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Crusty White Bread

Nothing tastes better than fresh home baked bread, served warm with a generous amount of butter, or as an accompaniment to a stew, soup or casserole . Many of our friends have been asking for the recipe for the crusty white loaf that we make here at Wrickton Hall.

Ingredients

2 cups lukewarm water
1 sachet dry yeast (7g)
1 tablespoon sugar
5 cups strong white bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Instructions

Add 2 cups of lukewarm water into a large bowl and mix in the yeast and sugar. Leave to stand for 15 minutes until a froth forms on top of the mixture. Add 3 cups of the flour, salt and oil to your bowl and beat until you have a wet dough (approx. 5 mins). Stir the last 2 cups of flour into the mixture, then empty onto a floured surface.

Knead the dough for 5 minutes, pushing the dough away from you with the heel of your hand, then folding it over. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Kneed the dough for another 5 minutes and place in a bowl with a little vegetable oil. Roll the dough in the oil until it is covered, then cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or cling film. Leave to stand in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.

Once risen, knock the air out of the dough, and on a floured surface, split the dough into two. Shape the bread into two long rolls and place on a greased baking tray. Cut about five slashes across the top with a sharp knife, and cover again to allow it to rise (approx. 30 mins).

Heat the oven to 180 C (Fan) and cook the bread for 30 minutes. Sprinkling some water over the bread halfway through helps make the bread even crustier.

The wet dough mixture

Pecan Pie with Whiskey Cream.

Ingredients:

Pecan Pie:

Ready made sweet pastry base (life’s too short!)
2 Eggs, beaten
100g ish of melted butter
200g ish of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of golden syrup
100g of pecan nuts, some whole some crushed.

Ingredients:

Whiskey Cream:

Double Cream
Caster Sugar
Whiskey

Method:

Pecan Pie

Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, golden syrup, and eggs. Add the pecan nuts to the mix. Pour the mix into a ready made pastry base. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes on 150/gas mark 4. The pie is ready when it has set and goes a lovely golden brown colour on top. It can be served either warm or cold, will store in the fridge for a couple of days, and will reheat in a gentle oven.

Whiskey Cream

Whisk together a pot of double cream, with about a dessertspoonful of caster sugar and a generous shot of whiskey, until the cream forms the consistency that you prefer. Serve generously with a slice of Pecan Pie.

Beef in Beer with Horseradish Dumplings.
(Slow Cooker Recipe)

Ingredients:

Beef in Beer:

500g of diced beef
3 Carrots, sliced
1 Onion, sliced
1 clove of Garlic, crushed
2 handfuls of diced mushrooms (or Button Mushrooms left whole)
1 teaspoon of Marmite
1 can of Guinness or other Real Ale.
Gravy Granules

Horseradish Dumplings:

Suet
Flour
Salt
Cream of horseradish sauce

Method:

Beef in Beer:

Place all the ingredients except the gravy granules into the slow cooker, stir them together, put the slow cooker on low, put the lid on and enjoy your day! As you start to make the dumplings, check the beef for the thickness of the sauce, add gravy granules as required.

Horseradish Dumplings.

Stir together in a bowl the suet, flour, (I use about half and half) and a teaspoon of salt. Stir in the horseradish sauce; I love the flavour of horseradish so would use a very generous teaspoonful. Add cold water very slowly to the mix, a little at a time, stirring it together until the mixture is bound. Divide the mixture into small balls, and place on top of the cooking beef. Put the lid back onto the slow cooker and cook until the dumplings are like white fluffy clouds.

Serve with creamy mashed potato and green vegetables.

Ingredients:

Cooking oil
2 large Potatoes
1 Onion
2-3 pints of Chicken Stock
1 Bag of Watercress
Salt and Pepper
1 small tub of double cream
Goat’s cheese

Method

Peel and cut the potatoes as if you were making mash, peel and chop the onion into large chunks. Heat the oil in a roomy saucepan and gently fry the potato and onion until the onion becomes translucent.

Add the Chicken stock and some salt and pepper to taste to the saucepan, making sure that the potato and onion is generously covered. Bring to the boil and simmer until the potato is soft, about twenty minutes.

Take the saucepan off the heat and stir in the watercress leaving it to wilt into the hot liquid.

Blend the soup until smooth, (I use a hand blender and don’t worry too much if I find the occasional lump of potato in my soup!)

(If making the soup in advance allow to cool and it will keep for a couple of days in the fridge or will freeze, I find empty plastic four pint milk cartons just about the correct size for storing the soup.) When you are ready to serve the soup, reheat it to just about to boil, stir in the pot of cream and check the seasoning.

Serve into warmed soup bowls and scatter some goat’s cheese over the soup.

Serve with warm crusty rolls and butter.