Eat well, look after yourself and look after our planet
This website is about food, how to prepare it, bake it, cook it – and along the way giving tips on reducing waste, re-using, recycling. Make your kitchen a green kitchen.
This is a not-for-profit website
Bakermans
I should say something about the name of this website. It may seem obvious why the name was chosen – but you would most likely not guess correctly. “Bakermans” is, in fact, my Dutch family name dating back to the 1600’s – and it has nothing to do with baking and probably comes from an old word for mid-wife. Transposing this to English just seemed so appropriate!
The Recipes
I started this website originally to be all about bread but have expanded this now to all foods. There is a big Mediterranean influence here, especially relating to France as we spend so many months there. The Dutch recipes are from my heritage but sadly I cannot say they are recipes from my oma/grandmother or mother. Some I have recreated from my memory of what we ate on the farm. I have credited websites as sources however the recipes are re-explained or modified in some way based on making it myself. Several recipes are adapted from multiple recipes with ingredients and methods that work for me and hopefully for you too.
Baking Bread
Most of my recipes have been adapted in quantity so that yeast is a packet of dried yeast. Where recipes originally used fresh yeast this has been converted to dried yeast but it is easy to convert them back again. Also I mostly use olive oil instead of butter, and fresh milk or yogurt and never dried milk powder. I use butter milk when I have made my own butter! Where recipes originally used measuring cups, this has been converted to grammes or millilitres. By using a consistent method, preparation time for bread is reduced to under 10 minutes. Baking bread becomes a rhythm – it’s not a lot of work when you get going with it.
Without doubt, the most pleasing results are when preparing everything by hand but using a stand mixer can be a great time saver. A bread machine can also be used just for mixing the dough rather than the full baking cycle.
All photographs on this site are of food from our own kitchen.
The Blog
The Bakermans Blog has tips and reviews. Occasionally, I will dive into history too and also now highlighting what part we can play in helping the environment starting from our kitchen. I am currently reviewing some of my recipes and I am hoping to eliminate any use of cling film within the next few weeks. In practice, I have already stopped using cling film myself with just a couple of exceptions that I still need to work on.
Reviews
BioloMix 700g Dry Food Milling Machine
5 June 2023
BioloMix 700g Milling Machine 5/5 So you know the coffee grinders that have a single blade that whizzes round. I have one and use
Schär Bread Mix
4 June 2023
Schär Bread Mix 5/5 I have used a few gluten-free flours before and attempted my own mixes to make bread rolls. This was the
BioloMix Stand Mixer 4 litre
31 May 2023
Biolomix Stand mixer BM6178 3.5/5 Specification The mixer has a 4 litre stainless steel bowl and comes with three attachments: whisk, dough hook and
Cooking and Baking Tips
Baking golden crust bread in a combination oven
5 March 2024
Baking bread in a convection oven usually results in a pale, unappetising crust. On the other hand, your combination oven is cheaper to use than
Recipes from Christian feasts and traditions
27 June 2023
Recipes from Christian feasts and traditions Catholic feast days are often associated with traditional recipes and there are many variations around the world. Putting aside
The Cheshire Loaf
23 June 2023
The Cheshire Loaf Flour, salt, water Bread has 3 basic ingredients: flour, salt, water. Bread has been baked in England with wheat or barley certainly
#Environment – eat less meat
21 June 2023
#Environment – Eat less meat Eating less meat helps the environment in many ways. The meat industry produces a lot of greenhouse gas, and also
Make your own stock from vegetable peelings (recipe)
20 June 2023
Making your own vegetable stock from vegetable peelings is a great way to add flavour while minimising food waste by using vegetable peelings that would
All about fish
15 June 2023
All about fish Today I was at the fish market. I have a couple of favourite fishmongers based on helpfulness and how well they fillet
