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Bannock for Breakfast
Dec. 19th, 2019 08:51 amI made bannock for breakfast today because it seemed like a bannock kind of day.
I looked up a couple of online recipes, but most of them seemed fiddly, and were geared toward making enough to serve a small army. I remembered a bannock recipe from a cookbook by the late James Barber, and I recalled how he'd talked of bannock being more of a technique than a recipe.
His "recipe" for it was really vague, along the lines of, "Add flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and enough water until it has the right consistency. Roll it out, cut it and cook it in oil until it looks right and smells really good."
I figured I would give that a try, so I poured what looked like enough flour for one person into a mixing bowl, added a bit of salt and sugar, and what I figured was sufficient baking powder. I diced in a bit of cold, unsalted butter and mixed and pinched it by hand until the pieces were small enough. Finally, I poured in milk a bit at a time until it just started to come together, but looked too dry (which I figured was probably perfect).
Finally, I dumped that onto a lightly-floured counter and then gently kneaded and folded it on itself until it came together. I rolled it out, cut it into four squares and then fried it in oil over medium-high heat until it was well-browned on all sides.
It seems that Mr. Barber was right - it's a technique rather than a recipe. This turned out astonishingly good. Since I didn't measure anything, I doubt that I will ever be able to replicate this recipe exactly, but that's fine; that is just the nature of this dish. I think the one thing I will change next time is to tear off pieces to fry, rather than cutting it into neat squares.
I looked up a couple of online recipes, but most of them seemed fiddly, and were geared toward making enough to serve a small army. I remembered a bannock recipe from a cookbook by the late James Barber, and I recalled how he'd talked of bannock being more of a technique than a recipe.
His "recipe" for it was really vague, along the lines of, "Add flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and enough water until it has the right consistency. Roll it out, cut it and cook it in oil until it looks right and smells really good."
I figured I would give that a try, so I poured what looked like enough flour for one person into a mixing bowl, added a bit of salt and sugar, and what I figured was sufficient baking powder. I diced in a bit of cold, unsalted butter and mixed and pinched it by hand until the pieces were small enough. Finally, I poured in milk a bit at a time until it just started to come together, but looked too dry (which I figured was probably perfect).
Finally, I dumped that onto a lightly-floured counter and then gently kneaded and folded it on itself until it came together. I rolled it out, cut it into four squares and then fried it in oil over medium-high heat until it was well-browned on all sides.
It seems that Mr. Barber was right - it's a technique rather than a recipe. This turned out astonishingly good. Since I didn't measure anything, I doubt that I will ever be able to replicate this recipe exactly, but that's fine; that is just the nature of this dish. I think the one thing I will change next time is to tear off pieces to fry, rather than cutting it into neat squares.
