The shorts are back in London and we’re stuck at home through a mixture of extreme cold and complete laziness. Netflix is being hit hard (still 15 days left on the free trial) and we’re slowly cycling through the first 5 seasons of The Office USA. It’s pretty much the only thing we’ve found on there that isn’t already available in the HMV remainders bin. Incidentally, if you have a spare minute or two and you really have nothing else to do, check out their “New Releases” – I think it’s fair to say that if their interpretation of the phrase were any looser, it would be turning tricks for five quid a pop down a Norwich back street.
So it’s back to bread making and we pretty much have it down now. Rather than churning through the whole process (already covered last week), I thought it would be a good idea to pick out a few things that might mean the difference between mediocre and really great bread.
The basic recipe for the bread this time was a basic bread dough, green and red olives, jalapenos and finely grated gruyere and parmesan – the jalapenos really worked well.
dad at the weekend’s top bread-making tips:
- Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes – don’t be lazy…
- Get the salt quantity right – too little and it has no taste, too much and it will affect the rising process
- Add a little honey to your warm water to help the yeast and give the bread depth
- Allow the bread to rise twice – once for at least an 90 minutes, in a very low oven (less than 40 c) and with a damp tea towel covering the bowl. The second time again for at least half an hour. Don’t cut corners here…
- Sprinkle a little flour over the bread before you put it in the oven
- Make sure the oven is at least 220c and put a tray of water in there to create a good steamy atmosphere
And another loaf we made today with strong white flour and poppy seeds…
dad at the weekend 