Yogurt and spelt bread

When experimenting with making my own yogurt the result was not always up to my standard. One morning the yogurt was not quite set, still sour and tasty but not thick enough for me to sprinkle my muesli on. Not much goes to waste in this house though so I decided to bake with the "sour" milk. Yogurt is nice to use in bread baking because it gives the bread a little more flavour and makes it more moist. First I was going to make Rye cakes but when I opened my cup board I saw a bag of spelt flour and decided to use that instead of rye.. With a small amount of yeast and lots of time for proving the result was a lovely moist bread with a nice crust and lots of flavour.

350 grams plain flour

200 grams spelt flour

7 grams dry yeast

2tsp salt

2tbsp golden syrup or honey

500ml yogurt or butter milk+25ml warm water

50 grams butter, room temperature
a couple of hand full of mixed seeds if you like

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and add to the yogurt. Add syrup/honey, salt and butter (and seeds if using) to the liquid. Add spelt flour while stirring. Work the plain flour into the mix, you might need a little more to create an elastic dough, not too wet and not too compact. Leave to prove under a cloth for 3h. Work the dough a little by hand and cut into 8 pieces. Roll balls of each piece and roll out to about 2cm thick. Let prove again for 30min. Bake for 20min on 200C.

Insalata caprese

Sometimes the simplest things are the tastiest, in those cases it is all about the ingredients; they need to be top quality. I think most people knows this dish as Tomato and Mozzarella salad. For me, and the whole of Italy, it is Insalata Caprese. Two weeks ago deep red tomatoes caught my eye in the vegetable aisle in the local super market. Those tomatoes together with mozzarella, freshly ground black pepper, a drop of olive oil and some fresh basil became a lovely lunch. The days are getting longer and the temperature rising and I feel more and more like eating fresh, light food.Go ahead and try this if you haven't, with a piece of bread and maybe even a cheeky glass of wine it is simply delicious.

1 tomato
1/2 ball of mozzarella
basil
salt and pepper
olive oil

Slice the tomato and mozzarella in 1/2cm thick slices. Arrange on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and ground black pepper and garnish with some fresh basil.

Home made yogurt

I am, as many other these days, quite aware of what I eat to amke sure I stay healthy and get all the nutrition I need. It is hard not to since it seems to be a favourite topic in magazines, books and TV programs. I have been thought from a young age to eat well and at regular hours. During week days my mum would make sure we ate well before heading to school, and at weekends breakfast was a meal the whole family would sit down to. I still make sure I eat breakfast every day and it does not even feel like a must, it is just a habit at this point.
My latest project has been to make my own yogurt, after reading how good probiotic yogurt is for a healthy digestion and boosting the immune system. It sounds a bit tricky but if you just have a thermometer, thermos and milk you are ready to go. You need to buy a good, plain probiotic yogurt to start the fermentation of the milk. After the first time you can save some of your home made yogurt and use as a starter for the next batch.

500ml milk (or as much you need to fill your thermos)
2tbsp probiotic yogurt (per 500ml milk)

Heat the milk up in a pot on medium heat. When it reaches 85C take off the heat. Fill the thermos with boiling water to sterilise it. When the milk comes down to 43C add the yogurt and stir. Pour out the water from the thermos, pour in the milk, put on the lid and let stand in room temperature for 8-10h. Transfer to a container and chill over night before eating. I like to eat mine with home made muesli.

Lemon semifreddo

Last week I had home made Lemon curd in the fridge and a bottle of Limoncello brought to us as a gift straight from Italy. It would have been a crime not to combine these to delicious things so I made Lemon semifreddo. Martin who was quick to grab the plate I used for the photo, a couple of minutes later I came in to the room and the dessert was gone. That kind of thing makes me smirk a little and feel very pleased with myself. The day after I served the dessert after a lovely meal and oh what a joy, the fresh tangy lemon cuts through the creamy, soft semifreddo and just melts in your mouth. The addition of limocello will not only make this dessert taste even better but also stop it from freezing too hard and leaves it kind of soft frozen. Served with fresh blueberries and mint it was a top class dessert.

4-6 portions

2 eggs, separated
200ml cream
60 grams caster sugar
50ml lemon curd
40ml limoncello

Whisk egg yolks and half of the sugar until fluffy and pale. In a separate bowl whisk the cream until soft peaks appear. In a third bowl whisk egg whites until fluffy, start adding sugar little by little while whisking. Continue whisking into a firm meringue.
Carefully combine whipped cream, egg yolks, limoncello and lemon curd. Last fold in the meringue and pour into a dish. Freeze for at least 3 hours. Leave in room temperature for 10min before serving.

Lemon curd

This classic, English spread goes just as well with your afternoon tea scone as in desserts and cakes. I came across Lemon curd a few years ago and was not that impressed to be honest, little did I know then all the wonderful things it can be used for. These days I make Lemon curd myself, I prefer not to eat in on toast or scones, I use it more as an ingredient while baking or making desserts. The other day I had some really juicy lemons in the fridge and decided to cook a small batch of Lemon curd, later in the week I used it for a lovely lemon semi freddo. The recipe comes from the "cooking bible" La Rousse, a personal favourite cook book that never lets me down with its many recipes.

2 lemons, juice and zest
100 grams butter
225 grams caster sugar
3 eggs, lighlty beaten

Melt butter in a pan on a low heat. Stir sugar, eggs , juice and zest of the lemons together until well combined. Add the lemon mix to the butter slowly while whisking. Stir until it starts to thicken, be careful not to let the eggs coagulate. Take off the heat and strain through a fine sieve. Keep in an air tight container in the fridge.

Digestive biscuits

Did you know you can make your own digestive biscuits? I did not until I the other day got the idea into my head and started having a look around on other food blogs and recipe pages. It obviously has been done before and there is a good few recipes out there. This recipe is one that came up on a few different pages and seemed easy enough. With a few different types of flour, butter and of course my lovely cookie stamp they turned out to be lovely. The taste is just like the biscuits you buy in a packet, maybe a little less sweet though. I like to dunk mine in a cup of tea but of course they go very well with a glass of cold milk.

12 biscuits

25 grams plain flour
35 grams whole wheat flour
40 grams oat flakes
40 grams butter
1tbsp milk
1/4tsp baking soda
1/4tsp salt
1tsp sugar

Blend oat flakes and whole wheat flour into a fine powder with a hand held mixer or in a kithcen assistant. Add plain flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. Rub butter into the dry mix and last milk to bind it together to a dough. Roll the dough out on a floured surface and take out cookies with a glass or cookie cutter, prick with a fork. Bake on 175C for 15min.

Brown butter banana cake

With brown bananas in the fruit bowl and a wish to bake something I was today standing in my kitchen. I had the recipe for my Banana oat bran muffins in front of me and was all ready to start when an idea came to me. After making the Friands a few weeks ago I have been wanting to make something else with brown butter. Reading a few recipes and blogs for inspiration I now had a plan; Brown butter banana cake. Imagine a rich, dense banana cake with the nutty, caramelised flavour of brown butter, a touch of cinnamon and served warm. It was absolutely delicious and I will definatly keep this recipe in mind for the next time I see brown bananas in the fruit bowl.

120 grams butter
150 grams soft brown sugar
2 eggs
180 grams plain flour
1tsp baking soda
1pinch of salt
1tsp ground cinnamon
60ml plain yogurt
2 bananas

Melt butter in a pan and keep it on the heat until a foam appears on the surface, it smells nutty and looks brown in colour. Set a side to cool down. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl mix eggs, sugar, the bananas roughly mashed up and butter. Add dry ingredients and yogurt. Stir until well combined and bake on 190C for 35-45min.