bannock my way

[John Fenna]

I have just been up the woods harvesting some Blackberry brambles for some basket weaving and had my lunch up there – bannock and coffee.
I thought I would post up the entire process for fun.

First of all I had my bannock mix with me

3 cups self raising flour
3 cups wholemeal flour – plain
1 cup skimmed milk powder
1 cup vegetable suet
¼ cup baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

and I mixed this with water on site after stirring the bannock mix to get air through it to lighten the mix. I mix with a spoon and I oil my hands to stop it sticking to me when I do the final kneading
While I was mixing the bannock I also got the fire going.
As the day was wet and blustery I used a twig bundle fire with lots of tinder to get it going.
The twigs were mainly birch – brought down in the latest high winds – beech and pine.
The tinder was dry grass and birchbark – locally sourced and a bit damp!
I used a home made, antler mounted steel , flint and home made charcloth (Tesco tea towel! – I love setting fire to anything to do with Tesco!)
As the fire burned down to embers – I used split dry Ash as my main wood – I rigged my 3 hinge trivet (details in my book ) put the Welsh bakestone on to heat up and prepared my Crusade cup with a home made lid to boil water for my coffee (only instant I am afraid…)
The bannock mix was beaten to about ½ inch thick and placed on the preheated bakestone – a traditional Welsh cooking aid of cast iron…heavy but worth the carry for short trips!
As the bannock cooked it was rotated and flipped a couple of times to keep the cooking even and when it was almost done I got the coffee on.
Result – a great but simple lunch that was quick and easy !

I then went and harvested the brambles….

 

[Harvestman]

John, its great to see someone else taking a bakestone on a trip. I did it once and got so much stick from those along with me.

Liking that bowl a lot too.

 

[John Fenna]

The bowl was a charity shop find and is now my constant companion
The rest I made myself (cept the Crusader mug!) I inherited the bakestone from my father but they still sell new ones around here and I got one for Mesquite a while back - real cooks use real cooking tools!

 

[Shewie]

Lovely John, beats a morning spent messing about at hospital

 

[John Fenna]

Lovely John, beats a morning spent messing about at hospital

I did that yesterday.......

 

[Shewie]

I did that yesterday.......

And I've got tomorrow off, hmmm I can feel a plan coming on

 

[R.Lewis]

Great write up, cheers, Still not mastered Bannock, really need to try harder me thinks.

Love your ethos of burning anything to do with Tesco! I totally agree.

 

[Wilderbeast]

Thanks for Sharing John!

 

[John Fenna]

And I've got tomorrow off, hmmm I can feel a plan coming on

I was thre as a patient ...various tests going on - bloods, x-rays, looking at MRIs or "exploratory surgery" - various probs cropping up as I get older
The woods is much more fun!

 

[Shewie]

I was thre as a patient ...various tests going on - bloods, x-rays, looking at MRIs or "exploratory surgery" - various probs cropping up as I get older
The woods is much more fun!

Blood tests and radioactive iodine for me

 

[John Fenna]

Blood tests and radioactive iodine for me

Have you got thyroid probs as well?
For me it is thyroid (?) and my knees!
and my kidney stone problem - still!

 

[Shewie]

Have you got thyroid probs as well?
For me it is thyroid (?) and my knees!
and my kidney stone problem - still!

Yep, hyperthyroidism. Finally got diagnosed about a month ago, first referral at the hospital today so looking forward to getting on the mend at last. Must have lost a stone and a half since May.

 

[John Fenna]

Yep, hyperthyroidism. Finally got diagnosed about a month ago, first referral at the hospital today so looking forward to getting on the mend at last. Must have lost a stone and a half since May.

I am not losing the weight - but I could use losing some - but have lost control of my thermoregulation ...I get terrific sweats, anxiety attacks, unable to relax (boy have I been getting a load of stuff done - I have completed the BCUSA Bushclass Basic course - twice!) poor sleeping, overactive guts etc etc so theyt are thinking hyperthyroid with me as well - good luck - the treatment sounds as bad as the problem!
Strangely I have been hearing a lot about thyroid probs (hypo and hyper) recently...is it something in the water these days or my years of using iodine water purification?

 

[dave53]

thanks for sharing john /shewie if you like shewie you can have one and a half stone off me lol seriously though i hope both of you are on the mend soon it seems we are all of us sharing the same problems it must be something to do with an active lifestyle in our youth that we pay for as we get older regards dave

 

[John Fenna]

I hope that sitting by a fire in the woods, cooking bannock and watching the fire is part of the cure

 

[TinkyPete]

Great and thanks for sharing John

 

[Hugo]

Interesting bannock mix John, I put less flour to milk powder ratio than you, three flower to one milk powder.
I'll try yours next time.

 

[Mesquite]

The bowl was a charity shop find and is now my constant companion
The rest I made myself (cept the Crusader mug!) I inherited the bakestone from my father but they still sell new ones around here and I got one for Mesquite a while back - real cooks use real cooking tools!

Yup... it's a great bit of kit.

I've not used it much more than for baking pizzas but I shall be using it more over time

 

[John Fenna]

Interesting bannock mix John, I put less flour to milk powder ratio than you, three flower to one milk powder.
I'll try yours next time.

Sometimes I add dried egg as well - a couple of tablespoons - and fruit/nuts/seeds ...it all makes it very tasty!

 

[jonquirk]

My only thought is that despite half the flour being self-raising and the fairly large quantity of added baking powder is that the bannock doesn't appear to have risen much. What was the texture like once it was cooked?