Basic bread recipe

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Use this recipe for the tastiest bread. It works, as long as you make sure the coals are exactly the right temperature. The idea for this bread and fillings actually come from that baby-faced Englishman with the lisp and the scooter, Jamie Oliver.

You need (for 1 pot bread or 2 longer loaves):

7 cups white flour
2 x 10 g sachets instant yeast
2½ cups lukewarm water
2 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons fine salt

Let the yeast do its thing. Put the flour in a deep mixing bowl. Mix the yeast, water, sugar in another, smaller bowl, and leave it for 10 minutes until the yeast starts bubbling. Add it to the flour and add the salt.

Work those biceps. Blend until all the ingredients are well mixed. Remove the ball of dough and place it on a flat surface strewn with flour. Press, knead, fold and roll the dough for about 10 minutes or until it’s soft and elastic.

Let it lie. Sprinkle a little flour in a bowl, place the dough in it and sprinkle a little flour over the dough. Cover the bowl with clingwrap and a damp kitchen cloth and leave it in a warm place to rise to double its original size.

Work those biceps again. Knead the bread down again for a few seconds and put it in the round cast-iron pot (or two bread pans) so it can rise a second time to double its original size. Handle the iron pot carefully so you don’t shake all the air out of the dough.

Onto the coals. As soon as the dough has risen, put the pot onto the coals and stack coals on the lid. After half an hour, have a look to see if the bread is starting to turn brown, and replace the lid, with new coals on top. The bread should be done after an hour. Remove the pot from the coals and let it cool for half an hour before turning the pot over to remove the bread.

For something a little different, divide the dough of the recipe above in two equal parts after you’ve kneaded it. Roll them out in an oblong shape (about 1 centimetre thick) and pack the following fillings on top: