I bake bread. Not every day, or even every week. I bake when I need to feel dough in my hands or to witness the pure joy of taking a handmade loaf from the oven. The New Year has always felt like a time to bake, to watch the sorcery that happens when yeast and water meet flour and salt, but baking bread in this house is inevitably something for the weekend, when I can be more generous with my time.
A quickly made loaf, whose crust is risen not with yeast but by bicarbonate of soda, and needs no proving or shaping, might be a useful recipe to master. The speed appeals, but more than that, it is the fact that I can bake midweek (I can have a loaf in the oven within 10 minutes, baked in 30, sliced, toasted and buttered a heartbeat or two later.)
The soft, almost cake-like crumb of soda bread is especially good toasted and worth making a special butter for, either with finely chopped rosemary and coarse salt or something from the sea, such as tiny shrimps or seaweed. A rather fine spread can be made by simply mashing a block of unsalted butter with finely chopped smoked salmon and a squeeze of lemon, or for a more intriguing result you could infuse it with a packet of shrimps, the tiny brown ones, from the fishmonger.
Seeded soda bread
I do like a seeded loaf, especially when sliced and toasted. Pumpkin, linseed, sunflower or hemp seeds make for an interesting texture in a soda bread. Linseeds should be crushed if we are to make the most of their plentiful omega-3 fats, but I use them simply for their nutty taste and silky texture.
Makes 1 x 500g loaf
wholemeal flour 225g
plain flour 225g
bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp
sea salt ½ tsp
caster sugar 1 tsp
golden linseeds 2 tbsp
sunflower seeds 2 tbsp
hemp seeds 2 tbsp
buttermilk 350ml
Set the oven at 220C/gas mark 8. Place a heavy casserole, about 22cm in diameter, together with its lid, in the oven to heat up.
Sieve the flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the caster sugar. Add the linseeds, sunflower and hemp seeds and fold evenly through the flour. Pour in the buttermilk and mix thoroughly to a slightly sticky dough.
Dust a pastry board or the work surface generously with flour. Working fairly quickly, pat the dough into a round large enough to fit snugly into the casserole. Remove the hot pan from the oven, dust it generously with flour, which will prevent the loaf from sticking, then lower the dough into the casserole. Cover with a lid, then return to the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove the dish from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes before freeing the loaf and placing on a rack to cool.
Brown shrimp and dill butter
Hot toast spread with seafood butter is a splendid thing to put on the table on a winter’s afternoon. It carries the ghost of the fish paste my father would slather on his toasted Mothers Pride as we watched Grandstand on a Saturday afternoon. A much nicer version than his is made by warming tiny shrimps in butter – you can buy them in packets from the fishmonger – then letting them infuse before seasoning with dill and lemon.
peeled brown shrimps 50g
unsalted butter 125g
dill 3 tbsp, chopped
lemon juice to taste
Finely chop the brown shrimps, then put them in a small saucepan. Dice the butter, add to the shrimps, then leave it to melt over a low to moderate heat. As soon the butter starts to froth, remove from the heat, pour into a small bowl and refrigerate until the butter has set.
Remove the butter from the fridge and tip it into the bowl of a food processor. Beat, on a low speed, with a flat, paddle beater, until the butter is light and fluffy. Fold in the chopped dill and a little black pepper. Season to taste with salt and a few drops of lemon juice.
Dulse butter
I like the fact that both wholefood shops and some large supermarkets are selling little packs of seaweed. Once rinsed to rid it of its salt, the “sea vegetables”, as they are sometimes called, can be used to add a piscine note to a risotto or pasta. (I like it folded into ribbons of pappardelle with young, shelled mussels and toasted breadcrumbs.) The tender, wafer-thin dulse is especially useful.
unsalted butter 125g
dulse 30g, or other seaweed
parsley 2 tbsp, chopped
Remove the butter from the fridge, letting it soften for half an hour in a cool place, then cut it into small pieces.
Rinse the dulse to remove its salt, then dry with a paper towel, before roughly chopping. Cream the butter, beating hard with a wooden spoon until it is smooth and fluffy. Fold the dulse and the chopped parsley into the butter, then grind in a little black pepper. Bring to the table in a small dish.
The butter will keep for several days, tightly covered in clingfilm and refrigerated.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @NigelSlater
