Bread, that is! I made garlic bread to go alongside our freezer-emptying pasta sauce last night and having watched an episode of children's' favourite 'Come Outside' the other week - where Auntie Mabel and Pippin went to now defunct supermarket Safeway to see how bread is made - I noted they proved their bread in a giant steamer.Tying in with my current obsession with Singaporean food blogs - where most cakes and buns are made from some kind of starch and steamed rather than baked - I began to develop a cunning plan...
Now, as I don't have the wherewithal to purchase a giant commercial bread steamer, I made do with proving my bread in the oven on the lowest possible setting with a big pan of boiling water at the bottom.
Half an hour later I had a big, warm soft ball of garlic and herb-flecked dough ready for shaping and its second prove. I formed it into a rectangular slab, pinched-it all over, brushed with hempseed oil and sprinkled with herbs, black pepper, smoked salt, nooch and red pepper flakes.
Twenty-five minutes in the oven and we had a lovely, soft, flavourful bread to accompany dinner. Thanks a lot, Pippin!
Pasta freezervera with garlic breadIt also went very well with our dinner tonight, my version of this soup, adapted round what I had in the store cupboards. I added green pepper, butterbeans, sliced Charlotte potatoes, a dash of liquid smoke, smoked paprika and substituted chipotle powder for chilis as that's what I had. After twenty minutes in the pressure cooker and a big spoonful of red jalapenos to top the adult portions, this soup was SOOOOO yummy! It hit the spot perfectly when we were all a bit jaded and I didn't feel like food per se.
Smoky Split Pea and Butterbean SoupIn Other News: Ho-Tep makes like a white person and - ignoring the cooling weather - wears at few clothes as possible to celebrate the fact it's
I hope the Spring is slightly less underwhelming wherever you are!
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6 comments:
I SO don't miss come outside. It drove me bonkers. But that bread sounds fascinating. I'm into making steamed puddings these days, but haven't done a steamed bread.
Wow, that boy is certainly white! The bread and soup both sound really yummy!
a smoky split pea 'n butter bean soup sounds absolutely awesome! butter beans are my faaavorite bean! and i never thought to steam bread - totally gonna have to give your techique a whirl! dan & i loooove making homemade bread - it just tastes so darn awesome and makes ya feel so bad ass make'n your own! superw00t!
Oho! Steamed bread! This sounds like something I must try!
Where did you get your chipotle powder, DJ? American recipes ALWAYS seem to include chipotles... I ordered liquid smoke on-line. Can you get yours locally? (I haven't used it yet...)
P.S. Missed you at the potluck last Saturday... :o(
Aww Hotep looks so cute in his summer outfit! I'm going to try raising my bread in the overn, my wholemeal dough never seems to rise enough no matter how long I leave it so maybe this will help!
Niecey - due to an enduring obsession with Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, I can't seem to get enough of it... !
Theresa - white as!
Jessy - I love butterbeans too - and this soup was AWESOME! I agree, if you can get your ass into gear homemade bread is so much nicer than storebought! And subversive too!!
Penny - I ordered liquid smoke and chipotle powder on ebay and I would really recommend you get some - it's much milder than regular chili powder but adds a really nice warmth and smokiness. You can also get it at Lupe Pintos Mexican grocery if you're in Edinburgh.
Laura - it definitely made a difference to me. Another tip is try getting hold of some gluten powder and adding a couple of teaspoons to your dry ingredients. This helps with the rise as well.
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