Bread

I'm not sure whether we really save money on making our own bread...

But we do prefer it & on the odd occasion when we've had shop bought bread - we realise just how good ours is!

Through years of trial & error, a bread machine & bloody hard work, we've found for us the perfect combination of simple ingredients that work every time.

It has to be Shipton Mill flour.

We order an assortment in bulk every few months.

For 2 small loaves we use 1 kg strong flour.

(We love quite coarse flours or spelt) 

We also chuck in a handful or two of seeds...

Add 3 teaspoons of sea salt.

1/2 teaspoon of rose hip powder.

20g fresh yeast just crumbled into the flour or 3 teaspoons of dried yeast...

And 700mls of warm water.

We add the water slowly & stir with a metal spoon...

Then knead the dough for about 10 minutes & leave to rise (covered with a damp tea towel) for 1 to 3 hours, depending on the warmth of the kitchen!

This is after 2 hours in our cold kitchen.

We cut the dough in half & gently roll each half...

And tuck the ends over a couple of times until the top of the dough is nice & smooth. 

The seams can go underneath.

Within 5 minutes both loaves are rolled into large sausages & put into greased pans.

Where they stay for a another hour, covered again.

After 1 hour we preheat our oven to max heat, brush the dough with milk & sprinkle with sesame seeds.

We put them in the oven for 20 minutes on 240c.

Then swap them around & turn the heat down to 180c for 25 mins.

Take them out of the tins & leave to cool for 30 minutes...

 And enjoy!

We use this recipe to make 12 large bread rolls too or halve it for 2 giant sized pizza bases, adding 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the water.

The bread is really filling & 1 small slice is usually as filling as 2 large slices of commercially produced bread.

Maybe it does work out cheaper - certainly a lot more healthier anyway!

One day we also hope to master sourdough...

We'll keep you posted!

Kay & Sime xx