The (Very) Acceptable Ovenless Loaf

 

I came to realise that my vision of perfection (The Perfect Ovenless Loaf) might be difficult for others, as well as myself, to achieve.  Indeed, unless you want square slices of bread (and there are many good reasons for this preference), assembling the necessary hardware might seem more trouble than it's worth.  I've written this post to offer a couple of different options for those of us who want to make bread regularly and don't have an oven, one using a frying pan and one using a saucepan.  Oddly, they produce very different results.

First of all, let's make the dough.  You can use just about any dough recipe for either method.

For a 230 mm/9 in frying pan or a 2 l/1 qt saucepan

2 cups wholewheat flour 

½ tsp salt 

1 tsp instant dried yeast 

1 cup lukewarm water, no warmer than 45°C (110°F) 

½ tsp sugar/honey 

2 tbsp vital wheat gluten

Method:

• Make the dough, following the instructions for Basic bread.  I  recommend using the vital wheat gluten, if you have it, because the cooking process isn't ideal. 
• The dough needs to be a firm one: if it's to soft, the loaf will simply spread itself all over the bottom of the frying pan and that isn't what we are trying to achieve.
  
• Take it out of the bowl and form a roughly circular loaf, which covers a half to two-thirds of the pan base.
  

Frying pan bread

I use a heavy, non-stick alloy pan for this (not Teflon coated!)  But you can also use any really well-seasoned frying pan that you're sure your bread won't stick to.  If your bowl doesn't sit securely on the frying pan, it would be worth getting a lid that fits, preferably one that doubles the useable height of the pan. You also want a fairly deep frying pan, which are anyway more generally useful than a shallow one.

• Put the dough in the frying pan and cover it with your lid or bowl.  Let the bread rise.
• When it’s ready to cook, put the frying pan over a high heat on a flame tamer, and cook for 15 minutes. If you smell burning, reduce the heat, if you can’t smell baking bread, increase it. The flame tamer ensures that the heat radiates across the base of the pan and this avoids spot burning.  Again, use your bowl as a lid.  If the bowl seems precarious and you don't have a domed lid, put on our usual lid and accept that the bread will be flatter than you might have chosen.  This is, after all, an acceptable ovenless loaf.
  
• After 15 minutes, turn the flame down to moderate and cook for a further 20 to 30 minutes.  After 20 minutes, take off the lid and check the loaf.  If the top is still very soft, cook it longer, checking every 5 minutes.  You won't get a hard crust on it.  Once you've cooked it this way a few times, you'll get a feel for how long it takes.
  
• Once the bread feels pretty firm, ie almost cooked, you are now going to spoil this rather nice wee loaf by turning it upside down to brown what was the top.  Even though it's almost cooked, the weight of it will flatten the loaf.  There's not much we can do about that.
• Pop the lid back on, give it about 5 minutes and then turn off the heat.  Rremove the lid and just leave the loaf in place until the frying pan is just warm.  Take the loaf out and cool it on a rack (I use my toaster).

If everything has gone according to plan, you will end up with a loaf of smaller diameter but greater height than the frying pan.  In fact I often see 'artisan' rye breads that don't look very different from how this one ends up.   Regardless, it will be delicious bread, incredibly good value and better than anything a small income voyager can buy unless they're some place where wholemeal bread is subsidised (as it used to be in the Azores, many moons ago).  The major drawback of frying pan bread is that the narrow slices are not ideal for sandwiches. 

 

Note:

• You can make really first-class rolls in the frying pan.  Use the bread recipe above and form it into rolls.  Put them in the pan so that they aren't touching and let them rise.  Then cook as above.  They will spread in to one another, but are easily separated.

Saucepan bread

 

This produces a Very Acceptable Ovenless loaf, and is now my preferred method of making a loaf.  It comes out with a really good crust all round and is of a suitable size for sandwiches.  For this method, you need a high-quality, straight-sided, heavy-based pan that has no hot spots.  Be careful if it has a laminated base - it might not take kindly to being used as an oven.  Although you can use the saucepan lid, the ideal is to use is a non-stick, cast alloy, 150 mm/6 in frying pan.  I generally use this for roasting Indian spices, but have found it very useful for many other purposes.  It doesn't take up much room.  (Mine is made by Avanti - it's a great little pan, but is totally let down by the so-called enamel, which I suspect is powder-coating and stained, irrevocably, the first time I used it.  I wish I'd bought the black version.)  If you use the pan's lid, oil that, too.  The saucepan I think is a nominal one litre/quart pan, but I've given the actual dimensions for the avoidance of doubt.

 

For a 150 mm/6 in saucepan, 70 mm/3 in deep

1 1/2 cups wholewheat flour 

½ tsp salt 

1 tsp instant dried yeast 

1 cup lukewarm water, no warmer than 45°C (110°F) 

½ tsp sugar/honey

 2 tbsp vital wheat gluten

 

Method:

• Grease or oil your pan.  I was given some hemp oil and use that.  It's expensive to buy, but is very thick and is the best I've found for this purpose.  I suppose you could also line the pan with parchment paper to make it easier to turn out the loaf, but you probably won't get any crust on the sides of the loaf.
• Make the dough as above.  This time you can make it slightly softer if you want and I recommend using the honey - the slightly softer, well-rise loaf seems to suit this cooking best.  I always use vital wheat gluten if it's available.
  
• Put the dough in the pan and press it down to fit.  Put the lid on and let the bread rise.  One of the nice things with this method, is that you can easly put the pan in the sun! 
  
• When it’s ready to cook, put  flame tamer over a high heat and place the pan on it.  As soon as you smell burning, reduce the heat to moderate.  You want to be able to smell the bread baking, but you don't want to burn the base.  Condensation will form inside the lid - very apparent if you have a glass lid - which is why this loaf turns out quite differently: it is partly steamed.  The crumb will be quite a lot softer than that of the frying pan bread.  The same applies if you're using the frying pan lid.
  
  
  
  
• Cook for a total of 30 minutes and then take the lid off and gently press the dough to see if it's firm. If not, give it another 5 minutes and try again.  I can't really be much more specific because cookers (and pans!) vary so much.  Once you've cooked it this way a few times, you'll get a feel for how long it takes.
  
  
  
  
• Once the bread feels almost cooked, take hold of both handles firmly, and invert the pan over the frying pan.  Now brown the top in the frying pan for 5 minutes or so.
• Alternatively, if you are using the pan lid: ease it off the loaf (hopefully, it won't have risen so much that the dough stuck to it) and lower the heat right down under the flame tamer.  We now want to brown the top of it.  Turn the pan upside down, carefully.   If your pan is non-stick, really well greased, or you've used parchment paper, the loaf will slip out of the pan.  Put it down carefully, return the pan to the heat and put the loaf back into the pan upside down. Put it back over the heat with the lid on for 5 minutes or so.  If, as usually happens to me, the loaf is still stuck to the pan, place the whole lot  over the flame tamer for about 5 minutes.  Hopefully, the loaf hasn't risen above the pan, because in this case it will burn.  If that's the case, you might want to put it on your toaster, or simply forgo browning the top. 
• Once the loaf is browned, shake it out of the pan and put it to cool it on a rack (I use my toaster).  If it's reluctant to come out, leave it to cool down a bit and try to persuade it out by running a knife, with a rounded end around the loaf.  If you leave it too long, the sides and bottom of the loaf will go a bit soggy.  Don't tear it up getting it out.  If the worst comes to the worst, you can always dry it out over the toaster.  Again, you will soon learn the way that suits both your pan and your cooker.

This loaf comes out much higher than the frying pan loaf and is more suited to sandwiches, and toast.

Minestrone soup

The name ‘Minestrone’ has become something of a catch-all for a tomato, vegetable and pasta soup. I don’t pretend that the following version is any more authentic than most, but it certainly is attractive and full of flavour. I usually use black-eyed peas, because they enrich the colour of the soup, but it’s equally good made with whole lentils or chick pea(s).

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

 

Serves 4 to 6 as a starter, 2 for a main course

 

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
1 carrot
1 stick celery OR 1 tsp celery seed
4 cups water
1/4 cup black-eyed peas
1 cup chopped cabbage
a piece of Pamesan cheese rind

14 oz/400 g tin of chopped tomatoes

2 tsp Annie's Mixed Herbs

about 20 lengths of spaghetti

salt and pepper

 Parmesan cheese

Method:

• Heat the olive oil in the pressure cooker.
• Chop the onions and garlic and cook over a fairly high heat until they’re starting to brown. 
• While this is happening, dice the carrot and the celery (seed). Add to the other vegetables. 
• Pour in the water, add the black-eyed peas and bring to the boil. Pressure cook for 10 minutes. Reduce pressure gradually. 
• When you can safely remove the lid, add the chopped cabbage to the pan. Return it to the flame. If you’re using the Parmesan cheese rind, cut this into small dice and add. 
• Empty the tomatoes into the pan and mix them in.
•  Now add the herbs and stir thoroughly. 
• When the soup is boiling once more, lower the heat to a simmer, break the spaghetti into 25 mm (1 in) lengths and add this. Stir to separate the pieces of pasta.
• Add salt and pepper. Minestrone responds well to ½ tsp of cracked black pepper. Taste after a couple of minutes to see if it needs more salt.
• Cook until the spaghetti has softened – you can bring it back up to pressure for 3 minutes if you wish.
• Serve with chunks of bread and, if you have it, plenty of Parmesan cheese.

Variations:

• Use cannellini beans instead of the black-eyed beans. These will need soaking first. Or you could use a can.
• Replace the cabbage with kale
• Add 2 tbsps of freeze-dried peas
• Add chopped pepper to taste
• Replace the celery with 1 tsp celery seed
• Use chopped tomatoes in purée for a thicker soup.
• Add 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
  

Note:

• Vegans can use home-made vegan "Parmesan" cheese!

Mushroom soup

 

Mushroom soup is lovely and because mushrooms are often something of a luxury, is worth making with extra love and care. There are several variations on the theme, which I give below. The initial recipe is adapted from one of Rose Elliot’s and produces a very elegant concoction, ideal for entertaining. The ones that follow are a little more down to earth.

Butter gives a richer flavour than olive oil.

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

 

Serves 4 for a starter, 2 for a main meal

 

Ingredients

 

3 cups mushrooms

1 small onion

1 garlic clove

1/2 tsp tarragon

1 tsp green peppercorns, crushed

2½ cups water

(vegan) milk

4 tbsp butter OR 2 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp flour

salt

freshly grated nutmeg

hot sauce/cracked black pepper

2 tbsp sherry

Method:

• Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and put them in a large saucepan, together with the quartered onion, garlic clove, tarragon and green peppercorns. Add the water and bring to the boil; leave to simmer for at least 10 minutes to create a stock.
• Pour the liquid through a sieve into a measuring jug and make up to a litre with the milk. Discard the mushroom stalks, etc.
• Put half the butter/olive oil into the saucepan and, when it melts, stir in the flour and mix it for a few moments. Remove the pan from the heat, pour in the contents of the jug and stir until everything is thoroughly blended. Make sure that all the flour and butter mixture is cleared away from the corners of the pan.
• Return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring continually. Lower the heat and continue to stir for another 2 or 3 minutes to cook the flour. Put to one side.
• Slice the mushrooms and fry them lightly in the remaining half of the butter. When they’re softened, add them to the milk mixture in the saucepan.
• Reheat to a gentle simmer while carefully seasoning with the salt, nutmeg and hot sauce/cracked black pepper
• Simmer for a further 3 or 4 minutes to let the flavours blend. Better still, make the soup several hours before you need it and let it stand, with a lid on, until you want to eat it. Reheat just to boiling and serve with a dollop of sherry in each bowl. 

Variations:

• For a simpler and quicker soup, dice the onion and garlic and fry it in the butter until soft. Chop the mushrooms and cook them for a few minutes. Add 1 tbsp cornflour, 2 cups water and 2 cups milk. Stir until the cornflour is dissolved and then add the tarragon and green peppercorns. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, season and then simmer for 5 minutes. You can still serve this with the sherry!
• Try making a Lentil and Mushroom soup: Add half a cup of whole lentils.  Use a standard onion, garlic clove, half the butter or olive oil, the tarragon and green peppercorns, 4 cups water and seasoned salt. Fry the vegetables, add the tarragon and green peppercorns, then throw in the lentils and cook under pressure for 10 minutes. Mash the soup with a potato masher or stick blender and then season with the salt.
• For Mushroom and Potato soup: use a chopped onion, 3 cups sliced mushrooms, 4 chopped potatoes, a litre of water, salt and pepper. Fry the vegetables, add the water, bring to pressure and cook for 5 minutes. Mash lightly to thicken the soup and season. You can substitute milk for up to half the water if you want; or stir in cream after the soup is cooked.
• Use brandy instead of sherry

Notes:

• While this soup is also good with oyster mushrooms, I don’t recommend cremini, portobello or Swiss mushrooms, which make the soup too dark.
• To make this soup gluten free, use 1 tbsp cornflour instead of the flour.
  

Italian mushroom soup

This is definitely a special-occasion soup, calling as it does for mixed mushrooms and French bread. No prizes for guessing that I love mushrooms! Try finding ceps and oyster mushrooms Even if you can’t find anything particularly exotic, this is still a delicious soup, served in an attractive manner.

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
6 cups mixed mushrooms
1¼ cups milk
3¾ cups water
8 slices rustic or French bread
3 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves
3/4 cup finely grated cheese preferably Swiss (See notes) 

salt and pepper

Method:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the chopped onion for a few minutes until softened.
• Roughly chop the mushrooms.
• Add them to the pan, stirring so that they’re all covered with oil.
• Add the milk and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 5 mins.
• Stir in the water and bring up to simmering point.
• Toast the bread.
• Mix the garlic and butter together and spread on the toast.
• Put two pieces of toast in the bottom of each bowl and pour the hot soup over.
• Top with the grated cheese and serve at once.

Notes:

• I can give no suggestions for a vegan equivalent of Swiss cheese, unless you happen to be in a very large town, or somewhere sufficiently cosmopolitan to have a wide range of good, vegan cheeses. This is very unlikely, I’m afraid.

Onion soup

This is an old standby, always popular and can be used either as a filling, main-course soup or as a lighter starter, depending on how thick you make it. I give the main course version as standard.

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

Serves 2 as a main course

Ingredients

 

3 large onions

salt

2 tbsp olive oil OR butter

2 tbsp flour

1 litre water

1 tsp Marmite

pepper

Method:

• Slice the onions and heat the oil. Add about 1/4 tsp salt, which speeds up the browning. Cook the onions until they’re just on the edge of burning. The richness and flavour of this soup comes from this stage, so don’t be impatient. If you cover the pan, it speeds things up, but stir them frequently so that they don’t actually burn.
• Pour in the water and then add the Marmite, if you’re using it. This adds extra colour and flavour to the soup, but isn’t necessary. (Use Bovril instead – as Conor O’Brien recommends, in Across Three Oceans, but ensure it’s the vegetarian one; or any other yeast extract paste which doesn’t contain sugar.)
• Bring to the boil and then simmer for at least 20 minutes or pressure cook for 5 minutes.
• When the soup is about cooked, taste and season with more salt if it needs it, and generous amounts of black pepper. It can take a lot.
  
• Serve with plenty of bread.

Note:

• If you want to make this soup less substantial, use 1 less onion and leave out the flour.
• To make the soup gluten free, use 2 tbsp gram flour
  

Variations:

• Add a generous measure of brandy or sherry to the bowl when serving.
• Serve with grated (vegan) cheese.
• In France and Italy, the soup often has a slice of bread put on top and cheese grated over this.
• Add 1 cup grated (vegan) cheese and 1/4 cup (vegan) Parmesan cheese to the soup, just before serving. In this case, don’t add salt until the last minute, because the cheese will make it saltier; and don’t reboil – this could make the cheese go stringy.
• Substitute Dijon mustard for the Marmite.

Split pea soup

Split peas are more a cool climate food because for some reason, they don’t keep well in the tropics: after being on board for about a year, they completely refuse to soften, even with pre-soaking and cooked in a pressure cooker. Chana or toor dal might keep better, but I’ve never tried.   However, they would work well in this recipe, which, while pretty much the same as lentil soup, tastes completely different and makes a pleasant change when you’re eating a lot of soup.

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

 

Serves 4 to 6 as a starter, 2 for a main course 

 

Ingredients

 

1 tbsp olive oil OR butter

1 onion

1 cup split peas

4 cups water

2 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

Method:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan or pressure cooker. Chop the onion and cook it for about 5 minutes until it has started to brown.
• Stir in the split peas. Add the water and bring to the boil. If you’re using the pressure cooker, cook for 5 minutes; if cooking conventionally, simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Reduce pressure naturally. Using a potato masher, or stick blender, purée the soup. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and plenty of black pepper. Serve very hot, with warm bread and butter.

Variations:

• Dal Soup is a warming alternative. Chop 1 garlic clove and some fresh ginger and fry it with the onion. Stir in 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp coriander and 1 tsp cumin. Add 1/4-1/2 tsp chilli, if you want a soup with a bit of zing. Cook as above. Add 2 tbsp lemon juice just before serving with bread or chapatis.