No-Knead Bread

This beautiful loaf is the easiest bread I have ever made, perhaps the tastiest too. Definitely a revelation, as it took the equivalent of what - 5 minutes, 10 minutes effort? And it turned out like the sort of bread labelled "artisan" or "rustic". A very, very crisp crust. And big holes. Proper.

By all means stick "no knead bread" or "5 minute bread" in google, and loads of links and people's recipes will come up. I looked at how Cuts777inthehizzy, did his, and you can watch him here if you want.

BASICALLY anyway, all you need are four ingredients. Mix them in a bowl. Just mix. Don't knead. Save yourself.

3 cups bread flour
1.5 cups water
1 tsp salt
quarter tsp dried yeast

You will also need a heavy casserole pot with a lid, and an oven which can reach 230c.

Cover the dough and leave it in a warm or warm-ish place (the kitchen worktop should be fine) for anything from 12-20 hours. The dough should appear rather sloppy. Apparently it is the sloppiness, the high water content, which makes the crust crispier.

After the long proving, turn (or plop) the dough out on a floured surface. Again, no need to knead. Shape it into a round, which will fit neatly into your pot.

Now comes a second proving, which, based on everything I have read online, you can leave out if you really cannot wait any longer, and you will still get a lovely loaf. But if you want to go all the way, give it another 2 hours to prove again.

Preheat the oven (230c) AND preheat the cooking pot too. Put the dough in the pot and put the lid on. Bake for a total of 45 mins, and remove the lid for the final 15-20 minutes.

I am sure there are possibilities here for amazing pizza dough, rolls or mini ciabattas. Or just toasted doorsteps smothered in butter with poached eggs on top (drool) .. enjoy!

Deep Fried Chicken Balls, with Sweet & Sour Sauce

I made chicken balls at home last night, using a recipe by Papercuts777 - thanks Cuts! His video can be found here:
http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/chicken-balls-1

The batter was a cup of plain flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, salt & pepper, an egg, dash of milk, and water. Coat chicken cubes in the batter and drop into oil as hot as you dare (I put my fryer on maximum). Cook the balls for 4-5 minutes. There will probably be some delicious scrumps to eat too.

End result. For the sauce, do about a cup and a half of chicken stock, tsp ginger, half cup of vinegar, 1 cup brown sugar, a big squirt of ketchup, 1 tbsp cornflour .. and pineapple.

When is it Okay for Little Babies to Eat Curry?

I was not present during the execution of this Saturday night project, so looking at these brilliant pics, you know as much as me as to what exactly happened here .. (I have visited the scene today and can confirm that the faint smell of curry still lingers in the air, like a sort of mystical confirmation that the dream you had last night .. was real ...)

Flecks of coriander there .. yum.

Anyway. Back to the babies. Lobster Bumkiss suggests (with no qualification to give such advice whatsoever) that you know your baby is ready for curry when he eats it all up, smacks his lips, smiles and then tries to grab yours.

Slow Cooker Beans for Weekend Brunch

Everyone is a bit skint in January. Plus, you have just spent the last couple of weeks eating extravagantly. And if that wasn't enough to make you feel a bit depressed, its still cold, damp and grey outside. So its time for a big pot of homemade BEANS I think.

I used a 500g packet of dried cannellini beans for this, but you could use any kind. Can I leave it to you to be responsible for choosing how long you soak and boil them? The instructions on my packet pointed their finger right in my face and said sternly, "don't put them in a slow cooker unless you have soaked them for a minimum of 8 hours, and boiled them for at least ten minutes". So I put mine on to soak on Thursday evening, before I went to bed. They must have soaked for maybe 20 hours by the time I dealt with them on Friday teatime. I boiled mine for 30 minutes, before cooking them in my slow cooker on "high" all night. My slow cooker is very gentle. I could have boiled them for 90 minutes (as per instructions) THEN cooked them on "low" all night. But I wanted to get them in the pot and on the go as soon as possible so I could lounge around.

In another pan, I fried and softened a chopped onion, chopped garlic, and some sliced carrot. Later, I added a jar of tomato pasta sauce (marinara sauce?) and a tin of tomatoes, a good sprinkle of herbs, a couple of bay leaves and a big grind of pepper. I think this formula is pretty similar to Greek-style big beans. NO salt at this stage, apparently it can prevent your beans cooking properly. Salt goes in right at the end. When I mixed the sauce and beans together in the slow cooker pot, I added a dash more water, just to make sure all the beans were submerged in liquid.

So it must have had more than 12 hours, simmering and bubbling gently all night. My slow cooker is very good at not allowing steam to escape, but if yours does, maybe put more water in.

And, in the morning, I had this lovely pot of hot, tomatoey, thick, slightly sticky big fat soft beans. I tasted, and added salt and a couple of pinches of sugar. Personally I have to have an egg with mine, and I had it all on a chapati, because they were what I had.

Fajitas for a Boy's Birthday Tea

There is a bit of spicy steak and chicken together in this one.

Guacamole

I based the formula loosely on suggestions by Nigella, in her "How to Eat" book. I got a massive green bowl and five avocados. (I know someone who always says, "advocados" and its hard to keep a straight face) .. anyway.

Tasting as I went along, I added the freshly squeezed juice of about three limes. After adding a few generous pinches of sea salt, I snipped in about four spring onions (scallions, to my American friends) and a handful of chopped fresh coriander (cilantro).

Finally I mashed this roughly with a lovely new Joseph Joseph masher I got from my mum for Christmas. The quantity here provided enough for about 16 fajitas! Cool photo taken by my son.

Guacamole For Fajitas

Last Entry of 2010: Brie and Cranberry Sandwich

Multiseed bread, organic butter, slices of slightly gooey, room-temperature Brie, smeared with a bit of cranberry sauce.

I admit, it did make me feel a bit sick...

But HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone, and here's to good food, love and laughter. Am cooking fajitas later cos its my son's birthday today, and a big roast dinner on Sunday 2nd, so thats the first posts for 2011 in the pipeline already.

Have a lovely evening! XX