This is the recipe for the easiest loaf of bread you will ever need to make! You’re welcome.
Before Covid19 pulled everyone back into the kitchen, many people were terrified of making bread. Generations ago, a loaf of bread might have been made daily as a staple task to feed a family. In 2020, we all rediscovered the pleasure of creating a simple loaf. At Vineyard Cottages, this recipe kept us baking throughout the Level four lockdown. While the government kept reiterating there was no shortage of bread and we shouldn’t be panic buying flour, I ordered way too much from the cash and carry and dished it out to family and friends in zip lock bags via our letter box.
This is the easiest loaf to get your bread confidence bubbling. It is a plain white loaf, not a complex sourdough or raw grainy anything. The white bread police will not like it – who cares!
The biggest tip I can give you is, get really good quality flour, it makes a difference. And be patient, don’t rush the process.
Preheat the oven to 180
Ingredients
1KG Strong White Flour
650ml luke warm water
21g instant yeast
1tablespoon sugar or honey
2 teaspoons of salt.
1 tablespoon of olive oil
I use a Kitchen Aid and dough hook for making bread. It speeds things up and on days when I’m racing around, it’s a cleaner process. But during lockdown I get stuck in with my hands and allow the monotonous motions of kneading as a way of winding my brain down.
Add all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and turn to combine. If you are using honey dilute in the water, or add the sugar to the dry mix. Using a dough hook mix all of the ingredients together. Either knead by hand or in the bowl until the dough is smooth, pliable and soft. Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and pop in a draft free warm spot. The airing cupboard is perfect!
Once the dough has doubled in height gently knock the air out of it and place in a floured loaf tin or on a baking sheet to prove for another 20-30 mins.
I always add a ramekin of hot water into the oven to create some steam. This helps the crust to crisp up and gives an even colouring.
Put the loaf in the middle of the oven. Bake times with vary between 30 & 40 mins.
A great baker once told me that his dough changes every day depending on the weather. Some days it cooked faster, some days slower and always took a little courage to know when to take out of the oven. From his wise words I learnt to leave the bread a few mins longer than I initially thought to take out of the oven. You know when it’s ready, when you tap the loaf and it sounds hollow.
Try and leave to rest and cool before cutting a slice and slathering in butter! It’s hard, but worth it!
Every year our one tree gives us about a kilo of chestnuts. I start off loving them and by the end of the kilo, I’m over it.
This year after the first pick I decided to try them in a pesto. We have lots of garlic, Olive Oil and herbs all produced here, so as far as cheap and easy eats go, this was one of the best. Pesto is a staple in our fridge. Whether it’s one of the delicious Sabato made pestos or one we have made at home, it is an quick add to a meal to jazz it up.
The most important thing is to make sure the chestnuts are roasted properly and that all your digits are in place after you score through the outer casing of the nut. If you don’t cross the top of them, you will end up with an exploding chestnut in the oven and a huge mess. They also turn into little nuclear bombs likely to inflict pain by bursting on you.
Carefully cross the top of the chestnut with a sharp knife and your wits about you. The cross needs to be long enough that you can easily pull the shell off the chestnut once roasted. If it’s not, it can more fiddly than necessary. Roast in a hot oven until you can smell them and the shells have began to curl away. Whatever you do, let them cool!
I used a handful of the best herbs I could find which included parsley, oregano, chives and thyme. I also added some silverbeet for depth and colour and of course lots of vitamins and minerals and to smuggle green vegetables into my husband. The end result a delicious creamy garlic chestnut pesto!
Pesto
150g roasted and peeled chestnuts
3 cloves of peeled garlic
One cup of washed and finely chopped herbs and greens
1/4 cup hard cheese. (I used Grana as we didn’t have any Parmesan – WHAT!)
Salt
Good Quality Olive Oil about half a cup
Start with a big pestle and mortar. Bash the garlic with some olive oil and salt into a smooth paste. Chop the chestnuts into smaller pieces and bash around in the garlic mix.
Grate or finely chop the cheese – I prefer the adventure of getting a larger chunk of cheese in a good pesto, so just roughly chopped and bashed in the pestle.
Chop the herbs and greens down to a manageable size and add to the mix.
Keep adding the olive oil bit by bit and season to taste at the end. Depending on how you like your pesto, add oil to suit.
You can of course make this in a processor, it would just be smoother.
Rough chop pasta.
I’ve been making us a pasta dish once a week and this is a really simple one when you have little time.
100g 00 flour
1 fresh as possible egg.
On a clean smooth surface make a mountain with the flour and turn it into a volcano by making a big whole in the middle to add the egg. Mix the egg into the flour. I start using a fork and bring the flour into the egg initially and then get stuck in with my hands. Kneed the pasta into a smooth pliable dough and leave to rest under a bowl for at least 30 mins.
Depending on the humidity and the temperature, you might need a little olive oil in the dough. I don’t use water though.
Once the pasta has rested flour your surface and rolling pin and roll out. You can use a machine – I have given up as it ends up taking much more time unless you are wanting to create an even spaghetti or tagliatelle.
Roll the dough turning regularly, lightly flouring as you go if needed. To get a thinner pasta (this takes practise) roll the dough around the rolling pin, making sure there is sufficient flour to stop it sticking and roll the layers together. It provides a very even sheet of pasta. This was about 2 mm thick by the time I finished
Fold in half and in half again and chop into strands. Gently open up with your fingers and pop into salted boiling water.
It will take minutes to cook.
Drain, catching the last few drops of the cooking water in the saucepan. Add back the pasta and chestnut pesto and turn to combine.
Two things :
1. If you haven’t discovered Pasta Grannies on Facebook, you need to. Just watching their intuitive handling of the dough has been a wonderful learning experience.
2. This is a really rough recipe and it worked for this garlic loving household. Experiment and make it work for you. It’s I’d had my way I would have added chilli to the chestnut pesto, but the husband said no!
If you are a fan of chestnuts, check out this delicious ice cream recipe
On Valentine’s day we hosted our first long lunch at Vineyard Cottages. Guests, friends and family enjoyed an imaginative eleven courses, whipped together by Chef Des Harris and his team. With a strong focus on celebrating the seasonal and local produce from around the region, we kicked off with some delicious hay baked oysters warmed very quickly on the Weber. It was a dish I’d tried many years ago at a BBQ in New England. It was a wonderful warm autumn ‘fall’ evening and a couple of ex Gramercy Tavern manned the BBQ putting dishes on the table I have dreamt about ever since. Recreating it as the kick off course for our long lunches was a dream come true and I think we created those memories for our guests that day.
10KM up the road from Vineyard Cottages is the historic township of Helensville, where an amazing hidden gem shines brightly for the locals. The Real Bread Project pumps out incredible sourdough and pastries to very grateful residents. Dan and his team not only rise at the crack of dawn to get baking but mill their own flour as well. From this little bakery our guests were treated to three different types of sourdough with a generous lashing of Te Kouka Olive Oil, a grove of 2000 trees in Kaukapapa. Something as simple as amazing sourdough and oil ticked all the boxes. Keeping it all about the North West we filled a plate with local charcuterie from Aotea Organics in Shelly Beach with a chicken liver parfait Chef Harris, there was a large amount of oooooo’s and ahhhhhhh’s from the tables.
The plums and beets dish took everyone by surprise. A brightly coloured combination of pickled beets, plums, the incredible stracciatella from Massimo in Dairy Flat and fig leaf oil from our fig tree called for more rounds of the Real Bread Project sourdough so everyone could mop up as much of the creamy residue on the plate. There are occasions when a wedge of lettuce on a plate can look and sound like a huge disappointment, but as we proved it can be the highlight of a meal. Preserved lemon mayonnaise, fresh crisp little gem lettuces, cured egg yolk and parmesan turned smiles upwards and everyone agreed it was the dish that they were least looking forward too but blew their taste buds. Humble but perfect.
Long line snapper, sweet and sour tomatoes and sweet corn followed with a drift of silence as everyone tucked in. A business associate of mine bought her husband to the lunch and admitted she really didn’t like kumara. I had to smile when I walked past her table and she was licking her fingers. The kumara was baked in a salt crust and served with a miso custard and more parmesan. Lots of fingers wiping up the remains of the sauce and more bread ordered just to make sure the miso custard was no longer.
We couldn’t do a long lunch without lamb and slow and low cooked cutlets served with black garlic jus had everyone using the lamb as a mop for the delicious sauce. I’ve got a great team of foodies that work with me here at VC and watching their faces and they devoured the end bits and left over cutlets was a complete joy. Then it was time to sweeten the deal. A Basque cheesecake might have sounded too heavy for such an occasion, but with the complimenting roast stone fruit cutting the creaminess and it wasn’t long before we were piling plates high with our ‘dish du saison’ the blueberry clafoutis. Topped with a limoncello ice cream, those who were starting to wain pushed forward and made sure nothing was left on the plate. We finished with a plate of cheese. Two, I have loved and promoted for years, the Mahoe Very Old Edam and the Mt Eliza Blue Monkey. The Grinning Gecko brie had almost got to running off the plate stage. Served simply with some crackers and fruit from trees it was the most simple but grandest finale we could provide.
There will be many more and I’m looking forward to seeing you there.
Thank you again for the wonderful food and hospitality you provided on Sunday. We look forward to enjoying it again soon
A. Golder
Elle, thank you to you, Des and your teams for an amazing experience on Sunday. It surpassed all previous dining experiences. Thank you. We will be back.
I remember the first time I walked around the vineyard at Vineyard Cottages. We’d moved in on a Monday and before I had had five minutes to unpack or relax, I’d been shoved in the office to learn the ropes. That evening Barry and I walked around the vineyard with two very excited dogs and began to dream that one day we could maybe, possibly, potentially make some wine from the unruly tangle of vines around us.
Over the previous decade, I had learnt an amateurs amount of knowledge about vineyards through the amount of wine tours I’d been on and having listened to wine makers and viticulturists presentations at the North Shore Wine and Food Society. From the small amount of knowledge I had, I could see we had a very bad case of pounder mildew where the air wasn’t getting through to the grapes and the leaves were infected with blister mite.
All in all it was a sad state of affairs. One end of the vineyard was over irrigated by the dispersal hoses from the septic tanks, the other was very dry. We set about learning more from the neighbours and some very kind vineyard owners around the area who shared their knowledge with us silly city folk who’d moved out to the country.
Over the years we have religiously pruned, sprayed, plucked, netted and done everything we can to bring the vines back to health. Last year we had a wine maker lined up to come and make some vino with us before the dreaded covid kiboshed that plan and the grapes were enjoyed by our very ungrateful fat birds
This year we have no wwoofers or in house team, so the housekeeping super troopers spent some time in the vines last week rolling out the nets and starting the clipping process – an arduous task at best. Last year I did a lot of it early in the morning while it was just me, the dogs and the rabbits in the vineyard much to the birds disgust. Netting is crucial in protecting the fruit from our obese bird life who feast their way through January on the plums and see the grapes in March as a much needed sugary top up.
Steve the wine maker arrived this morning and we have decided this is the year to do something with these grapes. Some of them have powdery mildew from the moisture in the air and our lack of canopy management at the north end of the vineyard. Barry and I have been out all afternoon getting that sorted pretty pronto. I remember Harry at Twin Totara saying you can do pretty much anything to vines and they spring back. That’s hopefully a good thing at I’ve been a little over zealous with one or two of the big guys.
We’ll keep you up to date on our progress, but it’s very exciting. If we have enough Sauvignon Blanc, I’ll have one happy husband, the rest will go into a fruit salad rose preferably Provence dry with that fabulous hint of blush. Fingers crossed, but for now, I shall head back out into the heat with the hot dogs and my loppers and get on with it!
Many moons ago, my dear girlfriend Vic announced while we were having our weekly noodles, that she was going to make a clafoutis for dessert for the weekend. It was our monthly Sunday gang lunch and Vic was the queen of great puds.
“A what?” I’d asked whizzing through the recipe index in my head until I vaguely remembered a custardy thing. “Oh good.” My enthusiasm wasn’t ripe enough for Vic.
“Yes an apricot clafoutis.” She was adamant, dessert was therefore decided. Vic was pregnant at the time and the bump was affectionally known as Joan. I suggested if bump turned out to be a girl maybe Clafoutis could be in the mix as an unusual girls name. Vic, her husband and I had recently had a very funny night in a local Japanese restaurant trying to conjure up the right name for the baby to be. She frowned at me at the mere suggestion of a dessert for a baby’s name. But I had visions from then on in of Vic having a daughter named Clafoutis and bellowing instructions across fields at various pony club rallies, “Kick on Clafoutis!” Very silly but kept me giggling for a very long time.
The Apricot Clafoutis was delicious and there was none left once the gang got stuck in. Thankfully Vic went on to have a little boy called Felix shortly after.
Roll forward a decade and Chef Des Harris is in the VC kitchen planning a meal for a fabulous tour group staying with us for the night. We wanted to use the seasonal fruits, especially the plums hanging on the trees at VC and the moment he said “how about a Clafoutis?” I had to stifle the giggles.
As one could only expect from Des the plum and blueberry clafoutis we served for the guests was out of this world. Incredibly easy to make, light and delicious and with that tell tale sign of silence around the table, followed by a chorus of “yums” and “that was amazing” I knew we were onto a winner.
Chef has kindly shared his version of this dessert with us here. I am looking forward to trying an autumn version with persimmon and spices. Maybe I’ll name my next dog Clafoutis?
Makes 6-7 (10cm Spanish tapas dish)
Ingredients
225g cream
½ teas vanilla essence
3 egg yolks (size7)
126g castor sugar
½ lemon zest
37g gluten free flour (Edmonds)
4½ egg whites (size7)
Pinch of sea salt
2 punnets of blueberries
75g sour cream or crème fraiche
150g cream
Icing sugar to taste plus icing sugar for dusting
Method
1. For the batter whisk together the yolks, sugar and lemon zest until light and creamy.
2. Heat the cream and vanilla essence together until almost boiling.
3. Slowly whisk the scalded cream onto the creamy yolks and sugar.
4. Put back into the saucepan and on a low heat cook the cream anglaise to 80 degrees stirring with a wooden spoon continuously.
5. Once the creme anglaise is thick whisk the gluten free flour into it.
6. Transfer into a bowl set over ice or alternatively refrigerate until cold.
7. Once cold proceed to whisk the egg whites with the pinch of salt until thick but not dry.
8. Fold together with the cold cream anglaise maintaining as much volume as possible.
9. It’s best to leave the mix to relax in the fridge for 2-3 hours before baking.
Baking and finishing
10. Set the oven to 180 degrees with the oven rack set in the middle of the oven.
11. Lightly coat the inside of your shallow ramekins / baking dishes with kitchen spray.
12. Generously add blueberries and ladle to the top with the batter.
13. Cook the clafoutis for approx. 12 minutes until risen, golden & set
14. While waiting, whisk together the creams until soft peak, adding a little icing sugar to taste if you wish.
15. Serve the clafoutis hot from the oven dredged in icing sugar with the cream to the side.
At a recent party at Vineyard Cottages one of the guests asked us what our playlist was so we’ve decided to share our favourite tunes. This is our summer playlist and we’ll add to it throughout the sunny season! Please send us your favourite songs to add or better still come and join us for a drink in the bar over summer and check out our new eatery!
