Regular posting on the foodvine has
suffered since the beginning of 2013 while I sat back to write
another cookbook, the Recipe Tin. Now the book is finished, published
and for sale (see opposite) I feel I can take a well deserved break
from food writing. I apologise to my regular readers but I will make
amends in the months to come.
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Monday, May 13, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Turkish bread
Don't go on a diet and then decide you
can't live without Turkish bread – it's not Moorish for
nothing. When you're all back to your slicey self bake a batch and
never mind the calories. It's a bit messy forming into ovals so you
might curse me at this stage but otherwise it's a simple bread with
no kneading involved. You will need an electric mixer - don't attempt
it otherwise.
Ingredients:
375ml warm water
2 teaspoons dried active yeast
½ teaspoon sugar
125ml extra virgin olive oil
5 tablespoons plain yoghurt (at room
temperature)
562g plain white flour
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1tsp sea salt
1 teaspoon nigella seeds or black
sesame seeds
Method:
Use the bowl of a mixer like a Kitchen
Aid or Kenwood or similar. Place the water in the bowl of the
machine and stir in the sugar then sprinkle the yeast over the top.
Leave to activate for five minutes. When it starts to foam and you
see a little movement on the surface it will be ready.
Add the flour, yoghurt, oil and salt
(in this order). Mix on a low speed for six minutes.
Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel
and leave it in a warm place for two hours to double in size.
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Line two baking sheets with baking
paper.
Turn the dough out onto a floored board
and punch down. Divide in two portions. Smooth a portion onto each
tray to form ovals approximately of 33cm x 13 cm. Drizzle with a
little extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle over the seeds and salt.
Bake the bread in the oven for 23
minutes. Remove (from the oven) the bread tray from the top shelf.
Swap the bottom shelf bread tray up to the top shelf. Bake for a
further two minutes. Return the first tray to the oven, to the lower
shelf and bake both for a further five minutes.
Remove both trays from the oven and
slip them off the paper onto a wire rack to cool.
I find two loaves is too much for us so
I cut and freeze one as soon as it is cold enough. I love it split
and toasted for lunch and it's excellent sliced very thin and used to
serve with dips – especially ones like broad bead, carrot and chick
pea.
Note:
Three things kill yeast: cold, heat and
salt.
Make sure the water is warm and not hot
or cold.
The salt is added last during the
mixing stage so it does not come into direct contact with the yeast.
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