#41 Green spaces, Sunshine, Good food and lovely people

I knew I would come back from a few days away and immediately struggle to get back into the swing of things, I always do. I didn’t, however, account for the fact that I would only have around 24 hours to write a newsletter… I’m just preparing you for what may be a slightly frenetic (and possibly quite brief) article.

About those days away

If you were here last week, you will recall that Mum, Olive, and I were heading down to Oxfordshire for a few days away. Prior to leaving I was a real mess (and I mean that - tears were flowing), I doubted why we were going, I didn’t want to step out of my comfort zone, I didn’t know whether it was unfair to be traipsing halfway across the country with Olive, I was scared, and I just couldn’t be bothered. How foolish I was to have so many doubts… In short, our trip was simply magical - I have completely fallen in love with the county and the people and already want to return. It was lovely to get away and switch off a bit - I avoided social media, spent very little time on my phone - bar Google Maps (fairly vital) and just soaked up the beautiful weather and surroundings. BLISS! I won’t ramble on too much about our trip, but I HAVE to share a few highlights.

• WHERE WE STAYED. Totally randomly, we found a property on Airbnb that was situated in the Village of Great Milton, around 7 miles East of Oxford. It also happens to be where Raymond Blanc’s stunning restaurant and hotel, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons is located (it looks like the grandest and most incredible hotel EVER by the way!). The village is delightful; small and quaint, but offering all you really need, there’s a little local shop and a post office that sells essentials, a small pub and a TON of green space. It’s tranquil, peaceful, rich with thriving wildlife, and I felt instantly relaxed as I stepped out of the car on our arrival. The property we stayed in was a small annexe at the rear of our hosts; Will and Indi’s, cottage. Their garden was like something out of a fairy-tale and the property was stunning. Not only that, Will and Indi were the most delightful humans; you know when you just click with people? It was like that, I cannot WAIT to return and kind of hope Will and Indi become my new bessies! (if you are interested in checking out their place by the way - this is the link.

• WOODSTOCK, SOME VERY LOVELY PEOPLE & MY NEW FAVOURITE PUB - On Tuesday evening I met up with some friends, back from my school days, in Woodstock, a market town West of Oxford and near to Blenheim Palace. Of the places we visited, I think it was my favourite. It has everything you could wish for in terms of shops and amenities, it’s small but not too small, there are lovely hotels, pubs, restaurants and family run businesses selling quality products from antiques to clothing and fresh ingredients - I bought the most stunning nectarine and fresh British strawberries from the fruit and veg shop - a cracking piece of fresh fruit is unrivalled right - more on that over on TCC+? Meeting up with my friends; Elizabeth and Ed, was so lovely - many years may have passed since we last saw each other but it felt like no time had elapsed, we immediately clicked again, and it was just a thoroughly wholesome evening. The pub we went to; The Black Lane Tavern, was also my ultimate dining experience - fantastic food, delightful staff, lovely ambience… magical - we went back the next day for lunch - OBV! Across the two days, I tried their: Hummus, coriander chutney & almond Dukkah (mind-blowing), ft. an insanely good flatbread, green beans with garlicky buttery miso, Tuna tartare, Godminster cheddar and crackers and Mac & Cheese - every dish was simply stunning… I want to go back NOW! Also, huge amount of love for our Waitress whose name I didn’t get but she was delightful!!

  

  Some epically good British strawberries

• THE DRIVE HOME - On our way home, we came back through the North West of the county passing by ‘Diddly Squat Farm shop’ - Clarkson’s farm fans will have heard about this, we didn’t actually go in the farm shop - the queue was pretty long and we really need to get home, but we got out for a leg stretch and little wander - the surroundings were every bit as stunning as Clarkson depicts on the show, defo worth a drive by at the very least! The villages, roads, and vast open landscapes in the surrounding area are simply breath-taking - your mouth literally hangs open in amazement as you drive through them. Experiences like this really stop you in your tracks and make you realise just how astonishing - not to mention incredibly restorative - nature is.

• My final word on this trip is this: I was genuinely terrified to step out of my four walls this week. I have become a real recluse in so many ways, favouring being in my safe haven over venturing out, but let me tell you; getting out, facing my fears - albeit with Mum and Olive in tow - was the best decision I could have made. Challenging yourself, doing things that are a bit daunting, and that feature many unknowns is hard but when you give it a go (within the parameters of what you know to be ‘reasonable’ for you), you are so often epically rewarded and thoroughly enriched by the experience!
  *(I don’t actually feel I have done justice to this trip in terms of telling you how great it was but hear me when I say it was really great)

One of many photos of the stunning scenes in Oxfordshire

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Aside from the trip, I still managed to squeeze some baking and cooking into my week. It started with my new favourite Tropical dessert - a mango passion fruit and lime posset that you can find the recipe for over on TCC+, I then sought some dough-y comfort on Monday in the form of cinnamon & raisin bagels (recipe below) and on our return home from Oxfordshire, a fridge raid resulted in a thoroughly wonderful Greek salad experience. As simple as it is, I have shared the recipe below with a few tips I have learnt from the pros, which will undoubtedly upgrade your Greek salad game!

I’m yet to mention the weather - my favourite topic - which has been GLORIOUS! The sunshine and warmth have been such a TREAT and it looks set to continue which is very pleasing!

I also was delighted to have Great British Sewing Bee back on, I bloomin love that show and am already hooked, and things are getting SERIOUS on Masterchef; I cannot get over the skill of the contestants, I’m in awe of what they are producing!

OK, enough chat, it’s recipe time…

Cinnamon raisin bagels

At the beginning of the week, I really fancied a comforting cinnamon bagel - there is something about a sweet bread, studded with dried fruit and scented with a little warming spice that just feels like an edible hug - and you know when you get it in your head that you want something, it just HAS to happen? Well, that was the situation!

I have made bagels a fair few times before, and whilst I always think I can improve on things, (mainly my technique in this instance), homemade bagels are always FAR superior to supermarket equivalents. Sorry Warburtons!

For this particular bagel variety, I noticed it even more. One of the most ground-breaking (not actually ground-breaking because I have probably acknowledged it before but humour me) discoveries I unearthed, was the power of time when it comes to bread dough. Firstly, I used a pre-ferment which I left overnight - in this time the yeast has longer to do its thing and more flavour compounds are produced as a result, the outcome is an improved aroma, flavour and complexity to the finished article. Secondly, I baked these bagels off in two batches; the first was mixed (preferment included), proofed, shaped, room temperature proofed again, and boiled/baked on the same day, the second batch had an overnight cold proof having been shaped - I then bought them back to room temperature the following morning and proceeded to boil and bake them. Whilst the first batch were good, the second batch were NEXT LEVEL good. The flavours had all had longer to develop over night, they had a better texture and crumb, and they provided another level of bread-y comfort which was everything I needed and more!

This recipe isn’t dissimilar to my savoury bagel recipe, but I’ve included the preferment and obviously some raisins/cinnamon. I highly recommend the overnight cold proof having shaped your bagels but if you are too impatient, they’re still good with just a room temperature second proof. If you need a dough-y hug, give them a try!

Ingredients

Preferment

75g Strong Bread flour
45g Water
1/8 tsp instant dried active yeast

Main dough

180g Strong bread flour
45g Wholemeal bread flour
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

6g Salt
15g Soft light brown sugar
3g instant dried active yeast

100g water tepid
40g Orange juice
15g Malt extract (or dark brown sugar)
80g Raisins or sultanas

To boil
20g Malt extract
10g Baking soda
2L boiling water

1 Small egg for egg wash (optional)

Method

Prepare the preferment by combining all of the ingredients and mixing to form a stiff dough. Leave to prove overnight or until puffy and risen.

For the main dough, combine the flours and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar and salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Next combine the water, orange juice and malt extract in a small jug. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients along with all the preferment. Mix on medium speed until a cohesive dough forms – about a minute. Leave to autolyse for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile pour boiling water over the raisins and leave to soak for 10 minutes – once soaked drain thoroughly, pat dry and set aside - the weight should now be about 85g.

Once autolysed, mix the dough on medium speed for around 10 minutes. Rest for 10 minutes, then check the gluten development, if it’s not quite fully developed, and is still prone to tearing when stretched, mix for another 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Finally add the sultanas and mix until combined – I actually prefer to do this by hand and it takes a bit of patience.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and proof for around 1-2 hours or until doubled in size, risen and puffy. Once proofed, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and portion into 6 x ~95g chunks. Shape each chunk into a neat round, cover with a damp tea towel for 10 minutes to relax, then press your finger deep into the centre of a dough ball to create the characteristic hole. You then need to gently stretch out the centre of the dough to create a hole bigger than you would think – around 1 inch in diameter. Transfer to a small, lightly greased, square of parchment and place on a large baking tray. Repeat with the remaining dough balls – ensuring each bagel is placed onto a different piece of parchment - place the baking tray in a large bag (proving bag) and either:

• leave to proof at room temp/in a warm environment for 30-45 minutes or until noticeably puffed up.

• Alternatively – and favourably IMO – transfer the shaped bagels to a large airtight Tupperware, make sure they are spaced apart (on their squares of parchment), so they don’t touch as they rise. Refrigerate for 24 hours or until the following morning. Remove the Tupperware from the fridge and allow the bagel dough rings to come back up to room temperature – around 1 hour – they should also seem puffed up and risen - the proof/rise of your bagel dough will depend on the ambient temperature in your fridge and kitchen environment, mine were not that well risen when I removed them from the fridge, so I allowed them to come to room temperature for a good 60 minutes which also gave them a chance to rise fully, it could be a little more or less than this for you.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan. Once the dough has proofed for the second time, prepare the water bath. Heat 2L of water and whisk in 20g malt extract and 10g bicarbonate of soda - add the bicarb slowly, it will fizz up so be prepared, and use a pan that is more than big enough to account for the fizzing that will occur. Whisk until bubbles dissipate. Drop 1 bagel into the boiling water. Boil for 30 seconds each side then remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a wire rack. Brush with egg wash if you wish – this is optional, it will give the bagels a light sheen! Once all the bagels have been boiled, transfer to a baking tray lined with fresh parchment and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown – flip the bagels after 15 minutes to help cook the underside. Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Greek salad

I got back from my short stay away to a pretty bare fridge - sad times! However, I always like to have a block of ‘emergency feta’ in the fridge (it has a long shelf life so I feel safe knowing that there’s one there for when I have nothing else in), and there were a handful of bits lurking in the salad drawer which, with the help of some fresh herbs growing in the garden, were the perfect basis for a simple Greek salad. I did have to source some Kalamata olives from the local Co-op but aside from that I was sorted. I love the simplicity of a Greek salad and yet, it always delivers; sweet, salty, slightly acidic, it hits every spot. I know it’s not new, but below I’ve shared what I did, including a few little tips I’ve seen recommended by Greek chefs, to upgrade your Greek Salad game.

Serves 2 (4 as a side)

Ingredients

Marinated feta
1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano (could also use half oregano, half rosemary here)
Zest and Juice of ~ 1/2 lemon
100g Feta

Base salad
150g Cherry (or equivalent) Tomatoes quartered
1/2 red onion finely sliced
1/2 Pepper green is apparently most authentic but go for your preference
1/2 Cucumber quartered
Small handful Fresh Dill (or basil) roughly chopped
Around 20 Kalamata Olives

Flaky sea Salt
Black pepper

Method

First marinate the feta - combine the apple cider vinegar, olive oil, lemon zest, juice and oregano (+rosemary if using) in a bowl. Crumble 25g of the feta into the oil mixture and mash through well. Cube the remaining feta and toss in the feta/oil mixture. Leave for 1 hour for the flavours to infuse.

Meanwhile, prepare the remaining base salad ingredients and toss together in a serving bowl. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and black pepper. Once marinated, add the feta mixture to the salad and toss through until really well combined. I like to prepare this about 15 minutes before serving to allow the flavours to infuse a bit. Serve with flatbread to mop up all the oily herby juices.

NOTES - the key bits

• Marinating good quality tangy feta in olive oil, vinegar, lemon & herbs enhances its flavour. For alternative dishes, garlic, spices, or a different choice of herbs, work wonderfully when marinating feta too - you can get quite adventurous and really elevate a dish.

• Mashing a small proportion of the feta into the dressing makes it more creamy - a real game-changer!

• Whilst you can always mix and match ingredients, authentically, a Greek salad should include: tomatoes, red onion, pepper (green is preferred in Greece I believe), cucumber, Kalamata Olives, feta, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar (preferably red wine but apple cider is also v.g.) and herby goodness - dill seems most common but I used basil as it’s all I had.

Right… I think that’s about all I have for you this week, in part because I’m now rubbing my eyes with tiredness having sat at my computer for most of the day.

Before I go, I just want to say a final massive thank you for all your messages last week, I really do LOVE to receive them - please keep them coming!

I hope you are all doing ok and that you have had a reasonable week.

Sending love and hugs to you all!

Steph x x x

p.s. Oh I have one final question… I’m intrigued to know your favourite summer bakes and dishes in general… I share all of my favourite things on here, but I wanna know what YOU all like… hit me with your faves! OK, I’ll go now I promise…