With my dinner tonight (homemade Minestrone Soup), I had a couple of slices of bread. Bread made by my son Ben.
Ben with his bread
It was absolutely delicious. There is nothing quite as nice as a fresh loaf spread with real butter. You can see that the lad is very pleased with himself. His old Dad is also as proud as punch as is Mum.
Kim taught him how to make the dough using the bread maker, which I don’t think is cheating at all, especially if it is powered by electricity that we have generated with our very own solar PV system!
He said the making bread was easy once he knew how, and loved the taste of the herbs.
So for those who are after the recipe, here it is.
Ben’s Bread
Ingredients
- 330ml Skimmed Milk
- 1 Egg yolk
- 1½ Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1½ Tablespoons Sugar
- 3½ cups Bread Flour
- 1 teaspoon Bread Improver
- 2 Tablespoons dried Italian herbs (less if you like)
- 2¼ teaspoons Dried Yeast
Method
- Add into bread maker in order of listing and set on the Dough setting.
- Once kneaded in the machine, shape dough into a loaf shape and make about 6 diagonal shallow cuts in the dough.
- Place on well-greased baking tray and bake at 180°C for 20 to 25 minutes. You will know it’s cooked when it sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom of the loaf, and it is brown on top.
- Cool on a baking rack, serve sliced with butter!
Kim and I are so proud! His first loaf of yummy bread and we know exactly what is in it.
We won’t be able to keep him out of the kitchen now.
Bread looks wonderful! Thats the great thing about making Bread! We know whats gone into it! I use my Bread-Maker all the time!
I believe that using a bread maker to help with the kneading is nothing to be ashamed of. It is one of the few time saving appliances we own.
Well done Ben it looks delicious…I’ve been making a loaf of bread every day the last few weeks…
Goodness, this Ben of yours is going to be some catch for a lucky lady in the future. You guys have done such a great job of raising him, educating him and passing on all the important stuff – like making bread!
Well done Ben. Try a book called Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day (Much of which can be found online if you like) and you can make up a dough and simply bake some of it when desired. It is a bit of a different technique than traditional bread making, but from someone who has been making bread off and on for over 45 years it is a good technique for the busy moderner who wants to know what is in their food. It troubles me that my store bought bread stays fresh up to a week. It isn’t supposed to, and that tells me there are some nasty chemicals inside it!