Listening to BBC Radio 2 this morning, there was a celebration of all things bread as Chris Evans chatted to bakers across the UK. The Northern Irish bakery was in particularly high spirits and I was to duly inspired to bake. Now I must confess to having the bread maker do the labour intensive bit of kneading the dough for me but I transferred to the oven for baking as the results are far far better. Just check out the crust on this...
The thing is, you can't have bread on it's own for dinner. So what better side dish for the glutinous slice of carb-laden joy that a steaming bowl of soup or stew (for a hilarious joke about soup, check out this beauty from Sean Walsh). This evening it was all about the Veggie Stew I've been eating since my childhood. Unbelievably easy, stupidly cheap and pretty good for you. The trifecta of home cooking.
Honey Wholemeal Bread
In a bowl or bread maker mix the following ingredients:
300ml luke warm water
500ml strong wholemeal flour
1 sachet instant yeast
10 g salt (keep it away from the yeast until you mix)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey (I have recently discovered this English Heather Honey that is absolutely divine)
If using a bread mixture, put in the water first and then follow with the rest of the ingredients before selecting the dough function.
If opting to make the dough by hand, then mix the ingredients and knead on a floured surface for 15 minutes. Put in a bowl covered in cling film or a damp cloth and leave until it has doubled in size (60-90 minutes).
After the first prove, (in the bowl or the bread maker) turn out the dough onto a floured surface and "knock back." This just means you need to give it a short knead for a couple of minutes. Shape and place back onto a floured baking tray.
Put aside for a second prove for 45-60 minutes.
Turn the oven to 180C and once the dough has double in temperature, score and pop into the oven for 40 minutes.
You'll know when it's done as a tap to the bottom of the loaf will garner a hollow sound and the browned crunchy crust will be giving you a come hither look that's hard to deny.
Addictive Veggie Stew
It's only a small ingredient list and the method is even shorter...
1 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks - roughly chopped
2-3 carrots - 1cm slice
1 small swede - small chunks
3 medium potatoes (floury kind works best) - large chunks
2 handfuls of pearl barley
1.5 litres vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
1 tin baked beans
Sweat down the leeks in the oil and then follow with all the other ingredients bar the baked beans. Season with plenty of salt and black pepper.
Simmer the stew until the all vegetables a tender. The swede takes longer than the potato (hence the different sizes) so be sure to check both.
When it's almost ready, go in with the tin of beans and simmer away for another 5 minutes to let the flavours meld.
With one last check of the seasoning, you should be done. Time to hunker down with a buttered slice of that bread you made!
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