Bread: recipe

http://localfoodnews.wordpress.com/tag/chorleywood-bread-making/

The staff of life they call it, don't they?  Bread - you get it in all shapes, sizes, colours and descriptions.  Decent bread costs - unless it is made at home.  And then it costs time but not oceans of money.
I do have a bread maker and I use it when I need to make a lot of bread, but more and more right now I am making bread by hand.  Well, sort of by hand.  I have to confess that I cheat and get Thermione to do the hardest bit, the kneading.  It's so effortless.  Bung the ingredients in, mix it all up and then set it to knead for five minutes and bob's your uncle!

So here's my recipe for what I think is really nice basic bread.   I cut each loaf in half and freeze separately so I can get just half out at a time.  Home made bread has no preserving gunk in it, you see, so it doesn't keep as long.

Home made bread – the frugal kind

Ingredients to make two small loaves (each loaf does me for 1 week, with care)

400g value bread flour from Aldi (45p for 1.5k)

1 heaped tsp dried yeast (from a Dove pack, not sachets) - the kind that does not need 'starting'.

1 tsp salt

15-20g butter from allowance

250mls/g water

Method.

Place all the ingredients in Thermione’s bowl.

Briefly mix on 6 (about 5 seconds or so), then set to knead for 4-5 mins.

(or mix the dry ingredients, rub in the butter (or use oil), make a well, add the water and first mix, then knead, until the dough is elastic and stretchy)

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and continue as you do for bread!  In other words, cover the bowl with cling film and put in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, then knock it back again, divide into two, shape, put in loaf tins and allow to rise again before baking for about 25 mins in a 400C oven

Costed out yesterday it was 35p for both loaves.  Perhaps not as cheap as value sliced bread but it has to be infinitely nicer, actually very tasty indeed and 18p for a week's bread really isn't so bad.  Must go and check this.

OK, I've just checked using My Supermarket and a value loaf from Sainsbury's is 50p, so it might just possibly be almost comparable in price.  The taste cannot be compared though.

Now - next challenge - can I make frugal fresh pasta? And will it freeze?  There's a recipe in Thermione's recipe book!  Has anyone reading this made pasta using bog-standard value strong flour (instead of the proper fine grained pasta flour)?