Brioche

Image courtesy of wikipedia

Brioche is one of my favourite breads that provide a wonderfully buttery and sweet flavour which gives way for its use in desserts, as well as application for savoury dishes. I love brioche at breakfast time, as its a lovely conforting start to the day.

Ingredients

15g of quick yeast
70ml of warm milk
Pinch of salt
500g of plain flour
6 eggs
350g of butter, softened
30g of sugar

Fold together the yeast flour and sugar with salt
Add egg, (already beaten)
Mix together to stiff dough
Knead for 10 minutes
Add butter little by little until the dough is glossy
Prove for about one hour
Knock back (knead further); prove in fridge for four hours
Bake for 8 minutes for individual rolls or 40 minutes for large loaf

Blinis

Image provided courtesy of thefishsociety.co.uk

Blinis are a wonderful bread that are an excellent accompaniment to all kinds of dishes - they provide a hearty and sturdy texture, whilst remaining light enough to have with lots of other dishes. They go very well with small fish and meat dishes and also provide a good vehilve for vegetarian dishes such as mushroom fricasse and stroganoff. They can also be enjoyed on their own with butter much like muffins and cumpets, and whatever else you can put with them :)

Standard batch (makes about 12-15)

Ingredients

250g of plain flour
250g of Brown flour
3 Egg yolks
3 Egg whites
600ml of Milk
30g of Yeast

Mix the two flours together
Add a pinch of salt
Warm milk and the yeast, once active add the egg yolks
Then add to the flour mix
Leave to prove for two hours in a warm place (but not too warm)
Whisk up the egg whites until stiff
Fold into the mix

Cook on a medium heat in a blini pan, turning when one side becomes solid. once cooked allow to cool, and can be reheated for further enjoyment.

Flax Seed "Foccacia"

I found this recipe online whilst on the hunt for a low calorie, low carb, high fibre bread. On my mission for a healthier lifestyle and cutting carbs, I found that one thing I missed was bread. You know when you get that craving for toast, or just bread in general?

This recipe is wonderfully versatile and is a good vehicle for a variety of flavours. Recently I've taken to adding all kinds to it, inclusive of raspberries and fresh cranberries for a hit of antioxidants and vitamins. You can add pretty much whatever you like to it also, be it oats, seeds (sunflower or pumpkin work well), or even other berries. The bread is rustic in feel and appearance, so anything of that nature will add to its appeal. If you just fancy a herby flatbread feel free to add some of those more robust herbs, sage, rosemary, thyme etc. Go wild.

Here is the recipe, I usually add extra whole flax seed and possibly a handful of oats also.


Ingredients:
•2 cups flax seed meal
•1 Tablespoon baking powder
•1 teaspoon salt
•1-2 Tablespoons sugar equivalent from artificial sweetener
•5 beaten eggs
•1/2 cup water
•1/3 cup oil

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare pan (a 10X15 pan with sides works best) with oiled parchment paper or a silicone mat.

 1) Mix dry ingredients well -- a whisk works well.

 2) Add wet to dry, and combine well. Make sure there aren't obvious strings of egg white hanging out in the batter.

 3) Let batter set for 2 to 3 minutes to thicken up some (leave it too long and it gets past the point where it's easy to spread.)

 4) Pour batter onto pan. Because it's going to tend to mound in the middle, you'll get a more even thickness if you spread it away from the center somewhat, in roughly a rectangle an inch or two from the sides of the pan (you can go all the way to the edge, but it will be thinner).

 5) Bake for about 20 minutes, until it springs back when you touch the top and/or is visibly browning even more than flax already is.

 6) Cool and cut into whatever size slices you want. You don't need a sharp knife; I usually just cut it with a spatula.
 Nutritional Information: Each of 12 servings has less than a gram of effective carbohydrate (.7 grams to be exact) plus 5 grams fiber, 6 grams protein, and 185 calories.