Make Your Own Amazing Buttermilk Bread Rolls
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 Buttermilk Bread Rolls will really impress your dinner party guests. They go well with most starters that don’t require crispy rolls served alongside.
Home-Made Sausages are one of the most flexible foods we have available to us. Whether it’s a comforting plate of bangers and mash, fending off the cold weather. A quick buttered sausage roll as a snack or the compulsory BBQ sausage, it’s a year round go to treat.
This Rosemary and Red Onion Focaccia is one of my favourite breads to make at home. Soft textured and delicately flavoured it is an ideal as picnic bread or served with a casual lunch. Try out some variations by adding cooked onions or sun blushed tomatoes into the dough with the herbs. I also use this focaccia for my ultimate B.L.T.
To get flavour throughout the bread. I blend the water, garlic, and olive oil together. This ‘milkshake’ is to in then used to bring the dough together. I have also used marjoram in the dough. And rosemary and red onions set into pockets pushed into the dough. Which also hold olive oil to keep the bread moist. Alternatively try some stoned olives in the pockets and a sprinkling of flaky sea salt on the crust before baking.
I would recommend you check out the Food Files pages on What is Yeast and our Guide to flour. Also the fundamentals of Making bread at home will help you to fully understand the bread making process.
If you are interested in the origins of focaccia, or other Italian dishes take a look at. https://www.deliciousitaly.com/liguria-food/origins-of-focaccia
600g Bread Flour
1.5 tsp Salt
1.5 tsp Sugar
3 tsp fresh chopped marjoram leaves, or 1tsp dried
360ml/g Water
7g dried yeast
2tbsp water @ blood heat
3tsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, sliced
olive oil for the crust
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 red onion peeled and cut into small wedges
flaky sea salt to sprinkle on crust
Mixing bowl or food mixer with dough hook.
Scales.
Hand blender and goblet.
Chopping board and knife.
2 x 20cm x 4cm sponge tins.
If you are using dried yeast. Measure it into a small container and mix with the 3 tbsp of water to form a smooth paste. Add a pinch of flour and put it to one side while you weigh up the other ingredients. If you are using fast action yeast mix it directly into the flour.
In the blender goblet mix the water, salt, sugar, olive oil, and sliced garlic. And blend until smooth.
Place the flour in the mixing bowl, and if your using dried marjoram (oregano) add that now. Check the yeast container. It should be beginning to foam. If so, congratulations, you have made a ferment and improved the actions of the yeast.
Add the water mix to the dry ingredients followed by the yeast ferment and knead on a low speed for 5 minutes. The dough does not need an enormous amount of kneading as we are making a flattish soft loaf.
Cover the bowl and leave the dough to prove until doubled in size. Don’t place the bowl in a very warm place. Normal room temperature is fine. In fact, if you need freshly baked loaves for the morning. Make the dough in the evening with cool but not cold water. Place the bowl in the fridge and the dough will be ready to finish at breakfast time.
Re mix the dough for two minutes (known as knocking back). If you are using fresh marjoram add it at this stage. This is also the time to add other flavourings if using (see below).
Divide the dough into two and form into rounds 20 cm across and 1cm thick.
Set the rounds onto a greased sponge tins and press your thumb into the dough in a regular pattern with 3 cm spaces.
Rub a little olive oil into the surface of the dough, cover and allow to prove until doubled. Placing the tins in a clean bin bag and forming a tent with the bag works well if the kitchen is very cold.
When the dough has proved, you may need to use your thumb again to open up the indents made earlier. Push thin wedges of red onion and rosemary into the pockets alternating each one. Brush very lightly once more with olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt if wished.
Bake at 185°C/ 370°f fan oven, 200˚c conventional oven for twenty minutes.
When ready remove the bread from the tins and cool on a cooling wire. I like to brush a little more olive on the crust as the bread cools.
Try adding other flavourings into the dough, like fried onions, stoned black olives or sundried tomatoes at the second proving stage.
You can half the dough if you only need one loaf, but as the bread frezzes well I always make two at a time to make best use of 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
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 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
The duffer’s’ guide to cooking with wet heat. Discover the correct way to use wet heat.
The article explains how to portion a whole chicken, providing detailed, step-by-step instructions. It emphasizes the benefits of working with a whole free-range bird, including better flavor, cost savings, and the ability to create stock. The guide also highlights important hygiene practices while preparing the chicken for various dishes.
Make your own ghee at home. It’s easy to do and very versatile. The homemade version has a more neutral buttery flavour that has several uses. Making a curry, producing French emulsified sauces, in bakery goods or high-temperature frying.
To get the best from your curry creations do read our posts on, – Make your own Garam Masala, – How to make Indian onion pastes, and Make your own Indian flavouring Pastes .
Have you ever wondered what’s in that tin of ghee you religiously buy to make your curry as authentic as possible? Well, its butter, yes just butter. It’s not exactly identical as the butter on your toast. It has been cooked to remove the milky part of the butter and extend its shelf life.
Now if you’re into French classic cookery you may have come across clarified butter. Well, it’s basically the same thing. For the Indian version the base butter is different, and it cooked slightly longer to change the flavour.
But for all practical purposes we can make our own ghee to use for a curry or a hollandaise sauce as we wish. You can store the butter for up to a month and a half in the fridge. Or as I do freeze it in ice cube trays to have handy blocks ready when I need them.
1x 250g block of unsalted butter
Small saucepan
Small ladle or soup spoon
Fine heatproof sieve
Heatproof bowl (pyrex is ideal)
A good result needs a good start and that’s the butter. You don’t need to buy the most expensive, but it must be unsalted. If you use salted butter for this, you will have a briny deposit in the pan that can spoil the finished product. As the butter cooks the milky part will rise to the surface and the solids will fall to the bottom of the pan.
Place the block of butter into the pan and pop onto a medium heat. Don’t use a lid as we need to keep an eye on the butter cooking
As the butter melts, foam will appear around the edge of the pan. Don’t worry that’s normal but we don’t want the butter to be rapidly boiling, just a gentle simmer.
When the foam covers the surface of the pan begin to skim it off the surface of the butter. You will see the liquid butter below becoming clearer. Listen to the pan it will be making a noise a little bit like a deep fat fryer after cooking chips. A kind of crackle as the last of the moisture in the oil evaporates. The butter in the pan is doing the same thing.
It’s very important you do not leave the pan at this point. Not only will you spoil the butter, but you will have the same danger as a deep fat fryer. If the fat becomes too hot it will burn and eventually ignite.
Keep a close eye on the pan and you will see the butter stop moving around. The sound coming from the pan will also all but stop. Both indicators tell you the butter is ready for straining. Don’t hesitate, strain it into the bowl at once.
The pan will have a deposit on the bottom, this should be a light brown and not welded to the pan. If it’s dark and smells a bit nutty, you have over cooked it a bit. You will have made what the French refer to as Burre Noisette (nut brown butter). It should be ok for a curry, but no good for hollandaise etc.
Let the ghee cool in the bowl and ether transfer to a lidded container or pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen tip out the cubes and store in a sealed plastic bag or box back in the freezer. NOTE, If the ghee is not stored in a sealed container, it will absorb the flavour of anything store close to it. In the fridge it will be good for six weeks, in the freezer up to three months.
When you go shopping, look out for unsalted butter that has been discounted as its close to its use by date. Take it home and cook it straight away, you will give the butter a new lease of life and save the waste of it been discarded.
As you can see it’s not difficult and only take a few minutes to do, give it a try.
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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