One of the first new cooking areas I got into when I moved to my time at the farm was Bread. I did not eat a lot, mainly because I found the mass produced supermarket loaves to stodgy and the fresh baked ones…. well a bit expensive for what they were!
I also did not fancy the idea of a bread making machine, if I was going to make my own bread I wanted to understand the process from start to finish and also not be restricted to a loaf with a hole in the middle (well that’s my understanding of the outcome of bread machines).
So armed with nothing more than an inquisitive mind, I went to the supermarket, bought a box of dried yeast which conveniently had a basic bread recipe printed on the box and bought some strong plain bread flour and went home.
My first loaf was a simple white 800g loaf tin, but this taught me the basics of making the dough (yep I just used my food mixer with the dough hook), letting it prove, knocking it back, 2nd rise and then cooking it. And actually, I was really happy with the result.
My next attempt was half the ingredients to make a 400g loaf, but this just had to be hand formed into a simple round loaf and then after that I just played around doing a salt and pepper crust, a simple plaited loaf and then breaking the 400g dough mix into 4 large rolls and doing a couple with a cheese top. By this stage I was starting to get confident and was making bread to a quantity as and when I needed it.
My next deviation was to buy some wholemeal flour but I found a loaf made with 100% wholemeal to dense and chewy so I tried a 50/50 mix and actually that makes a really nice loaf.
I have had a couple of disasters with different ovens and also had one mix a bit to wet and it did not cook through and went straight in the food bin but my success rate has been pretty good.
The cupboard at Glan Gors is always well stocked now with 3 types of flour (white, wholemeal and seeded) and plenty of yeast. I do prefer substituting the sugar for honey for the first prove and I tend to use olive oil (mainly because it is to hand).
I am now at the stage where I can whip a dough mix up in a few minutes so if you are ever popping by and fancy some fresh bread on the table just message me before you set off and I will pop a loaf in!
I did actually notice whilst I was clearing the garden at the weekend, quite a few blackberry stems so you never know, it could be home made bread with home made blackberry jam soon.
I have a good range of bread recipes in my books and I am probably at the stage now where I am happy with the basics and ready to attempt more exotic varieties such as Brioche, Croissants, Focaccia and Bagels so watch this space if you are ever staying with us!