Isle of Wight Garlic Farm and Garlic & Herb Monkey Bread

A couple of weeks ago, whilst staying in the Isle of Wight, we visited the Garlic Farm at Newchurch. It was only a brief visit on our way to catch the ferry home and whilst we were there we wandered around a garlic field and sampled some of the many pickles, mayos and sauces on offer, before stopping by the shop to make some purchases.

If you're ever in the Isle of Wight it's worth a visit, even if it's just to see the many varieties of garlic on offer. They also offer tractor rides and garlic bread workshops in the holidays.

I bought a grappe (bunch) of garlic, and the kids complained about the smell every time they got into the car! Once home I decided to roast a couple of bulbs which I then used to make some Monkey Bread, which is featured on the Great British Chefs website this week.

The bread was lovely and crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. You could also add grated cheese to the top before baking if you prefer. It's great served with soup or as a side to a summer salad.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Monkey Bread

Our Red Funnel Ferry Journey

We travelled from Southampton to Cowes onboard one of Red Funnel's newly refurbished ferries (you can read more about the refurbishment in my previous post, here). The boarding system seemed really efficient and as we'd arrived early parked up along the seafront where we enjoyed our picnic on a grassy area adjacent to the ferry terminal. The husband enquired about catching an earlier ferry, and despite being fully booked we were invited to join the standby queue and were lucky enough to be the last car to board. Whilst you're waiting for your ferry you may spot one of the enormous cruise ships, one of which you can read about in Jenny's post about their family holiday.

It was a lovely day on both the outward & return crossings and there was plenty of room for all the passengers, both inside and out, and we didn't have trouble finding somewhere to sit. I was pleased to see that there was an outside area that was undercover which would be a perfect place to shelter during a downpour on a typical British summers day.

There were bar and eating areas inside as well as an outdoor bbq, giving the ferry a real holiday atmosphere. The time passed quickly with plenty for the kids to see en route, with the highlight being on the return when we travelled alongside a huge container ship for the last leg of the crossing, and then seeing a cruise ship in dock at Southampton as we arrived.

We were provided with return ferry tickets free of charge from Red Funnel, however I would definitely recommend them for a fuss free crossing to the Isle of Wight.

Garlic & Basil Bread Bites

Al Fresco dining and summer salads seem to be well and truly upon us now and who doesn't love to have a bit of bread with their salad. I absolutely love bread, although bread doesn't love me, or rather it does love me and loves me so well that it just sits on my hips and stays there until I banish it from my diet for a few weeks. I find it hard to do that in the summer though as there is nothing better than a platter of lovely fresh tasty bread, cheese and salad - my mouth is watering just thinking of it.

At the weekend we spent a lot of time eating in the garden and for one of our family afternoon snacks I made an easy dough in the breadmaker and baked up some garlic and herb bites, which were great for dipping in Balsamic vinegar and eating with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella. Breadmakers are great as you don't need any baking skills to make a very versatile dough, and you can then enjoy freshly baked bread whenever you like.

I use the same dough recipe for lots of breads as it works for me and can be used in both savoury and sweet recipes - for sweet ones such as Cinnamon buns I add sugar too.

Quantities of the garlic and basil will depend on your own taste and how garlicky and herby you like your bread - I used around 1 tbsp of basil paste and 1tsp of garlic paste.

Garlic & Basil Bread Bites

225ml milk

500g white bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

50g butter, softened

7g yeast

100ml (approx) Olive oil 

garlic paste or crushed fresh garlic cloves

basil paste or fresh basil made into a paste with a little olive oil 

• Add the dough ingredients into the breadmaker in the order that your machine specifies and set to dough.
• Once the dough is ready remove onto a lightly floured surface and roll out into a long sausage
• Divide the sausage into 4 and roll each out a bit longer
• Cut each piece into around 12 pieces - you don't need to be too precise here and at this point I lost count of the pieces that I was cutting - as long as they are all similar in size and bitesize then don't worry too much

• Mix the olive oil, basil and garlic together in a bowl
• Roll each piece of dough in the oil until covered

Let any excess oil drip off the dough and place into a baking tin

 

• Cover the tin with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for around an hour until the dough has doubled in size
• Bake in a preheated 200 C oven for approximated 20 minutes
• Whilst warm brush with a little more olive oil and toss into a bowl for serving (the bread will fall apart into pieces)

Serve with freshly sliced tomatoes and mozzarella and some Balsamic for dipping - or as an accompaniment to a main meal

I have been sent a Panasonic breadmaker to try out for a few weeks for The Ideas Kitchen, come and see this and other recipes here