Juicy Potato Bread with Beetroot and Walnuts
I love bread, I'm virtually obsessed with good bread and I need my daily dose of this wonderful, ancient invention. Every culture has their own bread tradition all over the world and it is so important to keep this up and to support traditional bakeries.
Potato bread has a nice crust and is very juicy inside. The kitchen smells divine when the loaf is freshly out of the oven. I love to cut it into thick slices and then let some butter melt on it. With the first bite I know why I love to bake my own bread!
Today I want to prepare a little sandwich with cooked beetroot slices. I drizzle some balsamico and olive oil on top and sprinkle with walnuts. This makes a wonderful snack or starter for a dinner party.
Beetroot
Cook 1 or 2 beetroots together with 2 bay leaves in salted water for 45 minutes (more or less depending on their size). Check with a skewer, it should come out easily, and rinse under cold water. Let them cool, peel and slice very thinly.
Potato Bread
For this bread I used spelt flour type 630 which I love to bake with but you can use any other flour. I chose dry yeast as it is a bit quicker to prepare but you can change to fresh if you prefer.
Sometimes I prepare the dough in the evening and let it rise overnight. This is convenient for the weekend if you want some warm fresh bread on the table for breakfast.
This makes 1 loaf of bread
potatoes, cooked, peeled, cut in cubes, cold, 150g / 5 ounces
potato water (the water the potatoes got cooked in), lukewarm, 150ml
plain flour 450g / 16 ounces
sour cream 3 teaspoons
olive oil 1 tablespoon
dry yeast 1 1/2 teaspoons
salt 2 teaspoons
Grate the potatoes or press through a ricer (mashing works as well).
Mix the potato water with the sour cream and olive oil.
Combine 350g / 12 ounces of flour with the salt in a big bowl. You will add the rest of the flour while kneading the dough. Add the lukewarm water to the flour together with the yeast. Mix with the dough hook of your mixer until everything is combined, add the potatoes and continue mixing for around 10 minutes. After a few minutes you can start adding the rest of the flour. Put the dough ball on a floured working surface and continue kneading with your hands. You can put all your energy in this which is good for you and for the fluffiness of the bread.
When I prepare the dough in the evening I place it in a clean, oiled and covered bowl in the fridge and let it rise overnight. You will have to take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before you can continue with the next steps.
In case I want to bake my bread the same day, I put the dough in a clean and oiled bowl, cover it with a tea towel and let it rise in the 35°C / 95°F warm oven for 60-90 minutes. This works really well but make sure that your oven is set to top/ bottom heat and not to fan.
When the dough is bigger and puffy punch it down and knead for a couple minutes. This one doesn't rise as much as dough without potatoes but you should notice a change in size. Now place your future bread on a lightly oiled baking sheet giving it the shape you want and cover with a tea towel. Give it another 30 minutes to rise in the warm oven again.
Set your oven to 230°C / 445°F (for bread it works best to use top / bottom heat and not the fan setting). Bake your bread for 10 minutes, take the temperature down to 190°C / 375°F and bake for another 20 minutes. Test by knocking on the bottom side of the bread, it should sound hollow. Let it cool on a rack before you start cutting it. I minimise this to a few minutes as I can't wait to try it. Not with this smell in my kitchen.
Mince Pies - November Dusk and Apples
Finally it's getting really cold and crisp outside. And when I see the apples in front of me in this special November afternoon light I feel like making my mince pies. When I lived in Whitby in England I bought tons of them at Botham's, now I make my own.
Mince pies are a wonderful combination of buttery short crust - which I love in all variations - and a juicy filling. Mine is a sour-fruity apple filling spiced up with cinnamon, cardamon, mace, allspice, cloves and brandy. I just love them for breakfast, tea time or dessert, I can eat them all the time - especially at Christmas time!Some buy the filling in stores, I like to make my own. It is a bit of work but if you make it in bigger quantities it is worth it.
Mince Pies
The filling for these pies is called mincemeat but don't worry there is no meat involved. It used to be made with meat and some recipes still include beef suet but mine doesn't. The ingredients below are measured to make a few batches of mince pies. If you never tried mince pies before maybe you should start with 1/3 of the filling. If you are a mince pie maniac like me go for the whole amount and keep it in jars in the fridge.
For the mincemeat filling
sour baking apples, peeled, cored and chopped, 1kg / 2 pounds
raisins 350g / 12.5 ounces
currants 100g / 3.5 ounces
candied peel, finely chopped, 40g / 1 ounce
orange, rind, 1
lemon, rind and juice, 1
sugar 200g / 7 ounces
apple cider 250ml
brandy 60ml
vegetable shortening 200g / 7 ounces
cinnamon, ground, 1 heaping teaspoon
cardamom, ground, 1 heaping teaspoon
cloves, ground, 1 heaping teaspoon
mace, ground, 1 teaspoon
mixed spice, ground 1 heaping teaspoon
Warm up a large pan with all the ingredients (except the vegetable shortening) and mix with a spoon until the sugar dissolved. Let simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes and stir once in a while. Take it off when it looks pulpy and stir in the vegetable shortening. Fill into sterilised jars and keep in the fridge.
For the pastry
Enough for 24 muffin sized mince pies (they won't be as high as muffins)
plain flour 300g / 10.5 ounces
vegetable shortening 75g / 2.5 ounces
butter 75g / 2.5 ounces
sugar 1 heaping tablespoon
mixed spice, 2 teaspoons
juice of an orange 5 tablespoons
pinch of salt
Mix the dry ingredients, cut the fats finely with a knife into the flour mixture and rub between your fingers for a few seconds. Add the orange juice and mix with the dough hook of your mixer until it crumbles. Shape two discs, wrap in cling film and put in the freezer for 10 minutes (or in the fridge).
For the Mince Pies
Set the oven to 220°C / 430°F and butter the muffin tray.
Roll out the pastry between cling film until it is quite thin. Cut out circles a bit bigger than the muffin mold circles and place into the molds. Cut out circles a bit smaller than the molds for the pie's lid. Fill the pies with your mincemeat and put the circled lid on top. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Take the mince pies out carefully and let them cool on a rack. Let the muffin tray cool for a few minutes before you continue with the second batch. You can dust the mince pies with icing sugar if you like when the pies have cooled down.
Stir-up Sunday and a Christmas Pudding
Following the British tradition!
A few years ago, I moved to the North of England and spent the winter in a beautiful fairy tale, fisherman's village called Whitby. It was one of the best times in my life, which brought me also closer to the wonderful English baking tradition. My trips to Botham's, the village bakery, were very frequent - it's a must visit for everyone who loves and appreciates traditional craft bakeries. I still order my Shah Ginger Biscuits and bracks from there whenever I feel like a nostalgic taste of Whitby.
Today, it's time for the famous English Christmas pudding as it's my Stir-up Sunday! Traditionally, the pudding is made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity (I am a week late) and served and eaten on the 25th of December. The presentation is quite spectacular as it involves flambéing which guarantees excitement at the table.
Christmas Pudding
For the pudding you will need a 1.5 liter pudding basin with a lid. It is important that the fruit soak overnight before you get started and, traditionally, you mix silver coins into the pudding mixture as lucky charms.
Makes 1 pudding
raisins 175g / 6 ounces
currants 80g / 3 ounces
prunes, roughly chopped 80g / 3 ounces
candied peel 30g / 1 ounce
orange, zest and juice, 1
sugar 100g / 3.5 ounces
brandy 100ml
Mix the fruits together with the sugar and brandy and let them soak overnight.
vegetable shortening 120g / 4 ounces
organic eggs, beaten, 3
sour baking apple, grated, 1
plain flour 60g / 2 ounces
breadcrumbs 60g / 2 ounces
baking powder, 1 scant teaspoon
a pinch of salt
mixed spice 2 teaspoons
or prepare your own spice mixture:
ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon
coriander seeds, ground in a mortar, 1/2 teaspoon
allspice berries, ground in a mortar, 7
cloves, ground in a mortar, 7
ground mace or nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon
grated fresh ginger 1/4 teaspoon
For serving
rum about 2 shots, to flambé the pudding
Butter the pudding basin well. Prepare a parchment paper with a single pleat folded along the center from one side to the other.
Fill a large pot with water, cover and bring the water to the boil. The pot should be big enough for the water to come up 2/3 of the pudding basin.
In a large bowl, mix the vegetable shortening and eggs with an electric mixer. Add the apple, flour, bread crumbs, baking powder, spices and salt and mix until combined. Stir in the soaked fruits and fill the dough into the buttered pudding basin, cover the basin with the prepared parchment paper with the pleat right across and close with the lid. If you prefer, prepare a handle made of string like I did in the picture to be able to get the pudding basin out a bit easier.
Place the pudding basin in the pot with the hot water, cover the pot and cook for 3 1/2 hours (simmering). Let the pudding cool without opening the lid. Remove the parchment paper, wrap the pudding in cling film and store in the closed pudding basin until Christmas.
On Christmas day, repeat this procedure including the parchment paper with the pleat and cook for 3 1/2 hours again.
Place the pudding on a plate. Pour the rum into a sauce pan, light it and pour over the pudding to present it in all its glory!
