One of the things I miss about living in Corrimal (Wollongong City, NSW Australia) was The Gourmet Platter. It was a wonderful gourmet food store housed in the Corrimal Shopping World centre. It opened my eyes to a number of gourmet food experiences which would stay with me forever. Memories of their weekly food tastings, including a wide variety of cheeses or their home made baked ricotta with capers. Mmmm!
One of the products we bought on a regular basis was their spinach pull-apart breads. Moist, flavoursome bread with big chunks of cooked spinach and cheese. Delish! We also enjoyed the herbed bread wreaths, sprinkled with herbs such as rosemary and thyme. I took a wreath into a classroom I was teaching as part of my Bachelor of Education internship as they were celebrating the last week of a unit on Medieval history. The herbed bread wreath was a hit with young and old, and has links back to
I have decided to look for some recipes and make some for my dinner party to celebrate Christmas in July since I will be spending Christmas with my Step-son and his family in Tasmania, not with my family in New South Wales. Below is a recipe which I have made in the past and it is absolutely delicious! Photos to come
Spinach Pull-apart bread
Dough
¾ cup water
50 gram butter
1 tbsp sugar
1¼ tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast or 1tsp active yeast
3 cups plain flour or gluten free flour
Filling
1 bunch (450 grams) spinash, washed and drained
120g marinated danish feta cheese, crumbled
tbsp lemon zest
lemon juice, to taste
pinch of salt, to taste
Method
- Preheat oven to 350F (170C).
- Mix together water,sugar, salt, butter, yeast and flour then kneed until the dough is soft and smooth.
- Grease a large bowl and place kneaded mixture and leave to rise until doubled in height.
- Place spinach leaves in hot water briefly to blanch them. Gently drain and set aside to cool before chopping. Add the marinated danish feta cheese, mix gently and add lemon zest and lemon juice. Adjust seasoning to taste.
- Remove dough gently from bowl, add filling and gently divide into 8 portions, rolling each up to fit inside a rectangular 8 x 4 loaf pan.
- Place in preheated oven and bake 30-40 minutes until golden and cooked through. Use a wooden skewer to test if needed. Skewer should be dry when removed if done.
- For a nice crust you could sprinkle some cheese and diced ham onto the loafs a few minutes before they are done.
Bread wreath recipe and image source: O Pistachio
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I am also a bread fiend. The best is ambrosia and deeply satifying. he best bread I have ever tasted was in Paris. It was called L'Ancien and Fantasique and indeed, the recipe was an ancient, heavy bread and it tasted out of this world. As it should at what worked out to be around $12 Australian dollars for a smallish loaf! It was a meal in itself and I bought one every day I was there. I also recall an excellent salt baked sourdough served in the restaurant underneath the modern art gallery at the Rocks. It came from a bakery in Haberfield - I tracked it down.
Finding fab bread in Wollongong has been a challenge. I go to the marketrs in the Mall on Fridays and they have spelt and rye other sourdoughs and some others which are good. Normally Sheppards brand or from the Berry bakery. What I am really hanging out for is a spelt sourdough with carraway and rye. I will probably have to attend a sourdough baking course and learn how to do it for myself. If anyone knows where to get the sourdough carraway [apart from Newtown - I go there once a month and pick up some from there] then let me know.
Have you tried the polish "AGA" deli (on the closed-to-traffic section of Keira street?) if not, then maybe its worth popping in, next time you are at the friday markets. They have a small range of polish-style sourdough loaves, and you just may be in luck!