Pizza Bases

So after making a few soda bread loaves and a nice white loaf for my parents who both have flu, I decided it was pizza for tea.  I wanted to try the pizza base recipe in my River Cottage Handbook (an absolutely fantastic book if you are considering joining me on this journey), its a pretty simple recipe, but as with everything, you never quite know the first time around how it will turn out.

It worked a treat, what a difference in taste between that and the store bought bases!  It was a little thick (completely down to me not rolling it thin enough) but I can safely say its going to be a long time until I buy a pizza base again!

I made them again tonight, this time I divided the dough into 4 and it was much better, and I have half of the dough for tomorrow, I might make a garlic pizza or something to go with dinner.

The recipe is below, give it a try, I promise you will not be disappointed!

Pizza Bases
makes 4 large thin bases.

Ingredients:
500g white plain flour
5g dried yeast
10g salt
325ml warm water
1 tbsp olive oil.

Method:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add water and mix with your hand to form a rough dough.
3. Add in olive oil.
4. Knead by hand until dough is smooth and elastic, should take between 10-15 minutes depending on your kneading style and speed.  Or about 10 minutes in a mixer with a dough hook on low.
5. Leave on a floured board for about 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
6. During this time preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius with your tray (or baking stone) inside.
7. Cut into quarters (halves for a thicker base) and roll flat.
8. Transfer to tray and add whatever toppings you like.
9. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the base is crispy.

I am going to provide some links below for some great kneading advice, I think its a lot better if you see what an expert says as I am still very much a novice.  Some exciting news is that I am attending a 'Bread at Home' course at a local artisan bakery on the 27th of August.  I really hope you are all enjoying my journey so far, and hopefully some of you have decided to join me!!

Pizza Dough Tips
Step-by-Step Kneading

Ant

The End of Store Bought Bread

I was watching my favourite cooking program, River Cottage, when an episode came on about making your own bread.  I will be totally honest, I have not really ever thought about it, I didn't see allot wrong with the store bought bread and thought it just a hassle to make it yourself.  Then Hugh asked the viewers to do something, go to your cupboard and count how many ingredients are in the last loaf you bought.  I did this and there was 13.  I was almost shocked at the number, 13 ingredients in a loaf of plain white bread?!  Hugh knocked up (making it allot easier than I was sure it was) a simple white loaf with just 5 ingredients; flour, yeast, sugar, salt and water and didn't it look fantastic when it came out of the oven!

I decided that I was going to head to the shops the next day and have a go at making my own loaf, I picked up the ingredients and headed home.  I followed his basic recipe (posted at the bottom) and away I went.  I decided to use the mixer with a dough hook as I didn't really know much about kneading.

I made up the dough, let it rest, knocked it back, let it rest and then put it in the oven.  Within 5 minutes the house smelled of fresh bread, there is no better smell in the world to me.  I patiently waited about 30 minutes then out she came, it looked lopsided, uneven and a bit dark, perfect!

It tasted amazing, i don't think I knew what 'real' bread tasted like until that moment, the whole loaf was gone in about 2 hours and I was definitely hooked!

I am hoping a few of you will share this journey with me, I have developed a passion for baking (I have baked 3 loaves today already) and share your success and inevitable failures with us.  I have made about 13 loaves in the past month, I have only had 1 that wasn't really edible, its an incredibly easy thing to do and there is no better feeling, or smell, then pulling out a loaf of bread from the oven.  I have started to experiment into different loaves, white, wholemeal, soda bread and about to try a pizza base for tea, the possibilities are endless and so is the joy.

The below is a basic white loaf recipe, the one I first used using the bread hook, as we go along we will move deeper into the kneading process, proving, different types of bread and flours and much more, best of luck to all and remember, if it doesn't come out looking anything like a uniform loaf from the shop, its probably perfect!

Ingredients
7g sachet dried yeast
300ml lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar
450g plain white flour
1.5 tsp Salt
Method
1 Place the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl.
2 Using the dough hook on minimum speed, gradually mix in the water to form a soft dough.
3 Knead for 1 minute on minimum and 4 minutes on speed 1, until smooth and elastic. Remove the
bowl, cover with lightly oiled clear film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
4 Using the dough hook on minimum speed for 30-60 seconds gently knead the dough to knock
back. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Cover with oiled clear film and leave to rise for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
5 Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

So there is a basic white loaf recipe, please give it a try and let us know how it turns out, if you are anything like me this will be the first in a very long line of loaves!

Ant

Classic Shepherds Pie

Just knocked this little beauty out for the girls. It's gone down a treat!

• 
  
  700g lamb mince
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 3 carrots, diced
• 1 tbsp Tomato puree
• 100ml good red wine
• 100ml lamb stock
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 750g mashed potato (make your own, its easy and delicious if you would like some tips on making the perfect mash then get in touch)
  
  
  
  
  Heat a frying pan until hot and fry the lamb mince for 4-5 minutes, or until browned all over. Remove the lamb from the pan and set aside to drain in a sieve.
  
  
  Heat a little olive oil in the same frying pan and fry the onion and garlic for 4-5 minutes, or until softened. Add the carrots and the remaining olive oil and cook for a further 5-6 minutes. Return the lamb mince to the pan, add the tomato purée and stir well. Cook for a further 5-6 minutes
  
  
  Add the wine, bay leaves and stock, bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5-8 minutes. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and thyme. Spoon the mixture into a large baking dish and top with the mashed potato.
  
  
  Bake the shepherd’s pie in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the the topping is golden-brown and the lamb mixture is bubbling around the edge. Serve with seasonal green vegetables that you have steamed - straight from the oven to the table. Delicious!
  
  
  
  
  

Yesterdays Masterchef Live adventure

Morning all

I was a little tired yesterday to blog, so here is the story of how it went.

The BBC Good Food Live show contacted me out of the blue, and offered me the chance to cook at the Masterchef Live Challenge in the Birmingham NEC Arena. I had applied about 3 months earlier and forgotten all about it. I didn't even have a signiture dish to put on the application, so I made one up at the time! Yesterday rolled around all too quickly, I had a chance to practise a few times and that was the lot - it was too late.

Myself and My 4 year old Daughter Rhianwen packed up, and headed to Birmingham with my good friends Adam and Jo. I was excited all the way there - right up until I walked in and saw the stage. Then the nerves hit me. There was a green room where I met Dhruv Baker and the other contestants, all of whom were REALLY nice and helped my nerves die down. Then it was time.

We walked out onto the stage in front of an audience of about 200 people, plus the big screens were showing it to the whole exhibition at the Good Food Show. Andy Peters , the legend of Live TV, was the host, and the judges were of course John Torode and Gregg Wallace with guest Sara Denesin Medio. The timer started and we all started cooking our hearts out with the audience cheering us on. We had 45 minutes to produce our signiture dish - for me it was A modernised classic - Chicken Kiev, Peas and Chips. I had a lot to do in 45 minutes, with cameras swirling around us and judges wandering around for a chat. I had a really nice and helpful Kitchen Assistant from the local food college who helped me so much, fetching equipment and showing me how to work things. It actually consisted of a twice cooked Chicken Breast (poached in garlic infused stock and then fried to crisp the skin), a Parmesan and Thyme Ciabatta Crumb, Fondant Potato 'Chips', a Garlic and Tarragon Wine Cream Sauce, and a Pea Puree.

I had a lot going on. Pans all over the place - chicken poaching, potatoes peeled and frying in butter, peas boiling to puree, herbs chopping, the lot was going on. Andy Peters talked to me for a while, John, Gregg and Sara all chatted a bit too about my food as well as tasting. John was impressed with my sauce, while Gregg was MAD for my potato fondant chips! Sara was very impressed with my skills too, she complimented me on my organisation and on the fact that I was the only one without a ream of notes! Sara was really nice, as were all of the people on the stage. Before I knew it the time had ticked away - I had 2 minutes to go and nothing on the plate. So I hit the accelerator:

A nice white wide oval plate. Spoonful of pea puree on the right, with a chef swirl using the back of the spoon (that Andy complimented me on!). In the centre - a small pile of the crumb. I placed the chicken on top. 30 seconds to go! A small pile of fondant potato chips on the left, neat and tidy. 10 seconds. Spoon the sauce over the breast, fingers burning from the pan and from holding the chips which came straight out of the boiling stock. Done, time up.

I look at the plate - its stunning. Exactly how I imagined it, bang on time, and all perfect (despite not getting the puree right in practise once!) I could not have been prouder of myself.

The judges only chose 3 dishes to taste from the 9 (a la Masterchef) and unfortunately mine was not one of them. I feel it would have been but I was on stage with the only dessert of the entire day, and we know how much Gregg likes his desserts! All of the dishes looked just stunning, I would have paid good money for any one of them. The dessert goes through - a delicious looking strawberry and rhubarb ice cream with some kind of crumble cake - it looked good enough to grab off the stage and run away with! I was not disappointed in the least - I had cooked my heart out and enjoyed every second of it - I was so happy with my dish that I handed it around the audience afterwards to eat and got some more great compliments. Its made me realise exactly what I want to do with my life - I WILL be a chef. The journey starts here.

In 10 years time, when you come to book a table at my sold out restaurant - mention that you once read this blog and I will make sure my staff look after you well!

Happy Fathers day everyone - I'm off to the driving range. I've just knocked out a lovely Eggs Benedict with my own recipe Golden Potato Hash (I'll post it later - a great accompaniment to breakfast or brunch!). A special mention to my Dad Alan - not the best chef in the world outside of egg and chips, but still a great inspiration to me. I still had a great day afterwards at the Good Food show too - treated myself to a fantastic whisky, tried a buffalo burger, bought some stunning cheeses and chutneys and just generally had a great time.

Be well and good eating

Tony

Masterchef

Hi everyone!

No recipe tonight I'm afraid, a little busy. Tomorrow I will be cooking at the Good Food Live show in Birmingham in front of thousands of people - doing the Masterchef Challenge. Quite a big deal!

My dish is Chicken Kiev, Peas and Chips. Well that's what its loosely based on, its a modern and deconstructed version of it - A twice cooked Chicken Breast, Parmesan and Thyme Ciabatta Crumb (not on the chicken!), Garlic and Tarragon Sauce, Sweet Pea Puree and Fondant Potato 'Chips'. I've tested it before, last run is tonight and then tomorrow its showtime.

My good friends Adam and Jo are coming to support me, as is my eldest daughter Rhianwen who was my inspiration to start cooking in the first place.

I'll let you all know how it goes, but right now I am off to practise my skills ready for John Torode and Gregg Wallace!

Be well friends, and good eating
Tony

Anthony's Seafood Paella

My apologies as well for the lack of recent posts but we are both back on board now, and this is a great recipe to get us back under way.  There are 2 key points to this recipe, the first is the rice, you really should try your best to get hold of Calasparra rice, you can use other short grain rice (not arborio) but none are as good as this.  The 2nd is to really concerntrate on making a good sofrito, the one I have listed is easy and really nice in many types of paella, not just seafood.

Ingredients
Serves 4-6

To make sofrito paste:
200 ml extra virgin olive oil
15 ml Spanish sherry vinegar (red wine vinegar is ok if you dont have any)
3 large tomatoes, ripe is best
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 shallot
6 roasted peppers
1½ tsp saffron threads
½ bunch thyme leaves
½ bunch mint
½ bunch coriander
1 bunch chives
½ bunch parsley
½ tsp spicy paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sweet paprika

Paella:
2 tbsp sofrito paste per person
65g Calasparra rice per person
150 ml fish stock per person
2 blue swimmer crabs, quartered and cleaned
6 king prawns
12 squid rings
10 large  mussels
4 baby octopus, cleaned

Method

1. In a food processor puree all the sofrito ingredients until you have a smooth consistency.
2. Pour fish stock into a pot and begin to heat it.
3. In a very hot large paella pan or non stick frying pan, pour enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
4. Add rice and cook until it changes colour from white to transparent. This is a very important step to making a good paella because we need to cook the starch off the rice.
5. After a couple of minutes, add the sofrito paste. Cook with the rice for a minute.
6. Add seafood and spread evenly around the pan. Sauté for a couple of minutes.
7. Add hot fish stock and let it cook until stock is evaporated. Don't stir the rice.
8. Once all of the stock has evaporated, turn the heat to low for 5 minutes to ensure you get a nice crust on the bottom of the pan.

Ant

Chorizo and Feta Frittata

• 250g potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1cm cubes
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and sliced
• 6 free-range eggs
• 75ml single cream
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp fresh marjoram, chopped (dried is fine if you can't get it)
• 125g chorizo, sliced
• 125g feta cheese, crumbled

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Place the potatoes into a saucepan of boiling water. Boil for five minutes, or until just cooked. Do not overcook the potatoes or they will go mushy. Drain the potatoes of the excess water and set aside.
3. Heat a 25cm/10in ovenproof frying pan. Add three tablespoons of olive oil and the sliced onion to the pan. Cover the frying pan with a saucepan lid and sweat the ingredients over a gentle heat until the onion becomes soft and slightly golden. Then remove from the heat and set aside.
4. Whisk the eggs in a clean bowl until they are slightly frothy. Then add the cream, the salt and the fresh marjoram.
5. Add the sliced chorizo, the cooked onions and the potatoes to the bowl and mix well.
6. Heat the remaining olive oil in the frying pan. When the oil is hot, pour in the egg mixture and stir briefly to distribute the ingredients evenly.
7. Sprinkle the crumbled feta cheese on to the top of the mixture. Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 25-35 minutes or until the centre of the mixture has set. Then remove from the frittata from the oven and allow it to cool for a couple of minutes.
8. To serve, place the frittata onto a large serving plate or a large cake tin lined with baking parchment (if you want to transport it on a picnic). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Raspberry and White Chocolate Waffle Pudding

• 300g/10½oz packet waffles, cut into 2.5cm/1in squares
• 300g/10½oz raspberries
• 150g/½oz white chocolate, cut into 0.5cm/¼in cubes
• 500ml/18fl oz creme fraiche or soured cream
• 55g/2oz caster sugar
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 3 free-range eggs, beaten
• 2 tbsp icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Grease a baking dish with butter.
2. Place half the waffle pieces into the baking dish and sprinkle over half the raspberries and half the chocolate. Lay over the remaining waffles and scatter over the rest of the raspberries and chocolate.
3. Mix the caster sugar, flour, crème fraîche and vanilla extract together in a bowl then whisk in the beaten eggs. Pour the mixture into the baking dish and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
4. Leave to cool then sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream or cream.
   
   
   You may find you don't need the icing sugar, just scoop the gooey mess into a bowl and munch the lot. Easily one of the nicest desserts I have ever made, and really easy!