Just loafing around... 'tis the weather!

Yesterday Ken blogged about making bread...
this is based round an expanded comment I left on his blog.
Nowadays our "machine a pain" has become just a glorified dough maker.
Mainly because I hate the hole in the bottom!!
What follows are a few of my observations...

The Bread Machine makes better dough than I do by hand...
it has a load more patience for a start...
and the temperature is probably more constant...
but I still knock back after it comes out...
seems to give that bit extra to the texture...
and NO HOLES!

I try and experiment with the breads I make...
to ring the changes, mainly...
but also to try and make breads to go with different meals...
or to be had with jam, marmalade or peanut butter and redcurrant jelly!!

I use different blends of flour... but almost always include 100 to 150g spelt [épeutre] as it gives a better rise. And the base is usually one of the "off the shelf" strong flours...
Monday tends to be a fairly regular bread-bake day... no bakery!
Yesterday I mixed
175g Pain de Campagne flour,
150g of Epeutre mix,
and made it up to
450g with a local farmers multi-grain mix...
I then added 50g extra grains...
mainly linseed.

These are the ingredients mentioned above...

Lidl's Ciabatta mix is perfect for pizzas.
The Bread Machine recipe book says use Olive Oil for the Ciabatta, Focaccia and Pizza doughs...
and Butter for almost all the others...
so I started substituting Groundnut or Sunflower oil for the butter...
but now use Vigean's Fruity & Nuts... the 30:70 mix of Walnut and 1st press Colza [rapeseed] oils...
it does give a moister, longer lasting loaf.
 
Using a pre-mixed packet....
such as Lidl's Ciabatta mix...
for one of the ingredients, means that you need to cut back on the salt...
I add half a teaspoon now when using it as part of one of my "blends"!

Pauline complains about the number of different flours and grains that I have on the shelves because they take up so much room [but she loves the bread!]

There are a lot of mini-moulins in Centre...
you can get their flours at the farmers markets...
and some of the weekly ones...
you just need to keep your eyes open....
Susan commented, after me, on Ken's entry that Angelique has stopped doing markets...
but you can still order stuff from her at her home...
[thank goodness... I've not seen those grain mixes that she does anywhere else]

When you get to the bake stage...
my tip to pass on is get the oven up to 250 Centigrade...
put the loaf in...
cancel the oven and reset for 200C...
bake for normal time...
this is meant to replicate a traditional bread oven...
some small artisanal bakeries apparently use this method regularly.

And this is the loaf that came out of the oven!

A foodie post. {Especially for Simon...}

Auntie Beeb had a News Magazine article this morning called "20 of your tales of vegetarian woe" about the difficulties faced by people trying to eat veggie in places where it is "likened unto an illness!"

The Allotmenteer's Stir-Fry

These are a selection from the quotes:

I liked this one...

Angus Gafraidh, London, UK:
The French are overwhelmingly in favour of animal rights, in that every animal has the right to be eaten by a French person.

And the next two made me think of Simon...

Otto Gross, Boonton Township, New Jersey, US: 
On my first business trip to South Korea, the response to telling people I was vegetarian in Seoul was, "Vegetables are what they feed animals before they kill and serve them."

and I've heard Simon say this...

Demarest Campbell, San Francisco, US: 
In South Africa, requesting vegetables is like swearing at the wait-staff.
One bewildered waiter told me haughtily, "But, vegetables is what food eats."

"We show what we Grow... We don't grow to Show!" - our allotment show's catchphrase.

 To read the full article click on the "20 of your tales" link at the top.

Oh! And while all the Irish and English supermarkets were clearing their shelves of Silvercrest Economy Shergar Horseburgers... LIDL in France put up the price of their Silvercrest Burgers!
And re-labelled them... Gourmet!!

Only joking... I hope!!?

Boffo!

Last year and this, Le Grand Pressigny hosted un grand spectacle de magie, a magic show, absolutely free and gratis. You might think this would consist of old uncle Louis in a shiny tail coat doing card tricks that fool nobody, but no! The magicians concerned were both extremely professional, with the "how did they do that" coefficient at 10 out of 10.It's all what Terry Pratchett refers to as "boffo" - showmanship and misdirection - but boy were they good at it.

Nothing up my sleeve

This year the hall was packed for the featured magician, "Max". Just "Max"! Yes, there were a couple of card tricks, but how did he get four complete strangers from the audience to pick the four cards that were written on a piece of wallpaper inside a sealed roll? Time and again he produced a flock of paper butterflies from variously shredded paper, only to reveal the paper whole again. He showed a small audience member three methods of tying knots in a rope without letting go of it, allowing him to win two candy bars by getting it right the first time and then again, then to win back the candy bars with a trick knot, twice carefully showing him how to tie it from no more than a yard away! The lad then regained the candy bars by tying two knots simultaneously, one with each hand. The long rope Max cut, knotted, untied, moved the knot, untied it again, yes two pieces of rope but not the same length, tied again, moved the knot again .... The flying table, no strings attached... And where did the live canary go?

The audience loved it. It was great to see so many children, most of whom were right at the front and eager to join in. Many of them were rewarded with balloon animals, including a bouncy scarlet octopus. During the interval, soft drinks, cakes and crêpes were served as somewhat sticky finger food, and I suspect that sugary smears will continue to turn up on the Salle des Fêtes stacking chairs in months to come.

Watch him kids! Did you see how it's done?

Our neighbour told us that Max is presently the acknowledged best magician in France. He told us to look out for him on Le Plus Grand Cabaret du Monde on the Reveillon edition. Not bad for a village in La France Profonde!

You've sung the song, now eat the reindeer

Today in Intermarché we were brought up short by a refrigerated display of exotic meats. You could choose a lump of meat from antelope to zebra, via kangaroo, wapiti (a sort of small kangaroo according to the butcher... actually American Elk #), élan (European Elk... or Moose), camel, bison, llama, and to remind us that it's Christmas, reindeer (renne). I know that reindeer meat is a dietary staple in Lapland, and a very healthy meat it is too being low in fat, and I still recall the lovely reindeer pelt on the Finnish stall at Saltaire European market, but eating Rudolph at Christmas seems somewhat heartless...

There's still plenty left, especially at those prices!

Question: what sort of wine should you have with zebra?
Answer: any good stripy wine will do!
(adapted from an elephant joke, circa 1964).

No elephant or bear though. At least three of the animal species featured here also appeared on the menu of the Café Voisin on Christmas Day 1870 during the Siege of Paris by the Prussians when the chef served specimens from the zoo. Surely it hasn't come to that yet! I wonder what panda tastes like?


# American Elk... a Red Deer [Cervus canadensis]

Betty... not sweet!

A Betty doesn't have to be a pudding... yesterday, I made a savoury Betty using fresh veg and a few leftovers....

Savoury Betty

The leftovers were some boiled Charlotte spuds and some steamed cauliflower... the fresh veg were broccoli [an unknown, locally bought plant], Cylindra beetroot, Flakki carrots, Hercules onions and Germidor garlic. As some were leftovers, I steamed the beetroot, broccoli and carrots until "al's dentist" and fried the garlic and onions and allowed all to cool.

This gave me green broccoli florets, white cauliflower, diced beetroot, sliced spuds, sliced carrots and fried sliced garlicised onions.

From the freezer I took a block of Canadian, 30 month matured cheddar and some streaky bacon and two handfuls of frozen PeeWee petit pois ... I grated half the cheddar whilst it was frozen [about three ounces], thawed the bacon and cut all but one slice into thirds. The PeeWee were left frozen. The remains of the block of cheddar went back in the freezer.

Now for the Betty topping... this is a savoury Betty, so no sugar.
You need the three or four ounces of three-day old bread, crumbed as for the sweet Betty but you don't add the suet yet... instead, add the salt and pepper to taste... I used a teaspoon of each of Sel de Guerand and cracked black pepper.
Toss well to evenly spread the spices. Now you add the suet and cheese and mix again...
as cheese is a source of fat, I used only one ounce of suet and two ounces of cheddar....
you will realize that this doesn't give you as much topping as the sweet Betty...
no matter, the method of setting the ingredients up is different.

Then comes assembly...

I started by lining the bottom of the dish with half the sliced potatoes and added on top all the beetroot and half the fried onions...

then came two thirds of the broccoli and half the carrots...

and another layer using the remaining spuds...
and some salt and pepper....

.... then half the bacon and the remaining onions...

...followed by the remaining carrots and broccoli...
all the peas...
and finally, the cauliflower neatly arranged on top...

...now you will notice that everything is now rather too close to the top....
I can't go back...
so I pressed it down and layered all but the uncut slice of bacon over the top.

At this point I made up a stock [about 300ml] in the onion pan with the condensate water from the steamer and a Knorr Garlic and Herb cube and poured it over the contents.

Now turn the oven on at 180°C [175°C for a fan oven]

Now for the topping... yes, I didn't make a mistake during that assembly...
the middle layer of potatoes replaces the crumb mix at the half full stage for a savoury Betty...
the crumb mix doesn't work!!. It comes out like soggy stuffing!

Put the topping in place and shape carefully into a slight dome... slice the remaining bacon into short pieces... ie; across the slice... and arrange around the topping... now sprinkle the last ounce of cheese on top and put the dish in the oven when up to temperature. Set timer for 45 minutes... but check after 40mins for a crispy bacon, golden topping.

The last of the cheese is not on in this picture

If the stock is boiling well, the peas should be just done.
Take it out if the topping is as you like it... or leave it the last five!
Serve...

First serving done, now for the second!!

We finished the meal with a new discovery "la fermière" créme gourmand...
chocolate and hazelnut flavour...

very, very nice and you get left with a useful terracotta pot for future puddings...
or sauces, souffles, etc.

Really creamy!

An Ingredient list:

A mix of veg and meat[s] to almost fill a large ovenproof deep dish... the one above is 24cm diameter.
300ml of suitable stock
one ounce of grated cheese
and...
The topping

• 3 to 4 ounces of breadcrumbs
• one ounce of shredded suet
• 2 ounces of grated cheese