Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Winter is here and i have fallen in love all over again.
Autumn, you are pretty hard to beat but the light has just been too beautiful not to melt my heart.

photo

Things round here have been suitably wonderful- big socks, bigger jumpers, mugs of tea, long walks and soup. So much frickin’ soup! I’m kind of kicking myself for not joining the soup party earlier but hey ho, everything happens as and when it should.

And of course soups best friend- bread. Lovely home made bread. Bread that is beautifully soft inside, has a pleasing crust but most importantly (to me anyway) has substance- a real bite to it. Bread that can handle being lovingly dunked into soup, slathered in coconut oil and zesty avocado, bread that hold its weight under thick swatches of peanut butter and jam. God damn, bread is where its at!

I’ve tweaked and tinkered this recipe for the best part of a year now. I’ve had woeful evenings where greediness has prevailed, leading to completely mangled loaves, tenuous afternoons where slices have scattered into dire sand like crumbs, and then finally, mornings of elation where i slice open a perfectly mishapen loaf to discover to my utter joy that, yes, yes, yes, we have lift off.

breadpic

I’ve tried this with every gluten free flour i could get my hands on and i’m pretty darn confident that you too can play about with whatever mixes you fancy with perfect success. My personal favourites are: Red Teff, Millet, Buckwheat, Oat, Rice, Chickpea.

Red Teff + Millet lends to a brown (yes, slightly rusty coloured) loaf,
Rice + Buckwheat create a happy white loaf,
Chickpea + Oat somehow manages to produce a loaf that tastes exceedingly like Yorkshire Pudding (hells yes!)

You can chuck in herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, dried fruit- get creative. Or don’t, just keep it simple and you’ll have a delicious loaf of bread that is super healthy, good for your gut and lovingly made by your own fair hands. But pleeeeease, let it cool completely before slicing. It might seem like a good idea at the time but you will end up with a loaf that is both half mush and half cavernous.

  • 2 cups warm Water
  • 5 tbsp Psyllium Husk
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • 1 tbsp Fast Action Yeast
  • 1 tsp Salt (or to preference)
  • 2 cups gluten free flour
  • (1 tsp Xanthan Gum- optional but aids binding)
  1. Combine the psyllium and water in a large bowl, mix well and leave for 10 minutes to gel up
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until it starts to come together, use your hands to combine the remaining dough into a bowl
  3. Tip onto a floured surface and “knead” for a few minutes until the dough is quite smooth (it will be stickier than standard dough)
  4. Pop into a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm for 1 hour
  5. Heat your oven to 200c, line and lightly flour a loaf tin
  6. Tip the dough out and gently form into a fat sausage shape, pop into the tin, sprinkle with a little water and bake for 50 minutes
  7. Allow to cool completely before slicing. Keeps best, sliced up in the freezer