RUSKS - Paximadia

                                               

In ancient Greece, paximadia were called “Dispyros Artos”, which is Greek for "double-baked" bread.     This was, and still is, a method of preserving bread for a long period, and before refrigeration, rusks were indispensible to travelers during their long, tedious journeys over land and sea.   Originally they were made out of barley and were so hard, that they had to be soaked thoroughly before eating

Today Greek bread manufacturers produce the most delicious rusks.  Also, bakeries, all over Greece, are full of traditional and contemporary paximadia of all shapes and sizes, that are prepared with a combination of various flours, their taste flavoured with nuts, cheese, herbs, spices, cocoa, chocolate and dried fruit.

Here are a few recipes for both sweet and savoury paximadia.

                         

                                                    CRETAN BARLEY RUSKS

                                                       A Cretan appetizer


This is our version of Cretan Barley Rusks.  You can also shape the dough into doughnut shapes, slice in half, lengthwise, bake and dry

250 g (½ lb) whole meal barley flour

250 g (½ lb) plain flour

30 g (1 oz) fresh yeast or

9 g (1 tbsp) dried yeast

1 tbsp honey dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water

More warm water, if necessary

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

Garnish:

Tomato, seeded and chopped

Olive oil.

Vinegar

Salt and pepper

Fresh thyme

A few capers
Olives

Feta cheese, crumbled

Place the two flours and the dry yeast in a food processor and pulse to combine.   Add the diluted honey, olive oil, salt and a little more warm water, very gradually.  Blend, until the dough forms a ball around the hook.

Remove the dough from the food processor, place on a work surface, sprinkled with plain flour.    Knead for 5 minutes, place in a bowl, brush with olive oil cover and let the dough prove for 40 minutes or until it doubles in bulk.   Punch the dough down, knead it for 1 minute and shape into two equal cylinders and arrange them on a baking tin, lined with baking parchment.   Cover and let rise for 15-20 minutes more.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F).   Brush the dough cylinders with olive oil and bake for 40-45.  Remove from the oven and cool.   Slice the bread with a serrated knife,, arrange the slices on the baking tin, and dry in a very low oven for 15-20 minutes, or until hard.  Turn off the heat in the oven, let the rusks, cool in the oven and store in tin boxes.

Serve the barley rusks, they way they do in Crete.  Soak slightly in water, drizzle with vinegar and olive oil, sprinkle with salt and thyme.  Cover the rusks with a spoonful of chopped tomato, capers, sliced olives and feta cheese.  Delicious!

           
                           RUSKS WITH OLIVE OIL AND HERBS FROM KYTHERA

                                            Slicing  before double-baking .......



This is another traditional recipe for paximadia that is very popular throughout Greece.

500 g (1 lb) plain or whole-meal flour 

1 tbsp dried yeast

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tbsp dried thyme

½ tbsp dried oregano

125 g (½  cup) olive oil

250 ml (1 cups) tepid water

1 tsp or more salt

Combine the flour, yeast, sugar and the herbs, in a large bowl and mix well together.   Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the olive oil.   Rub the olive oil in the flour with your hands until they become like fine breadcrumbs.  Add the water and salt and knead until the dough is smooth but rather hard.    Brush with olive oil, cover with cling film and a small blanket, and put aside, in a warm place to prove.   After 40 minutes to 1 hour it should be doubled in bulk.   Punch the dough, place on a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes more.   Shape the dough into two cylinders, place in a tin lined with baking parchment, cover and let them rise for ½ hour.

Bake the dough in an oven, preheated to 180 C (350 F) for 40 – 50 minutes.  Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool.   Cut it into 2.5 cm (1 inch) slices, and arrange them into the baking tin and dry in a low oven 150 C (300 F)  for 20-30 minutes more until dry and hard.  Store in a tin.

                                                 Rusks ready to eat








                                  BREAD WITH ONIONS, OLIVES AND FETA

                                     

                                    
   
                                         Rusks with Feta and thyme


This is a lovely recipe for bread that keeps fresh for 2-3 days.  Try it also with celeriac or carrots instead of onions.  Also only with  Feta and thyme.  The best olives to use are the ones stuffed with sun dried tomatoes or pimentos.  This bread that can be successfully dried in a slow oven

500 g (1 lb) flour

8-10 g (1 tbsp) dried yeast

½ tsp salt

2 medium onions, chopped

125 g (4 oz) or more feta, crumbled

1 tsp honey, diluted in

250 ml (1 cup) tepid water

1 cup stuffed olives, sliced

In a large, warmed bowl mix the flour with the dried yeast.  Then add the onions, salt and half the amount of cheese and mix well.   Add the water and honey mixture and knead vigorously for 8-10 minutes until the dough becomes elastic but remains soft.  Place the dough in a clean, warmed mixing bowl, cover the whole bowl with a plastic bag, tea-towels and a small blanket and let rise, free from draughts, until doubled in bulk  (about 1 ½ hours).

Knead the dough, again, add the olives and the remaining cheese.  Shape 2 loaves and leave to prove, on an oiled baking tin, for about half an hour, or until doubled in bulk.  Slash the loves and brush with olive oil.    Bake in a hot oven, preheated to 200 C (400 F) for 40 minutes, until golden and crisp. 

Slice the bread, arrange the slices in a baking tin and dry in a very slow oven. Turn and let cool in the oven.   Remove from the oven and store in tins.   

                               

                                                   

                                                 A BASIC LOAF OF BREAD

                                                       

                              Rusks with butter, honey, cinnamon and walnuts


This is a recipe given to me by my friend June Marinos, who has written several successful cookery books.  June is a very sweet person and an excellent cook.

This bread makes wonderful toast.

 For making rusks, add 2 more tsp of sugar and a cup of raisins, or 
½ cup grated cheese, 1 tsp thyme

500 g (3 1/3 cup) plain white flour

150 g (1 cup) fine semolina

(8-10 g (1 packet) dried yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp salt

360 ml (about 1 ½ cups) water, at blood heat

Mix flour, semolina and dried yeast together.   Add water and sugar, then the salt and knead a little.   Cover with cling film and tea towels and leave in a warm place to rise, about 1 ½ -2 hours.  Knead well again, shape into equal loaves, place in an oiled bread tin and leave to prove for about half an hour.

 

Bake the bread in a hot oven preheated to 220 C (418 F) for 15 minutes.  Then lower the heat to 205 C (390 F) and bake for a further 15 minutes.   Remove the bread from the tin and bake it on the oven shelf for another 15 minutes at 180 C (350 C) degrees.   Place the loves on a rack to cool.

Slice the loves with a serrated knife.  Place the slices on a baking tin and dry in a slow oven preheated to 150 C (300 F)  for about 15-20 minutes.   Turn off the temperature allow the rusks to cool in the oven.  Store in tin boxes.

                                                      CURRANT BREAD

This is a delicious bread that should be considered a cake.   If you just slice and double bake it, you will enjoy heavenly rusks.

125 ml (½ cup) sunflower oil

300 g (1½ cup) sugar

An ample pinch of salt

Thickly grated rind of 2 oranges

625 ml (2½ cups) orange juice

800 g (1 lb 10 oz) self raising flour, sifted and mixed with

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp grated nutmeg

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp cloves

300 g (10 oz) currants or raisins sprinkled with

2 tbsp of the above flour mixture

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C (350 F).

Whip the sunflower oil with the sugar, salt and the orange rind, until the sugar dissolves. Pour in the orange juice and mix well together.   Mix in the flour, gradually, until well combined.  Finally, carefully fold in the currents or raisins.

Place the batter in a large (30 cm/15 inch) baking tin, lined with baking parchment, and level the surface.  If making rusks, place in two prepared loaf tins.   Bake for 45–1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake, comes our clean. 

Reverse the currant bread on a rack, to cool.   If making rusks, slice the cool bread, with a serrated knife, and dry the slices in a cool oven (150 C/300 F) for about 30 minutes until hard.  Turn off the temperature and let the rusks cool in the oven.  Store in a tin box.

     

                                     RUSKS WITH A COCOA CENTRE

Children love them.

250 ml (1 cup) olive or sunflower oil

200 g (1 cup) sugar

200 (1 cup minus 2 tbsp) orange juice

The juice of ½ a lemon

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

585 g (4½ cups) sifted self raising flour (and a little extra for rolling out the pastry), mixed with:

1 tsp baking powder

1 large pinch of salt

1 tsp freshly ground cinnamon

1 tsp ginger powder

½ tsp freshly ground cloves

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

The grated rind of 1 orange

50 ml (about 2 tbsp) Grand Marnier

1 ample tsp cocoa

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).

Whip the sugar with the oil until emulsified.  Meanwhile stir the baking soda into the orange and lemon juice until well combined and frothy and pour over the oil/sugar mixture, stirring constantly.  Add the flour, alternately with the liqueur and knead until a soft and pliable dough occurs.   Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Remove ¼ of the dough, sprinkle with cocoa and knead until no streaks of white are visible.  Shape it into a cylinder and set aside.  

On a floured surface, roll out the remaining dough into a parallelogram shaped pastry sheet.    Place the cocoa rod on the long side of the dough and roll it up like a Swiss roll.   Arrange it on a baking tin, lined with baking parchment and, with a sharp knife, deeply score it into slices, but not right through.   Bake for 30-40 minutes and remove from the oven to cool.

                                         Scored dough, ready to bake.....

Cut the baked roll with a sharp knife to separate the slices.  Arrange the slices in the same baking tin and bake in a low oven, preheated to 150 C (300F) for 20-30 minutes or until the rusks are dry and golden.