BEER BREAD!

Ingredients

• 330 - 375 ml Beer (Lager is a good safe bet)
• 3 Cups of White Self Raising Flour
• 3 heaped tlb White Sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp Salt

Optional

• 1 1/2 rashers finely chopped bacon
• 1 finely chopped small brown onion
• 2 tlb roughly chopped spring onion
• 1 tlb finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 cup grated Gruyere Cheese
• 50 gm butter

NB: Try you’re own ingredients … Tasty Cheese? Olives? Sundried Tomatoes? Shredded Ham?

Method

1. Add the brown onion and bacon to a cold fry pan over medium heat. Cook for 5 mins or so til the bacon has rendered off some fat and the onion is softened. Spoon out the liquid and add the green onions in whilst its still warm.

2. Rub a bread tin with butter and then sprinkle with flour. Tilt the tin til the flour coats everything. Discard the excess

3. Sift the Sugar, Flour & Salt into a large mixing bowl.

4. Pour in 330ml of the beer and begin to stir with a wooden spoon. Once it become slightly sticky, use your hands to gently combine. If its slightly dry add a bit more beer and combine again. HINT: be careful not to add too much liquid it can make the end product too heavy. So just enough to incorporate the flour and make it sticky. After a minute of gentle mixing you should know.

5. Add in the rosemary, cheese, bacon & onions & combine evenly & gently. Let it sit for 10 mins whilst you heat a fan forced Oven to 180 deg C.

6. Place in the top half of the oven and remove after 1 hour. Insert a skewer / thin knife - if it comes out clean its cook through.

7. Remove from the tin & rub the remaining butter over the top of the warm bread.

8. Let it sit for 10 - 15 mins to cool slightly and eat warm with butter / philly cheese / what ever you fancy.

9. If you haven’t eaten it all let it come to room temperature before slicing in top portions and wrapping in plastic wrap ready to go in the freezer. I defrosted a couple of slices the next day and served with whole egg mayo, vine ripened tomatoes (salt & cracked black pepper) & pickled jalapeños.

Footnotes

^1: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=1056007