I have been having great fun in the kitchen today. And the best bit about it? Eating the fruits of one’s labours of course!
For a while now I have been wanting to have a go at making bread. We have a perfectly good bread maker which we use occasionally. But having watched tons of cookery programmes on TV over the years, as well as reading about how amazing it is to make one’s own bread, I decided to give it a try and see for myself.
Using the ‘Basic White Load’ recipe from James Morton’s fantastic and easy to follow book Brilliant Bread, I managed to produce this little beauty:
The best bit about the whole thing is that this recipe requires no kneading. It takes more time overall, of course, because you have to give the yeast time to do its work on its own, rather than helping it along via the kneading process. But as James points out in his book, this is fine because it allows you to get on with other things in between the various stages.
In my case, these other things took the form of a week’s worth of chicken and rice soup for lunch…
…and a delicious chicken casserole:
This was adapted slightly from Jack Munro’s Spanish Chicken recipe in A Girl Called Jack – another of my current favourite recipe books.
Once the bread had cooled a bit, it was time to give it a try….
Yummmmmmmmm!
And perfect for dipping in the casserole liquor.
I reckon that counts as an excellent day in the kitchen. Well done me!! 😀
Looks great Liz! An impressively productive day 🙂
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Thank you! ☺️
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Looks great! You had a busy week -👩🍳
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Hard work but never a chore! 😀
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Oh Liz – your kitchen must have a marvelous aroma. I can smell it through the WIFI. Did you know that it is National Soup Month? Oh, you are amazing.
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There’s nothing like the smell of baking bread is there! And how great that I have unexpectedly contributed to soup month!! xxx
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Indeed, well done you! That bread looks so delicious, I can almost smell it! I’m itching to do one too! Lovely soup and casserole, you have been busy, all looks just so yummy!
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Thanks Ute – and I highly recommend giving bread making a try – it’s much easier than I would have thought!!
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What a productive day of lusciousness Liz. Well done. I am very mouth wateringly envious! Xx
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Thanks Mum! 😀💕
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Now that you’ve made your start, I hope you’ll give kneaded bread a try–there is something lovely and meditative about that process! Your kitchen must’ve been so warm and inviting!
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I think that’s definitely on the cards, Kerry!
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Well done, indeed! It looks lovely, Liz.
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Thank you! 😀💕
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I would miss the kneading. When I first started teaching I would come home every Friday evening and bake bread. I got rid of a lot of the week’s angst on those loaves. 😉
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I’ll be building up to kneading – I can completely see all the various benefits!! 😀😂🍞
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I love making bread, it’s great fun to mix different types of flours and seeds. The only problem is it goes hard quicker than shop bread, but that just means it needs eating quicker 😉
And go you with the week’s worth of preparation! I never feel more on top of adulthood than when my freezer is full of pre-made hearty meals, and never more failing at it than when staring into a bare cupboard and wondering what I can do with a tin of sweetcorn and tub of bicarb. 😉
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Damn that tin of sweetcorn always lurking at the back of the cupboard to make us feel guilty. I have just come home with a bag of wholemeal flour to mix with the white flour for my next attempt – stay tuned!!
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I am excited to invite myself round for dinner!
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You are welcome any time!
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Nice bread! My husband bakes. His favorite and most successful way of doing it is following this recipe: https://www.jennycancook.com/recipes/faster-no-knead-bread/
there’s a video, and yes, it’s actually as easy as it looks, just do as she says. But you do need a dutch oven pot – it’s the heat in it that will produce this awesome artisan look and fantastic crust!
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I’m totally hooked! and thanks so much for that recipe link 🙂
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