Homemade Bread My Way - Keeping it Simple

This year I'm mostly making our own bread, yes I still occasionally buy my favourite loaf and some soft brown rolls which are stashed in the freezer for whenever we need them, but our main source of bread has been made by my own fair hands, well me and Mr Kenwood that is.  I did try a small bread maker but I found myself preferring 'Ken' and our joint efforts so much better.

 

I keep it simple though, very simple.

 

 



 

Even though I know the ingredients and the routine in my head, my bread making is mostly started off in the morning just after I get up, so that the bread is rising while I am getting on with other jobs such as Blogging or planting out seedlings (as now and in a minute) and when you have only just taken your first sip of that first coffee of the day it's easy to miss out an ingredient however simple the recipe might be, so I have this Post-it tucked in my bread supplies tin and I always put it on the worktop and work my way through it.

 

This recipe is our favourite bread mix, I use a mixture of two thirds strong brown flour and one third strong white flour and use it for loaves, buns, Focaccia style bread and for pizza bases.

 

To make the bread simply put all the dried ingredients into your mixer with the dough hook attachment and then while it is running pour in the warm water and the oil, leave it to do it's thing for at least 5 minutes and then finish off by hand until the dough suddenly becomes lovely and soft and pliable, then leave to rise until double in size (the warmer the place the quicker this will be).  Once risen punch it hard to knock it back and give it another brief kneading by hand then shape it into whatever you want loaf, buns, pizza base etc.

 

 

 

If I know my yeast is very fresh (ie. not out of date) I usually add an extra 50 - 100g of flour and make an extra couple of buns or a Foccacia to have with tea.  To make your own Focaccia simply pull or roll the dough out to fit on your tray, poke little indentations with your finger and press a piece of fresh Rosemary in each one (or sprinkle dried Rosemary on instead), sprinkle with Sea Salt, drizzle with Olive Oil and then bake.  It only takes about 20 minutes, keep an eye on it as oven times vary.

 

 

Another shortcut I use is the spray oil that you see in the top picture, I use this to oil my tin before flouring and to spray the clingfilm I put over the bread for both it's risings first back in the mixer bowl and the second in the loaf tin, (use the same piece and save money).

 

 

I keep everything to hand on the worktop right next to 'Ken' in this tin, the two bags of flour and the tin of yeast so I can spring into action at any time.  Strangely it's a tin marked 'Peelings' .....

 

... but turned round on the worktop no-one knows !

 

 

Ironically in the utility room there are three tins marked 'Bread' but these hold various dried dog and cat foods, this sort of mix up is quite usual in our house but baffling to visitors.  (We used to keep our pig money in a chicken shaped pot and our chicken money in a plain round tin much to the confusion of my lovely Mum and Dad whenever they came to hold the fort.)

 

I really should wash one of these bread bins out and have a swap over :-)

 

 

Today's bread dough is basking in the sun having it's first rising on the patio, as it's warmer out there than it is in the house and now I am off to plant out 60 or so Leeks in the Veggie Patch.  By the time I'm done I should be able to knock it back and leave it for it's second rising, then by lunch time there should be a nice slice of warm homemade bread to eat.

 

 I love bakers perks :-)

 

Sue xx

 

 

 

Making Bread and Dishcloths

 

Making bread is something I've been doing for years now.  When the boys were little it didn't happen much, usually just when we ran out of bread and all that was in the house was some flour, and not always even with yeast, I would knock together a quick batch of little buns to serve with homemade soup to fill their small tummies.

 

Recently I have been making bread for other reasons, for one we are trying to save money and making your own bread gives you lovely quality bread for pennies compared to the artisan loaves you would have to buy to get a similar taste.  But also I have been making it for the flavour,  for the lovely homely smell it gives to the kitchen, for the workout it gives to my arms .....

 

 

 

... true this wonderful gadget does the first five minutes kneading for me, but as I have discovered recently there can never be too much kneading.  Once I prise the dough from the dough hook and slap it on the floured worktop I set to kneading, stretching and generally pummelling the wonderfully tactile mass of promise.

 

For that's how I see it,  a blob like the top picture all warm and smooth .... the promise of a loaf to come.

 

 

 

 

I tend to let my dough rise twice, first in the bowl from the mixer, balanced on a table mat between the table and the radiator, then once risen to epic proportions I knock it back and then choose my shapes, usually loaf shaped and in a tin, but occasionally I make buns or as has happened recently I will make a loaf but cut a handful of the dough off and form it into a Focaccia bread, wonderful warm straight from the oven if you are having soup or a pasta dish or just fancy a snack.

 

 

 

 

I am getting much more consistent with my bread making, I always know I'm there with a recipe when I can gather the ingredients together from memory, without resorting to my many 'post-its' dotted around the kitchen.  With my standard loaf I am there, and it's consistent :-)

 

Of course there are days when something goes wrong.  Last week I did exactly as I always do, and then I forgot all about the dough nestled in it's tin for rising in the usual position balanced over the radiator.  I went out to feed the chickens and stayed out longer than I meant to, walking the dogs through the paddock and then talking to our neighbour.  When I came back in I spotted it straight away, huge under it's cosy tea towel.  I gingerly removed the towel, and carried it over to the worktop to brush the top with some milk.  Of course the mere act of brushing started a collapse of epic proportions.

 

It deflated and draped itself over the outside edges of the tin in an outrageously 'cuddly' fashion, but I baked it anyway.  When the resulting bread came out of the oven and then the tin it had curious hook shapes at either side that defied being popped into the toaster without  a quick trim.  The bread itself was still as delicious, I should have photographed it, but we were too busy laughing ....and then eating!!

 

My bread recipe.

 

500g Bread Flour (I use 200g brown and 300g white)

If your yeast is very fresh you can get away with adding up to another 100g of Flour, this will give you enough extra  dough for a whole Focaccia bread, a pizza base or a couple of large buns as well as a good 2lb loaf)

7gms/2 flat tsp Quick Action Yeast

1 tsp Sugar

1.5 tsp Salt

300mls warm water

15mls Olive Oil

 

Simply tip all the ingredients into your mixer and then drizzle in the water and oil at the same time with the dough hook running.  Leave kneading in the machine for five minutes then tip it onto the worktop and take out the stresses of the day on your dough, it will love you for it.  Leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size and then give it a good thump, it will deflate in a very satisfying way and then you can give it another quick knead and choose the shapes you want to bake.

 

(picture from Google Images, the most similar looking one to mine)

 

This is where I tear off a fistful for a Focaccia bread.  Simply use your hands to flatten out the dough onto a baking tray, make indentations with your finger and insert little sprigs of fresh Rosemary, leave to rise, covered, for the same time as your loaf.  When they have both risen nicely (to reasonable proportions...lol), brush the loaf with beaten egg or milk and sprinkle with a topping if you fancy one (we like some oats or sesame seeds).  Drizzle the Focaccia with Olive Oil and a sprinkle of sea salt and pop them in the oven.  A hot oven for the first 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature for another 10 mins for the Focaccia and 20 - 30 for the loaf.

 

All ovens are different this is the timings for mine.

 

Leave to cool .... if you can and then eat.

 

 

 

As well as homemade bread I have turned into a real 'domestic goddess' well a pretty rustic goddess,  and made my own dishcloth.  It's not a fancy one following any pattern, although I think they look brilliant, this is simply a crocheted square made from a 10p ball of cottony type wool that I got from the charity shop.  I had wanted to have a go at this for a while and when I spotted the ball of 'wool' I jumped at the chance.

 

 

 

It may not be the most beautiful thing in the world but it is really practical and gets the pots lovely and clean, what more do you really need from a dishcloth.

 

Sue xx

Living Simply and Raiding the Freezer

 

Living simply really does make me happy at the moment, although the veggies weren't brilliant at growing this year, thanks mainly to the wet, wet weather and of course Bambi and his friends discovering the 'snack bar' that I call the Veggie Patch early on in the season, we are still eating lots of homegrown things, mainly from last year and believe it or not the year before.  The benefits of a large chest freezer are not to be sneezed at.

 

 

 

Even over the weekend with an extra mouth to feed the freezer stash did not go down too rapidly.  I am just about to make up the menu plan for ths week, a day late but I did add this Monday to last weeks menu plan so I am still up to date.

 

 

 

 

I am trying to use up the 'odds and sods' from the freezers first so that there is space and freed up freezer boxes ready for re-use.  We have now eaten all the home made soups from the freezer so I feel a soup making session coming on one day this week and the empty boxes will be used for freezing extra portions.  You can't beat homemade soup on these chilly, damp days, especially when it's served with a homemade bread roll or two.

 

 

 

 

What's with the ball of wool and the crochet hook in the photo at the top of this post I hear some of your asking, well this little ball of cotton type wool was in amongst a lot of mohair wool in a box in the charity shop and I asked how much it was as it was all on it's own, 10p the lady replied, so I snapped it up and when I have a bit of time later will sit and make myself a dishcloth.  I've been wanting to have a go at this for a while and have never seen any suitable yarn on my charity shop visits up to now, so I will see how this works and may even buy some more to make myself a stash of cloths for when my bought ones run out.  I may not be the world's best crocheter but I can make a good square!! The crochet hook?  This was the one I leant to crochet with sat at my Gran's side many, many years ago.

 

Simple living at it's best.

 

Sue xx