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No more room in the freezer – help!!

J “accidentally” took one of my Ottolenghi books home with her after staying at ours the other night… Really? Accidentally?? But you do have to love a friend who always takes a cook book upstairs for her bed time reading whenever she stays over.

Anyway, I took the absence of this much used book as a sign that I should stick with baking this week instead of cooking proper meals for the family. So now we have to eat it all, to make space in the freezer so I can start again. First up was some hazelnut, shallot and raisin bread. I took a loaf for my friend who invited us out for his birthday bash. 

It was still warm when I arrived, which was quite gratifying. Maybe a slightly unusual gift to take to dinner in a private club (not his or ours, I hasten to add), but I wasn’t the only one. Someone else brought along a bottle of home brewed cider. I inadvertently ate most of the other shallot etc loaf during the early part of the week – completely delicious. So then I moved on to pecan and cranberry loaves – also good, although I prefer the more savoury shalloty one. 

Painfully aware that my sabbatical is almost up and that I will have to go back to work in a couple of weeks, I decided I should tackle croissants before I forget all I learnt at the Bertinet Kitchen. You have to a) plan ahead and b) not think too much about the amount of butter involved. I don’t think I’ll win any prizes for consistency shape- and size-wise with this first batch of 12 plain croissants and 12 pain aux raisins. Mr and Missy B didn’t comment on the afore-mentioned shapes and sizes, but I have rarely seen breakfast disappear quite so quickly. So they were well received and they freeze fantastically – just a few minutes in the oven and breakfast is served. I took some round to J when I went to reclaim the cook book and she informed me that Mr R, her delightful gentleman caller, pronounced them “super bon”, in full comedy French accent. 

 

Bon appetit!!