Big Lou's Butteries or Bacon Rolls

If any of you are familiar with the novels of Alexander McCall Smith, particularly the 44 Scotland Street series, you will have heard of Big Lou.  She is a delightful character, proprietor of a little Edinburgh coffee shop.  All of his characters are well drawn and unique, some uniquely annoying, some just charming and others fascinating.  Big Lou is an autodidact with a heart as big as herself.  

This particular book, A Time of Love and Tartan, is 12th in his series. As per McCall Smith's style, it is a humorous, even comic, delightfully  thought provoking, ramble between the lives of his various recurring characters, couples and families, living at 44 Scotland Street, in their various flats.  Some others are featured as well who have moved on, but remain a part of things.  Of course, I would recommend you begin the series with the first novel, 44 Scotland Street.  Such enjoyable reading, all of them.  From the Publishers:

 "When Pat accepts her narcissistic ex-boyfriend Bruce's invitation for coffee, she has no idea of the complications in her romantic and professional life that will follow. Meanwhile, Matthew, her boss at the art gallery, attracts the attention of the police after a misunderstanding at the local bookstore.
Whether caused by small things such as a cup of coffee and a book, or major events such as Stuart's application for promotion and his wife Irene's decision to pursue a PhD in Aberdeen, change is coming to Scotland Street. But for three seven-year-old boys--Bertie Pollock, Ranald, and Big Lou's foster son, Finlay--it also means getting a glimpse of perfect happiness..
Alexander McCall Smith's delightfully witty, wise and sometimes surreal comedy spirals out in surprising ways in this new installment, but its heart remains where it has always been, at the center of life in Edinburgh's New Town."

So, back to Big Lou, who was preparing bacon rolls when I had to stop reading, and make a note to do some foodie research.  Before moving to Edinburgh, Lou's first job was a long term stint in an Aberdeen Nursing Home.  Here we had a background clue to the type of roll she might have been making.  It seems Aberdeen is known for a particular breakfast treat - rolls known as butteries, due to the high fat content. These needed to be made and tried.  As it turns out they're quite tasty, a sort of cross between roll and Croissant, good with jam as well as bacon.  An egg might also be sandwiched in there.

Aberdeen Butteries

250g butter
125g lard (or all butter, which is what I did)
1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
500g flour
2 teaspoons of dried yeast
450ml warm water
Pinch of salt

This Aberdeen buttery recipe should make about 16. (I cut mine in half, so as not to eat too many.)

1. Make a paste from the yeast, sugar and a wee bit of the warm water and set aside. (Note - I don't know about the "wee" bit, I used about 1/4 cup, then added the rest of the water with the flour, as I didn't think a "paste" would bubble properly, but what do I know?)

2. Mix the flour and the salt together. Once the yeast has bubbled up add this and mix well to a dough and leave to rise.

3. Cream the butter and lard and divide into three portions.

4. Once the dough has doubled in size give it a good knead then roll into a rectangle about 1/2 " thick.

5. Then spread one portion of the butter mixture over two thirds of the dough.

 6. Fold the remaining third of the dough over onto the butter mixture and fold the other bit over - giving three layers. Roll this back to the original size.

7. Allow to cool for 40 minutes. I chilled in the fridge. (it's warm here)

8. Repeat stages 5-7  twice more.

9. Cut the dough into 16 pieces and shape each to a rough circle (another note - I wanted more of a roll shape and made balls) and place on lightly floured baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between each piece to allow for expansion of dough.

10. Cover and let dough rise again until doubled or about 45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 375°F (160°C) oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Butteries are named after their high butter content. They are also known as morning rolls and rowies and are a traditional Aberdeen roll. The best way to describe their look and taste is a saltier, flatter and greasier Croissant. Which doesnae sound nice, but rowies are really delicious and filling for breakfast. Aberdeen butteries can be eaten cold and many shops, garages etc sell them pre-buttered for anyone snatching an on the go breakfast. 

Legend has it that the buttery was made for the fishermen sailing from Aberdeen's harbour. The theory is that they needed a bread that would not become stale during the two weeks or more that they were at sea. The high fat content meant the bread also provided an immediate energy source.^[1]

(1) "Aberdeen butteries". Information Britain.

As if you'd need any extra butter? What a lovely breakfast treat, and at our house anyway, there's enough for several days. This post will go over to the August Foodies Read Challenge, and to Beth Fish Reads for her Weekend Cooking event, hosted this week by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.  Be sure to visit both for lots of good food and books.

Mark Bittman's Easy Whole Grain Flatbread

I did finally buy one of Mark Bittman's cookbooks (Food Matters), but truth be told, my favorite recipe resource is still his inimitable video series, The Minimalist at the NY Times site.  He has such a cute sense of humor, which comes across better on camera.  Just my opinion.  Also, I'm cheap and have too many cookbooks already. (Is such a thing possible?) So, this contribution is from his show, a recipe for the easiest flatbread you will EVER bake.  No lie, I am here to tell you, after years of baking bread.  He gives two versions of the recipe, one plain with only four ingredients: flour, water, salt and olive oil.  The other has coconut milk replacing the water and incorporates curried cauliflower.  That I want to try next.

Unfortunately, the bread is not all that photogenic.  It's flatbread.  What can I say.  But the taste was lovely, crunchy on the sides from the olive oil, softer inside, the flavor of toasty grains overall.  I added in some teff flour, as this bread reminded me a bit of  Injera,  an Ethiopian flatbread I'd made last year sometime, which is also made from teff.  Besides that little variation, how could a chance to use sourdough starter be passed up?  So, sue me, I can't seem to follow a recipe as given.  He mentions using corn meal for part of the flour, so teff is just another grain away.

Sourdough Starter - Free Giveaway

Her real name is Genevieve.  I called her Clementine for awhile.  In fact, for so long I had forgotten her true name.  My only excuse being a slight mental block with Genevieve.  Just wanted to get the record straight here.  This lovely 200+ year old (after 200, who's counting?) French (former), sourdough starter is still going strong in my kitchen.

In fact,  I just finished feeding her the weekly ration of flour and water.  Sounds like prison fare, doesn't it?  Which action made me think a new post on her life might be in order.  And, a GIVEAWAY.  Yes people, something FREE.  And, that would be .......ta da......a bit of the real thing.  You too can own harbor a 200+ year old French madam. I will send la bébé in the post, well packaged, to the lucky winner.

"Old World Rye" for Recipes to Rival

The November challenge on Recipes to Rival, was hosted by Temperance of High on the Hog.  She chose a hearty, Old World Rye bread.  I pretty much stuck to the recipe, except for (you were waiting on that, right?) using my sourdough starter instead of powdered yeast.  I proofed a sponge with it overnight, then next morning, using the remaining ingredients, completed our recipe:

Old World Rye
A World of Breads by Dolores Casella, 1966

2 cups rye flour
1/4 cup cocoa
2 T yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup molasses
2 tsp salt
2 T caraway seed
2 T butter
2 1/2 cups white flour or whole wheat flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat spelt here)

Combine the rye flour and cocoa. do not sift.
Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.
Mix molasses, 1 cup warm water, salt, and caraway seed in large mixing bowl.
Add the rye/cocoa mix, the proofed yeast, the butter and 1 cup white flour or whole wheat flour.
Beat until the dough is smooth.
Spread the remaining flour on a breadboard and kneed it into the dough
Add more flour if necessary to make a firm dough that is smooth and elastic.
Place in buttered bowl and cover. Allow to rise until double (about 2 hours).
Punch dough down, shape into a round loaf and place on a buttered cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal.
Let rise about 50 minutes.
Bake at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes.

I've only recently started using a bread peel with my baking stone (now broken but still usable), and here's something learnt the hard way.  When letting your loaf rise the final time on the peel (is this generally done?), anyway, make sure to put lots of cornmeal under it. Otherwise, when you give it that good shake, which is supposed to slide it nicely off the peel and onto the stone, it won't go anywhere at all, whilst heat is escaping from the oven, and you're standing there wondering what to do now.  Any bakers out there with a better idea??

This bread was very flavorful, with the molasses and caraway being right out front. A bit too much molasses for my taste, to be honest.  The cocoa was not really evident, but I'm sure added to the depth of taste as well as the color.  If you've been wondering how in the world those old German bakers got their dense, dark rye bread, without adding molasses, cocoa, caramel color, coffee grounds, etc. etc., I found a very informative  post on Jugalbandi called "Devil's Fart Bread" - the true meaning of pumpernickel, just so you know. I didn't make that up. A good link to send any adolescent boys in your family.

Clementine the Yeasty Girl

Clementine, 200-year-old French sourdough starter.

This (name changed to protect the original) girl's been around for quite awhile, though she's just joined our household. Another mouth to feed. Only once a week though, if we keep her in the refrigerator.

Of course, when I first followed? the recipe for a loaf of sourdough bread I used 2 cups of starter, instead of 1 like the directions called for. Figured if one is good, then 2 will be better? Right?? Later, when the final proofing didn't rise as high as I would have hoped, the thought occurred to me that rising power comes from the yeasts eating available flour. Less flour plus more yeast = less food for everybody. Deep thoughts. And, this Scripture popped into my head to batten things down, just in case I didn't get it: "Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?" 1 Corinthians 5:6

On the bright side, the bread tasted great, especially while still warm. A moist, chewy texture with crunchy crust, melted butter, oh yeah. Also, it went very nicely at lunch today with a bowl of my (left-over) Cold Kefir Cucumber Soup, posted on the yummy food blog, Nami-Nami.

For me, it's a parable of following God's directions - his recipe for a blessed life. Going off on your own, thinking you have a better idea than your Creator, doesn't produce optimum results. Gotta keep checking that manual.