Sourdough Bread with Courgette

What!!!!  2 blogs in one day ...... aren't you getting carried away?
Well this morning I was waxing lyrical about a beetroot bread that I'd made and that I had just started a Sourdough with Courgette.  Just sitting here munching it so thought it only polite to share it with you, in a manner oof speaking.  First, here's a few photos to whet your appetite:

It tastes good!

Now, for a quick canter through making it.

Ingredients:

1 large courgette (about 150 - 200g) microwaved on full power for 1.5 minutes, cooled and grated.

500g wholemeal flour

10g salt

250g sourdough starter (sponge)

150ml, or there-a-bouts warm water (which has been previously boiled and cooled down to blood heat)

Method

Mix the flour and the salt, then add the grated courgette, sourdough starter and 1bout 150ml warm water.  I say "about" because the quantity of courgette, how moist it is, the nature of the flour all conspire to make precision meaningless.  Simply add most of the water, mix well and if it's too dry add some more.  It should be sticky but  "kneadable".

Leave for 10 minutes, knead for 30 seconds, leave for 10 minutes and keep repeating until the dough is nice & elastic and nolonger sticky.  Leave to double in size in a covered basin in a warm area .... this can take maybe 5 hours with sourdough ..... which is great since the longer it's left the better the flavour.  Knock back, divide into two, shape into loaves and place on a baking tray.  Cover and leave until double in size, covered with a tea towel.

Preheat oven to 220C.  Dust some flour on top of loaves and slash.  Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, checking that the base feels hollow when tapped. 

And that's it.   Here's another photo, sliced:

Well, what do you think?  Good chewy crust and moist bread.  Definately doesn't taste of courgette but it's got a very pleasant flavour that's difficult to describe.

Now, if you have never made sourdough and you haven't a starter, don't panic.  One oof these fine days, very soon, I'll share how I made mine.  If you can't wait, lots of good recipes via Google.

It's been a long time!

OK.....so I got distracted and havent blogged for some time now.  But now I'm back to tell you my latest adventures as a dough ball.

This week, I baked a fabulous bread.  Would love to say it was my idea but no, I came accross this recipe for Beetroot Bread and just couldn't believe it. I had visions of a pink glutinous mass, but I just had to try it to prove that I was right!

Basically, I grated 2 medium sized cooked beetroot (not in vinegar!) into my flour before adding the water and yeast mix.  Care! The grated beatroot has lots of moisture so you won't need as much water.  The dough was indeed a pink mass, with red bits throughout.  Left it to proove etc. and it behaved very well.

When cooked, the bread had a lovely crisp crust, quite thick, almost like a sourdough.  Inside, the pinkness had subsided to reddish brown.  The texture was beautifully open and so moist.  A lovely earthy flavour which I would never have guessed as beetroot, just fabulous.  So my scepticism has been proved wrong yet again.

Now I'm going to try a sourdough with courgette.  I'll be back in a day or so to tell you how it went.

But don't rush it

Where have I heard that before!!!!!!

With bread (except Irish Soda Breads & similar) you must not rush. It takes time to develop the flavour and texture, so take your time and enjoy the experience. I believe that in one area of Italy it is the law that Pizza dough must rest for 7 hours before baking it.
A very good friend who is a professional chef once told me that making bread was a great background job in any kitchen .... you do a bit, leave it while you do something else, do a bit more and so on.
So when I start my yeast by mixing yeast granules in water, a little sugar (or honey or treacle or anything else that contains sugars) and a good squeeze of lemon juice (the vitamin C helps rejuvinate the yeast) I leave it for at least an hour. When I first mix the flour and the yeast mixture I leave it for half an hour to let the flour particles absorb the water and expand.
When you knead the dough, only do it for half a minute and leave it covered for half an hour. Then do that again and again until the dough is completely smoothe, not in the least sticky and can be stretched. It might take 10 or more kneading sessions, but who cares .....don't rush.
Dough should be allowed to rise at room temperature. Yes, you can certainly make it rise much faster by placing it in a warm place such as an airing cupboard, but that doesn''t help the flavour. So unless your kitchen is very cold, don't place it in a warmer environment. Indeed, I sometimes make my dough well in advance and leave it in the 'fridge until I need it.
When it's nice and smoothe leave it to rise until it has doubled in size, then "knock it back" ... a brief kneading to punch out all the gas that has made it double in size. Form it into whatever shape you want and leave to double in size again. Then it's ready to bake.

You have to start sometime

and that's just what I'm doing.
I want to share with you my recipe for Walnut Bread ....the first of (hopefully) may that will appear and evolve on this page.
First, what will we put in it?
Flour: 150g plain flour and 150g strong flour ... just to get the texture right.
Yeast: We can have a debate about what's best... fresh or dry. In my opinion, makes no difference (except for when you're bakin' sour dough) ... just use dry and get it working about an hour before you use it. For this recipe add 1 tea spoon of dry/granule yeast to 150ml warm water with 15ml honey and 15ml treacle or molases. Then add a good squeeze of lemon juice ... not for flavour but because the yeast loves vitamin C.
Salt: All recipes need salt to add flavour and to regulate the action of the yeast.
Additives: Just 3: 60g broken walnut kernels, 30 g raisins or sultanas and MOST IMPORTANT 30g walnut oil.

Now, lets start. Get your yeast solution going for about an hour ...should be nice and frothy with a lovely yeasty aroma.
Mix the two flours and the salt well, then add the walnut oil and mix again. Now add the yeast solution .... but don't even think of adding the walnut kernels and dried fruit yet!
Mix with a spatula, stick, spoon or whatever until all's well combined .... then forget about it for half an hour.
Knead for 1 minute ... yes, I said one minute. It will probably be very sticky BUT DON'T BE TEMPTED TO ADD MORE FLOUR. You can always coat your hands with some olive oil to help it from sticking to your fingers .... don't worry, just scrape it off. Leave for another 10 to 30 minutes .... the time intervals are not important, just don't rush it.
Repeat this about 3 - 6 times until you have a lovely pliable, smoothe and non-sticky dough.
Stretch it out thin as possible on your worktop and sprinkle over the nut kernels and dried fruit. Roll it up and knead again until iyt all comes together. Leave in your mixing bowl, covered with a teatowel, until it has doubled in size .... about 1 - 2 hours.
Knock back .... that is, knead it again for a minute or so until all the air has escaped and it's back to about its original size. Form into a nice ball, plavce on a baking tray and leave for about an hour or two until it has doubled in size. Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 220C.
When nicely rissen (only doubled in size, don't go berserk!) dust with some more flour (any type will do) .... this will save it from burning and will make it look nice 'n rustic! Then slash with a sharp knife or razoe blade. How you do this is your own signature. It helps the bread expand without cracking during cooking and makes it look good. Every great baker has his (or her) own signature.
Bake in pre-heated oven for about 40 minutes. Check if it's cooked by turning over and tspping the base. If it sounds hollow, it's cooked. If not, return for another 5 minutes and try again.

Cool.

Enjoy ... great with cheese!