Friday's Rosemary Loaf

Friday's Rosemary Loaf

I only make bread once a week, and tend to do this on a Friday to be enjoyed with homemade marmalade or our own allotment jam, over the weekend. I've mentioned some of the plants that survive in our garden, near the sea, but there are many others that simply love it here. Fennel is one, it grows like mad in the gardens and on the beach itself. It's great in the summer when you can take handfuls and stuff them into locally caught fish, or soak the stalks in water for 10 mins and then use them as a bed for a barbecue. The other herb which luxuriates in this corner of Kent is Rosemary. We have well established bushes of Rosemary Officinalis Mrs Jessop's which gives us a ready supply of stalks for scenting a fire, for adding to stocks or for chopping and adding to meals. I know that Elizabeth David hated the herb, saying it would never touch any of her food, but we cook with it all the time. Today, I've added a handful to my Friday loaf. I am using my usual easy recipe of 500g strong flour (i've used 400 white and 100g wholemeal), with one sachet of dried yeast, 350ml of warm water and kneaded for around 5 mins in our food mixer. It needs to rise for around 3 hours and then bake in the oven for 40 mins, with the last 5 mins out of the tin.  We bake at 200 degrees centigrade pretty much most of the time, and adjust times to suit. This bread has a hard crust and is nice and chewy - it will last the weekend and go on longer if kept wrapped in tin foil. Rosemary is the herb of remembrance and has been used in recipes for funeral feasts to celebrate the life of the deceased. It adds a real depth of flavour to a loaf, smells fantastic when cooking so give it a try. I can assure you it will be a loaf to remember.