Oatcakes
While everyone else is posting about tonight's Dr. Who, I'll post about oatcakes. (I loved the ep, btw, it's just it went by in such a blur that I want to enjoy it more carefully on the repeat, tomorrow.)
The oatcakes experimentation is all ysrith's fault, by the way. She mentioned some George R.R. Martin series, that's never going to finish (she says); I just solve that by not starting it in the first place, except I feel slightly intimidated, being that I don't read nearly the same amount as I did in my teens and 20's. Then again, to comfort myself, I return to realizations like kanji require a certain amount of brain nurturance.
So, the recipe, from a book specially about flatbreads (bought years ago by the dear_hubby...
That doesn't go through my kitchen without some changes. I took 150 grams of oat flakes (not quick-cooking ones, either). I have a fairly well-behaving food processor, and ground them with the "two-up-two-down" chopper attachment, the one shaped like the one at the bottom of a blender. Made short work of those oats - a fine grind, but with texture-y bits. I set aside 15 grams for dusting and preventing stickiness. Before I did anything else, I added that 1/4 teaspoon of salt - really, almost too much, but maybe that's me. If you wanted to keep them, though, the salt's a good idea.
A very small pat of butter (probably too much, at 5 grams, but for amounts that small, my kitchen scale clearly has trouble deciding on a read-out). Set aside, boil water. I guessed that, while the temperature of the water was way off the scientific standard for measuring 1 gm = 1 ml/1 cm3, heck, it's just as easy to measure the water by pouring it into a teacup on the kitchen scale - 84 g. Add the butter, mix well (yeah, it melts - still a good stir!) then pour into the oat-flour and salt, mixing until it's all moistened. That's what the instructions said. Actually, this clumped together into a nice compact little ball and right quick, too.
The instructions are to work the dough quickly - the boiled water gives the dough pliability, which lasts only as long as the heat does. Dough into two halves, dust your board (that's where the extra 15 grams came in handy, but I'd really needed only 5 grams extra, if that). Make each half into a ball-form, then roll it out, between 6 and 8 inches (15-20 cm). Cut into quarters, lay them without further ado on a pre-heated, ungreased frying pan/iron griddle whatever. (I have a cast iron frying pan that is A Treasure, and these oatcakes are another reason why.) The heat should be medium, to help the oatcakes acquire a golden finish between 3-5 minutes. Flip them, let them cook on the other side, 30 seconds according to my instructions.
Actually, I don't think I had my pan up high enough. It was longer than that, definitely both sides took longer than advertised. But, even slightly doughy - well, there's not much thickness to really fail to cook, these were a real taste treat. They are The Best warm, just cooled enough that you're not burning your fingers or tongue. And for non-teetotalers, they were scrummy with a good peaty whiskey. But, given that these are quarters of a round, the flipping could get a bit tricky, as they fitted the pan perfectly as a round, less so as a collection of pointed wedges. SEE BELOW FOR LATER EDIT!
I'm definitely sure I'll be doing that again. It was like my morning oatmeal, but with a slight "tooth" to it, if not an actual crunch. And roasted, in spots. I learned I shouldn't leave around too much flour for dusting - it stayed in the pan, and in its multiple dustiness, all burned, while the "farls" themselves seemed barely to brown.
Oh, and ysrith, those Japanese things I was trying to look up? Seems that I had to resort to an online dictionary for the one I was originally looking for. (Long live the Internet.) 病理学者 for pathologist, but I found 疫病神 for "god of the plagues", the one I read out to you at home, which my dictionary tells me also means "an abomnable person" or a "pest". Sounded good for that written thing, displayed next to your name, in katakana, given your current occupations... hee hee!
Thanks for stoppin'!
* Later edit - PS one of the bits in my recipe, which was "optional" but really not, was how one cooked the second side. They don't cook off quite nicely when you just flip them in the pan, because they curl so much that there's not a lot of contact with the hot surface of the griddle.
To finished the second side, I turned on the grill, with a nice over-head flame, and I put the pan under it for a couple minutes. Mind, it's a bit tricky, as you go from "finished" to "nearly burnt" in the twinkling of an eye. But the flame-finish gives the tops as nice a tooth as the griddle gives the bottoms. And 2 farls make a perfect accompianment to a small bowl of yoghurt for lunch. Oh, and who needs salt, anyway? *grin*
The oatcakes experimentation is all ysrith's fault, by the way. She mentioned some George R.R. Martin series, that's never going to finish (she says); I just solve that by not starting it in the first place, except I feel slightly intimidated, being that I don't read nearly the same amount as I did in my teens and 20's. Then again, to comfort myself, I return to realizations like kanji require a certain amount of brain nurturance.
So, the recipe, from a book specially about flatbreads (bought years ago by the dear_hubby...
- 1 cup finely ground oat flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon butter or something like bacon drippings
- 1/3 to 1/2 boiling water.
That doesn't go through my kitchen without some changes. I took 150 grams of oat flakes (not quick-cooking ones, either). I have a fairly well-behaving food processor, and ground them with the "two-up-two-down" chopper attachment, the one shaped like the one at the bottom of a blender. Made short work of those oats - a fine grind, but with texture-y bits. I set aside 15 grams for dusting and preventing stickiness. Before I did anything else, I added that 1/4 teaspoon of salt - really, almost too much, but maybe that's me. If you wanted to keep them, though, the salt's a good idea.
A very small pat of butter (probably too much, at 5 grams, but for amounts that small, my kitchen scale clearly has trouble deciding on a read-out). Set aside, boil water. I guessed that, while the temperature of the water was way off the scientific standard for measuring 1 gm = 1 ml/1 cm3, heck, it's just as easy to measure the water by pouring it into a teacup on the kitchen scale - 84 g. Add the butter, mix well (yeah, it melts - still a good stir!) then pour into the oat-flour and salt, mixing until it's all moistened. That's what the instructions said. Actually, this clumped together into a nice compact little ball and right quick, too.
The instructions are to work the dough quickly - the boiled water gives the dough pliability, which lasts only as long as the heat does. Dough into two halves, dust your board (that's where the extra 15 grams came in handy, but I'd really needed only 5 grams extra, if that). Make each half into a ball-form, then roll it out, between 6 and 8 inches (15-20 cm). Cut into quarters, lay them without further ado on a pre-heated, ungreased frying pan/iron griddle whatever. (I have a cast iron frying pan that is A Treasure, and these oatcakes are another reason why.) The heat should be medium, to help the oatcakes acquire a golden finish between 3-5 minutes. Flip them, let them cook on the other side, 30 seconds according to my instructions.
Actually, I don't think I had my pan up high enough. It was longer than that, definitely both sides took longer than advertised. But, even slightly doughy - well, there's not much thickness to really fail to cook, these were a real taste treat. They are The Best warm, just cooled enough that you're not burning your fingers or tongue. And for non-teetotalers, they were scrummy with a good peaty whiskey. But, given that these are quarters of a round, the flipping could get a bit tricky, as they fitted the pan perfectly as a round, less so as a collection of pointed wedges. SEE BELOW FOR LATER EDIT!
I'm definitely sure I'll be doing that again. It was like my morning oatmeal, but with a slight "tooth" to it, if not an actual crunch. And roasted, in spots. I learned I shouldn't leave around too much flour for dusting - it stayed in the pan, and in its multiple dustiness, all burned, while the "farls" themselves seemed barely to brown.
Oh, and ysrith, those Japanese things I was trying to look up? Seems that I had to resort to an online dictionary for the one I was originally looking for. (Long live the Internet.) 病理学者 for pathologist, but I found 疫病神 for "god of the plagues", the one I read out to you at home, which my dictionary tells me also means "an abomnable person" or a "pest". Sounded good for that written thing, displayed next to your name, in katakana, given your current occupations... hee hee!
Thanks for stoppin'!
* Later edit - PS one of the bits in my recipe, which was "optional" but really not, was how one cooked the second side. They don't cook off quite nicely when you just flip them in the pan, because they curl so much that there's not a lot of contact with the hot surface of the griddle.
To finished the second side, I turned on the grill, with a nice over-head flame, and I put the pan under it for a couple minutes. Mind, it's a bit tricky, as you go from "finished" to "nearly burnt" in the twinkling of an eye. But the flame-finish gives the tops as nice a tooth as the griddle gives the bottoms. And 2 farls make a perfect accompianment to a small bowl of yoghurt for lunch. Oh, and who needs salt, anyway? *grin*