Walnut & Raisins Bread

I like my close-up photos when they turn out clear and sharp. However, it is not easy for me to get nice close-up shots as I do not have a tripod. Even if I have one, I would probably be too lazy to use it! I also find it troublesome to rest my camera on tables or what nots just to take a photo. You see, I am the sort who likes to 'Do More with Less'...an extremely nice phrase to describe a simply lazy person ;) So, I rely a lot on my pair of steady hands plus the luck of having sufficient sunlight at the time when I am taking photos...naturally good close-ups are hard to come by! It was rather gloomy most of the time yesterday...but I had luck when the sun decided to peek out from the clouds while I was taking photos of my morning bake...


...a wholemeal, walnut and raisins boule. This rustic-looking bread was made based on a bread machine recipe. I used the bread machine to do the kneading, but let the dough rise in room temperature and then shaped and proof in a colander before baking it in my oven.


Yes, I used a colander as I do not have a banetton or a bread basket (see, I am trying to Do More with Less again!). I've came across a Chinese cookbook that recommends using a colander to achieve the same effect as a banetton. Too bad, I didn't dust the colander with enough flour (see, Doing More with Less doesn't apply here!) and the imprints were not really visible. This also got to do with the somewhat sticky dough. The top part of the dough got stuck to the colander when I tried to invert it onto the baking tray :'(


Nevertheless, it's a truly wholesome and healthy bread, it has got no eggs or milk...and use oil instead of butter. The bread has got a nice crispy crust, and the crumb is rather soft...not the chewy sort that you would aspect from this rustic-looking loaf. The bread is rather plain on it's own..it tasted much better when paired with some jam or butter. This definitely goes into my kids' "healthy but doesn't taste great" list ;)

Ingredients:

300g bread flour
150g wholemeal flour
300ml water
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon instant or fast-acting dry yeast
100g walnut pieces
some raisins, optional

Method:

1. Thoroughly mix together the two flours.
2. Pour water into the bread machine bucket. Add oil and half the mixed flour.
3. Sprinkle with salt and sugar. Cover with the remaining flour mix and place the yeast in the centre of the flour mixture.
4. Fit the bucket into the bread machine and set to Basic function. Add walnuts/raisins when the machine bleeps. When ready, remove the loaf from the bucket and let cool completely before cutting.
5. Alternatively, you can use the Dough function to knead and rise the dough. When the Dough cycle completes, shape dough into a round ball and let it proof for the second time until double in bulk. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180deg C for 30~35 mins until the surface turns golden brown.

Recipe source: adapted from The Complete Bread Machine Cookbook by Sonia Allison