Overnight Rise Casserole-Dish-Baked Bread

Makes one big loaf - or break dough into 3 sections before putting it in the dish and you'll have 3 pull-apart loaves


6 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
3 cups of tepid water
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
a sprinkle of polenta - optional

Mix the yeast with the water and sugar and set aside for 5 minutes. In a mixer with a dough hook (or a big bowl with a wooden spoon), combine the flour, salt and the yeasty water. Mix well. It will be lumpy and a bit sloppy. Sloppy is good.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight to prove. Somewhere cool is good - the fridge is fine too.

In the morning - punch the dough down and flop it onto a lightly floured benchtop. Knead it as best you can for a minute or two. Grease a heavy, ovenproof casserole dish (round is best - ceramic or heavy metal is the go) The dish needs to have sides at least 5cm high (or higher!) for this to work well and for the bread to rise up (rather then spread out) Sprinkle the dish with polenta if desired. Carefully pop the dough into the greased dish. Dust the top with flour.

Cover with a clean teatowel and let rise for a couple more hours in a draught-free spot.

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Then pop the risen dish full of dough into the hot oven. Bake for around 30 minutes, or until golden and hollow-sounding when you tap it. Turn out and eat it up! Yum!

Soft and Sweet Dinner Rolls

via


6 cups of plain flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
4 tsp dried yeast
1/2 cup soft butter
1 egg

makes 30 more-ish rolls

Dissolve yeast in 2 1/2 cups of lukewarm tap water. In your mixer using a dough hook, plonk the flour, beaten egg, sugar, salt and butter - begin to mix it up gently, pouring in the water/yeast slowly. Knead until smooth and elastic. (You can do this by hand too - it'll just take longer).

Leave to rise for a couple of hours. Then punch down and knead again until smooth and elastic. Let it recover for 15 mins and then split your dough into 3. Each third will make 10 dinner rolls - so divvy up the dough into tens. To shape the rolls - flatten each little piece of dough and then roll it into a 'roll like' shape, tucking the ends under and putting it seam/join side down on a well greased oven tray. You'll need a couple of trays - be sure to grease them.

Let your dough rise again for an hour or so - until the rolls are a bit puffed up and nearly twice as big. Bake in a HOT oven for around 15 minutes until nicely browned.

Basic Sweet Pastry - For Dessert Tart

Blitz the following in the food-processor until it forms a ball

2 1/4 cups of plain flour
1/4 cup of sugar
180g butter
2 egg yolks lightly beaten
1 tbsp cold water

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.
Roll out and top/fill with whatever fruit takes your fancy

My Favourite Mayonnaise

3 egg yolks
600ml of good quality (but not too strongly flavoured) oil
1 tbsp of dijon mustard
1 tsp of seeded mustard
1 tbsp of Lee and Perrins worcestershire sauce
1 slosh of tabasco sauce
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

In a food processor, beat egg yolks with mustards until well combined and a bit airy. Slowly, oh so very slowly add the oil, trickle by trickle. The mayonnaise will slowly thicken and combine. When you've carefully added all the oil, add the worcestershire sauce, the lemon juice, the tabasco and the salt and pepper. Then add half a tablespoon of boiling water to lighten the whole mix up. Store in the fridge.