White bread

I've always meant to get around to making my own bread. And today, today of all days, when it's thirtysomething degrees outside--Celsius, for my American readers--I finally had a crack at it. This recipe produces one round loaf. There's nothing stopping you from splitting the dough into small rolls or a rectangular loaf. Too, there's nothing stopping you from modifying it considerably. Feel like adding nutmeg or cinnamon? Fresh herbs? A topping of grated cheese, diced bacon (pre-cooked, of course) and sun-dried tomatoes? A Spanish-style dusting of paprika? Olives? Go right ahead. This bread is lovely made as detailed below, but it'd be far more exciting if you experimented with it.

Ingredients:

550 g strong plain flour
30 mL olive oil, plus extra to grease
1 tbs white sugar
3 tsp dry active yeast (about one and a third sachets)
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
sesame seeds or poppy seeds

Combine the yeast and sugar with 350 mL warm water in a large bowl. Be 'warm' I mean somewhere between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius. While yeast will die if you put it in hot water, there's no need to treat bread-making like a science experiment. Close enough will do.

When the yeast water is foamy--about ten minutes--add in two cups of flour, the olive oil and the sea salt. Set to work on the mix with an electric mixer fitted with dough hooks. Of course, you could just as easily do this by hand or in a food processor with the mixing blade. Gradually add the rest of the flour, keeping the mixer on the lowest or second lowest setting if you want to avoid getting flour all down your front. You want a ball that comes away from the side of the bowl and holds together nicely.

Take the dough ball out of the bowl and work it around in your hands for ten minutes. This part of bread-making is excellent for stress relief. Stretch it, squash it, roll it. I prefer to knead dough in my hands--it makes for less mess and seems to produce the same results as needing it on a board. Once the dough is smooth and has an elastic texture, transfer it to a clean bowl that has been lightly greased with olive oil. Turn the dough ball over so it is completely covered in the finest film of olive oil. Place a damp but clean tea towel over the bowl. Keep the bowl somewhere warm for two hours so the bowl can rise. Next to a window would be good. If it's cold, you could always turn on the heat lamp in the bathroom and close the door.

After two hours, transfer the dough ball to a lightly greased circular roasting pan. My pan was about 18 cm across. Ensure that the dough is of uniform thickness and then let the dough sit for another half hour or so in a warm place without a tea towel. The surface will dry out slightly. Pre-heat the oven to 200*C. Brush the surface of the dough with warm water--use only a little, please--and then give a generous sprinkling of either poppy seeds or sesame seeds. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The surface of the bread should be golden and should make a satisfying hollow sound when you rap on it with your knuckles. Transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool. Don't keep it in the hot oven pan. Serve however you please while still warm. Retain any leftovers for bread crumbs, which can be frozen until required.