Sprouted grain loaf / pickled beetroot

Having enjoyed Dan Lepard's bread recipes so far, tried another one.  This one called for sprouted grains, so I did an experiment with wheat berries and spelt berries.  The wheat sprouted and the spelt didn't.  Required quantity seems to be a full sprouter load (all three little trays).  Not sure if they are what the recipe is asking for or not, but I used them anyway.

Also wanted to do something with the baby beets we got from the market last weekend.  Debated boiling or roasting them for salad, but decided to try pickling after consulting Delia - it's been a while since I had pickled beetroot, and I quite fancy it.

Sprouted grain loaf

No-knead loaf with sprouted grains (not beanshoots). Leave a day before slicing, if you can.

2 tsp fast-acting dry yeast
200ml warm water
1 tsp each honey and black treacle
50ml orange juice
150g toasted sunflower seeds
225g sprouted grains (sprouted wheatberries in sprouter)
50ml sunflower oil
300g strong white flour
75g rye or wholemeal flour (used wholemeal)
1½ tsp fine salt

Stir the yeast into the water until dissolved, stir in the honey and treacle, then add the juice, seeds, sprouted grains and sunflower oil. Add the flours and salt, mix well, cover and leave for 45 minutes.

Line a large (1.5-litre) loaf tin with nonstick baking paper. Flour a worksurface, then pat the dough to about the length of the tin and three times its width. Roll up the dough tightly, place it seam-side down in the tin, then punch it down to firm it. Leave, covered, for about an hour, until the loaf has risen by about a quarter to a third.

Preheat oven to 220C (200C fan-assisted)/425F/gas mark 7. Brush top of loaf with water, bake for 20 minutes, then drop the temperature to 200C (180C fan-assisted)/390F/gas mark 6 and bake for 30 minutes longer. Remove from the tin and cool on a rack.


Pickled beetroot

3/4 lb baby* beetroot (mixed golden and red - used the greens last weekend)
~6 black peppercorns
small cinnamon stick
~3 cloves
good pinch sea salt
~150ml red wine vinegar

Clean and trim the beetroot. Wrap all together in foil and bake at ~390F for about 2 hours / til tender when poked.  Alternatively, the beetroot can be left whole, put in a big pan, covered with water, and simmered for about 1 1/2 hours, until tender.

Meanwhile put the vinegar in a bowl above a pan of hot water with the salt and spices and bring the water to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to sit til needed. Once the beetroot have cooled enough to handle remove the peel and slice thinly. Layer into clean jar(s) - made enough for 1 1/2 350g jars. Pour over the vinegar and put the lid on.

*larger beetroot can be used but I like the smaller ones - they cook faster, pack easier and make cuter slices when served.


We started the bread the morning after I baked it in the afternoon, and it was good but a bit... crunchy?  By that evening the crunch seemed to have softened up (to do with the humid weather? or perhaps the 'leave a day' advice really did mean 24h) and it went very well with salad.  It was very similar to a granary loaf (wondering if granary uses sprouted wheat?).

I left the beetroot for a couple of days before trying it, and then put some in my lunchbox today.  It tasted... like pickled beetroot.  In a good way.  I'm glad I put in the spices, they give it an interesting touch of otherness.  I like beetroot and cinnamon together especially.

Lentil flatbreads + tomato-lime sauce

Since I loved Dan Lepard's olive sesame bread so much I thought I'd have a look through some of his other bread recipes.  I found this one and thought I'd give it a go.  The two main things I like about these recipes are 1) that you make a bread that is different from anything you could buy and 2) the formula of do something quick and easy / wait a while / repeat...


Lentil flatbreads


350g strong white flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
50ml sunflower oil
250ml milk and water, half of each

For the dhal:
150g dry red lentils
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander
3 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt

The night before, make the dough. In a bowl, mix the flour, soda and salt, add the oil and milk, stir, then cover and leave overnight at room temperature.
Next day, boil the lentils and garlic in water for eight to 10 minutes, then leave to drain in a sieve. Tip on to a sheet of muslin, and wring out excess water. Tip into a bowl, stir in the spices and salt, and remove the garlic. Set aside until cold.
Using lots of flour to dust both hands and worksurface, cut the dough into 50g pieces. Pat each piece flat in the palm of your hand. Take a spoonful of lentils (15g-30g, depending on how brave you feel) and squeeze into a ball, then wrap one piece of dough around it. Dab the edges with water and pinch it together to seal. Tap the dough out firmly, again using lots of flour, then roll very thin. Get a large frying pan quite hot, lay in a patty and cook for a minute each side. Set aside in a warm place, covered with foil, and repeat with the remaining dough.

I made the dough and the lentils in the morning and then assembled, rolled and cooked in the evening after work.  The recipe made about 12 (I think) - half quantity would have been sufficient for us.  Amazingly the lentil mix and dough ended up being perfectly in proportion.  They were well nice and S loved them.  Bit faffy but the assembling and rolling was actually quite a pleasing process and not too hard.

I made a quick spicy lime-tomato sauce to dip them in as I fancied something limey to go with them:

juice of a lime
1 tbsp tomato puree
pinch cayenne pepper
pinch salt
2 tsp olive oil

Mix all together and serve.  Quite runny and lime is the dominant flavour.  S said it was like a cocktail and I guess it did have a lot of elements of a Virgin Mary.  Went well though.

Plantain + polenta fritters / sauteed beet greens

A long-awaited Haymarket trip leading to a lot of produce calling out to be eaten...

Sauteed beet greens

We bought 2 bunches of baby beetroot - one of normal pink ones and one of golden.  They came with the leaves and I suspected the leaves might be good too.

Leaves from 2 bunches baby beets
5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 tbsp olive oil
grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
optional: 2 tsp maple syrup, 2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Separate stems from leaves and chop them separately (and fairly roughly).  Heat oil in pan and saute the garlic for a minute or two.  Add chopped stems and saute for a few more minutes.  Add leaves and salt+pepper / grated nutmeg to taste.  Continue to cook until the leaves are flopped and done.  Add the optional maple syrup and/or balsamic vinegar to taste as well (sometimes beet greens are quite bitter, I like the maple syrup as a way of offsetting that).

Came out well good - tasted much like chard.  Bargainous purchase - 2 veg for 1!  I've sauteed chard, spinach and kohlrabi leaves in the same way in the last few weeks - a winner every time.



Plantain and polenta fritters

1 large, very ripe plantain (blackened on the outside)
~50g polenta
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp chopped coriander
good pinch cayenne pepper (or 1/4 a hot green chilli, finely chopped)
2 large spring onions, finely chopped
1 tsp baking powder
canola oil to cook

Mash the plantain with a fork (or grate coarsely).  Add the other ingredients and mix until well combined.  Shape into roughly palm-sized patties and cook in a hot frying pan in a little canola oil.  Made about 8.

Based on a favourite from my teenage years (think originally from Sugar Club / Tas)- still just as tasty.  Seb was a big fan too.

Chocolate coffee muffins

A Sunday afternoon of intense humidity and thundershowers stopping play with regard to getting outside for long - gave it over to baking and phoning grandma instead.  Decided to go for classic chocolate muffins.

Chocolate-coffee-chocolate chip muffins

Makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup strong coffee
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chopped into chunks

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix til just mixed. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill muffin tins almost to the top. Bake 18 – 20 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

Came out as good basic chocolate muffins.  Coffee taste quite subtle - would probably be more intense if I had / used coffee powder.  Based on this recipe @ PPK.

Sesame noodles / lemony courgette and chickpeas

I remembered about the Brookline farmers' market as I was riding home today.  I was just in time to catch the last few things on the last stall as it was packing up.  And they were exciting things - a bunch of chard (mostly white but some ruby), a handful of garlic flower buds (scapes? they were labelled as), and a hard-sold light-green squash which is apparently super sweet and was only 50c.  $2.50 for the lot - not bad I think.

Anyway, I'll get onto those over the weekend...


For today...

Sesame noodles

60g sesame seeds
2 bundles (200g) soba noodles
3-4 spring onions, thinly sliced
5 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp honey
2 tsp sesame oil

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan.  Put the noodles in a pan of boiling, slightly salted water and cook til done (~5-6 min).  Put the noodles under cold water til cold.  Prep the spring onions.  Mix the remaining ingredients in serving bowl. Add the noodles and spring onions and toss.  Add sesame seeds and toss some more.  Chill for an hour before serving, ideally.


Lemony courgette and chickpeas

~250g courgette (1 large, in this case)
zest of half a lemon and juice of ~1 whole lemon
8 basil leaves
3-4 tbsp olive oil
salt
good handful of chickpeas (~100g when cooked)

Zest the lemon into a bowl and squeeze in the juice.  Finely shred the basil and add to the lemon.  Add the olive oil and mix with a fork.  Add the chickpeas and some salt to taste and mix up.  Cut the courgette into thin ribbons lengthwise using a peeler.  Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry the ribbons til golden brown and floppy, putting into the bowl with the other ingredients as they are ready.  Toss all together when done, and serve with/on toasted bread if you have some.


I also made the classic silken tofu salad.  Good times.

The lemony courgette was really nice and summery.  Was quite oily, which was not really necessary - could get the olive oil flavour better with less - might try grilling or baking the courgette slices in future to avoid the frying in future, since frying is a pain and adds oil.  Could also cut down the oil overall.

The sesame noodles I made once, years ago, made a mental note that they were good and then never bought any soba noodles.  We got some the other day on our mission to the Chinese supermarket in Quincy so it seemed like time to trot it out again.  I can confirm that it is good, and super simple too.

Polenta + olive oil crackers / spiced carrot and tofu spread

Broken piece of cracker with carrot stuff

I came across these recipes for crackers by Dan Lepard in the Guardian.  Although S was away this weekend and I therefore had to rein in my cooking tendencies through lack of willing tummies, Sarah from the lab next door had a barbeque on Sunday and I decided this was a good enough opportunity to make some crackers.

I liked the look of both recipes, but decided to go for the olive oil / polenta one, as a) I am quite into polenta right now (and also just cracked open a huge tub of honey I bought for some unknown reason that made sense at the time), b) they are more naturally dairy/egg-free - I'm always using olive oil, marg not so much, and c) it would have been silly to do both... right?


Polenta and olive oil crackers

25g uncooked polenta or coarse cornmeal
1 tsp honey
50ml olive oil
300g plain flour, plus more for rolling
½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt

Pour 75ml boiling water over the polenta, stir and leave to swell for five minutes. Stir in the honey and oil. Tip the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, add the polenta and about 50ml cold water, and mix to a dough. Knead for 10-15 seconds, until smooth, then wrap well and leave for 15 minutes, to make it easier to roll. Pinch off walnut-sized balls of dough (about 30g), roll very thinly into slipper shapes and lay on a tray lined with nonstick paper. Brush with water and bake at 200C (180C fan-assisted)/390F/gas mark 6 for 10-12 minutes, until golden and crisp.  Made about 24 (more than the quoted 15).

They worked like a dream - super simple, dough rolled out really nice, cracky and texturally exciting.  Pleasant, slightly salty taste perfect to eat with cheese or with something else...  Like?  This was the next question - decided I should make something to go with them to take to the BBQ.  Was liking a firm tofu / za'atar mash-up as a combo, so ran with that...


Spiced carrot and tofu spread

Half a pack (~8oz) firm tofu
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tbsp za'atar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch cayenne
small piece garlic (~1/5 clove)
salt and pepper
~ 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp honey

Prepare the carrots and put them in a steamer.  Steam for 10-15 min until a fork goes in easily.  Put into a blender with the rest of the ingredients.  Pulse until fairly smooth, but stopping before it is completely homogenised - felt like a slightly lumpy texture would be more appealing.


Crackers and spread both went down well at the party, including with S+C's baby Lenora (who is nearly 1 and has 8 teeth) - confirming the concern I felt when prepping the spread that it was a bit like babyfood (quite yummy babyfood though!).

The best bread I ever made: black olive and sesame bread

I came across this recipe on the Guardian website.  It looked not too taxing and sounded yummy.  Had an evening on my own since S is away right now, so decided to give it a try...

330g jar pitted kalamata olives in brine (used a ~300g tin of black, pitted olives in brine from Trader Joes)
1 tsp fast-action yeast
1 tsp dark brown sugar (used regular sugar)
50g sesame seeds, plus an extra tablespoon to finish
350g strong white flour, plus more for shaping
1 tbsp dried oregano (instead of oregano, thyme and sumac, I used za'atar)
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp sumac, optional but good
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon

Drain the olives, then measure the liquid and top up with warm water to make 250ml (had the right amount of liquid). Cut the olives in half lengthways. Put the strained olives and the liquid into a bowl, then stir in the yeast, sugar and 50g of sesame seeds. Add the flour, mix to a soft, sticky dough, cover and leave for 10 minutes.

Give the dough a short, 10-second knead in the bowl. Cover and leave for 10 minutes more. Repeat this quick knead twice more at 10-minute intervals, then leave the dough, covered, for 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, line the base of a tray with nonstick baking paper, tip za'atar (or finely ground herbs) on to a large dinner plate and mix with a tablespoon of sesame seeds and lemon zest. On another plate, have ready a wet square of kitchen towel.

Pat the dough into a rectangle on a clean worktop dusted with a little flour, then roll it up tightly into a snug scroll, making sure all the olives are tucked in. Next, tightly roll the ends of the loaf, so they pinch in and the loaf has a shape a bit like a lemon. Roll the loaf on the wet towel, then roll it in the herb and spice mix. Place on the tray seam-side down, cover and leave to rise for 90 minutes. Slash the top and bake at 220C (200C fan-assisted)/425F/gas mark 7 for about 40 minutes.

Bad photo doesn't do amazing bread justice

Super tasty - am having a za'atar moment right now, so happy to use that.  And the nuttiness of sesame plus salty olive taste is wonderful, yet an unusual enough combination to make for a loaf I definitely wouldn't be able to buy.  And I loved the idea of using the brine from the olives - reducing waste and adding taste and colour to the crumb.

Just ate some with a little salad of TJ's cherry tomatoes (they're excellent right now), and freshly-picked mixed baby leaves: rocket and lettuce from the balcony, mustard greens and chives from the community garden (am in my first real week of salad harvest - eating it almost every day!), dressed with olive oil+balsamic vinegar and toasted sunflower seeds... yummm