WARNING! This is not a bread that you will want to eat… This is a bread that you will wrap something in to cook it. The idea is that the incredibly salty dough rolled out and covering an ingredient like a celeriac or a pineapple or a whole salmon and the salt will penetrate the ingredient and the steam and pressure inside the dough will cook it through.
1000g - Flour
600g - Salt
300g - Water
270g - Egg Whites
Kneed everything together into a tight dough then rest for 1 hour before rolling out and wrapping an ingredient. bake at 200c for atleast 30 mins or untill the ingredient is cooked (every ingredient will take different times so you will need to experiment with the times. if you are going to cook fish make sure you do it whole with the skin on. if you are doing meat it will be a good idea to wrap it in blanched leeks or something to protect it from the salty dough.
Focaccia
What an incredible bread! its so simple and amazing to use on its own or for sandwich bread as it holds its structure when wet and chews easily.
Dough:
500g - strong white bread flour
2 tsp - Salt
34g - Yeast
2 tbsp - Olive Oil
400ml - Cold Water
To Top:
olive oil, for drizzling
fine sea salt
With the dough mix all the ingredients together an kneed on medium speed for 10 mins before allowing to prove until it has doubled in size. now the a large pan/baking sheet oil it well and add the dough. push it out evenly across the pan then drizzle with olive oil sea salt and stud with rosemary. Allow to prove a 2nd time. bake at 220C for 20 mins
Milk Bread
A very tasty and light bread.
1000g - High Gluten Content Flour (strong or very strong)
50g - Yeast
30g - Sugar
20g - Malt Extract
50g - Butter
600g - Milk
25g - Salt
Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl with a dough hook on medium speed for 20 mins. cling film and rest over night in the fridge.
The next day, kneed the dough one more time in the mixer on medium speed for 10 mins. shape the dough and allow to proove. brush with milk before putting in the ovan at 220C with steam for 30 mins or untill it sounds hollow.
SourDough
This ancient style of bread is labour intensive and you need to look after it but the level of satisfaction that can be achieved from the steep learning curve is well worth it. not to mention the amazing flavour and texture that simply cannot be replicated in other breads
To begin you need to make a basic healthy culture as a starting point once you have achieved this you can begin experimenting with different kinds of flours to produce different results.
Basic Starter Culture
300g - High Gluten Content Flour (strong or very strong)
300g - Water (best using mineral or bottled water)
Mix this together then cover and leave over night in a cool part of your kitchen (not the fridge). the next day take half of the mixture out and discard (once your culture is thriving this thrown away portion is what you will make your bread from). Now to begin your cultures feeding routine
Culture Feed (300g)
150g - High Gluten Content Flour (strong or very strong)
150g - Water (best using mineral or bottled water)
Add the Culture Feed to the Basic Starter Culture and mix until everything is fully homogenised.
now continue the process of removing half and feeding with the Culture Feed (300g) daily for 7 days. On the 7th day your culture should be really thriving and its time to make your first sour dough.
900g - High Gluten Content Flour (strong or very strong)
575g - Water (best using mineral or bottled water)
Mix the flour and water together and leave in a warm place for a few hours. this process is called autolisation. this will give you a dough that’s easier to work with and shape because its less sticky, and a loaf with better texture, rise and flavour
20g - Salt
300g - Basic Starter Culture
Mix the salt and culture with the autolised flour and water then in a Kitchen Aid mix for 4 mins on slow then 4 mins medium speed. Take this Dough out of the bowl and rest on your worktop for 20 mins. With both hands grab one side of the dough and pull it to stretch it then fold it over to the other side. Keep doing this to all sides for a few mins. Then rest the dough for 10 mins. Repeat this process of stretching and resting 4 times.
Cut the mix into 4 equal portions. use the stretch and fold technique to build up surface tension. Begin to shape them into balls then place them into proving baskets that are lined with clean kitchen cloths and dusted with rice flour. place the baskets in the fridge over night. This is the finished doughs bulk ferment.
the next day pre-heat a large baking stone in the oven at 220C with steam. once the oven is upto temp tip the dough out of the basket onto the hot baking stone and bake for 30 mins.
once the bread is done remove from the oven and and rest the dough for atleast 15 mins before carving and enjoying.
Brioche
Brioche has to be one of the most versatile breads in any chefs repertoire. it can be enjoyed sweet in a dessert as well as savoury and even for breakfast!
The sign of a good quality brioche is in the glaze and spring once its cooked.
This being a enriched dough it is more complex than a basic bread dough.
500g - Flour High Gluten Content Flour (strong)
10g - Salt
4 - Eggs
50g - Sugar
Place in a large mixer to incorporate the ingredients
125g - Milk
10g - Yeast
Add the milk and yeast to the mix and begin to kneed on a medium setting
250g - Butter
Cube butter and add slowly. Continue to kneed the dough untill the gluten develops and it begins to form a ball and cleans the sides of the mixing bowl. this process can take over an hour.
remove the mix from the bowl onto a floured work surface then portion and place into loaf tins. prove the dough over night.
the next day glaze the dough with beaten egg or whole milk then cook the brioche in a pre-heated oven at 190C for 30-40 mins or until golden and sounds hollow when tapped. once cooked cool for at least 20 mins before serving
Bread Basic
This is an excellent recipe for a basic bread dough with unlimited uses. a perfect place to start for the beginner cook and seasoned chef alike.
1000g - Flour High Gluten Content Flour (strong)
30g - Yeast
600g - Water
20g - Salt
50g - Oil (good quality olive oil or rape seed)
Dissolve the Yeast into half the amount of water then mix all ingredients together mix on a low speed for 5 mins. turn the speed to medium then continue to kneed for 15 mins. allow to the dough to prove in the mixing bowl for 1 hour at room temperature. then mix again for a further 5 mins. Shape the dough or place into loaf tins. Prove until the dough has roughly doubled in size.
Bake at 220C with steam for 10 mins or until they are well golden and sound hollow when tapped. allow to rest for at least 10 mins before serving,