I love trying out cooking something new when you have family and friends over for Christmas drinks. So when my wife invited our neighbours and friends over this weekend I looked for some interesting treats to have a go at and of course they had to feature sourdough.
The first one I found in the Sydney Morning Herald magazine and it was the wonderful colours and different textures of crunchy baked sourdough and creamy blue-vein cheese, salty proscuitto with the tart, juicy peach on top that caught my fancy. Here is the link to the recipe for Prosciutto, peach and blue-cheese croutons. This is apparently what they call a canape. Which is just a fancy name for finger food. This required me to bake some mini sourdough baguettes, something I have never done before.
Ingredients:
- 590 g white flour
- 10 g whole meal flour
- 420 g water
- 90 g ripe 100% hydration sourdough starter
- 13 g salt
- 1 tsp dried yeast
I was quite happy with my first attempt at baguettes and the slices baked up into great crunchy bases for these excellent xmas nibbles. Everyone loved them..
My other contribution to a great night also turned out a treat. This time I found my inspiration from Nigella Lawson when I saw her stuffing a large sourdough miche with cocktail sausages baked in wholegrain mustard and ginger jam. Nigella's recipe is delicious and combines two of my favourite things; sourdough bread and a really nice tasty sausage. (not to mention the prospect of all that crusty bread soaking up the juices from the yummy sausages and marinade!)
For the miche I wanted a large round with a thick crust and some rye and wholemeal for flavour. These were my Ingredients:
- 900 g white flour
- 60 g dark rye flour
- 60 g whole meal flour
- 600 g water
- 360 g ripe 100% hydration sourdough starter
- 23 g salt
I used BBQ and pork chippolatas for the sausages and some Ginger, lime and lemon jam I had sitting in the cupboard which nobody really liked- but it worked really well for Nigella's recipe.
Hope everyone bakes something special this Christmas.
Happy Christmas...Johnny
Replies
That combo of blue cheese, proscuitto and peach is a classic. Your canapes look marvellous, and I bet they tasted every bit as good as they look. In fact, you've just provided the idea I've been looking for for something special to precede Christmas dinner. I find baguettes a pain (no pun intended) to make, and mine never look as good as those beauties you turned out, so will sub mini-slices of SD bread, but the rest is just perfecto! So thanks - and enjoy the festive season!
YUM!! Bet you didn't have any leftovers, either. Bookmarked this page for later use. Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.