Hello! Welcome to The Kitchen Journal, and thank you for being here. I will be sharing some of my recipes, some of my favourite recipes of others, and some honest stuff about family life along the way.
I came from a big family, I have four sisters and a brother - there were six of us. All under the age of ten when Grace (the youngest) was born. I cannot imagine that. I have two and I find that hard enough. But my Mum is super laid back, and she bloody loves babies so that was the life she chose! Growing up, dinner time was a time where Mum or Dad would cook. We'd all sit at the table. We'd chat, we'd fight, we'd laugh, we'd cry, we'd shout. It could be lovely, it could be painful. But we would always all be there at the table together.
I carry the same principles through to my little family. Sitting around the table should be a time where you catch up, ask about each other's day, and laugh and share. In a world where we are surrounded by distractions and noise and stimulation, we need to protect some things that connect us, and one of those things, to me, is dinner time.
My girls, Indie (4) and Olive (2), love their food sometimes, and sometimes it's like they haven't eaten a proper meal for days. It is infuriating feeding little ones, but when they love something you've created it is the most satisfying thing. So, I want to share some of the things that I cook, that's simple (mostly), healthy (sometimes), and that we all like to eat (not always).
Today, I am starting with bread. Because, who doesn't like bread?
I wanted to stop buying bread from the supermarket. It shouldn't stay soft for that long. And it is SO EASY to make your own. I make sourdough occasionally and I made a lot last summer but if I am totally honest, although it's very satisfying when you make a good loaf, it is a faff and a process I don't want to do all the time. Plus, it gets eaten in a day, and I never remember to feed the starter. So I will save sourdough for another time! This basic sandwich loaf is my go-to, and my kids love it.
Let's start with bread! I hope you enjoy.
My Go-To Sandwich Loaf
Using a mix of strong white and wholemeal flour gives you the softness and rise of white bread, with the flavour and bit of extra fibre from the wholemeal. You can swap it out for country grain, spelt, granary - you can experiment a bit!
You'll need a 900g/2lb loaf tin. If you don't, place it on a lined baking tray, or divide it into 8-10 rolls. Bake the rolls for 15-20 minutes, or the loaf for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown and sounding hollow when tapped underneath.
Ingredients
350g strong white bread flour
150g wholegrain bread flour
7g instant yeast
1.5 tsp salt
1½ tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
320–330ml warm milk (or half milk, half water - that's what I do)
Method
Mix all the ingredients together to form the dough.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 8–10 minutes. Use the heel of your hand to push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself and repeat. At first the dough may feel rough and sticky, but as you knead it will become smoother, stretchier, and more elastic. The dough is ready when it feels soft and springs back when gently pressed with a finger.
Cover and leave to rise until doubled in size, around 45 minutes to an hour depending on the warmth in your kitchen.
Shape into a loaf (flatten the dough, fold it into a tight cylinder, and tuck the ends under), and place in a greased loaf tin, or I tend to just line it with parchment paper.
Leave to rise again until the dough sits just above the rim of the tin, about 30-45 minutes.
Bake at 200°C (180°C fan) for 30-35 minutes (tip it out and tap the base, it should sound hollow).
Allow to cool before slicing.
Keeping it fresh
A quick honest note: this loaf won't stay soft for a week like a supermarket one, and that's kind of the point. There's nothing artificial in it - so it's at its best in the first day or two. The olive oil and bit of honey help it hold on a bit longer than a plain lean dough would, but here's what else you can do:
Freeze it sliced. Cool it completely, slice the whole loaf, freeze it in a bag, then toast straight from frozen.
Keep it out of the fridge. The fridge makes bread go stale faster. A bread bin, paper bag or beeswax wrap at room temperature is better.
Let it cool before you wrap it. Wrapping a warm loaf traps the steam and turns it soggy.
Revive a slightly stale loaf. Sprinkle the crust with a little water and warm it in a 180°C oven for 5-10 minutes, it’ll bring it back to life.
— Carla x