Tomatoes!

  Tomatoes in the hundreds.

Arriving back to Dubbo this January was an exciting time and collecting many hundreds of tomatoes was a welcome delight.

 These overripe red cherry's (var. 'Tommy Toe') were destined for a relish or ketchup of some sort.

I am so happy to be able to pick some fresh produce now I am back.

Then we arrived at Jess and Geoff's place where they have kindly invited us to stay while we are waiting to move into a place down the road. They have taken great care of our vegies and herb pots we left at their place over Christmas, extending their irrigation systems to provide water to them, especially our thirsty tomato vines. The following assortment of delightfully colourful Heirloom tomatoes is the result!

 Geoff and Jess have a little aclove that is protected on three sides and faces south so the heat isnt too severe in summer where they have tree ferns and herbs and tomatoes. The big ones you see are from the corners of the little aclove and taste amazing - there is a big dark reddish purple tomato that had hints of all sorts of flavours if you let your imagination go wild.......shiraz depth...and overall an earthy, meaty tomato great for our lunch sangas.

 The bright orange heirloom tomatoes were creamy in texture, much like a persimmon, but not sweet.. more savoury with a tang - perfect for a relish where other sweet things are added.

 Geoff, Daniel and Jess with the goodies.

 I picked over them for my favourites (wild sweeties) then throughout the week we made Bolognese, Burgers, Relish and Ketchup.

 A little truss of lemon drops (var. 'Yellow Beams Pear').

Little gems (var. 'wild sweetie').

Silo Bakery

Silo Bakery, Canberra.

My favourite Bakery.

The view from our table (I wanted to peek).

Chocolate Croissants

Baguettes and Ciabatta just baked!

Crescent Croissants

My goodies from the bikeride.

Ciabatta

Kingston Sourdough

I took particular interest in the shape, colour and texture (and flavour) of the sourdough loaf since I have been making my own.

Walnut and Rye Sourdough Baguette

Lemon Tart and Burnt Caramel Custart Tart

Yum

Gorgeous aeration and soft olive oil crumb.

Renee and I had a picnic with some of the bread and some yummy dips and cheese we put together.

Renee brought a chickpea, chilli and capsicum dip that was amazing and lots of other goodies. I got some sheeps brie from the providores in Manuka that was also lovely.

Growing Heirloom Tomatoes #2

A touch of red.

All the tomatoes are growing well.

Today I picked the first batch of red ones.

We have had heavy rain in Dubbo this last week and a couple of the really ripe tomatoes split down the side. i suspect from too much water and over-ripeness. We wanted the whole truss to start to ripen before harvest but have realised we will just pick as we go while the weather isnt that warm.

Spring Potato and Egg Salad

Spring Potato and Egg Salad

Ingredients

6 fresh free range farm eggs, hard boiled

handful of fresh chives with flowers

handful of fresh parsley

1 spring onion, finely sliced

1 gherkin, diced into tiny cubes.

1 tbsp capers

2 desiree potatoes, peeled

4 kipfler potatoes, peeled

1 carrot, peeled, halved lengthways and finely sliced

3 tbsp natural greek yoghurt

1 tbsp dijonaise

Method

Boil potatoes in salted water till just done but remain firm (not soft). Set aside to steam off.

Cut boiled eggs into quarters.

Dice the potatoes into chunks.

Finely chop the parsley and chives and add half to the yoghurt and dijonaise. Season.

Mix the potatoes into the dressing with the other ingredients.

Scatter the eggs on top and the remaining herbs.

Season with Pepper.

Garnish with chive flowers.

Wedding Breads

 

Eliza and Paul had a wonderful wedding on a lovely farm called Oxley Downs just south of Dubbo. There was a salt ceremony that gave reference to 'the salt of the earth', and as each partner put grains of salt into each others bird cup, the grains are joined for eternity.

A long time ago salt salt was a very important and valued commodity (especially before refridgeration). Salt is essential in bread as it preserves and adds flavour to the final meal. This was referred to by the celebrant who added that its always good to have spice in your life and that salt is a symbol of preservation in marriage.

 

Oxley downs is a wonderful farm run by Liz and Scott Tourle. They have an amazing vegetable garden full of the seasonal greens of spring, and many strawberries.

I made some breads for the wedding between Eliza and Paul, and I decided to make different flavoured breads to symbolise the complexity but also the joy of marriage; sweet sundried tomato and brown sugar foccacia, fruity sourdough, savoury baguettes, soft olive oil ciabatta, and wheat wreaths for health and prosperity.

 

 For the baguettes, wreaths, wheat sticks and pretzel shaped breads I used White Semi-sourdough dough.

The recipe for the Potato, Garlic and Herb Sourdough is here on this website.
Also there was White Sourdough with a variety of seeds for toppings.
See also the Foccacia recipe and the Ciabatta recipe.

This cool kid liked the Foccacia.

Foccacia

Foccacia

Ingredients:

600g strong plain flour

13g fresh yeast or 7g dried yeast

400ml warm water

20ml olive oil

20ml milk

15g salt

Method:

mix

knead for 10 minutes

rest 10 minutes

place dough in oiled container covered with plastic and prove for 1.5 hours.

Every 30 minutes turn out the dough, press into a rectangle, fold one third over onto itself and then the other third over that. Turn 90 degrees and repeat. Place back into container.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Halve the dough. Press out on well floured baking trays and prove covered for 15 minutes.

Add toppings and sink fingertips into the dough to create the dimpled effect and catch some of the topping.

Prove for further 15 minutes.

Slide into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.

 I used basil pesto and sundried tomato, pine nut and brown sugar toppings.

River Cottage Ciabatta

Ciabatta

This recipe comes from my River Cottage Bread Book. I have improved my knowledge and technique for making this bread after a long process of practice and research - looking at books and online websites and forums for tips and tricks. I have found the Sourdough Companion, and the Wild Yeast websites really useful. One common thing I read is that people take a few loaves, or a few dozen loaves, to get things right with making their own bread they are happy with and that isnt unpredictable anymore.

If you enjoy making bread you will go a long way fast. There are many ways to get advice too. I was impressed that on some of the online forums people post pictures of a cross-section of their loaves and get a diagnosis by the pros (artisan bakers and home bakers that subscribe to the forum) as to the quality of the bread. It is amazing that these people can look at the number and size of the air bubbles, the crust and crumb, the stodgyness of the lower bottom crust, and the shape of the loaves among other things which enables them to give precise advice about where and how the amateur baker might have gone astray. This can range from too long or short proving time to not enough water or too much or too little kneading, as well as the level of activity of the wild yeast starter used.

Below are two identical pieces of dough that were proved supported by linen cloth. The difference is that I rolled one over (and therefore upside down) onto the rimless baking tray (makeshift peel), and the other (at the front) was picked up with my hands and placed the same way up on the tray. As you can see it was deflated by my handling, and I was really gentle.

I had the same problem last time I made this bread and I resorted to just proving on baking trays after that. However proving with support (on linen) really makes a nicer loaf I think. I have decided that the rolling action works well, as can be seen by the following picture. The corresponding two loaves are on the bottom left hand corner of the image, and you can see the stark comparison.

When I cut them, the deflated one was dense and not spongy, and the air bubbles were really small. The rest of the loaves were wonderful and had large holes and wonderful spongy airy texture (see below).

Ingredients

750g strong white flour

250g semolina flour (I used Duralina)

10g powdered dried yeast

25g fine salt

800ml warm water

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

Mix all ingredients except the salt together and autolyse for 10 minutes.

Add the salt and stretch and fold it in to combine.

Bulk prove for 3 hours, stretching and folding at each 30 minute intervals. This gives structure to the gluten.

Stretching and folding will get easier as the gluten develops. Try wetting your hands with water before doing it (or olive oil) so they are slippery, not dry with flour. You dont want to add any more flour to this wet dough.

After the bulk prove, turn out onto a bench dusted with semolina and divide into six even portions.

Make the portions rectangles when cutting.

Lightly degas by pressing each piece all over then fold over from the long side to create a loaf that is 4 times long as it is wide. Place on floured linen cloth to prove until doubled in size.

Alternatively, place on a baking tray dusted with semolina (to avoid sticking) and cover with a plastic bag.

Preheat the oven to full.

Gently roll each loaf onto a peel or rimless tray/board from the linen so they are upside down (this evens out the bubbles).  Slide onto baking stone and spray oven with water.

The baking stone adds fierce heat form below instantly to make the bubbles there rise and assure a good texture. It is not essential however, and if you have a thin baking tray the loaves should rise okay.

Bake for 10 minutes on full, then at 200degC for 15 minutes.

Cool completely (at least 30 minutes) before slicing, otherwise it will be doughey and sticky. You must let it continue to cook while it cools this way.

Serve with extra virgin olive oil (I use a lemon myrtle olive oil for dipping in dukkah).

These rolls also go well with a salad dinner in summer or a winter stew or a soup or even for lunch with air dried tomatoes and salami or for breakfast lik e the other day when we had an omlette to go on our long car trip....