Beer bread

This is a fresh yeast bread in combination with a bread starter of white flour. However, if you don't have fresh yeast or a starter you can easily make this bread with active dried yeast. The flavours won't be as strong and well developed as with fresh yeast though. Start this recipe the night before you're planning on baking the bread as you need to cook and soak the grains. They need time to take on the beer flavour.  This bread is really great with cheese, jam, cold (cured) meat or just plain with a bit of butter to accompany soups or stews. It's one of our favourites!

Ingredients for the soaked grains:
- 200g kibbled rye grains
- Water
- 200g beer (I use Paul's home brew; Coopers Draught, but an Ale will do just fine.)

Preparation:
Put the grains in a big pot and cover with plenty of water. Bring to the boil and let it simmer slowly for 45 minutes. During the cooking time check if there's enough water and add some more if necessary. When cooked, strain through a sieve. (You can save the liquid for compost or your chooks will love it as well.) Let it cool completely and transfer to a bowl. Add 200 grams of the beer and mix until the beer is incorporated. Cover and let the grains soak overnight at room temperature.

Ingredients for the dough:
- 300g High Grade Flour (a.k.a. strong flour)
- 150g Rye flour
- 50g Wholemeal flour
- 1.5 tsp fine sea salt
- 200g beer (I use the leftover beer from the soaked grains)
- 100g water at room temperature
(If using a bread starter you'll need 300g and 3/4 tsp fresh yeast.)
- 30g fresh yeast or 1 sachet (7g) instant dried yeast
- 10g ground barley (optional)
- 200g cooked and soaked grains
- Plain flour for dusting

Preparation:
Combine the flours and the salt in a bowl. Pour the water and beer in another big bowl. (If using a bread starter add this to the beer and water.) Crumble the fresh yeast (or add the instand dried yeast) in with the water and beer and whisk until combined. If using the ground barley, add this to the mixture and whisk as well. Finally add the soaked grains and combine. Add the flours from the other bowl to the wet ingredients and here comes the fun part; dive in with your hand and start mixing. Squeeze the mixture through your fingers and make sure you reach all the way to the bottom. When combined, scrape the mixture from your fingers and cover the bowl with a tea towel. let it rest for 10 minutes.

Drizzle 1 teaspoon of olive oil or canola oil on your bench top and spread it out with the palm of your hand. Turn the mixture out of the bowl onto the oiled surface and start kneading for about 15-20 seconds. Shape into a ball. Clean the bowl and rub the inside with olive or canola oil. Put the ball back in the bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let it rest for another 30 minutes. Repeat the kneading again for 15-20 seconds.

Dust the bench top with some plain flour.Stretch the dough out into a rectangle by pressing the dough with your fingertips. Dust some flour on the dough to prevent it from sticking onto your hands. Fold one third of the dough inwards (towards the centre). Repeat with the other third. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover and leave for another 30 minutes. Repeat the folding two more times with a 30 minute interval.

I don't have a special bread basket for the bread to rise, therefore I use a big (salad) bowl. Line the bowl with a tea towel and sprinkle a generous amount of  plain flour on the tea towel. This is to prevent the dough form sticking to the tea towel. Take the dough out of the bowl and shape it into a round ball. Put the ball into the flour-dusted bowl and make sure the seam is on top facing towards you. Sprinkle the top with some more flour and fold the edges of the tea towel gently over the dough ball. Leave the dough to rise at room temperature for approximately 2-2.5 hours, or until doubled in size.

When the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 210ºC. Grease and dust a baking tray with flour. And now comes the most difficult part. Fold the edges of the tea towel open. Put the tray upside down on top of the bowl and gently, but quickly turn the bowl and tray upside down. Carefully lift the bowl from the tray and gently peel the tea towel from the dough. Use a very sharp knife (I use scalpel blades, but a razor blade or very sharp knife will do just fine.) and quickly slash three times in the dough, making sure you only slash the surface.

Bake the bread in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes or when a skewer comes out clean when inserted. Leave the bread to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack.

This bread freezes really well.