Make your own....brown bread!

I was at home for a few days recently to make sure my dad and brother didn't fall asunder along with the house while my mam recuperated after a hip op. Normally a 'don't iron unless absolutely necessary' girl, I threw myself into the role with gusto and soon had a dishcloth ever at the ready and did a spot of hoovering what felt like every hour.

My mam for years has made brown bread every second day or so, and there is always some of the healthy brown stuff in the kitchen. Not wanting to fall short in any way, I undertook to do the same under her instructions. And it's remarkably easy!

Since then I've resolved to bake bread weekly as a healthy and cheap alternative to bought bread (although I still totally respect Andy's Brennan's sandwiches idea posted earlier).

Here's how:

Pre-heat a fan oven to 190 degrees. Using kitchen towel, grease two loaf tins with margarine and put them to one side. Put 550g of coarse wholemeal flour in a big mixing bowl. Add 350g plain flour to it. Put in a pinch of salt, and sieve in two teaspoons of bread soda. Mix that all up with a wooden spoon. Pour a generous layer of wheatgerm (you'll find it in the breakfast cereal aisle in the supermarket) over the top, and mix again. Make a hole in the middle and add 1.5l of buttermilk/soured milk. Mix like a good thing until it's all mixed together evenly then divide the mixture between the two loaf tins. Turn back the oven to 190 degrees and put the bread in on the middle shelf for 25 mins. After 25 mins have a gander at it, tap it, turn it around maybe, turn the oven back to about 160 degrees and put it back in for another 25 mins or so. Keep an eye on it all the while because fan ovens can differ and you might need to turn the oven down slightly.

When the time is up take out your bread and turn it out onto a waiting wire tray. Turn it the right way up, let it cool and there you go - cheap, healthy, tasty, recession-tastic brown bread!