Campfire bread for people who hate camp fires. Or maybe you love camp fires but cannot do them right now because of social distancing. Same goes for barbecues. Maybe you love them, but you cannot do them right now. But if you have an oven, you can make these campfire breads! I included a version made with sourdough and one made with yeast.
I am glad I wrote my last post. For a long time, I was hesitant to share these things and now I am happy I did. Thank you for sharing your interesting and helpful thoughts as well. It was great to hear, that many of you have the same reservations towards Instagram. I realised I was suffering from a very bad case of tunnel vision. You all helped me free myself from that. Now I spend more time thinking about blog posts and new recipes instead of worrying about more likes and engagement on IG.
I reinstalled Feedly and am slowly adding blogs back. If you have one leave the address in the comments and I’ll make sure to follow you! And I’ll try to leave more comments.
How have you all been doing these last few weeks? I have to admit, I have been living in a bubble. Life is completely back to normal, I have been working, my daughter is in school, my husband returned to his office. A mixture of luck and the successful measures taken by our state and by the federal government resulted in a huge flattening of the virus curve. Whenever I go outside, something is slightly off though. We wear face masks at work and in public transport, supermarkets and public places all have implemented safety measures. But that’s it. Sometimes it’s hard to remember social distancing. It all seems so normal right now.
How is life where you live? Do you stay at home a lot? Do you meet friends? And if you do, where do you meet them? I have observed that many people still go to our local parks, the river, the forest. And in a city like Dresden, it gets crowded pretty fast. Everyone wants to go out and enjoy nature or at least some fresh air. Personally, I am not very comfortable with that. Right now, I’d like to minimise contact as much as I can even though our rules here are pretty soft, compared to other places.
If you are like me or if you have to stay at home right now, I might have a recipe for you that is suitable for staying at home and still feeling like you’re getting the most out of summer. Campfire bread is a popular item at German barbecues, especially when there are kids. I honestly never liked campfires because I always manage to stand right inside the smoke. And I hate smelling like a sausage for days. I also don’t like barbecues because of all that meat I have to stare at. So this campfire bread without a campfire is my alternative. It also comes in handy when you’re social distancing.
I made two versions, one is made with sourdough. (Click here to learn how to make your own starter.) And one is made with yeast. I personally liked the yeast version better because it’s faster but both taste delicious! There are also two different versions of cooking these campfire breads, you can either use a grilling pan 2nd and 3rd picture) or an oven or a grill rack and an oven (1st picture). I used fresh yeast, which is common here in Germany, but instant yeast is fine, too.
Serve with:
Three ingredient vegan mayonnaise and roasted cauliflower. (I used curry paste and a little bit of water for a marinade. Then I roasted the cauliflower in the oven together with the bread. You could just put in on a pan on the bottom.)
Tips
About that sourdough: I always have some starter in the fridge. Whenever I want to make some sourdough bread, I remove the starter from the fridge. Then I place it in a bowl together with flour and water. I let it sit for 12 hours until the batter has doubled in size. Usually I add more flour and water at that point and also some salt. For the sourdough version of this twist bread, I used a similar method, leaving out the step where I usually add more flour. After the 12 hour period where your sourdough is getting back in shape, you should always remember to reserve some for your next bread!
Make sure you incorporate the water carefully. Your dough should be firm but not too dry. The softer it gets the harder it will be to handle and it might even fall off the rack.
Campfire Bread without a Campfire
Kochutensilien
- 6 wooden chopsicks
Zutaten
For the yeast based version:
- 250 g white whole wheat flour (2 cups + 1 tbsp) (or all-purpose)
- 20 g fresh yeast (2 tbsp + 1 tsp) (or 1 tsp instant yeast)
- 150 ml water (⅔ cup), maybe 1-2 tbsp extra
- 5 g salt (1 tsp)
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2-3 tbsp chopped parsley, optional
- 2-3 cloves garlic, optional
For the sourdough based version:
- 250 g while whole wheat flour (2 cups + 1tbsp) (or all-purpose)
- 50 g active sourdough starter
- 150 g water (⅔ cup), maybe some extra
- 5 g salt (1 tsp)
- 2-3 tbsp chopped parsley, optional
- 2-3 cloves garlic
Anleitungen
Yeast based campfire bread
- Place flour in a bowl and make a little well.
- Crumble in fresh yeast and add 150 ml water.
- Let sit for about 10 minutes or until the yeast starts to bubble.
- If you are using instant yeast, I recommend you also let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
- Add salt and 1 tbsp of olive oil and knead well for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth.
- Add more water if the dough seems to dry, but make sure the dough is still firm and not too sticky.
- Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let sit for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C and have a grill pan or a grill rack ready (and a baking tray to put under the rack).
- Combine remaining olive oil, parsley, and garlic and mash in a mortar and pestle.
- Alternatively, chop garlic and parsley and mix with oil.
- Add to dough, knead until incorporated and divide into 6 equally sized pieces.
- Roll the pieces into logs, about 15 cm long.
- Wrap them around chopsticks and set aside. (It's best to place them on an oiled working surface, so they won't stick.
- Grease your grill pan and cook the bread one one side for about 5 minutes.
- Have a baking tray ready (lined with parchment paper) and dump the breads onto the tray by flipping the pan.
- Bake the campfire breads for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Alternatively: Place them on a grill rack in your preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- Make sure to place and additional rack under the grill rack, in case pieces of dough fall off. (This can happen if you added too much water to your dough.)
- Serve while still warm or let cool completely.
- Serve while still warm or let cool completely.
Sourdough based campfire bread
- The night before combine sourdough starter, flour, and 150 ml water in a bowl and mix well.
- Cover the bowl with a plate and let the mixture sit for about 12 hours.
- It should have at least doubled in size and have a shaggy texture full of holes.
- Remove 50 g of this mixture. This is an active starter that you can store in a glas jar in the fridge and use for your next sourdough bread.
- Now add salt, 2 tbsp of olive oil, chopped garlic and parsley. (Alternatively you can mash the oil, herbs, and garlic in a mortar and pestle.)
- Knead dough until everything is incorporated and divide into 6 equally sized pieces.
- Roll the pieces into logs, about 15 cm long.
- Wrap them around chopsticks, cover and set aside. (It's best to place them on an oiled working surface, so they won't stick.)
- Let the dough rest for another 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200°C and have a grill pan or a grill rack ready (and a baking tray to put under the rack).
- Grease your grill pan and cook the bread one one side for about 5 minutes.
- Have a baking tray ready (lined with parchment paper) and dump the breads onto the tray by flipping the pan.
- Bake the campfire breads for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Alternatively: Place them on a grill rack in your preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Make sure to place and additional rack under the grill rack, in case pieces of dough fall off.
- (This can happen if you added too much water to your dough.) Serve while still warm or let cool completely.
Notizen
6 comments
When I lived in Crawley (about 30 miles South of London), I could easily find fresh yeast from the Eastern European supermarkets. Now I live in London I can’t find it anywhere!
Hoe weird. In Germany, no supermarket would survive without fresh yeast. Last month there was a shortage, oh my.
Thank you for posting this bread recipe because I just bought some cubes of fresh yeast last week and I want to have more experience with baking with it. I usually go for quick breads with baking soda or baking powder (quicker and usually no fail). This looks delicious and remembers me of school where we made this kind of bread on the campfire.
About life now: I find it so horrible, all those poor people who died and die in all those countries. The distancing, the masks (although we are lucky here in the Netherlands that we do not have to wear them on the street like my family has to do in Spain, and that with those high temperatures!), the uncertainty … it is like a horror movie. Science fiction novels have become reality. Fortunately there are still so many beautiful and nice things to see and to do (one of them is visiting a beautiful blog like yours)!
Oh, I hope you like baking with yeast. I think it’s really worth the effort.
Yeah, I know. It is terrible. Personally I am glad about those masks because they protect us people who work in stores, etc. It is very uncomfortable during these high temperatures though. That is true.
You are right about 2020 looking like a weird fiction novel. I hope the situation improves some day. Although it doesn’t look like it right now…
I love this idea! I am not one for campfires either, as I have asthma that is triggered by smoke and no matter where I move the smoke always seems to follow me! Also I am not one for camping, I prefer to be an indoor kitty.
I’m in QLD in Australia, and our state is doing really well. Only two active cases and no new cases for several days. However that means restrictions are easing up, which always brings more risk. Our state borders have been closed for months, and they are going to be opening up to all except one state on the 10th, so also nervous. Another state here, Victoria, is in a big second wave at the moment due to people not observing the rules (and some people actually going to work/school/family events despite knowing they were positive for COVID… I cannot even), and that is the state that will not be open to QLD, but I worry that it will still manage to spread. I am back at work now (with distancing from clients, though I need to be close to my nurses when handling cats for certain things), but still limiting the times I go out of the house. I haven’t eaten out yet, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that for a while even though places are open. I need to see how things play out after the borders are open. I live with my parents who are bout 70yo+, so I am being very cautious.
I am still blogging away on kittensgonelentil.blogspot.com … vegan food and cats, so same old same old.
Hey Susan, thank you for the update! Germany is in a similar situation, it seems everything is under control. There are local flare ups immediately followed by local lockdowns. I totally understand that you have to be cautious, My parents are in a similar situation and they try to limit their contacts as much as they can, too.
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