Becoming a Home Baker

Maybe I should have said “Becoming a Home Baker Again”. My last gig with Cadwyn Ogwen (local community food hub) was not working out for me. I haven’t baked for sale since Christmas, had my 74th birthday in February, membership of Bread Bakers Guild of America expired yesterday, my Public Liability Insurance runs out next […]

Alright then – how about Day 2?

Yip, 80% hydration dough again. Monday morning. How to make it special? Mince in the freezer, dough in the fridge – has to be Burgers! Dough has only been in the fridge overnight – never used it this fresh before. Usual routine. 100g dough straight from the fridge. Turn on the oven to 250C. Soon […]

On the Seventh Day

Yes, another episode in the 80% hydration story. Click on the link if you want to catch up. Basically it’s a simple wet dough that I make most weeks. It goes straight in the fridge for at least two days after which I start using it for pizza and focaccia, and then for rustic buns, […]

Moules Poulette/Frites

Happened upon some Conwy mussels today, in fact they were delivered to the front door by Llandudno’s Mermaid along with a bunch of other seafood goodies. One of the many things we have learned during lock-down is the Mermaid does free deliveries to Bethesda for orders of over £20.00 and, given the price of cod, […]

Lebanese Lamb Flatbreads

Yet another use for matured 80% dough. Alright, it’s a pizza if you really insist. 200g each of dough after 48hrs in the fridge. Pressed out on a pizza tin and proved for a couple of hours. Original from a James Martin recipe Lebanese Spiced Lamb on BBC Food. For two pizzas I started with […]

Followed by … The Birthday!

Three days separating Valentines from the birthday but it’s classed as holiday so we still had a good, if less up-market, time. Difference on the Wednesday was I didn’t have to do anything but sit on a high stool and pop corks and not fall off. What an amazing difference a three day marinade and […]

Valentines Weekend 2021

Always a festive time of the year. A couple of weeks doing Christmas and New Year (usually after big bakes); the winter dip in energy followed by the tedium of income tax returns. But then, the approach of Valentines Day followed by my birthday three days later. These things we take seriously. Valentines falling on […]

Garlic & Sausage Pizza

Peter Reinhart’s Garlic Lovers’ Italian Sausage. Deep pan pizza – how to feed two people on three sausages – just look at that caramelised cheese. Couldn’t even finish it (until this morning!)

The Chicken Burger

“The” Chicken Burger because this isn’t any old chicken burger, it’s a bit magnificent. Comes from the ancient document below, carbon dated to the last century. Back in the 1990’s Richard Ehrlich had a column in the Guardian magazine when Matthew Fort edited the food section. I liked that era unlike the “Feast” of the […]

Stacked Enchiladas

I buy my tortillas by the kilo from Cool Chile Co. That’s about 40 a pack and, if you’ve got to pay mailing, you might as well buy two packs or, like this time, I pressed the wrong button and ended up with three packs. That’s a lot of tortillas even after I gave one […]