Bread Revolution - Flatbreads

This was my second recipe from Bread Revolution (my first being a white loaf which for some reason I have deleted my photo of!). I decided to make the flatbreads after getting some lamb mince in the reduced section of Tesco and I had a nosey through my books and decided to make some lamb kebabs (Bill Grainger's recipe) and the recipe stated to serve in pitta or flatbreads.

The kebabs were lovely (although possibly just a lamb burger in disguise), my daughter did all the measuring and mixing and we added some rosemary from the garden and some mint sauce to make them even tastier. The flatbreads were delicious, as usual I only made half of the mix, however, I did struggle to get the windowpane effect when kneading them so I think I didn't have the dough wet enough. We topped some of them with some lovely salt and, again, rosemary from the garden. For my daughter (who is eight and therefore I don't like her having salt) we topped a couple with garlic to make them like garlic pizza bread.

We (me and daughter) ate them while watching the Olivier Awards on the red button (well done Les Miserables!) and they were a brilliant Sunday night dinner. Husband had his later and revitalised them in the oven as instructed in the book and really enjoyed them.

I'm going to try these again as I think they'll be even better if I can get that windowpane effect. Also I'll try and work on my shaping a bit more next time!

TWD - Pecan Sticky Buns

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is pecan sticky buns. I would say this was the most laborious recipe to date, not difficult just time consuming. To be honest I don't think I read through the recipe before starting so I didn't realise how long it would actually take to finish.

The dough was made in my mixer (otherwise known as Lola). There is no way this could be done by hand but Lola made light work of it. As usual I only made half of the recipe and let me tell you there is no way this is Weight Watchers friendly!! There is a ridiculous amount of butter in it but it makes a delicious brioche dough.

You then leave the dough for it's first rise until it has doubled in size.

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The dough is then knocked back before it going for a second rise, this time is a long one 6 hours at least in the fridge, I left mine overnight.

The next day you roll out the dough and fill it with a ridiculous amount of butter before folding it up and rolling it again. Folding and rolling, folding and rolling. Then you roll it out and fill with brown sugar, pecans (I left out the pecans) and cinnamon and roll again and refrigerate.

During these stages there was a great deal of resting and putting in the fridge and long-winded stuff like that. Then you fill a dish with butter and brown sugar and slice the dough into rounds and place them cut side down onto the sugary mixture. You then leave them - shock horror - again to rise for a couple of hours. I cut the ends of my roll to neaten them but then added them to the dish anyway because I didn't want to waste any! I didn't think they would rise as much as they did but they really filled my dish nicely. Just before I put them in the oven my fabulous husband appeared with some pecans (I hadn't been able to find them before) and so I tucked a few underneath the buns, that is why they aren't particularly well positioned on top of the buns in the finished product.

And here is the finished product!

They were delicious, really lovely. All of the family ate them and I even took a couple to the cinema on sunday afternoon and ate them with my daughter while watching Avengers Assemble. They travelled well and a tissue was enough to sort out the sticky fingers! Will I make them again? To be honest I know that I won't they were lovely but sooooooo much hassle and time consuming.

Bread Revolution - Bagels

So you know I'm loving my Bread Revolution book, last week I decided to try my hand at the bagels. I love bagels as does my family but we have always bought then and the whole boiling issue has always put me off even attempting them. Filled with enthusiasm and the excellent instructions and past results from this book I decided to give it a go.

You start off by making a dough which is the same as usual however it had honey in it. Unfortunately I had no honey in and so used a bit of golden syrup as an alternative.

After the first rise you shape into balls and then stick a hole in the middle and leave for the second rise.

Then after they have risen you boik them in water for two minutes on each side. This wasn't too difficult at all although you can see from the picture that my shaping leaves a lot to be desired.

After boiling you add any toppings you want and they go in the oven for baking.

And here is the finished product.

I can safely say they were AMAZING. We loved them, so soft in the middle but nice and firm on the outside. They are better than any bagel I have ever purchased and I will be making them again. Mr DJ was away for the night when I made them and sadly they were hard as rocks the next day (I had saved him two!) so I would say that you should only make as many as you need (although I presume they could be frozen?). I will be making these again and this time I will put a topping on some of them too.

Bread Revolution - Soda Bread

Last weekend as well as making the bagels on Saturday I fancied giving the soda bread in the book a go on Sunday morning. Soda bread is delicious and, having tried my hand at Dorie's bread at least four times now since the original baking, I feel like a bit of a pro.

The soda bread in Bread Revolution is a brown loaf and quite a bit different from Dorie's soda bread, to start with it doesn't have any buttermilk in it. The mix, however, is just as simple; flour, milk, bicarbonate of soda, salt and red wine vinegar and a quick mix and you're all sorted. The book states that it looks like porridge and that was a really good description of the dough, very wet and not at all attractive!!

I made half of the mixture (as ever!) and it produced a nice small loaf which we had for lunch with cheese and salad. I didn't smooth the top before baking and I probably should have done to make it a bit prettier but it certainly didn't affect the taste. My daughter wasn't keen but she's turning into a fusspot at the moment. I loved it and so did my husband. Another one to add to the list!

I only took one photograph I'm afraid but you'll have to take my word for it, it was lovely.