For the next step on my baking journey, I’m going to have a go at Scandinavian flatbreads.
I’ve written about the flour from the excellent Stoate’s Mill before. It really is fantastic for both yeasted breads and sourdoughs. We’ve always managed to visit the mill in person for our previous purchases, and it’s worth a detour for its picturesque setting. But this time we have no scheduled journeys anywhere near, so mail order it was.
Very good service from Big Barn, who handle the orders. But to our horror, although our 8kg bags of rye and malted flours were fine, the 25kg bag was apparently wholemeal, not the strong white that we’d ordered.
Posted in Cooking
Tagged bread making, Breadmaking, home made bread, Stoates Mill flour
On our way back from River Cottage, we called in to the excellent Stoate’s Mill near Shaftesbury to buy some of their organic bread flour.
Posted in Cooking
Tagged Aidan Chapman, BakeryBits, bread making, Maltstar granary flour, rye flour, Stoates Mill flour
Our local church decided to expand their normal harvest festival with the addition of a rather grandly-titled “Autumn Food Fayre and Farmers Market”. It sounded like a good cause, so we (well, I, actually) volunteered to do a display of rare-breed chickens, and to bake some bread for their cake’n’bread stall.
The stated objective was to raise money for charity. I don’t know exactly how much they raised, but if it was a couple of hundred quid*, I’d be surprised. So that’s a fail, then. But everyone concerned seems to be delighted. It was, apparently, a “great community event”. So I too will accentuate the positive, and agree that there were plenty of visitors, and that a good time was had by all.
Posted in Allotments, Cooking, Poultry
I took a chance and ordered a hand-held steam cleaner. Judging by the reviews, these devices are pretty useless for the task that they’re designed for, but I wanted a cheap and easy way of simulating a steam injection oven. And, to my relief, it worked.
It’s a gross indulgence, I know, but I’ve got a fabulous new mixer as an early birthday present!
It’s an Ankarsrum Assistent, aka in different times and places a Verona, Magic Mill, Electrolux Assistent, or a DLX.
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Posted in Cooking
Tagged Ankarsrum Assistent, bread making, Electrolux Assistent, Electrolux DLX, Magic Mill, Verona
We normally make our own bread. But as with so many things, there’s a temptation to overcomplicate as we strive for better results. And I suddenly had a yen for simple but good white English bread, not sourdough, not French, no sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, linseeds, no malt extract, just the basics. This was the result:
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