A Feta and Spinach Twist- *BBD #30*

It's been some time since I baked bread, the twisted/ braided kind to be exact. I love a freshly baked bread for breakfast. Like being welcomed in the morning with a warm just out of the oven bread. I know that isn't possible probably until I own a bread machine. I recently acquired some wonderful books on baking bred and that has just helped in the growth of my love for making bread. My daughter, L loves helping me out actually in kneading. But I have always trusted my kneader to knead the dough. So when the little one is around, she insists on kneading by hand. She is more exuberant when it comes to kneading by hand compared to me. Once the kneading is done, I leave it to rise and just walk away. Little L on the hand sits alongside the bowl to watch the dough rise and jumps with joy at each stage. Her world of little pleasures which I fail to realize...

The bread I have for you today is a spinach and feta twist chosen mainly for two reasons; a) Braiding, twisitng, shaping is somethin I enjoy doing b) for BBD, whose theme this month is twisted bread. Good enough reason for me!

What you need
(From Bread by Sara Lewis)

2C White flour -I used 1 C multi grain Flour + 1C Plain FLour)
1t Sugar
1t Salt
1 and 1/4 t fast action dried yeast
2T Olive Oil
3/4 C warm water
1 C chopped Spinach
1/2 C Feta Cheese
1 egg yolk, to glaze
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 t grated nutmeg (I omitted this and used chilli flakes for the spiciness)

In a large bowl, put in flour, sugar, salt and yeast and the olive oil. Use the warm water to make a dough and knead for a smooth pliable dough. Leave to rise covered in a warm place. Once it doubles in volume, knead well and roll into a rectangle. Sprinkle the spinach leaves and season with salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Crumble the feta cheese and sprinkle over . (Resist the urge to eat some feta now. I couldn't!).

Roll the dough along the longer side. Brush with egg yolk mixed with 1 T of water.

Cut the dough in half along the length. Open out the pieces so that the cut sides face upwards.Press the ends together. (resist the urge again to eat some more feta..this is impossible now cos the feta tastes yummier with the seasoning. I couldn't this time too!!). Loosely twist the two cut pieces lifting the right hand piece over the left hand piece, then the first piece over the second and so forth until the ends are reached..

Transfer to a greased tray. Leave to rise uncovered atleast for half an hour.

Bake in a preheated oven, (200 degree C) until nicely browned. Cover with foil if overbrowned.

This bread tops the list among all the bread I have made with the most amazing flavour and texture. A wholesome bread that tastes good served warm or cold.

This is my entry for BBD #30, an event created by Zorra, hosted by Natashya this month who chose a great theme:Breads with a twist.

This Feta and spinach twist is also yeast spotted!