Friday 9 June 2023

Food In Focus

I wish I'd had the opportunity to study Latin at school [our Head considered it outdated] it would have helped so much with understanding our language now. For instance, focus - the centre of attention - originally meant the domestic hearth - the heart of the home. Which explains why the ancient Etruscans who cooked flatbread on the hearth, called it focaccia.
I picked up a pack of garlic and rosemary focaccia mix in Aldi last week. It was about £1 and said it would make three small loaves. I weighed out one third of the pack. I made the bread in my small round enamel tin. Meanwhile I had some 'fridge scrape' soup simmering in the slocooker - vegetables a butternut squash, some carrots, 4 small spring onions liquids ½ pt of stock from freezer, ½ pt of leftover gravy, a can of tinned tomatoes & juice, water, flavourings salt, paprika, allspice. 
I sprinkled homegrown rosemary on top of the loaf before it went in the oven. The bread was really soft and tasty. It looked just like the picture on the packet!
I put the soup through my liquidiser [I'd made about 2½ litres - so there was plenty to freeze for future days] It made a very satisfying meal.
I usually shop in Lidl or Sainsburys, but if I'm in Aldi I'll look out for this mix again. 
It says you can make a large loaf in the breadmaker- but I feel that would be the wrong shape!
Do you make your own bread? 
and is it 'from scratch' or with a mix? 
can you recommend any good mixes?
and do you do it by hand, or in a breadmaker?




31 comments:

  1. We make all our bread in a breadmaking, and have done so for about 20 years, looking back! We use Dove's yeast, and a mixture of different flours; white + brown or malted or seeded etc. Occasionally I'll do a spiced loaf, or fruited bread for a change, which we slice and freeze for toast in the morning.

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    1. I don't think I've ever made a yeasted fruit bread
      Must try that sometime

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  2. I can make roti, cornbread, and quick breads, but, my yeast bread making skills leave much to be desired! I have had limited success with both kneaded bread and no-knead bread. I generally tend to knead by hand or use the stand mixer with a dough hook; I don't have a bread maker and the only mix I've used was a cornbread mix that someone gave me and neither my daughter nor I liked the results! We both agreed that my "from scratch" cornbread was much better!

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    1. I like cornbread but don't make it as often as I should. It's a good accompaniment to do many dishes

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  3. We made all our bread by hand when the children were small and stopped stopped when they left home. I started again at the beginning of lockdown using my Kenwood Chef. I use Allinson’s Easy Bake yeast which only needs one proving in the tin before cooking. I bulk buy my flour twice a year from Shipton Mill, Gloucestershire. Tend to use half white, half brown. They do some lovely flours, three malts and sun flour, spelt as well as SR and plain flour.

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    1. We had a bulk order from shipton mill in lockdown, it was good. And then another from someone local..But we were trying to cut back on bread after that and have not done it again.

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  4. I make my own bread from scratch and have done so for about 30 years. I did have a bread maker before that when we lived in the "shed" and had no oven, just a two burner hot plate. However with three boys it would not have been able to keep up. Sourdough is a favourite here.

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    1. I do not the discipline to maintain a sourdough starter

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    2. Neither do I. I use it up and make a new one. It is nicer if you feed it but too much going on here to keep track of it a lot of the time.

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  5. I had a breadmaker but gave it to a friend as it wasn’t being used often enough. Have just bought some lovely rolls and bread in a bakery in Pitlochry. Catriona

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    1. We bought some soft bread in pitlochry which I greatly enjoyed with my soup !

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  6. I have a bread maker and it is in use most weeks I love to make fruit bread to have for breakfast and include a good amount of mixed seeds always a mix of white and wholemeal flour. I also love to experiment with different recipes I also enjoy making soda bread if I need some bread in a hurry. Love bread of allsorts and would gladdy eat bread over potatoes.
    Jane

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    1. A quick soda bread is usually my go-to as a soup accompaniment. I'm fond of bread and potatoes!!

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  7. I love your posts about what you eat. Thank you for this. Nicky K

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    1. Thanks Nicky. I hope you're well and enjoying the sunshine 😊

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    2. Yes, I am very much, thank you. Sunshine makes me come alive,

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  8. That mix looks excellent and good value. I've made loads of bread over the years with and without machines, only problem now is too much tasty bread puts on the weight doesn't it? We tend to have toast quite often and I love Tesco white sourdough bread - comes sliced and is both light but satisfying when toasted , probably wouldn't eat it any other way though.
    The Shipton Mill flour mentioned above is excellent, we ordered large sacks of it during lockdown.......probably OTT but we didn't waste it, it was so good.
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. Buttered Toast - a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips! S Mill deserves it's good reputation IMHO

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  9. I've not made bread for ages now, well a loaf anyway. When I did it was always with my Kenwood to save me having to knead too much by hand, and then it was cooked in the oven. I had a bread-maker very briefly and was not impressed at all. I have made a lot of flatbreads to go with soup or curries, but just from flour, salt and water. I have used flavoured bread mixes in the past and found them really tasty and very easy.

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    1. Flat breads are so convenient, popular the world over

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  10. I used to make a simple (yeast) bread quite often, sometimes were more successful than others! I also make wonderful Lithuanian bacon buns, which have a little chopped bacon in the middle. The bacon is raw and steam cooks as the rolls bake.
    That Focaccia looks good. Yeast is expensive here. Jan F

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    1. Lithuanian bacon buns sound fabulous. Instant breakfast!

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    2. I haven't baked bread since I was a teenager, when I'd sometimes make a loaf baked in a coffee can! I lost that recipe long ago. Baking in general is not in my skill set!

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    3. We don't have coffee cans in the UK. They seem so useful too!

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    4. Ours are now plastic, so no baking in them anymore!

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    5. That's a sad change - more plastic!

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  11. Jane from Dorset9 June 2023 at 22:12

    I make my bread by hand -sourdough and no kneading required. Watch food of on YouTube for the method.

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  12. I did study Latin to 'O' Level, and found that it taught me far more about English language (structure as well as word origins) than I learned in formal English lessons. We were particularly fortunate in our Latin teacher - he was one of those teachers who could really make their subject come alive for the class.
    Incidentally, studying Latin helped with understanding the Latin names of plants in later life.

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  13. Teachers like that are wonderful!

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