Cakes & Bakes: Nettle loaf

Foraging season is upon us again. A fortnight ago I made a batch of wild garlic butter. This week, the stinging nettles are just right for picking. We had a patch in a corner of our allotment that was looking lush and healthy. It’s now had a little pruning session – and is the star ingredient in a nettle loaf.

Don’t forget, if you’re going to try this recipe, take a pair of gloves and only pick the tips and first two leaves – much like tea-picking, I reckon!

The nettles make for a rustic, flavoursome and attractive loaf.

I’ve used a basic white loaf recipe; but a half & half mixture of white and wholemeal will enhance the earthy, nutty flavour of the nettles. And nettles are SO good for you!

Click here to pin this nettle loaf recipe for later!

Nettle loaf

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Cook Time 35

Course Bread

Cuisine British

Ingredients

5 g/⅙oz active dried yeast
300 ml/10.5 fl oz warm water
500 g/18oz plain flour
10 g/⅓oz salt
handful of nettle leaves

Instructions

Add the yeast to the water and stir to remove any lumps. Add a teaspoon of sugar (optional) to help it along if the yeast is a bit old. Set aside for 15 minutes until it forms a foam
In a colander, rinse & drain the nettle leaves removing any thick stalks. Set aside 4 or 5 of the leaves before roughly ripping the remainder
Add the flour to a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle
Pour the yeast liquid into the well in the flour
Bring the flour into the centre and combine
Add the salt to the dough and knead to form a ball
On a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough for 10-15 minutes
Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with clingfilm and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about an hour)
Lay the reserved nettle leaves, smooth side down, into a well-floured banneton if you have one. If not, lay them into a well-greased loaf tin
Once proved, empty the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead in the nettles (this is best done wearing a pair of clean rubber gloves)
Form the dough into a ball and place into the banneton (or oblong if using a loaf tin)
Put the banneton/loaf tin into the large mixing bowl and cover with clingfilm and leave to prove, again until doubled in size, in a warm place
Preheat the oven to 240ºC/465ºF/Gas mark 9, put an empty roasting dish on the bottom shelf of the oven and fill a cup with cold water and set aside
Once the loaf has risen, if using a banneton, grease a baking sheet and gently decant the loaf on to it, trying not to knock any air out of it
Quickly & carefully pour the cup of water into the roasting dish before putting the loaf into the oven
After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 200ºC/ 400ºF/Gas mark 6
Bake for a further 20-25 minutes before taking it out of the oven
Leave to cool on a wire rack for at least half an hour before use

Keyword boule, bread, loaf, nettles

Cakes & Bakes: Express rolls

I’ve nicknamed these dinner rolls ‘express rolls’.

From start to finish they take 60 minutes or less to make.

What other people call them depends on where they are or where they’re from. To me, they’re bread rolls…

To people from ‘up north’ they’re barms, barm cakes or muffins.

If they were a bit wider and flatter they’d be oven bottoms or oven bottom muffins. If they had a crusty top they’d be cobs.

Other people may say nonsense to all those terms and call them baps or buns.

Whatever you chose to call them, they’re soft and delicious straight out of the oven.

They’re perfect little rolls for having with a bowl of soup, making an afternoon sandwich or as mini-burger buns.

It’s a foolproof way of speeding up the proving process that I’ll definitely use again in the future!

Pin this recipe for later

Express rolls

2017-03-10 11:41:35

Yields 15

Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

15 min

Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

15 min

Ingredients

525g/18½oz bread flour
50g/1¾oz granulated sugar
1tbsp dry active yeast
1½tsp salt
175ml/6 fl oz water
155ml/5½ fl oz milk
60g/oz butter, diced
1½ tsp lemon juice
20g/oz butter, melted

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 85ºC/180ºF/Gas mark ⅕
In the bowl of an electric food mixer, gently combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt making a well in the centre
Add the water, milk and butter to a medium-sized mixing bowl and heat in a microwave on high for about 1 minute
Stir to partially melt butter and to make sure it's softened
Pour the milk mixture into the well of the dry mixture and add the lemon juice
Attach the dough hook before setting the mixer on low, gradually increasing to medium-low
Mix for about 3-4 minutes until the dough is smooth & elastic
Cover the bowl with cling film/Saran wrap and allow to rest for 5 minutes
Grease a 30cm x 23cm (13" x 9") baking tin
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, shape into an evenly level square, about 20cm²
Cut into 16 equal(ish) portions and shape into 15 balls, using the excess dough from the 16th piece to add to smaller rounds as needed
Put the dough balls into the prepared baking tin
Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the dough with water
Put the tin in the oven, close the oven door and turn the oven off
Allow the rolls to rise in the oven for 20 minutes
Remove the rolls from the oven and preheat to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas mark 5
Bake in for 15 minutes until the tops have turned a golden brown
Remove from the oven and brush the tops of the rolls with the melted butter
Serve straight away or allow to cool before storing in a cool place in an airtight container

Adapted from Cooking Classy

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Crescia

It’s Easter week, so we thought that we should make something that’s traditionally eaten at this time of year for this edition of Cakes & Bakes. We plumped for Crescia – an Italian cheese loaf.

You can use any hard cheese – parmesan, pecorino and so on.

The dough is simple to make and easy to handle.

It’s baked in a tall tin so it has a distinctive shape, like a panettone – the smell as it cooked was amazing!

A very handsome loaf wouldn’t you agree?

The bread is light and airy with a wonderful flavour. It’s traditionally eaten with cold meats. I’m vegetarian, but Justin volunteered to test this combination and tried it with some of his fennel salami – a perfect match he thought. It also works really well with various cheeses, olives, marinated vegetables, oil & balsamic vinegar etc, etc, etc.

We can highly recommend this loaf – and we certainly won’t be waiting till next Easter to make another one!

You can pin the recipe from here to try later!

Crescia

A light & cheesy Italian loaf enjoyed at Easter

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Cook Time 40

Course Bread

Cuisine Italian

Ingredients

300 g grated hard cheese such as Parmesan Reggiano, Pecorino Romano or Grana Padano
5 eggs
1 tsp cracked black pepper
pinch of salt
150 g olive oil
150 ml warm milk
1 tbsp yeast
½ tsp granulated sugar
600 g strong bread flour

Instructions

Put the grated cheese into a large mixing bowl
Break the eggs into a bowl or large measuring jug. Add the salt & pepper and whisk slightly
Add the egg mixture to the grated cheese, add the olive oil and combine
In a measuring jug, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk, add the sugar and allow to stand for 10 minutes
Add ⅓ of the flour to the cheese, egg & oil mixture and combine
Add ⅓ of the dissolved yeast mixture and combine
Alternate adding & combining the flour and yeast mixtures until it has all been incorporated and you have a smooth paste that comes away from the edges of the bowl
Cover the bowl with cling film/Saran wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for at least an hour or until the dough has doubled in size
Grease a high-sided baking tin such as a panettone tin (I used the tall bottom pan from my 3-tier steamer)
Generously flour a work surface, turn out the dough and knock back before putting it into the high-sided baking tin and again covering with cling film/Saran wrap
Allow the dough rise again until it has doubled in size (about 45 minutes to an hour)
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F/Gas mark 4
Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and an inserted skewer comes away clean
Remove the loaf from the tin straight away and allow to cool on a wire rack

Keyword bread, cheese,, Easter

Cakes & Bakes: Pitta and hummus

You can say one thing for our recipe posts – they’re definitely international!

We’ve gone from China, via the USA to this week where we’re in the North Africa/Middle East region with pitta and hummus recipes.

Pitta and hummus is a mainstay in our house. It’s a quick, healthy snack when you don’t feel like cooking.

They’re both fairly inexpensive to buy – both less than a pound for a standard pack.

Being so easy to pick up in the shops, I’ve never really thought to make my own at home.

What was I waiting for? Home made versus shop bought – now I know – there’s no comparison, home made wins hands down!

So long as there’s a tin of chickpeas in the larder and a jar of tahini in the fridge, you can whip up a delicious batch of hummus in 5 minutes flat… and make it just to your taste. As much or as little lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper as you like – and the consistency you prefer.

Lots of people insist on making hummus using dried peas. Yes, it will probably turn out even better – but unless you own a pressure cooker (I don’t) which will cook the beans in under half an hour, that quick snack will have to wait until tomorrow. I’ll make some using dried beans some day soon to see how it compares.

You can spice things up a little (or as they say on the X Factor, “Make it your own”). Add a little smoked paprika, ground cumin, caramelised onions, sun dried tomatoes, chopped chillies, coriander or parsley – just not all at once mind!

You can make and cook off a big batch of pitta and store the excess in the freezer – just defrost as needed and pop them in the toaster.

I have to say that they were delicious straight from the oven though…

… and there weren’t any left from this batch for the freezer!

Pitta and hummus

so much better than shop bought!

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Course Side Dish

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Ingredients

For the pitta

1 tbs instant dried yeast
350 ml/12 fl oz lukewarm water
375 g/13oz wholemeal bread flour

For the hummus

1 tbs tahini
½ tbsp olive oil
1 300 g/10½ tin chickpeas
1 small clove garlic
½ tbsp lemon juice
½ tbsp sea salt
pinch of ground black pepper
pinch of smoked paprika or ground cumin optional
few sprigs of coriander or flat leaf parsley optional

Instructions

For the pitta

In a measuring jug, sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir to dissolve
In a large mixing bowl, add flour and form a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture
Bring the flour and yeast mixture together to form a dough
Leave the mixture to rest for 15 minutes before adding the olive oil and salt and mixing well again until the dough begins to stiffen
Using the dough hook mix on a low speed for 5 minutes (or knead by hand for 8-10 minutes) until smooth & elastic
Cover the bowl in cling film and leave in a warm place to prove until doubled in size (at least an hour)
- You can use this time to make the hummus -
Once risen, preheat the oven to the highest setting, placing a knock back before dividing the dough in half
Divide each half into 4 equal pieces and flatten each piece into a ovals around ½cm thick
Layer & wrap the ovals loosely in a clean, damp tea towel preheat your oven to the highest setting and put a baking stone or griddle pan inside to heat up
Carefully put 2-3 pitta ovals onto the stone/pan leaving space between each
Bake for 3-5 minutes until the bread has puffed up like a balloon
Allow to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before serving

For the hummus

Put the tahini & olive oil into a mini food processor and whiz for 30 seconds
Rinse the chickpeas under cold running water and, if you have the patience, pinch the husks from each chickpea (it took me about 15 minutes); this gives the hummus a smoother consistency
Add the chickpeas, garlic and lemon juice to the mini food processor and purée for 30 seconds
Take the lid off the processor and scrape the mixture down off the sides and whiz again to remove any lumps. If the mixture is stiff, add a tablespoon of water and pulse for a few of seconds
Add salt & pepper and adjust to taste
Sprinkle with smoked paprika or ground cumin, drizzle with olive oil, garnish with coriander or flat leaf parsley and serve

Keyword flat bread, flatbread, hommus, houmous, hummus, pitta, pitta bread