Down to Earth

by Rhonda Hetzel

  BEGINNER’S WHITE EVERYDAY LOAF

  100 ml warm water

  2 teaspoons dried yeast

  1 tablespoon sugar

  4 cups baker’s flour – also called strong flour or high-protein flour

  3 teaspoons gluten flour (optional)

  2 teaspoons salt

  250 ml warm water + more if necessary

  Step 1: Activating the yeast

  Here you’re making sure the yeast is fresh and alive. If you use old yeast, your bread won’t rise. Pour the warm water into a teacup. Don’t use hot water because it will kill the yeast. It should be comfortable to hold your finger in the water. Tip in the yeast and sugar and stir for 15 seconds, then leave it on the bench and prepare your other ingredients. The yeast is activated when it starts to bubble and become frothy. This indicates the yeast is alive.

  Step 2: Mixing the dough

  Add your dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Add the activated yeast and the 250 ml of warm water. Mix all the ingredients with a spoon until it gets to the point where your hands will mix it better, then start bringing the mixture together with your hands. This is the first point when you check the moisture content.

  You’re aiming for a ball of dough that has combined all the ingredients, with a slightly moist feel. You don’t want it wet but it shouldn’t be dry either. If your dough looks too dry, get half a cup of warm water and a dessert spoon, and add the water to the dough one spoonful at a time. You have to be careful not to add too much, so do it slowly. Knead the dough, and if it needs more water, add another spoonful. If it looks too wet, add a small amount of extra flour. If it looks and feels okay, go on to the next step.

  Step 3: Kneading the dough

  Gluten is one of the proteins found in wheat, barley and rye flour. When gluten is mixed with water and kneaded, it develops long strings that help bread rise. It is very difficult to make a light loaf of bread without gluten.

  If you’ve had problems with handmade bread before, you’re probably not kneading the dough long enough. This is a very important step if you want light bread with a good crumb. If you’re good at kneading, this step will take you at least 8 minutes. If you’re light-handed, you’ll take at least 10 minutes. You need a firm and stable surface on which to knead your dough. It’s best done on a clean benchtop. Wipe your benchtop with a clean cloth and warm soapy water – don’t use antiseptic wipes, as you could kill the yeasts. When you’re satisfied the bench is clean, wipe it with a clean tea towel. This surface is ideal for kneading.

  If your benchtop is not suitable, use a large bread board with a slightly wet tea towel folded in half underneath. The moistened tea towel will stop the board moving while you’re kneading. Sprinkle a small amount of the same flour you used in the recipe onto your benchtop and place the dough on it. Before you start kneading, poke your finger into the dough – the indent should stay there. Poking the dough is a good way to test it as you go through the kneading process.

  Start kneading the dough. What you’re trying to do is work the dough to get the gluten strands to develop. Push the top of the dough away from you with the heel of your hand while holding the dough steady with your other hand.

  The dough stays right in front of you all the time, but you push a portion of it away with every action. After you’ve pushed out, fold that portion of the dough back on itself like the top of an envelope. Turn the dough a quarter-turn and push it out again with the heel of your hand. Fold it back on itself. Another quarter-turn.

  As you knead the dough it will look drier and smoother. Keep kneading until your dough is smooth and elastic, and springs out nicely when you poke your finger in it. If you’ve been kneading for at least 8 minutes (longer if you have a light hand) and your dough is smooth and elastic, then you’re ready to move on. Don’t rush things just for the sake of a few minutes, because the work you do here will make or break your bread.

  Step 4: First rise

  The ball of dough will have a smooth side; place it smooth side up, in a clean bowl that’s been very lightly greased with cooking oil. Cover the dough with a clean, moist tea towel or a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap. You want the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free area. If the dough stays cold, it will take hours to rise. You could place it in an oven that you’ve heated to about 150°C for 3 minutes then turned off. Or you could put it outside in the sun (I do this), but make sure it’s covered properly as you don’t want flies or ants in your mix. You could place a heated wheat bag near the bowl. If you have a hot-water system that is warm during the day, that might be a good place for you. You’re looking for a temperature of around 20–24°C. If the area is too hot or too cold it will affect the taste and texture of the finished loaf. Leave the covered dough in the warm spot untouched for about 30 minutes and check. It needs to double in size.

  Step 5: Punching down and forming the dough

  When the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough to deflate it. Sprinkle flour on your benchtop again, scoop the dough up out of the bowl, and place it on the floured bench. Knead the dough for 2 minutes, using the same technique as before with the heel of your hand.

  After 2 minutes of kneading, flatten the dough and roll it into a cigar shape, or whatever shape you want your loaf to be. You will have one smooth side and the underside will be tucked and folded.

  At this stage you have the opportunity to add more nutrition to the loaf with oats, wheatgerm, sesame or poppy seeds, polenta, oats, soaked linseed, caraway or any other topping you want to use. I often use a mixture of sesame and poppy seeds with oats on my bread.

  If you’d like to add seeds, pick the loaf up with the smooth side on top and, with your other hand, moisten the loaf all over with water. Roll the loaf in the seeds/oats so that it’s completely covered. The water will make the coating stick to the loaf.

  Water also makes a crisp crust. If you don’t want seeds on the loaf but would still like it crusty, just moisten the dough with the water. If you want a softer loaf, skip this step entirely.

  Preheat your oven to 230°C and grease a loaf tin lightly. Put the loaf into the tin and sprinkle with a small amount of flour. Making 5 mm deep slashes in the top of the loaf will allow steam to escape and gives you a better rise.

  Step 6: Second rise

  Let the loaf sit in the loaf tin for the second rise until it has lifted 5 cm or so but is not bulging over the sides. Handle the dough gently at this point.

  Step 7: Baking

  You need a hot oven to get a good lift, so when it’s reached 230°C, gently place the loaf in to bake. After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 200°C and cook for another 15–20 minutes, or until you can smell baked bread and the loaf is golden brown. Take the bread from the tin and place it on a cake rack to cool. Get the butter ready because you are about to enjoy your bread.

  Scones

  Scones are easy to make and you can have a batch made and baked in under 30 minutes. The key to good scones is to use buttermilk or whey instead of plain milk, to have fairly moist dough and to treat them gently. If you overwork scones, they’ll be tough. You’ll need more or less buttermilk or whey depending on your flour.

  2 cups self-raising flour or

  2 cups plain flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder

  pinch of salt 1 tablespoon sugar

  30 g cold butter, chopped

  1 cup buttermilk or whey

  Preheat oven to 220˚C. Get your tray ready by greasing it or adding baking paper.

  Sift flour into a large bowl, along with salt and sugar. Add cold butter and rub in lightly with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs.

  Pour in buttermilk and mix in, using a butter knife, until you have a soft, moist and sticky dough. Over-mixing will result in tough scones.

  Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly for 15 seconds. Press out the dough into a rough circle, about 4 cm thick. Cut into smaller rounds using a cutter or floured wine glass. A cut edge will give you a better rise than a formed ed
ge.

  Place the cut scones on the baking tray and then into the hot oven, then turn the temperature down to 200˚C and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

  If you don’t have buttermilk, use plain milk with a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice added.

  Whole orange cake

  This is one of the easiest cakes you’ll ever make and it’s full of flavour and orangey goodness. It’s all mixed in the food processor too, so there is very little washing up. Simple!

  1 orange, washed and quartered

  3 eggs

  180 g butter, melted 1 cup white sugar

  1½ cups self-raising flour or 1½ cups plain flour and 1½

  teaspoons baking powder

  Preheat your oven to 180˚C and grease cake tin – I use a large loaf tin.

  Put the orange quarters into the food processor and process until they’re completely broken down and no large pieces remain.

  Add the rest of the ingredients and process again for about 30 seconds, or until everything is mixed together.

  Scrape the batter into the tin and bake for around 40 minutes or until the cake is golden brown, and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool on a cake rack.

  Wash the orange thoroughly, particularly if it’s not organic or from your backyard.

  Cinnamon tea cake

  This is a good cake for the lunch box. It has no icing or filling so it carries well.

  1 cup self-raising flour

  ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

  1 egg, separated

  ½ cup sugar

  ½ cup milk

  20 g butter, melted

  ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract Topping

  15 g butter, melted

  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  1 tablespoon sugar

  Preheat the oven to 180˚C and grease an 18 cm round cake tin.

  Sift the flour and cinnamon into a large bowl and set to the side.

  In a second bowl, beat the egg white until it’s stiff, then stir the egg yolk in gently.

  Gradually add the sugar to the egg, mixing as you add it, then stir in the milk, melted butter and vanilla.

  Add the dry ingredients to the egg and sugar mix and stir until combined.

  Pour the mixture into the greased tin and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

  Take the cake from the tin while it’s still hot, turn it out and place it on a wire rack. Spoon over the butter and sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over the cake while it is still warm.

  Basic muffins Makes 12

  This recipe can be the basis of many different flavoured muffins. You could add ½ cup cheese, or 1 cup apple pie filling, or 1 cup mashed banana and walnuts, or 1 cup drained tinned cherries, frozen blueberries or raspberries, or choc chips, for deliciously flavoured muffins.

  ¼ cup olive oil

  1 egg

  1 cup milk

  ½ cup sugar

  2 cups self-raising flour

  Preheat oven to 180˚C and butter a standard 12-hole muffin tin.

  Combine the oil, egg, milk and sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly with a fork or wooden spoon.

  Pour in the flour and mix. Make sure there is no dry flour, but do not over-mix it. It’s best for it to look under-mixed than be over-mixed.

  Spoon the batter into the muffin tin and bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to sit in the tin to cool slightly before turning out on a wire rack.

  Cheap and easy biscuits Makes 70–80 biscuits

  This recipe uses only 4 ingredients, but you can make the basic dough into jam drops, lemon biscuits, choc-chip biscuits or whatever you want to – add what’s in your pantry. The dough freezes well for about 6 weeks so you can divide it up into batches, freeze the dough in a long tube and defrost to make 20 or 30 biscuits as you need them.

  500 g butter

  1 cup sugar

  1 × 395 g can condensed milk or use the recipe for homemade condensed milk in this chapter

  5 cups self-raising flour

  Preheat oven to 180˚C and grease a biscuit tray or line with baking paper.

  Cream the butter and sugar together, add the condensed milk and mix well. Add the choc chips, nuts or other flavouring if using.

  Stir in the flour with a spoon.

  Roll the dough into balls the size of a walnut and flatten. Make a thumbprint in the dough and add lemon butter or jam if using.

  Place on the prepared tray and bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown, then allow to cool on a wire rack.

  Dairy food

  Yoghurt Makes 1 litre

  I make this in the early morning so I can monitor it during the day. If you overheat the yoghurt, you’ll kill the beneficial bacteria. If you let the temperature fall too far, the bacteria won’t grow.

  You can buy the yoghurt you start with from the shop. It should contain live cultures and will state that on the label. Check the use-by date, making sure it is as fresh as possible and you’ve got plenty of time before the expiry date. Use natural yoghurt, not vanilla or any other flavour, nor anything with gelatine in it. You can also use yoghurt starter, which I buy online.

  You can sterilise your jar by placing it in the oven for 20 minutes at 120°C. Sterilise the lid by boiling it in a saucepan for 10 minutes.

  1 litre milk (can be UHT or pasteurised – homogenised or non-homogenised)

  ½ cup good natural yoghurt or the quantity of yoghurt starter specified on the packet.

  ½ cup milk powder (optional) You will also need

  milk or candy thermometer

  1-litre preserving jar, sterilised

  Clip the thermometer to the side of the saucepan and warm the milk on the stovetop to 80˚C, then remove from the heat. This process pasteurises the milk again, killing any harmful bacteria.

  Allow the milk to cool to 45˚C.

  When the milk has cooled, add the yoghurt. If you want a thick yoghurt, add the milk powder as well.

  Stir until the yoghurt has dissolved in the milk.

  Pour the mixture into the warm, sterilised jar and wrap it tightly with a towel straight away, so no heat escapes.

  Place the wrapped jar in your esky. Check it after 6 hours; if it’s cooling down, heat up a rice bag in the microwave or fill a water bottle with hot water and place it in the esky. This added heat should keep it going for a few hours. You might need to repeat the process.

  The yoghurt is set when its texture is more like custard than milk. If you’ve used a good-quality, fresh, natural yoghurt it will usually set in 12 hours. The longer the yoghurt takes to set, the stronger the taste will be. It lasts for weeks in the fridge.

  If you don’t have an esky, you could use an oven or slow cooker instead – either set very low, or turned on and off during the day. You could also use a wide-mouthed thermos flask that can retain the heat for 12 hours. If you live in a warm climate, the yoghurt will be fine in the jar, wrapped in a towel on the bench to set.

  Condensed milk

  Condensed milk can be used in many recipes for biscuits, cheesecakes, ice-cream and other sweets. This homemade version is much cheaper than a tin of condensed milk and it tastes the same. It can be stored in a glass jar for up to a month in the fridge.

  ⅓ cup hot water

  ⅔ cup white sugar

  3 tablespoons soft butter

  1 cup powdered milk

  Put the hot water, sugar and butter in a small food processor or mixer and whiz until the sugar dissolves.

  Add the milk powder and whiz until it’s combined and creamy.

  Vanilla ice-cream

  The ice-cream will be smoother if you have an ice-cream machine but it’s mighty fine made with muscle power. You can use any milk you have in the house: skim, no fat, soy, powdered or full cream.

  2 cups milk

  1 cup cream

  1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 
; 400 ml condensed milk (recipe on previous page)

  Add the milk and cream to a saucepan and warm over a medium heat.

  Split the vanilla bean in two, scrape out the seeds, and add bean and seeds to the milk mixture; or add the vanilla extract. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer slowly for a few minutes.

  Remove the vanilla bean, if using, then add the condensed milk and stir.

  Remove from heat and allow to cool. When the mixture is cold, place it in a container and put it in the freezer.

  If you have an ice-cream machine, wait until the mix is forming ice crystals, then add it to the machine and start processing. If you don’t have an ice-cream machine, when the mix has formed ice crystals, remove it from the freezer every 45 minutes and give it a good stir. Then smooth it out in the container and put it back in the freezer.

  When the ice-cream is almost frozen solid, put it in a freezer container with a lid for storage.

  Please don’t use vanilla essence, which is fake vanilla and will not do the ice-cream justice.

  Fermenting

  Fermenting is a natural chemical process that occurs when beneficial bacteria and wild yeasts create lactic acid and convert sugar into carbon dioxide. In home fermenting, natural wild yeasts and bacteria in the air are captured and multiply in the food or drink you are making. We’ve all been taught that bacteria and food don’t mix but these benefi cial bacteria and yeasts are similar to those in yoghurt, kimchee, sauerkraut, kefir, vinegar and sourdough.