Every Other Day at the swan we make a couple of big loaves of bread to keep us going we very rarely have to waste any as it flies of the shelf.
Ingredients: (for a smaller batch than we would usually make)
- 200ml Evtra Virgin Olive oil
- 40g Fresh Yeast
- 50g Caster Sugar
- 1tbsp Fennel Seeds
- 1 tbsp Dried Oregano
- 400ml Warm Water (not hot)
- 1.1kg Bread FLour (1100g)
- 1tbsp salt/ half a tbsp of Pepper
Method:
- Combine everything except the Bread Flour / Salt / Pepper in a bowl and stir well (until yeast has dissolved)
- Once the mixture begins to bubble on top (after about 15 – 20 minutes) you want to beat in the flour, Salt and pepper, do so gradually until it forms a dough which you then want to kneed for a good ten minutes (you will get tired and probably sweat…Maybe crack a window for this part)
- If your dough feels to wet and sticky just add a tad more flour .
- You now need to prove the bread for a good hour in your chosen baking tray, this could be a bread tin or you could decide to shape it into a loaf yourself, however which way you decide it will need to essentially double in size before its ready to go into the oven.
- A good tip to help the proving process is to put a black bin bag around your bread this creates a warm dark space for your bread to prove quicker.
- once your bread has doubled inside place it in the oven for 15 minutes at 200 degrees Celcius and then a further 20 -30 minutes (depending on loaf size) at 180 degrees.
- tap the bottom of your loaf and listen for a hollow sound, hard to explain via text but if it sounds hollow its ready if it sounds a bit dull its probably still slightly doughy in the center give it 5 more minutes.
damonfletcher.co.uk 