Jamie's seeded bread

I made bread!! The very first loaf out of my erratic oven, that no longer has the door seal or any temperature indicators on the dials, as they have been scraped off over years of hard cleaning. It looks pretty good I think and sounds like bread i.e. when you rap it with your knuckles ala Paul Hollywood style, it sounds hollow. I think it is a good bake but I can't be sure! After watching the bake off bread extravaganza last night, I got the urge to bake and the only recipe that got me excited was Jamie Oliver's high protein bread recipe in last weeks' Sunday times magazine. It's a seeded protein loaf, wheat free, gluten free and right up my street! 

I've looked at Jamie Oliver's recipes for inspiration many times over the last decade because I like his rustic, honest style but I have never followed any of his recipes to the letter. Mostly I admire his efforts for social change such as his fight to improve school dinners and help our nations obese children, his projects to train unemployed youth in his restaurants to give them a chance for a better life and now he is going to be working on something close to my heart. I hear he is declaring war on sugar! Let's see what happens.

Today I followed his recipe and in time honoured bake-off style, I spent many moments kneeling before the oven alter, praying it wasn't burning or under-cooked as visibility into this ancient, much abused oven was minimal. The sexy bread crack that was evident in the rise was most reassuring . 

In the taste test I was delighted, but my husband who loves white sliced bread the best, turned his nose up and proclaimed it too chewy. Whatever. The texture from the crunch of the seeds is more-ish. Just think smoked salmon and cucumbers or poached eggs and avocados as toppings for this bread this weekend. And as this has no sugar or butter in it - eat as much as you want.

So here is Jamie's recipe and my pictures..

Ingredients:

1 x 7g sachet of yeast

375ml of luke warm water

4 table spoons of water

250g of Gram flour

100g of mixed seeds

50g of linseeds [I used brown linseeds]

100g of ground almonds

Sea salt

4 large free range eggs

1 spring of rosemary - leaves finely chopped

3 teaspoons of marmite [optional]

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C [170 degrees C fan] and line a loaf tin with grease proof paper

2. Put the yeast and oil in the water and set aside for 5 minutes while you mix the batter

3. Mix the flour, seeds and almonds with a pinch of sea salt

4. Add the rosemary and the 4 eggs

5. Mix well with a fork and then add the yeast water

6. Mix again and pour the batter into the tin

7. Place into the middle shelf for 45 min then pop onto a cooling rack

Jamie says to wait 20min before eating - I couldn't. In fact I may go and have another slice now. Be warned it's a hefty snack - all those seeds make it quite filling and not like any other bread. I think I may re-name it a savoury seed cake. Just add cream cheese and toppings. Delicious.