Sourdough

I've had a bee in my bonnet about bread for some time now. I hate, loathe and detest bad bread. In France we are lucky enough to be able to get good, fresh, crispy bread whenever we like. However, our local bakery recently closed and although crispy is great, sometimes you need something with a bit more substance. I like my bread to be a bit chewy,  have a good crust, maybe a little sourness to balance the sweetness as the carbohydrates turn to sugar in your mouth. You can see where this is going...bread that we call 'pain à l'ancienne' in France, and is called sourdough in America.

This is essentially bread that is risen without the aid of added baker's yeast. You grown your own yeast in a culture made of flour and water. Some articles I've read claim that the yeasts come from the atmosphere. I don't think this is true; my own experience is that the naturally occurring yeasts in the flour are the basis of your culture. The flour that you use will define the flavour of your bread. I use rye flour - organic if I can get it. This is because rye flour seems to have plenty of yeast in it and the resulting mixture (the starter) is lively, bubbly and smells delicious. The bread it makes is slightly beige in colour, has a good crusty texture with big bubbles inside. Best of all it is very cheap to make; flour, water, salt.


You start with a clean jar - I use a 1 litre 'Parfait' jar with a rubber seal, and a measuring cup. I use about a quarter of a US cup (from the set of cup measures that you undoubtedly possess). Put a quarter cup of flour and a quarter cup of cold water into your jar. Mix it and leave it at room temperature for about 12 hours. Then add another measure of water and flour and leave it again. Don't seal the jar, just cover it with a tea towel to stop nasties getting in. Don't worry about putting it somewhere too warm either - normal household temperatures are fine, just try & keep it out of a draft.

Keep doing this (feeding it) for several days. Once your jar is more than half full, and before you feed again, discard about half your mixture. After a few (or several) days you will notice that the mixture becomes bubbly and starts to rise up the jar. This is great; the yeasts are multiplying. At this point you should start to get a lovely beery, yeasty smell. It should smell good - if it smells chemically or nasty, throw it away and start again. I have to say that I've never had this happen, but I've read about it!

Once your starter is rising up the jar after each feeding and looks bubbly and lively, you could try making a loaf with it. Best to start in the morning. Take about 500g bread flour, a couple of teaspoons of salt and about 200g of your starter. Add enough tepid water to make a slightly less than firm dough. You don't want it too sticky (or it might now be able to support itself), but neither do you want it dry. If you've made bread before you'll know what I mean and if you haven't then you will learn by experience. Knead the dough thoroughly for about 10 minutes, or five minutes in your mixer with the dough hook. I once read that bread dough should have the feel of a woman's breast. This might be of some help; it depends on the woman!

Leave your dough in a covered bowl to rise. You are aiming for the dough to double in size. If you started this in the morning, look at baking in the afternoon. Or, make your dough in the evening, let it rise in a cooler place overnight and bake in the morning. Once the dough is risen, shape it into a loaf, two smaller loaves, or a loaf and some rolls. Let the shaped dough rise again (probably about an hour or so) and bake in a hot oven for about 30 minutes for the smaller loaves or 45 for a large one. When your bread is done, knock on the bottom and it will have a hollow sound. Leave the loaf to cool on a rack. Voila - you've made your first loaf.

Now, you probably won't bake the perfect loaf the first time you try. If your dough doesn't rise too much, make pizza with it. If your loaf is a little solid the first time, try a softer dough next time. But don't be disappointed. It can take a few weeks before your starter reaches full potential. Play with the amounts and use your dough to make whatever bread you like. I usually make a white sourdough with wheat bread flour. Equally I could add wholemeal wheat flour (about 50/50 white & wholemeal makes a nicely textured loaf), I could use a proportion of rye flour or (my favourite) granary flour. 

This week I made a big batch of dough (about 1000g flour) and used about 500g of starter to raise it with a tablespoon of salt and (I think) 300ml water. I let it do the first rise for about six hours near the fire. I made two 400g loaves, a 400g baguette and five small rolls in the evening. We had the rolls with home made soup, the baguette yesterday and the two loaves are in the freezer for when we need them. Your bread will be equally good, whether you serve it with soup, with cheese & ham, or (as we we did last night) with baked beans and Ikea meatballs!

Once your starter is thriving and you've made a few loaves with it, you can be more flexible. I made bread early this week, then emptied the remaining starter into a bowl, cleaned my jar, fed my starter again and put it back. Then I closed up the jar and popped it in the fridge. The next time I need to make bread (in a couple of weeks, probably) I will get my jar out of the fridge, feed it at room temperature twice a day for a few days and then be ready to make bread again. It really is that easy.

Sausages, bacon, pork and ham. Oh, what a lucky wolf I am...

For anyone who doesn't recognise the quote, Roald Dahl's 'Revolting Rhymes' (and especially the audio version by Prunella Scales & Timothy West) is the best ever retelling of classic fairy tales. Supreme comedy without the faintest trace of bad language. Perfect for children because it doesn't speak down to them, but encourages their sense of the ridiculous and emphasises the absurdity of tales they are told by adults. That particular line from The Three Little Pigs always springs to mind when I'm cooking anything with pork ('The animal I really dig above all others is the pig...') Today's lunch is pig at it's finest; bacon chops prepared by the monks at Bricquebec, on the Cotentin peninsular not far from us. 

The starting point for this meal is actually a bowl of leftover potato & celeriac mash. You can use any potato mash, though - the celeriac flavour doesn't really make a huge impression here. I remember making potato cakes with my mum - they were cakes, not pancakes, more like a scone. Thick, savoury and fried in bacon fat. I'm on a bit of a leftovers kick anyway - there are few leftovers that can't be either turned into soup, eaten for supper, added to tomorrow's dinner or composted. Stale bread can be turned into breadcrumbs, Husband loves a little leftover mash in a bowl of soup, buy a cauliflower, make four portions of gratin and freeze three of them, make a big casserole and freeze two meals worth. Plan not to have leftovers - plan to use every bit of food you buy. 

Potato cakes are quick and simple. Take a bowl (about 250g) of leftover mash. Add a cup of self-raising flour (for lightness), 2 eggs, 50g of grated cheese (if you have it), salt & pepper to taste.

Combine the ingredients in a bowl. Add extra flour if needed to get a soft dough consistency. Turn out onto a heavily floured board. Sprinkle more flour on top. Shape into a 1½ cm thick cake. Cut into six sections.

Fry the cakes in oil (or whatever you prefer) until they are slightly puffy and golden, about 3-5 minutes on each side. My preferred choice of frying medium on this occasion was the juices from the bacon chops, plus a little duck fat. Served with mushrooms and a blob of ketchup, this isn't fine dining. However it is very satisfying home cooking. 

And as for the pig? Well, you might ask Red Riding Hood exactly where she acquired her pigskin travelling case.

Longing for lemon cake

Today has been so warm and lovely that you would hardly think we are heading into winter. The sky this morning was blue with fluffy clouds and a warm breeze - all the heaters were turned off and the windows open. I know it can't last, but somehow I thought that maybe I could bring some sunshine into the kitchen. I needed to bake a cake for tea today (remember, teatime for the English is sacred), and we had other things happening this morning, so I thought I would try a cup-based recipe that boasts that it is 'better than Starbucks'. There is no Starbucks near here; I think there might be one in Caen, but I've never gone looking for it. However, I like the texture of coffee shop cake and so far have never found a lemon cake recipe with just that slightly sticky firmness of texture that goes so well with a cup of something hot. Anyway, I put this cake together in just a few minutes and it really is the best lemon loaf cake I've made. So, with thanks to www.averiecooks.com, and some adjustment for local availability, here is the recipe I used.

3 large eggs
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup greek yogurt (I actually used an individual tub of about 150ml and topped up with milk)
½ cup vegetable oil (I used Colza oil, but sunflower or corn oil would work equally well)
Zest of three lemons, juice of two lemons, mixed together (use the juice from the other lemon for the glaze)
1 ½ cups self-raising flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Whisk the eggs, caster sugar, yogurt, vegetable oil & lemon zest mixture together (I used an electric hand whisk), until it is smooth & creamy.
Sift in the sugar, salt, flour & baking powder. Mix gently, but don't overmix - no need to beat out all the lumps.

Pour the batter into a prepared large loaf tin (buttered/floured or use non-stick baking spray for a fancy tin).

Bake in a moderate oven, gas mark 4, 180c, 350f. Test after 50 minutes - mine took 60 minutes. The top should be gently domed & golden, a wooden skewer should have moist crumbs on it. Cool the cake on a rack before glazing it. Because I'd used a fancy tin, I glazed mine upside down. If you use a plain loaf tin it will look lovely glazed on top.

Mix the juice of the third lemon with a cup of icing sugar. Colour it yellow if you're in the mood. Glaze the top of the cake, allowing some of the glaze to trickle down the sides. 

The cake has a lovely firm texture, a pale lemon colour and a lovely sunshine flavour of lemons. The glaze accentuates the flavour without any harsh or bitter notes. 

The original recipe insists on the use of lemon extract for flavour. I'm afraid I didn't have any, don't use it and much prefer the flavour of fresh lemons anyway. The juice & zest mixture gave me just the flavour I like. 

Chocolate Cherry Bundt

There just isn't enough chocolate in the world to please some people. When I said the other day that I had a yearning for a sticky chocolate cake, Husband asked for cherries in it. So I found this recipe on thesouthernladycooks.com, which I have adapted to European measurements and ingredients. It is delicious, dark, sticky and moreish.

250g self-raising flour

½ tsp salt

70g cocoa

125g caster sugar

2 eggs

125g butter, melted

250g greek yogurt

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 can cherry pie filling

If you  haven’t got cherry pie filling, then do as I did and use a large can of stoned cherries, drained. Thicken the juices to pie filling texture with a dessert spoon of cornflour and a drop of water (or, in my case, cherry brandy). Let it cool with the cherries in and voila!

This is an easy cake to mix. Take all the dry ingredients and whisk them together in a bowl. Add the beaten eggs, butter, yogurt, vanilla extract and cherry pie filling. Mix the batter (not too thoroughly). 

Pour into a bundt tin, two 22cm round tins or a loaf tin and bake in a moderate oven, gas mark 4, 180c, 350f. For the bundt tin I use it took an hour - check from 55 minutes onwards. For two layers, start checking at 30 mins. The skewer will have just damp crumbs when it is done.

This is quite a firm, moist cake. I covered mine with ganache; the best plain chocolate you have with some cream.  Bring the cream to boiling, or just under. Remove from the heat and drop the chopped plain chocolate in to melt. I will leave quantities to your own taste - but about two parts chocolate to one part cream. When it is cooled (and thickened a little) pour over your cake. You can see from the picture that I clearly lack patience and should have cooled my ganache for longer. If you are making a layer cake, you might want ganache in the middle as well. For this, let the ganache cool a little more & whip it to increase firmness & volume.

Me, the kitchen and Buchty

This blog is about recipes. I'm not a full-time or commercial blogger, this is purely a record of the things I've made in my kitchen. Mostly I'm about cooking with what I've got in the larder and that means seasonal, local ingredients where possible. Of course, cocoa and chocolate will never be local and there is no season for chocolate but that won't stop me.

Husband and I are retired, so don't have to eat evening meals. Since we have 'time on our hands' we try and eat breakfast quite simply (coffee & something with a spot of jam) our main meal at lunchtime and then soup or bread & cheese in the evenings. We are English and that means afternoon tea is a ritual every bit as important as that of the Japanese. Whilst I love bought pastries and cakes, I try not too - but France has the best pastries in the world, so sometimes I do!

Normandy is about cream, apples, beef, cheese, cider, charcuterie (all the things you can do with a pig) and fresh vegetables. I don't grow my own (or at least, not yet) but we have markets selling the finest produce to be seen. If I go to the market and say "all I need is a few leeks", you can bet that by the time we're done I'll be muttering about wishing I'd brought the shopping trolley with us. Some veggies are kitchen staples; leeks, celery, onions, carrots, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes. Others come & go with the seasons and are all the more exciting for that.

Having meant to 'have a go' at Brioche for ages (failed once, years ago, because I couldn't follow instructions) this week I decided to try a lighter, less buttery version.

BUCHTY

This is an East European recipe, often filled with plum jam, or poppy seeds. However, a plain version can have nutella, jam or whatever you like, spread for breakfast. This is not a particularly sweet recipe - but is in the brioche tradition.

500g plain flour

½ teaspoon of salt

60g caster sugar

20 g fresh yeast (or 8g dried)

100ml milk (approx)

2 eggs

200g thick creme fraiche

Icing sugar for decoration

Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl (your mixer bowl is most convenient)

Warm the milk (tepid) and mix the yeast into about half of it. Let the yeast become foamy (about 15 mins)

Beat the two eggs in a measuring jug.

Add the yeast mixture, then the rest of the milk up to 200ml

Set your mixer going with the dough hook. Add the liquid to the flour mix. Once the dough comes together, add the creme fraiche. Continue to knead for 12 minutes, until you have a soft, smooth dough. Take the bowl off the mixer. Cover the top with cling film and leave in a warm place until the dough is about doubled in size.  (about 1½ hrs)

Knock the dough back, shape it into about 15 small rolls and place in a buttered dish, with room to expand & join up. 

Let the dough rise for another hour (or overnight in the fridge if they’re for breakfast).

Bake in a low oven (gas mark 2, 150c, 300f) for 30 minutes. 

Sprinkle with icing sugar, then cool in the bowl, then on a rack.