Pigs in Blankets Sausage Rolls

I made Pigs in Blankets Swirls a few weeks ago, but thought I'd try making more traditionally shaped sausage rolls for an extended family gathering the day after Boxing Day

Makes 8/16

320g pack ready rolled puff pastry
8 slices of streaky bacon
8 sausages or 500g sausage meat 

If using sausages, remove the casings by cutting them off with scissors. 

Lay the pastry out on the greaseproof paper it comes with, with one of the longest sides towards you.  With a rolling pin, roll the pastry out towards and away from you to make it a little wider.  

Cut the pastry in half lengthways from left to right to make two long strips.

Lay short lengths of bacon along the middle of the pastry strips.  After cutting the first few slices of bacon in half, I worked out I needed to cut them in three to cover the middle of the pastry.

Divide the sausagemeat in half and spread each half evenly over the bacon, along the middle of each pastry strip, right up to the edges.  If using sausages, just lay four skinned sausages along the bacon on each pastry strip.

Fold the longside of the pastry over to the over and crimp it closed with a fork.  Lightly score each pastry roll into 4, or 8 if you want mini sausage rolls. 

Once scored, cut with sharp scissors.  Drag the greaseproof paper onto a baking tray and arrange the cut sausage rolls with a bit of space between them.

Bake at 180C for 40 minutes until golden brown, turning half way though the cooking time.  Best eaten hot.  Can be reheated at 180C for 7 minutes in an air fryer.

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Camembert or Brie Tarts

I've had two failed attempts at making Camembert (or Brie Tarts, Tartlets, Bites, or Pies), first with wraps as the casing and the second time with shop bought puff pastry.  The wrap casings went soft, and the puff pastry heat sealed itself to the muffin tray and had to be chiselled out.  So I returned to my old faithful homemade food processor all butter pastry (from a 20+ year old Good Housekeeping magazine cutting), which I make Chicken & Ham Pies, Mince Pies, and Quiche with, to make Camembert Tartlets (or Pies, or Bites) 

Makes 20-24

175g plain flour

100g cold salted butter, cubed

250g Camembert or Brie

Thinly sliced garlic, rosemary sprig, or Cranberry Sauce (optional)

Place the flour and cubed butter into a food processor with 2 tablespoons cold water.  Pulse a few times, add another tablespoon of cold water and pulse a few times again.  Keep adding a tablespoon of water and pulsing a few times until the flour and butter begins to look like breadcrumbs.  I find the Aldi flour I use takes about 4 tablespoons of water to get to this texture.  After 4 tablespoons of water, run the food processor for a few seconds continuously to make the pastry clump together into a rough ball, adding a little more water if it doesn't.

When formed into a ball, tip out onto a floured surface, shape into a block and place in a plastic bag in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

After the pastry has rested (it apparently should rest to allow the gluten to relax so it doesn't shrink as much, and making the butter harden and make the dough easier to work with - but it is not essential if you really don't have time to let it rest),  roll it out on a lightly floured surface and cut out disks with a pastry cutter.  I used my largest round cutter and made 20 disks.  Had I gone a cutter smaller, I might have been able to cut 24 disks.

Lightly grease the mince pie tin with a little vegetable oil and place a disk over each hole.  Don't worry about pushing them down into the hole as they will fall back into them once into the hot oven.

Cut the camembert into as many disks as you have cut.  Place the cheese in the centre of each disk.  I cut my Camembert into small wedges, which I cut in half again to get a rough square in the centre.  

Sandwich the garlic and a few rosemary leaves between the slices of cheese, if using.  If using cranberry sauce, place 1/2 a teaspoon on top.

Bake at 180C for 18 minutes, turning half way through the cooking time, until lightly golden.

Leave to cool for a few minutes so the cheese is not molten, but serve warm.

We warmed these up at 180C for 2 minutes in an air fryer at a family gathering yesterday.

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Pigs in Blankets Swirls

I started off thinking I was going to make Pigs in Blankets Sausage Rolls.  There are so many recipes out there, with red onion chutney, with cranberry sauce, with Camembert or Brie, with Camembert & Brie and Red Onion Chutney or Cranberry Sauce. But I thought I'd keep mine traditional with just sausagemeat and bacon, and opted for a swirl as I thought it less fiddly.

As ready rolled puff pastry is often vegan, it should be possible to make a vegan/vegetarian version of these with vegetarian sausages and vegetarian bacon.

Makes 18

320g pack ready rolled puff pastry

300g pack streaky bacon

6 sausages

Remove the sausages from their casing by squeezing or cutting off and mash together.  I bought Co-op Irresistible Cumberland Sausages and found the casing incredibly soft so just squished them together with my fingers.

Roll the pastry out on it's greaseproof paper on a chopping board.

Spread the sausagemeat evenly all over the pastry, right up to the edges.

Cover the sausagemeat with strips of streaky bacon in the direction you are going to roll (this makes slicing easier), spacing them out evenly and again right up to what will be the ends of your roll.  I rolled the long side to make smaller swirls, so made sure I had a slice of bacon right up to the left and right hand side.

Carefully roll up the pastry like an Artic Roll.

Slice into 2cm rounds with a sharp knife.  If the greaseproof paper the pastry came on has not been too damaged/cut in the process, arrange the swirls on this on a large flat baking tray or on new piece if needed with a bit of space between them.

Bake at 180C for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  Best eaten warm, but my son was very happy to eat cold swirls for breakfast on his way into college.

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Pumpkin Muffins

We regularly have a coeliac trick or treater visiting us the last few years, so I always make a gluten free treat.  This year I have made Pumpkin Muffins, using gluten free self raising flour rather than self raising flour, and the scrapings from inside a couple of pumpkins we've carved.

Any leftover muffins will be used for grab & go breakfasts, in lunchboxes, or snacks next week.

Makes 12

125ml vegetable or light olive oil

2 large free range eggs

250g pumpkin puree 

100-150g sugar

100g mixed dried fruit

2 tsp pumpkin spice (or 1 tsp cinnamon + 1 tsp ginger)

250g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

Make pumpkin purée by simmering 250g of pumpkin in water for 15 minutes.  Drain and liquidise.  

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs into the oil, followed by the cooled pumpkin purée, sugar, dried fruit, spices and baking powder.  Mix well then stir in the self raising flour.  This is a quite a wet mixture, so unlike other muffin recipes don't be afraid to mix the flour in thoroughly, as the muffins still rise well having done this.

Divide into 12 muffin cases. Bake at 200C for 15 minutes, until a metal sewer comes out of the central muffins clean.

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Choc Chip Banana Bread Breakfast Muffins

More Grab & Go breakfast muffins for my 17 year old son, which he likes to alternate with Bacon & Cheddar Muffins I posted earlier, as he runs out the door to catch the bus to college.

Makes 12

100ml vegetable or light olive oil

75g sugar (optional)

2 ripe bananas (I freeze overripe bananas rather than throw them away, specifically to make this)

225g self raising flour or gluten free self raising flour

100g porridge oats

100g dark chocolate chips or cocoa nibs

1 tsp baking powder

2 large free range eggs

Put all the ingredients, apart from the chocolate chips/cocoa nibs, into a food processor and whizz until smooth. 

Add the chocolate chips/cocoa nibs and whizz to mix them in evenly. 

Divide the mixture into 12 muffin cases.  I use a generous vintage ice cream scoop, which only made 10 muffins the last time I made them.

Bake at 180C for 20 minutes, turning them through 180 degrees half way through the cooking time, until golden brown.  They are cooked through when a metal skewer comes out clean when pushed into the centre.  If not, cook for a couple more minutes then check again.

Keep in an airtight container for 5 days, or freeze.

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Bacon & Cheddar Breakfast Muffins

Grab & go breakfast for students (and their parents on the train to London to watch the Women's Rugby World Cup Final).

The trick to muffins that rise well is not overmixing.  As ever I have attempted a few short cuts, like adding the bacon and cheese to the milk mixture, and weighing the self raising flour straight into to the wet mixture to avoid mixing several times (and reduce washing up).

Makes 12

250ml whole milk

80ml light olive oil

1 free range egg

200g cooked bacon bits

100g grated mature cheddar

1 small courgette, grated (he was not impressed by this ingredient)

300g self raising flour (I used half wholemeal self raising flour, half white self raising flour)

Brown the bacon in a non stick frying pan. Add the courgette if using to soften it and evaporate off some of the liquid.  Leave to cool a little whilst you mix the other ingredients together.

Beat the egg, oil, and milk together in a mixing bowl.  Mix the bacon and courgette into the wet mixture well.

Weigh the self raising flour into the wet mixture and fold in gently, just until you can no longer see dry flour.

Divide into 12 muffin cases, and bake at 200C/180C fan in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top.

Leave to cool for 15 minutes before eating.  Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze and defrost overnight before breakfast.

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Zoe Science & Nutrition Baked Root Vegetable Medley

With beetroot and half a butternut squash to use up on New Year's Eve, and a vegetarian to cater for, I tried this recipe I saw on @Zoe instagram account.  In spite forgetting to set an oven timer due to the jollity of board games and sparkling wine, it turned out well.  I had the last serving today on homemade wholegrain sourdough toast drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side 

1 sweet potato

1 small squash

1 beetroot

5 Jerusalem artichokes (didn't use - used several small beetroot and large sweet potato instead)

1 handful cashews, soaked in boiling water for at least 10 minutes

400g tin of white beans (recipe said drained, but I didn't) 

1 tsp miso paste

a few sprigs of thyme

2 cloves of garlic

100ml milk of choice (used the bean liquid instead)

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Thinly slice your vegetables using a knife or mandolin and layer into an ovenproof dish with fresh thyme.

In a blender, combine the beans, soaked cashews, garlic, milk and miso paste into a pourable sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Cover the vegetables with the sauce and push down to ensure they are submerged. Drizzle the olive oil over the top and place in the oven for around an hour until the vegetables are soft and the top is golden and crispy.

My tips; brush some additional olive oil over the bottom and sides of your baking dish.  Also, my vegetables were not submerged by the sauce so I covered the dish with some aluminium foil.

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High Fibre Wholemeal & Wholegrain Sourdough

I sell homemade organic white bread flour sourdough loaves (with a wholemeal starter), but thought I'd try to make a wholegrain sourdough for the family.

The more wholegrain flour you use, the higher in fibre this sourdough is, so experiment with 500g wholegrain flour, or adding different wholegrain/wholemeal flours eg wholemeal rye flour.  

Wholegrain sourdough will rise less than a white sourdough but is better for you!

Proving time: 3 hours 45 minutes (5 x 45 minutes)

Overnight proving: 12-24 hours

Cooking time: 40 minutes

I mix the dough late afternoon the day before the morning I want to bake.

300g lively wholemeal starter

375g water

2 tsp salt

250g wholemeal flour

250g wholegrain flour (I used Sainsbury's Wholegrain Seeded Flour, other wholegrain flours are available)

Mix the starter & water together in a large mixing bowl.  

Mix in the flour and salt until you all the dry flour has been incorporated.  It will be a rough looking dough. Don't worry.  Cover the bowl and leave for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes do the first of four 'stretch & folds'.  Wet your hands, scoop your fingers under either side of the dough and lift it upwards so the top and bottom of the dough stretch and fold down from your hands.  Give the bowl a quarter turn and do one more stretch and fold.  Cover and leave for another 45 minutes.

After four stretch & folds and a final 45 minute rest, tip the dough out onto a floured surface, stretch the dough out to the side and up onto the middle of the dough at the top, bottom, and sides of the dough.  Shape, and place in a well floured  banneton or bowl with a well floured cloth. Cover and place in the fridge for 12-24 hours until you are ready to bake.

When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven and a deep lidded casserole dish (I used a domed turkey roasting dish) to 230C.  When the oven reaches temperature, tip the dough out onto a piece of baking parchment, and score with a razor blade, bread knife, or scissors (optional).

Lower into the preheated dish, and bake for 20 minutes with the lid on, then 20 minutes with the lid off.

Leave to cool entirely on a baking rack to make slicing easier.

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Sourdough Pizza

Dad is the pizza baker in our house, and I am the sourdough baker.  He was away for the night, so I thought I'd try making sourdough pizza.  This should, in theory be started the evening before, but I started the morning I was making pizza for dinner and it worked out fine, if lacking a strong sourdough flavour

100g lively sourdough starter
375 g water

10 g salt 

500g bread flour 

Mix sourdough starter, water and salt in a bowl in a large mixing bowl with a strong plastic spatula.  Stir in flour until it forms a sticky dough.

Cover with a plastic bag, shower cap, or tea bowl and leave to rest for 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes, wet the fingers of one hand and 'stretch and fold' the dough, pushing your fingers down one side of the bowl, lifting and stretching this handful up and folding it down onto the centre like an envelope flap. Do this the oppposite side to where you first folded and then either side.

Stretch and fold more times at 30 minute intervals (set a timer as a reminder).  

Cover the stretched dough and leave to prove for 6-12 hours, or until doubled in size.

Tip out onto a floured surface and divide into 4 equal pieces (roughly
246g each). Shape into balls and place into individual covered containers in the fridge for at least 6 hours, and up to 3 days.  Pizza dough can be frozen at this stage, but the longer it is stored in the freezer the less bubbly the cooked base will be.

A hour before cooking, take the dough out of the fridge. Cut greaseproof paper to fit the baking trays or pizza stones you are using, flour lightly, and tip a ball of dough onto each one.  

Turn the oven on to preheat to 250C or as high as it goes, and put the baking trays/stones in.

Carefully stretch the dough out into a round with your hands, trying not to squash all bubbles.

Top as desired.  Ours usually have a homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella and then the children choose toppings such as pepperoni, jalapeños, anchovies, olives, sliced mushrooms, bacon lardons, cooked or cured ham, and my son's favourite - pineapple (pictured).  We have also made non-tomato pizzas with creme fraiche, garlic, mushrooms, and lardons. And a favourite of mine is rocket, goats cheese, pine nuts, and olive oil.

When the pizza is ready, and the oven is up to temperature, take the trays/stones out of the oven one at a time.  Place on a heatproof surface near the prepared pizza and slide the greaseproof paper onto the tray/stone. Place back in the oven and cook 10 minutes or until the edges of the pizza are brown and crispy.  If your oven does not go to 250C your pizzas will take longer to cook.

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Alevropita, Greek Feta Bake

I love Spanakopita, but cannot be bothered with brushing innumerable sheets of filo with olive oil.  So this simple 'toad' in the hole style traybake has all the flavour and none of the hassle.  The traditional Alevropita recipe has just feta, but I thought to add spinach (and a few more flavourings) to make it healthier.

Serves 4

250g wilted baby leaf or chopped spinach (optional)

2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

150g plain or self raising flour

200ml milk

2 free range eggs

1/4 tsp salt

150g crumbled feta

1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed (optional)

1 tsp dried Greek oregano or thyme (optional)

Wilt spinach in a little water, pour into a sieve and leave to cool and drain.

Preheat the oven to 170C Fan/190C together with a baking dish with 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Whisk flour, milk, eggs, and salt together into a smooth batter.  Add garlic and oregano if using and mix thoroughly

When the oven has reached temperature, take out the baking dish and carefully swirl the hot oil around the sides.  Pour the batter into the hot oil, then scatter over the feta and spinach. Swirl this into the batter and drizzle over another tablespoon of olive oil.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and crispy on top.  Serve with a Greek Salad (minus the feta).

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@Zoe Homemade Granola

I cannot claim any credit for this recipe, it is from @Zoe Nutrition, apart from my tweeks as noted

Makes 6-8 servings

3/4 cup flaked almonds

1 cup porridge oats

100g pecans

1/2 cup mixed seeds

40g coconut flakes

1 tbsp chia seeds

2 tbsp flaxseeds

1 tbsp psylium husk (did have/use any)

2 tsp cinnamon

100ml coconut or olive oil

4 tbsp honey

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp almond butter (used smooth peanut butter)

100g dried cranberries (my addition, added after cooking)

Preheat oven to 160C

In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.

In a separate jug or bowl, mix the almond butter, oil, and honey until combined.

Stir the liquid through the dry mixture until everything is coated.

Spread the granola mix out onto a lined tray, pressing into a single flat layer. 

Bake for 25 minutes, checking halfway and turning if necessary to ensure it browns evenly.

Rest for 10 minutes and do not touch the granola at all if you want large chunks.

Once the granola has cooled completely it should break off into nice chunky pieces thick can be stored in an airtight jar for up to a few weeks.

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Healthy No Added Sugar Cereal Bars

These date, oat, nut, seed & fruit bars were a huge success, so I am writing down how I made them before I forget 

Makes 10 bars

250g soft medjool dates, pitted

125g 100% peanut butter

100g porridge oats

100g whole almonds

45g mixed seeds

50g dried cranberries (optional)

Blend dates and peanut butter in a food processor until it forms a sticky paste.  Add 1-2 tbsp recently boiled water if required. If your dates are not that soft, soak them in boiling water for 20 minutes first, then drain and blend with the peanut butter. Do not use a Nutri bullet style liquidiser, as this struggled to make a paste without adding too much water.

Squish the rest of the ingredients into the date paste with your hands. Smooth into a small lined baking tray (or divide into 10 and squish into a mini brownie tin) with a wet spoon, and score into 10 slices.

Bake for 10 minutes at 180C (160C Fan).

Apparently these only last 3-4 days in the fridge, which seems odd given that all the ingredients last way past this individually.  Although I need not have worried, as they were all gone in a week.

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Chorizo & Manchego Pinwheels

Pretty pleased with my first attempt to make seasonal nibbles.  The possibilities with these cheesy pinwheels is endless - ham & cheddar, pesto & parmesan, spinach & feta, tapenade & feta.

Makes 18

1 pack ready rolled puff pastry

30 pack sliced chorizo

170g Manchego, grated

Roll out the pastry a little on a floured surface so you can fit all the chorizo slices on.

Evenly sprinkle with grated Manchego right up to the edges.

With one of the widest sides facing you, roll the pastry and filling carefully and fairly tightly.  

With a sharp knife, cut the roll into 1cm slices.  I started from one end, and ended up with 17 pinwheels. Next time I would probably cut the roll in half, and keep cutting each section in half to end up with an even number of pinwheels.

Bake on a baking tray, on the paper the puff pastry came in, for 10-15 minutes at 220C/Fan 200C until lightly golden

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Dairy Free Chocolate Marble Cake

Using oil in this Chocolate Marble Cake makes it moist, dairy free, and cheaper than using butter! Made for my son's 15th birthday, hence the action cutting shot.

Makes 2x 2lb loaf cakes or 1 large cake

250ml vegetable (flavourless) oil
250g sugar
4 large eggs (at room temperature)
A few drops of vanilla extract
300g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
25g cocoa powder
Zest & juice of 1 orange

100g icing sugar

1 tbsp cocoa

Hot water 

Weigh all the ingredients, APART FROM the cocoa and orange zest and juice, into a food mixer so you know the total weight of the mix.

Whizz these ingredients together.  Calculate half the weight of the mixture and pour this into a large greased & lined cake tin, or half this amount into two lined loaf tins.

Add the orange zest & juice and cocoa to the remaining mixture in the mixing bowl.  Whizz, and pour/scrape on top of the 'plain' mixture in the cake tins. Swirl to hearts delight in a kind of folding motion  to create ripples in the mix.

Bake for 45-50 minutes at 180C.  Drizzle with a quick chocolate icing if you like (mix icing sugar, cocoa with 1 tbsp of water at time to create a glossy double cream consistency).

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Calzone Pizza, Italian Pasties

I've begun making Calzone as one of my options for my son's packed lunch. I can batch bake them (baked with Baked Chocolate Oats this week), and then not have to flap around getting him something nutritious every morning. 

I've been filling them with chorizo and mozzarella, but you could use any of your favourite pizza toppings. I may even try using a samosa style filling.

Makes 2 large or 4 small calzone

225g white bread flour

130ml water

30ml olive oil

1 tsp quick yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1 ball of mozzarella, cubed

100g diced chorizo or ham

My calzone recipe comes from our Bread Machine book, given to us with our first bread machine 19 years ago, so mixes and kneads the dough on a bread machine dough cycle. But it can be done by hand.

Mix and knead the dough on a dough setting. Ours mixes/kneads for 10 minutes, rests for 10 minutes, kneads for another 5 minutes before resting again for a final 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220C.

When the dough cycle has finished, tip the bread dough out on to a lightly floured surface. Knock it back and divide into 2 or 4 equal sized pieces.  Roll each piece of dough into a flat circle. This is easier than it sounds, as I find yeasted dough springs back.  My solution is to roll the all circles out then go back to the first one and roll/stretch them back out again before filling, and then on to the next.

Divide the filling between the dough circles, placing it on one half of of the circle, and leaving a 1.5cm border at the edge. 

Dampen the border with water. Fold the circle in half over the filling and twist or crimp the edges to seal.

Place on a lined baking sheet, brush with olive oil, and bake for 20 minutes until golden and well risen.

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Baked Chocolate Oats

Since the summer I've been trying to cut on ultra processed foods, including cereal bars.  I saw this recipe on Instagram and thought I'd give it a go.

475ml milk, plant based if preferred

100g maple syrup

4 tbsp peanut or other nut butter

1 tsp vanilla essence 

200g porridge oats

25g cocoa powder

2 tbsp flax seeds

1 tsp baking powder

100g dark chocolate chips

Pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 180C.

Mash the peanut butter with a little milk to break it up.  Add and mix the rest of the wet ingredients together.

Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix well.

Grease a high sided baking dish and pour in the quite runny mixture.

Bake at 180C for 40 minutes.  

Eat warm like a pudding, or cold as a hearty, Brownie like, cereal bar.

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Bread Machine Sourdough

I’ve been mixing my sourdough in a bread machine for years, but with rising energy prices I thought it would be more economical if I could bake one in the bread machine rather than our now ageing oven.

I googled, and found some timings on My Greek Dish. I used my recipe, taken from BBC Food, with a few tips taken from YouTube over the years.  I am constantly refining technique, flour types, and hydration so this is by no means set in stone.

The method makes paler and softer sourdough than oven baked, particularly if left in the bread pan overnight to cool (see end of recipe),which is preferred by my family.

300g active starter

500g flour 

10g salt

250g water + 1 tbsp water

I start my sourdough over 24 hours before, taking my pot of starter out the fridge around lunchtime the day before the evening I plan to bake.  We have an off peak electricity tariff (to charge electric cars) between 10pm and 3am, so my timings are based on baking at 10pm.

My starter always contains just over 100g of 50/50 bread flour and water. Currently it is 100% wholemeal bread flour. I have experimented with higher quantities of white bread flour in my starter but this can develop a very vomity smell! 

12:00 Day Before - starter out the fridge 

22:00 Day Before - top your now active starter up with 50g strong bread flour and 50g water. Cover and leave out in the counter overnight

08:00 Baking Day - weigh 100g of starter into a bread machine bread pan. Add 100g strong bread flour and 100g of water. Roughly combine the ingredients with a silicone spatula, taking care not to scratch the bread pan, then mix on the dough cycle. Turn the dough cycle off after 15 minutes (which is when mine stops the initial mixing) and leave until 2pm. 

14:00 Baking Day - your starter should be bubbly and ‘lively’. Add 500g flour and 250g water.  Mix for 15 minutes on the dough cycle. Switch off, and set a timer for 30 minutes. 

14:45 Baking Day - add 2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp water.  Mix with the dough cycle for 15 minutes. Turn the bread machine off and leave for 30 minutes.

15.30 Baking Day - Mix with the dough cycle for approximately 5 minutes. Our machine starts mixing slowly, then speeds up. So I turned it off once it speeded up.  Turn the bread machine off and leave for 30 minutes.

16.05 Baking Day - Mix with the dough cycle for approximately 5 minutes. Turn the bread machine off and leave for 30 minutes.

16.40 Baking Day - Mix with the dough cycle for approximately 5 minutes. Turn the bread machine off and leave for 30 minutes.

17.15 Baking Day - Mix with the dough cycle for approximately 5 minutes. Turn the bread machine off and leave for 30 minutes.

17.50 Baking Day - Mix with the dough cycle for approximately 5 minutes. Turn the bread machine off and leave for 4 hours for the final prove, until the dough has roughly doubled in size.

To bake, set the Bake option for 1 hour 15 minutes.  DO NOT OPEN THE LID whilst the sourdough is baking and let the heat escape. Bread machines do not get as hot as ovens, so you need every precious degree of heat.

A friend who I taught to make sourdough following the BBC's recipe commented that all the mix and rest steps sounded like 'a lot of faff'.  This method works for me as I am in the house most of the day as a cook from home for a living but if you can't be bothered/aren't on hand all day, try the My Greek Dish method which only proves for 3-4 hours after the initial mixing (with all the ingredients) until the dough has doubled in size. I do note their recipe has sugar/honey, which may make it rise slightly quicker. 

Finally, when the cooking time is up, leave the bread in the machine to cool before turning out. I ended up leaving mine in the bread pan overnight as a) it was midnight and I wanted to go to bed, and b) I had used an old bread pan (from one of my four bread machines!), and it had stuck.  The following morning I gently eased the pliable bread away from the edges of the pan and eventually shook it out.  Now I know this method works I will use a newer non-stick pan. Or possibly take the dough out before the final proving, clean the bread pan, remove the paddle, lightly grease the pan, and then return the dough to prove.

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Kolokythopita, Greek Butternut Squash Puff Pastry Pie

This one pan Greek butternut squash pie is made a lot easier replacing filo pastry with puff pastry.

Serves 4

1 pack puff pastry
1kg butternut squash, peeled & cut into small cubes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced

1 red chilli, seeded & finely diced

1 tbsp greek oregano or thyme 

1 large garlic clove, peeled & crushed

200g feta cheese, drained & cubed

Preheat the oven to 200C

Place the butternut squash on a large baking sheet. Toss with the olive oil and roast for 30 minutes until the squash is tender then remove from the oven to cool.  

When the butternut squash is cool enough to handle turn the oven bacon to 180C, and  mix the onion, garlic, chilli, herbs, and feta together on the baking sheet.

Unroll the pastry, keeping it on the greaseproof paper. With a long side facing you, slide/pull the pastry away from you so that 1/3rd of the greaseproof paper is showing at the front. Carefully tip your mixed filling along the middle of the pastry then pull the top long edge down over the filling to line up with the bottom long edge (like a long sausage roll), and crimp closed with a fork. Make diagonal slashes in the top with nothing more than the weight of a very sharp knife. But don't worry you puncture the casing.

Wipe the baking tray with some kitchen roll then lift the pie on it's greaseproof paper onto the baking tray. bake at 180C for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with a crisp green salad.

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Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Roasting pumpkin seeds is such an easy and healthy thing to do.

Simply save your seeds from pumpkin, rinse off as much of the stringy flesh as you can then toss in about 1 tsp vegetable oil, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, and a good pinch of salt.

Place in a small shallow dish and roast at 180-200C for about 40 minutes.  

As it is a little extravagant to turn the oven on just for this, I squeeze these into the oven whilst baking something else like bread or a roast.

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Healthy Sugar Free Cereal Bars

This healthy sugar free cereal (oat) bar recipe is from Instagram.  I've made it a couple of times, adding different 'flavours' each time.

Makes 8 bars

150g (2 small) ripe bananas

60g nut butter (peanut, or any other nut butter - I made my own hazelnut butter by just whizzing up a pack of hazelnuts)

2 tbsp maple syrup, honey or golden syrup

150g porridge oats or muesli

Flavours

- the original recipe added 40g dark chocolate chips as a topping, pressed into the bars once packed into the baking pan

- I added 40g dried cranberries to my first batch

- To my second batch I added 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1 tbsp flaxseeds, and 40g cocoa nibs

- I will probably add at least 1 tbsp of seeds to future batches, plus 40g of dried fruit or dark chocolate chips

- As muesli has added nuts and fruit, there is no need to add more, although you may need to add a couple of tablespoons more of muesli to ensure the dough is less wet

In a medium sized bowl, mash the bananas together with the nut butter and syrup.  Stir in the oats, seeds, dried fruit or chocolate in well to make a stiff lumpy dough.

Pack the dough into a brownie tray linked with greaseproof paper, smoothing everything down down with the back of a spoon, including the edges 

Bake at 180C for 10-15 minutes.  Leave to cool for 5 minutes then score into bars.  Wait until room temperature before cutting fully into bars.

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