Bread with herbs and cheese

I know, I know this is not a good picture for a food blog, but it's not my fault. I blame the three voracious beasts in my house, my two kids and my husband. I took this aromatic bread out of the oven , I left the room 15 minutes to talk to my mom onthe phone, and when I came back this is all that was left. Too bad for them I ran out of eggs.

This is what you need, if you have fresh herbs, add 2 teaspoons instead of one.

• 250g all purpose flour


• 2 teaspoons baking powder


• 1 tsp salt


• 1 stock cube


• 1 tsp dry rosemary


• 1 tsp fennel seeds


• 1 tsp thyme


• 1 tsp dry sage


• 100g grated cheddar


• 1 egg lightly beaten


• 155ml of milk or buttermilk


• 30g melted butter


• 15g parmesan

Preheat the oven at 180° C. Mix the liquid and the dry ingredients (except parmesan) separately ad then put them together.

Pour in a rectangular cake tin and cover with grated parmesan.

Bake for 45 minutres in the oven.

Squaw bread recipe

Is it aquick bread or a yeast bread? Sweet or salted bread? There's no need to decide. This squaw bread recipe is all these things together. I tried to find out why it's called squaw bread and where it comes from, but surprisingly enough, there's really little information in the web.

This recipe is for a fairly big loaf of squaw bread.

475ml (1 pint) water

25g (2 tbsp) of fresh yeast, or 14g (1 tbsp) active dry yeast

85ml (2 fl oz) vegetable oil

60ml (4 tbsp) honey

70g (5 tbsp) brown sugar

85ml (2 fl oz) milk

35g (2 1/2 tbsp) raisins

340g (1 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour

340g (1 1/2 cup) whole wheat flour

155g (10 tbsp) rye flour

15g (1 1/2 tbsp) salt

30g (3 tbsp) cornmeal

Put the water in the microwave for 30 seconds or until warm, add the yeast and stir until it bubbles. Add the oil, honey, sugar and milk, and stir until everything mixes well.

In a bowl mix together the flours with the salt and the raisins. Stir again the yeast mix and add it a little at the time to the flours.

I made this bread as a no-kneading bread, so make sure the dough is wet enough to be worked in the bowl.

Cover with clingfilm and let it raise for 1-2 hours until it doubles in size.

What is strong flour?

People love baking bread at home more and more. There is a kind of magic in putting together flour and water and kneading, and home baking is also much cheaper than buying baked goods (bread in particular) at the supermarket. Flour industry has responded to this demand by making more flours available on the supermarket shelves.
In this article I will talk about wheat flour, the most used for breads all over the world. Historically, wheat is one of the first and most important cereals to be used by ancient civilizations. It first appeared almost 10000 years BC in the area in the Near East watered by rivers Tigris and Euphrates, called the Fertile crescent. Over the centuries, wheat started to be grown in other areas such as Europe and China. Worldwide, wheat is now produced for the most part in the European Union, mostly in Italy and France.
There are different wheat flours that can be obtained, depending on which part of the kernel is used. The wheat kernel is composed of three parts. The bran: it is the outer protecting skin of the seed and is a good source of fiber and vitamin B. The endosperm: it contains carbohydrates (starch) and proteins. The germ: much smaller than the endosperm, it is where the nourishment for the seed is stocked. It's also a source of carbohydrates, along with antioxidants, vitamin E and B.
White flour as we know it, comes from the endosperm. When the germ is added to the endosperm, we have germ flour. When all three pats are grounded together, the result is Wholemeal (also called whole grain) flour. A particular kind of wholemeal flour is the so called "Graham" flour, where the three parts are treated separately and then out back together in the same proportions.
The proper flour to bake bread at home is (guess what) bread flour, or "strong" flour. The more you knead a dough made with strong flour, the more resistant (strong) and elastic it becomes. This is because kneading develops gluten, a proteic composite. Gluten prevents the molecules of carbon dioxide (produced by the action of yeast) from leaving the dough, leaving the bread with its typical holes inside once it is baked.
To know if a flour is strong enough to be used in bread making, we should look at the content of proteins: if it is below 10% then the flour is soft, over 10% (11-12%) then it suitable for bread. Other uses of strong flour are pizza, Italian focaccia or fresh Italian pasta. Soft flour is used for pastries and cakes. One exception is Irish soda bread, made with soft flour.

Irish soda bread

Everytime I take my freshly baked Irish soda bread loaf out of the oven, I'm always amazed how such a good bread can be so easy to make.

This is a no-yeast, no-kneading bread. The chemical "secret" of Irish soda bread is the reaction of buttermilk and baking soda.

• 500g (4 cups) plain flour
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tabelspoon salt
• 245-350g (1 - 1 1/2 cups) buttermilk

Preheat the oven at 180° C (350°F)

Combine togther the dry ingredients, then add the buttermilk at the lowest quantity given above. Start mixing with a fork, and a little buttermilk at the time until you get a sticky dough that you couldn't work with your hands. Careful though: sticky doesn't mean liquid. Stop stirring when it's all mixed together.

Cover the baking tray with a piece of oven paper, pour the dough carefully on it and bake for 40-45 minutes until the surface is golden.

Feel free to use 50% or 100% of whole wheat flour.

Italian focaccia bread

Let's start with one of my favourites: focaccia. This kind of Italian bread is similar to pizza, but with a difference: the salamoia, that is the mix of oil and salt on top of it, that gives this bread its typical salty taste.

Focaccia can be used as appetizer alone.

For the bread dough:

• 500g strong bread flour


• 15g fresh yeast or one 7g sachet dry yeast


• 225g lukewarm water (about 20-22°)


• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil


• 15g salt

For the mix:

• 30g lukewarm water (about 20-22°)


• 30g extra virgin olive oil


• 10g salt

To complete, a small handful of

• rosemary sprigs or


• pitted olives

Dissolve the yeast in the water and let it rest for 10 minutes so that it comes alive. Add the olive oil, mix well and add to the flour.

Rub together the ingredients, adding a drop of water if it's too dry (just a drop at the time!) or half tablespoon of flour if it's too wet.

No need to work the dough too much, when there's no flour left on the working surface, form a ball with the dough, rub it with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and and let it rest 20 minutes in a damp cloth.

You're now half way to taste your focaccia bread.

In the meantime prepare the mix you'll put on top of the bread , whisking together oil salt and water.

Place the dough on a baking tray and with a rolling pin roll it very gently until it's about 3cm thick. Leave it for another 20 minutes.

With the tips of your finger make deep dimples on the dough. Be gentle: make sure you don't go all the way down the bread dough. Then pour the mix on top of it. and leave for 20 minutes more.

In the meantime preheat the oven at 220°. Right before putting the dough in the oven stick the rosemary sprigs on the surface or the olives in the hole.

The baking time is 25-30 minutes or until golden.

And ecco fatto la focaccia!