This recipe is taken, with a couple of minor tweaks, from Jane Grigson's classic English Food, Grigson herself adapting the recipe given in Elizabeth David in English Bread & Yeast Cookery. It seems to have been very popular in nineteenth century England, as Jane Grigson says: "Lady Llanover said it was by far the best bread for sandwiches, in particular for chicken sandwiches".
We wanted to make this with brown rice, because it's nice and nutritious and our two really like the flavour. And it got a big thumbs up when we gave it to them this lunchtime with some home-made hummus on it. The grown-ups had cheese & mustard sandwiches and now there's hardly any left at all..
But on to the recipe. Here's what you need:
85g (3oz) long grain brown rice (uncooked weight)
8g (1/4 oz) dried yeast (or twice that quantity fresh yeast)
15g (1/2 oz) sea salt
500g (18oz) strong white bread flourSome olive oil for brushing
The first thing to do is to cook the rice. 85g is about a half cupful. Put this in a pan and add a cup of water. Bring to the boil then cover and cook very gently on your lowest heat for about 40-45 minutes. It may take longer and you might have problems with it sticking to the bottom of the pan, so check it towards the end, stir and add more hot water if necessary.
Some time while the rice is cooking, combine the dried yeast (or twice as much fresh yeast) with a little lukewarm water until it has dissolved.
Measure out the flour and dissolve the salt in about 150ml (1/4 pint) of very hot water in a measuring jug. Add another 100ml of cold water once the salt has dissolved (ie. get 250ml or 8 fl oz of lukewarm water). If you want to use less salt, I'd probably go for about 8-10g.
Add the hot, cooked rice to the flour and fork it in a bit.
Add the salted water and the yeast mixture and combine together until you've got quite a soft, sticky dough. We used the bread hook on our Kenwood and ended up with this:
Cover it over with a polythene bag and leave it somewhere warm for about an hour and a half, until it's doubled in volume. Like this:
Knock it down and knead it gently for about 5 minutes (again, we used the Kenwood). Add more flour if it's too sticky - you want it leaving the bowl clean and so it doesn't stick too much to your fingers.
Next, oil the bottom of a 1.5 to 2 litre bread tin a little and line it with some baking parchment. Brush the inside of this with a little olive oil and tip in the dough, pressing it gently into the sides. Cover with the polythene bag again and leave it somewhere warm until it rises up to the top of the tin. After about a quarter of an hour, pre-heat the oven to 230C (gas 8); after a further quarter of an hour or so it should look like this:
Gently remove the bag and place it in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes at 230C (gas 8), then lower the heat to 200C (gas 6) and cook for a further 15 minutes. Take it out of the tin at this point and then cook it upside down for another 5 minutes. Put it on a rack to cool.
It's a very tasty bread indeed, with a lovely flavour and texture from the rice and a great crust. And it does make great sandwiches - cheese, egg or cold meat would all be equally yummy. The boys said it was v. tasty with hummus and even with some butter and honey.
Some time while the rice is cooking, combine the dried yeast (or twice as much fresh yeast) with a little lukewarm water until it has dissolved.
Measure out the flour and dissolve the salt in about 150ml (1/4 pint) of very hot water in a measuring jug. Add another 100ml of cold water once the salt has dissolved (ie. get 250ml or 8 fl oz of lukewarm water). If you want to use less salt, I'd probably go for about 8-10g.
Add the hot, cooked rice to the flour and fork it in a bit.
Add the salted water and the yeast mixture and combine together until you've got quite a soft, sticky dough. We used the bread hook on our Kenwood and ended up with this:
Cover it over with a polythene bag and leave it somewhere warm for about an hour and a half, until it's doubled in volume. Like this:
Knock it down and knead it gently for about 5 minutes (again, we used the Kenwood). Add more flour if it's too sticky - you want it leaving the bowl clean and so it doesn't stick too much to your fingers.
Next, oil the bottom of a 1.5 to 2 litre bread tin a little and line it with some baking parchment. Brush the inside of this with a little olive oil and tip in the dough, pressing it gently into the sides. Cover with the polythene bag again and leave it somewhere warm until it rises up to the top of the tin. After about a quarter of an hour, pre-heat the oven to 230C (gas 8); after a further quarter of an hour or so it should look like this:
Gently remove the bag and place it in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes at 230C (gas 8), then lower the heat to 200C (gas 6) and cook for a further 15 minutes. Take it out of the tin at this point and then cook it upside down for another 5 minutes. Put it on a rack to cool.
It's a very tasty bread indeed, with a lovely flavour and texture from the rice and a great crust. And it does make great sandwiches - cheese, egg or cold meat would all be equally yummy. The boys said it was v. tasty with hummus and even with some butter and honey.
** Just a little update on this one - we've also made it replacing half of the white flour with strong stoneground wholemeal flour with delicious results. It's possibly even more delicious.
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