Breadsticks

I've made breadsticks a few times. I make them without salt and add a little cheese to give them interest. They freeze brilliantly and can be defrosted quickly. Sometimes my daughter chomps on a frozen one if she's teething! 

I base my recipe on the one from Jennie Maizel's fab Finger Food book.

Finger Food For Babies And Toddlers: Delicious nutritious food for little hands to hold https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0091889510/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_gB37ub0E51MST 

This is Jennie's recipe:

I use a mix of wholemeal and strong white flour... Today I did 50/50 but actually prefer the ones I've done 1:3 wholemeal to plain.

225g wholemeal bread flour

225g strong white flour

7g packet fast acting yeast

200ml tepid water (made from 50ml boiling water mixed with 150ml from tap)

4tbsp olive oil

60g butter melted

1. Mix flours and yeast

[I don't use salt and I use unsalted butter, so this is one thing I know I can give my 9 month old without watching salt.]

2. I chuck all the wet ingredients into the dry ones together...

... and mix with a big spoon.

3. Jennie's recipe doesn't call for any kneading or proving, but I've been practising yeast cookery quite a bit lately and as the last lot of bread sticks I made came out a bit flat, I'm giving it a go...

I kneaded to get it together for about 2mins then covered it and left it in a warm place.

I kneaded it after about half an hours proving...

I didn't knead it much. 

Remember you don't need to prove or knead... But it will improve the "breadiness" of the breadsticks. 

Roll it out to about 3mm thick and shape how you like. I do a mix to keep me interested...

Slicing...

Shaping...

Cheese middle... (Grated Red Leicester today as that's what we had)!

Assorted shapes and sizes

Baking at 195°C (fan) for 18-20min

Leave to cool on a cooling rack before freezing... 

This batch made 40 assorted size (the astute amongst you will count 38, well I had to taste them) breadstick. 

I'll snap the big ones in two as I put them in freezer bag. Baby B has one or two for a snack, so they last a good while. 

For me, the ideal texture is "snaps crispily with a slight soft/doughiness in the middle.

Homemade crumpets (experimental)

Post script (3rd March 2015). This was my first blog about crumpets. For my later post with actual recipe at the end of experimentation see here: http://clearlyfood.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/my-crumpet-recipe.html?m=1 

We love crumpets. They are our treat for Sunday tea each week. Our 9 month old daughter loves crumpets with unsalted butter. They cost about £1 for 12-18 crumpets in the supermarket, so why would you want to make them?! 

Well I like a challenge. I like to see if homemade things are genuinely nicer/better than the bought version (this usually seems to be the case.

I first made crumpets last year. They were an unprecedented disaster. I swore never to make them again... then I bought some crumpet rings and put them in a drawer had a baby and forgot all about them. 

Yesterday a friend started a conversation on Facebook about making crumpets, and it seemed that I was not alone in disasterous crumpet making attempts!

However this link was shared http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/mar/21/how-to-cook-perfect-crumpets

I had a bit of time today so I thought I would see what I could achieve. 

I won't repost the recipe as I followed the directions to a tee but I'll show you my progress and result! 

There's a lot of WAITING!

First you mix sugar & yeast into wet ingredients and wait 15mins. 

Then you mix that with the two flours and wait 1.5-2hrs - I was pleased with my light frothy batter.

Then you mix bicarb into the batter and wait another 30mins.

So before you start cooking you've spent at least 2hrs15 waiting! Good job I have Baby B and a house full of jobs to keep me busy!

I knew previously I had cooked them too hot. So I heeded the "medium-low" heat advice. As I only had two crumpet rings I could only start two at once...

They bubbled enthusiastically.

As they solidified I bravely moved onto the next pair. The batter made 8 perfectly in my crumpet rings (I was thankful they are non stick).

The instructions say to grill them under a hot grill if you want to eat them straight away. They looked like crumpets but a bit blond before they went under the grill.

 I played around with this doing one or two at a time, but kept slightly burning them... I was a little sad that I didn't acheive the characteristic bubbled top surface but still they looked good. 

The last two I decided to leave in the rings in the pan whilst I grilled to see if that made a difference. It did. They "domed" ever so slightly which was pleasing to the eye.

Still not as holey as I'd hoped though. 

However the proof of the crumpet is in the buttering...

...and the texture...

...and the eating...

We all loved them. Stephen and I thought they tasted better than any shop bought equivalent. The texture was light and fluffy and all eight vanished in minutes. 

So our verdict is:

Definitely worth making. Yummy. Fluffy and quite a fun thing to do inbetween other chores. I'm now wondering if I could freeze them at the "pre-grilled" stage. I've also ordered another two crumpet rings (sold as poached egg rings).

*UPDATE AFTER SECOND ATTEMPT*

Do not use olive oil to fry, it makes them too crispy

Leaving longer in the flour & yeast phase works well (added yeast mix to flour at 10am, returned to it at 3pm).

For a more authentic look let the tops dry out whilst they cook from the bottom then cool. Slice thin layer of top of crumpet to expose holes then toast in toaster. 

  

Loaded potato skins (BLW Lunches #1)

B has been eating finger food well for a month or so now. We are really pleased with how baby led weaning is going for us. She struggles a bit with potato as it often falls apart between her fingers. I thought perhaps something baked with cheese would be easier for her (and yummy for us).

I had a bit of time the other morning and had been meaning to try loaded jacket skins for a while. 

4 medium sized potatoes (washed)

4tsp Philadelphia (full fat cream cheese)

Red onion chopped & fried in olive oil 

2oz Lancashire/cheddar cheese grated

Herbs de Provence

I baked the potatoes in a hottish oven (180/190°C) for about an hour 

Then I scooped out the potato centres into a bowl (this happened easily, so I think if it doesn't then the potatoes need longer).

Then I mashed the Philadelphia and into the potato...

...  then stirred in the fried onions and herbs.

I spooned this mix back into the skins. Pressing it down gently and topped with the grated cheese.

I baked these for about 25-30mins in the oven and served with a roasted pumpkin (homegrown)

B loved them! I'll definitely do this again soon!

Chocolate Puddle Pudding

Really wanted chocolate today. Didn't have any. So I looked into a chocolate pudding recipe. Always wanted to try a puddle pudding.

Google brought up a user one on BBC Good Food http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/869648/chocolate-puddle-pudding

It seemed a bit random - it didn't contain an egg, and only had 30g of butter and 300g of sugar. However it looked simple and I thought it was worth giving it a go as surely we'd end up with something chocolatey and edible!

I didn't have 75g of chocolate so used 75g of Hershey syrup (a random Christmas present from my Mum)!

It all seemed to be going ok though. 

It felt very odd pouring sugar on and then a pint of water BUT it worked!

45 min later we did have a self saucing choccy pud!

Unfortunately only took a pic of it cold

 It was very yum!

Vegetable soup

We had rather a lot of marrows in our food store... No one can actually remember if we grew them or bought them at Harvest festival! Also had a large home grown parsnip hanging around and some carrots, onions and pots..

Today B and I had colds and it was freezing. So I decided to make a heart warming veg soup. 

2tsp cumin seeds

1tsp coriander seeds

Bashed together in a pestle and mortar 

Helps if you don't drop the pestle and break it in two getting it out of the cupboard!

4 Onions chopped roughly 

Olive oil

Clove of garlic squished

Gently fried with spices til onions softened in bottom of a big saucepan. Grind in some black pepper. 

Parsnips chopped roughly

Carrots chopped smaller than parsnips

Potatoes chopped smallest

Stirred into pan and coat in oil and spices. 

1pint low salt veg stock

Marrow washed and chopped (skin left on)

Added stock bring pan to boil add the marrow as you chop it up. Added more water to cover. 

Simmered whole lot for 30-45mins until potatoes and carrots soft.

Blended together and served immediately. 

It was yum! 

New food blog

Starting a little blog of some foods I cook. Really just A way of recording what goes well and what doesn't!