Intentional living and baking 2025

EcoIntent

I have had a lovely weekend away and was back to work today. No baking as took receipt of a hello fresh box (50% discount), we’d picked this week to get one as we’d been away so no chance to go shopping and just easy. I settled with sorting the fridge, and cooking the chicken fajita pasta. Our DD didn’t want it …. She had a subway so at least I don’t need to cook tomorrow for us. She is having a homemade ready meal ( beef stew) from the freezer tomorrow. 

I did get the rye sourdough starter out the fridge this morning, let it warm up and fed it. So that will mean I can make bread tomorrow 🙂. I’m also going to either make chocolate chip muffins or cookies. Not decided which yet. 

Katiehound

You might like GH walnut & stilton soda bread. It was very good but I would make again omitting the cheese and adding loads more walnuts. It went with a soup recipe just to explain the title

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/a35587133/pea-ham-watercress-soup-stilton-walnut-soda-bread/

Rosa_Damascena

Katiehound said:

You might like GH walnut & stilton soda bread. It was very good but I would make again omitting the cheese and adding loads more walnuts. It went with a soup recipe just to explain the title

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/a35587133/pea-ham-watercress-soup-stilton-walnut-soda-bread/

I like this recipe, from store cupboard ingredients to "shaggy dough" to no resting time required. Have cut bread out over the past three weeks but this is enough to entice me back!

Rosa_Damascena

I was watching Richard Bertinet bake bread on BBC Maestro yesterday - its quite hypnotic! Don't be afraid of the  dough, show it who's the boss (paraphrase).....

EcoIntent

@Rosa_Damascena thanks for both the recommendations. The soda bread sounds up my street! I;ove stilton and walnuts

I have Richard Bertinet's book 'Pastry' and really do need to open it. He is the one that is so good at demoing how to handle dough.

This week has got away with me, with work and not loads of baking done. I sadly had a baking fail yesterday with my sourdough as totally forgot it was in the oven as the timer didn't go off. The crust was like a brick after being baked for 30 mins too long! It tasted amazing inside too . It has a long 36 hour cold ferment in the fridge because I'd been away with work as well.  I was sulking!

Today, just made choc chip american muffins and used up my almond milk in them.

Katiehound

Ha! 'Twas me that recommended the GH walnut & stilton soda bread and posted the link! ........

EcoIntent

@Katiehound gosh more haste less speed, and thank you!!!! 

I have added stilton to my shopping list for this week  

EcoIntent

A question for anyone out there who might know about these things .... 

My mum wants me to try making wheatgerm bread, as in how Hovis used to be in the 1960s. I have now got the wheatgerm https://www.shipton-mill.com/products/organic-wheatgerm-and-bran-500g-508 

The online shop says add 5% to bread, but anybody either know or want to join me in research to look for an oldstyle Hovis recipe?

I'm in for a restful don't leave home today, kind of day, and really looking forward to it. 

I have started a sourdough to autolyse for 30 mins (just to make kneading easier - I really do feel like I am still learning with high hydration doughs) - although I had meant to try kneading with a dough hook in my kitchenaid for the first time today BUT I was being absent minded and put in the wrong bowl - so will try kneading by hand again imminently.

Also making James Morton's rolls (they are milk rolls, with milk instead of water), super easy and quick as just normal yeast because I'm after a bacon roll at lunchtime. They are on first rise.

Brie

EcoIntent said:

A question for anyone out there who might know about these things .... 

My mum wants me to try making wheatgerm bread, as in how Hovis used to be in the 1960s. I have now got the wheatgerm https://www.shipton-mill.com/products/organic-wheatgerm-and-bran-500g-508 

The online shop says add 5% to bread, but anybody either know or want to join me in research to look for an oldstyle Hovis recipe?

I'm in for a restful don't leave home today, kind of day, and really looking forward to it. 

Would this work?  It's a Canadian recipe so the measurements are by volume not by weight but that's easy enough when they're all working on the same system rather than a mix of volume and weight which I find confusing.  Surprised by it having cocoa in it.  You might sub the gravy browner with marmite or soy sauce.  And you might not have some of the other ingredients like molasses.

Hovis - The Lost Recipe

This one may be simpler so might be worth a watch.

Bing Videos

Nelliegrace

An interesting challenge, thank you, @EcoIntent.

I remember HōVIS was a wheatgerm loaf, so not wholemeal. The advert I remember from the 60s was, “Don’t say brown, say HōVIS.” A brown loaf was white flour with colouring. 

The wartime, national loaf was wheatmeal, using 85% of the wheat. 

https://www.hampshiremills.org/Snippets%20hovis.htm

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu-v6ICAGKo

https://www.cooksinfo.com/national-loaf#:~:text=%E2%80%9CApart%20from%20yeast%2C%20salt%2C,and%20calcium%20in%20the%20proportions