RUSTIC PICNIC BREAD
Helen Underwood, founder of White Cottage Baking School, England
“My family’s old farm lies no more than a few miles from where my bakery and baking school now sits and it’s no accident - the land, the tilled fields, the skyline, the wild flowers, the plants growing in the lanes and roadsides all feel like home. My ever-changing picnic bread, using wonderful wheat and spelt which are grown in the fields that surround us here, is the perfect example of my terroir.
In the summer, this bread could be filled with garden herbs, oven-roasted tomatoes and peppers. In the autumn perhaps I’d fill it with caramelised garlic, rosemary and the very last of the wonderful local soft cheese. But in the spring I like to gather wild garlic in the weeks before it bursts into glorious flower - wild garlic season is over too soon, so I like to make the most of it.
Make this bread your own, according to the edible bounty nature offers all around you…”
INGREDIENTS
For the dough:
375g stoneground white bread wheat flour
75g stoneground wholemeal flour, eg spelt
60g unrefreshed, 2-3 day old starter (optional)
300g water
8g fresh yeast (or 4g of dried yeast)
8g sea salt
For the filling:
100g extra mature, hard cheese, cubed (small)
Large handful wild herbs, eg wild garlic, coarsely chopped
2tbsp your favourite sweet chutney, eg gooseberry
METHOD
Either hand knead or place your ingredients in the mixer and, using the dough hook, work the dough until you have a smooth, elastic strong dough (approximately 15 minutes by hand and 8 minutes by mixer). Just before the dough is ready, add the cubed cheese (maximum size 1 cubic cm), chopped herbs and chutney, and combine until your dough is elastic once more.
Shape your dough into a ball and leave to prove, covered with a linen cloth for about 1 hour (up to 1 1/2 hours if the ambient temperature of your kitchen is quite cool). After an hour, tip out onto a lightly floured surface. Degas by pressing down with the flat of your hand, then roll your dough out into a rectangle approximately 40cm x 60cm. If you wish to add any other ingredients, such as pesto or tapenade, this is an ideal point to spread any additions out onto your dough. Now tightly roll up from the long edge of your dough, like a Swiss roll, so that you have one long roll of dough 60cm long. Do not worry if lumps of cheese protrude - they will add to the charm of your finished rustic loaf.
Bend the ends of your roll towards each other until you have a continuous loop and then press the ends together. Place carefully on a tray, with the seam underneath and cover. Leave to prove, covered with a linen cloth for approximately 1 1/2 hours (longer in a cooler kitchen). Alternatively, leave to prove for one hour, then place in the fridge overnight, ready to bake in the morning.
To bake:
Preheat your oven to 240°C.
When your loaf is fully proved, cover with a little sprinkling of flour, then score a pattern on the top a sharp knife or lame. Place in the oven, lower the temperature to 220°C and bake for about 25 minutes. Your bread will be baked when the internal temperature reaches 95°C.
Leave to cool on wire rack.