Brian's Brilliant Bread otherwise known as Idiot-proof breadmaking!

The most exciting thing to happen this week was producing a loaf of bread which actually looks and tastes as bread should.

Bread making was one of the things I wanted to practise here in Malawi but I had been steeling myself for the test because I had had so many failures in the past. Yes, I know the science of it, tried countless recipes, bread-maker, hand-maker .... and none of it really worked. Heavy, yeasty tasting lumps of cooked dough were the result.

But not any more. A friend introduced me to what he calls his fool-proof bread last week and despite a first failure of mis-measuring the flour and then a second failure because the power went out and we had no diesel to run the generator, today I accomplished what had seemed impossible. A good loaf of bread. I would add that the two failures came out as foccaccia and I turned them into croustades.... thin slices baked with olive oil, rosemary and salt. Delicious.

This bread has a lovely dense texture and a wonderful crunchy, caramel crust ... very like excellent French bread.

So, here is the recipe. If I can do it anyone can do it!

QUICK MIX BREAD

600grams of flour. 
One teaspoon of salt.
One teaspoon of dried yeast.
500ml water.


I have been using White bread flour since it is all I can get but Brian used 80% whole wheatmeal and 20% triticale flour but I gather, from what he says, that the recipe is so foolproof you can experiment to your hearts content.


The yeast I have is Lowan's dried yeast which I bought in Perth and had shipped here but which I have kept in the freezer for the past year and which remains in the freezer to preserve it.

The water came out of the tap so room temperature. 

Tip the flour into a large bowl and add yeast and salt and mix with a spoon. Make a well in the middle and tip in the water. Stir until incorporated, about 20-30 seconds.  Cover bowl and leave for 18 hours. 

Most of the rise happens in the first 10-12 hours but it develops better crumb and flavour if left longer. Not too long or it will break down to goop so put it in the fridge if longer than 18 hours at 20C room temperature.

I covered mine with some gladwrap and put a plate on top. I left it in the kitchen for 2-3 hours and then put it in the fridge overnight...probably 20 hours or more. I took it out of the fridge and left it at room temperature for one or two hours to 'warm' a little.

Tip bowl out on a floured surface. Sprinkle flour on top and gently pat out then fold in thirds lengthways and again widthways. Turn over and keep tucking under edges while you mop up the flour on the board. About a minute.

The mixture is sticky so use a rubber spatula to ease it out of the bowl. I actually missed the patting out bit, only registering it now, but mine was fine anyway. As I said: idiot-proof. I actually tipped out my dough and with floured fingers flopped it over width and length three time and then dropped it back into a bowl with a little flour on the bottom. 

Then leave for an hour or so (it could take up to five in cold weather) until dough recovers if gently pressed. It will still be sticky.

I put a tea-towel over the top and left for 2-3 hours by which time it had risen to the top of the bowl. 

Put your pot for cooking the bread into the oven. Brian used a Le Creuset saucepan and I only had a shallow Creuset so tried that for my two failures until remembering I had a pyrex casserole dish with a glass lid which would do the trick. You need a pot with a lid which will take really hot temperatures.

I put my pot in the oven before turning it on and let it heat up gradually. It would not matter if you put a heave cast-iron pot in a very hot oven but I would not want to test pyrex. Preheat oven to hot. Mine was at 230C. I have heating elements at the top and bottom of the oven and just put on the bottom. The rack should not be too close to the heating element so if yours is on the bottom then put it just above centre and if it is on the top then just below centre.

Take pot out and sprinkle oats, bran or cornmeal into the pot and  tip in dough. You can also sprinkle any of these on the bread before baking.

I simply used flour and because there had been flour in the bottom of the bowl in which the dough proved, when I tipped it upside down into the baking pot there was flour on the top.  I am actually thinking in future I might put a bit of oil in the bottom of the baking pot because I am not sure I like the cooked on flour which results otherwise.

Bake for 45 minutes with the lid on and then 10-15 minutes uncovered. Let rest at least twenty minutes after baking before cutting. 

You can freeze the dough before the second rise and of course you can freeze the bread as a baked loaf, sliced or unsliced.