Chaps Can Bake Too..

Illegal Stout Bread...

It is nearly the weekend, so time to again turn our thoughts to food & drink.

Living life on the edge.. the Danish Police could be here any second.

I've not ever been a fugitive from the law before, however this bread contains marmite, illegal here in Denmark, so I suspect my days as a free man may be numbered!

Based on a German recipe I found, this is a mite more involved than last weeks' soda bread offering but don't let that put you off - this is some of the nicest bread I've tasted. Wonderfully aromatic with the complex taste of the stout mixed with marmite & honey.

The dough is left to rise overnight, and then again for a few hours, creating a lovely moist loaf.

Ingredients:

1. 10g of fresh yeast (or a 1/4 tsp of the dried stuff.)
2. 1 liberal dollop Marmite.
3. 1 tbsp honey.
4. 330ml stout or porter, room temperature.
5. 400g strong white or spelt flour.
6. 200g rye flour.
7. 1 tsp salt.
8. 25g warmed butter, diced.
9. 1 tbsp left over beer, for brushing

Procedure:

1. Crumble the yeast in to a jug, add the beer, honey and marmite and mix well.
2. Mix the flours, salt and butter in a large bowl until you have something that resembles bread crumbs.
3. Make a well in the middle and pour in the liquid. Gradually work over until it is all mixed together and you have a sticky dough - if too wet add a little more flour.
4. Turn out on to a floured work top and knead enthusiastically for 10 minutes. The dough will gradually firm up.
5. Plonk in to  a bowl, cover & let dough rise for a minimum of 6 hours, ideally overnight in the fridge. The dough should double in size.
6. Turn out on to work top again and punch to deflate.
7. Shape in to a round and place on a baking sheet.
8. Cover & leave in a warm place to rise for 1 to 4 hours (depending on the initial temperature of the dough.)
9. Preheat oven to 200ºC / 400ºF / Gas-mark 6.
10. Assuming you have not already drunk any left over beer use it to brush the loaf. If you want to dust with cracked rye.
11. Score the loaf with a sharp knife.
12. Bake for 35 mins or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

Enjoy!

Weekend Man Food - Steak & Porter Pie.

An English Classic.

Meat & Beer. In a pie. Excellent.

As the weekend looms my thoughts turn naturally to food & drink and the order in which I shall spend the next 48 hours consuming them. Autumn is here and the summer days of watching the wife mince about with bits of salad are thankfully gone.

This recipe, a variant of the traditional streak & ale pie, is quick & easy to prepare, leaving you plenty of time to recover from the rigours of the working week.
It is also quite thrifty - braising or stewing steak is cheap, but responds wonderfully to a slow cook. If possible try to purchase it from a local butcher, that way you'll know what you're getting and end up with better quality, tastier meat.

Porter has a quite nutty / malty profile that imparts a fabulous intensity of flavour to the meat. Meantime Brewery in Greenwich, London, make a great porter that is well worth seeking out. As I'm stuck in Copenhagen I'm using Carlsberg's own. (Yes, they do other things than larger, it's actually quite good.)

Meat & beer. In a pie. What more could a chap want?

Ingredients:-

1. 2lb stewing steak, cut into cubes
2. plain flour, seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, for dusting
3. liberal dash, olive oil
4. 2 onions, sliced
5. 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
6. 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
7. salt & freshly ground black pepper
8. 1/2 pint hot beef stock (stock cubes will do if you don't have your own.)
9. 1/2 pint porter (you can drink the other half whilst cooking!)
10. 8oz ready-rolled short crust or puff pastry, both work well (if you have time, make your own, though puff is bit of a fiddle.)
11. 1 free-range egg, beaten.

• Method:-

1. Dust the cubed steak with the seasoned flour
2. Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan and fry the meat, stirring frequently, until browned on all sides. 
3. Remove meat and set aside.
4. Add the sliced onions and herbs and fry off until soft & golden.
5. Add the browned meat, salt and freshly ground black pepper, porter & stock and bring to the boil.
6. Reduce the heat, partially cover and simmer gently for an hour and a half.
7. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
8. Transfer the filling mixture to your pie dish. Line the rim of the dish with a thin strip of pastry. Dampen the pastry rim by brushing with beaten egg. Cut a piece of pastry to fit across the top of the dish and place on top of the dish, pressing the edges together to seal. Decorate with pastry trimmings, make a steam hole in the centre of the pie by poking with a sharp knife, then brush with more beaten egg.
9. Transfer to the oven and cook for 1 hour. If the pastry gets too brown, cover it with foil.
10. Have your significant other sort out the vegetables. (If skipping proceed to next step.)
11. Serve hot with horse radish laced mashed potato. Wash down with more beer.

Stick any left over portions in the fridge and heat up during the week. Or simply have some other chaps over and devour the lot. Enjoy!