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 - 10kg 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, get some from a friend, or buy some). 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 (c.150g) of the sourdough sponge to the fridge as a starter for next time. It will produce CO2 so don't screw on the jar's lid tightly. The starter will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. If it acquires a dark liquid on the top, just drain this off. If you are planning to leave it longer you might be better off freezing it.
Add to the sourdough sponge:
about half a cup of oil (eg olive)
a tablespoon of black
treacle (optional)
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 cupboard 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 the pans in the oven along with some boiling water in a tray in the bottom of the 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 a bit above 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.