A bit of catching up to do... I've been away this weekend in Cardiff, participating in Velothon Wales. A big turnout from Reading Cycling Club, and some great performances...we missed out on 1st place in thw Team Challenge by 2 seconds.
I whipped up a loaf of bread to act as snack food for the trip there...when we were wandering round the supermarket I saw some cheap end cuts of a ham in the deli, so picked them up, and used those as inspiration for this. I also still had some dried tomato and mushroom, so I ended up with a well-flavoured, fairly filling snack bread.
Spiral Loaf - Recipe
Ingredients
- 400g strong white flour
- 100g dark rye flour
- 40ml olive oil
- 330ml water
- 10g salt
- 7g fast action yeast
- 15g sundried tomato
- 10g dried wild mushroom
- 150g ham, grated
- 2tbsp chopped chives
- Milk (to brush)
- Sesame Seeds (to decorate)
2) Mix for 10 minutes, until a firm, smooth dough if formed.
3) Place in a lightly oiled bowl, and leave to prove for 2-3 hours (room temperature about 22-23'C)
4) On a floured surface, knock back, then roll out into a rectangle about 30cm x 40cm
5) Put the grated ham, and the other half of the chives on top of the rectangle, leaving a 2cm gap around the edges6) Started at a short edge, roll up the dough (like a swiss roll).
7) Place on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Tuck the ends under to leave neat ends to the loaf
8) Leave to prove in a warm location (about 24-25'C) for an hour and a half
9) Pre-heat the oven to 220'C
10) Brush the loaf with a little milk, and sprinkle with sesame seeds
11) Place in the oven, and pour 500ml of water into a pan at the bottom of the oven
12) Bake at 220'C for 10 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 190'C, and bake for a further 30-35 minutes
Note - we are baking this a little longer, and a little lower, as the layers within the loaf will mean the centre cooks a little slower...the lower temperature will stop the outside from burning, while the inside gets up to temperature.
13) Remove to a wire rack to cool