Courgette, Lemon and raisins Bread

That’s my breakfast you see in the photo. I’m having three slices of my lovely courgette bread with Marmite and some mate while I write this post. It is 9:30 am now.

Yesterday was Getting-ready-for-Halloween Day at home, so we carved pumpkins and decorated the house while watching Frankenweenie and The Little Shop of Horrors.

I started the dough before sitting with the pumpkins, and shaped it, proof it and baked it in between watching movies and sticking plastic spiders and other gross stuff to the front windows and main door.

We tried the bread warm from the oven and it is quite nice, but I really loved it this morning, toasted, slightly crunchy, with the sweetness of the raisins and the saltiness of the Marmite clashing in my mouth.

There is nothing tricky about this bread, it is quite easy to make, and very, very tasty.

This is an adaptation of the Courgette Bread by A Girl Called Jack.

Ingredients (for a 1/2 kilo loaf tin + 6 small rolls or 2 {almost} 1/2 kilo loaf tins)

1 small courgette

300 g strong wholemeal flour

7 g dried, fast-acting yeast (fast acting yeast does not need activating. If you have dried yeast which is not fast acting, simply place it in a small bowl with 3 tablespoons of tepid water and half a teaspoon sugar and let it stand until it froths. Add to the bread preparation when you add the water and lemon juice)

50 g raisins

Zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon.

Some warm water (100 ml approx.)

Pinch of salt

A bunch of fresh lemon thyme, chopped. (I happen to have a plant of lemon thyme, but if you don’t, just avoid this ingredient).

How to:

1.- In a big bowl grate your courgette. Add the salt and lemon thyme.

2.- Mix the flour, the fast-acting yeast and the raisins together, then add to the courgette mixture. Use a spoon to mix everything together, so that the courgette is evenly distributed:

3.- Measure your lemon juice and add enough warm water to get 150 ml of liquid. Add the liquid and zest to the courgette-flour mixture. Depending on the amount of water from your courgette (mine was quite dry) you may find that you need to add a bit more water or a bit more flour.

Mix with your hands to form a dough. It is going to be on the sticky side and not as pliable as other doughs . Knead for 5 minutes vigorously.

4.- Let it rise, covered with a plastic bag or cling film until double in size.

5.- Once the dough has risen, knock the air out of it and divide into two portions. Shape one of them as a loaf and pop into a 1/2 kilo loaf tin lightly oiled or covered in baking paper.

Make 6 smaller balls with the remaining dough and place in a lightly oiled muffin tin:

6.- Let them rise for 30 minutes, covered.

I just cover my breads with plastic bags…

10 minutes before the proofing time is up, heat the oven at 180 C. Once the breads have risen…

7.- Place in the oven and cook for 35 minutes. The bread is fully baked if it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Enjoy warm or toasted, with some lovely honey, salty Marmite or melted butter.

The little rolls are great for the lunch box. The loaf is lovely toasted for breakfast.

Have a great Monday! Enjoy the sun (if you are in London, at least)!

Namaste,

Paula

Autumn is… Apple and plum pie

I must warn you in advance, that the photos for this post vary greatly, some look super dark and others bright. Unfortunately, the worst photos are those of my finished pie, so please know that your pie, if you follow this recipe, will be D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S and will also look good. Unlike mine…that looks like poo… boo…sniff, sniff.

So, Autumn is here, the days are shorter and the weather colder. What better way then to start your weekend than with this lovely apple and plum pie? It is sweet and slightly tangy, crumbly and warming. It lasted only a day 🙂

I used shop-bought shortcrust pastry because it was a last-minute idea and I didn’t feel like making my own. But if you have the time or inclination then by all means, make your own! The more home-made the better.

Ingredients:

2 gala apples

2 plums

1/4 cup of raisins

1/4 cup of chopped walnuts

The zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon corn flour (or you can use a flat tablespoon of plain flour)

How to:

1.- Slice your apples and plums. I didn’t peel the fruit, but you can.

2.- Place the apple, plums, raisins, walnuts, zest, lemon juice and honey in a bowl. Sprinkle with the cornflour and mix everything together.

3.- Roll out your pastry…

If it cracks, just wet your fingers and pat the cracks together again. You can see I did a lot of patting on mine…

Butter and flour a pie dish and then lay a strip of baking paper on the bottom of the dish  to help you take the pie out of it after baked. You can also line the whole dish with baking paper.

Then take the pastry and place it on top of your pie dish.

Use your fingers to help the pastry fit the dish. Then cut the extra pastry, we are going to use it to cover the pie.

4.- Now, cover the pie in foil, add baking beans to keep the pastry from puffing when you cook it. If you don’t have baking beans, you can use, lentils or rice.

5.- Place in the oven, at 180 C for 15 minutes. Then take it out. It will be cooked but still pale. Pre-baking your base will prevent the bottom of your pie from being soggy.

6.- While the pie cooks, we can move on to make the top of your pie. You can either just roll the remaining pastry out and place it on top of your pie after filling, or you can do what I did, and cut some shapes, in my case hearts and make the top with them:

7.- Fill the pre-baked pie with the apples and plums.

8.- Cover with the hearts or shapes of your choice. Paint the top with egg wash, and place in the oven at 180 C until the top is golden.

9.- Make sure you cover all of the pie, so that the fruit is trapped inside, that way instead of  dehydrating in the oven, it will steam in its own juices and all the flavours will intensify and mix together.

Here is what my pie looked like after baking (don’t worry, yours will look better, I promise!)

Namaste!

Paula