BRIOCHE

Haven't made brioche for years, and today being a bit of a flat indoor type of a day, thought I'd

marshall the troops (i.e. the Kids) and we would have a go and see what transpired.




INGREDIENTS

700 Gms Bakers Flour

60 Gms Granulated Sugar
10 Gms Salt

35 Gms Dried Yeast

45 Gms Milk Powder

100 Mls Water (37 C)

300 Gms Eggs

300 Gms Butter

Sieve dry ingredients together.

Lightly beat eggs, add warm water, and then stir in yeast.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour

in the egg and yeast mixture.

Gradually incorporate the flour to form a dough and then knead until

smooth and clear.

Set aside and allow to double in size,

Knock the dough back and then start to incorporate the

softened butter, mixing until clear. (Lightly dusting the dough

with flour occaisonally will assist in incorporating the butter)

Allow to relax for approx 20 minutes and then portion and form

into desired rolls, scrolls, or loaves etc.

Allow to prove until doubled in size.

Bake at 230C (conventional oven) or 210C (fan forced)

until golden brown.

(In my oven which I think is on the hot side the little rolls took 18

minutes and the loaf took approx 30 minutes.)

 

 In the scheme of things this is not a cheap recipe,

(for home cooked), but the flavour and texture
 is excellent, rich and buttery.
Toasted or plain, spread with a little butter and
some good quality conserve or jam it is simply
delicious.
You can take my word for that or better still,
why not give it a go and see for yourself.
Bon Apetit!! and good cooking.
   

 









 

 



ROTI STYLE BREAD

Roti is something I have never attempted in my years of cooking. I have always taken the easy, or lazy, way out and simply bought it when needed. Anyway, I saw it on a cooking show recently and decided to have a go having been motivated by the price of this stuff in the shops lately.

So here is my first attempt. I tried two different ways to stretch the dough--one by flipping/whipping the dough and the other by flattening and massaging the dough into a large rectangle, the latter giving the better results.

RECIPE

500 gms plain flour ( the softer the better )

40 gms butter

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 egg

1 cup water

Vegetable oil

Sieve flour, salt and sugar together.
Rub the butter into the flour mixture.

Lightly beat the egg and pour into a well in the flour mixture and gently work

in with your fingertips.

Make a well in the centre and add the water and then work to a dough, and then

knead for about 5 minutes until smooth. If your dough seems to wet or sticky you can

knead in extra flour until you achieve a smooth consistency.

Divide the dough into approx 12--14 pieces and form into balls. Place in a bowl, cover with oil

and set aside for approx 4--6 hours.

Take a piece of dough and gently pat out to a rectangular shape
and continue to massage the dough to a larger and larger rectangle,
(You will be surprised how far you can stretch this dough),
until almost paper thin and see through.

Then start to loosely roll the dough into a long cylinder.

Pick the dough up from one end and coil into a snail shape.

 Repeat process until all balls of dough are coiled.

Heat a little oil in a pan, gently flatten the coils to approx 3 times the size

taking care not to knock out all of the air, and place in pan.

When golden brown on one side, turn and brush the cooked side
with some melted butter or margarine and continue to fry until golden
 brown on the other side.
Remove from the pan, place on your bench and cup your
hands around the cooked roti.
Now quickly slap your hands together and quickly release.
Rotate the Roti and repeat and viola , there you have it, golden
flaky Roti Bread at a fraction of the price.