Feeling like bread making

So I have made a brioche loaf this evening.
500gm of strong plain flour
1 Teaspoon of dried yeast
1Teaspoon of honey
The same of salt
3fl oz of warm water.
4 eggs beaten
175 gm softened butter
Sift the flour and salt together
Mix the yeast, honey and warm water together
Make a well in the flour and add ALL THE REST TOGETHER
Knead the messy dough for 5 minutes, and leave to rise in a covered bowl for 30- 40 minutes, I warn you here and now, it's a messy buisness but by putting the eggs and butter in the mix together makes it a bit easier to work.
Knock the dough back and then put into a loaf tin and leave for a further half and hour glaze the top with either milk or egg yolk
Set the oven to 180o .
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes , when the top should be brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the base,turn out of the tin and leave to cool.

Another day, and other meals .

Today some of my family returned from
London on their way home , and stopped for a quick lunch. I gave them salads. A spinach , bacon and blue cheese and a Waldorf salad of apple, celery and walnuts. Also some cold ham and chicken . Fresh fruits after, pineapple,mango, some blueberries and strawberries. They made a good mix, especially with ice cream or thick jersey cream.
This evening I have friends, and I am giving them Piedmontese peppers and griddled courgettes, with home made Foccacia then Coronation chicken. I first browned an onion , added curry powder and some Aubergine chutney , cooked the chicken with wine , water and herbs and when all was cool, cut up the chicken and added two big tablespoons of homemade Mayonnaise plus the same of Greek Yoghurt .
Left it to marinate for the afternoon , then finally I shall add some browned flaked almonds and some chopped coriander. With this some rice and wild rice perfectly plain, and a green salad.
For pudding I have done peaches in red wine and spices with Cinnamon, cloves and a bay leaf in the liquid.
No cheese , but there is some if they should want it.
Wines. Prosecco and a German Reisling Should be enough.

Exhausted by it all

Everything was eaten up, as you can imagine, but I was so tired that I went and had a lie down which is unheard of for me. Then I never took a picture of the fantastic cake stall which appeared at 4.30 of course it was pouring with rain, as it had been on and off all the afternoon, but we carried on under umbrellas and getting fairly soaked .
Recipes

Meringue roulade
5 egg whites at room temperature
275 grammes caster sugar
A teaspoon of corn flour
A dash if white wine vinegar

Beat the whites till firm and then add the sugar a tablespoon at a time , beating until it becomes glossy with the last spoonful of sugar, fold in the corn flour and vinegar. Put into a greased and lined flat tin and ob the oven at 180 degrees for 17 minutes, when it will have a crisp crust but still be soft underneath . Take out of the oven and leave to cool, then turn out onto a piece of greats proof paper , cut a little off the long edges and then fill with whipped cream and fruit of your choice. As it was jubilee, it was filled with strawberries and blueberries , the cream sweetened with a spoon of lemon curd.

Frittata
I used 9 eggs for this . Two courgettes thinly sliced, some leek similarly sliced and precooked. Then over a very low heat mix the beaten seasoned eggs with the vegetables and cook until the mixture is done on the underside , but still a little runny on the top. Put this under the grill to cook the top, but watch that it doesn't get too brown.
Serve cut into slices, I managed to get 16 slices from the one I did.

Today's work

Here is a meringue Roulade, a frittata, some tabbouleh and three crab tartlets.
Now I have made a mistake and deleted the second photo.

Jubilee cooking.

Am I exhausted, This morning I have made
Two savoury cakes, one had chopped artichoke,mushroom and black olives with blue cheese, the other is with sundried tomato, goat's cheese and basil
I will post the recipes after the weekend. Then I have made two fairly large focaccia breads one with just rosemary and sea salt, the other with leek and black olives.
Next I did a batch of cheese biscuits,made with whatever is left of the bits of cheese that seem to need using up.
Finally I have done some mayonnaise
I thought I had cracked the separating of an egg by dropping it whole into a shallow bowl, and then fishing the yolk out with a slotted spoon. All went marvellously till I came to the fourth egg, when of course the yolk broke in the bowl of whites.So scooped as much out as possible as tomorrow I have to make meringues for the jubilee party on the road, actually this is for a picnic for three of us, as apparently there will be 150 people attending.
The last thing I will make is a frittata of courgettes and leeks that I will take to share with the aforesaid 150 guests If it rains, we can't be in the road ,and will decamp to the local church hall , but No alcohol allowed, so it will be cozy under a gazebo that will be in the road.
Needless to say I am now going to sit down and read the paper .
How could I forget, I have done an enormous tabbouleh to take to share as well.
I have made mayonnaise by using the stick blender, and using up some of the yolks left from separating the eggs for tomorrow's meringue roulade , which will be filled with cream and strawberries and blueberries, very celebratory.
That's enough for anybody.

Have been away

For almost a week,the weather went from winter to summer in a day,with food to match! My fabulous friends are in the process of opening a restaurant in two weeks time.
So I haven't been cooking at all, but will get back to it next week as we have a street party ,with all that will entail .

I have written about this in the Top Tips section of the blog.