Jan's home-made bread

When i was in Cape Town last year staying with the wonderful Jan we got into making our own bread, i mostly made gluten free (it's so expensive to buy and never as good as home made), and Jan made amazing 'normal' bread, by normal i mean that hers actually rose and tasted good every time, mine on the other hand was always an exciting experiment and there were times when i had to cut it horizontally for there to be an actual slice, and then sometimes it was really crumbly (i resolved this by using a gluten subtitute, turns out that gluten is what holds it together... i.e glue). Jan has just spent the summer on Great Barrier Island, my beautiful home and has been making her fantastic bread.. Dad says it's a been a big hit on the Island and that it should definately be posted to my blog, how could i say no! Plus there is nothing as good as hot bread straight out of the over with lots of butter on it. Dad read this recipe out to me over the phone the other day along with much enthusiasm and many detailed instructions, apparently this recipe makes one really big loaf or two smaller loaves and is best cooked in a wood stove...

Here it is:

7 cups flour (a mix of whatever you like, rye/spelt/wholemeal... anything as long as it's organic!)
4 teaspoons dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup mixed seeds (dad sometimes uses walnuts)
4 cups warm water

Mix dry ingredients together, use a little boiling water to dissolve the honey and then add a little less than 4 cups when you put the rest of the water in, add dissolved honey and olive oil to the dry ingredients and then add the remaining water. Mix all together. Put into a very large bread tin or two smaller tins (greased with butter or olive oil). Cover with a tea towel and find somewhere warm (warming tray in the oven works well) and let the bread sit for half an hour. Put into oven at 180C and cook for 45minutes.

I think it tastes best when it's still warm, with butter on and a cup of rooibos tea with honey. X



Thanks Jan for the great photo, we want to try your lemon meringue pie too! X