Making Rose Harissa, Baking Bara Brith and Knitting Roosimine

In this week’s video I’m making rose harissa paste which I use in a simple pasta dish for an evening meal, preparing and baking bara brith, a traditional Welsh tea loaf, and fermenting a glut of root ginger which we bought at the market recently. In the moments in between, I continue to work on my crafts with my Estonian inlay knitting, and turn my thoughts to early spring plantings on our vegetable plot.

*Subtitles [CC] and translations are available through YouTube’s settings ⚙*

If you’re new here, welcome. My name is Stéphanie. Eighteen and Cloudy is a celebration of the passing seasons and everyday life at home. I share weekly long-form videos centred on my home and garden, with food made from scratch using plant-based ingredients, time in the garden, and the fibre and textile-based creative projects I work on as the seasons move around.

*Recipes*

My bara brith recipe is based on the traditional method, which calls for a simple leavened dough.

500g strong white bread flour
100g currants or mixed dried fruit (feel free to adjust up or down)
2 small or 1 medium eating apple, finely chopped (optional)
325g warm strong black tea
2tsps ground cinnamon
2tsps mixed spice (alternative: pumpkin spice or allspice)
1tsp dried yeast
1/2tsp sea salt

Combine the ingredients by hand or in a stand mixer. Once you have formed a stiff dough, cover the bowl and set it to rise for 30 – 60 minutes.

Once the dough has doubled in size, punch down and shape as I do in the video, then cover for another 30 minutes or so to allow it to rise once again.

Bake at 200C (390F) for 45 minutes if you are baking one loaf, or 30 minutes if you divide the dough in two. Theoretically it should keep for a couple of days, but good luck with that! It’s incredibly good slathered in butter straight out of the oven, alongside a big cup of tea. Whilst my hobby is baking bread, my husband’s is distance running. It’s a good match. However, if you have a regular appetite and this is too much bread for you to get through before it goes stale, simply halve the recipe.

For the rose harissa paste:

How to Make Rose Harissa Paste

If you like the idea of rose harissa paste and enjoy watching me make it, but really can’t see yourself going to the trouble, you can buy pre-made rose harissa paste in most UK supermarkets. This is also a good option if you don’t have all the spices to hand.

For the lacto-fermented ginger:
Use 2.5g sea salt per 100g fresh ginger. You can peel the ginger if you prefer it that way, the choice is yours. Cover with warm water to dissolve the salt, and keep an eye on the jar to make sure it doesn’t bubble over. How long it takes depends on how warm your kitchen is. You’ll know it’s ready once it has stopped bubbling. This could be anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks at room temperature.

For the orzo dish:
Orzo is just rice shaped pasta. You could use any type of pasta shape, or alternatively you could make the same dish with rice for a gluten free option, pearl barley, bulgur, or any other type of grain.

I used aubergine and broccoli, but griddled peppers or carrots might also be good, use what you have available. As with most of my recipes, I want to share an idea with you rather than a rigid or prescriptive set of instructions.

*Craft details*

I am working on the Nivalis scarf by Teti Lutsak. Initially I tried a provisional cast on, but I have decided to just pick up stitches for the second half when I get to that step. The pattern uses Estonian inlay colour work, which is a lot of fun. I am a beginner knitter, and this is my second project.

Nivalis scarf

00:00 rose harissa paste
07:17 tea and knitting
09:49 a simple pasta dish
20:12 another rainy day
20:43 making bara brith
27:23 looking ahead to spring
29:32 tea and time in the garden
31:25 shaping bread
34:41 back to my knitting
38:34 fermenting ginger
40:47 afternoon tea

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#seasonalfood #seasonalliving #plantbased