Sunny delights
SUMMER food should be a treat for the eyes as well as the taste buds, so it’s all about the brightest colours and freshest flavours. It should also be easy to carry outside to enjoy alfresco, and I like it to have just a hint of nostalgia, too.
After all, summers were longer and picnics were tastier when we were children – weren’t they?
INGREDIENTS
Seeded bread
Serves 4
500g (1lb 2oz) spelt flour
15g (½oz) fast-acting dried yeast
¼ tsp salt
25g (1oz) chopped walnuts
25g (1oz) sesame seeds
25g (1oz) hemp seeds
25g (1oz) linseed
25g (1oz) pumpkin seeds
15g (½oz) dried seaweed, chopped
500ml (18fl oz) warm water
Antony Worrall Thompson
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl then slowly add the water drawing the sides in until the dough comes together… you don’t need to let it rise, that happens in the oven.
Lightly oil a 900g/2lb loaf tin, pop in the dough, slash the surface and put in the oven; bake for 1 hour. The bread will rise nicely and come away from the sides. The bottom of the loaf will sound hollow when cooked.
Remove the loaf from its tin, set on a rack to cool or, if you want, return the loaf out of its tin to the oven for 6-8 minutes to crisp the sides.