Fresh rolls on the griddle

I recently had a few bright moments. At least, I think I had. Those moments when you are overcome with a sudden surge of hate for the daily drudgery and just knowing that it is time for something else.

In this instance I had the idea of shaking off all the ingrained inhibitions of a blogger of carefully planning, inventing and preparing a dish. Reworking the recipe and so on.

Drudgery at its best.

We have a regular Wednesday night braai (barbecue for my overseas friends) at the local yacht club.  “We” being a circle of friends and fellow sailors. There we literally share the food. One piece of meat is cooked at a time, whether it be sausage or a well matured steak. This is then cut into bite size slices and dished out. Then the next piece of meat goes on the griddle. And so on. Rather like a very South African dry fondue, if you will.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Bannock: Another Fallow Field of Fast Food?

This is another venture into, for me at least, an unkown field. This time it is yet another staple food, namely bread in the form of bannock.

I was recently challenged by a fellow food blogger to come up with something out of the ordinary.  Her name is +Dionne Baldwin and she is a devoted foodie and teacher, working hard in her community.

The reward for the challenge is a guest blog post on her blog at Try Anything Once. 

In sympathy with +Dionne Baldwin 's community work, I decided to make the type of bread known as bannock.

Bread comes in many forms, including the familiar sandwich loaf you buy from the supermarket. Similar forms of bread also originate from different areas in the world. And bread does not have to be dull or ordinary.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Naan at Sea

Tired of the store-bought light snacks on board on a day-sail? Getting home hungry because the store-bought snacks are just wind, no solid sustenance? Not going for long sails because you get very hungry in spite of the snacks you took on board?
Why not bake fresh bread on board? Your own product has much more sustenance than the commercial bread, perchance a lower GI.


Here is a recipe for making those delicious Indian flat breads. Some call it naan, the Indian word for bread. It is also known as puri and there are many recipes for this.

You would traditionally have these as a side dish with spicy dishes. Sometimes as a wrapper. There is, however, nothing that stops you from enjoying these with any stewed dish. Just think of it: warm, freshly baked bread that you tear little pieces from to use as a wrap for the food, then for mopping up the last of the sauce in your plate.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Korma Curry, Boat Style, With Rotis

I have often thought about the difference between what I do versus your standard urban food blogger, cooking in his or her five star kitchen. Complete with all the electricity and associated equipment. I have also thought at length about what I call in Afrikaans “afskeepkos”. Food made in negligence. I have gone so far as to post (or is it “pose”?) the question on my FaceBook wall, with some reaction.

The answer is not easy to find, as the term “afskeepkos” is a neologism, even in Afrikaans.

The proper answer needs to be researched and pondered, if you will.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Baguettes: Are They Really So Difficult To Make?

I was scared of making baguettes for a long time. For no apparent reason, just an eerie feeling of awe. Perhaps the whole reputation of the baguette got to me.

Until today. I decided that this is just another bread recipe and I am quite able to make bread. In fact, I have been researching and practicing the art for almost a year now. About time for the leap of faith, don't you think?

I already crossed the hurdle of having steam in the oven, so that would not be a problem. I also solved the problem of over-baking the loaves, which has to do with the fan in the oven and having a more even temperature gradient in the oven. I now use a temperature setting of 20-25 degrees C lower than what the recipe asks for. After the requisite baking time, I check the status of the loaves and may up the temperature or leave the loaves to bake a bit longer or both. The problem only arises when you already have too high a temperature and things happen faster than one anticipates. Perhaps there is another lesson there.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

3rd Leg Day 10: The Big Cleanup, Last Puri And A RAS Exercise

Last Puri

Or is it khubz, perhaps? Today I made the last bread of the voyage. Literally. All the flour has now been consumed. I did not even bother to treat the sourdough nicely. I just fed it some rye flour and a little water after taking it out of the refrigerator, then left it in the cupboard for nine hours to wake up.

The oven has been decommissioned, so the bread had to be baked or fried in a pan. I chose to make a thin flat-bread, Even the flour mixture was sort of pot luck.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

3rd Leg Day 7: Persisting Doldrums And Puri

Puri

Puri is the collective name for bread fried in oil. You can make bread in several ways. With or without leavening. Then bake it in the oven, over the coals, fry it in a dry pan, light oil or deep oil. All came out slightly different, depending on the leavening, the flour, the yeast and the cooking method.

Vetkoek, the South African version of the bread, is made with yeast, cake flour, salt and water. We used white bread flour, brown bread flour salt, water and instant yeast.

This is part of our last legs dishes aboard. We have five odd days left on this voyage. We may make another batch of these breads using sourdough, and the rest of the flour, which includes rye. But that is for another day.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

3rd Leg Day 4: Another Loaf And A Visit from The Birds

We were all a bit weary from yesterday's dismal daily run this morning. The day dawned with some promise of wind, a small network of little ripples on the water. And the wind did come, except it was a headwind yet again. We altered course to be able to use it, but to no avail. The wind veered and we were back to square one. We resignedly furled away the sail and carried on motoring. At least we are making some way and are now crossing the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the island of Hispaniola, on which resides the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Real voodoo country.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 28: Entering the Caribbean and a Sourdough Seed Loaf

Sourdough Seed Loaf

I made another sourdough loaf today, adding seeds and raisins. The sourdough starter was mixed during my 00h00 to 03h00 watch and left to proof until daylight. While this is not overnight, bear in mind that the ambient temperature is still over 28ºC/82ºF, so you get a fast reaction from your favourite sourdough.

The sourdough proof was used this morning to make the final dough mix, which was left in the cold oven aboard to rise.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 24: Sweetcorn Rye Loaf, Navigation and Sweet & Sour Fish

Today the wind returned and we are able to motor sail. The wind is not that strong yet.

Dawid started coastal navigation lessons yesterday and got some homework, which he actually did. We reviewed it this morning. Another tutorial or three and he will be ready to do his practical work for real when we pass Barbados and reach the Windward Islands.

He followed on by preparing, kneading and baking his second loaf. A rye loaf with sweetcorn, as was his wont. He is turning out to be a real student. His surname is Schoeman, Dutch for shoemaker, but we are considering to change it to Bakker, Dutch for baker. However, with the navigation lessons also progressing nicely we need to think up a new pseudonym for him. Perhaps Dawid the Charter. Or perhaps Dawid the Plotter. The options remain open for the time. For Renier we have reserved the title Numero UNO, after his unbeatable performance to date.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 21: Of Bread and Fish and Stirfry Chicken

 A somewhat Biblical day we had today, no less. We have a new novice baker on board. And three exited fishermen. After a few days of very little happening, we had lots of excitement today to make up for the tedium.

Dawid decided that he wants to learn to bake bread. The way he carries on he may just become the baker's apprentice, like the title of the book. However, first things first. We decided on an easy loaf for his first affray into the floury world of dough. The ingredients are simple and you get to experience all the facets of making bread.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 6: Cheese & Onion Loaf, Squalls and Fish Curry

Today is Monday, 6 August. We have been at sea for six days since leaving St Helena, and 22 days since leaving Cape Town. We have about 35 days of the voyage left, depending on the weather.

Dawn saw an overcast sky, gray and rainy. Renier got his the first dowsing from a squall on the voyage during his 00h00 to 03h00 watch slot, I mine on the 06h00 to 09h00 slot. Dawid was spared a dowsing for this round. The weather was cool enough to warrant a T-shirt and a rain jacket. Later in the morning the clouds cleared somewhat and blue sky was to be seen all over. But the squalls stole our wind and we had to motor along. Needless to say, in these conditions we did not catch any fish.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 3: Rye Bread, Beef Curry and Whales

Rye Loaf

The rye loaf was done on a fast track. I used instant yeast this time. The flour was a mix of one cup rye, one and a half cup brown bread flour and one cup white bread flour. The kneading board was floured with rye, which added another half cup of rye flour to the mix. I mixed this lot, adding some salt and the dry instant yeast, followed by 1 cup of lukewarm water.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


 Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Day 5: Cajun Style Snoek and a Rye Loaf

The day dawned breathless yet again. But what a sight! Pastel blue and pink skies in the west, with a hint of stripey clouds, somewhat hazy. A balm to the soul.

We motored the whole day in basically windless conditions. A lazy zephyr every now and then. Navigation instructions for getting to St Helena island from Cape Town appears to be: sail north along the west coast of Africa till you get to the town of Luderitz, then turn a bit left if there is wind. Else, go further north till you find wind, then turn left. If you bump into Africa far north, you have gone too far.

I know this is not accurate, but it gives an idea of the navigation decisions to be made. And it is relatively easy to explain to those not deeply involved in navigation.

Today was the day of baking bread. The first experiment with the gas oven proved to be a bit beyond me. I removed the grid in favour of putting the baking tin directly on the plate. This gave me some more height in the small oven for the bread to rise. Wrong idea. The silicone baking tin did not like the heat from below and burned. Luckily the bread wasn't spoilt. In fact, it was consumed at such a pace that I hardly had time to take a photograph before it was finished.!

The bread, however, did not rise as expected.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Day Two: Settling in with Chili con Carne and Chapattis

Sometimes you realise that there is a God and that He looks after you and cares for you. We left Cape Town around 06h30 yesterday morning in misty and rainy weather, expecting nothing better for the next five days. We were, in fact, expecting heavy seas to boot. And what we encountered was beyond our wildest dreams.

The sea was flat calm, no wind to speak of and the visibility was good to very good from about a mile out of the breakwater. We carried on to motor for the rest of the day, dodging the odd big ship, until 23h00 last night. Then the wind came up.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Naan Ter See

Hierdie is 'n resep vir daardie heerlike Indiese brood wat mens tradisioneel saam met speserygeregte eet. Daar is egter niks wat mens verhoed om dit saam met enige stowegereg te geniet nie. Dink net; warm brood wat jy so met die hand skeur en gebruik om bietjie-vir-bietjie die kos en die sous op te slurp. Heerlik, sê ek jou.

Hierdie is 'n suurdeegbrood wat mens in die pan bak, dus is dit maklik om aan boord te maak. En dit werk baie goed saam met stowegeregte waarvan die sous redelik dik is.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05