Quick questions on ANYTHING (see first post for Freezing, Reheating, Slow Cooker, +)

Penelope_Penguin

kscour wrote:

Hi
Just a quick question about flour
At the moment I have strong bread flour, plain flour & self raising in the cupboard. I make quite a bit of pizza bases/bread & sponge cakes.
I know I could add baking powder to the plain flour to turn it into self raising but could I use strong bread flour as plain flour & add baking powder to it to make self raising? I was wondering as the bread flour has more gluten in apparently.
I'm hoping to make more room in my cupboard by have as few different types as possible and also I can order the bread flour fairly cheap in bulk so if it would do for everything I'd be saving a few pennies as well as making more room. But I need to be sure the sponge cakes will still be nice and fluffy or DD's will be registering themselves as deprived children!

HI, no you're right, you can't use bread flour for cakes. Bread flour is classed as *strong* as it has a higher proportion of gluten than *soft* cake flour.

Can I ask what your source of cheap bread flour is? I buy mine in 1.5kg bags, but I'm sure I could get it cheaper, the volumes that I buy!

Penny. x

Penelope_Penguin

belfastgirl23 wrote:

Hi all, I'm hoping to make a big spinach lasagne today and freeze some of it. I'm using Rose Elliot's recipe which has quite a bit of skimmed milk cream cheese in it (which I haven't bought yet!) and suddenly realised that maybe this doesn't freeze so well? I've got the tomato sauce made and the spinach defrosting so I've got to make it one way or another. Anyone any ideas, I'd be really grateful. I had a bit of a disaster with freezing risotto recently and I don't want to repeat it!

I've successfully frozen lasagne, both meat and veggie versions. I find it most convenient to cut into individual portions, for ease of serving later.

HTH, Penny. x

bluedog

I intended to cook the joint of beef in the slow cooker today, but have slept in ridiculously late (thanks to meds I'm on) so will have to do it in the oven. I tend to cremate meat this way so would appreciate some help for a more medium rare result with it please.

I have a fan oven and the joint is 1lb 9oz silverside.

Seakay

This explanation seems to be the most simple -
To cook: Waitrose recommend beef should be thoroughly cooked. To roast silverside preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4 and adjust the shelves so that the meat will sit in the centre of the oven. Weigh the joint in order to calculate the cooking time. If you like rare beef cook the joint for 20 minutes per 450g plus 20 minutes, for a medium result cook the meat for 25 minutes per 450g plus 25 minutes and for a well done joint cook it for 30 minutes per 450g plus 30 minutes. Baste the meat regularly during cooking. To pot roast, the meat is simmered slowly at a low temperature either in the oven or on the hob with liquid for up to 3 hours (check your recipe for specific cooking instructions and timings). When cooking, ensure that the lid fits tightly to prevent the cooking liquid evaporating. Once the joint is cooked (whether roasted or pot roasted), allow it to stand for 10 minutes - this will make it easier to carve.


So for your joint to come out medium I would suggest 35-40 minutes in an oven preheated to 180C. Baste every 10 or 15 minutes. (Use cooking juices or a teaspoon of oil to pour or brush over or a small piece of marg/butter/lard to rub over).
If you have a roasting tin which you can fit a grid or even a cooling rack into then use that and put a little water into the tin to stop burning and start the gravy off.

Penelope_Penguin

Hi, bluedog! Silverside definitely benefits from long slow cooking, so I usually pot roast it. I'm planning to cook this recipe from Delia for friends at the weekend (thanks for the inspiration :T :T ). If that doesn't appeal try googling *silverside recipe* and you'll get lots.

BTW, potroasting helps your *cremation* issue, too.

HTH, Penny. x

kscour

Penelope_Penguin wrote:

HI, no you're right, you can't use bread flour for cakes. Bread flour is classed as *strong* as it has a higher proportion of gluten than *soft* cake flour.

Can I ask what your source of cheap bread flour is? I buy mine in 1.5kg bags, but I'm sure I could get it cheaper, the volumes that I buy!

Penny. x

Hi Penny
It was on the month without supermarket thread - I've looked quick and can't find it (so many posts now!) will have another look after school run & work. I liked the idea of them delivering the heavy packs of flour to the door!:D

K.

TKP_3

kscour wrote:

Hi Penny
It was on the month without supermarket thread - I've looked quick and can't find it (so many posts now!) will have another look after school run & work. I liked the idea of them delivering the heavy packs of flour to the door!:D

K.

Was it http://www.wessexmill.co.uk/acatalog/Bread_Flour.html ?

kscour

TKP wrote:

Was it http://www.wessexmill.co.uk/acatalog/Bread_Flour.html ?

it was a toss up between that one and this one:-

http://www.wrightsflour.co.uk/shopping/display3.asp

wrights only do the bread flour though - it would be 22.5kg for £12 inc free del. wessexmill delivery = over 25kg under 30kg £3.00, flour would be more expensive but I could order a variety of bread/sr/etc

organic_wanabe

Can anyone point me in the right direction please. I tried the search facility but it didn't come up with anything! I remember a while ago someone started a thread which I thought was called "Piperade" - a sort of inexpensive HM wrap. I thought I had bookmarked it but I'm having no luck finding it. I thought I would try making a few for tomorrow's packed lunches. Any help gratefully received.

organic_wanabe

Ignore my post above - I've found the recipe. It was for Piadine. Must get all my recipes filed into some sort of order!