greenjellysnakes

next --->

Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake Baker's Man
I have been doing a lot of cooking lately in an effort to make more of our food from scratch. I am particularly focussing my efforts on baking at the moment. I have recently tried a couple of different pizza bases, and a sweet blueberry focaccia. This week I am going to try my hand at bagels, and a savoury focaccia with olives and rosemary.

I love to share my love of food with other people. Whenever we try a fabulous vegetarian recipe I think of fat-J, and how much she would enjoy the same sort of dish. Whenever we try something vegetarian and/or a little on the spicy side I think of my mum, and how she would probably love it if my dad wasn't so adverse to spices and meals without meat. And whenever we try anything that's a little bit different, often something international I think of my fellow gourmet food lovers, D and Bu, and wish I could have them eating there with me too.

So basically, we have been eating so much fabulous food and I want to share it with everyone I love. Go ahead. Invite yourself over for dinner. More than likely at some stage or another I have been eating a fabulous meal that I know you'll love and thought of making it next time you come around. Whoever you are. I just want to share.

Oh and by the way, we finally found last night what P and I both think is the best homemade pizza base ever. It's not thick and heavy like some, but not too thin either. And because I love to share so much, here is the recipe:
In a large bowl combine a 7g sachet of dried yeast, 1 teaspoon of caster sugar and 2� cups plain flour (strong bread flour works best). Gradually add 1 cup warm water and stir until it forms a soft dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes, unless you're stronger than me in which case it won't take as long). You may need to keep adding flour a little at a time as you knead it, as the dough starts out quite sticky. Place the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 15 minutes or until almost doubled in size. Punch the dough down, remove from the bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface for 2-3 minutes. Roll the dough out to fit your pizza tin, add toppings and bake for 25-30 minutes in a 210�C oven.

We made one large rectangular pizza with this quantity, about the size of a standard baking/cookie sheet. Next time we are going to try dividing the dough in two and making round thin pizzas. I'll let you know how it goes.

One more thing. We bought our bikes today. But more about that later. I am off to dream up some more bread making adventures.

Jan-05-2005 @ : AM