From Wheat to Bread - working with young children locally

We are working with Black Horse Hill Junior School to grow wheat, harvest, mill and make bread. We have harvested our spring wheat, and will soon be planting a winter crop. Next, to mill the grain.

New bakery class dates for 2013:  January 20th, February 17th and March 17th.

 Three of our October class with a choice of bread - we also made fruit loaves and olive rolls.

Sourdough bread with a TEFF starter

Heard of TEFF? It's a plant originating in Ethiopia, with absolutely tiny seeds, that makes a nutty flour a little like buckwheat. It doesn't have gluten, but is very lively and will ferment very quickly, and can be used to make your usual wheat or rye loaves - or added in for extra flavour. TEFF is a very nutritious grain.

I got my TEFF flour from my friend Zee, fermented it with 50% flour, 50% warm (30c) water, and within 24 hours it was bubbling and after 48 ready to use to ferment a wheat loaf. I used it in the usual proportions for a sourdough wheat loaf. The recipe follow.

Sourdough is based on the natural process of fermentation - it is not just one kind of grain, or one kind of loaf - enjoy experimenting! I have eaten TEFF with Zee in Ethiopian cuisine - where it is used to make INJERA, a spongy sourdough pancake. You can buy it from some wholefood or world food outlets, and it is sold in the UK wholesale by Suma.

 1. The Tef starter after 72 hours

 2. The Tef starter and white flour dough

3. The loaf - a bit flat but nice and spongy!

Recipe

1. For a loaf, make TEFF starter up over 72 hours, starting with four tablespoons of flour and water each, adding a tablespoon of water and flour every 24 hours, and keeping warm. Keep in a loose top plastic container.
2. Take 25 grams of the starter, and mix with 110 grams of water, 110 grams of good quality white flour. Leave overnight for 8-12 hours, covered.
3. Add a further 290 grams of flour - white or a mix of white and wholewheat, plus 170 grams of tepid water. Mix into a dough. Leave to rest for 20 minutes and then stretch. Leave to ferment for 4 hours.
4. Place into a proving basket, or a tin, and leave to rise for 2-4 hours.
5. If in a basket, turn onto a hot tray or stone, and pop into a hot 220c oven, turning down after 10 minutes to 200c (fan ovens take off 20 degrees from those figures). Bake for 45 minutes.
6. Turn out , cool, and enjoy.

The starter will keep in the fridge if you look after it - but it is really easy to make a new batch. You could also use the starter to make a pancake batter. Spongier than blinis but with good flavour.

Little Eye at the Wirral Food and Drink Festival

 

We are on stage giving an introduction to sourdough baking on Monday August 27th

www.wirralfoodfestival.co.uk

We will be introducing the low tech, hands on approach to baking embodied in our loaves to a mainstream festival audience. Roll up Roll up get your sour dough here!

Down to Cornwall, I dropped in early to see wood-fired oven baking at St Kew Harvest Farm Shop (google "real bread finder")

While down on a break, I found the Harvest Farm Shop at St Kew on the real bread finder, and met Jeremy, who has set up a lovely bakery with a 30 loaf capacity wood-fired oven. I went to join Jeremy at about 5 am on his early morning bake (he'd started the fire at 4.00), where he works alone to produce a good variety of yeasted and longer-fermented loaves. We enjoyed sharing a little baker's chat while he did the daily bake. The bakery is based in a farm shop he runs with his wife Antonina, stocked with lots of locally sourced produce and goodies.

New Farmers Market for Wirral Peninsular - check it out

Little Eye is part of a group of local producers working with Transition Town West Kirby to set up a new farmers market. WEST KIRBY FARMERS MARKET will begin in November 2012, and we'll keep you posted on who and what will be there. Links are:

Facebook and Twitter  - West Kirby Farmers Market
http://www.westkirbyfarmersmarket.co.uk/
www.transitiontownwestkirby.org.uk/farmersmarkets.html 

http://www.wirralfood.org.uk/

We will be there!

Real Food - Little Eye Sourdough is Rob's choice for his Lands End to John O'Groats charity ride

 

at about 6.00 am I made marmite sandwiches with the sourdough to eat mid afternoon - when energy levels were lowest and savoury was better than sugary snacks cos of the need for salt. The sourdough really hit the spot.

First 2 days through Cornwall and climbing Dartmoor were really tough and caused all sorts of ligament/tendon suffering -  for the remaining 10 days I seemed to settle down and became more and more comfortable with the 90-100 mile days. A fantastic experience and I have, thus far, raised just over £2,000 for Alzheimer's Society - all possible because of the wonderful generosity of very many people. www.alzheimers.org.uk