redemptive burger buns

i made 3 dozen rolls on sunday morning for a birthday lunch for my son..they were a mix of slider buns and wholemeal spelt rolls*..i'd never made slider buns before but i practiced making the spelt rolls the week before because, while i'd added spelt to bread dough along with other flours, i'd not used it as the sole ingredient before..the practice spelt rolls were a bit heavier than a whole wheat based roll but they were acceptable so i felt reasonably confident that the rolls i planned to make on the day would be ok..

neither of them turned out the way i wanted though because they didn't rise much during their final proof and had very little oven spring..that happened because i didn't heed my own bread making instincts and instead i had a rare moment of 'follow the recipe'..i shouldn't have put dan on such a pedestal and made the erroneous decision to not only ignore the slider dough's heavy looking consistency but use it as a bench mark for how i made the spelt dough..but it's not dan's fault because i know only too well that flours vary considerably in the amount of fluid they absorb and i knew my doughs needed extra liquid..

as a redemptive gesture i made some rolls today..what i wanted were soft, pillowy rolls..the sort of roll that squishes together when you bite into it..the sort of roll that i wanted for the burgers i made on sunday for my son's birthday..i made these by following my instincts and they were just what i wanted..lesson learned..well, for now anyway!

redemptive burger buns

ingredients

400 gms organic strong white flour

100 gms organic wholemeal flour

7 gms yeast

1 tablespoon (tbs) active sourdough starter

1 1/2 tbs crushed murray river salt

3 tbs full fat cream

2 egg yolks

1 cup organic full cream milk

filtered water

method

~ in the bowl of a stand mixer mix flours, yeast, sourdough starter, egg yolks, cream and milk with enough filtered water to make a shaggy dough

~ autolyse for 30 minutes, add salt, mix for 30 seconds, rest for 10 minutes and then mix again briefly

~ remove the bowl from the stand mixer and cover dough with a damp tea towel until doubled in size

~ turn dough out onto a lightly dusted bench and divide into 8 pieces each weighing approximately 125 gms

~ shape into rounds and place on a flour dusted tray and leave, loosely covered, until doubled

~ sieve the rolls with flour and bake with steam at 220 deg c for 15-20 minutes

note: * my son's girlfriend has a wheat intolerance so i made spelt rolls so she could have burgers too..

two corn sourdough

two corn sourdough

ingredients

levain

100 gms bread flour
125 mls filtered water
1 tablespoon (tbs) active starter

dough

250 gms levain
50 gms polenta
50 gms corn flour
50 gms organic wholemeal flour
250 gms organic white bread flour
1 1/2 tbs salt (i used murray river salt)
15 gms soft butter
100 mls boiling filtered water
filtered water

method

levain

~ mix levain ingredients and leave for 12-16 hours

dough

~ pour boiling water on polenta and leave to cool
~ add flours, levain and butter to polenta and mix with enough water to make a shaggy dough and leave to autolyse for 20-30 minutes
~ add salt, mix briefly, rest for 5 minutes then mix again briefly
~ remove the bowl from the mixer, cover with damp tea towel and leave for about 4 hours or until well risen
~ turn the dough out onto a floured board and do two cycles of stretch and fold and rest for 10 minutes
~ shape dough into a round and place in a baking dish and leave until a finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression
~ slash the loaf and bake with steam on conventional setting for 25 minutes at 250 deg c, reduce heat to 200 deg c and continue to bake for a further 20 minutes


cut a slice while still warm, butter it, and eat it!

alpine strawberry salad dressing

a few alpine strawberries, oak leaf lettuce, dandelion, nasturtium, baby beetroot and baby rainbow
chard leaves, nasturtium flowers and buds, pansies, marigold petals and carnation petals

sprinkle a large pinch of sugar over a small handful of alpine strawberries 

and crush roughly with a fork

add the juice of half of a lemon

a glug of macadamia oil

and some salt flakes 

and pepper

then drizzle over salad

tofu salad

tofu salad*

ingredients

250 gms organic firm tofu

thumb size piece of ginger grated finely

2 tablespoons (tbs) sesame seeds

1-2 tbs kecap manis

1-2 tbs soy sauce (i used unsalted)

as much coriander as you want (i used homegrown so i used a lot) and cut as you prefer

3 -4 tbs olive oil

method

~ cut the tofu into preferred sized pieces and place on 3-4 layers of paper towel to drain for an hour or so turning the pieces occasionally 

~ heat oil and add sesame seeds, tofu and half of the ginger and cook over moderate heat turning the tofu pieces until all sides are browned

~ turn off the heat and add the sauces and remaining ginger

~ remove the tofu to a serving dish and add coriander

serving: can be eaten warm or cold..i served it warm yesterday with baked curried cauliflower but it goes well with salad

note: 

*   this is a recipe i learned to make when i was working in a cafe but i've adapted the method a bit because i found the sauce burned if the frying pan was left on the heat when it's added and i like the freshness of the extra and uncooked ginger

alpine strawberry

i've tried growing modern hybridized strawberries many times but i've never had much success..that's not the case with the alpine strawberry (fragaria vesca) though because i planted a punnet of them along a vegetable garden border a couple of years ago and they've thrived..they would probably do even better if the soil were in better tilth and if there weren't fruit trees growing next door that leach the soil of moisture and goodness..every couple of days i'm able to pick a small handful of them which i add to cereal, yoghurt or i use them to decorate cupcakes..

strawberry vanilla cupcakes with boiled fudge icing

filled with homemade strawberry jam

are you able to grow modern strawberries and, if so, do you have any suggestions for successful cultivation?

alpine strawberry

cake etc

bacon, goat curd and lemon broccoli pizza

skara free range bacon, meredith fresh goat curd and
home grown broccoli pizza cooked and ready to eat in 10 minutes
(the dough was retarded overnight in the fridge)

boiled whiskey cake

i was recently given a bottle of chivas regal whiskey by a friend whose
husband is given so many bottles of it that they can't consume it all..
the only way i imbibe it is in cake..
the recipe is from 'national trust teatime baking book:
good old fashioned recipes' by jane pettigrew

lamb souvlakia

i marinade cubes of lamb fillet, on water soaked skewers, in olive oil, salt,
pepper and oregano for an hour or so..as soon as they're cooked i drizzle
 them generously with a mix of extra olive oil, salt, pepper,
oregano and lemon juice

chocolate sponge with mock cream and strawberry jam

i'd never made a sponge cake before this one but it won't be my last..
and i'd never made mock cream either but it was a really nice
change from 'real' cream..the recipe comes from 'a second helping: more
from ladies, a plate' by alexa johnson