Welcome to the Saturday Rewind

I started blogging back in 2011, just after I changed from working full time in Kent to working part-time, at the same job, only living in Devon and commuting. I was becoming fed up with the long hours, the broken nights and the ever increasing paperwork and scrutiny from managers who had never done the job they were telling me how to do.

So my wife and I sat down and worked it out. We found that we could downsize and live in Devon, as long as I worked one day a week in Gravesend, which my employers were happy to agree to. I would drive up, do my shift and drive home. It worked perfectly.

I started blogging, firstly about my new, relaxed way of life, about my walks on the cliffs, and the cooking and wine-making I was doing.

Then I started an organic bakery, after getting requests from people who had tried my Sourdough bread.

And I started writing novels.

The point is, I have nearly a thousand posts on my old blogs, before my Richard Dee Sci-fi days.

In this new, occasional feature, I’m going to share a few of them with you. I might just put a link up, or I might rewrite the post and enhance the pictures, we’ll have to see.

To start with

Here’s a recipe I use a lot, when I want to make bread with as little fuss as possible. I’ve taken the original post and improved the quality of the pictures.

No Knead Bread

INGREDIENTS

500g bread flour, more for dusting

4g instant yeast

7g salt

Method

In a large bowl combine the flour, yeast and salt. Add 470g water, and stir until blended; the dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Let the dough rest for at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at room temperature. The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles, like this or better.

Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Lift it into a 3-litre heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) which has been lightly oiled. It may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake the pan once or twice if the dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with the lid. Leave for two hours.

After one of the hours, turn your oven on and heat to its maximum temperature. When the two hours is up, put the covered pot in and bake for 30 minutes, the loaf will look something like this.

Leave the lid off and bake for another 15 to 30 minutes, until the loaf is browned. If you have a thermometer, the loaf’s inside temperature should be over 95°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, the loaf should sound hollow when you tap the bottom.

Take it out and cool it on a rack.

Next week, I’ll scour the archives again and see what I can find.

I’ll be back on Monday with a writing post.