This is our everyday bread. It is equally good as a loaf or as rolls. It uses sourdough to enhance the flavour, but I also add yeast to help the rising. The flour comes from Wessex Mill and we buy from them in bulk - 10 or 16kg bags of their Mixed Grain or Six-Seed bread flour, both of which work very well with this recipe. The recipe is enough for 3 medium (650g) loaves plus about half a dozen 100g rolls.
Mix 2 x 500ml jugs of flour and 750 ml of warm water with your sourdough starter (either make it yourself or buy some from Wild Yeast Bakery in Cardiff). Leave overnight in the kitchen (or for 3-4 hours in a warm place such as the airing cupboard or an oven set to 40°C), so that it has about doubled in volume and smells nicely sour. Save a small amount of the sourdough sponge to the fridge as a starter for next time.
Add to the sourdough sponge:
about half a cup of oil
a tablespoon of black treacle
a large carrot (or parsnip) grated
a tablespoon of quick dried yeast
a tablespoon of salt
Mix well, and then add enough flour to make a non-sticky dough (about 1.5 to 2 x 500ml jugs). Knead well and put to rise in a warm place (airing cupbaord or oven at 40°C) until about doubled in volume. (This second rising gives strength to the extra flour that has been added).
Knead again for a short while and then form into loaves (that about a third to a half fill their pans) or rolls. Put some boiling water in a tray in the bottom of your oven (set to 40°C if you can). The water provides a moist atmosphere to stop the top of the bread drying out. When the loaves have risen to the tops of the pans, leave them in the oven and set it to 210°C, bake the rolls for about 20 mins, the loaves for about 40 mins.