Bread

I love making bread. Anthony would say I don't make it often enough and to be honest that is true. I think people think it takes ages to make bread. Although it is time consuming it's actually mostly the proving that takes the time.

After spending all morning painting the downstairs toilet I decided to make a lovely nutty loaf, and here is the recipe. Bear in mind, I use an aga so it's a bit tricky to give temperatures and timings - you'll have to play about.

In a large bowl put 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1 1/2 lbs of strong bread flour. Give it a little mix then add whatever nuts/ seeds you want. I use 1 handful each of sesame, linseed, pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Mix them in then add a 6g sachet of easy blend yeast. Make a well and add about 1 tblsp olive oil and then mix in about 450-500 ml of warm water (not hot!). Add the water slowly and keep mixing until you get the right consistency - it should still be quite dry but pliable.

Then you need to get messy. Knead on a floured surface for about 10 minutes. Lightly flour the bowl and put the ball of dough in, cover with a tea towel and leave somewhere warm to rise for about 30 minutes or until double in size (I use the top of the aga). Make sure your dalmatian does not eat the entire lot as it will cause quite nasty bloating and smelly gas - we know this from experience!

When the dough is doubled in size, line a 2lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper and roughly shape the dough to fit (this will knock a lot of air out of the dough). Squash it down into the tin, brush with egg/milk mix and sprinkle a few more seeds on top. Leave to prove again until doubled again in size.

Bake in a hot-ish oven (about gm 5) for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden and it sounds hollow when you tap the bottom of the loaf.

If you want a nice crust, take the bread out of the tin and put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

Yummy!