Ballymaloe brown yeast bread

This bread has been made by hand every day at Ballymaloe House for more than 60 years – originally for the family, and then for the guests. The recipe is based on one for a nutritious loaf that Doris Grant developed at the request of the British government in the 1940s. I can't really stress enough what a favour you'll be doing your family by baking this bread. The main ingredients – wholemeal flour, treacle and yeast – are all highly nutritious. The ingredients and equipment should be at room temperature.

Makes 1 loaf

450g (1lb) strong (stone-ground) wholemeal flour OR 400g (14oz) strong (stoneground) wholemeal flour plus 50g (2oz) strong white flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black treacle
425ml (3⁄4 pint) water, at blood heat
20g (3⁄4) or more fresh non-GM
Yeast
Sesame seeds (optional)
Sunflower oil
1 loaf tin 12.5 x 20cm (5 x 8in)

Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/ gas mark 8.

Mix the flour with the salt in a mixing bowl. In a small bowl or Pyrex jug, mix the treacle with some of the water, 150ml (¼ pint) and crumble in the yeast. Leave to sit for a few minutes in a warm place to allow the yeast to start to work. Meanwhile, grease the bread tins with sunflower oil. Check to see if the yeast is rising. After about 4–5 minutes, it will have a creamy and slightly frothy appearance on top.

When ready, stir and pour it, with all the remaining water (300ml/½ pint), into the flour to make a loose, wet dough. (Don't mix it until all the water is in; otherwise it tends to go lumpy.) The mixture should be too wet to knead. Put the mixture directly into the greased tin. Sprinkle the top of the loaves with sesame seeds, if you like. Cover the tin with a tea towel to prevent a skin from forming and leave the bread to rise. This will take anything from 10–20 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

Preheat the oven to 230°C/ 450°F/gas mark 8.

When the dough has almost come to the top of the tin, remove the tea towel and pop the loaves into the oven. The bread will rise a little further in the oven; this is called 'oven spring'. If the bread rises to the top of the tin before you put it into the oven, it will continue to rise and will flow over the edges. Cook for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 and cook for a further 40–50 minutes, until your bread looks nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped.

We usually remove the loaves from the tin/tins about 10 minutes before the end of cooking and put them back into the oven to crisp all round, but if you like a softer crust there is no need for this

Even easier than no-knead bread.

Ingredients

12	eggs
12	ounces jar of salsa
1 ½	cups grated cheese

Preparation

Step 1	Pre-heat oven to 400°F
Step 2	Grease a 12 cup muffin pan with a little oil
Step 3	Crack an egg into each muffin tin
Step 4	Spoon about a tablespoon or so of salsa over each egg (don't worry if it slides to one side or the other of the yolk)
Step 5	Top each egg / salsa mixture with grated cheese - cheddar, monterey jack, or other flavourful melty-cheese works (mozzarella is too bland)
Step 6	Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes - cheese should be melted and bubbly, and egg should be cooked through

Huevos Rancheros a la Muffin Pan

We had brunch today. I was browsing through my New York Times cookbook earlier in the week thinking of something fancy, and then went in the completely opposite direction and made this super simple version of huevos rancheros.

Baked another no knead to go with this, which was 2 parts white, 1 part rye, 1 part rolled oats. The oats kind of just disappear after the kneading, second rise, and baking, but they definitely improve the crumb. Also put in a can of Rickards Red beer.

Potatoes were boiled briefly last night, then sat in the fridge with fresh ground coriander, fennel, paprika, and olive oil, and then hung out in the oven on low heat for a couple of hours this morning.

Lastly in this post, but firstly served, was a “fruit salad” made of grated pear, Granny Smith apple, Pink Lady apple, and zest + juice of one lime.

Brunch as a meal to have people over for is neglected. I will do it more often.

No Knead Bread (inside) No Knead Bread

This is my first attempt at No Knead Bread (wrote about it previously with links to recipes).

This was a bit of a mashup with something from Cooks Illustrated that recommends a *little* bit of kneading, and the addition of beer and vinegar.

I didn't have any beer, but I did add the vinegar, and I did knead for about 10 minutes. I let it sit yesterday at 5pm, and started working with it at around 9am this morning, so it sat for 16 hours. The modified Cooks Illustrated plans on anywhere between 8 and 18 hours.

1/3 whole wheat and 2/3 white (both unbleached organic all purpose from Spud). The crust is nice and substantial, the crumb is bit too light for me: will have to experiment with heavier grains, maybe some rye flour. Will have to see how it tastes when it's cold: fresh out of the oven all bread is fantastic.

My mom has been making No Knead bread for years -- she makes a basic white and then a dark that has all sorts of seeds and grains. The original original recipe was published in the New York Times in 2006. Breadtopia has some videos and a basic method that's worth looking at as well

I saw the Artisan Bread in 5 book above at the Phoenix on Bowen, where they take the base recipe and expand it many different ways.

I have yet to make one of these myself, but it's something I'm going to be experimenting with this year..