Scratch That!

Scratch That!

Making food from scratch can be complicated and time-consuming. Which is tough for us that have busy lives and big families. But some scratch foods are so delicious that they are definitely worth the effort. So read on to find out which ones they are and get a quick and easy guide on how to make them.

Burnt Ends

A dish that is worth the time and effort that you put into it when cooking it from scratch is the delicious BBQ favorite burnt ends. Burnt ends are made with beef brisket that goes through a cooking process twice.

First of all, you take a raw brisket of around 9 lbs and coat it with some BBQ dry rub, which you can choose to buy like Jess Pryles does at http://jesspryles.com/best-ever-bbq-brisket-burnt-ends/, or make yourself.

Then the brisket is cooked or smoked on a very low setting for a long amount of time, usually overnight.

If you are concerned about leaving your kitchen oven on overnight, you may want to consider an electric smoker for this purpose. These are devices that cook and infuse food with flavor. You can read more from electricsmokercenter.com, to get a sense of whether buying one is right for you.

Then once cooked the first time the end of the meat are trimmed off and put back into the oven with a BBQ sauce which softens them up to be served. Not only are they smokey and delicious but crunchy too. So definitely worth the time you have put in.

Bread

The best thing about home cooked bread is that you get that delicious smell wafting through your kitchen as its backing. It’s another one of those food items that is better when it’s cooked at home.

But a lot of folks shy away from making their own bread because of the time involved in leaving it to prove and the effort of kneading, it.

Obviously, I’m not saying you should go all Little House on the Prairie, and bake bread fresh every morning. But it can be a delicious treat for a special occasion.

You can even make it a little easier by using a breadmaker. Which you can use with bread mix packets like these, and will knead and prove the loaves for you.

But below you will find an easy recipe for some traditionally kneaded and proved bread to try out.

Take a sachet of dried yeast, the fast action kind. Then add one teaspoon of salt, along with 300ml of water, 2 tbsp of sunflower oil, and 500g of strong bread flour.  

Mix all the ingredients together to make a dough. Then tip the mixture out and knead for about 10 minutes. Remember here you are trying to stretch the gluten in the bread which gives its texture. But too little or too much can result in a bad loaf.

Then pop the dough into a bread tin that you have pre-oiled. Cover with cling fling also oiled and leave to prove in a warm place until it has filled the tin. Which will be approximately 1- 1.30 hours.

Then remove the cling film and pop the bread in a preheated oven at about 200 C. Cover with a milk wash beforehand if you would like glossy crust.

Test the bread like all baked dough good, by tapping the bottom to check it’s cooked all the way through.