Goosegogs, Blackas, Rhubarb, Fresh Beetroot, My mother and brown bread remind me of my Granny. Goosegogs, blackberries and rhubarb are seasonal stalwarts, beetroot is creeping back in to fashion, and my dear mother is here to stay.

That leaves us with brown bread. The memory of an occasional  cake from my Grans or equally my mothers home made loaf, crispy, moist and buttery-almost transcendent’ is one that merits preservation.

A strong houshold tradition is in danger of extinction. Making your own brown bread is a healthier, more economical and delicious alternative to eating expensive muck.

My Granny, of heroically advanced years, continues to make bread, her favourite being the brown. This is her recipe, and like Irish stew is open to ferocious debate. Preperation takes no more than fifteen minutes, and if it does, OR you dont enjoy the result, I`ll buy you a sliced pan. She makes it on a board, careful not to erode the counter through years of kneading..

Ingredients:
12 oz Howards oneway flour
4 oz strong white flour
1 tsp bread soda
pinch of salt
2 tsp wheatgerm
1tsp Malt extract or treacle
2 oz margarine or butter
Buttermilk, less than a pint.

Method:
Put Oneway in a bowl
Sieve in white flour with salt and bread soda
Rub in butter with fingers
Add wheatgerm and malt extract
Mix buttermilk until soft but not wet (should be able to work with)
Put on floured board and knead until cracks are gone
Put in floured square tin, put 2 cuts on top(some say this is for religious purposes, others say its to let the fairies out)
Bake at gas mark four/170 degrees for 45 mins, will sound hollow if you tap
Turn out of tin and leave to cool on a wire rack, or covered with a cloth if soft crust is preferred.

Joan Crowley copyright 2005 a.d.