White Bloomers

I haven't posted on here about bread making for a while, since the unfortunate demise of Well Bread! I have been baking for us but not actually posting it.

I have kept my sourdough starters in the fridge and feed them weekly, this creates about 400g of starter that would otherwise be wasted every time I feed them.

I have used this for battered onion rings,

and for biscuits but this week I put it into the bread I was making to add flavour, not for any raising power as I used instant yeast as well. So here it is a mixture of White, Wholemeal Wheat, Wholemeal Spelt, and Rye starters.

weighing in at 360g that gave me 180g each of flour and water.

I simply made my dough reducing the flour and water by these amounts, to keep the same proportions.

Total Ingredients were 1500g flour (180g from starters), 975g water (180g from starters), 75g Olive Oil and 30g each salt and Instant yeast.

After kneading, I left it to prove in my proving oven, where it got a bit enthusiastic,

you can see the marks made by the top shelf where it rose more than expected.

I divided and shaped it into two loaves and left to rise again while the oven heated up. There was good aeration in the dough.

Then I slashed and baked for 30 minutes at 230°C with steam.

The result was a good loaf, and the crumb was perfect for sandwiches and toast.

Quick update

"The Rocks of Aserol," my next novel will be published on September 1st this year. In advance of that, I sent out a few review copies to gauge the response and also to get some feedback for marketing.

And I'm pleased to say that I have my first independent opinion of the story. You may have seen the full review on my website, but if not, here is the last paragraph, written by a guy called Chris Solaas.

"The Rocks of Aserol is an entertaining read, full of intrigue, action, and a liberal dose of steampunk. It is well-written and immersive, with a love story full of romance and rescue. Five Stars."

I'm so pleased with that, it makes the three years since I started writing the story seem like it was worth it. And it makes me want to push on with the sequel.

You can also catch up with the Flash Fiction vignettes from the world of Aserol, three of which have already been published here. The fourth will be posted on June 16th, and then they will appear fortnightly until publication day on September 1st.

There will be more news on pre-orders as soon as the links are established. And of the launch, which I hope to do 'live' on social media if I can.

Badgers Holt, (Mostly) wordless.

A rather nice place on Dartmoor, where the  east and west tributaries of the River Dart meet.
They have a few Peacocks,

Some Chickens,

Goats and Donkeys  

and some glorious scenery.

Back to Cooking

That's enough writing posts for a while, I'm back to cooking for a while. Just a few simple things that make the ordinary special.

First up is an easy tomato sauce for pasta, a few over-ripe tomatoes, spring onion, Garlic paste and a few herbs in the blender, maybe a teaspoon of sugar if you must!

It might not look too good but it will taste superb.

Next up, try chopping Sundried Tomato, sweetcorn, and spring onions, mix into couscous, delicious with fish.

We found an offer on Rhubarb, good news because our own had not survived in the garden after a wet winter. I love stewed Rhubarb.

I chopped the Rhubarb,

microwaved it for 10 minutes with a little sugar,

added blackberries from the freezer and a few Sultanas to soak up the liquid and gave it 10 minutes more.

That will be good with yogurt.

Finally, on my walk on Sunday I picked Elderflowers, 25 heads to be precise.

I soaked these in 1.8 litres of sugar syrup (1:1) with added Citric acid and Lemon Juice.

and left it to soak for 24 hours.

Then I strained and bottled it. These will go into the freezer for a taste of summer in the winter.

Big News

I can tell you now, I'm involved in a project with eight other authors, between us we've produced a set of "What if?" stories surrounding 1066 and the Battle of Hastings.
The book will be published in September, meantime here is the cover.

More news to follow soon.