Longevity bread

 

If you haven’t made bread before, please read the recipe for Basic Bread, which goes into more detail about temperatures, rising, etc.  If you don't have an oven, follow the directions for: The Perfect Ovenless Loaf

I call this ‘Longevity Bread’, because it has so many good things in it that you should live forever! I reckon that all whole grain bread is good bread, but this has extra goodies, which the pundits would have you believe are health enhancing. There’s every chance, of course, that none of the ingredients actually do make any difference to your health, or risk of cancer, or whatever, but as they won’t do you any harm and because the end result tastes very good, this is a recipe that I use a lot. As you must have access to the Internet to be reading this, I’ll let you look up all the health benefits of the ingredients yourself.

The extras are: pumpkin seeds sunflower seeds, flax seeds (linseed), black and white sesame seeds and hemp seeds. I make up a large batch at a time in the proportion of 2:2:1:1:1:1.

2 cups wholewheat flour 

2 tbsp vital wheat gluten 

1 tbsp instant dried yeast 

1 tsp salt 

½ tsp sugar/honey 

½ cup of mixed seeds 

• 1½ cups water no warmer than 45°C (110°F) 
  

• Put 1 cup of flour (and the vwg) into a bowl, yeast, (sweetener) and salt. 
• Add the seeds and mix everything together. 
• Add the water and stir well until you have a smooth batter. 
• If you have plenty of time, allow this batter to rise for 20 minutes or so. This seems to lead to slightly better-textured bread. 
• Gradually add the rest of the flour, half a cup at a time. Before it’s all incorporated, you’ll have to abandon your mixing tool and get down to it with your hands. After a few minutes, you should have pleasantly yielding dough that isn’t particularly sticky. If it is, or you can’t roll it easily into a ball, add a little more flour. 
• Make a ball of the dough, flatten it out and roll it into a ‘sausage’. Put it in a greased ‘2 lb’ loaf tin and smooth it down. Cover and leave to rise. 
• Let the dough rise in a warm place for as long as is required. It should have doubled in size and be above the sides of the loaf tin when fully risen. 
• Bake in a Moderate oven for 30 to 40 minutes. When you take the loaf out of the tin, it should ‘sound hollow’ when you rap it with your knuckles. 
• Put it on a wire rack to cool. 

Variations:

• Use seawater instead of fresh water and salt. 
• Alter the seed mix to suit your own preferences. 
• Add coarsely chopped nuts. Hazelnuts are particularly good; walnuts are a bit dominating; Brazil nuts will give you your selenium allowance, which is something that is deficient in a lot of soils and therefore diets.

Cheese bread

 

The following is a lovely, crusty bread recipe, which tastes delicious and goes very well with soup or salad. I suggest making a smaller loaf than usual – ‘1 lb’ – because you will probably eat most of it at one sitting, although the fat from the cheese means that the loaf should keep well.

If you’ve never made bread before, please read the recipe for Basic Bread, before making this one. If you don’t have an oven, follow the directions for The Perfect Ovenless Loaf.

2 cups wholewheat flour 

2 tbsp vital wheat gluten 

½ tsp salt 

1 tsp instant dried yeast 

2 tbsp olive oil 

½ tsp honey/sugar 

1 cup lukewarm water 

¾ cup grated cheese

• Put half the flour and the vwg) into a large bowl. Add the salt, dried yeast (sweetener) and olive oil. Stir in the water. Mix them together into a smooth batter. 
• Add the cheese. 
• Gradually add the rest of the flour and knead the dough for a few minutes. Roll it into a sausage and put this into a well-greased (or oiled) ‘1 lb’ loaf tin. Flatten it down and cover. 
• Leave the bread to rise until it’s about 25 mm (1 inch) above the sides of the tin. 
• When your loaf is ready to cook, light the oven and cook it at a Moderate heat for about 30 minutes.
  

To enjoy this loaf’s flavour at its best, eat it warm. 

Variations:

• Use seawater instead of fresh water and salt. 
• If you have an oven, you can also use this dough to make up to 8 individual rolls.
  

Herb bread

The following is a simple bread recipe, which tastes delicious and goes very well with soups such as mushroom or leek. I suggest making a smaller loaf than usual – ‘1 lb’ – because you will probably eat most of it at one sitting. If you’ve never made bread before, please read the recipe for Basic Bread, before making this one. If you don’t have an oven, follow the directions for The Perfect Ovenless Loaf.

You can use fresh garlic, if you prefer, but the flavour of the dried seems to permeate the bread more effectively than does fresh.

2 cups wholewheat flour 

2 tbsp vital wheat gluten 

½ tsp salt 

1 tsp instant dried yeast 

2 tbsp olive oil 

½ tsp sugar/honey 

1 cup lukewarm water 

1 tsp dried, minced garlic 

1 tbsp Annie’s Mixed Herbs

  

• Put half the flour (and the vwg) into a large bowl. Add the salt, dried yeast, (sweetener) and olive oil. Stir in the water. Mix them together into a smooth batter. 
• Add the garlic and herbs. 
• Gradually add the rest of the flour and knead the dough for a few minutes. Roll it into a sausage and put this into a well-greased (or oiled) ‘1 lb’ loaf tin. Flatten it down and cover it. 
• Leave the bread to rise until it’s about 25 mm (1 inch) above the sides of the tin. 
• When your loaf is ready to cook, light the oven and cook it at a Moderate heat for about 30 minutes.
  

To enjoy this loaf’s flavour at its best, eat it warm. 

Variations:

• Use seawater instead of fresh water and salt. 
• If you have an oven, you can also use this dough to make up to 8 individual rolls.

Olive Bread

This is a full-flavoured bread, good with soups and salads. The following recipe makes a ‘1 lb’ loaf.

If you’ve never made bread before, please read the recipe for Basic Bread, before making this one. If you don’t have an oven, follow the directions for The Perfect Ovenless Loaf.

2 cups wholewheat flour 

2 tbsp vital wheat gluten 

½ tsp salt 

1 tsp instant dried yeast 

2 tbsp well-flavoured olive oil 

½ tsp honey/sugar 

1 cup lukewarm water 

12 black olives, stoned and quartered 

 

• Put half the flour (and the vwg) into a large bowl. Add the salt, dried yeast, (sweetener) and olive oil. Stir in the water. Mix them together into a smooth batter. 
• Throw in the olives, pour in the oil and mix well. 
• Gradually add the rest of the flour and knead the dough for a few minutes. Roll it into a sausage and put this into a well-greased (or oiled) ‘1 lb’ loaf tin. Flatten it down and cover it. 
• Leave the bread to rise until it’s about 25 mm (1 inch) above the sides of the tin. 
• When your loaf is ready to cook, light the oven and cook it at a Moderate heat for about 30 minutes.
  

To enjoy this loaf’s flavour at its best, eat it warm. 

Variations:

•  Use seawater instead of fresh water and salt. 
• If you have an oven, you can also use this dough to make up to 8 individual rolls. 
• Use green olives, stuffed olives or a mixture. This can result in a particularly attractive loaf. 
• Serve with olive oil instead of butter.

 

Sun-dried tomato bread

The following makes attractive-looking bread that is wonderful with Italian-style soups, or salad. I suggest making a smaller loaf than usual – ‘1 lb’ – because you will probably eat most of it at one sitting.

If you’ve never made bread before, please read the recipe for Basic Bread, before making this one. If you don’t have an oven, follow the directions for The Perfect Ovenless Loaf.

2 cups wholewheat flour 

2 tbsp vital wheat gluten 

½ tsp salt 

1 tsp instant dried yeast 

½ tsp honey/sugar 

1 cup lukewarm water 

8 sun-dried tomatoes in (olive) oil

• Put half the flour (and the vwg) into a large bowl. Add the salt, dried yeast (sweetener) and olive oil. Stir in the water. Mix them together into a smooth batter. 
• Using scissors, cut the sun-dried tomatoes into quarters, over the bowl so that the oil drips over the dough. Mix in the pieces of tomato. 
• Gradually add the rest of the flour and knead the dough for a few minutes. Roll it into a sausage and put this into a well-greased (or oiled) ‘1 lb’ loaf tin. Flatten it down and cover it. 
• Leave the bread to rise until it’s about 25 mm (1 inch) above the sides of the tin. 
• When your loaf is ready to cook, light the oven and cook it at a Moderate heat for about 30 minutes. To enjoy this loaf’s flavour at its best, eat it warm. 

Variations:

• Use seawater instead of fresh water and salt. 
• If you have an oven, you can also use this dough to make up to 8 individual rolls. 
• Add 1 tsp basil with the salt, for a change. 
• If you have any pesto on board, combine this with the dough.
  

'Zebedee' bread

Zebedee Bread

This is the bread to make if you’ve forgotten all about it and want bread in a hurry. I call it Zebedee bread, because my friend, Alan, always makes it for his guests. It’s chewy and delicious, especially made with wholewheat flour and is absolutely foolproof so long as you have fresh baking powder and let the frying pan get hot enough. The amounts sound a bit fussy, but 1 cup of flour really doesn’t make quite enough bread for two.

1⅓ cup flour 

¼ tsp salt 

1 rounded tsp baking powder 

⅔ cup water 

 

• Light the cooker and put a heavy frying pan over the flame. 
• Put the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and mix them. 
• Add the water and mix until a soft dough is formed. 
  
• Knead this for a few moments on a floured board, adding more flour if necessary, so that the dough is no longer sticky and is easily handled. 
• Form into four flat rectangles. Either roll these out to about 1 cm (½ in) or flatten them out with your hands. 
• Cook them 2 at a time over a fairly high heat, in the frying pan, turning occasionally. 
• Serve warm.