Milky Bar Devil looked so cute with his hamburger bun the other day, that the Dedes decided they are making him the poster boy for the cover and L’Artiste played around with the arrangement today. Having arrived at this stage, the little light at the end of the tunnel is definitely in sight. I have three more recipes to add, and a couple other changes, the proof-reader is lined-up too…. So can’t be too long now.
In case you haven’t had dinner yet, here is a picture of the finished hamburger.
How could we have missed this. All those flour and water recipes and no hamburger buns. We have pizza and pasta and some more obscure things, but no hamburger buns. Mouse and Devil’s Advocate are currently editing the book, while L’Artiste does the layout. It is strange how you often only see inconsistencies once everything is formatted. Anyway, last night they realised they have no hamburger buns. Milky Bar Devil laughed as this is what he wanted to contribute. “Why didn’t you say so?” Mouse asked a bit annoyed. “Ah well, I thought that everything has to be crunchy, the buns, the pizza base, the grissini… I thought you aren’t interested in a soft bun.” He gave Mouse a big elfish smile and it was immediately clear why he prefers the soft buns. He has a big gap in his teeth.
“No, you got the wrong impression there” said Mouse. “We always point out that tastes are different. Some people like a soft pizza base, others a crunchy one. It’s simply that I like it crunchy, but for the completeness of the book we definitely need hamburger buns. So would you please give me your recipe!”
Milky Bar Devil handed over his piece of paper and Mouse was surprised how quick they could be made. Despite it being a yeast dough, they only need to rise once. She shook her head in disbelieve. “Does this really work?” she asked. “Yes,” Milky Bar Devil said and grabbed the recipe back. “Give me half an hour and I’ll quickly throw them together for you.”
3 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of dry yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 cup of lukewarm water. 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Baking paper or silicon mat for the tray.
Put flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour in water and add the yeast and sugar and sprinkle a little of the flour over the water (the sugar and flour will help the yeast to become active). Let stand for 10 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
Preheat the oven to 2200C
In a separate bowl whisk together egg, salt and oil with a fork. Then add the yeast and flour. Work everything into a soft dough and knead for about 5 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. To start with the dough is very sticky and will want to stick to the work surface and your hands. Do not add more flour, just knead until it is an elastic, non-sticky dough. Divide into 8 balls and place on tray lined with a silicon mat or baking paper. Flatten the balls lightly to form a disc.
Cover with a clean tea towel and let rest for at least 10 minutes or until the oven is heated to the right temperature.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.
Devil’s Advocate is currently reading through the recipe collection for the Artist’s Survival cookbook. He held his hand up for the task as he couldn’t contribute a recipe, despite his love for food. He just doesn’t cook. Mouse was delighted to have found another pair of eyes to look over the work. It is a well-known fact, that you can’t see mistakes, when you are too close to the project. So she gratefully gave him the pile of paper and left him to it. He started at the beginning, as one does. You might remember, we did cracker recipes right at the start, as they don’t require many ingredients just flour and water and maybe a little oil or butter. After all the book is to show how many yummy staples you can make from very basic ingredients. Devil’s Advocate loves crackers. He normally devours an entire packet when he watches TV. So he was amazed when he read how easy they are to make and as it was Sunday, he was keen to have a go himself.
But gee was he disappointed with the result. The crackers didn’t hit his taste buds at all. They reminded him more of crispbread, rather than the crackers he favours. His favourite ones are a tad richer and sort of friable. But on the upside the crackers weren’t difficult to make and had hardly any ingredients. The attempt made him realise how much money he would save, if he could make his favourite food himself. He asked Mouse if she has another recipe that might be more like what he was after. Mouse didn’t need much time to think and said: “Just add more butter and less water and maybe you want to add a leavening agent to make them more airy.” Devil’s Advocate looked blankly at her. “You have to be more precise” he said “I am an absolute novice!”
“Okay then” replied Mouse, “here is another cracker recipe. It might be a little bit too rich and it has more ingredients. That’s why I call them the rich man’s crackers.” She then explained to Devil’s Advocate, that you basically can use any combination of flour, water and butter/oil to create crackers. The baking soda and yoghurt in the following recipe is not really necessary, but it fluffs the crackers up a little. Keep track of any changes you make to the recipe, so you can repeat it when you get the the combination that hits the right spot on your taste buds.
1 cup of flour, ½ teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of salt, 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of plain yoghurt, 4 to 5 tablespoons of cold water
Mix flour, baking soda and salt together. Add the butter and rub with your fingertips into the flour until it is well distributed and the mixutre resembles semolina. Add the yoghurt and also distribute well. Last add the water. Add one tablespoon at the time and knead into the dough. Add only as much as is needed that the dough sticks together well. Let rest in the frigde while the oven preheats to 2100C.
Roll out the dough thinly. It will rise a little during baking. Cut in squares or other shapes and place on a baking tray. The dough contains so much butter, that it is not necessary to butter the tray. Brush the surface of each shape with water and prick with a fork a couple of times.
Bake in the oven for 10 mins or until slightly brown.
Let cool on a wire rack.
This is a really busy weekend for the Dedes. They all lined up in the studio to get their pictures taken for the Artist’s Survival Cookbook. For a while they’ve been discussing with L’Artiste how to do the imagery in the book. The pics on the blog were only quick snapshots taken on the day when their recipe was baked. Mouse baulked at the idea of re-making everything just to get better shots. She is really annoyed that nobody listened to her when she said, “Do it once and do it right!” Why should she spend more time now, she asked, when she can use her time so much better for the design of the book.
“But don’t you want to have the best possible book?” asked Detail.
“Leave her alone” said Devil. “I can understand, she’s the one who does all the work! There is always a way around it.”
In the end they decided to take new pictures in the studio and present the existing ones as selfies. They asked Mouse to quickly mock a page up to show everyone. She acted coyly at first, as she doesn’t want to show work in progress. She has a long list of things she still has to solve. But the others were adament that the readers need to know they are still working on the book. In the end she succumbed.
Evan G List, the vegan Dede, complained to Cash Cow that most of the recipes have dairy products in them. It’s either butter, milk or both. He doesn’t eat that stuff. Cash Cow said she was raised on it and she wouldn’t like to miss it, though she herself is vegetarian. Then Mouse came along carrying a plate and said that while she doesn’t eat much she does eat everything. That is just her nature. Evan G looked at her in disgust. Mouse explained she comes from a long line of church mice. Her family was so poor they had to eat what they could find. She still appreciates food and is grateful for what she gets. “It’s lucky if you have a choice” she added. “But but you know, if you don’t want to eat dairy, you can make a short pastry with oil instead of butter. I’ve just tried it and here is the result.” She pointed at a slice of quiche on her plate.
It did look delicious. “What’s on it?” Evan G asked suspiciously.
“Left overs from last night’s dinner again. We had mashed potatoes with garden vegetables. But there wasn’t enough left over, so I put sliced tomato on top of the left overs, added two eggs and sprinkled grated cheese over it.”
“Here we go again” said Evan G. “There is cheese and egg on it. No, not for me, thank you.”
“I mean, the base is vegan” said Mouse. “You can choose your own topping. Whatever you like to eat.”
1 cup of flour, 1/4 cup of oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt (optional), cold water.
1 tart baking tray. The dough is enough for a 12cm x 35cm rectangular tray.
Preheat the oven to 200oC
Place the flour on a flat surface, mix in the salt if you use salt. Pour in oil little by little and work into the flour with your fingertips. It will look like fine semolina when you are done. Add a little cold water and knead. Add only as much water needed to make the dough stick together nicely. Let it rest in the fridge for half an hour or so.
Note: Mouse made the dough after breakfast and left it in the fridge till lunch time. An oil-based dough doesn’t go as hard as one made with butter when it is left longer in the fridge.
Roll out the dough and place on the tart baking tray. Press the dough up the sides to get a bit of a lip at the edge. This prevents the filling from seeping out. Add your choice of filling.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Cash Cow had intended to make a silverbeet quiche this weekend, but as there were left overs from last night, she changed her mind and decided to turn those into a pie for lunch today. Good old Cash Cow is such a thrifty and resourceful one. Her name might be misleading, she is by no means rich, but she always gives when anyone is in need. She didn’t want to waste the left overs and told Mouse her new plan and Mouse’s first question was, “Tell me, what is the difference between a pie and quiche?”
“That is a difficult one as there are so many different ways of making a pie. The simplest dough is a short pastry and you can use the same for a quiche. I would say the main difference is that with a pie the filling is usually totally encased, while a quiche has an open top.”
“But aren’t there also single crust pies, like pumpkin pie, that don’t have a top cover?” asked Mouse. “I guess they would be the same as a quiche.”
“No, not quite. Quiches are also shallower than pies and have a dairy/egg topping. With pies, at least when you buy them, you can be never sure what’s in them” she laughed then added, “No, honestly I love pies, but I wouldn’t touch one from a shop.”
“So what is in your one?” asked Mouse curiously. “Just last nights left-overs. We had fettucini with silverbeet and corn in a creamy gorgonzola sauce. The main spice was nutmeg. Simple! To be honest, you can put whatever you want in it.”
Mouse looked at Cash Cow’s recipe for the pie crust and realised she will somehow have to sort the recipes into a logical order. The dough is very similar to Devil’s Flatbred.
1 cup of flour. 70g cold butter, 1/2 teaspoon of salt (optional), cold water.
1 muffin tin (the recipe is for 4 to 6 muffin sized pies. To make a cake size pie double the amount)
Preheat oven to 200oC
Pour flour onto a work surface and add salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and work into the flour with your fingers. Once it is well distributed add a tablespoon of cold water and knead in quickly. Only add enough water to make a nice elastic dough. Try not to overwork it either. Let it rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Cash Cow had wrapped the dough in plastic and left it in the fridge over night. It got really hard, but this is due to the butter hardening again. Knead it once more and the warmth from your hands it will quickly soften it.
Divide the dough into 4 to 6 pieces and roll out thinly. Line the muffin moulds with the pieces and cut around the egdes to make them clean. Keep the cut-off dough for the lid of each pie.
Put the filling in each mould. Roll out the lids and cover each pie, pressing the sides closed. Brush with water.
Bake for 25 minutes. You might want to sprinkle some grated cheese on top in the last 10 minutes.
Mouse has been busy looking after the garden this week. We had a spell of high winds that wrecked havoc with the vegetable patch. Anyway, while she was out there tidying up she thought about the Artist’s survival cookbook and how she could define what recipes should be eligible for inclusion and what should be excluded. It’s a pretty hard decision. As you may have realised, Mouse has trouble saying no to anyone. It came to a crunch when Punch Drunk made a “milk tert”. All the Dedes loved the recipe and wanted to have it included. But somehow it didn’t sit right with Mouse, who is the edtior of the book. So it was good for her to get out into the garden, raking and hoeing and thinking it through.
Last night she came back inside and said, “Okay!” The intonation of this word was so firm and definitive, that all the Dedes turned around and listened. Mouse was surprised by the attention she got and continued: “Our aim is to make a cook book with simple, cheap but delicious recipes that contain mainly flour and water. They might also have milk, egg, butter or oil in them which are considered basic foods. As you all know, I am not a big fan of sugar, but if a recipe requires a little sugar, that’s fine too. First and foremost, the main ingredient should be flour.” Punch Drunk knew this meant the milk tert is out, as it is bascially milk and sugar with eggs and a little flour. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Fair enough! I can still make it for the Dedes when I feel like it.”
“Right” said Cash Cow. “I wanted to make a silverbeet quiche this weekend because the silverbeet is growing like there is no tomorrow and I believe a pie or quiche base should be in the book. But then the main ingredient will be silverbeet. Shall I forget about it?”
Mouse looked insecure again. Obviously in her mind it was very clear what she wanted, but Cash Cow had a point.
Philosopher came to Mouse’s aid. A pie base should definitely be in the book. It is such a basic and versatile recipe. You can have so many different toppings on your pie. The silverbeet is just one suggestion, isn’t it. What’s important is that you know how to make the base.”
Mouse agreed.
Witch went to Mouse and said, “You are right!” Mouse was staggered as she didn’t have a clue what she was talking about.
“I agree, we shouldn’t include the teff custard in the book” she explained. “Why the sudden change?” Mouse asked her friend. And then Witch told her that she had just read an article about teff being currently en vogue with Hollywood stars. So the demand is rising and will rise even further. However, it is also one of the basic foods in Ethiopia, where half the population lives on less than a dollar a day. As the carbohydrates in teff are absorbed slowly people can eat their national dish injera, a sour dough bread made from teff, and then work all day without getting hungry. The Ethiopian government is now expecting a price explosion due to increased demand from the Western World, akin to what happened when quinoa all of a sudden became popular a few years back. This might result in hunger and malnourishment in the poorer population of Ethopia. As a measure, the government has currently banned exports of teff except with a special license.
“I wonder if you can obtain a special license when you give money to a government official?” asked Mouse.
“That’s not my main concern, but you might have a point there” said Witch. “Teff is certainly a very healthy food, but we in the West don’t run the risk of starvation, particularly not the Hollywood lot. Luckily, teff is a relatively hardy plant, but I understand it is time consuming to look after and process. Personally, I will forgo my desire for teff until other cultivating areas have been established – but not in a Monsanto type of way.”
There are some days when you need comfort food. When everything has turned to custard it’s best to have a bowl of it, or at least that is Daredevil’s advice. Daredevil is a peace loving character who only fights for what he strongly believes is right. Of course, what he considers the right thing doesn’t necessarily coincide with other people’s opinion and he sometimes feels like Don Quixote. When he realises he is on a kamikaze mission he usually makes himself a big bowl of chocolate custard and eats it slowly and quietly in the corner, reviewing his position. It doesn’t happen too often, but yesterday he felt the urge. “Do you think, Mouse, my custard is eligible to be included in the book?” he asked, while he had another mouthful.
“What’s in it?” asked Mouse, “you don’t just rip open a packet of custard powder, do you?”
“No, I use corn flour, milk, sugar and cocoa and – when I have one on hand – an egg.” Mouse thought for a little bit and said, “not sure about the cocoa, it isn’t on the ingredient list. And I see you use corn flour?”
“C’mon, corn flour is a flour and it is a much better thickening agent than wheat flour.”
Once again Mouse couldn’t say no. “Okay, give me your recipe. I am only collecting them at the moment and I’ll think about it!”
3 heaped tablespoons of corn flour, 2 cups of milk (or milk and water), 1 generous tablespoon of cocoa, 2 tablespoons of sugar.
In a bowl, mix the corn flour, sugar and cocoa and add half a cup of milk to make a smooth paste. Make sure there are no lumps in it.
Heat the rest of the milk (1 1/2 cups) and before it boils add the paste you made earlier. Stir continuously until it bubbles. It will thicken quite quickly once it starts boiling. Stir until it doesn’t thicken any further.
Eat warm or let rest to cool.
“You said earlier you might add an egg if you have one. When would you add this?” asked Mouse.
“Simply mix any eggs into the corn flour paste before you put it into the heated milk” answered Daredevil. “They are also a thickening agent and you can leave out a little bit of the corn flour.”
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