These Garlic and Za’atar Knots are a tear and come again treat. Perfect for a get together and irresistible after the first bite. When you think of feta cheese, a Greek salad of filo pastry pie might come to mind. But I bet you didn’t think it could become a dip!
Make a Christmas Stollen this year and forgo the heavy Christmas cake!
The Stollen, is a German fruit bread made with yeast, and contains dried fruits, candied citrus peel, nuts and spices. Traditionary marzipan is folded into the dough before baking. If that’s not to your taste, it can easily be left out of the recipe.
Lebanese Fattoush Salad is a great summer salad perfect for eating al fresco with friends or at a barbeque. This is a rustic country salad from Syria and Lebanon that uses a dressing make from buttermilk. This gives the salad a smooth let sharp finish that makes it so refreshing.
This is a method of using left-over, day-old pitta bread to prevent waste. I suppose you could put the thinking on the same track as a French Panzanella salad.
Pita or flat bread for an integral part of the salad. Shop bought pitta is fine, but you could also try making your own flatbreads. See our post on how to make your own flatbreads (HERE).
Firstly, prepare the salad ingredients. Remove the root from the little gem lettuce, then separate off the individual leaves. If the lettuce leaves are on the large side, they can be shredded up later. Keep the little gem and mixed salad separate at the moment.
Wash the salad in deep water then drain well, a salad spinner is ideal if you have one.
Remove the seeds from the tomatoes and slice the flesh into strips then put to one side.
Thinly slice the red onion, spring onion, radishes and baby cucumbers and were good to go…
Next job is to make up the dressing. Peel and crush the garlic with a pinch of sea salt. Squeeze the juice from a lemon then mix the crushed garlic into the lemon juice. Leaving this to stand for a few minutes while we get organised will take the rough edge off the garlic and make it more acceptable to non-garlic lovers.
In a small bowl mix together the buttermilk, extra virgin olive oil, sumac and cider vinegar. And locate a mixing bowl large enough to take everything.
Stale pitta is ideal for this, but if they are too fresh, pop them into the toaster for a minute or two to firm them up. If you are using flat breads, you can miss this out.
Tear the pitta breads into small pieces letting them fall into the bowl. Add the garlicy lemon juice to the dressing and Sumac, then season with more salt and mill pepper as needed.
Pour half of the dressing over the bread, again if using pitta let the bowl stand for three or four minutes to soften the bread. If you are using flatbreads just carry on making the salad.
Add the onions, little gem lettuce and radish, then toss in the dressing.
Add the cucumber and tomatoes to the bowl followed by the mixed salad leaves turning it over in the dressing. Chop the parsley and mint then add to the salad keeping a little back to finish the salad.
Transfer the salad to a large shallow serving dish arranging the ingredients for the best presentation. I like to lay the little gem leaves out first then pile the tossed salad in the centre, letting it spill outwards.
Sprinkle the salad with the reserved chopped herbs and more Sumac and you are ready to serve…..
Sumac is the ground dried berry of a shrub found in the middle east. Once the fruit is dried it is ground and the seed removed. This produces a dark red powder with a sharp refreshing taste. It’s a bit like dried lemon juice, but it also has interesting tones that can act a bit like salt and help bring out flavours. Been sharp, it’s a great accompaniment to fatty meats like lamb, Grilled oily fish, and even fruit.
Enjoy Life.
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
Join The ‘Westcoaster Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at ‘The Westcoaster.’
© Copywrite, John Webber. 2024
Why Not Make Your Own Easy Flatbreads at home? It’s much easier than you think, and makes an impressive addition served with snacks and dips when entertaining
Baking your own Bread at home can be a puzzle, let us help you answer your questions. All you need to know to bake great bread at home is here.
These Buttermilk Bread Rolls will really impress your dinner party guests. They go well with most starters that don’t require crispy rolls served alongside.
These rolls are formed with leaves of dough layered with butter. In the oven the leaves swell and open out like a flower. Individual leaves can be torn off the roll and eaten as they are or can be spread with any savoury mousse or pateˊ.
No special equipment is needed, and as long as you can roll out a dough, you can make these rolls. Have a look at our Making Bread at Home pages in the food files to see how easy it is to make your own breads
I’m using fast action yeast here so we can make the dough by the straight dough method.
Mix the flour, bi-carb and salt together in a bowl. Fold in the dried yeast taking care it doesn’t get into direct contact with the salt.
Make a well in the flour the pour the buttermilk and honey into the well.
Don’t worry about the butter, we are going to that later.
Bring the dough together, tip it out onto the rolling mat and knead for five minutes. Clean out the bowl, rub it inside with a little vegetable oil then return the ball of dough to the bowl.
Proving the dough.
Cover the dough with cling film, and leave the dough in a draft free place until doubled in size.
Put the butter into a small pan and gently melt. We want the butter to be just liquid not separated out. Alternatively pop the butter into a small bowl and stand the bowl in warm water until melted.
Turn the dough out onto the mat once more and kneed three or four times.
There is no need to kneed this dough much. We want the dough to be light and airy.
Lightly flour the mat then roll out the dough. The aim is to create a rectangle of dough until approximately 6-8mm thick. If the doughs not behaving itself. Let it rest covered with a cloth for five minutes then gently pull the dough into shape with your fingers. You can finish the rolling with the pin.
Brush the surface of the dough liberally with the melted butter. Add the 30g of butter to the pan and use this to grease the baking tray.
Using a pizza wheel cut the dough into approximately 6cm wide strips and then cut these strips across giving approximately 9cm inch by 6cm rectangles. The dough should separate easily, but be carful not to cut into the rolling mat or your table.
Using a scotch scraper or pallet knife pick up a rectangle of dough and place it on the top of another. Pick up another rectangle and place it carefully on the stack. Keep going until you have a stack of rectangles five strips tail.
Keep repeating this until you have used all the dough and made ………
Lift one end of a stack with the tips of your fingers and crimp one of the narrow sides of the dough together. Lift the stack and set into the Muffin tray with the crimped end down at the bottom of the depression.
It is essential during this operation to take great care not to seal the sides or top of the rolls the individual leaves of dough should open up during the second proving and crispen up during baking to produce a light roll in which the individual leaves may be broken off.
Leave the tray to stand in a draft free place until the rolls have roughly doubled in size. And the leaves of dough are starting to separate.
Bake the rolls in the tray in a 200˚c oven for 10-l5 minutes. The leaves of the dough should open up and take on a golden-brown colour.
When ready remove the tray from the oven and let the rolls cool in the tray for 10 minutes before attempting to remove them.
Serve warm with plenty of unsalted butter.
You need small terracotta flower pots which need to be sealed in the oven.
Wash the pots and dry them in a low oven. Increase the heat of the oven to 180˚c then brush the inside of the pots with vegetable oil. Return the pots to the oven and bake for an hour brushing the inside of the pots with move oil every 15 minutes.
When done remove them from the oven and let cool, the pots can now be used repeatedly just with a light greasing before filling. Don’t wash the pots after use, just wipe out with a damp cloth.
Yes if butter milk is unobtainable try using 550ml of plain yoghurt with 50ml of milk whisked in.
If you want to give the rolls a more savoury aroma add a bruised clove of garlic and some thyme or rosemary to the butter as it melts. You can also sprinkle chopped herbs between the layers of dough as you from the rolls. Keep the herbs towards the bottom of the rolls where they are less likely to burn in the oven.
Enjoy Life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
Homemade Focaccia bread is a joy and very versatile. It’s sure to become a family favourite, and a great accompaniment to a BBQ or picnic.
Rich, and delicious, Walnut Bread is a perfect bread to serve with cheese at a casual lunch. Or as part of a dinner party meal. Savoury yet sweet it’s very moreish and is just as good lightly toasted and served with butter.
This guide to Flour Types and uses will explain the difference between flours. How and why we use different types of flour and explain alternative types of flour available.
It’s is one of those ingredients we use all the time. But are we using the correct type of flour for the dish we are creating? Were not just talking white or brown here but what grain was used in its production. What are the characteristics of the flour we are using? Will it help us? Make things difficult, or just cause an absolute disaster.
Read on and we will aim to solve some of the mysteries. use this guide along with our pages on Making Bread at Home, and What is yeast.
For more flour facts look up fabflour.co.uk and flour.com
Well, what is flour? A type of flour can be made from many grains, beans, nuts, roots, or seeds. As long as they have enough starch content to allow us to grind them into flour.
Most of the time we are talking about wheat flour but there are many other options out there. For example, rye, spelt, cassava, arrowroot, corn, rice, chickpeas, potato, and nuts.
Each of these flours have there uses but as a baker our primary consideration is gluten. The gluten content of the flour provides strength and elasticity to a dough. While a high gluten content may be an advantage in making a perfect loaf. It would spoil our attempts at making perfect shortbread.
Gluten is formed when two proteins in the flour are hydrated and merged together. The higher the ratio of protein in the grains the more gluten can be formed in a dough. By stretching the gluten (kneading). We can strengthen its elasticity, allowing the dough to rise in the oven without breaking.
If you have ever wondered why your pastry shrinks back as you try to roll it out, it’s the gluten. The dough has been overworked. This toughens the gluten which like an elastic band is pulling back against been stretched. That’s why a lighter hand produces the best pastry and shortbread.
It’s important to use the correct flour for the job in hand. In British kitchens we refer to cake flour, plain flour, and strong flour. This is simply a useful reference to the amount of protein in the flour.
Cake Flour. 8-9% protein. Not that easy to find now, most people use plain flour as a replacement. If you want to try it out add roughly 15% cornflour to plain flour and sift together. Semolina or rice flour can also be used for a coarser texture. This is quite a common technique in making shortbread.
Plain Flour, 10-12% protein. Readily available and possible the most common flour found at home. Self-Raising flour is simply plain flour with chemical raising agents added.
Strong Flour, 12-16% More commonly used for bread or leavened products. We will cover this in more detail with a later post on bread making.
The everyday flour you will use. This is made by crushing the kernel of the wheat to make flour. The flour is then sieved to remove the outer layers. This process removes flavour from the flour. But been so fine allows for better gluten development.
Most flour is produced on a roller mill which is very efficient keeping costs down. Some flour is still produced by stoneground milling where two millstones are used to crush the grains. This is less aggressive than a rolled mill. And more of the nutrients are retained within the flour and have a better flavour.
This is flour which contains 100% of the kernel, endosperm, germ, and bran. The bran content produces a coarser texture that white flour. As most of the nutrients in the grain are in the bran the flour is more nutritious than white flour.
Similar to above but brown flour will contain less bran and may not contain any germ. This will produce a smother, and lighter dough than wholemeal flour.
One of the best flavoured flours for baking bread. Rye is a grass (like wheat) and has a rich fruity flavour. Bread made with rye flour don’t need as much working as with white flour. This means less work, and a shorter production time.
Basically, an intermediate process in the flour production. Semolina is the coarsely ground endosperm of wheat. This can be found both coarse and fine milled grades. Soft wheat versions are used cooked as a dessert. The classic Durum wheat version been used for the production of pasta and breads.
Durum Wheat produces a high gluten content flour that is difficult to turn into fine flour. And is more commonly found in a semolina version.
The French and Italians use a grading system to describe their flour. The French have a ‘T, number attached to regulate the ash content of the flour. T110 is a brown flour and as the numbers go down so does the flour’s ash content. This makes the flour finer and whiter. T55 been a common grade to use in kitchens. The flour will be named according to its purpose. So in a French bakery you will see sacks of flour marked croissant, baguette, etc
The Italians again tend to name their flours but grade them differently according to milling and bran content.
000, very fine flour.
00, fine flour.
0, medium fine flour
Tipo 1, a coarse grade
Tipo 2, very coarse flour
Farina almost straight from the mill, a wholemeal flour.
00 flour is the version banded about on the media and is really an all-purpose flour.
Gluten free almond flour is basically very finely ground almonds. It is possible to make at home by blanching and peeling the almonds. Then dry them off and grind in a food processor.
Chickpea flour is made as you might suspect from chickpeas.
It’s an extremely useful flour with a mild and slightly sweet flavour. It has both a high protein and fibre content and is very useful as a gluten free alternative.
Commonly used to thicken sauces this is made from whole corn kernels, and is gluten free
It can also be mixed with wheat flours to reduce the protein content of the flour in pastry, shortbread, and cakes.
As the name may suggest, arrowroot flour is made with the starch of the root of the arrow, a type of tuber.
Mainly used to thicken dishes it gives a clearer, glossier finish that cornflour. It is very low in protein and again gluten free.
Nutritionally it is very high in carbohydrates with minimal amounts of fat and protein.
Not In common use, but with a sweet nutty taste can but used to make breads, muffins, flatbreads, and pastries. Naturally gluten free it is commonly mixed with other flour.
Buckwheat flour is ground from buckwheat seeds which are actually a herb. The resulting flour with its earthy flavour is both healthy and again gluten free.
Oat flour is a whole grain flour made from oats. Once more the flour is gluten free, (see tips below) Great mixed with other flours and easy to make at home.
Yet another gluten free flour, Cassava flour comes from a starchy tuber called cassava, and it has a nutty and savoury taste.
Great for desserts, cakes, and pastries this is a very starchy flour with a sweet flavour. While not as well-known as other flours it is gaining in popularity and is a feature of some Italian cooking.
A good tip when making a wholemeal loaf is to remove the bran with a fine sieve and set it aside while making the dough. This stops the shards of bran cutting into the dough, which makes gluten development harder. Once the dough has had its initial development the bran can be added back in or dusted on top. So, you still get enjoy the extra flavour and texture of wholemeal flour.
Wholemeal and rye flour have a wonderful flavour, but the bread can be heavy textured and difficult to cut. Adding a proportion of white bread flour to the recipe will give structure and lift to the dough.
Baking with rye flour? It makes great bread however it is very sticky and can be difficult to handle.
The best solution to this is to wet your hands and tools with cold water, before handling the dough. This will allow the dough to slide off and not stick.
When using nut-based flours remember to check for nut allergies with your guests.
Use semolina or polenta as a dusting agent when rolling out the dough. When baked you will have a crisp, sandy crust.
Remember not to make your dough too dry when bread making. A dry dough will be difficult to knead and will inhibit the creation of gluten.
As you will have seen there are a number of Gluten free flours available to us. But beware! Just because the product used to make the flour is in itself, gluten free be careful. It may have become cross contaminated in production or packaging. Be careful to check that the product is certified gluten free before serving to anybody on a gluten free diet.
Enjoy Life!.
John.
©John Webber. 2023
Making bread at home? All your questions answered here. Together with hints and tips to help you.
This baker’s guide to yeast will explain all you need to know about using yeast.
Learn the different types of yeast available and how to use them to get the best results in your bread and baking
Soda Breads are so easy to make at home. Everybody loves making bread, it’s so satisfying and rewarding why not give it a try. I know what you are thinking, I can’t make bread. It takes too long. Too much kneading involved. I don’t have time. It’s too difficult. I don’t have a stand mixer, or I can’t be bothered.
Well apart from the last one, I can help you. Soda bread is actually easier than making a scone, it’s pretty much a bung it in recipe, no special equipment needed.
I’ve given you two recipes here, plain white and a wholemeal version. I like to include some seeds, black pepper, and rosemary in the wholemeal version. But these can be left out if you wish. The method of making each bread is identical. The trick is to handle the dough as little as possible and then let it rest.
A mixing bowl
Scales
Measuring jug
Baking tray
Makes one loaf.
225g plain Flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp baking powder
200ml buttermilk
½ tsp Salt
If buttermilk is unobtainable, use 160ml of plain yoghurt (not Greek style) mixed with 60ml of milk. Aim for a consistency like single cream.
Bake 200˚c (180˚c Fan) for 20 to 25 minutes.
Makes one loaf.
175g wholemeal Flour
175g plain Flour
35g pumpkin seeds
35g sunflower seeds
¼ tsp (heaped) baking powder
½ tsp (heaped) bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
½ tsp (heaped) salt
12 turns black mill pepper
250ml buttermilk
Pinhead oatmeal to sprinkle on top.
If buttermilk is unobtainable, use 200ml of plain yoghurt (not Greek style) mixed with 90ml of milk. Aim for a consistency like single cream.
Bake 200˚c (180˚c Fan) for 25 to 30 minutes.
Place all the flour/s into a bowl large enough to get your hands into. Add the raising agents, seeds/herbs if using, and salt then mix into the flour.
Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the buttermilk. Working from the middle outwards begin to mix the flour into the liquid with the spatula. Don’t beat the mixture, just fold together to make a damp dough. Keep a little buttermilk back until you are sure you need it all. This will depend on how thick your brand of buttermilk is.
When the mix is almost combined, tip the dough out onto a very lightly floured worksurface. Then bring the dough together with your hands. The dough should be tacky and soft. Too dry and the bread won’t rise, it’s better to add a little more liquid if you’re not sure.
Resist the temptation to knead the dough, just pat it out with the palm of your hand to form a disc 3-4 cm thick. Transfer the dough to a lined baking sheet and using a scotch scraper cut across the dough to a depth of 4mm. Then turn the bread repeat the cut to mark out four or six wedges.
Now this is where I get into one of my personal theories. It’s not general practice, but I think it makes sense.
If I am dealing with a self-supporting mix like scones and bread using raising agents. I always leave them to sit for at least ten minutes before baking. The logic is to give a little time for the gasses to build up in the dough and lighten the dough before setting the loaf in the oven. It a little bit like leaving a yeast dough to rise before cooking. Don’t try this with a light cake mix or sponge. They will collapse if not baked at once.
Dust lightly with flour then bake at 200˚c for about 25 mins. When cooked, the bread should have a heavy hollow sound when the base is tapped firmly. Lift the bread onto a cooling wire and eat barely warm with butter or good cheese.
N.B. Some supermarkets sell cultured buttermilk. This is different to true buttermilk been thicker which will make your dough too dry. Add a little milk if needed to bring the consistency down to single cream.
This may be the only bread you ever need to make. It really is worth the effort, perfect for a picnic, light lunch or to show off at a dinner party.
Enjoy Life !
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
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