Wednesday 30 May 2012

Buttermilk Scones

www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk

I made the first strawberry jam of the season at the weekend and I can never make strawberry jam without also making scones.

Scones are one of the easiest things to cook provided you treat them with care. They need a gentle touch & not too much mixing. Saying that I'm a lazy cook and will use my mixer whenever I can.

8oz self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 oz soft butter
1oz sugar
1 egg
1/4 pint buttermilk

Preheat oven to about 200 degrees C for a fan oven.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the flour, baking powder & sugar into the mixer and mix together. Add the butter and mix again until you have a mixture resembling fine breadcrumbs.

Beat together the egg & buttermilk.

With the mixer running gradually add the egg & buttermilk mixture till it just forms a very soft, slightly sticky dough. This is the point you shouldn't overmix. You probably won't use all of the egg & buttermilk mixture. Keep this aside, don't chuck it yet!

Roll out the dough on a floured surface till it's about 2cm thick. Cut out using a 5cm pastry cutter. Combine any leftover bits and roll out again, cutting scones till you've used all the dough.

You'll get about 8 scones. Put these on the baking sheet and brush with the remaining egg/buttermilk mixture.

Bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Eat straight away with strawberry jam & clotted cream ( though double cream is just as good ), whilst arguing whether it should be cream first, then jam or vice versa.

Monday 28 May 2012

Strawberry Jam

www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk

I have 2 favourite preserves - strawberry jam & apricot preserve. Neither are particularly cheap to make unless you have a surplus of strawberries & apricots but I think homemade is wonderful compared to the stuff you buy in the shops.

To set a jam or jelly or marmalade you need pectin. Some fruits are naturally very high in pectin but for strawberries you need to add pectin. You can make your own pectin from apples or you can buy pectin in the shops in the baking aisle ( look for Certo ). I cheat & use jam sugar.

Jam sugar has added pectin so it makes it very quick to make a quick tasy jam.

You need to sterilise the jars & lids. I do this by running them through a hot dishwasher. I then put them on a baking tray and put them in a low oven to dry them & make sure they are warm when you put the jam in.

You need a couple of punnets of strawberries ( 900g ) & 1kg of jam sugar. Prepare the fruit by taking the stalk off, then wash. I don't like whole fruit in my strawberry jam so I put them all in the blender and chop quickly till I have a lumpy blend.

Put the strawberries and sugar in a large pan and heat on a gentle heat till all of the sugar has dissolved. Don't boil until all the sugar has dissolved or you'll end up with sugar crystals in the jam.

Then bring to the boil, adding a knob of butter ( this reduces the amount of scum that forms on top of the jam ). When boiling, boil for exactly 4 minutes.

As soon as the timer pings, take the pan off the heat & skim off any froth ( scum ) on top.

Quickly decant into warm jars ( it will make about 4 x 1lb jars ), screw on the lids and you're finished.

Thursday 3 May 2012

Honey Oat Bread

www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk

I make no apologies for using a bread machine as there are days when I don't have time to make the amount of bread I need at the B&B by hand. However I don't bake it in the bread machine but, instead, use the dough setting, form the dough into 2 loaves and bake in the oven. I think this makes a better shaped loaf and gives me 2 loaves for 550g flour.

This is a lovely dense loaf perfect for eating warm from the oven with soup, rather than to be used for toasting at breakfast.

1.25 tsp yeast
100g rolled oats
350g granary bread flour ( I really like Wessex Mill Six Seed Bread Flour )
100g strong white bread flour
2tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp thick set local honey
1.5 tsp salt
320 ml water

2 x 1lb loaf tins, which I grease with butter and sprinkle with flour

Place the ingredients in your breadmaker and place on the dough setting. ( Or mix by hand or use the dough hook on a mixer to knead till elastic, put in an oiled bowl and leave somewhere warm to rise till double in size - about 2 hours )

When the dough is ready, knock it down & split into 2 equal portions. Roll each piece of dough and put into the prepared loaf tins.

Place a damp tea towel or some cling film over the the tins and put in a warm place to double in size which takes about 30-45 minutes ( or you can put in the fridge overnight to rise slowly and bake in the morning ).

When it's risen you can split the top using a very sharp knife and sprinkle with oats.

Bake in an oven at 200 degrees C for about 20 minutes.

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Eggs Benedict

www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk

This is a very popular special at the B&B; my husband's favourite. It's quite convenient to make because there's no real last minute cooking - it's just a case of warming through and assembling.

You'll need the recipes from earlier in the blog on poaching eggs, making hollandaise and, if you're planning to make your own, baking English Muffins.

If you're cooking for a few people then I suggest you pre cook the poached eggs and make up the hollandaise and put it in a warmed thermos flask. Then you're only reheating & assembling ingredients

For 1 eggs Benedict you'll need

1 poached egg
1 or 2 tablespoons of hollandaise
2 slices of grilled bacon ( or thick slices of ham )
1 toasted English Muffin buttered

And that's it really! Put the half an english muffin on a warm plate, top with the bacon ( or ham ), put the poached egg on top and spoon the hollandaise over.