Banana and sultana bread

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp bi carb
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup sultanas
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2- 3 large bananas mashed

Mix bananas, eggs and milk together.

Mix all dry ingredients (inc sultanas together)

Tip dry ingredients into wet and mix with a fork till well blended - pour into greased loaf pan - bake at 180 (c) for 40 - 45 minutes - cool in pan for up to 10 minutes, then turn out.

This can be sliced, frozen and toasted.

Recipes etc from Bread Baking

Below are the recipes and some of the tips we talked about today - you'll need to click on 'Older Posts' at the bottom of the page to see all of them.

Testing to see if Bread is 'done'

Bread is done when it sound hollow when tapped, when a skewer comes out virtually clean or - the easiest way to tell - when the inside temperature of the bread has reached 190 - 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tablespoon measurements

Also as mentioned today - if you have a recipe using a US tablespoon it means 15ml or 3 teaspoons. An Australian tablespoon is 20 ml or 4 teaspoons.

So if you are using an American recipe make sure you adjust accordingly or you'll end up with very yeasty bread.

According to Wikipedia a UK tablespoon is also 15ml.

Cup measures also vary from country to country. But I haven't found this to be as big a problem because of the quantities involved.

Websites

A couple of the websites we mentioned this morning:

Fruit and vege boxes - http://www.foodconnect.com.au/
Brisbane Welfare Co-op - http://www.bwc.net.au/
Kialla Wheat and other grains - http://www.kiallafoods.com.au/
Recipes - http://www.101cookbooks.com/

Make your own baking powder

2 parts cream of tartar
2 parts arrowroot
1 part bi-carb

Mix well and store in an airtight container.

Use one teaspoon to one cup flour to make self raising flour.

Vege Bread Ring

2-4 cloves garlic
2 cups fresh, very finely chopped veges
1 cup cottage cheese
2 cups grated cheese
2-3 tablespoons fresh herbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
250g tofu - diced as small as possible - optional
1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Roll out one to two loafs worth of bread dough and spread with a mixture of all the above. Roll up into a long log. Bring ends of the log together and pinch closed. Make some slices around the vege ring.

Cover with a damp cloth and rise once - bake in a moderate oven - 20 - 30 minutes.

Whole Wheat Tortillas

· 2 cups whole wheat flour
· 1 tsp baking powder
· 1/2 tsp salt
· 2 T olive oil
· 1/2 cup warm tap water
Combine flour, Baking powder and salt. Add olive oil and stir until well combined. Put in warm tap water 1 T at a time until dough can be gathered into a ball. Add more water if needed 1 T at a time. Knead on floured surface 15-20 times. Let dough rest for 15 minutes. Divide dough into 10-12 equal portions and shape into balls. On floured surface roll out ball from center into a circle. Cook on ungreased skillet over medium-high heat on each side about 30 seconds or until puffy.

Cinnamon Rolls

To make whole wheat cinnamon rolls - take one loaf worth of bread dough before any rises, flatten to a 20 x 30 cm rectangle, spread with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll up the long side and then cut into pieces.

Melt some butter in the bottom of the baking pan, sprinkle with brown sugar, place the pieces of cinnamon roll in the butter mixture.

Let rise till double in size, bake in moderate oven.

Hand made bread

Mix 140 ml quite warm water with 2 heaped tablespoons of fresh compressed yeast and 2 teaspoons honey.

Let sit 10 - 15 min till frothy.

Mix in 6 cups whole wheat flour, 2 teaspoons salt and 370 ml of water - will probably need more water.

Turn out onto a floured surface, knead, place in loaf tin, rise once (20- 30 min) then bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 40 -45 minutes.

Note - fresh yeast can be bought from some bakers, and from the fruit & veg shop at the Woolies end of Chermside Shopping Centre.

Bread with a heavy duty mixer

6 cups warm water
3 US tablespoons yeast (or 2 T +1 t)
2 US tablespoons salt (or 1T +2t)
3/4 to 1 cup oil
3/4 to 1 cup honey
1 cup gluten flour

Put into mixer then add 15 cups whole wheat flour - you'll need to do this in two hits to mix it in - then add more whole wheat flour till the dough comes away from the edge of the bowl and you can spot the bottom - up to 2 more cups will be needed.

Heat oven to lowest possible temperature.

Knead on high for 7 minutes.

Turn out - cut into four and put in pans. Put in oven - turn off oven.

Check in half an hour - if doubled in size turn oven on to 180 degrees and close the door - don't move the bread. Check in about half an hour.

Bread is done when either tapped and sounds hollow or when a thermometer inserted in the bread reads 190 -200 Fahrenheit.

Details for bread making etc

The bread making - actually it's more a baking with whole grains sort of thing - will be at the chapel at 9.30 am on Wednesday (18 March) morning.

Any one is welcome - you don't need to bring anything and should feel free to come and go as suits your day.

Clever idea for water storage

Have a look here for a good and simple idea for storing water.

http://www.idareyoutoeatit.com/2009/03/lil-soapy/

Bread making and more

We are going to hold a bread making - and general cooking with home ground grain - day at the chapel on Wednesday 18 March, 2009.

If you'd like to come but that day won't suit let us know - we can probably change the day to accommodate.

We're trying to fit it in March, in case anyone is thinking of using some of their economic stimulus payment to get a bit more food storage together - and might like to investigate wheat grinders.

Kumbartcho garden workshops

'Kumbartcho' is a native garden center where Brent Barton works - they run a series of free workshops on Saturdays. Details are at:
www.kumbartcho.org.au

Light Wheat Rolls

This is a fantastic recipe. I use more whole wheat & less bread flour but the choice is yours. I also have made them in the bread maker which makes them even easier to make.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Light-Wheat-Rolls/Detail.aspx

Crockpot Recipes

Lots of interesting crockpot recipes here:

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Bi-carb

Everything you ever wanted to know about bi-carb (or baking soda as it is called elsewhere).

http://www.bakingsodabook.co.uk/index.shtml

Burghul, fetta and tomato salad with herbs

2 cups burghal
1 tablespoon ground cummin (I didn't have any so I substituted a mix of spices)
200g fetta
200g cherry tomatoes (I used ordinary tomatoes because I had them)
small bunch of basil leaves
1/4 cup chives - snipped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lime (or the stuff in a bottle will work)

Combine burghal and cummin in a medium bowl - cover with boiling water - set aside for 15 min then drain if necessary.

Toss with remaining ingredients.