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Saturday, September 08, 2007

Grains 2 Mill


There’s something about bread, isn’t there? The smell is constantly noted as being one of our favourites in the whole world, and it’s true when Nigel Slater says that one of the most-underrated foods ever is a simple slice of toast, dripping with golden, unctuous butter.
Apparently it’s easy to make as well, but I have always struggled – I never make good bread. Ever. And I refuse to buy a bread-maker, as that, for me, takes the magic out of the entire process. But bread-making holds a charm for me that I will always aspire to, so it was with some interest that I browsed a Grains 2 Mill stall at a recent Food Festival.
Grains 2 Mill’s operation is simple – good ingredients, produced by hand, and then given to you. After a quick taste of what they had to offer, I opted, with the advice of the very knowledgeable chap behind the stall, for a bag of ‘The Lord's Bread Mix’ – it sounds lofty but check out Ezekiel 16:9 in the good book for clarification.
To be honest, it couldn’t have been simpler. You just empty all the freshly stone-milled dry ingredients into a bowl and follow the instructions. Add honey, olive oil and an egg. Knead. Leave. Shape. Leave. Bake. All done. In a couple of hours I had a perfect batch of little breadcakes – the honey and oil in this particular recipe gave an interesting sweetness that was wonderful straight out of the oven. Split, buttered and served with slices of Parma ham, it was a real simple, yet utterly delicious treat. And the house smelled great for days…
Who knows, I might even try this breadmaking lark again!

Grains2mill
North Yorkshire
BD23 5JJ

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