No cards for you today, but something you can make………

A few weeks ago we where in London to take my son and his friend to an Ozzy Osborne concert, to while away a few hours we went out for dinner, it was a lovely warm evening and we had out dinner at a pavement cafe.  Along with my goats cheese salad I ordered some bread, it arrived as the most amazing loaf warm from the oven.  It was the most delicious bread I have had, so when we got home I set about trying to recreate it!

Well if you have ever tried to do that you will understand it is a lot of trial and error, I knew it was flavoured with fresh rosemary ( which we have a huge bush of in the garden) and black onion seeds ( also known as Nigella seeds or kalonji).

In the end I made 4 Rosemary Bread loaves……….each one slightly different than the one before, here are the last 2.

The one on the right had more wholemeal flour in and was a heavier texture, the one on the left was almost perfect, it just needed a little bit more Rosemary and Black Onion seeds.

I’ve put the recipe below, do try it and let me know how you get on.

Last couple of things, I always use fresh yeast, our local Asda bakery gives it to you for free if you ask and it really does make a difference.  I use the dough hook on my kenwood to knead the dough, unless I’m feeling a bit grumpy……..then I do it by hand!

Rosemary Bread

25g fresh yeast

90ml warm water

90ml warm milk

350g white bread flour

100g wholemeal bread flour

50g Olive oil ( not extra virgin)

3tsp Black Onion seeds

1/2 tsp sea salt

12 sprigs of Rosemary

Oil for greasing

Flat baking tray and a deep sided baking tray

Wash the rosemary springs and strip the leaves off the stalks, chop the leaves finely and put into the warm water to stop them discolouring.

Put the yeast into a small bowl and add a little water to make it into a creamy paste.

Put all the ingredients into a large bowl, and knead for 10 minutes ( by machine or 20 minutes by hand).  The mixture should be in a solid ball that comes away from the sides of the bowl.  Add a little more water ot flour if it is too dry or too sticky.

Put the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with a piece of cling film which has been oiled……..not as easy as it seems but it does stop it sticking.  Leave to rise in a warm place this will be anything from 1/2 hour to a couple of hours, it needs to be doubled in size.

Put the risen dough back into the machine for a minute and then shape, I have gone for a dome which is how the original loaf looked but shape it however you wish.

Place onto an oiled baking sheet cover with a clean tea-towel and leave to rise again, until doubled in size.

Put the oven on to Gas Mark 8 or 220 degrees C

Put a deep baking tray in the bottom of the oven and pour in 1-2″ of boiling water and then put the loaf into the oven, this steam will help form the lovely crust.  Bake for 15 minutes and then turn the oven down to Gas mark 6 or 180 degrees C.  You can now bake the loaf for between 15 – 30 minutes, I like a really dark crunchy crust so I leave mine in for 30 minutes, I do turn it round after about 15 miuntes.

Take it out of the oven and leave it as long as you can before eating…………..in our house that’s about 2 minutes……..!

Happy Stampin’

Amanda