What's wrong with Bread?

Bread seems to get a bad press at the moment - you often hear people say "it's not good for you" If anyone knows why please let me know by email: nutrition@stswithins.plus.com. Bread is made out of strong flour (brown or white), salt, water, butter or oil and yeast - nothing wrong with the ingredients then. One slice is approximately 80 calories; it does have quite a high G.I. value but add wholegrains and it lowers that value. It is low in fat but don't spoil this by topping with butter, use low-fat spread or better still soya spread (avoid trans fat this way).

So how do you make a traditional loaf.

Ingredients:

750g strong bread flour
2 tsps salt
1 tblsp olive oil (or 25g butter)
1 x 7g sachet of dried yeast
450ml water (warm)




Method:

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl and stir in the oil, salt and yeast. Mix in the water and form a dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 mins until the dough is smooth and elasticky (not sticky). You can knead in some grains, seeds or nuts at this stage. Shape into a bun or put in a 1kg loaf tin. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise, approx. 45 mins.

Preheat the oven to 220C/450F/gas 8. Remove the cloth and bake for 30-35 mins. It will be golden brown and hollow sounding when you tap the bottom.