Whole wheat Artisan Bread

Last summer , after acquiring a new pig shaped terracotta barbecue,  we oohd and aaahd !  over its look , heat retaining ability etc etc etc...you get the flow...!!!!! then , it suddenly struck  us , how in our Indian villages , from times immemorial , food has always been cooked in terracotta and it was not new to us ! Well there we go , we had just rediscovered an old time favorite all over again.....!

Having found and used this barbecue merely as a source of heat , we now wanted to cook in a clay pot, and started to look around for one which could be used on the stove top for slow cooking , thinking it would be as simple as finding any other  cooking pot, but no , ..we were totally mistaken, something that is commonly found in India , was here a lot like looking for a" needle in a hay stack ". We found the japanese hot pots, the Italian red clays pots and even the chinese sand pots , but alas !,all of them were glazed on the inside. We then tried to get it from India, tempting someone with hot delicious , Dal Makhani ,( a spicy dal with loads of butter and cream).When all of this yielded no results, we came across something that could not be used on the stove but over indirect heat like an oven or a barbecue. So finally we settled for it and brought two pieces home with great pride.! Well simple things must be made complicated!

We then made our first dish ,  Dal Makhani , which tastes best cooked slowly over low heat (Recipe to follow soon). These dishes had come with a recipe for an artisan  bread, and we had been wanting to try it , but had just not got around to it , so finally this weekend we made some whole wheat rustic bread. We loved it and it was over in no time , the rest you all try and let us know.

We aso made The Banana bread (recipe given here http://turmericnspice.blogspot.com/2010/02/banana-bread.html

and a Whole wheat bread loaf. Recipe came with the  terracotta  bread bakers by Henry Watson's Potteries.

We are sending our Whole Wheat Artisan Bread to YeastSpotting , a weekly showcase of yeasted baked goods and dishes with bread as a main ingredient. Here is the link....

YeastSpotting

Ingredients:

450 g ( 1 lb ) plain wholemeal or wholewheat flour
10 ml (2 level tsp ) freshly ground sea salt
10 ml (2 tsp ) honey
15 g  (1/2 0z) vegetable margarine ( we used butter )
1 level tsp dried yeast
300 ml (1/2 oz) tepid water
milk or water to glaze

Grease the baker/ loaf pan. Mix the flour, salt and honey in a bowl and rub in the butter. Sprinkle the dried yeast into the water and leave in a warm place for about 15 mins until frothy. Add the yeast liquid to the flour, mixing to a soft dough that leaves the bowl clean. Knead the dough thoroughly on a floured surface for about 10 minutes and place in the greased baker. Cover with a clean cloth and leave to rise until doubled in size. Brush the top lightly with milk or water and bake in the oven at 230degree c or 450f for 30 to 40 minutes until well risen and firm. Turn out and leave to cool.

Do give it a try , you can tell when it is freshly baked home made bread !