Sucker for punishment - more bread!

Yes I might seem a bit bread obsessed, but I swear if it doesn't work out this time I will hang up my baking gloves. What seemed like a simple task is turning out to be a huge pain in my big fat greek bum.

Okay, here goes, one last try at making bread...here's another big fat 'but'....this time I am going to make my own recipe *waits for the gasps of horror*, technically it's not my recipe, it's the parts of the previous two recipes that I think worked. Who said there were rules when it comes to cooking?? Look at me crossing the line and hop scotching on it!

Recipe 1:
          - good parts: bread was a nice colour and nice size (nice? nice? Mrs Brown down the road is nice)
          - bad part: omg the overpowering taste of bicarbonate of soda and ensuing stomach ache!

Recipe 2:
          - good parts: bread tasted good
          - bad parts: shortest bread ever!! very hard crust, pale in colour

Recipe 1 + Recipe 2 - all the yucky parts = my recipe!

First to go was the bicarbonate of soda from recipe 1, I replaced it with yeast from recipe 2.
I added 100g of cake flour from recipe 1, I decided I didn't need the extra 20g as I was still using 600g of wholewheat flour from recipe 2.
I replaced the water from recipe 2 with the milk from recipe1.

I kept the yoghurt from recipe 1

I added a splash of oil from recipe 1

Because I'm a girl I can multitask and decided to toast the seeds at the same time  as I was warming the milk mixture

Feeling like such a pro!

 Side note about the seeds: the poppy seeds keep falling to the bottom, you need to keep shaking the pan to get an even distribution of the seeds

Can't see the poppy seeds right?

There they are, sneaky buggers!

I was so distracted by the disappearing poppy seeds that I didn't realise I had put the tub of yoghurt right onto the hot stove! DOH! Damn but melted plastic is really smokey! So much for multitasking...

Once the milk was mixed into the seed and flour mixture I decided to be brave and add 100ml of water. Both the recipes imply that the dough is fairly soft, but my results have been clumps of sticky dough. So I added the water.....

...and was pleased with the result

I used one bread tin and the dough filled it nicely. No more dwarf loaves!

I left it to rise for an hour, with no interfering Greek mother in sight!

I know I've said this before (twice) but it looks like this is working!

While the bread was rising I started preparing the butternut. Of course I am too scared to cut the butternut with my history of self mutilation so I roped my uncle in to cut it for me

It seems this problem with not being able to use knives like an adult is genetic -_-

Google is your friend..... http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/roastedbutternutsqua_89911

Who woulda thunk! Long live BBC! That recipe is shorter than my bread! 4 simple instructions,  that is exactly what I did:

And they turned out exactly as promised! Except it took an hour and a half to get them like that, not 45 - 50 mins, all recipe books lie. I might have gone a bit overboard with the poking and checking, whoops.

Erm sorry about the multiple stab wounds!

While the butternut was roasting I prepped the lamb chops. I was going to follow The Complete South African Cookbook's recipe but step 4 needs you to turn to page 175 and start making a whole complicated sauce then come back to page 124 to finish the recipe. No. I won't. Culinaria Greece wasn't much help either. So I winged it (winged? wung? *shrug*)

Drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled some dried Rosemary, then a generous splash of lemon juice

While we're at it let's throw some dry white wine over them (Magdaleen's idea)

Hello Patra! See you in August

Oh for fucks sake! THE GARLIC! Forgot it, again. What is wrong with me?? Just tear up my Greek passport, I am not worthy

Magdaleen said to cover them and bake them at 180 degrees for 40 minutes, turning once. I turned them at 20 minutes and again at 40 minutes, then I uncovered them and gave them another 10 minutes on each side. They looked good but I grilled them for a minute or two just to give them that lovely golden brown colour

To recap and deconfuse: Prep bread dough, leave it to rise. While bread dough is rising, prep butternut. Butternut goes in the oven, prep lamb chops. I put the bread and lamb chops into the oven at the same time while the butternut was in the bottom oven (is it frowned upon to mix different dishes in the same oven? oh well, rookie mistake, OR pro tip!)

Once the lamb chops were done I took the bread out of the tin and popped it in the oven with the butternut for 10 minutes, just in case.

Haaaaallelujah!

Lo and behold, bread that looks AND tastes good!

The Great Bread Struggle is finally over. Quite proud of myself for modifying the recipes and getting it to work! Yay me