Masterclass with Richard Bertinet

Tim Hayward learns a new technique for handling dough in a bread-making masterclass with Richard Bertinet

My bread from Richard Bertinet's book Crust.

Here's how to get your starter started.
Stage 1
50 g spelt flour
150 g white bread flour
40 g honey
100 g water (at about 100 degrees; Bertinet calls this "blood temperature")

Mix ingredients into a compact dough; cover and let rest in a warm place for at least 36 hours.

Stage 2
Refreshing the starter
170 g starter
15 g spelt flour
140 g white bread flour
75 g water ("blood temperature")

Mix into a tight dough and let rest for 24 hours at warm room temperature (about 24C/75F).

Stage 3
Discard half of Stage 2 dough and refresh remaining 200 g with:
400 g white bread flour
200 g water ("blood temperature")

Mix to a thick dough.
Let rest for 4 hours in a warm place, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 days.
The starter is ready when it smells slightly fermented and is a little stringy.
Each time you use the starter, feed it by adding 2 parts bread flour to 1 part water.
If you go a week without baking, discard some of starter and feed it to keep it alive.

Stage 4
To make 1 large loaves:
307 g white bread flour
42 g spelt flour
209 g starter
312 g water ("blood temperature")
10 g salt

Using your hands or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, work starter into flours.
Add water and mix.
Add salt and keep working dough until glutens activate.
You can tell when this happens, because the dough will come together into a ball.

Transfer dough to a dry, lightly floured surface and fold into center to form a ball.
Place in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap, and let rest for 1 hour.

Tip dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold into center to form another ball,
shape into ball and place in a well-floured basket or lightly oiled bowl.
Cover with kitchen towels and let rest at room temperature overnight to rise.

Stage 5
Baking the bread

Tip dough ball out onto a dry surface and turn over.
Score top.

Bake at 230C/450F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 200C/400F and bake until loaves sound hollow when tapped with your fingertips, about 1 hour (???!).




Recipe adapted from:
- Starting a Starter for Winter Sourdough Bread | Bon Appétit

Drop scones.

- Drop scones recipe - BBC Food
Ingredients
175g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
40g caster sugar
1 small orange, zest only
1 free-range egg
200ml milk
little sunflower oil, for greasing

To serve
butter or maple syrup or honey
Greek-style yoghurt
fresh blueberries and raspberries

Method
Measure the flour, baking powder, sugar and orange zest into a mixing bowl.
Make a well in the centre and then add the egg and half of the milk.
Beat well, with a whisk, until you have a smooth, thick batter.
Beat in enough of the milk to make a batter the consistency of thick pouring cream – you may not need all the milk.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan and grease with a little oil.
Drop the mixture in dessertspoonfuls onto the hot frying pan, spacing the mixture well apart to allow for them to spread.
When bubbles appear on the surface, turn the scones over with a palette knife or spatula and cook on the other side for a further 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until they are lightly golden-brown.

Lift the pancakes on to a wire rack and cover with a clean tea towel to keep them soft.
Continue cooking the batter in the same way.

Serve at once with butter, or syrup, or honey, and yoghurt and blueberries, raspberries or other seasonal fruits.

Recipe Tips
If you make these ahead and need to reheat them, arrange in a single layer on an ovenproof plate.
Cover tightly with foil and reheat in a moderate oven for about 10 minutes until warm.
Serve at once.

Four Easy To Make Salad Dressings.

Four Easy To Make Salad Dressings | Marcus Wareing Restaurants

Pancake.

- Pancake Day recipe | Marcus Wareing Restaurants
Makes about 36

225g plain white flour
2.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp fine salt
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
60g caster sugar
4 large egg yolks
500ml milk
90g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1tsp almond extract
6 large egg whites
Vegetable oil, for frying

To serve
Icing sugar
Maple syrup

Sift the flour into a large bowl with the baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Stir in the sugar, keeping back 1tbsp for later.
Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl until thickened, then gradually whisk in the milk, melted butter, and almond extract.
Make a well in the dry ingredients.
Slowly pour in the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to make a smooth batter.
Put the egg whites in a clean bowl and whisk to soft peaks, adding the reserved sugar halfway through.
Fold into the batter.
Set a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.
Splash in a little oil to cover the bottom of the pan and heat until hot.
Spoon the batter into the pan to make four pancakes, each 8-10cm in diameter.
Cook for 2 – 2.5 minutes until the underside is golden brown, then turn the pancakes over and cook for 1.5 – 2 minutes to lightly brown the other side.
Lift the pancakes out of the pan with a spatula and serve straightaway, with sugar and syrup.
Make more pancakes in the same way, cooking them four at a time and adding more oil when necessary.
They are best served straight from the pan, or as soon as possible after cooking.

Best 3 Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Ovens

Best 3 Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Ovens - Le Creuset vs Staub vs Combekk Review

Farro Lentils Soup.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
50g finely sliced Prosciutto
1 onion finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
2 small carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 (400g) can chopped tomatoes
1 zucchini, diced
100 g (3/4 cup) green lentils
150 g (1 cup) farro
A good handful of freshly chopped fresh Basil
Red hot pepper flakes (optional)
Salt, Pepper

To Serve:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil or
Grated Parmesan, to garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large pot and cook the prosciutto for a few minutes.
Add the carrot, celery and onion and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and zucchini, continue to cook for 2 minutes.
Add the can of diced tomatoes.
Season with salt & pepper, and half a teaspoon of chilli flakes (optional).
Add the equivalent of 3 to 4 cans of water.
Bring to a simmer.
Add the farro and green lentils.
Reduce the heat to low, cover and continue to cook for about 20 minutes, or until the vegetables, farro and lentils are tender.
If the soup is too thick, add more water and season accordingly.
Serve with leaves of basil, grated parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

Rachel Roddy’s Anglo-Italian cottage pie.

- Rachel Roddy’s Anglo-Italian cottage pie recipe | A Kitchen in Rome | Food | The Guardian
The most important part of the recipe is roughing up the surface with a fork, which I am now going to refer to as gadrooning.

100g rindless streaky bacon
3 tbsp lard, dripping, butter or other suitable fat for frying
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 small leek, trimmed and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 sticks of celery, diced
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
400g minced beef
1 tsp Marmite (optional)
300ml light stock
1kg potatoes, peeled
Butter
Whole milk

In a heavy-based pan over a medium low heat, gently fry the bacon in the fat.
Add the onion, celery, leek, carrot, bay leaf and a pinch of salt, and continue frying until the vegetables are starting to soften and turn translucent.

Crumble the mince into the pan and stir, breaking it up and moving it around until it has lost any pinkness.
Add the Marmite (if using) and pour over the stock.
Leave to simmer for an hour, by which point it should be rich and thick with just a little liquid.

Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in well-salted water until tender.
Drain, then mash with butter and milk, seasoning to taste.

Put the mince in the bottom of a Pyrex or porcelain oven-proof dish, then spoon over the mash and fork it into place, creating rough peaks on the top.

Bake on the top shelf of an oven heated to 190C (170C fan)/gas 5 for 25 minutes, until the edges are bobbing and the top is golden.

My 50% Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

Make your own gluten free sourdough starter.

- from Naomi Devlin.
Gluten free sourdough starter
You can make a gluten free starter using any wholegrain gluten free flour, but brown rice works out the cheapest.
Slowly fermented bread, pancakes and muffins not only taste delicious, most people find them more digestible too because of the presence of friendly bacteria who munch on antinutrients in the grains during the fermentation process.
Some people can react to baker’s yeast in the same way they do to gluten, so the wild yeasts in a sourdough starter can often be tolerated where commercial yeast cannot.
Follow the method below to make your starter in 5 days and then you can use it and keep it dormant in the fridge between bakes for the rest of your life as long as you feed it.
Read the pointers below the recipe before you get started.

Day 1
120g brown rice flour (or any mixture of sorghum, millet, white teff, rice or quinoa)
180g tepid (about 28ºC) mineral or filtered water
Small bunch of unwashed grapes (or pear water, see below) (optional)
Mix flour and water (use this quantity of pear water if using) in a bowl, nestle the grapes in (if using), cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place.

Day 2
120g brown rice flour (or flour mixture as above)
160g tepid mineral or filtered water
Lift out the grapes, add the flour and water ‘feed’, whisk, replace grapes and cover again.

Day 3
150g brown rice flour (or flour mixture as above)
200g tepid mineral or filtered water
Lift out the grapes, whisk, weigh out 150g, add the feed, replace grapes and cover again.

Day 4 morning & evening
150g brown rice flour (or flour mixture as above)
200g tepid mineral or filtered water
By now the sourdough starter should have started to bubble and smell a little yeasty.
Take out the grapes, squeeze a little to release a small amount of juice and discard the grapes.
Whisk the starter well, weigh out 150g, discard the rest or make pancakes or crumpets with it, stir in the feed and cover again.
Repeat the feed in the evening.

Day 5 morning & evening
Whisk and measure out 75g of starter and discard the rest as before, feed the starter with 150g of gluten free flour and 200g of water, do this both morning and evening.

Day 6 morning
Whisk and measure out 75g of starter and discard the rest as before, feed the starter with 150g of gluten free flour and 200g of water, put into a 1 litre or larger glass preserving jar and allow the starter to bubble up and double – mark the starting level in the jar with a glass pen or sharpie so you will easily see when it has doubled.
It is now ready to bake with and this is referred to as an ‘active’ starter.
If it isn’t doubling, weigh out 75g of starter and feed again every 6-8 hours.
You might need to do this for a couple of days more in the middle of winter or in a cold house.
Each time you feed it, you must weigh out 75g and discard the rest, otherwise your kitchen will overflow with starter.
You can store any discarded starter (discard) in the fridge until you have enough to make some pancakes or a batch of crumpets.
If you plan to bake a lot of loaves each time, you might want to keep a larger amount of starter reserve, just remember to increase the amount of feed you give it accordingly.

Sourdough Baking Glossary

Sourdough Baking Glossary

Open kibbeh, plus pearl barley tabouleh with marinaded feta recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi.

- Open kibbeh, plus pearl barley tabouleh with marinaded feta recipes | Yotam Ottolenghi | Food and drink | Food | The Guardian

- Open Kibbeh - The Happy Foodie

How to Line a Baking Pan with Aluminum Foil.

How to Line a Baking Pan with Aluminum Foil - David Lebovitz

My malt and molasses bread.

- Malt Extract (from barley)
is derived from barley grains and water.
It is packed with sugars plus some nutrients, including vitamin A and riboflavin.
- Molasses or black treacle (British English)
Treacle - is basically the British equivalent of molasses.
It comes in several grades, ranging from light “golden syrup”, to dark or “black” treacle.
The word “treacle” is defined as any syrup made in the refining of cane sugar.
This includes molasses, though some will debate whether the two are the same or not.
Molasses/treacle.
Molasses at Amazon.co.uk




How to Measure Treacle or Syrup:
- Pour the sticky liquid into the oiled measure and then it will slip off easily into the bowl or pan.
- Dip the measuring spoon or implement into hot water.
Pour the sticky liquid into the measuring spoon or implement straight after the item has been dipped in boiling water.
Again, the measured sticky liquid should pour off easily.
- Use a plastic or glass measuring cup. It's easiest to measure sticky and viscous liquids like syrup if you first measure oil in the cup, then use the cup without cleaning the oil.
Or, if the recipe doesn't call for oil but a little oil wouldn't hurt, you can grease the cup with some.

See My Sourdough for more detail into my basic process!

My Sourdough.

What have I learned to Date.
So. My Process step-by-step.
For One Loaf Bread - 608g.

Preparation:
Feed your starter the night before planning to bake:
- 15g ripe starter
- 30g filtered tepid water (30-40C)
- 30g bread flour
I used 25% Wholemeal rye flour + 75% Strong White Bread Flour.

Feed and leave the sourdough starter at room temperature overnight.
My average RT 20C
I like to use my oven with light on (T 25C).
The next morning the starter should be active and full of bubbles and ready to bake with.
This can take anywhere from 2-12 hours or more depending on room temperature and the condition of your starter.

Do Float Test:
If you’re still unsure whether your starter is ready, drop a small amount (about 1 tsp) into a glass of water:
- Your starter floats to the top - it can be used.
- Your starter sinks - not ready to use OR it's past it's peak and should be fed again.

Note:
If you only bake a few times a month, keep your starter in the fridge and feed it once a week.
If you’re an avid baker, store your starter at room temperature and feed it at least once a day.
When you decide to bake, take starter out of fridge a day before you plan to use and give starter two feeds, 12 hours apart, at a 1:5:5; 1:3:3 or 1:2:2 ratio at room temperature.
This should remove the acid load that it accumulated in the fridge and bring it back to full strength.
Once your starter consistently doubles in volume within 8 hours (average) of refreshment (tripling would be even better) then you can consider:
- refrigerating it or
- use it
before it starts to collapse!

Starter health is key when it comes to successful sourdough!
The number one priority for any would-be sourdough baker is to learn to manage their starter.
Observation gives you knowledge the rhythm of activity your starter: knowledge of the length of time from feeding to its peak.
You can make a less sour bread by using a "young" starter and a more sour bread by using more "mature" starter - when it is ready to collapse.
The "active" or "mature" starter you use in your recipe becomes the "levain".
It is the starter that leavens the dough.

Cheese Knife Guide.

Cheese Knife Guide | Castello

No-stir risotto.

60g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
Salt and black pepper
350g Arborio risotto rice (OR Carnaroli, Vialone Nano are starchier)
100ml dry white wine or 50ml dry vermouth
1-1.25 litres light chicken or vegetable stock, simmering
1 large unwaxed lemon (zest and juice)
radishes
75g mascarpone or robiola
60g parmesan or pecorino, grated

In a wide, shallow, heavy-based frying pan or cast iron casserole, warm half the butter and all the oil over a medium-low heat then gently fry the onion and celery along with a pinch of salt until soft and translucent - this will take about seven minutes.
Add the rice and stir until each grain glistens – you want them to become partly translucent and to smell slightly toasty.

In another pan keep the stock at a simmer.
Chicken or vegetable are the most versatile, but ham, fish or beef may work better.

Raise the heat, add the wine or vermouth and let it bubble and evaporate for a minute.
Pour in the 3/4 of hot stock, and bring to a simmer.
Cover the pan and leave to cook, undisturbed, for 15 minutes – keep the remaining broth warm!
Cut the rest of the butter into pieces and grated the cheese.

Add the final stock as it warms and butter while everything bubbles.
Add the lemon zest after 10 minutes.
Continue until the rice is tender but with a slight nutty bite, and the risotto is soft and rippling.
This can take anything from 17 - 25 minutes depending on the rice you are using.

Pull the pan from the heat and, using a wooden spoon, firmly beat the remaining butter, mascarpone, parmesan, two tablespoons of lemon juice and a generous grind of black pepper into the rice.
Cover the pan and leave to rest for one minute.
Beat again and serve risotto topped with radishes.

Prepare radishes:
Whisk together vinegar and oil - 1 tablespoon each.
Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
Toss radishes with dressing.

A great way to eat radishes.

Vialone Nano: beloved by the Venetians.
Its stubby grain makes it ideal for creamy Risottos and particularly for seafood.
The Italians love it because:
- It is creamy and velvety
- The rice retains some bite,"al dente"
- It is versatile.

This basic risotto is delicious on its own, or with cooked veg stirred through it (I had mine with wilted spinach and baked squash OR radishes), but it’s easy to adapt.
A classic Milanese risotto, say, is made with beef stock and a good pinch of saffron and served alongside osso buco - a famous Italian casserole: shin of veal cooked in white wine with tomatoes.
- Osso buco with saffron risotto | delicious. magazine
- How to cook the perfect osso buco | Food | The Guardian

Mushroom risotto can be made along the same lines, with meat or vegetable stock and the soaking liquid from dried porcini.
As can, in just a few weeks’ time, asparagus risotto made with vegetable or chicken stock and a glug of asparagus cooking water.
Note that fragile ingredients such as asparagus or seafood are best cooked separately and stirred into the risotto just before serving.

Shchi - Russian Cabbage Soup.

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, sauté onion, carrot and chopped celery stirring frequently (Sofritto recipe!).
Add 1 small red pepper diced and sauté about 3 minutes, stirring frequently (Optional but I like).
Add shredded cabbage and sauté about 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add bay leaf, black peppercorns to taste and 8 cups (or 2 L) hot stock - vegetable or chicken...beef does the job too.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 15 minutes.
Add 1 peeled and chopped potato + 1 whole potato to soup and bring back to the boil.
Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
Add the chopped 3 fresh tomatoes or undrained canned tomatoes or 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and bring back to the boil.
Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove bay leaf and peppercorns from the pot.
Some cooks leave the peppercorns in.
Grab the whole potato from soup, crushed it with a fork, and sent the mashed potato back to the soup - stirring.
Add crushed garlic before turning off the heat.
Serve soup in warm bowls with dill and sour cream (optional) as garnish.
Accompany with rye bread, if desired.

Note:
Adding the ingredients to the same pot in stages allows you to build up flavors in a short period of time.
feel free add:
- Chili flakes
- Parsley root and leaf.
- The green or savoy cabbage (green is not quite as soft as the savoy).
- Bacon, chorizo or meatball bring a rich, porky, smoky flavor to the soup.
- Turnip or swede a bit.
- Beans

Basic Soffritto recipe.

Also known as battuto, this is the essential base for Italian stews and soups, some sauces and ragù.
The recipe varies by region, but most versions contain the ‘holy trinity’ of Italian vegetables: celery, onion and carrot.
In summer, make batches to freeze for winter, including some without garlic.

150g carrot (about 2-3)
150g celery (2-3 sticks)
150g onions (red or white)
150ml olive oil
2 garlic cloves (optional)
Salt and pepper
2 large sprigs of rosemary and/or thyme
2 bay leaves

Finely chop the ingredients by hand or in a food processor.
It is best to cut them separately if you are using a machine as the carrots need longer than the celery and onion.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-hot heat.
Add the garlic, if using, and season with salt and pepper.
Fry for 1 minute before adding the remaining ingredients.
Keep frying, stirring frequently, for 15–20 minutes or until the vegetables have softened.
The colours will have changed from bright and sharp to soft and golden.
Use straight away or freeze.

Soffritto.

- One batch of sofrito, four different meals | Get ahead | Life and style | The Guardian

- Soffritto: The Holy Trinity | ITALY Magazine:
Soffritto is the essential base to Italian soups, stews and some sauces that chefs often refer to as "the holy trinity".

The basis of soffritto is simply a combination of three key ingredients: celery, onion and carrot.
Sometimes called battuto, the make-up of this holy trinity is two parts onion to one part carrot and one part celery.
This simple recipe, which can vary from region to region with addition of herbs and spices, is gently sautéed in butter or olive oil to create a flavour base for other ingredients.
In the northern Italian regions of Piedmont, Veneto and Lombardy, a mix of both oil and butter is often used.

Soffritto is a combination of the word sotto, meaning under, and the adjective fritto, meaning fried, creating the phrase under-fried, which sums up the process of gently cooking the vegetables perfectly for them to be underneath the additional ingredients.
The vegetable mix is cooked for about 5 minutes until it softens and becomes golden in colour; at this point it is ready for the other ingredients, such as meat, stock, tomatoes etc.

This holy trinity is created by chopping the vegetables into tiny little cubes of around ½ inch (1.3 cm) or less.
Purists dictate that the smaller the better for a speedier cooking time and also for use in a risotto.
These purists stipulate that this can only be properly achieved with the use of a mezzaluna, a crescent shaped, two-handled blade that fits into a wooden board with a rounded depression that is rocked from side to side.
However, most chefs with good blade skills find any sharp knife does the job just as efficiently.

Many small independent greengrocers and market traders, particularly those in rural areas, will offer the buyer odori, which is basically a few sticks of celery, an onion and a couple of carrots to your shopping as a thank-you for your custom: my local greengrocer does, and it would be shameful not to use these gifts.
Although a laborious task, the chopping of soffritto can be quite therapeutic.

To use fresh soffritto is best, but once chopped, it also stores well in the freezer and can be cooked straight from frozen, making it ideal for busy cooks; now most Italian supermarkets sell soffritto in the freezer section and, although this pre-packed product is convenient for the cook with little time to spend chopping vegetables, many people still create their own.

If you’re going to spend an hour or so meticulously chopping vegetables, why not try adding parsley, mint or any other herbs of your choice to the mix in preparation for different future stews and sauces; but remember to label the bag before freezing.
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