Passport & Plate - 'Shanagary' Brown Yeast Bread
Ireland | Thursday, March 5, 2015 | 3 photos
Ingredients
Makes 1 loaf
3500g stone-ground wholemeal flour
100g strong wholemeal flour
425ml water at blood heat
1 teaspoon black treacle or molasses
1 teaspoon salt
20g – 30g fresh non-GM yeast
sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and oats – optional
1 loaf tin 13x20cm (5x8inch) approx.
sunflower oil
How to prepare this recipePreheat the oven to 230C/450F/Gas Mark 8.
Mix the flour with the salt. The ingredients should all be at room temperature. In a small bowl or Pyrex jug, mix the treacle with some of the water, 150ml for 1 loaf and crumble in the yeast.
Sit the bowl for a few minutes in a warm place to allow the yeast to start to work. Meanwhile check to see if the yeast is rising. After about 10 minutes it will have a creamy and slightly frothy appearance on top.
When ready, stir and pour it, with all the remaining water, into the flour to make a loose-wet dough. The mixture should be too wet to knead. Allow to sit in the bowl for 7-10 minutes (time varies depending on room temperature). Meanwhile, brush the base and sides of the bread tins with a good sunflower oil. Scoop the mixture into the greased tin. Sprinkle the top of the loaves with sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and oats if you like. Put the tin in a warm place somewhere close to the cooker or near a radiator perhaps. Cover the tin with a tea towel to prevent a skin from forming. Just as the bread comes to the top of the tin, remove the tea towel and pop the loaves in the oven 230C/450F/Gas Mark 8 for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6 for another 40-50 minutes or until it looks nicely browned and sound hollow when tapped. The bread will rise a little further in the oven. This is called “oven spring”. If however the bread rises to the top of the tin before it goes into the oven it will continue to rise and flow over the edges.
We usually remove the loaf from the tin about 10 minutes before the end of cooking and put them back into the oven to crisp all round, but if you like a softer crust there's no need to do this.
Note: This is originally a Ballymaloe recipe and they own copyright: http://www.ballymaloe.ie/recipe/ballymaloe-brown-yeast-bread
The story behind this recipe"I can make the bread! It finally worked!"
I scrawled my missive on a postcard & sent it down to Shanagary East Cork, Ireland. Elizabeth has a phone but I never use it. I prefer to send her a postcard when I would like to say hello and look forward to her letter back. That's because to me a visit to Shanagary is a visit is not just to a different place but to a different time.
Shanagary-the small village in rural Cork made famous by celebrity chef Darina Allen & Ballymaloe cookery school-has been Elizabeth's home for over 40 years. Elizabeth grew up in Sydney during the depression. After the war she followed her wanderlust & travelled to London working as teacher during the 40s & 50s. One of the original antipodean backpackers, she travelled and worked between the UK & Australia for many decades before settling in Cork.
Living in relative isolation in the country, her lifelong network of friends visit regularly-fulfilling her voracious appetite to learn about others & the outside world. In return Elizabeth cooks the most delicious, honest food. These days it is a food trend-organic, locally sourced, made from scratch-but this is the world Elizabeth grew up in & she knows no other. Crisps are made from potatoes on a mandolin. Her tomato sauce is made once a year from her own garden produce. I love to visit and feel humbled I have the chance to share a moment of cookery heritage just watching Elizabeth cook. My favourite is her yeasted brown bread fresh from the Aga. In the shadow of Ballymaloe, she uses the same recipe. But that's because she has been making it as long as they have. When I grumble about how hard it can be to make bread and use yeast she dismisses my concerns: 'But this is the easiest bread to make. It takes no work at all!' She's right of course. After a few tries, I finally got the yeast to behave & managed to stop the oven burning my bread. I now make her bread every weekend and it takes me to a different time and place where food truly matters.
