cardamon, currant and candied orange peel loaf

after making cupcakes with cardamon, currants and candied orange peel the other day i thought a loaf of bread might work with these flavours..and i think it did..

cardamon, currant and candied orange peel loaf

tea with hazel

ingredients

200 gms bread making flour

50 gms wholemeal flour

1 tablespoon (tbs) full cream milk powder
1/2 tbs olive oil

1/2 teaspoon (tsp) yeast

2 tbs sourdough starter

1/2 cup currants mixed with 1-2 tbs water, left to soak, mixing occasionally and drained before use 

finely diced candied peel of one small organic orange (see here for recipe)

1 tbs sugar

2 tsp powdered cardamon

3/4 tbs salt (i use crushed murray river salt flakes)

cold water

1 tbs castor sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp powdered cardamon

method

~ mix flours, milk powder, yeast, olive oil, cardamon and starter with enough cold water to make a shaggy dough

~ autolyse for 30 minutes, add salt and mix briefly, rest for 15 minutes and mix briefly again

~ cover the bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and leave until doubled

~ remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly dusted bench and gently knead in the currants and peel
~ rest for 15 minutes, knead again gently, rest for 15 minutes
~ shape dough into a square the length of the tin and roll up pressing seams together
~ place in an olive oil greased tin and leave covered until well risen
~ bake at 220 deg c (bread baking function) for 20 minutes with steam, reduce heat to 180 deg c, cover the dough with foil, and bake for a further 20 minutes or until cooked
~ once cooked remove the foil and lightly spray the top of the loaf with water and sprinkle generously with the sugar and cardamon mix
~ with the heat off place the tin back in the oven for 2-3 minutes
~ remove loaf from the tin onto a cooling rack 

while still warm

the crumb once cooled 

this post submitted to yeastspotting

ageism

i was at the hairdresser's last week having my hair cut as you do when you go to a hairdresser and as usual we started chatting..you know the sort of thing..

h: 'how are you?'
j: 'yeah, i'm good thanks..you?'
h: 'i'm good too..do you keep busy?'
j: 'i won't live long enough to do everything i want to do'
h: 'what sort of things do you like doing?'
j: 'well..i've got a blog'
h: 'what did you say?'
j: 'i've got a blog'
h: 'oh..i thought that's what you said but i wasn't sure if i'd heard wrong..most people don't know what a blog is..what do you write about?'

i told him that i mainly write about recipes that i create and that occasionally i write about other things  and i gave him the example of a food waste post i did a while back about which i elaborated a little..when i mentioned that i was on facebook too he asked if i used it to stay in touch with people..i told him that i tended to use it more to stay informed about social and political issues through the abc, radio national, national geographic and so on..i also told him that i follow a couple of graffiti and street art sites because i have a strong interest in the way it's used by some as a platform for social and political expression..

his surprise at my involvement with social media was palpable..what i didn't mention were all the other things i do such as bushwalking, mowing my lawn with a hand mower, chopping wood, growing most of my own vegetables, making all of my bread, yoghurt, jams, cold pressed soap and greeting cards, renovating a house on my own (stripping wallpaper, sanding, painting, chipping off tiles etcetera), sewing, cooking, restoring furniture and so on..and by the way i didn't mention that just a day or so earlier i'd moved 3/4 ton of split red gum firewood from my driveway and stacked it in my shed..

i've had a few days to think about the interaction i had with him and why i feel as if i've made a significant change..in the not too distant past i would not have talked about myself like i did after being asked 'do you keep busy?' i know i would have felt uncomfortable with the question but at the time i would not have been able to identify what the discomfort was telling me..after considerable rumination i might have eventually realised but that would have only made me feel worse..in responding the way i did i've realised that i stood up for myself rather than allowing myself to be patronised with an ageist question..a question that i doubt he would have asked a younger client..

note:
h=hairdresser
j=jane

a pie and a cupcake

i didn't grow up eating egg and bacon pie..in fact i didn't even know it existed until i had it at a friend's many years ago but it was love at first bite and my affection for it hasn't waned after all these years.. i don't make it often though because pastry is so artery unfriendly and that's a bit of a problem for me because i just love making pastry..i'll use any excuse to get the rolling pin out and a friend coming for lunch was a good enough reason to make my version of this classic dish..i served it hot with a good quality tomato chutney (maggie beer) and a home grown green leaf (dandelion, rocket, oak leaf lettuce, watercress and nasturtium) salad with edible flowers (marigold, nasturtium, violet and dianthus) and a fresh pomegranate juice dressing..and i made cardamon, currant and candied orange peel cupcakes to have with our bottomless pot of tea..

egg and bacon pie

tea with hazel

ingredients

150 gms diced cold unsalted butter
300 gms plain flour
iced water with a squeeze of lemon juice
1 cup of grated cheddar (i used a cloth bound english cheddar)
1 teaspoon (tsp) chilli flakes
1 tsp salt (i use murray river salt)
12 eggs
6-8 rashers bacon cut into 2-3 cm pieces lightly cooked and drained on kitchen paper
1/4 cup of chives cut fine
1/4 cup parsley cut fine
2 tablespoons milk
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper

method pastry

~ place flour in the bowl of a food processor, add salt and butter, and process until the butter resembles fine bread crumbs
~ add half of the cheese and slowly add water, while using the pulse function, until the dough starts to form a ball
~ remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently
~ divide the dough into a third and two third pieces and shape in flat rounds
~ wrap in cling film and refrigerate for an hour

assembling the pie

~ roll the larger piece of pastry to fit the bottom and sides of a 30 cm diameter pie dish trimming the pastry to the top edge of the dish and then refrigerate while rolling out the remaining pastry to fit the top of the pie
~ sprinkle the base of the pastry with the remaining cheese, add half of the bacon, add eggs and chives, parsley, salt and pepper and then remaining bacon
~ moisten the edge of the pastry with the milk and add the pastry top turning the bottom pastry over the top to form a seal
~ roll out scraps and cut out a rooster
~ brush the top of the pie with milk and place the rooster in the centre
~ carefully pierce the top with the point of a knife a few times avoiding the egg yolks
~ bake at 210 deg c for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 180 deg c and cook until the pie is well browned

cardamon, currant and candied orange peel cupcakes

tea with hazel

ingredients

155 gms unsalted butter

2 tablespoons muscovado sugar together with enough castor sugar to make 2/3 cup in total 

1 1/2 cups self raising flour sifted

2 eggs

1/2 cup currants

3 teaspoons (tsp) finely diced candied orange peel (see recipe here)

2 1/2 tsp powdered cardamon 

1/4 tsp vanilla essence

pinch salt

1 tsp cardamon mixed with 2 tbs castor sugar

method

~ cream butter, sugars and salt until pale 

~ add eggs one at a time mixing well between additions

~ gently fold in flour, peel, currants, essence and cardamon

~ divide between 10-12 cupcake cases and sift the tops with the cardamon/castor sugar mix

~ cook at 195 deg c for 15-20 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer

pomegranate jelly with orange custard

when i moved into my previous house i had visions of burgeoning fruit trees growing in our new and enormous garden so i went about planting a variety of fruit trees that i imagined the children picking fruit from as they played outside and i also envisaged myself bottling the fruit for my family to eat in the winter months..it didn't happen though..i struggled with the huge but beautiful ornamental trees in the garden robbing moisture and goodness from the soil, a possum plague, various diseases and beasties attacking the foliage and time constraints..

so, when i was researching fruit trees for my current garden, i opted for the hardier stuff and the more unusual such as feijoa, cumquat, elderberry and pomegranate trees..they're all doing really well and they require minimal work..i picked my first feijoa yesterday, the cumquat is massed with fruit, the elderberry produced eight umbrels this year and the pomegranate has produced about 30 beautiful large  fruit..the pomegranate produced a smaller crop last year but the fruit wasn't as flavoursome and juicy as it is this year..

i made a pomegranate jelly with vanilla custard last week but i wasn't happy with the flavours because there wasn't enough complementarity between the two elements..this time i added some orange juice to the jelly and a subtle orange flavour to the custard with the use of orange zest and the finer crushed biscuit is much nicer this time too rather than the chunks i added last time.. 

pomegranate jelly and orange custard

tea with hazel

serves 3-4

ingredients 

pomegranate jelly

2 large organic pomeganates

juice of 1 organic orange* (retain the orange skin for the candied orange peel recipe below)

25 gms sugar

40 mls water

2 gold strength gelatin leaves

extra castor sugar (if needed)

orange custard

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon (tbs) sugar (or more or less as desired)

1 egg yolk

finely grated rind of 1 organic orange*

1 tbs corn flour

1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tbs extra milk

candied orange peel

skin of 1 juiced orange (see pomegranate jelly ingredient list above)

40 gms sugar

60 mls water

extra water

extras

2 savoiardi biscuits crushed into irregular sized pieces the largest being about almond sized

method

pomegranate jelly

~ remove the arils from the pomegranates

~ put the arils in a colander sitting over a bowl and press the arils with a metal spoon extracting as much pomegranate juice as possible

~ pour the orange juice through a muslin lined sieve into a measuring jug adding enough pomegranate juice to make up 200 mls of juice in total

~ put the sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat stirring until the sugar is dissolved

~ once dissolved increase heat, bring to the boil, then remove from heat

~ cut the gelatine in quarters, cover with water to soften, squeeze out water and add to the hot syrup stirring to combine

~ add the gelatine/sugar syrup to the juice and stir
~ test for sweetness and add extra castor sugar as required stirring well to dissolve

~ divide between 3-4 glasses, cover with foil, and refrigerate until set

orange custard

~ bring the milk, sugar and orange zest to boiling point then remove from heat
~ mix the corn flour with enough extra milk to form a paste then add egg yolk and mix well
~ while mixing slowly add a few tablespoons of the hot milk to the cornflour/egg
~ strain the cornflour/egg into the hot milk stirring well to prevent curdling
~ return to a moderate heat and cook until the custard just comes to the boil and then remove from the heat
~ add vanilla, cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin forming, and set aside to cool

candied orange peel

~ cover orange orange skins with enough water to cover in a saucepan and boil for 10 to 15 minutes then drain
~ make a syrup with the sugar and water and boil the skins for 30 minutes occasionally adding more water if the syrup becomes too thick
~ once cool cut the white pith from orange peel and cut the peel into fine batons 

assembly and serving

~ sprinkle the crushed biscuits evenly over the set jelly, dollop on custard dividing it evenly between the glasses and then top with a few pieces of candied peel
~ cover again with foil and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving

notes: * i used small homegrown sour oranges..if using sweeter and/or larger oranges adjust the amount of sugar, juice and zest accordingly

sourdough

just lately i've become a bit frustrated with my sourdough loaves..they just haven't been doing what i want..yeah..they taste ok but i've been finding them harder to slash and they've been cracking a lot on the bottom and not opening up on top properly so i've been doing a bit of pondering and a bit of reading and a bit more pondering..

yesterday i made a loaf where i changed a few things that i thought might be causing the problem..i've been making quite a high hydration dough lately so yesterday i lowered the hydration level of the dough and instead of covering the dough during its second prove i left it uncovered because i read somewhere that this helps the dough develop a 'skin' which makes slashing easier..the last thing i did differently was to bake the loaf using a conventional setting rather than using the oven's bread baking function (convection) because i read somewhere that fan assisted heat can dehydrate the surface of dough which i guessed might impact on oven spring (i use steam with both methods)..

whenever i make a loaf of bread i develop a case of 'baker's anticipation'..yesterday was no exception as i peered through the oven door and watched happily this time as the loaf sprung open beautifully..and i'm not sure why but the bread actually tasted a bit different too..not better or worse..just different..oh..and by the way it was a breeze to slash..

 oh look..it has an 'ear'

and a nice crust

and look at the holes

do i sound like a proud mother showing off her newborn?

the quotidian

sometimes it's the simple things
like a rogue elderberry umbrel hidden among the canopy of undulating foliage

the berries crushed with sugar to form a tiny amount of vibrant syrup

and drizzled over a meringue with cream

sometimes it's the simple things

like an autumn afternoon chatting with a friend
drinking cups of tea

and sewing, reading magazines and eating

yes, sometimes it's the simple things

that lift our spirits 

meringue nests with cream and elderberry syrup

food waste

as i wandered through the supermarket the other day i noticed a whole lot of people milling around some boxes of produce so i scurried over to see what all the excitement was about..i must have had a quizzical look on my face because without talking to me the supermarket attendee pointed to the plastic bag holder..when i came back with my bag he nodded towards the boxes and told me for $3 i could fill my bag..i'm not good at bun fights so i hung back until the dust had settled accepting that i might miss out on the better produce..but it didn't turn out like that at all because i was easily able to fill my bag with quality produce such as new seasons apples and corella pears, lebanese cucumbers, a couple of heads of garlic (not the bleached imported variety), red capsicums, beetroot and organic bananas..admittedly there was a lot of poorer quality stuff in the boxes including rotting vegetation but my well honed urban foraging skills enabled me to find the better stuff among the dross..

i had a bit of a chat with the attendee while he was telling me to tie my bag securely (in case i stole a soft banana?) and as he put a bar code sticker on my bag..he told me that the same thing happens every day from 3-4 pm and that he has his regulars who come every day..i don't know that i will become a 'regular' because i buy my green groceries elsewhere but if i happen to be there at the right time i'll probably check out what's on offer again..

i checked out my bounty when i got home and the only thing wrong with the apples was the odd blemish but otherwise they were fresh and crisp..the other things weren't perfect either but there was nothing intrinsically wrong with any of it..there have been several stories in the media recently about the huge volume of food wasted annually around the world..among the doom and gloom there are good things happening though such as programs where producers, suppliers and restaurants donate food to charity..and i've seen a few television programs lately where, often for philosophical reasons, people engage in what's known as 'dumpster diving' where supermarket waste bins are raided for food..and the issue of household food waste is becoming a more salient issue in terms of media attention and educational programs..

i'm pretty sure the supermarkets' daily $3 'greens grab' is primarily motivated by money but i can see some positive aspects..the first is the economic benefit to the consumer and the second relates to waste reduction which results in reduced landfill, methane gas production and the associated effect on climate..and i get the sense that many of us, in reducing waste, respect ourselves more when we respect the hard won and precious life affirming commodity that's food..

a few articles addressing the issues i've mentioned

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/enterprisemelbourne/waste/Pages/OrganicsRecycling.aspx (food donation)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6933744.stm (eating and cooking food from supermarket
waste bins)
http://foodwise.com.au/food-waste/household-food-waste/waste-free-kitchen/ (household food waste)
https://www.oxfam.org.au/grow/2013/01/14/how-can-you-help-cut-down-on-food-waste/ (household food waste)

roast beetroot and taleggio soup

tea with hazel

ingredients soup

2 medium to large beetroot peeled and quartered*
2 small red capsicums cut into quarters*
1/4 small pumpkin peeled and cut into chunks
4 medium tomatoes cut large
1/2 large zucchini cut into chunks (i only used this because i was low in stock and i thought this watery vegetable would amp up the fluid volume of the soup without eclipsing the flavour i was after)
4-5 cloves garlic unpeeled*
1 litre stock
olive oil
2 teaspoons (tsp) salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp chilli flakes

ingredients to serve

1 tsp sumac per person
3-4 slices of taleggio per person
finely cut parsley and chives
extra salt and pepper

method

~ place the beetroot, capsicums, pumpkin, tomatoes, zucchini and garlic in a roasting tray and drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and chilli flakes
~ roast at 180 deg c until the vegetables are well browned and softening
~ once cooked remove the roasted vegetables to a saucepan, add stock, and cook until the vegetables are falling apart
~ puree the soup and pass it through a mouli

serving
~ reheat, adding water if it's too thick, and serve with slices of taleggio, chives, parsley and sumac

note * denotes 'green grab' produce

atta milk loaf

tea with hazel

ingredients

250 gms atta flour

250 gms white bread flour

approximately 250 mls full fat milk

1 tsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

method

~ mix flours and yeast with enough milk to make a shaggy dough and leave for 10-15 minutes to autolyse

~ add salt, mix briefly, rest for 10 minutes and mix briefly again

~ cover with clingfilm and place in the refrigerator overnight

~ remove the bowl from the refrigerator the next morning and leave for an hour or two 

~ turn the dough out of the bowl on to a well floured bench, stretch and fold a few times, and then rest for 20-30 minutes

~ repeat the stretch and fold and rest cycle once more

~ shape the dough into a round, sprinkle with semolina, place top side down in a muslin lined colander (or dough proofing basket) and leave until well risen

~ slash the loaf and cook with steam for 20 minutes at 220 deg c (break baking function) and then at 180 deg c for a further 20-25 minutes or until well browned

i think the milk gave the loaf a tighter crumb than i've become used to
 but happily it wasn't heavy and it went well with the soup