Herman rolls..fairy stylee

The next thrilling installment...
Ok, so to make a dozen rolls, I start at 4pm the day before I wanna bake. And make the sponge...
Sponge:2 cups warm fluid..sometimes i use 2 water, sometimes 1 water 1 milk. Sometimes i use mushed up tinned tomatoes and water! It just depends :)1 cup herman,
2 cups bread flour. I only ever feed him with plain flour but use the more expensive bread flour when its time to bake!1 teaspoon yeast. i told you, he's not a proper sourdough. But he has the flavour and a good texture:) Mix in a non-metalic bowl and cover with clingfilm and leave to go mad for about 6 hours, till its good and bubbly (for me about 10pm).
Then add
2 cups bread flour,
1 tbsp oil,
and a good pinch of salt.At this point I add other things if I want different flavours. Dried tomatoes, cheese, whatever takes the fancy!
Knead for ten mins till smooth and elastic. I get another cup of flour to knead in, dust and knead.
Then in an oiled bowl, covered with a teatowel, he sits somewhere not too warm, I leave him in our kitchen which has no heating!
In the morning, knock him back and shape!
I normally make 8 or 16 rolls, depending on what I fancy!
Slash or snip the tops before allowing to rise somewhere warmish for a couple of hours.
Just before baking, I like to top mine with cheese and tomato, or cheese and ham, and I always leave some just flour dusted as they're great with soup.
Make sure your oven is well pre-heated. They go into a HOT 230 degree oven for 10 mins, then down to 200 degrees for another 15 mins. Till the bottoms sound hollow when tapped.
I must admit I always make rolls as bread in our house gets cut very thick and never lasts!
There's alot of recipes I use herman for...I'll post the apple and cinnamon one soon:) He's very versatile and adds his own flavour!
I've used it to make cinnamon buns, garlic monkey bread, loads of cakes!
He doesn't like it too cold, he slows down. And he hates it hot..I've never yet managed to keep one going all summer! I think my longest is 8 months! But...
My mommy was given a herman when I was a little girl, I can vividly remember making the cakes with her. And the smell of cinnamon:) It took me years to find the recipe again!!
BBS x
　

Growing, growing...gone

Well, here's Herman, the sourdough starter, after his sponge stage and his ten minutes kneading before bedtime:) Doesn't he look a harmless little thing...

And here he is after a night in the kitchen rising slowly!! Ready to take over the world! So he gets knocked back, and shaped into rolls :)

Half left plain with a dusting of flour. Half with slices of tomato and a grating of cheese....

Now at this point I'd normally say and here's the tray as it came out of the oven..but darling daughter was here..so this is whats left of the cheese and tomato ones...

and yes, I ate it for lunch today because I was worried it might be lonely. Plain ones? I think there was 4 left..was!

Ah yum.

Whats left now are mine for tea with another batch of nettle soup, a double batch in fact, just in case DS comes home hungry!

This is DD..no..she's not murdering DS, she decided he needed his eyebrows plucking! See the look of pain? Goes to show women have higher pain thresholds than men! After this she continued to treat him like a girls world and put his hair up in numerous fashions! I just sat, in the grandma chair, laughing! DD is 25 this week. She said she only feels 21 inside. After some deliberation I decided that I felt 17. A good day!
If I go missing for a few days its because i have broken my camera! And its on my phone...which is, you guessed it...broken! OOps.
BBS x but maybe without pictures!

The fairies had the oven on

I found an interesting recipe in my interesting WW2 recipe book.
Raspberry buns...except i only had strawberry jam, so these are strawberry buns!
1/2 lb sr flour
pinch salt
3oz margarine
2oz sugar
tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp jam
Milk
Mix everything apart from a tbsp of the sugar and the jam to make a dough. use enough milk to make a stiff dough.
Break into 12 equal pieces, form into buns and make a hole in the middle. In goes a little jam, then pull over the dough to cover it. Place on a greased baking sheet (I used parchment so no greasing) I brushed them with milk then sprinkled on the remaining ugar. Bake in a hot oven (about 210 degrees) for about 10 mins

Interesting doughballs to...

Strawberry buns...OI!! Who ate the rest of them???

Jammy!!! DS loved them!! And my best friend said could they have currants in instead...oh yes...the recipe can be varied to make Rock buns!! I think the last time I made those I was at school:)

Rocking!! And while I was at it I made MORE strawberry buns!

And...Chocolate fudge brownies!!!

I don't think I've ever made anything quite so chocolatey! And thick..and sticky and YUM!
These have gotta be seriously bad for you, I can only manage 1 piece a day!!
BBS x