Your daily bread (From Smallholder)

Your daily bread

11:00am Saturday 7th November 2009 in

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For a long period in my life I used to make bread for the family. I stopped when the children left home as then we ate fewer loaves. In a way it was very sad as although it did take time it was worth the effort for the end result.

I still adore fresh bread and if I was only allowed to choose one food in my life then that’s what it would be.

There are just a few “rules” you should take on board before you start making bread.

You need to use dried or fresh yeast. The latter must be very fresh and smell nicely.

The dried needs to be in date – if you query this add a little to warm water and a good pinch of sugar and after a while it should froth.

Yeast is a living thing whose ideal conditions consist of warmth, liquid and food (sugar).

You need to use strong flour sold as bread flour. This has higher gluten than ordinary flour. If you use the latter it will rise but soon collapses and you end up with flat tough dough.

I like to use a third of wholemeal or coarser flour to three of white strong flour. By doing this I get a good texture loaf with lots of flavour.

Salt helps yeast work as well as flavouring. You must use a sweetener such as white sugar to feed the yeast and make it expand. Honey or brown sugar can also be used.

All liquids added to the yeast must be tepid to warm if you add hot liquid you will kill the yeast and the bread will not rise.

Once the dough has been mixed you want to cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place to rise. Do this if you want to cook the loaf within hours.Otherwise a good idea is to put the dough in the fridge, cover with a cloth or cling and let it rise overnight.

Once the dough has been shaped it has to rise again and this needs a warm atmosphere.

Don’t remove the cloth until you have reached the oven. A sudden draft will cause the dough to collapse and you will have to re knead it and start again.

When glazing the top do so with a warm liquid as this too will make it collapse or wait til it’s nearly cooked and do it then.

When the bread is cooked,remove it from the oven and give it a good tap and it should have a hollow sound if not give it longer in the heat.

Once cooked allow a few minutes from removing from the tins and cool on wire trays so that you get crisp bases.

Finally, some cooks use the ‘sponge’ method when making bread. You start by making a ‘batter’ with the yeast, and some of the flour etc.

Then, once it has risen, you mix it with the rest of the flour, and then knead the dough. I don’t like this method, as the ‘batter’ is messy when being mixed with the flour.

It also means you have to make sure the yeast is good, as if not, you have wasted flour instead of just water,sugar and yeast. In its favour, it’s supposed to make a better loaf, but I prefer the method I use in my bread My bread recipe This is the recipe I always use and its card lives in the tin with the bread flour.

1 lb strong white flour 8 oz strong wholemeal flour ½ teaspoon salt 1½ oz butter / lard or a mixture 1 oz sugar or honey 1 oz fresh yeast or ½ oz dried yeast ¾ - 1 pint warm water Mix the flours with the salt and rub in the fats.

Cream the sugar or honey with the yeast and a little water. Add the remaining water and leave until frothy.

Make a well in the centre of the flour, and add the liquid. Mix well and leave for ½ to 1 hour, until doubled in size.

On a floured surface, knead the dough.

Place in a greased, floured tin, or shape and place on a greased, floured tray.

Allow to rise in a warm place for approximately 20 - 40 minutes.

Cook for 10 minutes in an oven at 230ºC / 450ºF / Gas Mark 8, and then lower to 200ºC / 400ºF / Gas Mark 6 for 30 minutes, or until the loaf is hollow to tap.

Cool on a wire. (Makes two loaves) Walnut Bread This is a very popular bread I make.

You will see it only needs one rising but then it doesn’t keep as well as my other recipe. This doesn’t matter as we eat it very quickly with soups, pates, cheese, salads etc approx.

12 fl oz hand-hot water.

1 level tablespoon dried yeast 1 teaspoon sugar 1 lb strong wholemeal flour 2 teaspoons salt 1 oz butter 1 oz walnut pieces, coarsely chopped A little extra flour Cream the water with the yeast and sugar, and leave until it’s frothy.

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Then warm in a low oven for 5 minutes, or a microwave for 1 minute.

Rub the butter into the flour, and add the chopped walnuts.

Mix in the yeast and knead well.

Oil and flour one 2 lb bread tin or two 1 lb bread tins well. Place the dough in the tin(s), cover with a dry cloth and leave to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size.

Bake the bread for 45 minutes if using a large tin or 35 minutes if using small tins at Gas Mark 5 (190ºC, 375ºF).

Afterwards turn out the bread, and return it to the oven, on its side, for a further 5 - 10 minutes to crisp the base.

You can check that the bread is cooked properly by tapping the base – it should sound hollow.

Cool on a wire (makes one large loaf or two small ones) Foccaccia with olive, sun dried tomatoes and Rosemary.

This is an easy Italian bread that looks good whole on a buffet table.

2 lb strong white flour ½ teaspoon table salt 2 level tablespoons dried yeast 1 level teaspoon sugar 12 fl oz warm water 5 fl oz extra virgin olive oil about 5 fl oz dry white wine (or more warm water) a sprig of rosemary, chopped 4 pieces of sun-dried tomato, chopped 8 - 10 black olives, stoned and quartered ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt Dissolve the yeast in warm water with the sugar. Allow to stand for a while until it goes frothy.

Put the flour and table salt into a large bowl, and stir in the yeast mixture and oil. Add the wine (or water) until it forms a soft dough.

Add the olives, strained tomatoes, rosemary and coarse salt, and knead for five minutes.

Divide the dough into 3 flat oblongs (about 4 inches by 10 inches), and place on floured baking trays.

Press thumb marks into the dough, and allow the loaves to rise until they double in size.

(Make sure the thumb marks are still there before baking.) Bake in a hot oven (Gas Mark 9/250ºC/500ºF) for 25 minutes.

Brush with a little extra olive oil, and cool on a wire.(Makes 3 large loaves) Reconstitute the sun-dried tomatoesby pouring over boiling water, andallowing them to stand for 5 minutes.Drain before use.

The liquid can be used instead of some of the wine (step 2). Slivers of onion can be used instead of the sun-dried tomatoes.

Brown bread rolls These are well worth making, but there’s a knack when shaping them. You should roll them on a floured surface, and while doing so, let them rise in the palm of your hand. It’s a difficult process, but once you have been shown,it’s quite easy. Otherwise, make them into rounds with any creases underneath.

½ lb (200g) strong white flour ½ lb (200g) strong wholemeal flour 1 sachet (15g) dried yeast ½ pint (250ml) warm water 1 oz (25g) butter 1 teaspoon caster sugar salt Sieve the flour into a large bowl, add the salt and warm in a microwave oven for 1 minute on HIGH or in a warm place.

Cream the yeast with the water and sugar. Leave until frothy.

Rub the fat into the flour, and then make a well in the centre of the flour, and add the dissolved yeast. Knead well.

Cover with a cloth and prove in a warm place until it has doubled in size.

Knock back and knead again. Divide into 16 even pieces, and on a dry surface shape the bread rolls.

Place on a floured baking sheet.

Cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place to prove (until they have doubled in size).

Bake in a hot oven (Gas Mark 8, 230ºC, 450ºF) for approximately 10 minutes. (Makes 16 rolls).