An encore

Sat here on settee, with a huge bowl of mega rising dough on my lap again. This time I chucked in a load of sunflower kernels and some Mexican seasoning. Who knows how this batch will turn out? I hear someone perhaps asking the Q: Why at the wee small hours are you baking? A: Can’t sleep. Honestly I’ve tried and I just lay there, so I might just as well create something and take my mind off things (I’m not at liberty to share).

Moving onto a Recipe? Sort of goes: The dough is a basic cheap plain flour, made into a wetter dough version than the usual bread dough method and is similar to Gina’s dough consistency, but LOOK NO HANDS!. This time I’m using fresh yeast, mixed into some warm water (not hot) with a little salt and sugar, then I poured the liquid in the flour all at once. Sorry, I did NOT measure anything, just remembering the four to liquid ratio makes dough and if it seems too wet I add flour or if too dry more liquid. Job’s a good ‘n’. My usual dough version also doesn’t require a surface to kneed it on. So no making loads of mess with flour and dough stuck to all an’ sundry and the floor! I just mix it all in the hugest bowl I have, using a strong bamboo wooden spoon and keep clearing the sides with a spatula and not my hands, keeping them clean to hold my cuppa and click this keyboard to watch stuff on YouTube. Anyways, each time the dough gets double the size it started, I fold it again and it sits on my lap to keep warm. It’s as good as bubble wrap popping for stress relief. To shape it, I wait till it’s well risen, folded, risen, poked and folded, let rise, folded and poked some more… until well sticky and stretchy. Sure, you have to work it every now an’ then, givin’ it a bit o’ a poke, foldin’, pokin’, foldin’, pokin’, but with no messy hands and only using utensils that can easily be wash after. Big bonus, I find it somewhat meditative.

Then and only then in the sticky, but leaves the edges of the bowl easily and in the stretchiest stage, I’ll oil my hands a little to shape it or just tip it out onto a baking tray as is (probably gonna do the latter this time maybe). Then we have to let it rise before putting in the oven at around 180 degrees, until cooked and when the bottom is tapped it sounds hollow.

Still sat here playing with the dough. Thing is, you see, as the dough changes, I reckon it’s a bit like caveman telly (an open fire with logs or peat to play about with and seeing subtle changes). Anyways, is making bread like therapy? Sure it is, and also in the end, if it turns out edible, we get to munch on hot bread and fill our bellies too.

Photo by Eva Elijas on Pexels.com

UPDATE: It ended up as two items. 1) Sort of flat bread / pizza thing, with a topping of Branston Pickle and vegan cheese. 2) Big dollop of a loaf, with chilli sauce and black pepper glaze. Both taste tested, the verdict being “nommy yum”.