Bread & yeast cookery, Interesting Ingredients, Vegetarian

Seeded ‘White’ Bread

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The NHS website advises that: “Diets high in ultra-processed foods have been linked to an increased risk of health conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease”. This begs the question: “Why is nearly all commercially made bread in this country ultra-processed, including that used in NHS hospitals?” It is a great shame that the government isn’t more proactive in doing something about it.

It’s for this reason that I make my own bread. Wholemeal bread is far better for us than white, there’s just one problem: I don’t like wholemeal toast! This recipe is my attempt at a compromise. A white-flour bread that also has a decent amount of fibre.

It’s a great recipe – have a look…
Barbecue recipes

Ribs Rosticiana

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I like to think this recipe for ribs was the natural outcome of making porchetta.  To make porchetta, a pork middle is deboned and seasoned with salt and pepper, fresh herbs, and fennel seeds. The belly is wrapped around the loin with the skin still attached and the whole roll is slowly roasted.  But what of the ribs?  They got the same seasoning and were taken home by the butcher.  Now we have the convenience of just buying the ribs and starting from there.

Some great barbecue – see how…
Bread & yeast cookery, Vegetarian

Pretzels

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When I made these, I wasn’t that pleased with them, thinking that the outside should be crisper and the centre less dense. But then Hannah, my daughter, who’s been to Berlin twice, told me that they are just like the ones she bought there. My judgement was based on ignorance rather than knowledge!

Even so, I now leave them to rise a little after shaping and before boiling. I’ll also try different toppings: poppy seeds, sesame, celery seeds, etc. These use bicarbonate of soda – really traditional ones use lye – yes, believe it or not, they use caustic soda in commercial production.

Get the recipe…
Cheese, Eggs & Dairy, Sweet Things, Vegetarian

Apple, Cottage Cheese and Walnut Pancakes

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This is my variation of a recipe published in Bon Appetit Magazine. I’ve changed it to include walnuts, increased the apple amount to 1/2 of an apple and scaled it down to two servings. Maple syrup on them is good but the pancakes are fine as is. Any apple seems to work, these were made with Cosmic Crisp.

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Great for breakfast – see more…
Burgers

Chicken and Spring Onion Burger…

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…or, a healthy bit of plagiarism!

This recipe is a bit of a fraud; it’s my take on Paul’s Chicken & Rice Sausage Burger. The major difference is the use of chicken breast instead of thighs – I’m on a low-saturated-fat diet – and the addition of spring onions, also called scallions.

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These are a real favourite – get the recipe…
Barbecue, Equipment

Barbecue

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Other than a couple of sauces and rubs, I’ve not posted about barbecue, mainly because we don’t do a massive amount and often don’t cook the classics: briskets, ribs and pulled pork.

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That said, we do cook some and now that Paul’s part of Local Food Heroes – he lives in the home of BBQ, the southern US of A – it’s about time we started!

Continue reading Barbecue →

Food, Curing and Sausage