Two teenagers and their friends to boot! That’s a bagful of healthy appetites. Now what does Mommy do? She bakes a country style, country SIZED loaf! When my boys saw it, they termed it the ‘Pop of all loaves’! We made some hearty open foot-longs/bruscetta with it. The wisest thing I did was steal a bite with a quiet cuppa before the madness began! OATS HONEY-LEMON LOAF

Ingredients

All purpose flour/Maida 2 cups
Whole wheat flour/aata- ½ cup
Oats- ½ cup
Instant Yeast- 1 Tsp/Fresh Yeast 10 grams
Honey- 1 Tbsp Salt- 1 Tsp
Butter – 1 ½ Tbsp
Milk- ¾ cup
Lemon Juice- 1 tsp Warm water- ¼ cup
Grated cheddar cheese- 1/2 cup

1. Prove the yeast – add the honey to ¼ cup of warm water. Mix well. The water has to be just the right temperature- not too hot because that will kill the yeast not too cool because the yeast won’t prove. Drop some on the back of your wrist and it should feel warm there. Add the yeast and rest covered for 10-15 minutes. The yeast should froth like soapy bubbles. If it doesn’t, throw the mix and start afresh. Proper proving of the yeast is vital to getting good bread!
2. In a big bowl, take the flours, oats and salt. Mix.
3. Once the yeast has bloomed, add it to the flour and mix well with a wooden ladle.
4. Add the lemon juice to the milk and let it stand for a minute. Add it to the flour-yeast mix. Once well mixed, knead the dough well using your hands. It will be sticky to start with.
5. Add the butter and knead for another 10-12 minutes. It will now become a non-sticky, soft and pliable dough.
6. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with cling film, or a kitchen towel and rest for 11/2 to 2 hours. The dough should double up. The time actually depends on the weather conditions-if very hot, it doubles sooner than the 1 ½ hours. This is the first prove.
7. Remove from the bowl once the dough is doubled and gently knock out the air.
8. To get this big, flat loaf I put it flat on the baking tray.
9. Cover with cling film or a kitchen towel taking care to that they do not touch the top of the bread. Leave to rise again for about 45 minutes. This is the second prove.
10. When there are 20 minutes to go, pre-heat the oven at 200C.
11. Brush the top with milk, sprinkle some oats and grated cheese (I used cheddar)  and bake for 20 minutes, till the top browns.  If doing in an oven with two elements, please keep both on. The bread should sound hollow when you tap on it.
12. Slice when fully cooled.

FOOTLONGS/ BRUSCETTA

Ingredients

Mixed vegetables finely chopped- 2 cups (I used red, yellow and green peppers, corn and mushrooms)
Onion,chopped fine- 1 medium
Garlic, minced- 1 tsp
Tomato ketchup- 1 tsp Oil- 1 tsp
Mixed herbs- 1 tsp Salt- 1 tsp (or to taste)
Grated cheddar- 1 cup (or more if you want cheesier)
Garlic Butter- 2 Tbsp salted butter + 1 tsp minced garlic\

Heat oil in a wok and keep the heat high throughout. Add the garlic and onion. Stir and add the chopped vegetable. Season with salt,pepper and mixed herbs. Stir in the ketchup. Remove from heat.

To assemble

Cut the loaf into long strips Brush the top of each foot-long with garlic butter and layer with the vegetable mix.
Top with grated cheese and bake in a preheated oven at 200C for about 10 minutes till the cheese melts and the bread gets toasted. Serve fresh out of the oven.