The third and final part of the account of my Easter Trip to Glasgow covers a dish that was something of an experiment. Those of you who follow this blog regularly will know that I like to cook bread and it seemed only right therefore that I cooked some bread for the guests at the party that night.
I decided to cook two loaves of bread; for my first I played safe and made cheese and onion bread- which I have posted on this blog previously, however for the second recipe I improvised and made loaf using some spare onions and cumin seeds as a filling. I had never made this type of bread before and it was certainly a risk to test it out on forty plus party guests, still I've never been short of ambition.
I first took twelve ounces of white bread flour and stirred them together in a bowl with a sachet of yeast. It's important not to underestimate the significance of this early stage of preparation as if the yeast and flour are properly mixed together the bread will rise well after it's kneaded. I then added a quarter of a pint of water to yeast and flour and stirred it in. I found that the mixture was a little soft and the dough kept sticking to my hands so I added two or three more tablespoons of white bread flour and kneaded it into the dough which made it dry but not so dry that it could not be shaped and rolled.
I left the dough on one side in a bowl and diced a large white onion. I then filled the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil and heated it gently for around a minute. Next I added the onions and two tablespoons of Cumin and after stirring the Cumin into the onions I fried the contents of the pan until the onions were golden and translucent. I turned the heat off the hob and turned my attention back to the dough which I rolled out until it was a flat circle I then spread the onions coated with Cumin over the dough. The task that followed involved taking the edges of the circle of dough and pushing them together so that the dough formed a parcel that covered the Cumin and onions.
I cut some slits in the top of the parcel of dough and then cooked it in the oven at 200 degrees (190 if you have a fan oven) for twenty-five minutes. After this period the bread was a deep hazelnut colour and slightly spongy to the touch.
The bread was added to the already extensive party buffet which also included crisps, dips, cheese and onion bread, Simnel Cake and Bacardi Flavoured Angel Delight among other treats. The bread proved a hit with the party's guests and helped make a weekend of catching up with old friends and meeting some amazing new people that little bit more special.
This installment of the blog brings to an end my memories of the Easter Trip to Glasgow, a trip that helped inspire some new recipes, old friendships, finding new faces and future trips to a city where I think I'll be spending more time in the future.
