Sharing Lockdown Day 8

Look what I made this morning and then we couldn’t stop eating it.

I have always love the bread that Mark Lane makes at the Polytech and once he gave me the recipe I was a convert . No kneading !!!

Base recipe

750 grams flour

15 grams yeast

14 grams sugar

10 grams salt

Roughly 500 – 700 mls water depending on type of flour

In a large bowl or pot combine all the ingredients. Cover and leave overnight. I use a little flour to remove the dough from my bowl onto a greased baking tray. It will be quite sloppy . Shape into an oblong. Bake at 200 C for 20 -25 minutes.

I used half white flour and half wholemeal and only mixed up half with water to make 1 bread. I will mix the remainder with yeast, sugar salt and water in a couple of days when we have finished this one. We have eaten very little bread in the past week but, this is fatal. I had my first slice hot out of the oven dripping with butter and fresh nectarine jam .

Philips day was huge so I managed to grub and plant tussocks in the 4 bays on the driveway by myself. It took about 3 hours and I am getting quicker but I was very hot and hungry by 2.30pm . Back to the bread and made a workers sandwich

The river looks beautiful on these Autumn days and after the destructive floods at the end of last year it is has its beautiful green/blue colour back . I enjoyed a walk and paddled my feet in the freezing cold water then headed back through the vineyard . The pickers had just thinned and I couldn’t resist picking up the ripe Pinot Noir grapes discarded on the ground. They are so sweet and I’ll be going back to find out what I can do with them.

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Labne has become a staple in our fridge and it can be a substitute for a soft cheese and fabulous for dips and spreads plus the basis for grilled tomatoes, figs or chillies.

I usually make up a kilo pottle of Collective Greek or unsweetened Yoghurt. Add a teaspoon of salt and the juice of a lemon to the top of the yoghurt and whip it with a fork in the pottle . Line a sieve with a paper towel, tip the yoghurt in and sit the sieve on top of a bowl . Chill over night in the fridge. your will have a clear juice in your bowl in the morning and a delicious thick Labne in your sieve. Transfer back into your pottle to use.

Roast Cherry Tomatoes on Cold Labne

1x punnet cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 cloves garlic crushed

branch fresh thyme

zest of a lemon

Place all the ingredients in a small baking dish . Season. Mix to combine . Bake at 220 C for about 20 minutes until the tomatoes have started to blister. Turn the grill on and grill for a few minutes and let the tomatoes blacken a little . Spread the yoghurt onto a small serving plate tip over the hot tomatoes along with the juice.

I served this with our rotisserie chicken but it is wonderful just with the bread.

We bid for a Heston Blumental barbecue at a Polytech fundraiser last year – donated by Martin Dippie from Mitre 10 …. and we got it. It cooks with charcoal and has a rotisserie that I am sure many of you will have on your barbecue. I prepared the chicken by cutting slits all over and pushing in garlic slices, rubbed with olive oil and seasoned with flaky sea salt . You could also rub it with your favourite spice mix. I sometimes use my friend Betty’s ‘Bay Spice’ that she gives us for Christmas each year. The chicken took about an hour to cook but you can also place it in the hot oven.

I heated the remainder of the scalloped potatoes which tasted even better with our chicken and Roasted Tomatoes .

The Dahlias I brought up from Winston Place have had enough . Time to go wandering and there are lots of Rosehips. These were once collected and made in into a syrup for babies because of their high Vitamin C value.

My friend and famous jeweller Lynn Kelly dries the rose hips and makes very stunning necklaces . So many clever people out there .

XXX Stay Safe . Jude