Fancy a bit of Rye?

I thought it was about time to push the boat out and try something a little different. Not only include rye flour but also some bold new flavours. So, following instruction from Richard Bertinet I made my first attempt at smoked bacon and red onion rye bread.

If you try this yourself make sure you allow the bacon and onion mixture to cool properly, otherwise the dough mix goes a bit sloppy...and no one likes a sloppy loaf! A quick note on using dried yeast. I usually use the dried sort that you can mix straight into your dry mixture, however I find you generally have to allow a little extra time for the dough to rise. So I gave this a good hour and a half for the second dose of proving.

Anyway, you'll see by the pictures, it turned out really well and tasted delicious which is the main thing. It really lends itself to eating with smoked cheese and chutney. Plus it makes for excellent cheese on toast, using a really mature cheddar if you can get your hands on some. I'll definately bake this again.

Raisin and Oat Bread

After having bought some wholemeal bread flour, I thought I would try my hand at something a little different as well as incorporating some extra ingredients.

I find kneading the dough a little easier when you have brown and white flour combined. When I first started this baking affair and mixed up my first batch of dough, it was like working with porridge. I only realised after a few attempts that this was how it was meant to be and that once you had worked the dough for 10 mins or so it does start to come together.

Anyway, so back to this recipe (still following the advice of Richard Bertinet), Raisin and Oat bread sounded nice and perfect for breakfast I was told. He was right, it was delicious. Quick tip when you add nuts or fruit - make sure you add them towards the end of the kneading, otherwise you will end up with bits of raisin all over the kitchen...ceiling included!

Hollywood

Any amateur baker probably watched the BBC show 'The Great British Bake Off', come on don't be shy, I know you did. I am not ashamed to admit that I didn't miss an episode. I was hooked from the start by the wise words of Mary Berry and the cutting remarks of baking guru, Paul Hollywood. Now I must confess that before I starting baking bread I had never heard of Paul. For a start I thought that can't be his real name. It turns out that he is master baker to the rich and famous, supplying artisan breads to top restaurants.I loved the way he was playing the part of Simon Cowell of the baking world, never shy of knocking the wind out of the keenest baker. Mary Berry on the other hand was the exact opposite. She could have been your grandmother, kind and considerate but she knew exactly what she was talking about.

Anyway I digress, the reason I tell you all of this is is that this inspired me to look up Paul Hollywood and see what all the fuss was about. So I had some friends coming round for the weekend and wanted to bake a loaf that would work for breakfast as well as a side for dinner. So I tried his 'Cob' recipe. A cob is a beast of a white loaf and if you didn't eat it, it could easily be used as a weapon. Anyway I have baked this a few times now and it has been delicious every time. Crusty on the outside but nice and fluffy on the inside. It's great for toast too.

A taste of Paris

Following a long weekend in Paris where we ate like kings, after we got home I thought I would try a sweet dough called 'pain viennois' which we enjoyed for breakfast one morning from a local bakery. It's called a 'milk dough' which is in between a normal white loaf dough and brioche...perfect with chocolate spread!

Paris was beautiful by the way, we stayed in the arty quarter in Mont Martre, famous for the Moulin Rouge amongst other things. I found this great boutique hotel tucked away down a side street Hotel Arvor, very minimalist, white decor and good value, which can't be said for a lot of hotels in paris.

We did all the sights and the usual touristy things but to be honest I could have spent the entire weekend eating. From the moment you wake up you have so many tempting breakfast options that usually involve pastry and chocolate, lunch may well be a croque monsieur and a petit bierre, followed by a cake in the afternoon (just to tide you over before dinner you see) before moving on to a full on three course french feast in the evening.

By the way, we discovered the most amazing patisserie which sold the best tarte au citron in Paris, if not the world. If you are ever in Paris, look this place up you won't regret it. Carl Marletti is the name to remember. Oh yes, you'll also discover why macaroons are probably the second best thing on the planet.

Anyway, back to the pain viennois. They turned out pretty well. It was tricky to make them the baguette shape they are supposed to be but this is home baking not restaurant food. Give them a go.

Dunkin Donuts

Donuts. Who doesn't like donuts? Not me for one. I thought this may have been a little ambitious as one of my first bread making challenges. But the way my new best friend and master baker, Richard Bertinet, described the process, I thought how hard could it be? (By the way, Richard Bertinet's book 'Dough' has become my baking bible)

It must have been beginners luck, they turned out almost perfectly, although they could have done with some more jam in the middle. I hadn't quite mastered the piping bag. Another thing I haven't quite got to grips with either is amounts, I must have made about 30 donuts. So make sure you have some hungry friends close at hand...otherwise you may eat them all yourself. Next time I'll add apple as the filling I think.

Bagels bagels

Having received a new book at Christmas (How to make Bread by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou), I have been trying out a few new recipes. I've always loved bagels but I was intrigued to read that in order to make them chewy, part of the baking process calls for them to be boiled before baking in the oven. Sounded very interesting.

So this was very much an experiment. He also uses the dried yeast in his recipes that needs to be dissolved in water first. Up until now I have been using the quick dried stuff that you mix straight into your dry flour. Anyway they turned out pretty well for a first attempt, I'll definately be trying them again. My wife gave them and 8 out of 10 which can't be bad!