Pigletwillie: bread recipe
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 2:35 pm
Got your request for my bread recipe. Have to rack my brains now, as I don't actually have it written out and I'll need to "visualise" the process I go through in order to write it down...
Sift 1 pound of strong bread flour into a bowl with about a teaspoon of salt. Then tip in one sachet of easy-mix dry yeast granules. Mix it all up and make a well in the centre. Add 2 fl oz olive oil, made up to about 3/4 pint with warm water. Easy-mix yeast doesn't need sugar but I find the dough is lighter if I add half a teaspoonful to the warm water at this stage. Pour the oil & water into the flour all at once (I've found that if I try to mix it in gradually the dough goes lumpy - you can always add a little more flour when kneading if it looks too sticky). Pummel it around in the bowl for about 2 minutes, till it forms a pliable ball. Contrary to what many cookery books tell you, I don't think fighting with the dough for long periods actually adds anything to the lightness of the finished bread - in my experience, it depends on how much rising time you give it. When it's risen, lift the dough out, sprinkle flour all around the inside of the bowl and put the dough back in (the flour helps prevent it sticking as it rises). Cover with a plate and leave it for an hour or two, till doubled in size. If the room is quite cold, you can leave it all day and it won't spoil. Go away, have fun, knock yourself out, don't even think about the bread dough rising away industriously! When it's risen, bash the dough about again to knock the air out, then shape it to fit a large bread tin. Put into the tin, cover with a clean tea towel and forget it for another hour or so, until it rises up past the top of the tin. Bake for 30 minutes in a hot oven (this gets tricky to describe, as my oven has a mind of its own - 160 degrees seems to be best for me, but you need to experiment to suit your own oven). After 30 mins, take the loaf from the tin and tap the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it's done. Turn the oven off and return the loaf (out of its tin) for a further 5 minutes. This helps the bottom to crisp up. Cool on a wire rack so the air can circulate underneath (cooling on a solid flat surface makes the crust go soggy). That's it. The process takes about 15 minutes of my attention, the rest of the time it's doing its own thing all by itself. Not even as labour-intensive as walking down to the shop for a loaf!
Sift 1 pound of strong bread flour into a bowl with about a teaspoon of salt. Then tip in one sachet of easy-mix dry yeast granules. Mix it all up and make a well in the centre. Add 2 fl oz olive oil, made up to about 3/4 pint with warm water. Easy-mix yeast doesn't need sugar but I find the dough is lighter if I add half a teaspoonful to the warm water at this stage. Pour the oil & water into the flour all at once (I've found that if I try to mix it in gradually the dough goes lumpy - you can always add a little more flour when kneading if it looks too sticky). Pummel it around in the bowl for about 2 minutes, till it forms a pliable ball. Contrary to what many cookery books tell you, I don't think fighting with the dough for long periods actually adds anything to the lightness of the finished bread - in my experience, it depends on how much rising time you give it. When it's risen, lift the dough out, sprinkle flour all around the inside of the bowl and put the dough back in (the flour helps prevent it sticking as it rises). Cover with a plate and leave it for an hour or two, till doubled in size. If the room is quite cold, you can leave it all day and it won't spoil. Go away, have fun, knock yourself out, don't even think about the bread dough rising away industriously! When it's risen, bash the dough about again to knock the air out, then shape it to fit a large bread tin. Put into the tin, cover with a clean tea towel and forget it for another hour or so, until it rises up past the top of the tin. Bake for 30 minutes in a hot oven (this gets tricky to describe, as my oven has a mind of its own - 160 degrees seems to be best for me, but you need to experiment to suit your own oven). After 30 mins, take the loaf from the tin and tap the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it's done. Turn the oven off and return the loaf (out of its tin) for a further 5 minutes. This helps the bottom to crisp up. Cool on a wire rack so the air can circulate underneath (cooling on a solid flat surface makes the crust go soggy). That's it. The process takes about 15 minutes of my attention, the rest of the time it's doing its own thing all by itself. Not even as labour-intensive as walking down to the shop for a loaf!
