Saturday 15 September 2012

what to do when the floor is clean.....

the floor is clean, the dishes are done and the 6 loads of washing can wait for more sunshine.....now

make yourself a little feast of herby cheesy bread and chocolate brownie.  if you feel inclined follow along


after talking to a friend the other day, i have to admit it seems i am a little bit of a lazy bread maker, i do so love the results but lack something that allows me to wait through a system of rising and shaping, it seems i am wham bamb bread maam.

i use this base recipe for olive oil dough from bourke street bakery cook book for almost all my bread making needs.  if you are new to the bread game i highly recommend this book as a great starting point

600 g strong flour (i use my budget friendly flour and have never had a problem)
15 g sea salt (and just the usual table variety here)
20 ml olive oil
20 ml milk
400 ml warm water
8 g of dried active yeast (they use fresh yeast in their bakeries but this is not a practical option for most, you need 13 g of fresh yeast if you have the pleasure )

and now as the shame begins to wash over me i admit i am pretty relaxed on the measuring front which you should never be in the art of baking, but it seems i have inherited my maternal great grandmothers touch for the culinary arts and have only suffered a few disasters in all my time in the kitchen. (touching wood)

for my 'oohhh lovely smells bread'

i add (and using measurements for your benefit, i pinch, sprinkle and spoon with abandon)
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried rosemary sprigs
1 tsp garlic flakes
1 tsp onion flakes.

today i am being a little more bad than usual and using all white flour but do use 1/2 wholemeal most of the time.

i am also in the position of having mr thermomix to do the hard work (i am getting lazier by the minute) for the masses put all ingredients in a large mixer bowl and knead with a dough hook, slowly increasing speed until you have a nice independent smooth ball of dough, somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes.

place dough in and oiled bowl and cover, leave to rise (yes i do this once) until doubled in size (over an hour usually does it).  i have been known to give things a nudge along by resting the bowl atop the coffee machine or letting it sit in the waft of the heat pump.

now comes the lovely touching time, i would rather make bread than playdough for the littles, with any luck you have something nice to eat at the end.

for our four i usually split the dough in two and do two different thing, here we are going half cheesy love scrolls and half dinner rolls, creamy potato soup is on the agenda for dinner.

 for the scroll stretch and roll out your dough, brush with olive oil and top with about one and a half cups of grated cheese (what ever takes your fancy flavour wise).  roll up from the long side and cut into rolls about 3 cm wide.  spray and flour you tin and sprinkle with fine polenta and rest the lovelies in, if feeling peaceful prove for another 30 minutes before introducing to a toasty 180 c oven for 25 or so minutes.
 section and shape your rolls and spray with oil and sprinkle with sesame, this is the focaccia of miss little, she enjoys the finger poking part and i agree

 and after

  and the littles helping hands
 and this chocolate brownie recipe has been my faithful fall back for 3 or so years since receiving it on a blotted piece of paper from the baker where i was working (way back in those days,) it is easy, forgiving and will double without trouble

4 eggs
400 g of sugar
beat these together until pale and thick
add
100 g cocoa
125 g flour
250 g melted butter, cooled

bake for around the 25 minute mark  or until just set at 180 c

for this one (i am eating it after all) i added one and a half cups of frozen raspberries.
change to your taste with chocolate chunks, nuts or other fruits.


enjoy.



3 comments:

  1. Good work on sharing the love of the Bourke Street Bakery cookbook - when are you going to bake the biscuits? They are so YUMMY!

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  2. you missed them but they will happen again no doubt.

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  3. Wow! Finally made the brownie (with frozen mixed berries) and SOOOOOOOOO yummy! So easy too, def one I will be making over and over again :)

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