A quick ratatouille-like dish

OK, so this isn’t genuine ratatouille but it has a lovely texture to it.

SORT-OF RATATOUILLE (serves 2)

oil (veg)

1 leek, finely chopped

garlic (3 or 4 cloves, crushed or use 1/2 a block of frozen garlic)

1/2 courgette, finely chopped

4 medium sized mushrooms

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 butternut squash, cubed

A handful of spinach, finely chopped.

A few leaves of basil, finely chopped.

1/4 tube of tomato puree

First, fry off the leeks in a little oil; add the garlic as the leeks start to brown. Then add the courgettes and mushrooms. Add the tomatoes next.

Par-cook the cubed squash (in the microwave for about 2 or 3 minutes) and then put these in with the rest. Then add the spinach and basil.

Let everything cook for a bit (5 mins) and then add the tomato puree. Mix and season to taste. Put on the lid and then cook in a medium oven for an hour or so.

Serve with rice.

Bread… unleashed!

So I decided to try out some bread without loaf tins… and ended up overcooking them!

Anyhow, turns out that overcooking them was the best thing I could have done. I think, with my oven, that my loaves need about 35-40 minutes, rather than the 25-30 that the book suggests. Just goes to show that everyone’s oven is different.

Also, without the “constraints” of the loaf tin it seemed that the loaf was able to expand in all directions (except down!) and so was lighter and airier than previous loaves. I’m almost there, I think, with achieving a good quality sandwich loaf. Just a few more tweaks and I should get there!

Bread, olives and tomatoes… the dream team?

So. I’m impressed by the bread I’ve made so far. It’s not as light and airy as shop-bought but it’s tastier and more satisfying which is much better. The next step was to add some excitement… and what could be better than black olives, sun-dried tomatoes and basil? I chopped up these 3 ingredients and put them in a bowl. Meanwhile, the Kenwood Chef was kneading the dough. After the first knead, I let the bread rise on the radiator for an hour and then I added the ingredients to the dough and kneaded it again. I was worried at first. The dough became very loose and oily (from the sun-dried tomatoes) and I was concerned that it wasn’t going to cook somewhere.

But I rested it again for a half hour and it re-rose perfectly. 25 minutes in a 200C oven and they came out like this:

With just a bit of butter, me and my wife polished off one loaf in about an hour… Really more-ish!

Bread. The wonder food.

Me and my wife treated ourselves to a Kenwood Chef for Christmas and I’ve been trying out making some bread in it. Inspired by my neighbour (his gorgeous bread is here) I set to making my own loaves of perfection.

Well, they weren’t perfect, but that’s the point! They were tasty and no comparison to the stodge that sits for weeks at a time in supermarkets. I used the basic white bread recipe that came with the Kenwood and got 2 small loaves.

My first attempt:

Incidentally, the recipe from the Kenwood Chef book was something like:

450G flour (bread, white, strong)
15g of fresh yeast.
300 Lukewarm watter
7 grams of salt.