The third Companion - Orbit Beers' English Pale Ale.

 The third beer from my Toast Companion box comes from Orbit Beers of Walworth SE London. The suggestion on the label that this is an English Pale Ale in the traditional sense is seen of at the first sniff. This is a very modern beer in all the good ways!

It looks like an old fashioned Pale Ale (albeit an unfiltered one). That is where the "old fashioned" stops. The nose is pure strawberry (yes, really) with a hint of green salad (yes, really). In the mouth there is very clear malt with the tiniest hint of toffee and this is followed by a really dry clean finish. 

There is nothing "old fashioned" about this beer. I hope that Orbit decide to continue to produce this beer as it is exactly what the craft beer revolution of the past decade has been all about. They have taking British brewing heritage and danced it into the 21st century. Cheers!

Companion No. 2 - Toast Coffee Porter

This is the second of my tastings from the Companion series issued by Toast. This Coffee Porter comes in at 5.6% and is brewed by Toast themselves. This beer has been brewed using Fair Trade Coffee from Cafedirect, which itself is a certifies B Corp. Even the label on the recyclable can is made with a sustainable wood based paper. This has ethics all over it!

The beer itself is not in anyway simple! The nose has deep espresso notes, a strong burnt chocolate edge and the tiniest hint of roasted nuts. In the mouth it is rich though avoids sweetness there is both Coffee and Chocolate again with a definite bitter mouth feel and clean finish. There is a distinct hint of red wine in there too (Think a butch Barollo or Rhone) 

This is a beer for a roaring fire, and good company. It might even work with blue cheese. Totally fascinating!

 

My first companion. Toast Juicy IPA.

 I wrote yesterday about the Toast Companion series of beers. Today is November 1st and hence the end of my self imposed "Dry October" and I have just opened my first can. This beer was recommended by Toast themselves as my first of the box, and is brewed by the team at Toast.

Toast Juicy IPA is modern cloudy India Pale Ale coming in at 5.5%. A firm tight head formed from the pour (into the supplied glass) and held throughout the entire drinking. On the nose there is a gentle sense of fruit and spice and even a hint of apricot jam. This is a classic beery deception as the beer itself has a really clean dry finish and a wonderfully soft mouthfeel.

I am a fan!

Now I have the delicious problem of deciding which will be my next choice....

Toast but not as we know it.

 About eight or nine years ago I was searching for a short video to show my tutor group about food waste. I have been aware of the vast amount of food that is wasted in the UK for may years and wanted you open a discussion with my students. I stumbled across a video on YouTube which showed Tristram Stuart giving a TED talk entitled "The global food waste scandal" In this lecture, crammed full of interest and passion, Mr Stuart mentioned a new project in which he was involved which was taking left over bread and using it as part of the carbohydrate for brewing beer. The brand was called Toast and was finally set up in 2015. The statement in support of this venture was the delightful "If you want to change the world you have to throw a better party than those destroying it"

It is worth remembering, at this point, that, in 2012 when Mr Stuart was giving the TED talk we were in the early days of the Craft beer revolution which is now providing the British public with the most amazing choice of beers. We are blessed with choice beyond anything we have seen before, from traditional cask ales to American style IPA's. It is in many ways a golden age for the discerning beer drinker.

The Craft beer movement is full of collaborations between breweries and this collegiate approach leads to some amazing beers. Many micro breweries and indeed brewers operate a social enterprises or brew to raise issues around injustice. 

Toast have decided that the advent of Cop26 was the time to make a huge beery point. They have created a coalition of 25 breweries, all of whom have produced a new beer using bread in the mash tun. These beers have been packed up together and sold online with various treats also tucked in to the very clever box. A big chunk of the price goes to charities. I, of course, ordered a box. 

The beautiful wife and I have been taking part in "Dry October" so not having any alcohol until November 1st. My wonderful box of beer arrived a few days ago and has been torturing me ever since! I have, however, been strong and the collection is still intact. 

Having mentioned this on Twitter I was advised by the team at Toast that my first beer should be their own Juicy IPA. So tomorrow after some exercise and dinner I will open one can of beer and enjoy it. I plan blog my reactions to this beer and then do the same for every beer in the box. I do not plan to do one every night as the body must be allowed at least a couple of days a week without booze.  And so, until tomorrow....

A week in Bread

Owing to a slight change in lifestyle, involving shedding a few pounds, I haven’t been eating a lot of bread in the past twelve months. This, in turn, has meant that I haven’t made very much bread either. This all changed in the last week. An idea to regain and practice some of the skills developed many years ago I decided to try some of my old recipes and ideas out over an entire week of the school holidays. Last week I made some of the Malty loaf which is first on the list. The mix I made, created 2 large sandwich tin loaves. This was far more than the beautiful wife and I needed so I put a message out on the village Whatsapp and left it in the Church porch for whoever wanted it (and could get there first).

The chatter created in the village was so great that I decided to do the same whilst trying out a few of my old recipes and trying out some flours. Everyday I would leave some in the Church and a daily round of banter on the app ensued. This was not a random act of kindness, I was just perfecting some recipes and that caused a lot of bread to be made. On the basis that I hate food waste, giving the loaves away seemed like the only option.

Below are the recipes for the five breads I made. 

A few things that are of note through all the recipes:

I tend to go with a 70% hydration for most of my loaves (with the exception of the Focaccia below). This makes a really wet, sticky dough. The way I knead tends to be based on what I have learnt from watching Richard Bertinet on Youtube; I recommend perfecting this method as it is not only effective but also is great fun - it’s often referred to as “showing the dough who’s boss”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbBO4XyL3iM&t=100s

I always use fresh yeast in my breads. I find it produces a much more complex bread as it allows for an extra round of proving. This takes a bit longer but is well worth the wait. If you wish to use dried yeast, use half the amount and take one proof out of the recipe.

Nearly all of a loaf of bread is flour - so it is important that you buy the best you can afford. You will get a fine loaf from supermarket strong flour but the character you get from an independent mill who can tell you on which farm the grain was grown, will be far superior.

As I have a normal oven with no clever steam injectors I pop a roasting dish on the bottom shelf as it is heating up. Just before I want to bake I quickly open the door and pour in about a mugs worth of just boiled water, closing the door quickly. This creates enough steam to ensure the crust is a bit special.

I prove the dough in a large earthenware bowl (Mason Cash No9 by choice). I also mix the dough in this bowl. Before putting the dough in to prove I always wash the bowl and leave the hot water in it for a few minutes. Just before the proving time starts I empty the water and ensure the bowl is bone dry. Owing to the fact that the bowl is earthenware it holds a lot of the heat and creates a mini proving oven for the first 30 minutes or so.

The loaves

Malty loaf

500gms Wessex Cobber flour (Made by Wessex Mill but there are other flours with Malted wheat flakes).

500gms Strong bread flour (My favourite is made by Shiptom Mill).

30gms Salt.

30gms Butter.

30gms Fresh yeast.

700gms Blood temperature water.

Add the two flours and crumble in the yeast. Break the butter into small pieces and add this. Pour in the water and begin to mix with one hand, bringing the mix together - it will be very sticky! When it is all almost together add the salt and begin to knead. When you have a soft supple dough put a little flour into a large bowl and pop it in, covered with cling film. 

Place the bowl in a warm (but not hot) place. It is also important that this space is free of drafts. Allow this to prove for 50 minutes to an hour it should surprise you with its size!

Pull the dough out of the bowl and re-shape it. This stage is called Knocking Back (which always sounds too violent for me) and it is about removing the big bubbles of gas from within the loaf to create a much more complex matrix of little bubbles. 

Pop the dough back in the bowl, cover and leave it to prove once more.

After an hour or so tip out the dough and gently knock it back again. 

Split the dough in two and put each half into a large loaf tin. Sprinkle over a little flour and drape over some cling film (you don’t want it to restrict the dough rising again.

Put the oven on to about 250 degrees celsius (or as hot as you feel safe with your oven!) Just before the loaves go in the oven make a cut across the middle with a razor or very sharp scalpel. 

After half an hour pop your loaves into the middle of the oven and bake for about 25 - 35 minutes but make your own judgement on this. For a really artisan look leave the loaves in the oven a little longer than you think is necessary.

Take the loaves out of the oven, they should fall out of the tins. Place them on a cooling rack.

Rosemary and Garlic Focaccia

1kg Strong Bread flour (I used Shipton Mill strong white but a good Tipo 00 would work well).

20gms salt.

50gms Good Olive oil (Plus a little for brushing).

20gms Fresh Yeast.

650gms Blood warm water.

3 or 4 Cloves of garlic.

Small bunch of Rosemary.

Pinch of sea salt.

Add the yeast, olive oil and water to the flour and bring together with one hand. Add the salt. Bring the dough together and knead. (This will require a much more old fashioned method than the “slap and pull” as the dough is a bit drier) 

When you have a soft pliable dough, leave it on your work surface for a few minutes to rest. 

Break the dough into two pieces and spread them into foil trays (you could use a roasting tin). Flatten the dough out so that it covers all of the tray. 

Cover with a piece of cling film and leave in a warm place for 2 to 4 hours. Pop the oven on to 250 celcius 30 minutes before you want to bake.

You should now have a soft pillow of dough. Dig your fingers in at regular spots on the dough.

Place a thin slice of garlic and a few strands of rosemary in these little dimples. 

Using a pastry brush, softly cover the dough with a film of olive oil. 

Bake until the surface is a reddish brown.

Remove from the oven and brush over a bit more olive oil finishing with a pinch of salt.

Raisin and Walnut bread

500gms Wholemeal Strong flour (Shipton Mill)

500gms Strong white flour (Shipton Mill)

30gms Salt.

30gms Butter.

30gms Fresh yeast.

100gms Raisins

150gms Walnuts broken into small pieces.

Add the two flours and crumble in the yeast. Break the butter into small pieces and add this. Pour in the water and begin to mix with one hand, bringing the mix together - it will be very sticky! When it is all almost together add the salt and begin to knead. When you have a soft supple dough put a little flour into a large bowl and pop it in, covered with cling film. 

Place the bowl in a warm (but not hot) place. It is also important that this space is free of drafts. Allow this to prove for 50 minutes to an hour it should surprise you with its size!

Pull the dough out of the bowl and re-shape it adding the raisins and walnut pieces. This stage is called Knocking Back (which always sounds too violent for me) and it is about removing the big bubbles of gas from within the loaf to create a much more complex matrix of little bubbles. 

Pop the dough back in the bowl, cover and leave it to prove once more.

After an hour or so tip out the dough and gently knock it back again. 

Split the dough in three and shape each piece into a ball. Place them on a baking sheet and sprinkle over some flour. Drape over some cling film (you don’t want it to restrict the dough rising again.

Put the oven on to about 250 degrees celsius (or as hot as you feel safe with your oven!) Just before the loaves go in the oven make a cut across the middle with a razor or very sharp scalpel. 

After half an hour pop your loaves into the middle of the oven and bake for about 25 - 35 minutes but make your own judgement on this. For a really artisan look leave the loaves in the oven a little longer than you think is necessary.

Take the loaves out of the oven and place them on a cooling rack.

Onion Bread

1Kg White bread flour

700gms Blood warm water

30gms Yeast

30gms Salt

30gms butter

3 medium onions

Pop the four in a bowl and crumble in the yeast. Break the butter into small pieces and add this. Pour in the water and begin to mix with one hand, bringing the mix together - it will be very sticky! When it is all almost together add the salt and begin to knead. When you have a soft supple dough put a little flour into a large bowl and pop it in, covered with cling film. 

Place the bowl in a warm (but not hot) place. It is also important that this space is free of drafts. Allow this to prove for 50 minutes to an hour it should surprise you with its size! During this time, halve and slice the onions and cook then slowly in a pan with a lid on for 40 minutes until soft and just browning.

Pull the dough out of the bowl and re-shape it. This stage is called Knocking Back (which always sounds too violent for me) and it is about removing the big bubbles of gas from within the loaf to create a much more complex matrix of little bubbles. Add the slightly cooled onions to the dough and work them softly in. (Warning this will become a strange mix of sticky and slippery)

Pop the dough back in the bowl, cover and leave it to prove once more.

After an hour or so tip out the dough and gently knock it back again. 

Split the dough in three and shape each into a rugby ball shaped loaf placing them all on a baking sheet. Sprinkle over a little flour and drape over some cling film (you don’t want it to restrict the dough rising again.

Put the oven on to about 250 degrees celsius (or as hot as you feel safe with your oven!) Just before the loaves go in the oven make a cut along the middle with a razor or very sharp scalpel. 

After half an hour pop your loaves into the middle of the oven and bake for about 25 - 35 minutes but make your own judgement on this. For a really artisan look leave the loaves in the oven a little longer than you think is necessary.

Take the loaves out of the oven and place them on a cooling rack.

French Pain d’Epi

1kg French Bread flour (sometimes called French 65)

700gms blood warm water

30gms Fresh Yeast

30gms Butter

30gms Salt

Add the flour to a large bowl and crumble in the yeast. Break the butter into small pieces and add this. Pour in the water and begin to mix with one hand, bringing the mix together - it will be very sticky! When it is all almost together add the salt and begin to knead. When you have a soft supple dough put a little flour into a large bowl and pop it in, covered with cling film. 

Place the bowl in a warm (but not hot) place. It is also important that this space is free of drafts. Allow this to prove for 50 minutes to an hour it should surprise you with its size!

Pull the dough out of the bowl and re-shape it. This stage is called Knocking Back (which always sounds too violent for me) and it is about removing the big bubbles of gas from within the loaf to create a much more complex matrix of little bubbles. 

Pop the dough back in the bowl, cover and leave it to prove once more.

After an hour or so tip out the dough and gentl;y Knock it back again. 

Split the dough in four and pull or roll each into 12’’ (30cm) strip. Place the loaves on a baking sheet. Sprinkle over a little flour and drape over some cling film (you don’t want it to restrict the dough rising again.

Put the oven on to about 250 degrees celsius (or as hot as you feel safe with your oven!) Just before the loaves go in the oven take a pair of scissors and starting at one end make incisions at 45 degrees every 3 or 4 inches. Twist the loaf left then right all the way down till the end - it should resemble an ear of corn.

After half an hour pop your loaves into the middle of the oven and bake for about 20 - 30 minutes but make your own judgement on this. For a really artisan look leave the loaves in the oven a little longer than you think is necessary.

Take the loaves out of the oven and place them on a cooling rack.

Table

When I went up to University I was often asked who had taught me to cook. My school was a very old fashioned boys' school so there were no lessons there except for an extra curricular course held at the local girls' school during the sixth form, and the motivation for taking part in that course had little to do with food. However, it was a great surprise to my flatmates that I could produce a Sunday roast with very little fuss. The truth lies at a table in my childhood kitchen.

Our kitchen table was made by my late father. It was made for utility not elegance and served alongside its two pvc covered benches for decades. It had two broad white legs each with a wide foot and its surface was a mottled white and grey formica with a metal band around its edge. We sat at this table for all except the most important of meals, everything from hurried breakfasts to Sunday roasts. It was also where I did my homework on a Sunday morning - History set my Mr Williams or Divinity set by the Rev James. I was never much of a student as my magpie mind was easily distracted. Much of my time was spent watching my mother peel vegetables, baste the roast and, above all, make gravy. 

When my teachers had been kind and I finished my scribblings earlier than expected I would help my mother, my speciality would be the gravy. From this I learned that you need to keep some of the vegetable water and the water that had been used for par-boiling the potatoes to enrich and help thicken the gravy. I also learned that the "marmitey" nuggets of caramelised meat and potatoes contain powerful flavour hits that need to be diluted and stirred in to enhance the broth. I did not need my mother to tell me what to do, I had watched it so often that it just seemed easy and natural.

Tables are important, they provide us with space in a complicated and increasingly noisy world. Kitchen tables are a place of gathering, a place where real conversations happen. Arguments, making up, admissions, announcements, professions of love, all have taken place around a kitchen table. If the heart of the home is its kitchen then the kitchen table is where the beat of that heart can be heard.

I have written before about my childhood holidays on a farm in Devon; the farmhouse kitchen had a massive table. I probably sat 10 or 12 but it seemed like a huge expanse of weathered wood to a small blond haired little boy. I remember it pilled with cakes and sandwiches to fuel the team at harvest time all made by Agnes in the Aga that sat alongside the table. I, of course, considered myself an important part of that team and thus entitled to my share of cake.

The long tables and benches found in the refectories and dining rooms of old fashioned schools and universities come from a monastic tradition of communal eating but they also force people into a situation where they have to communicate: with a person either side of you and 3 or four opposite, it is hard not to talk. Both of the schools which I attended were very traditional and valued the concept of communal eating as being a civilised and character building thing to do.

My present kitchen is way too small to have table, though the Beautiful Wife and I breakfast everyday at a table in the dining room. We ask what each others' days hold and make plans for the evening. I value this time more than I can explain here. Sitting up at table and eating together is the best way to start even the most stressful of days at the chalk face.

The table of my childhood has long since given way to the ravages of time as all things have their day. However, as lovers of food and good conversation we are lost without a table, somewhere away from screens and gadgets where we can celebrate our good fortune, commiserate other's losses and simply be human. 

Stuffed Chicken Thighs

Stuffing meat goes back into ancient history. It has developed into one of those food issues which causes arguments whenever it is brought up! Never is this more evident than at Christmas. We argue about whether the bird should be stuffed (in my eyes, no) whether the stuffing should contain meat (in my eyes, yes) whether it should be served in balls or slices (slices for me) and whether it is better hot or cold (I love stuffing as a cold cut).
The recipe below is for a stuffed chicken leg. This is a bit of a misnomer as the whole leg is not stuffed, just the thigh, whilst it is roasted as a whole leg. I have, on a couple of occasions, stuffed a whole chicken leg and let me assure you that life is way to short to take the bone out of a chicken drumstick!
I decided to use Black Pudding because I love it. Many people find eating a blood sausage problematic but it is efficient and a good use of a product that may well otherwise have been wasted. However, if you are trying to get blood to make your own then you would have better luck buying dynamite. It is unlikely that an abattoir will supply you with any as fresh blood has a very high infection risk. However, you can get powdered blood which is used in most commercial Black Pudding.
The removal of the bone from a chicken thigh (whether attached to the drumstick or not) is a reasonably easy thing to do, just be aware that the first time you do it it will take a while though you will get much quicker at it over time. It is a very worthwhile skill to learn as chicken thigh has a lot more flavour than breast and is much cheaper.
I served this with a puree of carrot and potato, spinach and the roasting juices reduced with a little stock.

Chicken Legs stuffed with Black Pudding

2 Chicken legs (sometimes called "oyster" cut)
10gms Black Pudding crumbled or finely chopped
1 egg beaten
1 small handful breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper

Mix the beaten egg with the black pudding and bread to form a firm paste. pick off a little piece of this and fry it  and taste it to check for seasoning (this will depend entirely on the black pudding). Season if needed.

The stuffing, not too sloppy!

Bone out the chicken thighs, separating them at the joint to leave the drumstick attached but still with its bone in.

Thigh bone removed

Roll a small finger of the stuffing and place in the gap left by the thigh bone.

Stuffed, ready for closing.

Wrap the flesh around the stuffing and secure with three or four cocktail sticks. (Ideally these should have been soaked for an hour or two before starting, but I nearly always forget).

Cocktail sticks used for sealing the roast

Roast the legs in a oven at about 180 degrees for 20 or more minutes until cooked through. The skin should be beautifully crisp and golden.
Pop the legs aside to rest for a short while whilst reducing some good chicken stock with the meat juices in the roasting tin. Serve with some kind of mash (celeriac might be nice) and some squeaky greens (spinach, kale, cabbage, chard, etc). Remove the cocktail sticks, carve the thigh and serve.

Served, with a creepy hand shadow on the plate!

This serves two people with a seriously hearty meal.