Basic bread part two.

Now this is not so much a recipe but a list of idea that you can take to embellish the bread recipes that I posted in 'Basic bread part one'. The good thing about the recipes on this post is that you can start to make them all very special very easily and all very different. In fact I only limit it the ideas that you can have. Here are some of the things that I have done to spice them up.

Now if you are going to make this kind of bread but want to add something of a flourish to it then start by doing this. Take one large onion and slowly sweat it of in a little oil. Then them you are mixing the bough for the first time add the onions and you have onion bread. Or is you like add a good deal of fresh ground black pepper or lots of fresh herbs, basil, chives, sage, rosemary or fennel. They are perfect to blend in to the dough. Also you can think of adding whole grain mustard, curry spices and even dried tomatoes.  The only thing you have to do is make sure that you have cooked the onions and the spice first fully before you add it to the bread.

Now if you do not want to have just onions then start by grating some carrots, courgettes or even parsnips. Cook them down with some oil and add them to the bread. This king of embellishments is once again only limited by your imagination; I have used bulb fennel, sweet potato and even beetroot.

And then you have the idea that you can add cheese to the bread. You cannot beat a lovely cheesy bread. Normally the stronger the cheese the better, stilton, mature cheddar or red Lester but that is more for the colure than anything else.

And then you can use thing in the brad as well like dates currants and sultanas as well. Also it works very well with some fruits such as apple. Also gently fry and blend some walnuts.

Then when you get really brave you can mix it all up and make as I did once my favourite and most famous bred mix up stilton apple and onions.

Then you have the things you can sprinkle on the top. Make a sugar stock syrup and glaze your bread rolls with spiced sugar, flavoured with honey cinnamon , cloves nutmeg.  Just make the glaze and let it cool and spray it in a little hand sprayer before you bake it and as you bake it. And then there are all the things that you can put on top of the bread as well sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, rolled oats and whet barn.

In fact once you master how you make your bread then the only thing you have to do is to see how different you can make it, form it into loves rolls, knot the bread and plat it, bake it in flowerpots, tins and muffin trays.

I would encourage you to experiment and see what you can come up with. It is fun and always satisfying making your own bread so why not make yours that little bit more special that you and other will remember it.