such a shame that you weren't all here!! = Tim
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mmmmmarmite
Which reminds me - must buy some more, we've run out.
*mouth watering*
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Tim, I swear I could smell freshly baked bread when I looked at your Pic. Mouth watering delicious by the look of it. Really must start making bread again! ;D busy_lizzie
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Trouble with your own stuff, it gets eaten that day - so - one has to do another!!
I'm really only doing this to try out Pat's instructions on Photo Manager. = Tim
PS Thanks, Pat!
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Tim do you use a Breadmaker? if so could you recommend a good make, thankyou Jackie.
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I don't, Jackie -
1. We have an AGA.
2. I love bashing bread.
3. I have time on my hands.
4. Machines, I believe, only make small loaves. That one is 14" long!
5. There's no room in the kitchen for one. I have to fight to keep my Magimix out! = Tim
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Last year, bumped into a friend who was buying a breadmaker for her mother in law - £20 in Tescos. I persuaded hubby to buy one - perfect, wonderful, then we took it down to my mum's and forgot to bring it back. So, he bought me a new one, though this has only been used a couple of times since. Prefer the other one, but haven't got round to sticking the flour, etc in the breadmaker - maybe I could give up spending so much time here, in order to make bread :o
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At that price, you could have several, working in relay? = Tim
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Tim, do you use fresh yeast and if so, where do you get yours? I lurve making bread but haven't used fresh bread since my o'level domestic science days! :o
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EJ, I'm not Tim, but do make my own bread. I get my fresh yeast either from morrisons if I'm there, but if you ask nicely at Asda bakery, they give you lumps for free. I freeze it in 1oz weights and it works beautifully
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Cor, thanks Ceri, I shall ask when I am in Asda in the week. ;D
p.s. didn't think you were Tim, your voice is so much higher ;)
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other than that, you couldn't tell us apart!
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Whoever I am, Tesco stopped doing it. The only other option is to order it from the baker & drive 4m to collect. Not my scene. = Tim
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So is mine now!
Pity we can't smell and taste it instead of just looking !!!! :(
Warm from the oven, covered in butter, with a hot cup of freshly made tea YUM. Blimey my mouth is actually watering here. :P
Eileen.
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I don't think there's much difference in the taste with fresh or packet yeast, I live above shops and the baker gave me some but I don't bother any more I use dried. I was given a really old bread maker because my shiny new one was rubbish and I love the thing and use it all the time, it takes exactly 4 minutes to put the ingredients in and that's it, hot crusty bread 3 hours later!
Chezzie
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hhhmmm....I can sense some big birthday pressie hints wafting Avas way! ;D
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So what colour will your AGA be?? = Tim
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How did you know I was getting a new cooker Tim, or wasn't that reply aimed at me? it arrives tomorrow and I can't wait, another present from my lovely mother. She wanted me to have an Aga but it's not possible here. Nothing like an Aga for warming your rear end and sorting out the pecking order oh! and cooking!
Now which colour would I have chosen? green I think.
Chezzie loves Aga's
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According to Which?, the best breadmaker is the Panasonic version.
But my little cheapie one from Asda a few years ago does just fine!
Ten x
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Tim,your bread looks delicious!I must get started again.
I used to make all our bread and rolls.I found for us then, the slow overnight rise the best.You use half the yeast,prepare the night before,leave in a cool place, it matures slowly so the flour taste is better and not yeasty at all.You knock it back and bake it in the morning for breakfast,if up early enough,which with young children and a job I had to be!
Now got a breadmaker which is easy peasy,great to set it in the morning on a Sat and come in to new bread with our homemade soup!
The other bread we bake is soda bread.If away from home on a boat or our campervan we make this with the sour milk that you always end up with.Very tasty,easy to make and solves the problem of fresh supplies when far from civilisation!
Lets hear it for fresh homebaked bread!
:P
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Thanks for reminding me about the slow rise.
Is that assuming only one rise - in the tin?? = Tim
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Hi Tim,
No,first slow rise in covered bowl,then quick knock back,shape into loaves or rolls,prove for 15-20 mins on the hob while oven heating,then bake.
I used to make wholemeal rolls in the morning for speed and for packed lunches. :)
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I noticed a comment way back about home made bread only being good for a day. I thought that too - bakers way back used lard in the mix which made it last longer, but there is a healthier option - dried milk powder!
Just add a couple of tablespoons to the mix and the bread keeps for ages. Dunc says it makes great toast after a week!!!
We have had a breadmaker for over a year now an I won't buy bread now. We even make our own flour tortillas when doing Mexican.
So try milk powder in your bread - it really makes it last.
:-* Tricia
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I have a Panasonic bread maker. We bought it to replace a previous breadmaker, the bread was always dense and didn't seem to rise very well. With the Panasonic the bread on occasions pushes the lid up as it rises so high! As someone said before the bread doesn't keep well (I guess the lack of preservatives) but never mind because it gets eaten so quickly. A great way to make use of your herbs and also veg like courgettes and potatos. I use dried yeast that comes in sachets and it works well. Great for making pizzas also.
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Without trying to be clever - no problems on keeping - our wholemeal would last a week - if it were permitted to do so. More normally. it's gone within an hour or so!! = Tim
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Tim, how do you store your bread then? I leave mine in the bread bin but wonder if it would be better off sealed in a zipseal freezer bag?
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Hi Tricia!
How about passing on your recipe for tortillas?
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Sorry. Jesseveve - missed that one. Like you, normally in the bin, but I often find that things keep better in the fridge.
One limitation is when I have to use butter instead of oil or veg fat - goes off! = Tim
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As a baker I'm horrified by all this talk of breadmakers and dried yeast :o :o
There is nothing like fresh yeast to make bread and nothing like the manual kneading of the dough. Have tried dried yeast and found that consistency of dough feels different in hand. The elasticity too loose. Until the day that fresh yeast is no longer avaliable I won't use dried. As for breadmakers, sure quick and easy but not as much fun as working hard over a dough and enjoying the fruits of your labour.
Sorry rant over.
I use an extract for fat which helps longevity of my bread, but I can't remember the name of it. When I go to the shop tomorrow, I am getting some as I'm out of it, I shall let you know. My local sainsbury's sell fresh yeast over the bakery counter.
TrailRat
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Don't be horrified, TR - some folk even eat packaged meals to save effort, & allow them time to bath their children & watch football!! = Tim
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Yeah I know people have lives to live. My rant was in good humour. ;D
TrailRat
P.s got a loaves proving now as it goes, smells good
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Please don't do this to me trail rat I haven't had breakfast yet!
[mainly due to internet] ::)
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its in the oven now, and the whole flat is filled with the smell of baking bread, chezzie.
mmmmmmmmmm
TrailRat
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Right that does it I'm going to order fresh yeast from the baker now!
Can't promise not to use the breadmaker though.
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I'm a halfway house on this one - use fresh yeast, put with chosen recipe ingredients in bread maker to do the boring (to me anyway) bit, then play with the dough to bake in the shape I want!
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Or the Magimix if you're really pushed? = Tim
PS TR - rant? I know!! Me too.
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Well, some of us don't have enough worktop space to knead bread or are very good at it. ;) My cheapo breadmaker does the job and it's better than the bought stuff in the shops, besides my kitchen is so tiny if I try to knead anything I bang my head into the cupboard one way and the boiler the other.
Anyway don't you have to leave the dough in the airing cupboard to rise? Cause with the advent of combi boilers, there's a whole nation on airing cupboard less folks in waiting. ;D
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Ha ha ha! You tell 'em Sarah!
I've got visions of balancing bread tins on the combi-boiler which is situated above the stairwell. Where's that ladder gone!
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Not really in an airing cupboard, just a warm room will do and considering I bake a lot my kitchen gets quite warm. It's a myth about airing cupboards started because it was the warmest place in the house. With the advent of energy efficent boilers this sometimes is no longer the case. If you don't bake a lot just preheat your oven, and crack the door open slighty to allow your kitchen to warm up. I also understand some people have small kitchens, all my rants was in good humour.
TrailRat
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Falling, falling, falling SPLAT!!!!
No I'll stick to my bread-maker thanks TR! ;D
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oh well, conversion has failed. Next sinner to my door please ;D ;D ;D
TrailRat
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Okay TR, you post your favorite bread recipe here and I'll give hand made bread (without the use of my breadmaker) a go. I'm off to Sainsbury's tomorrow so will ask for some fresh yeast. Can I cheat and use my Kenwood with the dough hook? :)
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most certainly, I'll have weigh up what I use because I generaly just dump in ingredients by the handful. And yes you can use a dough hook on your kenwood.
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And I'll use Abu Hamza.....
[sorry, sorry, sorry just a joke]
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I'm half converted TR I'll order the fresh yeast again from the baker. ;)
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My printer's bust, and I want to get this recipe to a friend in school - so for anyone else homesick ever for Aberdeenshire --------------- :) :) :)
And for those who are NOT ever homesick for Aberdeen - try these, and you'll understand what I'm talking about! There is no better breakfast - warm, with a bit of butter and marmalade.
Your call - "croissants are but effete, airy-fairy, pale imitations"; or, "My God, how dare the Scots do this to ... to ... to .... THE CROISSANT!")
Butteries/Rowies - mostly from the book, with a few "BUTS" I do myself!
Ingredients - for about 16 butteries (?)
1 lb of plain bread flour.
6 oz butter.
4 oz lard.
1 heaped teaspoon of salt.
2 heaped teaspoons of sugar.
½ oz fresh yeast.
¼ pint of tepid water.
Sieve the flour and salt into a large bowl.
Cream the fresh yeast, sugar and a little of the tepid water together and add to the flour. Mix the ingredients together with enough water to make a smooth firm dough.
(BUT - I normally use the equivalent in dried yeast, and follow the instructions on the yeast sachet/box)
Knead the dough well, on a well floured surface, about 10 minutes. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover with a warm slightly damp cloth and set aside in a warm place for about an hour - until the dough has doubled in size.
Mix together the butter and lard (BUT - I normally use vegetarian lard, and 6 ozs lard to 4 ozs butter - seems to work better?).
When the dough has risen knock it back, knead it a little. Then
1. roll it out on a floured surface;
2. dot a third of the butter\lard mixture on the dough (or spread it);
3. fold the dough in three.
Repeat the rolling, dotting and folding twice more.
Now - roll out the dough a last time, quite thinly and cut into squares. Fold the corners under, and shape them into rough rounds - don't over-work the dough though. Put the rolls on a greased and floured baking tray, and leave in a warm place to rise for 30-40 minutes.
Bake them in a hot oven (200°C/ 400°F) for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crispy on both sides.
Double quantities? Why not - they keep well in the freezer!
All best - Gavin
PS Now I just need to find a recipe which makes Baps like they do in Aberdeen!
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Gavin, have only just seen this recipe. Haven't had a decent butterie since I can't remember when so will sure give it a go. If you do find a recipe for Aiberdeen baps (Softies to me!) be sure to post it. Thanks.
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I'll support that! = Tim
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Just been reading through this thread with interest...
IMHO (and it _is_ just an opinion!) there's a spectrum of bread, with sliced white at one end thru baker's shops, and then to home made & baked & instantly eaten at the other .
We used to buy most of our bread, but occasionally baked our own and it is just the most satisfying and ultimately rewarding job. However, it did take forethought and a modicum of effort, and we never really got into the routine of doing it all the time.
Last Christmas I bought Amanda a breadmaker (the Panasonic one) - she absolutely loves kitchen stuff, especially if it does what it claims to. The first loaf was made a couple of days later, and then the addiction was set. We've since bought a grand total of two loaves from the supermarket in-house, and they were in exceptional circumstances.
I reckon the breadmaker stuff really is next-best thing to handmade, and the minimal amount of prep time means that it can become a habit even for those on the most hectic schedule. Setting a timer to make it finish just as you get up in the morning is an absolute bonus! Of course, if you're lucky enough to have a really top class baker's shop within easy distance it might be second to that, but theu're becoming rare sights these days.
Just my thoughts...
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All good stuff - but doesn't the machine need improvers & other 'additives'?? Not knocking it. In any event, there's no room in the kitchen. Not even for a dishwasher.
So what does Amanda now do for exercise?? Oh, I know - bath the children?? = Tim
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:-) no kids yet, Tim. far too busy messing about with kitchen gadgets and eating the end results for all that nonsense.... (not to mention I keep disappearing down the allotment).
Only improver to speak of in normal white would be milk powder, and I've read experiences of others who say they miss it out without ill effect, but I couldn't testify to that. I'll have to experiment.
However, I'd never try and persuade you to go with a machine over and above hand baking. Ive got a lot of respect for folks that have the discipline to bake their bread by hand, and as I say I reckon home made hand baked is the pinnacle of good bread...
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Breadmakers and kids? BAD mistake. DO NOT MIX!
At least making bread the hand way, they know it takes time, and that I don't always have the time. Get a breadmaker? And it's so quick and simple (almost as good as the other, and a lot less washing up), that we have abandoned arguments about sweets, chocolates, biscuits, and fizzy drinks. :) :) :)
It's all - "Where's that bloody loaf gone? It was sitting there half an hour ago! You can't have eaten it!!!!!!! . . . What . . . all of it?" ???
AND now the little sods have read the manual, AND discovered the timer. :( :( :( So, last thing at night, they're conferring on placing an order for what bread they want for breakfast!!!!
(Note - they stopped reading at the paragraph about the timer. Turn over the page to work out the recipes themselves - not likely! :( )
Be warned - an unwilling, grumpy, (but lazy :)) convert!
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For Wicker - nearest I've seen to the baps I remember; just found in 100 Bread Machine Recipes (in The Works remainder shops); dunno if it works - not yet!
1/2 cup tepid water
1/2 cup warmed milk
2 tablespoons butter (melted and cooled)
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups white bread flour
1/2 teaspoon yeast
Put ingredients in baking pan, and set machine to "dough".
When it's done, knead the dough lightly on a floured surface, and cut into 8 equal pieces. Shape the lumps into 5 inch disks (about 1/2 inch thick). Dust with some flour, and cover dough with cling film.
Leave in a warm place to prove (not too warm, as Baps need a longer slower rise)
Preheat oven to 200/400/Gas 6.
When they have almost doubled in size, remove clingfilm; dust with a little more flour. Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden at the edges.
Worth a go?
All best - Gavin
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Don't have a bread machine (yet ;)) but certainly worth a go hand baking, Gavin. Aberdeen Softies were so very very much better than the lumps of doughy stuff that are now bread rolls full of preservative.
First time I went to the bakers after moving here when I got married (eons ago) and asked for Six Softies Please I was told "Aye, hen, you'll no get many softies in Leith but plenty hard nuts!". They just called them Aberdeens here.
P.s. the butteries were very tasty - ate them warm and gave my self indigestion but well worth it - will be more patient next time!