No Knead Ciabatta bread

Yesterday, I gave a bread making demo in the presence of 10 nice ladies. We talked about all the things one needs to know if we want to make bread or any yeast/fermented dough for that matter.

The evening turned out really nice and we had plenty of dips besides my bakes. While I was busy with my demo (and the baby, yes, he was there as well, Thanks to the girls who took care of him when I had to start the demo), I didn't ask about the recipes for those couple of dips which had a hit of curry and orange. It was mind-blowing!

Today's recipe was previously posted in French. I'm re-posting it in English because the girls loved the taste and the texture (beside the practically no effort required to make it) and asked for the recipe..

This recipe is taken from f Chef John's website. an amazing blog with videos. 

I'm sending this to Susan's blog: wild yeast (YeastSpotting).

Ingredients

Makes 1 loaf

Prep: 10 min / Rest: 20 hours / Cooking time: 35 min

• 3 cups flour 
• 1 cup whole wheat flour 
• ½ tsp dry yeast (double if using fresh cubes)
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 2 cups warm water 

Preparation

Sift all ingredients in a bowl. Mix with a spatula. Cover and let stand for 18 hours at room temperature. The dough should have a sticky consistency, so do not panic!

After 18 hours, the dough will look very spongy.

Take a baking sheet covered with parchment (otherwise, grease it with olive oil). Sprinkle generously with fine semolina). Spread the dough by stretching in a way to have a rectangular shape.

Cover and let stand for about 2 hours ( I covered with oiled cling film so it does not stick).

Sprinkle with flour (generously).

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C and cook for 30 to 35 minutes.

Tomato and cajun spices bread buns and ciabatta

After reading this post, you won't have any valid reason not to make fresh bread!

Moroccan savoury biscuit 2: Thyme, oregano and cheese fekkas

Earlier in the day, I have posted onion, cheese and parsley fekkas and now I'll be posting another recipe of these crunchy and savoury little biscuits, easy to make and very adaptable to your taste (think more or less spices and herbs according to what you like)..

Ingredients
Serves 10 persons
Prep: 20 min - Chilling: 1 hr- Freezing: 2hrs or more - Baking: 10 min

• 250 to 300g of all purpose flour
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp of black pepper
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 2 tbsp of dried thyme or double if you are using fresh
• 1 cube of vegetable or beef bouillon, finelly crumbled
• 1 clove of garlic, in paste
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 120 ml of cold milk
• 60g of melted butter
• 60 ml of vegetable oil.

Today's recipe is about the Thyme and oregano fekkas (left)

Preparation

Mix the liquid ingredients and the garlic. Stir.

Mix the dry ingredients. Combine liquids and dry mixtures. Form a ball. Follow direction as previously described in the parsley, onion and cheese fekkas.

Bake at 190 degrees for about 12 min. Let cool before placing the fekkas in an airtight container or sachets.

Moroccan savoury biscuit 1: Cheese, onion and parsley fekkas

These addictive biscuits are crunchy and savoury, they can replace a bowl of salty nuts or pretzels on the table.

We usually make these and place different sorts in the middle of tables during wedding ceremonies, along with roasted salted almonds, to keep the guests busy before the big ceremony starts..

The variety of fekkas i'm proposing today is coin-shaped and is usually between 1 and 2.5 cm.

Today's post is about the fekkas on the right

The fekkas you see on the left, along with other varieties, follow usually the same process. However, some ingredients will be different (mostly the flavours). I'll be posting more recipes to try to suit many tastes.

I have baked a batch for a charity event and packed them in small sachets of 80 gr each.

So these are the little sachets..

Ingredients
Serves 20 persons 
Prep: 20 min - Chilling: 2 hrs- freezing: 2 hours (or more) - Baking: 10 min

• 450 to 500 g of all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp of paprika (optional)
• 1 small cube beef or vegetable bouillon, crumbled
• 1 to 2 tbsp of chili paste or Harissa  (or chilly flakes mixed with 2 tbsp of red hot sauce)
• 250 g of butter, in cubes
• 1 egg, lighly beaten
• 100 to 150 ml of cold milk
• 1  medium-size onion, grated
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 60 to 80 g of grated cheese (cheddar or Edam will do)
• 3 heaped tbsp of chopped fresh parsley (chives will be good too)

Preparation

Mix flour with salt, pepper, baking powder, paprika, chili flakes. Add the butter and the crumbled cube of bouillon and work with your fingers or if using a food processor give some pulses. At this stage, we are trying to have a crumbly texture.

Add the rest of the ingredients and form a ball. Don't over mix, just as if you are making a proper shortcrust dough.

Cover the dough with a cling film and chill for a couple of hours.

Lightly flour the surface (I use fine semolina for extra crunch). cut the dough into small balls the size of mandarins. Roll each one to make a long sausage or rod 1 cm to 2cm  thick at max (but they're rather better when smaller).

Freeze for 2 hours or until firm enough to keep its shape while cutting. Freezing the rods rock hard won't be good either because while  cutting, the fekkas tends to crumble at the base once the knife hits the work plan.

Preheat the oven at 190 degrees C. Cover the baking sheets with baking paper.

Cut coins-like fekkas as thin as 2 mm maximum.

Place the fekkas on the baking sheets keeping some space in between.

Rotate the baking sheets half way of baking time.

The fekkas should be nicely golden with a slightly brown edge. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.

They keep well for minimum 1 week or unbaked frozen for 3 months.

For another savoury shortbread recipe, why don't you check these out?