Pan de yogur

En una tarde de frenesí panadero, mi amiga P. y yo horneamos las cuatro hermosas hogazas que podéis ver en la foto. Dos Waterford soda bread , como los que ya hemos publicado en este blog, y otros dos panes de yogur con los siguientes ingredientes:

Pan de yogur (para dos hogazas)
540 gr. harina de trigo
50 gr. salvado de trigo
125 gr. yogur natural
300 gr. leche
1 huevo
10 gr. mantequilla
10 gr. azúcar
5 gr. sal
16 gr. levadura fresca

La técnica de este pan de yogur es como la de otro panes de molde: mezclar por un lado los ingredientes secos y añadir la mantequilla, deshaciéndola y mezclándola con los dedos hasta que se obtiene una mezcla de textura harinosa. Posteriormente, se añaden los ingredientes húmedos y ya se puede amasar. Es una masa un poco rebelde al principio, pero en unos minutos te haces con ella. La primera fermentación fue de hora y media y la segunda, después de un formado bien tenso, de otros 90 minutos. Estuvo en el horno a 200º una hora. Tanto a P. y a mí nos pareció un pan un poco corto de sabor. Para la próxima ocasión, un poco más de mantequilla y poco más de sal creo que ayudarán a potenciarlo.

La mantequilla que utilizamos, por cierto, salió de la que obtuvimos de preparar nuestro propio suero de leche (buttermilk) para el soda bread, como se explica en la entrada que ya he citado. Es muy emocionante preparar tu propia mantequilla, al mismo tiempo que muy sencillo, toda una experiencia.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIDIA!!

Wholegrain spelt pain a l'ancienne

Spelt was an important cereal in Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times. Today it has survived as a relict crop in Central Europe and northern Spain (mainly in Asturias) and has found a new market as a health food: spelt requires fewer fertilisers as it is resistant to diseases so it is easy to find organic spelt.

So with my wholegrain spelt decided last night to make the well known in this blog pain a l'ancienne. I think we always have make this bread in white versions so a bit of a challenge using an wholemeal flour, and spelt.

So mixed the ingredients last night:

- 380g wholegrain spelt flour
- 300g water (very cold)
- 7g salt
- 4g dried yeast

And I said mixed because as you know you don't knead this bread. All well mix and put it in the fridge until this morning (9 hours). then I left it at room temperature for 2 hours until double the size. With an spatula and loads of flour, tried to make 3 baguettes and oven, 230C for 10 min first with some water/steam and then 25 at 200C. 5 minutes extra with the oven off and the door open.

The result was a bit different as I used to have for a pain a l'ancienne: no big alveolus, breadcrumb a bit more compact, probably due to the type of flour but taste was great. You can definitely feel the 9 hours in the fridge and the flavour of the wholegrain spelt.

Looking forward to use again spelt flour. I found a interesting web: a spanish company producing local spelt flour (Triticum aestivum sub. Spelta). They not only sell white and wholemeal spelt flout but the grain as well. It could be another interesting step producing our own spelt flour. anyone else up to? The company is called Escanda Asturiana

SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND CHEDDAR SCONES

Esta receta la subí al blog hace un tiempo, pero fue un poco chapucera, porque no tenía muchos de sus ingredientes... hoy sí he seguido los pasos de la receta original (de Dan Lepard) y, claro, han salido mucho mejor. Lo difícil ha sido hacerles la foto antes de que desaparecieran en el desayuno.

Ingredients:

• 200 g plain flour.
• 2 tsp baking powder.
• 1 tsp mustard.
• 25 g soft butter.
• Small bunch of parsley.
• 175 g cheddar, coarsley grated.
• 1 large egg, separated.
• 100 ml milk.
• 50 ml cream.
• 25 g sunflower seeds.

SCONES ROCK!!

deconstruction: hummus bread

I was chatting last week with Patrick Ryan in twitter as he wanted to bake a bread and I suggested using chickpea flour. I really like using it and it's not the first time I bake something with chickpea flour (pan a l'ancienne or these Bollos de azafran lidia baked). Texture and flavour are unique.

But I wanted to twist this bread and thinking what to do came up hummus, where the main ingredient is chickpeas. So why dont use the ingredients of hummus and bake a bread? voila, and this is how this bread was made. There are a few different versions of hummus but most of them have chickpeas, olive oil, lemon, garlic and salt. I used a few more as I like hummus with tahini, so that's my recipe (be aware that still my baking equipment is in Belfast, so weight is not very accurate):

- 300g strong white flour
- 125g chickpea flout
- 100g spelt flour
- 2tbs dried yeast
- 10g salt
- 250ml water
- 40g olive oil
- 50g tahini
- 1tbs paprika
- 50g chickpeas ()
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbs lemon juice
- pepper

Of course I was afraid that this experiment wouldn't work for several reasons: the dough was too heavy (chickpea flour, chickpeas and tahini), the combination of flavours after baking wouldn't go well etc. When I was kneading it was quite difficult to work with the dough but I kneaded for 15 minutes and put it to prove for 1hour and a half. The dough responded and raise quite well so I kneaded for a few seconds and put it back to prove for another 1 hour and a half, but this time it wasn't that good. Anyway, oven at 230 °C for 15 minutes and another 30 minutes at 190 °C.

hummus bread

The result, very unusual flavour, you can feel all the ingredients, maybe a touch bitter and too much tahini so net time I will put less. Similar in consistency to a soda bread. But overall an interested experiment.

hummus bread

PAN CON TOMATE FRESCO Y AJO

Pues me dejó tan contenta el eliopsomi del otro día, que he utilizado la misma receta como base para hacer este pan con tomate.
Ingredientes, los mismos, pero el aliño simplemente a base de tomate fresco (escurrido y cortado en pequeños daditos) y un diente de ajo finamente picado.
Una masa muy pegajosa, algo rebelde... pero con la que finalmente me he podido hacer y que no ha resultado mal.

maple syrup and blueberry buttermilk scones

If you read my last post yesterday, I made not only the loaf but home made dill and gomasio butter. And as you probably know, when making butter cream you get buttermilk too.

So I decided to use the buttermilk to make always tasty scones. this time, with maple syrup and fresh bluberries. Here is the recipe:

- 500g of self rising white flour
- 50g caster sugar
- 160g slightly salty butter
- 100ml buttermilk
- 125ml maple syrup
- 100g blueberries

Mixed first the flour and the sugar and add the butter mixed well with the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Apart, mixed well the buttermilk with the maple syrup and added to the flour mix together with the blueberries. then cut them with a pastry cutter, some beaten egg in the top and oven at 200C for 15 min.

just after the oven...

nutty smell and flavour from the maple syrup

Quite interesting scones because of the maple syrup. the dough was compact and brown and all the house smelt toasted syrup but the result wasn't to strong, just enough. Buttermilk gave that particular flavour and what to say about the blueberries? well, probably my favourite ingredient in scones and muffins. Try them, you will see how easy it is and you can't avoid eat 2 or 3 in a row (well, that was me, but who wouldn't be having warm scones right there in front?

goat cheese, honey and spring onion loaf

First bread in dublin...at last. And I wanted it to use one of the books I bought recently and in this way strike back and balance the mediterranean influence coming from Spain! :-)

So I have followed a recipe from the book Bread Revolution by Duncan Glendinning & Patrick Ryan. Small note here: Patrick has his bakery and bread school, The Firehouse, in Heir Island, in Skibereen, West Cork, that I have to say it is one of the most beautiful areas in Ireland. So a few friends and I are going to one of the bread course on the 7th of October. Can't wait to spend the weekend there, stay in the island with my friends and meet Patrick. I will let you know all the details here.

Back to the recipe, originally was blue cheese, honey and walnut load, but I didn't have some of the ingredients and ended it up in goat cheese, honey and spring onion loaf.  I had another small problem: as I am in the middle of moving from Belfast to Dublin, and in Dublin to one to another house, most (lets say almost all) my baking equipment is in self store, including my scales. So I did the recipe a bit by eye so the quantities are not exactly like the book. I put here anyway the ones you can find in the book:

- 500g strong white bread flour
- 10g sea salt
- 10g dried yeast
- 260ml water (I used almost 450ml I guess)
- 2tsp honey
- 80g goat cheese
- 2 stems spring onion


Mixed all the ingredients without the cheese and spring onion for 10 minutes, then added those 2 ingredients well. Left the dough to prove for 2 hours and an half (it needed less time, but I went for some shopping and couldn't make it before), then knocked it down and made one ball (in the book you will find they make 2) and left it to prove for another hour. After that, oven at 230 °C for 10 minutes and another 25 minutes at 190 °C.

The result was honestly a very good bread, with pieces of the strong cheese and the flavour of the onions all over the place, but not overpowering, and a soft crumb.

And well, when I was waiting for the bread in the oven, I couldn't help not to make some more butter, this time a dill and gomasio butter. I rleally liked the combination, dill is probably my favourite herb and gomasio gives that nutty sesame flavour to the butter. they go both well together. So here you can see how I taste the bread with the butter. No good if you are on diet!

Pan de aceitunas y hierbas

Nuestro último pan es una creación a cuatro manos basada en dos recetas diferentes, o sea, un pan muy completo con el que nos hemos divertido mucho en una de estas ocasiones especiales en las que podemos coincidir algunas de las personas que hacemos este blog conjuntamente. Atendiendo a los ingredientes que teníamos a mano y al espíritu mediterráneo con el que compensamos las tendencias anglosajonas que nos llegan desde Dublín, hemos preparado un pan de aceitunas y hierbas locales. 

Nuestra idea inicial era preparar un eliopsomi (pan chipriota que nos enseñó a hacer un su día, Juan Carlos), pero en una versión con masa madre y utilizando el hermoso romero que tenemos aquí en el huerto. Para la adaptación de la levadura comercial a la masa madre, hemos utilizado una receta de pan con tomillo, sacada del libro de Dan Lepard. A dicha receta le hemos cambiado el tomillo por romero y le hemos añadido aceitunas negras, ajo, aceite de oliva y menta. Hubo que ajustar la cantidad de masa madre de la receta, para compensar ese poquito de levadura fresca que indicaba el maestro Dan en la suya.

El resultado... suave, aromático, sustancioso .... ¡Estamos supercontentas! Estábamos pensando en filmar un vídeo promocional, pero lo vamos a posponer.

En fin, ahí van los ingredientes que hemos utilizado:

• 450 g de harina de trigo.
• 193 g de agua.
• 210 g de masa madre.
• 32 g de aceite de oliva de cultivo propio.
• 9 g de sal.
• 100 de olivas negras.
• Una ramita de romero y unas hojas de menta, del jardín.
• 2 dientes de ajo finamente picados.

Datos de interés:

• El primer reposo fue de 3 horas.
• El segundo reposo fue de 5 horas.
• Horno a 240 grados durante 20 minutos con bandeja de agua, más otros 35 minutos a 190 grados y con la bandeja retirada.

νόστιμο ψωμί !

sourdough: day 1

new batches of sourdough: wholemeal, white and spelt...grow, grow, grow...can't wait to use them!

left to right: wholemeal, white and spelt

Dublin bread...and cheese

So a little bit more chatting and not baking before I start making some breads, hopefully very soon...

Almost 2 months living in Dublin already (well, more come back to live here after almost 7 years) and starting to settle down, so what better than check out bakeries and breads in Dublin. Little bit of research and decided to go to 3 of them, artesian bakeries.

Fist one was The Bretzel Bakery in Portobello, nice Dublin area along one of the canals. This bakery is open since 1870 although has changed owners.The Bakery is well known to generations of the Dublin Jewish community and still known as the Jewish Bakery with it's Kosher status re-established since William Despard and Cormac Keenan took over in 2000.

The Bretzel Bakery in Lennox Street, Dublin 8

They have a good selections of breads, whites, browns, rye, some specialities and confectionary and breakfast, with 4 sourdough: 100% rye, 30%rye, pizza base and small sourdough. This last one, the small sourdough is the one I bought and tried with one of the 3 cheese I got in Sheridans Cheesemonger off Grafton st. I have to thanks staff of this shop for their recommendations and being so professional and kind. You can see in this picture this bread with an irish cheese that I really like: Coolea Mature, from West Cork.

Sourdough from Bretzel Bakery with Coolea cheese

Next bakery was Il Valentino, an italian artisan bakery in Gran Canal, another very nice Dublin area. They only use the 4 ingredients and nothing else (flour, yeast, water and salt) and have as well a good range of breads, patries and cakes, including a sourdough bread. They also have a cafe where you can sit and try their range of products.

Il Valentino Bakery and Cafe

When I was there they didn't have the sourdough bread so I chose the stoneground flour load. Very crusty bread, nice crumbs. This time I used a spanish manchego mature cheese (yeah, couldn't avoid tomato and olive oil)

Stoneground from Il Valentino with Mature Manchego cheese

Last but not least, Paris Bakery, a french bakery in the busy Jervis area. This bakery is quite new (opened in november 2010) and founded by french baker Yannick G. Forel. They also have a nice coffee area where you can taste they breads and pastries.

Paris Bakery in Moore Str.

Loads of bread that you can check from the window and of course I went for a sourdough french baguette. but they have a few more sourdough breads, including a 1kg and another than seemed to be a 6kg sourdough! bread for a few days. So french bread, french cheese. This time a pure recommendation from Sheridans Cheesemonger, Ardi Gasna, a Basque-French from the Pyrenees area cheese meaning literally in basque "sheep cheese". I have to say that the combination of this bread and this cheese was my favourite

Sourdough baguette from Paris bakery with Ardi Gasna cheese

back to blog! back to bake!

Long time no see, after a few lazy-bread months including moving to another city/country I m honestly willing to back to bake some bread...just need some warm up. And nothing better to do it than with books...and bread books
I expend an amazing long weekend in London, Olympics included, and of course I did some bread tourism.

First, I was in the beautiful Borough Market around the corner of London Bridge, and luckily for me it was opened everyday during the Olympic games, so I visited it a couple of times. Borough market has been in the same location since 1755 and before that there was a market in the Borough since the XI century. So a bit of a tradition here. You can find loads of different food, great food from meats to vegetables, juices and wines, cooked and ready to eat and of course pastries, sweets and all kind of baked food. so breads. I think I counted at least 3 different stands with breads, sourdough, rye, Italians bread, loafs, soda breads, etc. Some of the big names of London sells their breads here, like Saint John.

And that's the second place where I visited, Saint John Bread and Wine. I was literally 5 minutes from where I was staying, in Whitechapel (yeah, that place where Jack the Ripper used to be active) so decided to go to this one and not to Saint John Restaurant. As you probably know, Saint John is not famous only for their food but also for their breads. Very close to Tower Bridge they have the bakery but unfortunately it was close when I went to see it. Not a big thing, as I could try their bread in that restaurant. Because everything I ordered in Saint John came with bread, toasted, white and brown. My friend Victor and I shared 3 dishes: beetroot and egg salad, cheese plate and smoked mackerel and pickle red cabbage. Breads were the perfect combination. Some of the customers bought some bread and jams after paying the bill, and that's the philosophy of this place: dinning rood, wine and bakery shop.

Finally, apparently I am not able to go anywhere and buy some books. I don't know if it's more a tradition, a obsession or an urge, but anyway I bought a few books in London, 2 of them bread related books.

First one, The bread Revolution, by Duncan Glendinning and Patrick Ryan, founder of The Thoughtful Bread Co in Bristol (and Bath) the first one and from The Firehouse Bakery-Bread School in Skibereen (West Cork).

And the second one, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Tom Herbert and Henry Herbert. Tom is a master baker who runs the famous Hobbs House Bakery that has been the family business for five generations. His brother Henry is the acclaimed chef who runs the Hobbs House Butchery right next door.

So as I said, lets warm up with this two good books and...let's bake!

coming soon...

Pan mestizo

Cuando te aficionas a hacer pan, un fenómeno nuevo aparece en tu vida: la acumulación de harinas de todo tipo y procedencia. Una primera consecuencia muy prosaica es que dedicas un montón de espacio a paquetes, tarros y bolsas que desplazan a otros objetos que, con más o menos justicia, pasan a una categoría inferior, la de las cosas que, por supuesto, pueden ser ubicadas en otro sitio porque la harina es más importante. Si uno se pone lírico, el armario de las harinas también  puedes leerlo como el mapa de tus viajes y los de personas que tienes cerca, a las que ya pides sin remordimiento que hagan el favor de traerte alguna harina del país en vez de una camiseta patriótica o algún bello ejemplo de alfarería. Pero la poesía concluye el día que te das cuenta de que tienes ocho o diez paquetitos con pequeñas cantidades de otras tantas harinas con las que no sabes que hacer. Es el día de hacer un pan mestizo, un pan de restos, un pan multicultural, sin pedigrí y sin nombre.

Saqué la idea del libro Elaboración artesanal del pan, de Linda Collister. La receta de partida es la de un pan sin gluten, que no lleva harina de trigo y sí una mezcla al gusto de harinas de avena, arroz, maíz y centeno. Es un pan que no se amasa y lleva levadura seca de panadero (perdón...). Éste pan sí tiene gluten, porque entre mis restos había algunas harinas de trigo.

Ingredientes

 - 150 gr. harina de trigo integral
- 150 gr. harina de trigo blanco
- 100 gr. harina de arroz
- 100 gr. harina de maíz
- 100 gr. harina de centeno integral
- 530 gr. agua tibia
- 15 gr. miel
- 13 gr. sal
- 7 gr. levadura seca de panadero

La harina de maíz era gallega; la de centeno, inglesa; las de trigo y la de arroz, del Mercadona (hala, ya lo he dicho). Mezclar en un cuenco todas las harinas, la levadura y la sal e ir añadiendo poco a poco el agua, en la que he disuelto antes la miel para que sea más fácil mezclarlo todo. Cuanto está todo bien mezclado, se deja reposar 30 minutos en un molde. Después, se hornea unos 50 minutos a 220 grados.

La miga ha quedado bastante densa y húmeda, de sabor dulzón y yo diría que más por el maíz que por la miel. Esto con bien de mantequilla va a estar muy rico. Una buena manera de aprovechar restos y tener un buen pan en poco tiempo.

P.D. Este blog está decidido a recorrerse las principales ciudades de Irlanda. Hemos cambiado Belfast por Dublín, que seguro que nos va a deparar unos panes estupendos.

Mediterranean sun dried tomato bread

The best bread I ever ate was Éric Kayser's tomato bread. You just needed nothing else to take with it, so tasty and nutritious it was. Since I had that bread some years ago, I've been thinking about preparing my own tomatoe bread. Finally, the moment came last weekend. I prepared this recipe from Dan Lepard's white leaven bread but adding some Spanish olive oil and sun dried tomatoes. I love the result, with that tasty and moist crumb. And it was a great success at the office too.

Ingredients

675 gr. strong white flour
440 gr. cold water
290 gr. white leaven (sourdough)
80 gr. sun dried tomatoes chopped
25 gr.Spanish extra virgin olive oil
15 gr. salt

First fermentation took about three hours and a half, with one folding. After shaping in a big loaf, the dough rested for another four hours. I baked it for 60 minutes and after that cooled it on a rack. Well, it's not the bread you need when you are in a hurry, but waiting is worth it.

Roscos de Naranja

These are the traditional roscos, very popular in Granada this time of year. They are easy to make and quite healthy.

Ingredients:

3 eggs.

3Tbs olive oil, heated and then cooled.

3 Tbs sugar.

3 Tbs orange juice.

4 Tbs baking powder.

White flour.

How you make them:

First of all, you separate yolk and white. You beat the whites and mix yolks with sugar. When whites are hardened, you incorporate them to the mixture of yolks, sugar, olive oil and orange juice. Don´t forget to add the baking powder to that mixture.

Then you sift the flour in, little by little, till you feel the mixture has turned into a soft dough you can work with.

You shape the roscos and fry them in very hot olive oil. When they are done, you take away any extra oil by placing them on kitchen paper and cover them with sugar.

Sourdough ancienne bread with thyme

Back to basics. Ancienne bread (I suppose in English you could translate it as old style bread - philologists in the world, forgive me) never disappoints you. It's so primitive and easy that it's almost impossible to make a mistake and bake a bad loaf. The less you do, the better; but this time, I couldn't resist adding a bit of thyme from the garden, which filled the kitchen with a great aroma. You can never get tired of this bread, believe me.

Ingredients

330 gr. strong wheat flour
210 gr. water
160 gr. sourdough / white leaven
10 gr. salt

You only have to put all the ingredients together and mix until combined. Remember you only have to mix, not to knead the dough. Keep it in the fridge at least overnight (almost 24 hours in this case) and bake it in the oven at 220º C the first 20 minutes and 190-200º C for another 30-35 minutes.

Panecillos para todo

Esta receta procede, con algunas variantes, de Madrid Tiene Miga, donde se asegura que son los panecillos perfectos para las hamburguesas. A mí, la verdad, me parecen estupendos para rellenarlos con casi cualquier cosa, quedan blanditos y tienen un tamaño ideal para una merienda o una cena ligera. Y para una hamburguesa también, faltaría más.

Ingredientes

- 400 grs. harina de fuerza
- 100 grs. harina común
- 200 grs. de agua tibia
- 75 grs. de leche semidesnatada
- 6 grs. levadura seca de panadero
- 1 huevo batido
- 10 grs. sal
- 25 grs. azúcar
- 30 grs. mantequilla
- semillas de amapola y sésamo para poner sobre los panecillos antes de hornear

Aunque la receta original propone mezclarlo todo salvo la mantequilla y añadirla después, yo lo he amasado todo junto (menos las semillas) desde el principio. Otro cambio ha sido el de las harinas. He puesto una parte de harina común para que el resultado quedara más blandito.

El primer levado ha sido de hora y media. Después, he dividido la masa en seis piezas más o menos iguales, las he boleado, las he aplastado un poco y han fermentado durante hora y media más, ya pinceladas con leche (se puede hacer con huevo, quedan más brillantes) y espolvoreadas con semillas. Se hornean a 200 grados durante unos 25 minutos y listos. Se han abierto un poco por los lados, cosa que se supone que no debería ocurrir, pero sobreviviremos.

Pan con arándanos

Ésta es la receta que me enseñó Lidia, solamente que he cambiado las pasas por arándanos, que están de moda.

Estoy muy contenta porque, después de bastante tiempo sin hacer pan, mi masa madre está en buena forma y con una semana de refrescos, se ha puesto en marcha.

Para hacer estos dos panes he utilizado:

• 375 g de masa madre.
• 328 g de harina blanca.
• 422 g de harina integral.
• 440g de agua.
• 95 g de arándanos.
• 95 g de nueces.
• 23 g de sal.

He seguido todos los pasos tal como me los enseñó Lidia en aquel cursillo intensivo que me dio en verano.

Pastel de zanahoria v2.0

Buscando el pastel de zanahoria perfecto, algo que se parezca al que tomé en Navidades en el Belvedere Cafe de Belfast, he probado, con algunas variaciones, la receta de un librito que anda por casa, Muffins y otros pastelitos (el título es mejorable, pero qué queremos por 4 euros) y que tiene toda la pinta de haber sido una compra compulsiva de supermercado. El resultado me ha parecido bastante mejor que el último que hice, cosa que me alegra por un lado, pero que me sonroja por otro, ya que tuve el atrevimiento de llevármelo por ahí para compartirlo con otras personas. Amigas bilbaínas, prometo que el siguiente será esta versión 2.0

Ingredientes:
 - 115  gr. de harina
- 160 gr. de azúcar moreno
- 175 gr. de zanahora picada
- 75 gr. de frutos secos variados tostados
- 2 huevos batidos
- 75 ml. de aceite de girasol
- 1 cucharadita de pimienta inglesa recién molida
- 1/2 cucharadita de nuez moscada
- una pizca de sal
- 8 gr. de levadura Royal

Para el glaseado:
- 250 gr. de mascarpone
- 50 gr. de azúcar glas
- 30 gr. de mantequilla

Nunca he sido precisamente fan de los glaseados y es la primera vez que hago uno de este tipo. Es una ventaja poder ajustar la cantidad de azúcar, que para la próxima vez será más baja. Es por gusto, no por dieta, y para corroborarlo advierto también que sustituiré el aceite de girasol por mantequilla, que me da a mí que va a quedar aún más rico.

Sobre la técnica, se mezclan los ingredientes secos por un lado y los húmedos (por lo visto, la zanahoria es húmeda) por otro, y luego se pone todo junto. Ha estado en el horno 55 minutos a 170-180 grados. El glaseado, que se hace batiendo bien todos los ingredientes, se pone cuando el bizcocho ya está frío y hay que repartirlo uniformemente por tooooda la superficie, o sea, no como el de la foto ;-)