These rolls were a surprise success. So much so that I have made them three times already.

The dough includes cottage cheese, but it does not make them cheesy at all, it just seems to give a soft, smooth lightness and a good flavour.

Today’s version was brushed with egg, sprinkled with golden linseed and served with soup.

The addition of cheese was inspired by Domestic Jules (no yeast) Saturn Rolls but also because I saw a tub of cottage cheese in the fridge and thought ‘I wonder what I can do with that?’

The triangular-ness of them came about when I chopped the dough into 8 and asked Ed what type of rolls he wanted.

He said “Why not leave them like that?”

So I did.

I like the way they stick together ‘batch style.’ Better still you don’t need to do any shaping at all. Perhaps this is also what helps them stay light as there is no ‘punching down’ of the dough.

I don’t know really though do I? All bread is miraculous to me, I just like playing with the formula a little each time as I like being surprised at what turns out well.

Having a stand mixer with a dough hook is a major bonus for this type of dough, so if you have one, give these a try.

They make a cracking lunchtime sandwich and are super with soup.

Triangular Batch Rolls

• 250g Strong Bread Flour
• 250g Plain Flour
• 7g Sachet Easy Bake Yeast
• 1.5tsp Salt

350ml of Liquids made up of:

• Hot water – around 150ml
• Cottage Cheese – 2-3 tablespoons
• Melted butter or olive oil – 2-3 tablespoons
• Milk – ‘some’

Method

The concept of these cakes popped up inside my brain thing one night whilst I was trying, unsuccessfully, to get to sleep.

My best ideas often appear that way.

I wanted to use the new season British Timperley Rhubarb that had just appeared in the shops (as suggested by Claire) and it made sense to add a little nostalgia by teaming it with custard. I was also inspired by the myriad of uses that Vanessa found for rhubarb in Prepped.

There is a spoonful of custard powder added to the basic cake batter, this makes them vanilla rich and golden. Then there is a liberal sprinkling of freshly roasted vanilla scented rhubarb on the top. To double up the flavour sensation I made two drizzle icings, one with syrup from the rhubarb and the other with more custard.

Note 1: You will only need about 1/4 of the rhubarb you cook here, but you can turn the rest into a crumble, pie or fool.

Note 2: You won’t need the full amount of icing that I made either, I got carried away. Make half this amount or feel free to drizzle it on other things you find around the house.

Note 3: The rhubarb will yield a good 350mls of glorious pink syrup. This is a true food of the gods and should be poured onto anything and everything.

Tonight I shall be making some of the syrup into a Rhubarb-tini, (just you try and stop me) George just had some mixed with soda as a refreshing drink, and I may even pour some over clotted cream ice cream for tonight’s dessert.

Cooking the Rhubarb

• 750g Fresh Chopped Timperley Rhubarb. Skinny is good.
• 250g Caster Sugar
• 1 split Vanilla Pod

Put the chopped rhubarb in a shallow oven proof dish, sprinkle on the sugar and add the split vanilla pod. Cover with foil and bake at 180 degrees c for 30 minutes. Cooking it this way keeps the pieces whole and stops it being stringy. When it has cooled drain the juice into a jug and use the pieces of soft fruit for the cakes.

The Cakes

• 125g Soft Butter
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 125g Self Raising Flour
• 25g Custard Powder
• 2 Large Eggs

Cream the butter, then add the sugar and beat until light in colour. Mix the custard powder with the flour and add this to the butter and sugar, add the eggs and beat well.

Place a piece of baking parchment in the base of 6-8 small buttered tins. Sprinkle some of the baked rhubarb on each cake, or stir it in to the mix if you prefer. I will add some more to the mix next time to give the cakes extra tang.

Bake for around 15 minutes at 175 degrees until they are golden brown. They should tip out of the tins easily after they have cooled for 5 minutes. NB: These would work just as well as cup cakes.

Custard Drizzle Icing

• 1 tblsp Custard Powder
• 4 tblsp Icing Sugar
• a splash of water

Rhubarb Drizzle Icing

• 4 tblsp Icing Sugar
• Some syrup from the rhubarb dish

Mix the icings until smooth and drizzle over the cakes with a spoon.

Lick the spoon.

Due to spending too much time watching Diners, Drive Ins and Dives we keep craving big dirty sandwiches like the ‘Reuben‘.

Today we could stand it no longer so I tweeted the loaf and asked if they had baked any rye bread this morning. There were 3 options available but this dark rye loaf was so beautiful I had to choose it.

A Reuben consists of:

• Rye or Pumpernickel Bread
• Sauerkraut
• Russian Dressing (mine is mayonnaise, ketchup, horseradish and paprika)
• Hot Pastrami
• Melting Swiss Cheese
• Optional Pickles

We sauced up both slices of bread, piled it all in, cheese on last, and put it under a very hot grill, topless.

It may not be worthy of a New York deli but it was a pretty damned good mid-week lunch.

One day we plan to cross the pond and try an authentic one.

Ever since Ed had eaten steaming hotpot on a trip to Japan he wanted to try cooking one at home.

I spotted @Jaxies blogpost beautifully descriptive post about ‘Shabu Shabu’ and her nostalgia and memories of eating it as a child.

Then Ed had a brain wave: We could use the electric fondue set that had languished at the back of the cupboard for a while and we could use the Christmas Turkey stock as a base for the broth. We had a trip to the Chinese Supermarket in Derby and managed to get everything we needed.

We flavoured the stock with mooli and gathered all the ingredients. First the chicken dumplings and pork wontons went in.

George amused himself while they cooked.

The dumplings were delicious. We ate them from bowls of rice with a whole range of dipping sauces that Ed and George had created, whilst I was laid up on the sofa with a bad back.

Next we gradually added little white bundles of fresh Japanese noodles, pak choi, tofu, chinese leaf, enokitake mushrooms and bean sprouts. They cooked through in minutes and we slurped them up with the broth out of our bowls.

The best bit was the marbled rib eye steak. Once partly frozen and firmed up, Ed sliced it into slivers. We dropped this into the broth and swooshed (Shabu Shabu) it about…and it cooked in seconds.

So this was how we rung in the New Year of 2012.

Here’s to lots more new food experiences over the next 12 months.

______________________

For Jaxies post and full details of how to make this click here to go to i am a feeder

This post is actually more about three people, than it is about three hammers. The Things we Make archive clearly records that I know how to make hammers and these are the same basic design of plane adjusting hammer that I’ve made before.

For the last 3 years I have organised a Hand Tool Secret Santa event for woodworkers on the various internet forums I have belonged to. I’ve enjoyed these, but for me there is something slightly hollow about exchanging gifts with people you’ve never met. Adding to that the issues with lost deliveries, disappearing participants and so on, led me to decide not to do it this year. Instead I thought I would use the time to make something for three woodworking friends who I see on a regular basis, known as the Peak Hydraulic Group. Although we met through internet woodworking forums, this turned into a more traditional ‘sitting in pubs’ kind of friendship. Let me tell you a little about Brian, Doug and Jacob.

After what probably amounts to years of interacting online about woodworking, Brian and I realised that we actually only lived a couple of miles apart. We also share a further coincidence of both having spent the early years of our working careers at Rolls-Royce in Derby, albeit in very different decades. Not only that, but it turns out we both have the dubious qualification of having lived in the town of Runcorn at some point in our lives. Brian is an engineer from the generation when engineers were taught how to do things properly; his knowledge helped me get the powered lead screw feed on my metalworking lathe operational.

Doug has the honour of having appeared previously on Things we Make, as he has been a huge help on the early stages of the attic project. Originally from a plumbing trade background, Doug has worked in most areas of the building trade and is the kind of bloke who will skilfully turn his hand to anything that needs doing. When I needed a fan for my spraybooth, Doug knew someone who had one. When I wanted a particular type of hinge for the Alcove Unit, Doug got hold of some for me. I am quite sure that if I asked for a penguin or a left-handed screwdriver Doug would be here with it this afternoon; resourcefulness and a generous spirited nature.

Jacob is the third member of the group. It’s an uncommon name and to my amusement, I found out last night that he’s not even called Jacob, his name is John. This is apparently due to there being another boy with the same name at his school, so 50 or so years ago he became, and remains to this day, Jacob. Coincidences arise here too; Jacob and I both studied Architecture and he also briefly worked for the same Building Contractor that I now work for. Jacob has a wealth of knowledge on traditional joinery techniques, having spent years making sash windows for historic buildings. He has a no-nonsense attitude to tools and techniques that regularly sticks two fingers up at the new fads and obsessions of the internet woodworking community. Theres a lot to be said for having a strong voice of tradition to challenge the new new things when they come along.

So three hammers for three woodworkers and long may my nights in the pub with Brian, Doug and NotJacob continue.

Ed

This year she made it Christmassy.

She added trees, stars, robins and a Christmas tree…plus that doggy in the window.

Of course…I had to search the county for a wreath big enough to match the one on the drawing.

I can’t convince Ed to string lights around the roof though.

But I’m content in the knowledge that we have THE most personalised cards and gift tags this year.

Merry Christmas!

They are spiced Polish gingerbread biscuits that also work well as decorations and they are flavoured with ginger, cinnamon, mixed spice and all things nice.

It’s a lovely dough to work with and the recipe made 5 trays of aromatic festive little biscuits.

They should have delicate white icing, but I don’t really do delicate, so for the moment they are staying as they are, which is just fine with me.

Find Ren’s recipe here.

I am working my way through my self improvements and so far I think I am doing pretty well for 2011.

One of the things on my list involved making, or improving on a bought, wreath for the door. So when I saw that Deb’s Fabulous Places Christmas Market had a wreath making workshop run by Kerry from the Blossom Tree I booked myself in.

Kerry did a brilliant job of teaching us how to make a traditional wreath from scratch and I am so pleased with the final product. It’s a really sturdy, mossed affair with chillis and berries, holly and spruce. It’s holding its own even now, though wind and rain is lashing the house from all sides.

To remind myself of the process and so I can make one as good as this next year, here are some photos of our 3 hour course.

Click on a photo to view as a gallery.

Have you had enough of cake pops yet?

I think I have. But I decided to share these anyway. I know how you like it when baking goes bad.

I had good intentions. I decided to make them for a New Years Eve party and I thought I could make good use of a McVities Golden Syrup Cake and some homemade brandy butter that I had left.

Better to share at a party than stand by the fridge eating it with a spoon don’t you think?

I whizzed the cake to crumbs then added a few spoonfuls of brandy butter and rolled it into balls.

That all went SO well.

Then I made my mistake. I didn’t have time to put them in the fridge or freezer to harden up.

So when I dipped them in hot melted chocolate, lots of them melted…and dropped off their sticks.

Little chocolate bombs went off around the kitchen. I sulked.

I ate them with a spoon.

I salvaged some with white fondant icing and some holly and they looked pretty cute.

But this will be my last pop.

Stick a stick in me.

I’m done.