Vegetarian Wellington
Takes two hours to complete.
Ingredients:-
- 1 small butternut squash , halved lengthways and seeds scraped out
- olive oil
- 1 small dried red chilli , crumbled
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary , leaves picked and chopped
- 2 red onions , peeled and sliced
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small bunch fresh sage , leaves picked
- 100 g vac-packed chestnuts , crumbled
- 2 slices sourdough bread
- 3 cloves garlic , peeled
- 1 lemon
- 20 g butter
- 250 g chestnut mushrooms , finely sliced
- 200 g Swiss chard or spinach , washed
- 50 g pine nuts
- 25 g sultanas
- 500 g all butter puff pastry
- 1 free-range egg
- 1 splash milk
Method:-
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Slice the squash lengthways into wedges and add to a large roasting tray with a good splash of olive oil, the chilli and cinnamon. Bash the coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar until fine, then add the rosemary leaves and bash again for 1 to 2 minutes to release its flavour. Scatter over the squash and toss together so that each piece of squash is well coated with the seasoning. Make sure all the squash is skin-side down, then cover with tin foil and bake in the hot oven for around 45 minutes or until soft. Allow to cool, then tear into bite-sized chunks.
- Meanwhile, heat a saucepan over a medium heat, then add a splash of olive oil and the onions. Season well with salt and pepper and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned. Add the sage and crumbled chestnuts to the pan for the last few minutes of cooking.
- While that’s happening, toast the bread on a hot griddle pan or in a toaster and rub well with one of the cloves of garlic. Tear into small chunks, and once the onions are done, add the toast to the pan. Turn the heat off, stir everything together, taste, then season and grate in the zest of the lemon.
- Add the butter to a frying pan on a medium heat and when melted, add the mushrooms and a chopped clove of garlic. Fry until soft and quite dry. Squeeze in a little lemon juice, tip into a food processor and whiz until smooth.
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the spinach and cook until soft. Drain in a colander, pressing lightly to get rid of excess moisture, then place to one side.
- Slice the remaining garlic clove and add to a frying pan with a splash of olive oil. Fry until golden. Add the pine nuts, sultanas and spinach and fry everything together until warmed through. Season well with salt and pepper and turn off the heat.
- Now assemble your Wellington. Roll out the puff pastry on a sheet of baking parchment until it’s about 30cm x 40cm, then spread the mushroom mixture all over it. In a large bowl, lightly toss together the spinach, squash and onion-bread mixture, then spoon it in a thick line down the middle of the pastry. Leave a space free at either side so you can roll the pastry around the filling.
- To do this, hold one side of the baking parchment and lift it, with the pastry, towards the centre of the Wellington so it starts to cover the filling. Peel the baking parchment back, leaving the pastry in place, then do the same with the other side. The pastry should overlap in the middle. Beat the egg with the milk and brush it over the pastry join to seal the join. Fold up the ends so the filling doesn’t leak out, then carefully roll the Wellington onto a baking sheet, with the seal underneath. Brush all over with the egg mix.
- Bake for 45 minutes until puffed up, golden brown and hot through. Serve carved into thick chunks – it’s fantastic served with veggie gravy.
- Details
- Written by Adrian
- Category: Vegey Meals
- Hits: 1563
Sourdough Starter 1
Sourdough Starter
Makes 4 cups
Uses:
All-purpose flour (or a mix of all-purpose and whole grain flour)
Water, preferably filtered
Equipment
2-quart glass or plastic container (not metal)
Scale (highly recommended) or measuring cups
Mixing spoon
Plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel
Method:-
Overview
- Making sourdough starter takes about 5 days. Each day you 'feed' the starter with equal amounts of fresh flour and water. As the wild yeast grows stronger, the starter will become more frothy and sour-smelling. On average, this process takes about 5 days, but it can take longer depending on the conditions in your kitchen. As long as you see bubbles and sings of yeast activity, continue feeding it regularly. If you see zero signs of bubbles after three days, take a look at the Troubleshooting section below.
Method:-
Day 1: Make the Initial Starter
- 4 ounces (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water
- Weigh the flour and water, and combine them in the container. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with plastic wrap or the or with a clean kitchen towel secured with a rubber band
- Put the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 2: Feed the Starter
- 4 ounces (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water
- Take down your starter and give it a look. You may see a few small bubbles here and there. This is good! The bubbles mean that wild yeast have started making themselves at home in your starter. They will eat the sugars in the the flour and release carbon dioxide (the bubbles) and alcohol. They will also increase the acidity of the mixture, which helps fend off any bad bacterias. At this point, the starter should smell fresh, mildly sweet, and yeasty.
- If you don't see any bubbles yet, don't panic — depending on the conditions in your kitchen, the average room temperature, and other factors, your starter might just be slow to get going.
- Weigh the flour and water for today, and combine them in the container. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with plastic wrap or with a clean kitchen towel secured with a rubber band. Put the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 3: Feed the Starter
- 4 ounces (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water
- Check your starter. By now, the surface of your starter should look dotted with bubbles and your starter should look visibly larger in volume. If you stir the starter, it will still feel thick and batter-like, but you'll hear bubbles popping. It should also start smelling a little sour and musty.
- Again, if your starter doesn't look quite like mine in the photo, don't worry. Give it a few more days. My starter happened to be particularly vigorous!
- Weigh the flour and water for today, and combine them in the container. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with plastic wrap or with a clean kitchen towel secured with a rubber band. Put the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 4: Feed the Starter
- 4 ounces (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water
- Check your starter. By now, the starter should be looking very bubbly with large and small bubbles, and it will have doubled in volume. If you stir the starter, it will feel looser than yesterday and honeycombed with bubbles. It should also be smelling quite sour and pungent. You can taste a little too! It should taste sour and somewhat vinegary.
- When I made my starter here, I didn't notice much visual change from Day 3 to Day 4, but could tell things had progress by the looseness of the starter and the sourness of the aroma.
- Weigh the flour and water for today, and combine them in the container. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with plastic wrap or with a clean kitchen towel secured with a rubber band. Put the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 5: Starter is Ready to Use
- Check your starter. It should have doubled in bulk since yesterday. By now, the starter should also be looking very bubbly — even frothy. If you stir the starter, it will feel looser than yesterday and be completely webbed with bubbles. It should also be smelling quite sour and pungent. You can taste a little too! It should taste even more sour and vinegary.
- If everything is looking, smelling, and tasting good, you can consider your starter ripe and ready to use! If your starter is lagging behind a bit, continue on with the Day 5 and Beyond instructions.
Day 5 and Beyond: Maintaining Your Starter
- 4 ounces (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water
- Once your starter is ripe (or even if it's not quite ripe yet), you no longer need to bulk it up. To maintain the starter, discard (or use) about half of the starter and then 'feed' it with new flour and water: weigh the flour and water, and combine them in the container with the starter. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter.
- If you're using the starter within the next few days, leave it out on the counter and continue discarding half and 'feeding' it daily. If it will be longer before you use your starter, cover it tightly and place it in the fridge. Remember to take it out and feed it at least once a week — I also usually let the starter sit out overnight to give the yeast time to recuperate before putting it back in the fridge.
How to Reduce the Amount of Starter:
- Maybe you don't need all the starter we've made here on an ongoing basis. That's fine! Discard half the starter as usual, but feed it with half the amount of flour and water. Continue until you have whatever amount of starter works for your baking habits.
How to Take a Long Break from Your Starter:
- If you're taking a break from baking, but want to keep your starter, you can do two things:
- Make a Thick Starter: Feed your starter double the amount of flour to make a thicker dough-like starter. This thicker batter will maintain the yeast better over long periods of inactivity in the fridge.
- Dry the Starter: Smear your starter on a Silpat and let it dry. Once completely dry, break it into flakes and store it in an airtight container. Dried sourdough can be stored for months. To re-start it, dissolve a 1/4 cup of the flakes in 4 ounces of water, and stir in 4 ounces of flour. Continue feeding the starter until it is active again.
- Details
- Written by Adrian
- Category: Breads
- Hits: 1780
Roast Duck
Ingredients:-
- a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
- ½ nutmeg , grated
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 oranges or blood oranges , zested and halved
- 2 x 2 kg whole ducks , necks and giblets reserved and roughly chopped
- 8 cloves garlic , unpeeled
- 3 red onions , peeled and quartered
- a few stalks celery , trimmed and chopped into chunks
- 3 carrots , scrubbed and chopped into chunks
- ½ stick cinnamon
- 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger , peeled and roughly chopped
- a few bay leaves
- 2 kg Maris Piper potatoes , peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1 litre water or organic chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 200 ml red port
Method:-
- This festive duck is loaded with tasty herbs and spices, and the delicious fat is used to flavour the potatoes and port gravy.
- Pick the leaves off one of the rosemary sprigs and place on a board with the nutmeg, orange zest, thyme and one tablespoon of sea salt. Chop everything together and rub the mixture all over the ducks, inside and out. Cover and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to let the flavours penetrate.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and place the shelves on the middle and bottom levels. Stuff the ducks with the remaining rosemary sprigs and orange halves, and the garlic cloves, then place them breast-side up, straight on to the bars of the middle shelf. Scatter the onion, celery and carrot in the bottom of a large, deep-sided roasting tray with the cinnamon, ginger, bay leaves, and chopped duck neck and giblets. Place on the bottom shelf beneath the ducks so it will catch all the lovely fat that drips out of them.
- Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a pan. Cover with cold, salted water, bring to a simmer and parboil for 5 to 10 minutes, then tip into a colander and chuff them up a little.
- After the duck has roasted for an hour, take the bottom tray out of the oven, replacing it immediately with an empty tray. Spoon the fat from the veggie tray into a bowl. Put all the veg, duck bits and juices into a large saucepan, then add a little boiling water to the tray to get all the sticky brown bits off the bottom – this is what you’re going to make your gravy with. Tip the water and brown bits into the pan with the veg, top up with 1 litre of water or chicken stock and place on a medium heat, skimming off any of the fat that rises to the top.
- Put your parboiled potatoes into the empty tray in the oven. Add a few more tablespoons of duck fat from the bowl, season, and place back underneath the ducks to cook for an hour.
- Meanwhile, heat a saucepan and add 2 tablespoons of duck fat. When it’s hot and melted, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a paste. Stir in the contents of the saucepan and the port. Bring the gravy to the boil and simmer gently for half an hour, stirring occasionally. By now the ducks will have had 2 hours in the oven and will be done. Lift them on to a plate, cover loosely with tin foil and leave to rest for about 15 minutes.
- Pour the gravy through a sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing down on all the veg and other bits to extract as many flavours and juices as you can. Keep the gravy warm in the saucepan, again skimming off any fat on the surface.
- Don’t carve the ducks – the best thing to do is to pull the meat away from the bones with a pair of tongs or with your fingers wearing clean kitchen gloves, then let everyone fight over the delicious skin! Serve with your potatoes and port gravy.
- Details
- Written by Adrian
- Category: Uncategorised
- Hits: 2721
Sourdough Bread - long method, very tasty. Preferred Longer Recipe
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Sourdough Bread
Makes 2 loaves
This is the tastiest bread I've made but it has a lot of stages that are organised into one long day in the kitchen - great if you have a few minutes every now and then to attend to it. Pictures of two loaves baked a day apart:

First loaf - nice and sour, good rise and nice crumb.

second loaf - best yet, lovely taste, crust a little hard maybe.
Ingredients:-
For the leaven:
- 1 tablespoon active sourdough starter
- 75 grams (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour or bread flour
- 75 grams (1/3 cup) water
For the dough:
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 350 grams water
- 700 grams (5 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour or bread flour
Equipment
- Small mixing bowl
- Large mixing bowl
- Plastic wrap or other covering for the bowls
- Spatula
- Pastry scraper
- Bread proofing baskets, colanders, or mixing bowls
- Dutch ovens or large heavy-bottomed pots with lids
- Lame, sharp knife, or serrated knife
Method:-
Two days before baking
- Make sure your sourdough culture is active: If your sourdough has been in the fridge, take it out 2 to 3 days before you plan to bake. Feed it daily to make sure it's strong and very active before you make the bread.
- Make the leaven (overnight):
- The night before you plan to make the dough, combine a tablespoon of active sourdough culture with the flour and water for the leaven. Mix thoroughly to form a thick batter. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight, for about 12 hours.
Michel: I used 200g of my starter which was very liquid instead of the leaven.
One day before baking, early morning
- Test that the leaven is ready:
Generally, if the surface of the leaven is very bubbly, it's ready to be used. To double check, drop a small spoonful of the leaven in a cup of water; if the leaven floats, it's ready.
- Dissolve the salt:
Combine the salt and 50 grams of water for the dough in a small bowl. Set aside, stirring every so often to make sure the salt dissolves.
- Mix the leaven and water:
Combine the leaven and the 300ml of water for the dough in a large mixing bowl - keep some back in case the starter is too wet making the whole dough too wet. (Michel: the leaven seems to be better if on the druer, stiffer side. When I've made it using a wet leaven the water in the mix needed to be reduced). Stir with a spatula or use your hands to break up and dissolve the leaven into the water. It's OK if the leaven doesn't fully dissolve and a few clumps remain.
Michel: I used 250g water with a runny leaven and 300g water with a dry leaven.
- Add the flour:
Stir 700g of flour into the water and leaven with a spatula until you see no more visible dry flour and you've formed a very shaggy dough. Add the reserved water if too stiff or a little more flour if too wet.
Michel: My dough seemed dry and very hard to stir with a spoon but if you put a finger in it was quite wet and sticky.
- Rest the dough (30 minutes, or up to 4 hours):
Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. This is the autolyse stage where the flour is fully absorbing the water and enzymes in the flour begin breaking down the starches and proteins.
Michel: I rested in a warm room for an hour.
After 4 hours, lunchtime on day before
- Mix in the salt:
Pour the dissolved salt over the dough. Work the liquid and salt into the dough by pinching and squeezing the dough. The dough will feel quite wet and loose at this point.
- Begin folding the dough (2 1/2 hours):
To fold the dough, grab the dough at one side, lift it up, and fold it over on top of itself. Fold the dough four times, moving clockwise from the top of the bowl (or giving the bowl a quarter turn in between folds). Let the dough rest 30 minutes, then repeat. Do this a total of 6 times, every half hour for a total of 2 1/2 hours. The dough will start out shaggy and very loose, but will gradually smooth out and become tighter as you continue folding.
Late afternoon on day before baking
- Let the dough rise undisturbed (30 to 60 minutes):
Once you've finished the folds, let the dough rise undisturbed for 30 to 60 minutes, until it looks slightly puffed. This dough won't double in size the way regular, non-sourdough breads will; it should just look larger than it did when you started.
Teatime on day before baking
- Divide the dough:
Sprinkle some flour over your counter and turn the dough out on top. Work gently to avoid deflating the dough. Use a pastry scraper to divide the dough in half.
- Shape the dough into loose rounds:
Sprinkle a little flour over each piece of dough. Use your pastry scraper to shape each one into loose rounds — this isn't the final shaping, just a preliminary shaping to prep the dough for further shaping. Shape them into rounds by slipping your pastry scraper under the edge of the dough and then scraping it around curve of the dough, like turning left when driving. Do this a few times to build the surface tension in the dough (it makes more sense to do it than to read about it!). Flour your pastry scraper as needed to keep it from sticking to the dough.
- Rest the dough (20 to 30 minutes):
Once both pieces of dough are shaped, let them rest for 20 to 30 minutes to relax the gluten again before final shaping.
Early evening day before baking
- Prepare 2 bread proofing baskets, colanders, or mixing bowls:
Line 2 bread proofing baskets, colanders, or mixing bowls with clean dishtowels. Dust them heavily with flour, rubbing the flour into the cloth on the bottom and up the sides with your fingers. Use more flour than you think you'll need — it should form a thin layer over the surface of the towel.
- Shape the loaves:
Dust the top of one of the balls of dough with flour. Flip it over with a pastry scraper so that the floured side is against the board and the un-floured, sticky surface is up. Shape the loaf much like you folded the dough earlier: Grab the lip of the dough at the bottom, pull it gently up, then fold it over onto the center of the dough. Repeat with the right and left side of the dough. Repeat with the top of the dough, but once you've fold it downward, use your thumb to grab the bottom lip again and gently roll the dough right-side up. If it's not quite a round or doesn't seem taut to you, cup your palms around the dough and rotate it against the counter to shape it up. Repeat with the second ball of dough.
- Transfer to the proofing baskets:
Dust the tops and sides of the shaped loaves generously with flour. Place them into the proofing baskets upside down, so the seams from shaping are on top.
- Let the dough rise (3 to 4 hours, or overnight in the fridge):
Cover the baskets loosely with plastic, or place them inside clean plastic bags. Let them rise at room temperature until they look billowy and poofy, 3 to 4 hours. Alternatively, place the covered basket in the refrigerator and let them rise slowly overnight, 12 to 15 hours. If rising overnight, bake the loaves straight from the fridge; no need to warm before baking.
Day of baking
- Heat the oven to Gas Mark 9 (as hot as possible)
Place two Dutch ovens or other heavy-bottomed pots with lids in the oven, and heat to Gas Mark 9. (If you don't have two pots, you can bake one loaf after the next.)
- Transfer the loaves to the Dutch ovens:
Carefully remove one of the Dutch ovens from the oven and remove the lid. Tip the loaf into the pot so the seam-side is down. Repeat with the second loaf. (See Recipe Note if your loaf sticks to the basket.)
- Score the top of the loaf:
Use a lame, sharp knife, or serrated knife to quickly score the surface of the loaves. Try to score at a slight angle, so you're cutting almost parallel to the surface of the loaf; this gives the loaves the distinctive 'shelf' along the score line.
The bake, 3 sections
- Bake the loaves for 20 minutes:
Cover the pots and place them in the oven to bake for 20 minutes at Gas Mark 9.
- Reduce the oven temperature to Gas Mark 8 and bake another 10 minutes.
Resist the temptation to check the loaves at this point; just reduce the oven temperature.
- Remove the lids and continue baking 15 to 25 minutes:
Remove the lids from the pots to release any remaining steam. At this point, the loaves should have 'sprung' up, have a dry surface, and be just beginning to show golden color. Place the pots back in the oven, uncovered, at Gas Mark 8.
- Continue baking until the crust is deeply browned; aim for just short of burnt. It might feel a bit unnatural to bake loaves this fully, but this is where a lot of the flavor and texture of the crust comes in.
Finally eating
- Cool the loaves completely: When done, lift the loaves out of the pots using a spatula. Transfer them to cooling racks to cool completely. Wait until they have cooled to room temperature before slicing.
- Recipe Notes
- Whole-wheat sourdough: You can replace up to half of the all-purpose flour with whole-wheat or whole-grain flour.
- All-purpose vs. bread flour: Bread flour will give your bread a sturdier, chewier texture and a loaf that's easier to slice. Loaves made with all-purpose flour will be a bit more delicate, especially when you cut them, but still work just fine.
- If your loaf sticks to the proofing basket: This still happens to me all the time! It's annoying, but not the end of your sourdough dreams. If some of the dough stays stuck to the lining of the proofing basket, try to gently disengage it or pinch it away with your fingers. Fold a pinch of dough over the tear and bake as usual. The crust will look a little rough where it was torn, but the bread will still taste delicious.
- Adapted from Tartine Bread
- Details
- Written by Adrian
- Category: Breads
- Hits: 1976
Quick Sourdough Bread - with kneading. Preferred Quick Recipe
Based on a Hollywood recipe but changed to allow first prove in the fridge overnight.
This was a nice bread but lacked the sour taste. It was the most similar to 'normal' bread of all the recipes to date. Julie's favourite to date but I preferred the long prove method.

Overall 1 hour bake - a lot of flour from the prove basket on the loaf.

Nice crumb but could do with more big holes. Taste lacking sourness of longer proven bread.
Ingredients:-
- 375g/13oz strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
- 250g/9oz sourdough starter
- 7.5g salt
- 130-175ml/4-6fl oz tepid water
- olive oil, for kneading
Method:-
The evening before baking:
- Combine the flour, starter and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the water, a little at a time, and mix with your hands to make a soft dough (you may not need all of the water).
- Coat a chopping board or work surface with olive oil, then tip the dough onto it and knead the dough for 10-15 minutes, or until the dough forms is smooth and elastic.
- Tip the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film.
- Leave to rise in a warm place for up to five hours, or until at least doubled in size - can place in the fridge overnight in the middle of this proving. I did an hour in the warm before fridge overnight and then a few hours in the warm again.
Breakfast on the day of baking
- Take out of the fridge and return to warm place for rest of proving.
Lunchtime on the day of baking:
- Knead the dough until it’s smooth, knocking the air out. Roll into a ball and dust with flour.
- Tip the dough into a well-floured round banneton or proving basket and leave to rise for 4-8 hours.
The bake:
- Use a Dutch Oven and heat the oven to Gas Mark 9.
- Cut the top of the loaf after gently rolling it into the Dutch Oven.
- Gently tip the risen dough onto a lined baking tray.
- Bake the loaf for 30 minutes at this heat, then reduce the heat to Gas Mark 8. Remove the lid from the Dutch Oven and bake for a further 15-30 minutes.
- I use a long bake to get the crust very dark brown.
Cool on a cooling rack.
- Details
- Written by Adrian
- Category: Breads
- Hits: 1768
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