Bread



Both of these are Hairy Bikers recipes. On the left Spanish Rustic Loaf and on the right, Scandinavian Rye.



I find bread making wonderfully distracting and very therapeutic for a troubled or indecisive mind. Yeast is fascinating and a mystery that requires respect and nurturing. I have discovered over the last few years that good bread needs time. It is definitely worth making a starter dough and allowing it to grow, froth and infuse overnight. This isn't quite a sourdough loaf but it has a depth of flavour and airiness that you can't really get in a day. The rye bread has a moist density, peppered with caraway seeds; perfect with creamy Philadelphia, smoked salmon, chopped dill and a squeeze of lemon juice.

In the summer I just leave the dough under a damp tea towel in the pantry, but in the winter it needs to be in the kitchen by the range. I find it bakes better in the fan assisted oven. I have never managed to get the solid fuel range up to an high enough heat to make a good loaf. One of my pipe dreams is to have a traditional bread oven built in our outhouse where the redundant copper is situated.





Scandinavian Rye