RECIPES - Baking bread in a cast iron pot (Dutch Oven) 3.Wholemeal

Baking bread in a cast iron pot -  Wholemeal Loaf 

Wholemeal loaf

I used my bread machine on the dough setting to make this loaf, using the quantities given in the recipe for a 100% wholemeal loaf that came with the machine.  If you are using a bread machine I would suggest you follow the recipe and instructions that came with the machine as every one is different.

If you do not have a bread machine just follow any wholemeal loaf recipe for making one manually (or with the aid of a food mixer) as far as completion of the first rise then follow the method below.

Using my bread machine the ingredients were as follows:

Ingredients:

 ¾ cup water

1 ½ tbsp skimmed milk powder

1 ½  tbsp butter

2 ½  tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

2 cups Strong Wholemeal flour

1 tsp dry yeast

1 x 100g Vitamin C tablet (optional)

Adding Vitamin C improves the rise of the loaf and should be crushed and added to the flour.

Method:

Whichever recipe you are following, at the end of the first rise place the risen dough on a floured surface.

Dough after first rise

There is no need to knead the dough, well only a little - just gently knock back and shape into a ball

Knock back and gently knead

Shape dough into a ball

Using a sharp knife cut a slit across the top,, cutting about 1 inch deep.

slash top with sharp knife

Place the shaped dough into a cast iron casserole dish, that has been lined with baking paper.

 dough in casserole dish lined with baking paper

Put the lid on the casserole dish and place in a cold conventional oven. Set oven temperature to 240C and turn on. Leave to cook with the lid on for 35 minutes. 

remove lid after cooking for 35 minutes

After 35 minutes remove the lid and continue cooking for a further ten minutes but keep an eye on it in case it burns.

loaf removed from oven after 10 mins cooking with lid off

Remove from oven, lift out loaf and place on a wire rack to cool

loaf cooling on rack

When cool, slice and enjoy.

For earlier attempts click here for a Basic White Loaf or click here for a 50/50 White/Brown Loaf  

John Austin

Hove, June 2020

RECIPES - Baking bread in a cast iron pot (Dutch Oven) 2. 50/50 White/Brown

Baking bread in a cast iron pot - 

a 50/50 White and Wholemeal Loaf 

I made this loaf using the cast-iron pot method as shown in my earlier post for a basic white loaf

I used a bread machine to make the basic dough, but you can use any recipe up to an including the first rise.  As I didn't have a recipe for a 50/50 loaf, I made my own by combining and adapting two recipes designed for my machine, one for a Basic White Loaf and the other for a Wholemeal loaf.

Ingredients:

¾ cup water

1 ¾  tbsp skimmed milk powder

1 ¾ tbsp butter

¾  tbsp granulated sugar

1 ¼ tbsp soft brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup Strong white bread flour

1 cup Strong Wholemeal flour

1 tsp dry yeast

Adding a vitamin C tablet (crushed and added before the flour) is often recommended when using wholemeal flour, to aid the rise.  I didn't on this occasion as I didn't have one and as it was 50% strong white flour felt it wouldn't need it anyway. 

I followed the machine instructions and added the ingredients, in the above order, to the pan and set the machine to the dough setting which is 6 minutes mixing, 34 minutes kneading and 1 hour rising at 32C.

(if you don't have a bread machine, follow any recipe either for making by hand or food mixer with a dough hook then leave to rise until doubled in size then follow the rest of this method).

I then removed the dough from the machine.....

end of the first rise

.... kneaded gently for a few minutes on a floured board and then shaped into a ball

dough shaped in a ball, ready for baking

... then made one deep slash across the top with a sharp knife

the uncooked loaf

....placed the shaped dough in my cast iron casserole pot, which I had lined with baking paper

the pot

....placed the lid on top and put the dish in a cold conventional oven.  I set the oven to 240C and switched on.  After 30 minutes I took a peek to see how it was doing 

loaf after 30 minutes baking in oven with lid on

I put it back in the oven for a further 5 minutes with the lid on, then removed the lid and cooked for a further 10 minutes - total cooking time 45 minutes (35 minutes lid on, final 10 minutes lid removed).

This was the final result

loaf removed from oven

I left the loaf for 5 minutes in the pot, then removed and placed on a rack

the final result

Whilst it was still warm, but cool enough to handle, I could not resist trying a slice

the proof of the pudding is in the eating

I am pleased to say it was a successful result.  Now I have done a basic white loaf and a 50/50, it's time to try this method with a 100% wholemeal !

John Austin

Hove 25 May 2020

RECIPES - Baking bread in a cast iron pot (Dutch Oven) 1. Basic White

Baking bread in a cast iron casserole dish - a basic White loaf

My first loaf using this method

This unusual method of baking bread was given to me by my nephew, Lyndon, who works in the catering, restaurant and hospitality industry in France.  He sent me a photo of a loaf he had made in his Staub cast-iron stew pot and some basic instructions regarding the method.

Lyndon's loaf

Lyndon advised that this method works well as it keeps the moisture inside as the bread is cooked with the lid on (except for the final 10 minutes).

Another advantage of this method is that it doesn't require a second raise.  Lyndon suggested an initial kneading of 20 minutes, then leaving the dough to rise, "knocking back" - a brief 5 minute kneading - shaping into a ball then placing in the pot which had been lined with non-stick baking paper, putting on the lid, placing in a cold oven, turning the oven to 240C, cooking for 35 minutes, then removing the lid and continuing to cook for a further 10 minutes.  All that is then needed is to remove from the oven and place the loaf on a rack to cool.

For my first venture I decided to make a basic white loaf using my bread machine recipe.  In the past, I have tried using the bread machine for the whole process but have never found the results satisfactory (and you get a strange shaped loaf!).  But where the bread machine really comes into its own is using the dough setting which takes away all the hard work up to and including the first rise and then you continue as for a normal loaf and bake in the oven.

On the dough setting, my bread machine mixes the ingredients for 6 minutes then kneads for 34 minutes and then leaves the dough to rise at 32C for an hour.

For my basic white bread the ingredients for a 1lb loaf are:

Ingredients:

¾ cup water

2 tbsp skimmed milk powder

2 tbsp butter

1¼ tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 cups Strong white bread flour

1 tsp dry yeast

I followed the instructions that came with the bread machine, using the measure provided, and this basically means putting all the ingredients in the baking pan in the order listed above.

If you are using a bread machine, follow the manufacturer's instructions and use the "dough" setting.  Alternatively, find a recipe for a traditional white loaf and follow to the end of the first rise.

Lyndon has a Staub cast-iron pot, I used my Chasseur cast-iron casserole dish. Basically the pot serves as a Dutch Oven.

My cooking pot

When the raise cycle had finished, I took the dough from the machine, knocked back the dough for a couple of minutes, but did not really knead it, shaped it into a ball and placed inside the casserole dish which I had lined with baking paper.

I have a fan oven and a smaller conventional oven and decided to use the latter.  I thought the temperature in the fan oven might rise too quickly and interfere with the rising of the dough whereas the conventional oven would heat up more slowly enabling the dough to rise.  I placed the dish in the oven with the lid on as instructed, set the temperature to 240C, set my alarm for half an hour, poured myself a glass of wine and relaxed.

After 30 minutes I took a sneaky peek to check that all was well - and as it looked OK,  replaced the lid and let it cook a further 5 minutes (ie completing the full 35 minutes advised by Lyndon) and then removed the lid leaving it to cook for a further 10 minutes.  I then took the dish from the oven, tapped the loaf to see if it sounded hollow - which it did - and left it to cool slightly for a further 5 minutes.

My loaf straight from the oven

After 5 minutes, I lifted the loaf from the dish and placed on a rack to cool.

My first attempt

It was a great success. My wife, Sylvi and her son, Luke, have both seen recipes using this cooking method but which follow a recipe needing no kneading at all.  We will give that a try soon.

In the meantime Luke has followed Lyndon's method and baked a loaf using two thirds white flour and one third light rye flour.  I fear this may have precipitated a loaf war on twitter!

Luke's loaf as seen on Twitter @Luke1972

Tonight I will have a go making a 50/50 loaf using strong white bread flour and strong wholemeal.  Watch this space.

John Austin

Hove, 23 May 2020

Recipe: RHUBARB CAKE

Rhubarb and Yoghourt Cake 

We have a plentiful supply of rhubarb on the allotment and had our first picking in early March.

So when Selina, a near neighbour on the allotment, posted a photo of her rhubarb cake on Instagram, it looked so good that I just had to ask for the recipe, which she kindly sent.

Selina's recipe and instructions

I think I could have coped with the instructions above which Selina sent but she also referred me to a useful link to the Riverford website which has a plethora of recipes - sweet and savoury - using rhubarb, but here's my version of Selina's rhubarb and yoghourt cake.

Ingredients:

300g Rhubarb

310g self raising flour

230g sugar

zest of one orange

pinch of salt

2 eggs

125 mls yoghourt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 tbsp orange flower water 

125g unsalted butter

Method:

Normally, when making a cake, I would cream together the butter and sugar then add eggs and liquid and fold in the flour, but surprisingly this recipe was different.  I decided there must be a reason - (perhaps it is so the sugar can draw the juice from the rhubarb) - so I followed instructions! 

Firstly, pre-heat the oven to 180C - as mine is a fan oven I set it to 160C (and it often seems hotter than the set temperature)

I mixed together the flour, sugar and salt as instructed...

flour, salt and sugar

...and then added the orange zest.

add zest of one orange

I cut the rhubarb into 1 inch long pieces...

chop rhubarb

...and added to the flour/sugar mixture...

add rhubarb to flour/sugar mixture

...folding over to ensure all the rhubarb was coated.

stir to ensure rhubarb is coated

I then mixed together the beaten eggs, melted butter, yoghourt and vanilla essence.  I didn't have any orange flower water, so I substituted Rose water.  When these were well mixed, I added this to the flour/sugar mix and gently folded the mixture with a wooden spoon to ensure the dry ingredients were fully integrated.  Riverford advises against "over-mixing", which I assume is to keep the cake light.

add mixed butter, eggs and yoghourt

and mix together with the flour/sugar

folding in flour

I greased a 9 inch cake tin with butter and added the cake mixture, levelling off with a spatula.

place mixture in greased cake tin

The tin was then placed in the middle of the pre-heated oven. After 45 minutes the top was looking a little overcooked and perhaps I should have covered it sooner with foil or buttered paper. (Every oven is different and mine seems a bit fierce)  I was worried that the inside might not be cooked but a test with a skewer suggested it was.

fresh from the oven

I removed the the cake from the oven, left to cool for 10 minutes before turning out on to a cooling rack.  We decided, however, to try some whilst it was still warm............

crumbly and moist

.

...........with crème fraîche - and it was delicious.  It was equally delicious later, cold.

I noticed that my cake looked very different from the one Selina had posted on Instagram!  Having sent me her recipe, Selina informed me later that she had used brown flour and brown sugar and had added ginger in syrup as well as upping the rhubarb by 100g as brown flour can absorb more moisture.  Obviously this is a very adaptable recipe.

I think we are on a new adventure here - I love the combination of rhubarb and ginger and will certainly try adding some next time.  I often make rhubarb and ginger jam and usually add crystallised ginger when stewing rhubarb or making rhubarb pie - I'm not a crumble fan but, if you are, try rhubarb and ginger crumble.  I must also try Riverford's rhubarb, pistachio, orange and cardamom cake it sounds yummy!

Thanks for the recipe Selina. Happy baking everyone.

John Austin

Hove, March 2020

Postscript : I have since made it with an extra 100g (i.e. 400g) rhubarb and 100g crystallised ginger.  JA April 2020

RABBIT COOKED WITH PIMENTÓN (paprika) - Conejo chilindron

Conejo chilindron

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

30 ml olive oil.

1 rabbit

4 garlic cloves, chopped finely or minced

1 large onion peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon sweet paprika.(Pimentón dulce)

½ tablespoon hot paprika (Pimentón picante)

2 bay leaves

4 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped (or tinned tomatoes or passata)

2 tablespoons tomato purée.

2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into strips. (Or one jar of roasted sweet red peppers, drained)

250 ml red or white wine

500 ml chicken and/or rabbit stock*

750g potatoes

100g chopped serrano ham or similar**

1 dessert spoon chopped rosemary

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

METHOD

If using fresh peppers, cut into strips and gently fry in olive oil until softened and set aside.

Chop the rabbit, or ask your butcher to do this for you, place in a polythene bag with flour seasoned with salt and pepper and shake.

Shake off excess flour from the pieces of rabbit and fry gently in batches until lightly browned on all sides and set aside.

Whole dried Ñoras 

Add the wine and two bay leaves. Bring gently to the boil and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.

Gently fry the onion until softened but not browned, adding the chopped/minced garlic during the cooking. 


Add the chopped ham and fry gently for a few minutes. 

Return the meat to the pan. Add the pimentón, chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and chopped rosemary. If you use passata (tomate frito in Spain) you may not need the tomato puree. Stir to ensure meat is thoroughly coated. 

You can use any pimentón. This is really a matter of personal taste. For the sweet one I used Ňora picada - roughly ground.  Ňoras are grown a lot in the Murcia region (south east Spain). You could use sweet (dulce), bittersweet (agridulce) or hot (picante) in varying proportions. Some recipes use ñoras or ñora paste, others choricero puree.  Ñoras are popular in Murcia and Valencia where they are sun-dried.  In Spain they will find any reason for a festival. We were in Guardamar del Segura a few years ago (the southernmost town where Valenciano is spoken) when they were celebrating a week long Ñora Festival!  If you prefer a smokey taste use Pimentón de la Vera, which is smoked,  the characteristic flavour often found in chorizo, and originates from Extramadura in western Spain. 

Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil, put on the lid and gently simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in prepared peppers and potatoes, chopped into bite size pieces, and return to heat and simmer** gently for 45 minutes.

When ready to serve, sprinkle fresh parsley on top. Serve with crusty bread and a green side salad or seasonal vegetables. We served ours with steamed red cabbage - a hearty winter dish.

* If the rabbit comes whole, you can use the head and heart/lungs/liver to make a rabbit stock.

**If you don’t have serrano ham you could substitute pancetta or lardons of bacon

*** At this stage, instead of cooking on top of the stove, the casserole dish can be put in a preheated oven at 130C.

John Austin

Santa Pola, Spain, March 2019