Life Through Food: Beer Bread

It is Sunday, six am, and I am sat in bed watching Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking series on YouTube. He, Gordon, begins of, as always, with a breakfast dish which would be followed by a lunch and dinner one later. So I am sat here wondering "why am watching when he is about to prepare yet another non-vegetarian friendly dish?!", but just before I could "change the channel", read that as move on to the next episode, up comes what would accompany the offending, to me at least, dish - beer bread!

Throughout him sifting the flour, salt and whatnot I begin to salivate for want of the opportunity to make and eat this bread. So mentally I begin to recount the contents of the baking cupboard since last I baked. And then it hit me - I once, during winter, bought a bag of beer bread flour that I'd convinced myself I'd find "the best beer to try it with". With my heart aflutter at the prospect of not having to weigh anything, I quickly paused the program and made my way to the kitchen where I found the forgotten flour, which mind you was nearing its expiry date.

I don't know why I thought I'd have to "hunt" for the perfect beer, especially since I'm convinced Windhoek Lager is pretty much up there on the best beer scale. Luckily there were some bottles left from the previous evenings party to use.

Fast forward me having sat staring at the bread in the oven wondering "why has it not risen yet?" and "will it even rise?" the timer goes off after the allotted thirty minutes. I then brush some milk onto the bread, sprinkle with flour and return to the oven for a further five minutes baking.