Bread

Following on from my previous posting about enjoying food and appreciating it's value in our lives, I thought I'd add a feature about simple food. And what can be simpler, or indeed more ubiquitous than a loaf of bread?
It's so easy to nip out and buy a loaf so why bother making it? Well for the same reason as why we don't sit on our oversized bums, watching vacuous sitcoms while plunging our arms into dustbin sized buckets of popcorn all day long and every day: - just because we can and it makes us more interesting people (in my humble opinion, anyway).
But like lots of things that you do yourself, it takes longer than you think, takes a bit of a knack, but also gives you a lot of pleasure.
Actually some of the best bread I've ever tasted has been made simply and by hand. Whilst travelling in northern India we decided to get up early one day to climb up to visit one of the Buddhist temples. On our way through the quiet streets of Leh, we bought a jar of local apricot jam, and a stack of totally fresh flat bread straight out of the wood oven. The experience of eating this toasty bread while perched on the citadel walls high up in the Himalayas was superb.
Anyway - here's how to have a superb experience of your own!


Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt to a cup of very warm water. Add and mix in a couple of nobs of butter. Sprinkle one large teaspoon (or a sachet) of yeast onto the water and once it has started to sink, give it a stir.
Leave this for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile sieve 4 heaped cups of flour into a bowl then when the yeast has started to work up a lather (yeast is one of the most excitable members of the fungi kingdom) add to the flour. Stir together and then add anything up to another half cup of warm water so that the dough forms a nice, firm ball. Kneed well for a few minutes until you are happy that it's all well incorporated and a nice elastic constituency. This process is very therapeutic and a pleasant catharsis.
Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a towel and leave for 44 minutes. 44 minutes is only a guess - it depends on the ambient temperature. It might take 49 minutes or even 53 minutes - the best thing to do is to wait until it has doubled in size.
When it has doubled in size, put it on a work surface and give it a good punch to knock the wind out of it. Generally I don't advocate the use of violence against bakery products, but in this case - it is actually required. Kneed it again for a few minutes, place it in a baking tin then repeat the proving time.
When fully risen, bake at 180'C for 45 minutes - but check it after 30 minutes to see how it's feeling. Give the base of the loaf a tap with a wooden spoon and if it sounds crisp and hollow - it's done.
Leave to cool on a rack and brush with melted butter.
Why not make some lemon curd and spread this on your lovely fresh bread? See below for the instructions.