Welcome to my Green Kitchen where my aim is to cook food that is chemical-free, in season and grown either by myself or purchased locally in season…it is also to minimise waste…

Produce which has just come into its season has far more taste than produce which is forced and grown out of its natural season …I also think it is the anticipation and the taste of the first of the season’s crops…those first root vegetables…are sublime! or those first strawberries there is nothing quite like the first strawberry of the season!

This month is Plastic Free July plus prices are rising in the shops all around us… it’s even more important now that we take charge and rethink our shopping and cooking habits plus if we can grow some of our own or befriend our local farmer and buy what is in season and maybe buy the misshapen fruit and vegetables as the taste is still the same…

This month’s bread recipe is lovely garlic knots…

Garlic knots are fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and topped with savoury garlic herbed butter that will have you begging for more! Enjoy these garlic buns on their own, pair them with an Italian meal, or dip them in marinara sauce. No matter how you serve them, these garlic knots will be a total hit with the family… You may want to double the recipe because it’s that good.

Let’s Bake!

• 200 grams of lukewarm water
• 3 grams of rapid dry yeast
• 300 grams of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil

For the Garlic Topping

• 60 grams butter melted
• 1 tbsp fresh garlic
• 1tsp Italian seasoning or chilli flakes
• ¼ tsp of salt

Make the dough. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together water and yeast until smooth. Let it sit for 5 minutes until slightly foamy. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, salt, and oil. Pour in the wet yeast mixture and combine until it forms a shaggy dough, scraping down the sides of the bowl (there should be no dry flour particles visible).

Knead the dough. Knead the dough on a clean lightly floured surface for 5 minutes until it changes from a sticky shaggy dough into a smooth and soft dough ball. Cover the bowl with a clean damp tea towel and let the dough rise at room temperature (preferably in a warmer area) for 1 hour until doubled.

HOW TO SHAPE GARLIC KNOTS…

Flatten the dough and shape it into a 16-inch long log. Cut the dough into 14 evenly spaced strips (about 1-inch wide) with a pizza cutter, bench scraper, or knife.

Roll each dough strip into an approximately 8-inch long rope, tie it into knots, and then tuck the two ends of the knots underneath…to be honest, it took me a while to get faster and better at these knots but in all honesty, my early attempts went down just as well as my better attempts as people just love these garlic knots and don’t care if they are slightly misshapen…

Place the knots spaced evenly on a lined half-sheet baking pan and cover loosely with a clean damp cloth. Let the knots rise at room temperature for 30 minutes until almost doubled.

in a small mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt until evenly combined. Use a pastry brush or silicone brush to brush the knots evenly with the garlic butter mixture.

Bake in a 425F preheated oven for 20 minutes until the tops turn golden brown. You can brush some extra garlic butter on top. Let the garlic knots cool for 10 minutes and serve.

If you are new to breadmaking then here are a few tips…

How to knead the dough: Knead the dough by pushing it down and outward using the palms of your hands. Fold the dough in half toward you and press down. Repeat this motion by pushing the dough down and outward, and then folding it over towards you. This helps build up gluten strength in the dough that is responsible for making the bread fluffy.

How to test if the dough is well-kneaded: A well-kneaded dough is smooth and can hold its shape. You can test the dough by giving it a firm poke with your finger. The indentation should bounce right back. If it doesn’t bounce back and stays like a dimple, keep kneading for a few more minutes.

As I am going around on my travels I am seeing lots of sunflowers and then I read this post from Sally over at Smorgasbord Magazine… the benefits of eating Sunflower Seeds for our health are immense…

Please head over and have a read there is also a lovely crunchy brown rice recipe with mixed seeds including sunflower seeds…

Did you know?

To keep cookies and other baked goods soft after baking, add a slice of store-bought white bread to an airtight container. Your cakes, cookies and muffins will keep their day-one softness.

Did you know?

You can become an upcycling master by doing the following… Egg cartons are ideal for freezing small portions of homemade sauce. (Especially when you need to use your ice trays for, well, ice…Cover and freeze leftover Pesto, stock or sauce and transfer cubes when they are frozen to a resealable freezer bag. To use, thaw cubes in your fridge for 2 hours.

I think by now if you haven’t heard from me that it is Plastic Free July…There are some really small ways that we can reduce our plastic footprint just by thinking before we put something in our basket or trolley…buying multipacks? choose the ones that are held together with cardboard rather than plastic…does the colour of plastic containers make a difference? Yes, it does…Avoid ready meals in non-recyclable black plastic trays – black plastic is almost never recycled…Microwave meals, punnets of mushrooms even honey; so many foods are packaged in black plastic containers.

The problem, aside from it being single-use plastic, is that black plastic is very hard to recycle. Not many local authorities have the equipment necessary for black plastic recycling.

Are you aware of the black plastic recycling problem? No?

Unfortunately, black plastic food packaging all too often ends up in landfills, despite being recyclable in theory…

Growing as much as we can whatever size our garden or balcony is has become very popular…in an ideal world nothing would nibble or decimate our lovingly grown greens and of course, there are lots of natural ways to keep those little critters away or if you have space the chickens love to eat those who love to eat our greens ..mother natures natural deterrent…but some are lured by manufacturers spiel etc etc and use insecticides regardless of the harm to health…as do the large producers of the greens we buy in the supermarket who generally have no such scruples as profit is the driving force…the good news…Bayer loses again as the high court allows roundup award…

Ever since a landmark case found Bayer’s herbicide Roundup responsible for causing the cancer of a California groundskeeper, the company has been on the defensive, seeking to overturn the ruling to avoid paying up on the thousands of similar claims. But those efforts have been unsuccessful: Bloomberg law reports that the US Supreme Court declined to overturn the ruling, leaving the company to pay the suit’s $87 million in damages. Advocates for more sustainable agricultural practices are enthusiastic that this could open the door to further action against the controversial herbicide and its active ingredient, glyphosate…

Finally, food prices are on the increase quite drastically and suddenly we are told the reasons are many but it doesn’t change the reality…Here are a few tips on where we can cut corners and still eat well…

Cannellini, Kidney Beans, and Black Beans should be kitchen staples on standby and if they are being used in chilli or another dish with a sauce buy the supermarket brands to save money…if they are a central part of a dish such as a salad then go for the better option…save money where you can which enables you to splurge when needs be…

Frozen Fruit doesn’t go off and is often cheaper than fresh fruit but when needs must buy frozen…

When cooking with olive oil don’t waste money on expensive brands buy the store’s own brands and save the expensive virgin olive oil for sauces and dips.

Butter if grass-fed is worth splurging on just use less…

Meat…for our health sake don’t cut corners just cook wisely…see my post for making one chicken into 3 days meals, buy cheaper cuts and cook low and slow…have more meat-free days there are so many lovely, filling tasty recipes you won’t even miss the meat…

Wine…be guided by the experts and aerate your wine straight into a glass or decant into a wide-bottomed decanter…also serve at the correct temperature…my son taught me this and believe me you can turn a cheaper bottle of wine into a very pleasant drink for little effort plus you can also impress your family and friends with your knowledge of wine…

That’s all for July’s Green Kitchen I will be back in August for the next Green Kitchen…I hope you all are having an enjoyable week as much as I am ..the sun is shining and I am enjoying catching up with friends and family…Thank you for joining me today I do as always look forward to your comments xx