These days all of us who are responsible for producing breakfast, lunch and dinner for a hungry crowd are finding it challenging. This is certainly not a time to waste food because we need to make all our ingredients go further; we need to rise to the challenge, be creative and make healthy dishes that are nutritious, filling but not too calorific!

What are the challenges you are facing now in your kitchen? What ideas can you share with us? Or is there something that you think we can share with you?

I was asked for a simple bread recipe as, nowadays, is not always possible to find bread in the shops. I will share with you the easiest and most delicious recipe for white bread. I have been using for years. You can make a couple of loaves or flavour the dough with herbs, spices, olives, nuts or whatever else you want to experiment with.

All you need is four simple ingredients: flour, yeast, water and salt. I normally use fresh yeast which I buy at the bakery counter of the supermarket. However if you have any dry yeast at home, splendid! The only suggestion I`d give is to dissolve the dry yeast into some of the warm water the recipe calls for and proceed as with fresh yeast unless it is dry activating yeast.

White bread dough recipe

10g fresh yeast (or 7g dry yeast)

500g strong flour

7g salt

350g water

Rub the yeast into the flour. Add the salt and water and knead for a minimum of 10 minutes. Place into a greased bowl, cover with a cloth or cling film and leave to rest, in a warm place for 1 hour or until double in size.

To form the bread, divide the dough in half and make two loaves. Place on a lined baking tray and leave to prove again in a warm place. Bake in a preheated oven to 180C for about 30 minutes. The bread should be lightly brown and crusty.

 

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