Longan fruit contains several vitamins and minerals and large amounts of vitamins A and C. The Chinese name for this fruit is long yan rou/龙眼肉, which literally means “dragon eye flesh”. The dried flesh is taken as a tonic and treatment for insomnia and neurasthenic neurosis.

340 g Spelt dinkel #630 flour angiesrecipes 80 g Spelt dinkel wholewheat flour angiesrecipes 120 g Rye sourdough starter 30 g Rock sugar

110 ml Warm water 8 g Salt 1 tbsp Olive oil 3-4 tbsp Dried longan fruit angiesrecipes

1. 
   Combine sourdough, spelt wholewheat flour, and water in a bowl of the mixer. Cover and let stand at the room temperature until active, about 3 hours. Add in spelt flour and sugar. Beat for 2-3 minutes, then mix in olive oil and salt until dough ball forms. Finally add in dried longan fruit and knead until the dough has become smooth and elastic.
   
2. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours. De-gas, roll and shape the dough to fit a well-greased loaf pan. When the dough is within 1/2 inch of the top of the pan, then put the lid on or cover a bread pan with parchment paper and put a weighted baking tray on the pan.
   
3. 
   Bake in a preheated 200C/400F oven for about 40 minutes. After baking, immediately remove the lid and cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Turn out the bread and cool to the room temperature.

250 g White leaven 300 g Water at 20C/68F 25 g Honey

75 g Unpeeled potato, scrubbed and grated 500 g German #550 flour angiesrecipes 10 g Salt

1. 
   Whisk the leaven with water, honey and grated potato in a large bowl. Combine the flours and salt. Mix the ingredients together to form a sticky mass. Cover with a cling film and leave for 10 minutes. Spread a teaspoon of olive oil on the work surface. Scrape the dough, working from the side of the bowl, on to the oiled surface. Knead briefly, 20 seconds, will be enough. Clean the bowl, and give it a light rub with olive oil. Return the dough to the greased mixing bowl. Cover and leave overnight in fridge.
   
2. 
   Scrape the dough on to a lightly oiled work surface and pat it out to form a rectangle, roughly 40cm x 20cm. Fold one end, a third of the length, back to the center. Fold the other end back over it, so you have three layers. Pat it out again and fold it once more. This stretches the dough and aerates it. Leave one hour at room temperature and repeat. Leave another hour and repeat. The dough should be rising nicely. The most important thing to remember is that it's ready to shape when bubbles form in the dough. To check, slash the dough with a sharp razor. If this hasn't happened, leave the dough a further hour and check again.
   
3. 
   Shape the dough into a ball. Cover and rest for 15 minutes. Dust a parchment paper or a towel and lay it on a tray. Use a flour-dusted, linen-lined basket if you have one. Shape the dough into a baton and place it seam-side up on the prepared paper or cloth. Cover and leave at room temperature until almost doubled, about 3-4 hours.
   
4. Preheat the oven to 220C425F. Turn the loaves on a floured baking sheet, so that any seams are now underneath. Make a cut a along the loaf’s length. Bake for 25 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180C350F and bake for 45-55 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

In Italian, ciabatta means “slipper,” the name is a reference to the shape, which does sort of resemble a slipper. Like many artisan breads, ciabatta bread tastes best when it is fresh. To refresh ciabatta bread which is slightly stale or soggy, it can be sprinkled with water and toasted in an oven immediately before serving. Otherwise, stale ciabbata bread can be allowed to go truly stale and turned into croutons.

480 g German #550 flour angiesrecipes 5 g Instant dry yeast angiesrecipes 140 g Sourdough rye starter 200 ml Water at 20C/68F

65 ml Milk at 20C/68F 2 tsp Olive oil angiesrecipes 2 tsp Salt

1. 
   In bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with dough hook blend together the starter, water, milk, oil, flour and instant yeast at low speed until flour is just moistened. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Add in salt and stir slowly to combine and beat dough at medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough shall be very sticky but still hold its shape.
   
2. Scrape dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 90 minutes. Have a baking tray ready lined with well-floured baking paper. Turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface and divide in half. Transfer each half to the prepared baking tray and form into an irregular oval, about 8 inches long. Dust the tops with flour.
   
3. Cover loaves with a dampened kitchen towel. Let loaves rise at room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes. An hour before baking ciabatta, start preheating the oven (and a baking stone if available) to 220C/425F. Bake ciabatta loaves 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool the loaves on a rack.

470 g Rye leaven 550 ml Water at 20C/68F 650 g German #550 flour angiesrecipes

200 g Wholemeal flour angiesrecipes 75 g Dinkel spelt #630 flour angiesrecipes 20 g Salt

1. 
   In a large bowl, whisk the leaven with the water. Add the flours and salt. Mix the ingredients together to form a sticky mass. Cover and leave 10-15 minutes to stand, to allow gliadin and glutenin proteins in the compound gluten to hydrate and bond.
   
2. 
   On a lightly oiled work surface, place the dough and knead briefly, 20 to 30 seconds will be enough. Shape the dough into a ball and put it back into the mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Next day, scrape the dough on to a lightly oiled work surface and pat it out to form a rectangle, roughly 40cm x 20cm. Fold one end, a third of the length, back to the centre. Fold the other end back over it, so we have 3 layers of dough, like folding puff pastry.
   
3. 
   Pat it out again and fold it once more. Leave one hour at room temperature and repeat. Leave another hour and repeat. The dough should be rising nicely. To check, slash the dough with a sharp knife. It is ready to shape once bubbles formed in the dough. Otherwise leave the dough a further hour to check again.
   
4. 
   Divide the dough into 3 smaller dough. Shape into balls on a lightly floured surface and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Form dough into a baton or round Turn the shaped loaves into the floured baskets or tins with the seams up and leave them to finish rising. They're ready for baking when doubled in size, about 3 hours.
   
5. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F. Upturn the loaves on to floured baking trays and slash a few times across it. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a cooling wire.

50 g Rolled oats angiesrecipes 100 g Boiling water 200 g Apple, peeled and grated 50 g Water at 20C/68F 100 g White leaven

2 g Instant dry yeast 250 g German #550 flour angiesrecipes 3 g Salt 2 tbsp Egg wash 2 tbsp Rolled oats

1. 
   Put the rolled oats into a small bowl and pour over the boiling water. Leave aside for 5 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. Add the grated apple to the water, leaven, and yeast. Stir the mixture well until the yeast is dissolved, then stir the soaked oats into this. In another bowl weigh the flour with the salt. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and stir the mixture with your hands until it is evenly combined and you have a soft, sticky dough. Scrape any dough from Your fingers into the bowl, then cover and leave for 10 minutes.
   
2. 
   Rub 1 teaspoon olive oil on the work-surface and knead the dough on the oiled surface for 10 seconds, ending with the dough in a smooth, round ball. Clean and dry the howl, then rub lightly with a teaspoon of olive oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover, and leave for a further 10 minutes. Remove the dough and knead once more on the oiled surface, returning the shape of the dough to a smooth, round ball. Put it back in the bowl, cover and leave for 1 hour at room temperature.
   
3. 
   Lightly flour the work-surface and shape the dough into a baton or a round. Rub a tea-towel with a handful of flour (or use a linen-lined proving basket) and place the dough inside seam-side-up. Wrap the dough snugly in the cloth, and leave to rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until almost doubled in height.
   
4. 
   Preheat the oven to 210C/410F. Upturn the loaf on to a flour dusted tray, then brush the surface of the loaf with the egg wash and dust with rolled oats. Bake the loaf in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes, then lower the heat to 190C/375F and bake for a further 15-20 minutes, until the loaf is a good brown, feels light in weight, and sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Leave to cool on a wire rack.