WOW...

I've just finished scoffing two slices of a home made loaf I just made and I can categorically state that this tastes EXACTLY like bread I used to buy from Sainsburys !! I make no bones about it... I HATE american bread... I can't stand it so I finally stopped moaning and decided to try and make my own. A couple of weeks ago I tried a recipe that my Mum uses and while it was Ok, it still didn't taste like I wanted to. Enter Delia Smith !!... I just made this recipe for plain white bread and it is FANTASTIC !!



All the ingredients are available in US stores and I'd gone from raw ingredients to bread in my belly in under 3 hours (Thanks to the humidity outside on our deck !!).

I cannot reccommend this recipe highly enough for any expat out there who craves some good crusty bread.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I have / am / will be again shortly !!

Mark

Well, Mark...where's the rest of the directions? I mean did you do it in a bread machine or what?

oh...

ummm... Nope. No bread machine for me. I worked that dough with my own fair hand. Let it rise to about twice its original size on the first rise, then whack all the air out of it and knead it again before sticking it into the loaf tin. Let it rise again until its up to the top of the tin and then put it on the middle shelf of the oven, pre-heated to 450 and bake for 35-40 mins. When you turn it out of the tin onto a wire rack for cooling, tapping the bottom should produce a sound like its hollow. If it sounds dense then bake it for a while longer.

I've sliced our loaf up already and will then store some of it in the freezer (defrosting pieces as and when we need them) while some of it will juet be kept in a ziplock bag and dealt over the next day or so.

It bakes with a yummy crusty crust all the way round and with some real butter on it I think was about as close to bread heaven as I've got since arriving in the US. I almost wish it was 6am tomorrow morning already so I can toast some up and smother it it butter and smuckers strawberry jelly, all washed down with my regular morning cup of PG-Tips !!

Mark

LOL...ok Mark I'm printing this out.

Why do I find your food threads so hilarious? I always get this image of you at a kitchen table somewhere in the midwest......HAHAHAHA....

Well your image isn't a million miles from the truth really Rebecca....

I love food, always have, and while there are very few things that I can't buy or easily recreate out here in the corn fields, the lack of what I would call decent bread has been a bone of contention for me since day one. I don't need to eat bread every day but when I do I don't want to have to smother it in stuff to hide its taste which is where I find myself with most of the store bought bread I've tried. Now I've found this recipe I know that with a few hours to spare on a weekend, I can produce great tasting bread that will last me for the week ahead.

Next weekend I plan to fill two slices of the aforementioned bread with a couple of rashers of irish bacon from the local British Grocery store and a fried egg and forget about the world for the 2.5 seconds it will take me to devour it !!

Mark

Thanks for sharing this! I will be surprising David with this delectable bread very soon.

Sounds good, I'll have to try this sometime, although I'll admit I've very lucky to live a mile away from a Wegman's who's "Farmhouse Style Bread" (baked fresh in store) is almost exactly like a Sainsbury's "Split Tin" crusty loaf, so my need is less great than your own. Decent bread is so hard to find in the US.

I wish I had tried making my own bread when I lived in California. Literally 5 years of bread free existance due to the crapness of the stuff down there.

gotta say I've never understood this bread thang. Just had bread almost everyday for two weeks in the UK and I didn't think WOW, now that's some good bread. *shrug*

Thanks Mark!!!

Frances, you may think me weird (or weirder than normal ) but I LOVE the bread in the UK!!! I think what I like about it better is the 'top crust' on the US bread is bleck. At least that's the only difference I can tell you for sure other than it just tastes better!!

You can get good bread where I live -- it just ain't cheap.

But in the UK, I found you get a really good loaf for less than a quid.

Yeah, you can get good bread here - I just think the 'loaf' bread you can buy in the supermarket is routinely crap (unlike there).

It tasted better cuz you were havin' yer toasties with yer hunny!

Like a lot of things, its more to do with what you're used to rather than if it is actually "better", I guess.

Must have been!

ooh ta Mark
I don't 'hate' American bread but it tastes more like cake to me than actual bread - way too sweet - I can eat it tho - I just choose not to much these days. My daughter tho hates it with a PASSION - and so far I haven't found a good 'like English bread' substitute..I like sour dough but she don't Other than that, I have no clue what bread to try as my step-kids are used to 'normal american bread'.
so I will try your recipe! Gonna copy paste it to myself in email! LOL

I'm glad that a few of the brit members will be giving it a try. After eating it for a couple of days the only thing I think I would change would be to use a teeny bit less salt than the recipe suggests. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't taste like it was made with play-dough or anything like that but I think that a slight reduction in the salt content would make it EVEN better.

I hope you all enjoy it as much as have / am.

Mark

I find the US bread is wimpy & all air...not substantial like a piece of UK bread.

Will try this when D gets here...thx Mark!

Thanks for the recipe Mark, I might have to give that a try - american bread just stinks! It tastes disgusting, especially that sourdough stuff - what is that all about? Americans wouldn't know the taste of decent bread if it came and bit them on the behind!! I do miss my hovis and kingsmill!

ooo oooo thanks, Mark! I'm sure Craig will appreciate this thread...will let you know how it comes out! M.

Thanks Mark for that recipe - I've copied it to my docs on the hard drive - I'm definitely going to try it as I can't stand the sickly sweet US usual brands - I believe they are made with corn syrup.

I did find something quite similar to the English version - its 'hot bread' from Walmart and is in a warm cabinet - its more like a french loaf and costs 88c. I buy 3 or 4 loaves at a time then when they are cool enough I freeze them in the paper bags inside a Walmart carrier. Then thaw and eat - if you leave it in the carrier when defrosted tho the crust goes soft.

welll now that we are pretty close to moving over all being well, I have also save it and will definitely bake some, I know my daughter has missed her bread and butter since she left the Uk many year ago, thanks Mark

WOW, I was only complaining to Amie the other day how sweet the US bread is and that it doesn't compare to UK bread! She disagreed

This thread has had me in stitches as I completely see where eveyone is coming from

UK and US VJers at war over what else but a loaf of bread