Wheat Tortillas - Bread Challenge No.13

I have been determined to make these for ages and with only a few hours left before completing the bread challenge I finally made them and they tasted good!!
Easy peasy too!
 Recipe below folks!

Ingredients:
250g/9oz Plain Flour
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
55g/2oz Lard or Butter
175ml/6floz Lukewam Water

Method :
Sieve the flour,baking powder and salt into a bowl. Cube the lard/butter and rub into the dry ingredients with your fingertips.

Ready To Rub In The Butter

Make a well in the centre, add the water and mix together to form a soft dough. Wrap in oiled clingfilm and leave to rest for half hour. 

'Dough Bal'

Unwrap from the clingfilm and divide into 6 equal portions. Roll each one out into as best a circle that you can and as thin as you can.

Rolling Out The Dough

Heat a heavy bottomed frying pan or griddle pan and brush with oil. Transfer one of the dough circles to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes, then turn to cook the other side. The dough will bubble and brown patches will appear.

Cooking In The Frying Pan

Remove and transfer to a cooling rack and cover with a tea towel to keep warm. Repeat the process with the other 5 circles.

Hot Tortillas Straight from the Pan

Spread with your favourite filling, roll up and serve as a snack or light lunch wrap.

Homemade Wrap With My favourite Filling

Mine was delicious!!!!!!!!

Beetroot Loaf - Bread Challenge No.8

I bet, reading this posts title, you're thinking exactly what I was thinking when Vicky gave me the recipe for Beetroot loaf from 'The Fabulous Baker Brothers' book 'Glorious British Grub' - WEIRD!
But hey, weird is good, especially when you are doing a bread challenge and want to have a go at as many recipes as you can.
In the book they create the dough to make small baps to serve their mackeral burgers in but I decided to just bake it in a loaf tin.
Look how pink it was before going in the oven!



We all got really excited as we watched the loaf cook in the oven but a bit dismayed when it turned a brown colour rather than the vibrant pink it had been before baking.

The dough was wetter than most of the others I've made and I think I should have possibly kneaded a little more flour in to dry out the dough slightly. The loaf was slightly undercooked when I took it out of the tin.

Tasted very sweet though and lovely.

Want to try it for yourself?   Here's the recipe below

Ingredients:

500g strong white flour

1 tsp salt

7g fast action dried yeast

handful chopped fresh thyme

1 tbsp honey

2 small cooked vacuum- packed beetroots, blended to a fine paste

300ml luke warm water

Method:

Place the flour,salt and yeast into a bowl. Add the beetroot,thyme, honey and water and mix to form a soft not sticky dough.

Knead for 10 minutes til soft and pliable. Place in a bowl, cover and leave in a warm place to rise.

When risen, punch down the dough, remove from the bowl and knead lightly for couple of minutes then place in an oiled loaf tin.

Leave to rise again then bake in a preheated oven 180C for about 20 minutes.

Beetroot Loaf

Hot Cross Buns - Challenge No. 7

So with Easter upon us tomorrow I thought my next challenge needed to be Hot Cross Buns.
A Hot Cross Bun is a sweet,spiced bun made with mixed fruit and marked with a cross on the top. Traditional they are to be eaten on Good Friday.
Nowadays major supermarkets stock a variety of different taste variations such as toffee, orange & cranberry, and apple & cinnamon.
I always wondered what the cross on top was made from and have found out today that it's traditionally shortcrust pastry though mostly nowdays a paste made from flour and water.
As with all the bread recipes it's a long process  making the buns because of the rising times.
I've cooked at home today and my cooker was far too hot despite setting the temperature lower than the recipe said, so, gutted that the outside got slightly overcooked whilst the inside was underdone. But I lowered the temperature as soon as I realised and though disappointed they were still enjoyed by all at home!

Todays recipe comes from The BBC - Food - Recipes site so instead of me writing it all out here's the link and below are a couple of photos (new camera definately on my christmas list this year! Excuse the quality of the images!)

So after putting all the ingredients together, and kneading til smooth, put your dough in a bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place.

Several cups of tea later punch down your dough and divide into 12 equal mounts. Roll into balls, flatten slightly and place on a greased baking tray. Make your paste with the flour and water and pipe a cross on the top. I made 2 pastes as the first ran out. Think my 2nd paste had a better effect after cooking as it was slightly runnier than the first.

Bake in the oven 8 - 12 mins. As I said earlier my fan oven was far too hot despite me reducing the temperature to 200C. For me 170C would have been the best temperature I think.
Brush with melted golden syrup straight from the oven.

Hot Cross Buns

Lovely hot with soft, melting butter

Olive Bread - The Bread Challenge Number 3

I have never been brave enough to taste an olive before. 'Brave' is probably the wrong word to use but just the look of them put me off and I had the preconception that it would be a bitter, horrible taste.
 Having said that, since working at The Red Lion, I have realised how much of a popular fruit they are. We serve them as a starter on their own or as part of our mediterranean selection starter. Knowing how popular they are when I saw the recipe for olive bread I knew it would be well received amongst the customers at the pub.

So brave I was and tried a green olive and guess what? I liked it!

So today I made the most tasty olive bread and would certainly recommend it. Tastes devine, especially straight from the oven.

Olive Bread

Ingredients
900g/2lb strong white flour
1tsp salt
1 sachet easy-blend dried yeast
3tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp dried oregano
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for brushing
600ml/1 pint warm water
225g/8oz olives, stoned and roughly chopped

Method:
1.Place the flour,salt,yeast,sesame seeds and oregano in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the olive oil and water and work together. Knead for 10 minutes or until smooth.Put in a bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm to rise double in size, about an hour.
2. When risen, remove from bowl and knead in the olives til evenly distributed. (I had to add a lot more flour at this point as the olives made the dough very wet, though it didnt mention this in this recipe).
3. Form the dough into an oval shape and place on a baking sheet, cover and leave to rise again in a warm place. ( I got cocky at this point and split the dough into 2 loaf tins instead of a baking tray and the bread came out with a soggy bottom! )
4.Brush the top with olive oil and with a sharp knife make 3 slits along the top. Cook in a preheated oven 220C/425F/gas 7 for 10 minutes then reduce the temperature to 190C/375F/gas 5 for a further 20-25 minutes.
Smells and tastes beautiful straight from the oven
 

Olive Bread

Update from a customer tonight. Apparently the bread is to die for!

Guinness Loaf for St Patricks Day- The Bread Challenge Part 1

Ok, so when I set myself the bread challenge several days ago it certainly wasn't my intention to take this long to start it but at least I have got off the ball now with my first loaf especially for St Patricks Day!
 Not much to say about this loaf. Now I have the kneading technique sussed, and allow plenty of time for the dough to rise to the maximum, I found it quite easy. Using the brown flour did give the dough a less elasticated feel though and quite rubbery to the touch when kneading but the end result came out great and you can certainly taste the Guinness in each slice of bread.
 Ingredients:
 250g/9oz Strong White Flour
 250g/9oz Malted Brown Flour
 1 Sachet Easy-Blend Dried Yeast
 1 1/2 Tsp Salt
 300ml/10floz Guinness
 Veg Oil for Brushing

 Method:
1. Sift both flours into a bowl and stir in the yeast and salt. Make a well in the centre.
2. Heat the Guinness very slightly in a microwave til lukewarm. Pour into the well and mix to a soft dough.
3. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth then return to bowl, cover with a wet tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
4. Turn out and knead lightly for a couple of minutes. shape into an oval and place in a 2lb oiled loaf tin. Cover and leave to rise until doubled in size.
5. Cook in a pre heated oven for 20-30 minutes at 200C/400F/Gas6 then transfer to a wire rack

Guinness Loaf

Happy St Patricks Day.
Let me leave you with my St Patricks Day photo of the church opposite the pub this morning. Snow in March!!!

St. Martins Church, Litchborough

The Bread Challenge

I watched a great dvd the other day, Julie and Julia, which was based on two true stories.
The story involves culinary legend Julia Child, whose cookbook, Mastering The Art of French Cooking, inspired writer Julie Powell to cook her way through the book and achieve 524 recipes in 365 days.
Quite a challenge you will agree and one I would love to attempt myself but know I am better challenged on a smaller scale. So what challenge could I set myself?
As you will know from previous posts I have spent the past month perfecting the art of a crusty white loaf so what better challenge than a bread challenge?
So my aim from today is to achieve 15 or more bread recipes in the next month. I'll set my finishing date as 11th April.
Why not join me and share your experiences in the comments section below each post.

Trip Advisor Great Review

If you are a regular to my blog you will know I have written a post about trip advisor before.
In my previous job, I know, there were a few reviews by friends and enemies which, to me, is really not helpful to people using the website to decide whether to visit the establishment or not.
Constructive criticism is always welcome, and acted on, at The Old Red Lion, Litchborough and this week we were all really chuffed to receive a great view from a customer who ate with us last Wednesday night. I was especially chuffed as I was the chef that night.
What delighted me most was a comment on the Homemade Bread which I have spent weeks perfecting. The customer wrote  "The home-made bread deserves a special mention - good crust and crumb, and perfect seasoning. We are looking forward to a return visit some time soon."
How lovely was that?!
To read the whole review follow this link http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g499614-d3506749-r153946724-The_Old_Red_Lion_Pub_and_Restaurant-Towcester_Northamptonshire_England.html#REVIEWS

And if you would like to attempt your own Homemade Bread my recipe can be found through this link http://stylesofcooking.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/homemade-bread.html
Be patient and try not to rush the 'rising' process. I now make my dough in the morning and leave until the dough really rises out and over the the tin.
Let me know how you get on.

Homemade Bread

I think you would agree with me that, as consumers, we always like to be offered free items from companies that shows us to be valued and appreciated.
At The Old Red Lion, Litchborough Ben and Vicky think its a lovely gesture to offer homemade bread with an oil and balsamic dip to their customers whilst they peruse the menu.
Having never made bread before this came as a new challenge for me, but was not as difficult as I imagined and, it seems, truely welcomed by customers so far.
Look below for the recipe that I use and give it a go yourself!

CRUSTY WHITE BREAD
Ingredients
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
150-200/5-7floz luke warm water
500g/1lb 2oz strong white flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp easy-blend dried yeast
25g/1oz Butter
sunflour oil

Method
1. Place the egg and egg yolk in a jug and beat lightly to mix. Add enough luke warm water to make up to 300ml/10floz. Stir well
2. Sift the flour into a bowl and stir in the salt, sugar, and yeast. Add the butter, and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.Make a well in the centre, add the egg mixture and work to a smooth dough.
3. Turn out on to a lightly oiled surface and knead well for about 10 minutes or until smooth. Brush a bowl with oil . Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
4. Brush a 900g/2lb loaf tin with oil. Turn out the dough and knead again for 1 minute or until smooth. Shape the dough to the size of the tin and place in it. Cover again with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes or until it has risen above the tin. Place in a pre heated oven 220C/425F/Gas 7 for approx 30mins until firm and golden brown.Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Below is a batch I made last night.

And here is how we serve it!

If you don't fancy making the bread yourself why not pop along to The Old Red Lion and try some for yourself!