Easy White Bread Rolls Recipe

I've been away on holiday to the wonderful island of Madeira, we had amazing food at our hotel and I especially loved the vast choice of desserts but now it's back to every day home cooking and salad, salad and more salad!  I made these bread rolls before I went away on holiday.

I used to live in a small market town in Leicestershire and one of the things we ate regularly at home was a cob filled with Leicester cheese and topped with a few slices of home made pickled beetroot and a grinding of black pepper. It's still a firm favourite now and if you can find time to make your own bread and cook up some beetroot it takes lunch to another level. I must write a blog post showing how easy it is to cook beetroot using a steam oven, trust me it saves getting everything covered in beetroot juice, and if you've ever cooked beetroot in a pressure cooker you will know where I'm coming from!

The bread dough was made in my Thermomix but I've included instructions for using a stand mixer too, the rolls are easy to make and are wonderfully soft, light and fluffy, this is a recipe I use time and again. I always use Waitrose Canadian White Strong Bread Flour because I've found it consistently gives me the best result.

Thermomix Instructions in Italics

Makes: 12

500g strong white bread flour
5g fast-action yeast
10g salt
35g butter
300ml warm water

1. Put the flour into the bowl of the mixer and using the appropriate attachment rub in the butter.
2. Add the yeast and salt to the bowl, it's always best to place them on opposite sides of the bowl.
Add the flour, yeast, salt and butter to the jug Turbo x 3 times.
3. Fit the dough hook and pour in 300ml of warm water, knead for 5 minutes until the dough is elastic.
Pour 300g warm water into the jug Knead Function/4 minutes.
4. Remove the dough and place into a greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and prove for an hour or so until doubled in size.
Prove the dough in the TM jug, cover with cling wrap, leave until double in size about 1 hour.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl, return to the stand mixing bowl and using the dough hook knead for a minute to knock out the air.
Remove the dough from the TM jug and knock out the air.
6. Cut the dough into 12 even size pieces and shape into balls.  Place onto floured baking sheets. Dust with flour and cover with a tea towel to prove until double in size.
7. Preheat the oven to 210ºC. Place the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool.

More Bread Recipes:
Malted and White Bread Rolls
Apricot Couronne
Fougasse

How to Sous Vide In The Oven

My first attempt to sous vide without any fancy kitchen gadgets....I used a digital ovenproof thermometer, deep ovenproof casserole, large freezer bag with a zip (try the bargain shops), round cooling rack, bulldog clips and a straw.

I took inspiration from online searches and asked hubby to help me. Temperatures and timings can be found at ChefSteps (a link is at the end of this posting).  I cooked my joint for 6 hours which produced meat which was medium but I think 4 hours would have been sufficient.

I did find it all a bit of a faff but the end result made it all so worthwhile. The meat was a silverside joint I bought from Asda when it was on offer, for our time we were rewarded with a really tender joint without shrinkage and it didn't dry out. The downside is that you have to sear the meat in a pan after it's cooked and this process fills the kitchen with smoke, or alternatively browned using a blow torch otherwise the outside looks anaemic, unappetising and the meat will lack in flavour.


Experimenting before buying expensive gadgetry is a great way to try before you buy.  Sous vide machines have a huge footprint and some are the size of a microwave or there are alternative sous vide cooking aids that you can buy.

I used a fan setting at 110 deg C and let the oven heat up and stabilise for a good half an hour prior to cooking. The rolled 1kg silverside joint is seasoned and placed into a strong ziplock freezer bag.  It's good practise to turn down a third of the bag to the outside when placing the meat inside the bag to help eliminate bacteria.

This is where the faff begins.....Place hot water from the tap to half fill the large deep casserole. Now boil the kettle and add some of this to the casserole, using your digital thermometer you are looking for 60 deg C.

Taking the air out of the bag using the water displacement method is to simply place the open bag into the water and the air is automatically released from the bag, close to a straw width and then making sure you don't suck up any meat juices suck out the remaining air and close the bag.

Place the rack on top of the casserole, using bulldog clips attach the bag to the top of the cooling rack, ensure that the bag does not touch the casserole.

Being extremely careful place the casserole into the oven.  Top up with hot water checking it is 60 deg C.

Place the probe of the digital thermometer into the water and attach using a bulldog clip, ensuring that it is reading the temperature of the water and not in contact with the casserole, close the oven door.

Adjust the oven temperature to keep the water to 60 deg C. My oven temperature setting initially needed to be 110 deg C but then tracked down to range between 65 deg C and 75 deg C I used fan for efficiency, but once it settled down I didn't have to keep an eye it was quite happy at 85 deg C.....but all this for me was a faff but hubby seemed happy enough checking the temperature.

The meat doesn't look very pretty when you remove it from it's water bath but you get all those lovely meat juices to make your gravy, just be sure to pour these through a sieve and you are left with tasty meat juice.  Here is a blog post How to use juices from the bag after sous vide braising explaining why it is necessary to sieve the meat juices before making a sauce.

NOTE:
I used ChefSteps Time and Temperature Guide
For the water displacement method ChefSteps Simple Sous Vide Packaging
A must read: How to Cook Food Perfectly and Cheaply with a DIY Sous Vide Machine
An interesting read: How to sous vide in the oven with or without water

Disclaimer: Other oven brands are available but #boughtformebyme. Please be sure to do your own research if you are using this method regarding temperatures and timings because I take absolutely no responsibility for anyone reading this post and falling ill!

Chocolate Finger Birthday Cake

We had to transport the cake to Kent from the West Midlands and the safest way was to Blu Tack the cake board to the base of the cake box. It arrived safely but when we came to lift the cake out of the box it was stuck down so well we couldn't budge 'board from box'.  Eventually we managed to lift the cake out but the chocolate fingers started falling off the cake with shock.  Not to be beaten we melted the chocolate fingers with a match and stuck them back onto the buttercream.  What a faff!

The chocolate cake with Nutella buttercream pleased my grandchild and he said it exceeded all expectations and didn't care that the chocolate fingers were falling off because we were going to eat them anyway....

200g butter softened
200g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
150g self-raising flour
50g cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

For the Nutella Buttercream
225g sifted icing sugar
100g softened unsalted butter
2 heaped tablespoons Nutella
2 tsp milk

To decorate:
2/3 Packs of Chocolate Fingers
Box Maltezers
Bag of Mini Chocolate Orange Slices

Conventional Method - Thermomix instructions in italics

Preheat oven 180C. Grease and line 2 x 20cm cake tins with greaseproof paper.

Add all of the ingredients into the bowl of a mixer and combine for a couple of minutes until smooth.
Add all of the ingredients into the jug of the TM and mix 1 minute/3.5 speed.

Pour the cake batter into the cake tins making sure you they’re as even as possible. Bake in the oven for 20-25 mins until cooked. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Leave in the tins for 10 minutes, turn the cakes out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.

For the butter cream
Place the softened butter in the bowl of a food mixer, gradually add the icing sugar. Mix for 5 minutes. Add the Nutella and milk, mix again to incorporate.
Add the icing sugar and softened butter to the TM and mix 15 Secs/Reverse/Speed 2. Add the milk and mix for 4 Minutes/Reverse/Speed 2. Now add the Nutella and mix for a further 15 Secs/Reverse/Speed 2.

Put the base cake onto a serving plate. Spread Nutella buttercream over one of the cakes then sandwich the two cakes together. Spread the remaining buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. Press the chocolate fingers around the sides. Decorate with maltezers, smarties and mini chocolate orange slices.

Thermomix Steamed Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce

I couldn't believe how easy it is to achieve a perfectly smooth (not curdled) hollandaise. I'm sounding annoyingly smug now but one of the reasons I invested was to make sauces that I found to be too much of a faff.  There's still the jug to wash after it's done it's magic but the dishwasher can take care of that.

The salmon and asparagus were cooked in the Varoma (a fancy name for the steamer) and the new potatoes in the steamer basket which sits inside the jug.  After these were cooked I then got to work making the sauce using the whisk attachment but don't forget to wash the jug and cool down with cold water otherwise the hollandaise will turn to scrambled eggs when you put the egg yolks into the jug.

My sauce isn't the recommended Thermomix recipe, but I did use the method given in The Basic Cook Book which is supplied with the Thermie. I spent a few minutes Googling and came up with a recipe using less butter, the result was a thinner sauce but I found it perfect for this meal. Brilliantly this sauce cooks in 4 minutes!

Sauce being whisked

Potatoes in the steamer basket take about 30/40 minutes to cook

Salmon takes approximately 20 minutes 

Depending how thick the asparagus stalks are this should take between 10 and 20 minutes to cook in the Varoma.

Asparagus being steamed

For a Thin Hollandaise Sauce
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp cold water
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper
50g butter melted

1. Add the egg yolks, cold water, lemon juice and seasoning to the jug.  Place the whisk on the blade. Whisk on speed 3 until doubled in size.
2. Making sure the Measuring Cup is placed on the lid. 4 mins/70C/Speed 3, steadily pour the melted butter onto the lid and it will slowly go trickle down into the jug and the sauce will thicken. Check to see if any more lemon juice and seasoning is required. Pour into a jug and serve.

I'm still getting to know my Thermie but to date I'm really pleased with the results. I know part of the sales talk is that it will replace all my kitchen gadgets but I've bought a shed load of gadgets over the years and reviewed lots too and I wouldn't part with any of them even though I may use them less often.

It's a shame you can't buy the Thermomix from stores but that's how they sell. My local demonstrator Marta is a Team Leader and really knows her product.  Recently I was invited to a fun morning watching Marta and a team of demonstrators putting the machine through it's paces.  It was a class aimed at people who had recently bought a machine or were keen to see a demonstration - it's a great way to meet new people too!

Thermomix #boughtbymeforme

Spicy Mince Beef Bake

I've been on holiday, the sun shone and our view from the apartment was a dream whether we sat on the small balcony or looked out through the patio door that spanned the whole width of our living area.  We went to the Mumbles in Swansea and it's a great place to visit for food and views.

No, I didn't make this lasagne whilst I was away, although the kitchen was amazing with everything you could wish for. We ate out for all our meals and why not when you are spoilt for choice in this fabulous location.

This is a great way to make lasagne with a twist by using the last of the tortillas instead of pasta sheets.

The meat base has a spicy kick, tortillas are far lighter to eat than pasta, the indulgent topping is made up of three different cheeses and the finished dish can be frozen.

The recipe is made in the conventional way - I've tried cooking mince beef in the Thermomix and it's okay if you like baby food!

If you are making this with small children in mind it's easy to leave out the chilli and simply puree the onions and red pepper to hide them.

Adapted from Mary Berry's Foolproof Cooking

You will need: 1.5 litre shallow ovenproof dish.

For the mince layer
1 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
500g/1lb 2oz beef mince
1 mild red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp mango chutney
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 small bunch fresh coriander, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
To assemble
3 large tortilla wraps
250g full-fat mascarpone
100g mozzarella, grated
100g cheddar, grated

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160C.
2. Pour the oil into a large ovenproof pan over a medium heat, add the chopped onions and fry for 3 minutes. Turn up the heat, add the mince beef and fry until brown, breaking up the meat.
3. Add the chilli, red pepper, garlic and spices and fry for 5 minutes, or until all the moisture has evaporated and the mixture is quite dry. Stir in the tomato purée, mango chutney, tinned tomatoes and salt and black pepper. Cover, bring to the boil and place in the oven for an hour.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and stir in half the chopped coriander. Raise the oven temperature to 200C.
5. Spread a third of the cooked mince beef mixture over the bottom of the ovenproof dish and lay one tortilla wrap on top. Spread a third of the mascarpone over the tortilla and sprinkle with a third of each of the mozzarella and Cheddar cheeses. Repeat twice more so you have 3 layers.
6. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling. Set aside for 5 minutes before serving and garnish with the remaining coriander.
7. Serve with a salad.

Thermomix Banana Cake

Those black bananas lurking in the fruit bowl are perfect for this recipe.......if you love banana cake, you'll love this recipe even more, because some banana cake recipes can be on the heavy side.

Experimenting with recipes and seeing how the Thermomix performs with various cooking and baking tasks is really interesting, I appreciate it may be the opposite for some and all a bit of a yawn but we all have our own little quirks in life!  As I've previously documented I'm in no way connected with Vorwerk and if the machine can't perform certain tasks then I'll let you know!

I haven't used the whisk attachment very much and was curious to see how we got on - I've received a few emails from readers asking how the whisk performs, no worries here the whisk performs really well, providing you remove the measuring cup from the top of the jug to allow air inside. To date I haven't experimented whipping up egg whites but I'll let you all know if it's a success or fail.

I'm still getting used to speeds and times and the rule of less is more has to be remembered otherwise everything will be pureed or mashed up to within an inch of it's life.  I still have a love/hate relationship with washing up the jug, yes it will go in the dishwasher but it's easier to wash by hand.

Thermomix instructions are in italics

You will need: oblong baking tin approximately 30cm x 20cm greased and lined

2 eggs
200g soft brown sugar
300g banana, mashed
2 tsp bicarbonate soda
¼ tsp salt
130ml vegetable oil
240g plain flour
45g banana chopped

Icing
30g unsalted butter
225g icing sugar
100g cream cheese at room temperature
½ lemon, freshly squeezed

Method
1.  Preheat the oven to 170ºC/fan 150ºC.
2.  Whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and fluffy using an electric whisk to make life easier.
Place the whisk onto the blade, remove the MC/Speed 3/10 minutes.
3.  Add the mashed banana, bicarbonate of soda, salt and oil  mix using a low speed until well combined. Sift the flour into the mixture, increase the speed gradually and keep mixing until no trace of flour remains. Fold in the chopped banana and pour the cake batter into the tin.
Add the mashed banana, bicarbonate of soda, salt and oil, Whisk 10 seconds/Speed 1. Add the flour and whisk 10 Seconds/Speed 3. Add the chopped banana 10 Seconds/Speed 3.
4. Bake for approximately 30-45 minutes depending on your oven, or until a skewer poked into the centre comes out nice and clean. Cool for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack.
5. For the icing: beat the butter and gradually add the icing sugar, cream together until pale - this may be easier using a wooden spoon. Now taking an electric hand whisk, add the cream cheese and lemon juice, keep on whisking until light and fluffy.
Add the butter, icing sugar, cream cheese and lemon juice to the jug TM 20 Secs/Speed 5, scrape down and mix for another 20 Secs/Speed 5.
6. When the cake has cooled spread over a generous layer of cream cheese icing.  Leave to set then cut into bars. Can be frozen in bars and defrosts really well too.

Can easily be made by hand and all you need is a bowl, wooden spoon and a sturdy whisk!