Farmhouse Loaf

I love bread. Not just any bread, I mean real dense beautifully made-with-love bread. And it's not like there's only one type of bread I like, no, no, no, I like it all! So we can talk about baguettes, or tiger loaves, or petit parisiens, or rye bread, or soda bread... There's enough types to last a lifetime. The best thing though, is that when you make it yourself, not only is it cheaper, and tastier, but you can play with the ingredients. You can use white flour, or wholemeal flour, or both, or you can play with rye flour, spelt flour, organic granary flour... And then there's the liquid, you can use water, milk, and add honey (such a winner) or oil, or both! There really is a million varieties, and that's before you start playing with the shape, do you want a normal rectangular shape, or a cute round thing? So really all I'm trying to say is roll up your sleeves and get kneading!!! It isn't difficult, it doesn't take long and you'll feel great afterwards =)

INGREDIENTS

500g flour, I usually use half wholemeal, half white
1 tsp salt
1 sachet of yeast (or heaped tsp)
1 tsp sugar
300ml warm water, 1 part boiling, 2 parts cold

RECIPE

Mix together the flour, yeast, salt and sugar before making a well in the ingredients and adding the warm water. Mix together into a rough dough and then knead for 10 minutes on a floured surface. You may need to add flour from time to time if it's sticky, or in if it's too dry add a tsp of water and go from there. After a while it will begin to feel smooth, which tells you it's ready to be put into a bread tin (good cheap silicon bread tins are now available) which should have been greased beforehand. Then, wrap it up in a wet tea towel and wait for 1 to 2 hours, until it has doubled in size. Then place in the oven for 30 minutes at Gas Mark 6, 200c and voilà, you have homemade bread. Serve with cheese, your best olive oil and hummus =)