British Expatriate Network

Couldn't find my bread recipe on here so maybe I didn't post it after all! Anyways, here it is.

1 1/2 lbs Strong White Bread Flour (I use Pilsbury)
15 fl. oz. warm water
Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Teaspoons Sugar
2 1/4 Teaspoons Dried Yeast

Mix dry ingredients together. Pour water and olive oil into dry ingredients all at once and mix together. Turn out onto countertop and bring it all together using more flour or water if necessary to make a non-sticky dough. (The addition of extra flour or water depends on a number of factors such as humidity, batch of flour used, altitude etc.)

Knead for 5-10 minutes using a "push-pull" action (place your hands on the centre of the dough and push with your right hand and pull with your left, give dough a quarter turn and repeat) until it becomes smooth and elastic. Sometimes the dough will "squeak" (this is the air bubbles forming) to let you know that it is ready to prove.

Spray your bowl with a little Pam and place the dough inside. Spray some more Pam onto the dough and cover bowl with cling-wrap. Place bowl to one side, preferable somewhere warm, and leave for at least 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.

It is a good idea now to go and have a G&T or a beer, put your feet up and read that book!

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and, with the palms of your hands, push all the air out of it. Then shape quickly into a cylindar and place in a 2lb loaf tin, sprinkling the top with a little flour and then take a sharp knife and make a slash down the length of the dough. Cover again with the cling wrap (you can use the same piece) and leave to rise again for about 25 minutes.

Bake in a hot oven, about 400f for between 30 and 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy, preferably still warm with some proper butter!

Debs x smile

Thanks! Do you know if this works in a bread machine?

To be honest, we had a bread machine and threw it out as it was totally pants!

You could try it and see, you may need to adjust the amount of water going in, try putting 13fl.oz. in at first then adding a little more if necessary. ( It's OK to lift the lid up to check during the mixing process BTW!)

I find it just as easy to do it by hand, plus you get a better shaped loaf and it really doesn't take all that long. Just 10 mins to get the stuff together and do the initial mix then 2 mins to squash the air out and shape it!

Let me know how you get on, won't you?

Debs x smile

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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by debsowerby on 2002-07-30 1104 ]</font>

TOTALLY PANTS !!!!! razz

I love that Debs.

I'm going to try that Bread when I have the chance (in other words, the weekend).

Don't know about you, but I'm missing everyone already sad

Nicky
xxxx

Will do. It's in now and should be ready in 3.5 hours - plenty of time for a G&T or two.

TBH, the bread machine is a bit of a white elephant for us. I always wanted one and it was the first thing I bought in the US. I've never been very happy with the results, but it's still better than supermarket bread.

I've never been very good at making by hand, or even with the help of a mixer with dough hook. I'd love to be good at bread, especially as you can make a couple of loaves at once (one loaf ex machine is wolfed down in seconds in my household).

oh my god Ameriscot, you're making the fresh bread right now, as we speak, you lucky bugger.

You sound like you're having a lovely day.

I'm sat at work all day - feeling sorry for myself now razz razz razz

Let us know if it's awfully yummy won't you. I've got a quarter eaten block of Lurpak in my fridge that would go lovely with that. Spreadable too !!

Nicky
xxxx

If you find it doesn't work well in the bread machine, you could just use your machine for the dough and raising bit. Do the second kneed by hand and put it in the regular oven.

Looking forward to what the results are.

Nicky, I'm missing everyone too. I'm feeling a little depressed today and can't be bothered with doing any housework.

Kentgirl has sent some great photos through which I have forwarded on to the UK. It is bringing back some fantastic memories.

I am so looking forward to the next one grin

Ameriscot, you will have to bring the bread with you if this works out well lol

I'm going through a kitcheny phase at the moment, LOL. I'm very energised to provide good meals since I discovered Nigella. I've made a meat pie *with pastry* for the children's lunch which will be ready any minute.

Who/what is Nigella?

ooooooooooHH yes, Nigella, I bought her book last week, the one that's gold and black and has the gorgeous cup cake on the front.

How to Be a Domestic Goddess Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking, by Nigella Lawson (you can get it from Barnsandnoble.com for only $26.60

Not made anything just yet, but it looks awsom.

Nicky
razz razz razz
xxx

Important point to add She's english and from England, so there's all our goodies in it and it's been translated to all measures and food items here. So we shouldn't have a problem making up the recipes here.

yummmmmmyyyyyyyyyy xxxx

Nigella Lawson - daughter of former chancellor. She is a journalist who happens to love eating. She is not a trained cook, so all her recipe's are fairly simple, fairly traditional, they work and children eat them. Some of the ingredients are hard to find, but as Nigella points out, it's about eating not cooking, so feel free to modify the recipes.

Her show is on Style Channel and is called "Nigella Bites". The first time I stumbled across her show, she was deep-frying Bounty Bars.

I have all three of her books - I got them online from the Canadian equivalent of B&N (no sales tax, yeah!).

I'm going to try and make this too. I'm a total pilchard when it comes to baking, but I'll give it a go, and it'd be a good excuse to buy some nice cheese and pickles... What kind of dried yeast should I get, Debs?

Jan

Hi Janj,
I use Fleichmanns dried yeast in the jar, but if you can get the 7g sachets then one of those works in that recipe.

It truly is easy-peasy....once you get the first kneading done right. Funnily enough, I couldn't get it right until I watched Nigella make bread dough on her programme (Style channel) and watched how she did the kneading, and it is more of a pull-push process then, say, kneading a lump of clay before throwing a pot!

Ooohhhhh, and scoffing the first slice not long after it's come out of the oven is just divine! grin

Debs x grin

OK, my bread machine experiment wasn't a brilliant success. I don't think it cooked the bread long enough as it came out not very well risen and very pale. Saying that, my jar of Fleishmann's yeast is, ahem, two and a half years old so that's probably the source of the problem (it's amazing how time flies, isn't it roll )

The loaf, however, did taste good, and the children will have it for their tea, toasted. I will replenish my supplies and try again sometime.