Rolling in dough

I am RICH!

But not in the way of a bursting bank vault or a stack of investments.

I’m talking about prosperity in the form of a lump of dough that multiplies into warm, golden loaves of joy straight from the oven.

And a man who makes bread with a passion out of a tiny kitchen, my husband Steve.

Handmade rustic sourdough loaves from the CloudChaser kitchen.

So, what is the secret to our wealth of wholesome delights?

Just four simple ingredients of flour, water, natural yeast and salt, my friend.

When Steve started his Sourdough Bread Project a year ago, there were a few shaky starts learning this craft from books and the internet.

Many recipes over-complicate the breadmaking process, and I suspect that puts off the average Joe or Jane giving it a go.

Much trial and error has led to new-found confidence trying out various bread recipes, just what we need to sustain us on our road trips.

We found breadmaking recipes from the River Cottage cookery team the easiest to follow, and with the most satisfying results you can expect from a domestic kitchen.

A perfect example is the versatile Brioche, so tasty in all its buttery and slightly-sweetish goodness.

Yummy brioche with the promise of yellow pillowy flesh under a golden brown crust.

Brioche make posh dinner rolls to go with the Sunday roast.

A simple snack of brioche sliders stuffed with sausage halves, fried onions and favourite sauce.

Bread and butter pudding with a splosh of jam here and there. That’s how we turned leftover brioche into a heartwarming dessert.

Crumpets have also become part of our repertoire after we ended up with a generous stack cooking them for the first time.

We ate the first few standing up as soon as they came off the frying pan, smothering each spongey crumpet with butter and honey or jam.

One day we’ll cook the crumpets on a hot griddle like the recipe suggests. That way, a whole batch gets cooked and we can sit down to a leisurely breakfast.

How many of these could you eat?

We had crumpets with everything from the classic butter and honey combination to this savoury stack of scrambled eggs, greens and bacon.

As for Socca, a chickpea pancake from the South of France, we were new to it until we came across the recipe.

It handles well as a flatbread and is perfect dipped in a saucy dish or as a pull-apart for dips and tapas delights.

The chickpea socca pancake is a nice change from a chunky loaf I would normally serve with homemade baked beans.

Homemade oatmeal biscuits (also known as Digestive Biscuits) brought recent excitement to our adventures with dough.

I’m so glad the recipe makes stacks of these more-ish biscuits.

There is a rich oaty texture and a beautiful snap to the biscuit, perfect with a nice Cheddar.

It goes without saying that Steve’s perseverance has paid off. Most every day we are tickled pink to say  “Pass the Bread!” between greedy mouthfuls.

All this simple joy, without having to pay gourmet prices at the shops.

Tally that up with our family of unfussy eaters, and much-loved greedy friends who share our obsession with food, and there you have it – wealth in the best unconventional way.

 

* The brioche, crumpet, socca and digestive biscuit recipes were used from the River Cottage Handbook No. 3 – Bread.