Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns have been associated with the Christian holiday of Good Friday for hundreds of years, although some people believe they have been baked since long before that and were simply adopted by Christians. Christian or not, the lore surrounding this simple confection is fascinating, and the buns themselves are delicious.  Traditionally containing currants or other dried fruit, Cinnamon and spices, topped with icing, these buns are supposed to ensure friendship throughout the year with anyone you share them with, and once you try one you will see why.

The oldest Christian lore surrounding hot cross buns states that sometime in the 12th century an Anglican monk placed the cross on the buns to celebrate Good Friday, which at that time was called "The Day of the Cross".   The actual recipe is said to pre-date this however, it is believed that the Saxons ate buns marked with a cross to honor the goddess Eostre.  It's thought that worship of the pagan goddess was so firmly rooted that early Christian missionaries adopted "Easter", hot cross buns and many other pagan traditions into their own yearly celebrations.   Hot cross buns came to be made of the same dough used to make communion bread.   Because of this, they were believed to have special healing powers and to bring good luck.   Some traditions say that a hot cross bun baked on Good Friday and hung from the kitchen ceiling can bring luck to your household, ensure all your bread rises, and ward off fires.   There is a popular saying, "Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be".  If you share a hot cross bun with a friend it will ensure good relations between you for the rest of the year.   In the 16th century, early Protestant monarchs saw the buns as a hold-over from Catholic rule in England and attempted to ban them.  Their overwhelming popularity made this impossible, and Queen Elizabeth I passed a law allowing them to be baked only at Easter and Christmas. 

Recipe from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients (makes approx 18):

Buns:

• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup Canola Oil
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 package (2 1/4 Teaspoons) Active Dry Yeast
• 4 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup (additional) Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 2 teaspoons Salt

Filling:

• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• Spices: Cardamom, Nutmeg, Allspice (optional)
• 1/2 cup Raisins

Glaze:

• 1 whole Egg White
• Splash Of Milk

Icing:

• 1 whole Egg White
• Powdered Sugar
• Splash Of Milk

Preparation: 

BUNS

Combine 2 cups milk, canola oil, and 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan. Stir and heat until very warm but not boiling. Turn off the heat and allow to cool until mixture is still warm, but not hot--about 30 minutes.

Sprinkle yeast over mixture. Add 4 cups of flour and stir to combine. Mixture will be very sticky. Cover with a towel and set aside for 1 hour.

Add 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir till combined.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar with cinnamon and whatever other spices you want to use.

Lightly flour surface. Press to slightly flatten dough. Sprinkle a couple tablespoons of the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Sprinkle on about a third of the raisins. Then fold the dough over on itself and flatten again so the dough is "plain" again. Repeat the sugar/raisin process, then fold the dough again. Repeat a third time until all the raisins are used. (You won't use all the sugar/cinnamon mixture.)

Pinch off ping pong or golf ball-size bunches of dough. With floured hands, quickly roll it into a ball, then turn the edges under themselves slightly. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for at least 30 minutes...an hour-plus is better.

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400F degrees

GLAZE

Mix 1 egg white with a splash of milk. Brush onto each roll.

Bake for 20 minutes, give or take, or until tops of buns have turned nice and golden brown.

Remove from pan and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

ICING

Mix 1 egg white with enough powdered sugar for icing to be very thick. Splash in milk as needed for consistency.

Add icing to a small Ziploc bag and snip the corner. Make icing crosses on each roll, making sure they're completely cooled first.

Bread Bowls

Bread bowls are very popular in the United States (we Americans love our carbs).  They are normally used to serve thick cream based soups and stews like New England clam chowder or chili.    This recipe makes a tasty, springy dough and because of the relatively large amount of yeast used it takes slightly less time to rise than the average bread dough.   The egg wash gives a lovely shiny exterior, making a beautiful vessel for your favorite soup or stew.  

I started living with my boyfriend a little more than a year ago and its been a wonderful experience to see him learn how to cook and plan meals.   When we met pretty much everything he consumed came out of a fast food bag and his best dish was buttered toast.   Now he plans the weeks meals, does the grocery shopping and cooks healthful dinners for us almost every night (I know, I'm the luckiest girl ever).   One of his favorite tricks is to cook a whole chicken one night, make chicken stock with the carcass and then  make soup with the chicken stock the next day.   He also saves our vegetable scraps and regularly makes veggie stock as well.   Believe me, homemade stock is the bee's knees.    There could probably be a whole other blog dedicated to his culinary adventures.  Last night he made cream of broccoli soup and I made these sweet bread bowls to go with it.   

Bread Bowls
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com
Makes 6 bowls (or 8 if you want small ones)


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6-7 cups all purpose flour

• cornmeal
• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon water

Preparation: 

• In a large bowl proof the yeast by dissolving it in the warm water for about 10 minutes or until it becomes bubbly and frothy.  
• Add 4 cups of flour, the vegetable oil and salt and mix well. 
• Add the remaining flour a 1/2 cup at a time until a firm dough is formed.  You may not need the entire 7 cups of flour.  You will want a stiff dough so it will hold the round shape of the bread bowl.  
• Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 6 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil.  Cover with a damp cloth and allow the dough to rise until doubled (approx. 40 minutes).  
• Punch down the dough and divide it into 6 equal parts.  The best way to divide dough is to weigh it, but if you don't have a scale you can always eyeball it.  I find the easiest way is to divide the dough in half, and then divide each half into 3 or 4 parts (depending on if you want 6 large bowls or 8 small ones).  Place the balls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal and allow them to double in size once more (approx 35 minutes).  
• Preheat your oven to 400F.   In a small bowl beat together the egg and water to make an egg wash.  Brush half of the wash over the bread bowls and slash the tops.  
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes, then give them another coating of egg wash.  Cook for another 10-15 minutes until the bread is golden brown and cooked through.  Larger bread bowls will require slightly longer cooking times. 
• To make bowls, cut off the top and scoop out the centers, leaving at least 3/4 of an inch on all sides.  Fill with hot soup and serve immediately.  

Irish Potato Bread

St. Patrick's day is approaching so I'm working on my Irish recipes.   Irish beer bread is my favorite, but I already did a post on it so I decided to try another popular Irish bread - potato bread!  I found this recipe at one of my favorite sites, The Fresh Loaf.  It was originally a "baked potato bread" because it included traditional baked potato ingredients - chives, bacon, sour cream.   I was lacking all three of those ingredients (classic) so I left out the chives and bacon, and used yogurt with a little bit of baking soda as a substitute for the sour cream.   I used non-fat yogurt and it came out just fine (and even made it a bit healthier..)

Instead of using potato flakes or starch, this recipe calls for mashed potatoes.  It is a great use for leftovers, even if they have milk and butter in them.   Next time I make this recipe I am going to save the water I boiled the potatoes in for use in the bread batter.  Oh yeah, and I'm going to put bacon in.  

Ingredients (makes 2 1lb loaves, or 1 large loaf):

• 1/2 cup mashed potatoes
• 3 to 4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour 
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• optional: 1/4 cup cooked bacon, 1/2 cup chopped chives, or any other add-ins you can think of

Preparation: 

• Mix the potatoes, yeast, salt, and two cups of flour in a large mixing bowl.  If you are using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast you will need to proof it before adding.  Use the 3/4 cups water from the recipe to proof your yeast.  Check out my old post on yeast for details on how to properly proof your active dry yeast. 
• Add the water, sour cream and any add-ins you want to include.  If you add bacon feel free to include the grease for added flavor.   Mix this all together well.
• At this point your dough will be soupy, add flour by the handful until it starts to come together, turn out onto a well floured surface and continue to knead in handfuls of flour until your dough is solid enough to form into a ball, but still very damp.  A wetter dough is harder to work with but will ultimately have a better end result.  
• Let your dough rise until doubled (about 90 minutes) in a oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap.  
• Once risen, shape your loaves (or loaf if you are going for one big one) and let rise until doubled again (about 45 minutes).  I chose to make mine a bit oblong, but the shape of your loaf is up to you.  
• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.  Once my loaves were fully risen, I dusted them with flour and slashed the top.   Bake for 5 minutes at 425, then turn your oven down to 350 and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until they are brown on the outside and sound hollow when tapped. 

Beautiful! Even though there was no bacon, and I had to make some substitutions (yogurt instead of sour cream, and active dry yeast instead of instant) this recipe still came out great!

Yeast - Active Dry vs. Instant

I'm working on testing out some new recipes for you folks and thought I'd include an important service announcement.   Yesterday I was working on making some english muffins, I was using a great recipe that is acclaimed across the web, written by a professional baker.  In my haste, I neglected to notice that the recipe called for instant yeast.  I went my merry way, measured out my active dry yeast and set about mixing my dough.  

Then I started kneading.  

Then I noticed all the little balls of active dry yeast where still present in my dough, like little bits of sand they weren't dissolving.  Then I had a giant "duh!" moment and went to check the recipe.  Sure enough, I had to start over because I hadn't activated my yeast and my first batch was never going to rise. 

Let this be a lesson to you all!  So, what is the difference between active dry yeast and instant yeast?  There is one important difference - instant yeast can be added directly to your recipe, and active dry yeast needs to be "activated" first by being dissolved in warm liquid.   It is possible to substitute active dry for instant like I did by activating it and using a little more than you would if you were using the instant yeast. 

Read my last post on yeast for more details on how to properly activate it, and also check out this Yeast FAQ over at The Fresh Loaf for more info on the differences between active dry and instant.  

No-Knead Pizza Dough

If you had asked me 24 hours ago if it was worth waiting 18 hours for pizza dough to rise I probably would have told you no, and I would have been horribly wrong.   This pizza dough recipe developed by Jim Lahey, owner of New York's Sullivan Street Bakery, and published in Bon Appetit magazine, has everything you want out of a traditional pizza dough and all you have to do is wait....

Many homemade pizza dough recipes end up being to "biscuity", often failing to achieve the right texture or consistency.   However, if you are willing to do some planning and some waiting, you can make perfect crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, bubbly, delicious pizza dough.   This dough has great elasticity for making thin crust pizzas if that's your game.   The long hours of fermentation give it a yummy yeasty taste.   Resist the urge to overwork the dough in this no-knead recipe!

Ingredients:  (makes six 10"-12" pizzas.  I halfed this recipe)

• 7.5 cups all-purpose flour (1000 grams) plus more for shaping
• 4 tsp fine sea salt (or kosher)
• 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 3 cups water

Preparation:

• Whisk together the flour, salt and yeast in a medium bowl.  While stirring, slowly add 3 cups of water.  Stir together until well mixed.   Mix dough gently with your hands to bring it together into a ball.  Dough will be sticky. 
• Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature (72F) in a draft free area until dough has doubled in size and is covered with tiny bubbles.  This will take approximately 18 hours (less time in warmer rooms, more time in cooler rooms). 
• Once risen, transfer the dough to a well floured surface and divide into six portions.   Form each portion into a ball by gathering the edges into the center to create a fold, turn seam side down and mold into a ball. Dust dough with flour and set aside. 
• Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen cloth and allow to rest for 1 hour.   (Alternatively, you could wrap the dough in plastic wrap and save in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.  Let the dough rest at room temperature for 2-3 hours after taking out of the fridge.)

Making the Pizzas

• While the dough is resting pre-heat your oven to the highest setting (500-550 degrees on most ovens).  This is also a good time to prep your toppings. 
• Proceed with well floured hands  With your hands spaced a few inches apart, begin stretching the dough starting at the edges, while moving in a circle.  Resist the urge to flatten the dough (retain as many bubbles as you can).  Continue rotating and stretching until the dough is about 8" across. 
• Pick up the flattened disc and transfer it to your knuckles (get in your pizza making stance).  Slowly rotate the dough while gently stretching the edges, letting gravity do the work until the dough is 10"-12" inches across. 
• Flop the dough down onto a floured surface and pull the edges outward.  The dough is elastic and will want to shrink back up.  Don't worry about getting in a perfect circle, it's overrated.  I made mine intentionally oblong so they would fit on my baking sheet. 
• IF USING A BAKING SHEET:  Arrange the dough on your baking sheet and put the desired toppings on. Bake until the bottom of the crust is crisp and top is blistered, about 10-12 minutes on the middle rack. 
• IF USING A PIZZA STONE: When ready to bake turn the oven to broil.  Sprinkle your pizza peel or rimless baking sheet with flour.  Prepare pizza on the peel, and with small, quick back and forth movements, slide the pizza onto the hot pizza stone.  Broil, rotating halfway until bottom is crisp and top is blistered, about 5-7 minutes.  

Rye Bread

First, I must say that it's sad that there hasn't been a new post on pete bakes! since mid 2010, because damn that guy had a lot of good recipes on there.  But, I can't really hate to much on him for blog abandonment....(sorry I haven't posted, guys.  It's been dark and cold here.) Pete seems to do a lot of other stuff, so you're forgiven Pete, thanks for the recipes.   

When my boyfriend first tried this bread he exclaimed that it was as good as deli bread you'd pay like $7 a loaf for.  Damn straight! That's why it's called 

deli-style rye bread

Ingredients (makes 4 small loaves):

3 cups warm water

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp caraway seeds, plus more for sprinkling on the top 

1 cup rye flour

5 1/2 cups all purpose flour

cornmeal (for sprinkling on baking surface)

cornstarch (for cornstarch wash)

1. Mix the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.  Add in the remaining dry ingredients and mix, without kneading. The dough will be sticky. Cover with a towel and allow to rest for approx. 2 hours.  (From here you can store the dough in the fridge for up to 2 weeks before shaping and doing your second rise.  The longer you store the dough the more sour the dough will get.  mmmmm sourdough.)

2.  Dust the surface of the dough with flour and divide into 4 equal parts.  Quickly shape the dough into a ball and elongate into and oval loaf shape. After shaping, leave the dough on a cornmeal covered surface (I used the baking sheet I baked the bread on) and let it rise for another 40 minutes.  (If you kept your dough in the fridge, you will want to wait longer to allow it to come closer to room temperature, wait until the loaves have approx. doubled in size).

3. preheat the oven to 450 F with an empty broiler tray on the shelf underneath.  If you are using a baking stone head that up in the oven too. 

4. Make a cornstarch wash by combining 1/2 tsp cornstarch with a small amount of water to make a paste, then add 1/2 cup of water and mix.  Microwave this mix for about a minute then brush on top of the loaves. Sprinkle with caraway seeds and slash the top of the loaves.  

5. Bake the loaves for about 30 minutes, until they are a deep golden brown.  As you put the bread in the oven to bake, pour 1 cup of HOT tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door.  Avoid opening the oven during baking.   Allow the loaves to fully cool before slicing. 

 You can find this recipe in Artisan Bread In Five Minutes a Day. I don't have the book, but they seem to have a lot of awesome recipes (and a very misleading title.  Just sayin')

Ginger Beer

Isn't it pretty? It doesn't taste bad either. Ours was only very lightly carbonated because we did it in mason jars instead of bottles, so we had to open them to release built up gas while they were fermenting lest they explode.  (Mason jars are meant to hold a vacuum, not something pressurized).  The fermentation process ate up all the sugars, so I like to sweeten mine a little.  Next time I think I am also going to make it with ginger tea instead of water for added ginger flavor.
 
Read how to make a "ginger bug" in this post: Original post

Ginger Beer Recipe:
After 7 days your ginger bug should be bubbling, if it's not throw it away and start again.  If it is, it's ready to use. 
Dissolve 3 cups of Rapadura in 10 cups of boiling water (next time I make it, instead of boiling water I am going to use ginger tea, which you make by steeping cut up ginger in boiling water).  Once the sugar is dissolved add the juice of 4 lemons, and 20 more cups of water/ginger tea.   Mix well, cover the bowl tightly and leave for a week.  After 7 days transfer to eight quart bottles with corks or caps and leave for 14 days at room temperature. 

Yeast - Baking, Brewing and the joy of fermentation

Over the years I've noticed that most people are comfortable making a quickbread but as soon as yeast gets involved people start wussing out. So I'm writing this post for you guys, so you don't have to be scared of the yeast any more. Yeast is our friend. Yeast makes bubbly bread and bubbly beer.


It goes by many names - baker's yeast, brewer's yeast, ale yeast, budding yeast, and its scientific name Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This particular type of yeast has been used for thousands of years in our food, with the first evidence of usage dating back to the ancient Egyptians. A related strain of wild yeast Saccharomyces exiguus (also known as S. minor) is used to make sourdough breads. (Don't get 'em confused for Candida albicans, which is another type of yeast that is NOT our friend.) Yeast basically eats fermentable sugars and turns them into carbon dioxide and alcohols. The carbon dioxide is what puts the bubbles in our bread and beers. In this post I'm going to go through how to properly use baker's yeast, how to make your own "ginger bug" for brewing ginger beer and making ginger soda, and how to make your own sourdough starter. Why those particular things you ask? Because that's what I'm making right now.


S. cerevisiae cells are round, 5–10 micrometers in diameter (cute little buggers). Yeast from the store will come in either packets or jars of a dry brown powder that consists of tiny balls of live yeast cells coated in dry dead yeast cells and a growth medium - this form of yeast is called active dry yeast (other varieties available are cream yeast, instant yeast, rapid-rise yeast and compressed yeast. Don't buy these unless your recipe specifically calls for that kind). Active dry yeast needs to be rehydrated before you can use it. Proper rehydration of the yeast cells is vital for fermentation.

When rehydrating your dry yeast make sure you use clean ph balanced (filtered) water (never distilled, the yeast need those minerals). The water must be warm but not hot! Between 99-105°F (this is very important!) Hotter water will kill your yeast and water below 60 degrees can reduce your yeast's viability by more than half. Allow your yeast to come to room temperature if you have been storing them in the refrigerator. Add your yeast to the warm water and  it in (the dry yeast has a tendency to stick to itself and form clumps if you don't stir it up a bit). Some recipes will tell you to add salt or sugar to this mixture. Don't do it! Salt and sugar both inhibit yeast growth and slow things down. Your active dry yeast has food in it already for your yeast to start with. In about 5 to 10 minutes your yeast/water mixture should be noticeably bubbling, this might take up to a half hour. At this point you can add it into your other ingredients to make a bread dough. Your dough should be the right temperature for yeast growth. Warmer dough will cause more rapid growth, but yeast start to die at 120 degrees so be careful. 85-95 degrees is normally ideal for making bread. To cold with also kill your yeast. Add your salt and sugar in with the other dry ingredients.

Ginger Bug!

 You don't always need to buy yeast to cook with yeast. Its kind of hanging out around us all the time. If you leave something out for it to eat, it will show up. This is the principle behind making a ginger bug or sourdough starter - if you give it the kind of food it likes it will come. I learned how to make these two things from an awesome book called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. It's my roommates book but I have fallen in love with it. Making your "ginger bug" is way easy. Get a clean jar and put 1.5 cups of filtered water in it. Add 2 tsps of ground ginger and 2 tsp of sugar to the water and shake well. Cover and leave at room temperature for 24 hours. Every 24 hours for 7 days add 2 more tsps of ginger and 2 more of sugar. By day 7 it should start bubbling. If it doesn't, throw it away and try again.

To make sourdough starter all you need is rye flour and water, and 7 more days. Start with 2 cups of cold filtered water and 2 cups of rye flour. Mix them together until nice and soupy in a gallon sized bowl. Cover with cheesecloth and let it sit in a warm place. Everyday, transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and add one cup of rye flour and enough water to keep it soupy. After a few days it should start to bubble and develop a wine-like aroma. This bubbly frothy stage should subside. After 7 days you should have about 3 quarts of sourdough starter. Leftover sourdough starter can be stored in airtight containers in the fridge or freezer. We are going to make sourdough bread and short beer with our starter.


Once my bugs and starters are all ready I will do another post with recipes for sourdough bread and ginger beer. :)

Sundried Tomato Cheddar Bread

I adapted this recipe from Peter Ryan's Roasted Tomato Cheddar Bread. It has tomatoes, it has cheese- how could you not want it? Next time I have tomatoes I will definitely make it with roasted tomatoes instead of the sun-dried tomatoes. The sundried give a nice sweet flavor but I'm sure the roasted tomatoes would give a much richer, tomato flavor. I fudged a few other things on this recipe - I don't have a baking stone, and my crappy oven gave up halfway through baking and got down to 250 degrees before I noticed and turned it on again. I am also pretty sure I did not add enough cheese. But it still came out beautiful and tasty.



I halved Peter's recipe to make 2 1lb loaves.

Sundried Tomato Cheddar Bread
1.5 c lukewarm water
3/4 Tbsp yeast
3/4 Tbsp salt
3/4Tbsp sugar
3.5 c flour (unbleached all-purpose)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used Tillamook smoked extra-sharp)
about 10 slices sundried tomato (or more to taste) – see recipe below

1. mix the yeast, salt, and sugar with the water in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer). mix in the dry ingredients and the cheese without kneading, using a spoon or stand mixer. I would say that the amount of cheese and tomato you use can be varied according to your taste. I would have liked mine to be cheesier, so next time I plan on adding another half cup of cheese cut into cubes so there will be nice cheesy bits in the bread. Cover, not airtight, and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

* the dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. refrigerate in a lidded, but not airtight, container and use over the next 7 days.*

2. On baking day, dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off a 1 pound (grapefruit-sized) piece. dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. allow to rest and rise on a cornmeal-covered pizza peel for 1 hour.

3. twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450F, with a baking stone (or unglazed quarry tiles) on the lowest rack. place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won’t interfere with the rising bread. sprinkle the loaf liberally with flour and slash across the top, using a serrated bread knife. leave the flour in place for baking; tap some of it off before eating.

4. slide the loaf directly on the hot stone. pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door. bake for about 25 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm. small or larger loaves may require adjustments in baking time. allow loaves to cool before slicing and eating.



I will have to try this recipe again with more cheese and roasted tomatoes (and an oven that works properly.) My favorite way to eat this bread is with MORE cheese on top. Like I said, I wanted it it cheesier.

Rosemary Bread

MMMMM rosemary bread. I chose this recipe because I was looking for one that didn't involve wheat flour. Not that I have anything against wheat flour, I just didn't have any and wanted to make rosemary bread. This recipe came out great! The bread developed a beautiful crunchy crust and the rosemary flavor was awesome. You could use whatever herb you wanted in this bread instead of rosemary. Be creative with what you add in!

Rosemary Bread Recipe

Ingredients:
1 teaspoons dried yeast
3/4 pint (425ml)hand hot milk and water mixed half and half
1 tspn white sugar
1 1/2lb (750g) strong white flour
1 tspn salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
small handful of fresh rosemary
extra flour for kneading

Instructions:
Pour 1/4 pint of the milk and water into a bowl. Stir in the sugar and then the yeast. Whisk it together so that the yeast dissolves.

Set it to one side to froth - takes around 5 minutes.

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Stir in the rosemary (or herb of your choice).

Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture.

Pour in the rest of the milk and water and the oil.

Start mixing with a wooden spoon and then use your hands to mix to finish off.

Lightly flour the work surface or a board. Turn the dough out and knead for about 10 minutes. It should develop a shine and be springy and elastic.

Leave it covered for between an hour and 2 hours (depends on the temperature) until it's doubled in size. In colder temperatures it will take longer to rise.

Knock the air out and knead again for 5 minutes.

Divide the dough into half and make each a round - place on an oiled baking sheet and brush oil over.

Slash the top with a knife.

Sprinkle with a little crushed sea salt.

Leave to prove for 30 minutes to an hour until they double in size again.

Pre-heat the oven to Mark 8, 450F, 230C and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes -

They should sound hollow when you tap the bottoms.


Thanks go out to http://www.the-herb-guide.com/ for this one.Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking