PC Pals Forum
General Discussion => Food & Drink => Topic started by: GillE on November 15, 2009, 13:57
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I've never made Tuscan bread, but it's mentioned in Richard Bertinet's Crust as being salt-free. Anyway, here's a link to a recipe I found:
http://www.hub-uk.com/interesting03/tuscan-bread.htm
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Another reason to look for a breadmaker! ;D
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Printed, thanks Gill. :thumbs:
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I presume that Tuscan bread is also known as ciabatta bread and I've actually made the dough in the breadmaker but yyou have to finish it off in the oven if you want it to be the correct shape.
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Don't think so, Clive, Ciabatta has salt in it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/ciabatta_85453.shtml
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A wheelbarrow full of it! I only put a pinch in mine.
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We tend to favour wholemeal most of the time, with the Wessex Mill Tomato & Garlic being our second favourite.
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Trouble is you can't use all wholemeal flour or it just won't rise. :(
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See, it's all these little technicalities, the subtle flavourings, use of special flours, etc, that makes it all seem too much like hard work. :-\
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My standard recipe is very simple and works every time. I usually enhance it by adding seeds and substituting half the white for wholemeal flour. It's very quick and you can freeze it.
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I will get round to giving it a go, one day. :) Can you make rolls in breadmakers, or is it just loaves?
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You can't make rolls in a bread maker, but you can make the dough.
My standard bread recipe is 275ml water, a knob of butter, 450g white bread flour, 1.25 tspn yeast, 1 tspn salt and 1.5 tspn sugar. Then I sprinkle a few golden linseeds into the seed hopper, set the machine to the right type and options, and switch it on. Four hours later, I have a loaf of lovely bread. What could be simpler?
Cutting the bread has always been a problem. Maurice accuses me of cutting wedges and I know it's not me - it's him. However, earlier this evening His Lordship reminded me of an electric meat slicer I bought a few years ago. My next loaf is going to be introduced to it :) .
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So, literally, you just chuck it all in the machine, and leave it? That's far too easy! ;D
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It's as easy as you want it to be.
I've got an old Hinari machine which I wouldn't dream of using for baking loaves, but it makes smashing pizza dough. I throw in some chopped chilli flakes and fresh rosemary while it's mixing, then roll it out when it's finished. I don't like pure tomato sauce on my pizza so I soften some onions, carrots and celery in olive oil, then add a tin of tomatoes and cook until the vegetables are tender. When it has cooled, I purée it and use that instead of tomato sauce. Then it's a case of whatever toppings I want to use (usually ham, pineapple and mushrooms plus grated Red Leicester) and into the oven at gas mark 7 for 18 to 20 minutes.
Would that be more of a challenge for you, Simon ;D ?
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It is when I can get one out of the freezer. :thumbs:
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:noclass:
::)
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;D
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Trouble is you can't use all wholemeal flour or it just won't rise. :(
We do, Clive.
Our current, low salt, recipe, is:
475g wholemeal flour (organic, stone ground)
3.5g salt
2 tsp lemon juice
1.25 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
360-370ml water
1.5 tbsp olive oil
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I'm going to have to try this! ;D
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Do you make your bread in a machine, Rik? I would have thought the acid from the lemon would have impeded the yeast's activity. Clearly, it doesn't :) .
You use a lot more water than I do with my white flour. Interesting...
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Let's be clear, when Rik says "we", he means Sue. ;D
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Do you make your bread in a machine, Rik? I would have thought the acid from the lemon would have impeded the yeast's activity. Clearly, it doesn't :) .
You use a lot more water than I do with my white flour. Interesting...
Yes, we use a Panny, Gill. Wholemeal flour takes a lot more water than white, but the loaves are delicious. The lemon juice works on the gluten in the same way the salt does, so it allows us to reduce salt content but maintain texture and flavour. The other variation used malt extract in addition to sugar and that works well for flavour, but probably would be helped by some added gluten, which should be with us in a couple of days.
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Let's be clear, when Rik says "we", he means Sue. ;D
I'm responsible for tasting. ;)
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The most important job! ;D
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I use the same amount of water as Rik but I have never managed to get a pure wholemeal mix to rise. I thought this was a well-known fact as it says so in my handbook! ;D
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Panny have a wholemeal recipe, Clive, have you not tried it?
BTW, last year's crop was low in gluten, which hasn't helped, the new harvest coming through is much better.
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I haven't seen it Rik. I have several breadmaking recipe books but my recipe does not come out of any of them. I use:
16oz Carrs Strong Breadmaking flour - white
8 oz ditto but wholemeal
8 oz Dove Farm Spelt flour
12 oz water
1 tbs demerera sugar
1 ts Olivio
1 ts dried yeast
good pinch of salt
1 ts Marvel
4 tbs seeds
My Panny is an SD206.
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Those flour weights should all be halved. It's a total of 16oz. I have one on the go at the moment and there is almost no salt at all this time! :)
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Try the one I've given, Clive, but use 5g of salt (1 tpspn) and skip the lemon juice.
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1 tpspn of salt is a whole mine-full Rik!! :o I would die of salt poisoning! The loaf rose just the same as usual so the next stage is salt free. I will be tasting it in half an hour or so. :D
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Er, that's 1 teaspoon. :blush:
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:)x
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Don't worry, I knew what you meant! ;D I normally use 1/8 teaspoon but this time it was just a tiny pinch. It tasted really delicious so I will go the whole hog next time and use none at all.
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Watch for the dropped top. ;D
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Been there, done that using all wholemeal flour or an inferior brand. Haven't had a dropped top for a long time now but I will report back when I make my next loaf in a week's time.
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Haven't had a dropped top for a long time now ...
You're not dropping little blue lozenge shaped pills into the dough mix, Clive?
:o:
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It could be a cheaper alternative to yeast Gill! I've read that the pills are very effective in reviving cut flowers too. :D
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Can't you spare one to try it, Clive? :)x
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Certainly not Simon! ;D
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:laugh:
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I've made a completely salt free loaf of bread although I notice that the Marvel I add to supply calcium contains salt anyway. The bread rose more or less the same as before but the bread didn't break through the top of the crust in the manner I like to see. Of course this is merely aesthetically pleasing and makes no difference to the taste. But I'm not quite certain that the consistency is as good. The crust isn't quite so crusty and the bread has a slightly rubbery feel on the outside. I think I will revert to adding a pinch of salt next time I bake!
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That's what we've found, Clive, it needs some salt, the trick is to minimise how much. Adding gluten helps.