The beaver is a proud and noble animal
Notes from a bemused canuck
Been wanting to treat myself for a while and I finally pulled my finger out and got a hifi for Christmas. It’s second hand, older then Ben, but sounds really nice. Denon amp and CD charger and Bose speakers :) It’s got knobs and buttons and lots of cabling. In a nod to modernity, I also got a BT receiver so that we can stream from our phones. Now I just need to make sure Ben doesn’t nick it from me.
After all the planning, prep and stress, we made it to Christmas. The dog loved his presents, the child less so – those that weren’t in cold hard cash were complained at. He’d already read “The art of War” and hated it, he didn’t like the cologne we thought he liked, and he was nonplussed with the print of the japanese street sign of jumping cats because he doesn’t do posters. Whatevs. He’s a tired teenager. It could have been worse.
Dinner was good – too much food as usual. Spatchcocked turkey, yorkie puds, stuffind balls, pigs in blankets, port-braised red cabbage, roasted and mashed spuds, and tons of veg.
T’was the nizzle before Christmizzle,
And all through the hizzle, not a creature was stirring,
Not even a mizzle, fo shizzle.
All were awaiting Sizzle Claus and his bag,
To bring the good homies and bitches their swag.
— Snoop Dogg
Written a list.
Checked it twice.
Cockroach has been naughty.
Byron has been nice!!!
Cat is already eyeing up the light cable…
For the dough
450g bread flour
7g instant yeast
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
30ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing
For the cinnamon sugar
3 1/2 tsp cinnamon
50g caster sugar
50g unsalted butter, melted
For the glaze
6 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp whole milk
A pinch of salt
Put the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix to combine. Make a well in the centre, pour in 360ml lukewarm water and the olive oil, and mix briefly to make a shaggy dough.
Still in the bowl, and using a slightly wet hand, pull one corner of the dough from underneath, stretch and fold it to the centre, then turn the dough 90 degrees. Repeat the stretch, fold and turn three more times.
Cover the bowl with clingfilm or a damp tea towel, and leave to rest for 30 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold process, let it rest for another 30 minutes, then stretch and fold repeat again.
In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle 2/3 of this on top of the dough, then do one more set of stretch and folds. Sprinkle a little more cinnamon sugar on top, then cover the dough and prove for an hour to an hour and a half, until nearly doubled in size.
Generously grease a 30cm x 22cm baking tin with olive oil, then tip in the dough. Using your fingertips, gently stretch out the dough to fill the pan (don’t worry if it springs back), then cover and put in a warm place and leave to rest for another 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 230C/210C fan/450F/gas 8. Pour the melted butter on to the surface of the dough and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar. Use your fingertips to dimple the dough, then bake for 20 minutes, until well browned and puffy. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.
Make the glaze by mixing the icing sugar, cinnamon, milk and salt. Drizzle this generously over the warm focaccia and serve.