h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My latest delivery of flour arrived today and was waiting in the porch when I got home from work I ordered Maslin, Granary-type, 100% wholewheat and Spelt.

Go to Bread Flour A2168804 to understand what that lot means (shameless plug )

The flour comes from a wonderful watermill in Cumbria, where they stonegrind flour from biodynamically grown wheat (from Lincolnshire and Suffolk). It's really high quality flour, which they use at the Mill in their cafe. Fantastic lunches!

I'll be spending a few hours this weekend baking. There is nothing like new flour, fresh from the mill, to make the best bread. And I get such pleasure from the simplicity of bread making - and the wonderful results. Best made in the morning, so that you can have a lump of still-warm bread with a bowl of soup or a plate of salad for lunch.

Tell me a greater gastronomic pleasure. Go on... I bet you can't!

I love bread, but unfortunately both I and little are intolerant to wheat!

I think bread is my favorite food. I'm trying to lose weight on a low carb diet and would kill for the heel cut off of a warm loaf slathered with butter.

As soon as I lose another few pounds I'm going to add whole grain bread to my diet and seeif I can get away with it.

We have a mill about 70 miles from here where you can take in your own graion and they will grind it for you. And they sell all sorts of flours and cornmeal. It's so much better than what is available commercially. The product is probably similar to what you're ordering F/b.

H

Mmmm, homemade bagels! Mmmmm!
Rye Bagels MMMMMMMMMM!

Sounds delish And just by coincidence, I was saying to Mrs Gosho last night that I should start making bread again since the stuff in the shops around here is either utter ocks or costs an arm and a leg.

Well Gosho, I can recommend an awfully informative and helpful entry on bread making at A1325260

Hypatia: Happy New Year to you How wonderful to have a mill nearby that will produce flour on demand. I would love that. I really hope to grow corn of some sort when I get my property in Australia (distant dream at the moment). You can get hand milling machines really easily there, so just mill enough for the bread you're making - the ultimate in fresh flour

ZSF - I'll be adding a para to Bread Flour this weekend about alternatives for folk who are wheat and gluten intolerant. It's not the same I know, but almost there...

Fords - I've never made bagels How remiss of me. I have a couple of recipes too. My favourite breakfast of all time is bagels and lox

F/b

Hi FB,

Bagel making is not difficult, and can be well worth the effort when one has the time. I'm not terribly fussy, and would normally settle for some of the better store-bought variety; and, in a pinch, even the cheapy ones are pretty good if you use plenty of butter and/or cream cheese; or some other smear.

My dilemma is that all local bagel places and national brands have stopped making Rye Bagels! And so, I am forced to make my own. My additional problem is that when I go to make MY bagels, the rest of the household wants me to make plain bagels for them (they, too, prefer fresh). It creates twice the work, takes almost twice the time, and makes producing the rye bagels less appealing.

One last thing about bagels: I've developed a New Flavor!

When I want these (and I have other takers), I add one, crushed, chicken bouillon cube for every three plain bagels. Chicken bagels! Yummm. It doesn't work so well in the rye ones, though.

Honest. You have to try it to understand.

I'll give it a go sometime

Thanks for the tip Fords. Mmmm - rye bagels sound good. I'll give them a try too.


f/b

I had a look at your entry F/b - I used to own some of those books, English Bread and Yeast Cookery for e.g., but I got rid of far too many of my cookbooks before I came here, including my Times Cookbook and some triffic bread recipe books which were given to me by a proffesional baker

Elizabeth David's book is a real breadmakers' bible. It's full of the history as well as different recipes from over the years. I have a first edition, which despite its value, I use all the time

I am trying not to buy any more books - particularly cook books - until I'm settled in Australia. But it's very hard to resist

Fb