Savoury Something Loaf

The other week (or was it month?) I spotted some Helen's bread mix being sold at a very reduced price in Sainsbury's.  We do not make #glutenfree bread from scratch, we either make a savoury soda bread or use Grass Roots Bakery's bread mix to make rolls.  But the bargain price caught my eye... so I bought the two remaining packs for pence. 

Next up came two challenges... remember to use the mixes and then figure out something J would actually eat!  Thinking there was a better chance of getting something to work that was a savoury bread, I decided a cheese and onion bread would be good... but J didn't like the idea of onion and came up with the idea of marmite OR mango chutney as the additional ingredient.  I thought we'd use the bundt tin for the bread baking to ensure a speedier and more even bake.


Melting some butter, with a scant teaspoon of marmite, the inside of the bundt tin was brushed with
the mix before having grated mature cheddar cheese sprinkled over. 

The mix was made up according to the VERY simple instructions on the pack - the sandwich bread mix only requires 300ml hand hot water and a tablespoon of oil to be added.  Following the "by hand" method on the pack, the wet and dry ingredients were combined using a metal spoon... and a porridge like
batter/dough was the result. 

Dollops of the mix were placed around the base of the tin, then a bit of the butter/marmite and a little grated cheese was added.  The
remaining dough was then added to the tin. 



As directed, the tin was placed in hand hot water for 40 minutes.

Once the dough had risen, the tin was placed on a baking sheet in a pre-heated 200ºC oven and baked for 25minutes when it was checked for baking. 

When the loaf was baked through, it was removed from the oven and allowed to cool for ten minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Slicing the loaf, you can see the texture and the included cheese and butter mix.  It's a real succes here!

Flat Bread

Having bought a ceramic frying pan (finally convinced because a/ J can't stand the smell from 'traditional' non-stick coatings, b/ pal had been raving about the wonders of ceramic coated pans, c/ it was on offer and below £10 and d/ it was YELLOW!)  we've been trying out its thermal transfer prowess, non-stickability and easy cleaning.  Also, we've been going to make a flatbread for ages...so, decided to give it a go (to accompany tonight's Bean and Pepper Chilli).

Ingredients -

200g self raising flour (we used Dove's Farm #glutenfree)
150ml plain yogurt/water mix (we used about half and half, mixed in a jug)
1 Tablespoon oil (we used olive oil)

This is the simplest of 'bakes'. 

The flour was weighed into a mixing bowl.

The wet ingredients were added and mixed through thoroughly using a silicone spatula (making sure to incorporate all the flour from the bottom of the bowl)  [a little more liquid MAY be needed to allow the dough to form... add small amounts of cold water, if so...]

Next we divided the dough into three 120g balls (because there are three of us... but you could halve the dough or quarter it... it's up to you and how you do this will depend on the size of the breads you make in the end). 

Using a silicone sheet and a dusting of flour, the dough balls were then rolled out into roughly cirular shapes, about 5mm thick. 

Each dough circle was cooked in a pre-heated DRY ceramic frying pan for 3-4 mins on each side (the time needed to cook your breads will depend on the thickness of the dough and the temperature of your pan... keep an eye on them and SET THE TIMER!)  The breads is done when the underside is starting to turn golden brown in places and holds together when you lift them carefully with a spatula... at which point we flipped the bread over and repeated cooking on the other side.

Once cooked the breads were kept warm in a covered dish until all three were ready to be served.

These would be good brushed with butter, or spread with garlic butter, but we ate them plain with our chilli dish. 

We'll definitely make these again because they were warm, moist and Sous Chef J polished his flatbread off before starting on the chilli!

Biscotti

This is such a simple recipe... do give it a go, the ingredients you'll need are -

90g Plain Flour (we used Dove's Farm gluten free)
50g caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder (we used Dr Oetker gluten free)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
40g pistachio nuts
25g dark chocolate chips/chunks

We mixed the first three ingredients together in a bowl. 

Next, the egg was lightly beaten and the vanilla extract was added to it.  This egg mix was then poured into the dry ingredients and thoroughly combined by hand. (just use one hand to 'squish' it together, it will form a dough after a while - if it's over dry, just add a little water a couple of drops at a time)

Once it was formed into a dough, it was time to add the nuts and chocolate chips.

Finally the dough was placed on a silicone sheet on a baking tray and placed in a pre-heated (160ºC fan oven) for 10 minutes.  We checked it at this point and, as it was still soft in the thickest part, returned it to the oven for a few more minutes before checking and removing to cool.

Having allowed the biscotti dough to cool for about 15 minutes, it was moved to a chopping board and sliced (using a sharp knife) into 1cm thick slices.

The slices we returned to the baking sheet and cooked for a second time in the oven... after about 5 minutes, we turned the oven off and allowed the biscotti to dry using the oven's residual heat.  (take care not to burn your biscotti - set a timer to remind you!)

Beware - the Biscotti are very more-ish and are great with a coffee or a cuppa.  Enjoy.

Pinwheels, Twists and Marbled Biscuits

Having seen Mary Berry make some simple two tone biscuits on the TV, we decided to give it a go with some gluten free biscuit dough.

Making up a batch of standard biscuit dough, (200g caster sugar, 200g unsalted butter, creamed, then one egg added and mixed through).  We split it in two after the egg was incorporated.  To one half we added 200g plain flour (we used Dove's Farm gluten free) and to the other we added 150g plain flour and 50g cocoa powder.

The doughs were then brought together using the electric mixer before being pulled into a ball by hand.

The two doughs were rolled out carefully (we used a silicone sheet to stop sticking but clingfilm could also be used if that is what you have to hand.) 

Once rolled, we laid two small sheets of dough one on top of the other and rolled it, carefully, into a long tube - this would be used to form the pinwheel biscuits

After chilling the dough 'roll' for about 15 minutes (whilst we got on with making biscuit twists) we sliced the dough roll into discs.

Each disc was just less than 1cm in thickness and was carefully placed on the non-stick baking sheet.

The twists were made by cutting thin lengths of the bi-coloured dough (we used a rule and pizza wheel), twisting slightly and placing directly onto a non-stick baking sheet ... making sure to push the ends down to stop them unravelling during cooking.








Mary Berry suggested making marbled biscuits with the left overs... and this is what we did too!  They're really simple.  By combining the leftovers of the doughs, we rolled out, used a cutter and put the biscuits on a baking sheet.


The biscuits were chilled until ready to be baked in a moderate oven (170ºC) for 8-12 minutes (you need to keep an eye on them because varying sizes mean they cook at differing rates)

Once cooked, we allowed thebiscuits to cool for a short while on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  Then they were ready to be stored in an airtight container for eating later... next time we'll make the twists a little shorter so they fit in our pots.