mmm... bread

Yeah, just say it (inside your head please) in a homer'esque tone, y'know, mmmm.... doughnuts.

 I do respect and cherish fried dough, but bread is the start of all that is good.  I bake for fun, when I'm sad, when I'm celebrating and on other days that end in a y.  Today I'm busy baking for a talk (meeting, discussion, hmm, not sure, but I'm nervous! lol) I'm helping do (co-doing, hosting? uh, never mind) as samples speak louder than words where food is concerned, I mean, ever been to costco on a Sunday? if so you know what I mean, lol, I'm taking bread.

So, first up, sour cherry and rosemary focaccia...

This is so delicious! It makes a nifty breakfast on the run and if there are leftovers then it’s gorgeous in bread and butter pudding.

500g flour, 00 if you have it, but otherwise 400g bread flour and 100g plain flour mixed will be just fine
20g fresh yeast
5g (1tsp) salt
300ml body temperature water
Big pinch of sugar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
One jar of sour cherries, drained (the ones from lidl are great) or fresh cherries stoned if they’re in season
A little chopped rosemary and flaky salt

In a large bowl mix together the flour, yeast, salt, , water, sugar and olive oil. It’ll come together into a rough dough. If you have a stand mixer leave it to knead until soft, smooth and silky. Otherwise roll up your sleeves and dig in! just keep pushing, squashing, folding and turning until it feels springy and sort of alive under your hands.

Pop it in a bowl that you’ve lightly oiled and leave it to rise for a hour or so, until about doubled in size.
Turn it out onto a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal (yellow cornmeal or polenta is available in real foods or most supermarkets) and just gently push it out like a pizza base. With your fingertips gently push small dimples into the dough. Then scatter the cherries on top, pushing them in slightly. Drizzle with olive oil then scatter with rosemary, flaky salt and a little sugar.

 Leave it to rise for 40 minutes, meanwhile heat the oven to 200.  Bake the bread for 30 ~ 35 minutes, until golden and crisp looking on top.

You can vary the toppings any way you like, grapes work with the salty/sweet topping here. But ditch the sugar, add feta and sliced, fried onions for a savoury bread, or nothing at all but oil and salt. I really like it with some ricotta cheese on top (just little lumps of it) and a drizzle of honey…

Then the country loaf I already posted a recipe for and, A Lovely White Loaf ('cause sometimes soft, pillowy sandwich bread, floury crusted and perfect for strawberry jam is a nice change)

25g fresh yeast
1 tsp sugar
About 600ml warm water
1kg bread flour
2 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil

Combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl, pour in the water and olive oil. Use a spoon to make a rough dough that sticks together, then once it does drop it out on the table.
Flour only very lightly if you have to… knead for 10 minutes, a radio helps! Three/four songs on a cd is long enough usually (plus it gives you some rhythm! Lol) it should feel tight, springy and lively at the end, the surface should be smooth.
Oil a bowl lightly and place the dough in it, turning to oil the whole ball. Leave covered to rise for around an hour.
Knead the dough gently for a few minutes and shape into loaves that fit your tins, mine is giant and takes all the dough, but two or four smaller ones will work fine. Flour the top lightly. You could also make some of this bread dough into rolls, just divide into smaller pieces, roll into balls and bake on cookie sheets.
Leave to rise for 15~30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 220.
Place the bread in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180 and bake for another 20~25 minutes.
Carefully tip the bread out onto a rack, then put it back in the oven without its tin for 5 minutes to crisp the crust up. Cool completely before slicing (or rip apart and eat hot with butter and jam, up to you really).