My favourite bread recipe

I was never successful making bread until I started to use this very simple recipe.

500g flour. I use a mixture or strong white flour with a mixed seed and grain flour. I am never precise in proportions and it doesn't seem to matter.We like a 75% strong white to 25% mixed proportion for everyday bread. I have used wholemeal and multi grain flour using the same recipe which has needed more water and hasn't risen quite so well but perfectly edible. Very much trial and error.
1teaspoon of sea salt. I don't use salt very much at all in any cooking and when I do only use sea salt so this was all I had in the house when I first starting using this recipe. You occasionally get the taste of a little grain of salt but that is no bad thing.
One sachet of instant baking yeast - any kind. I have used named brands and supermarket own brands and found no difference. I sometimes use ordinary dried yeast which you have to make up beforehand but the sachets are just so convenient. (If I make up the yeast I use 650g flour and make 2 loaves in tins).
One slug of olive oil. Possibly a tablespoon.
300ml warm water - about one third boiling to two thirds cold from the tap

I turn the oven on to gas mark 1.

I add the salt to the mixing bowl first of all and then add the flour. Then I drizzle in the oil, sprinkle over the yeast and add most of the water. I mix it all together with a wooden spoon, adding the rest of the water when there are just odd bits of flour around the edges which haven't combined.
At this point I turn out the dough onto a floured surface and begin to knead. I always knead for exactly 10 minutes using the clock on the oven to time it. I like to get a good rhythm going - kneading with the heel of one hand, pulling it back to a ball then using the other hand - Radio 2 seems to help at this point - kneading to music and dancing around for a bit.
After 10 minutes I replace the dough into a bowl to which I have added a small amount of olive oil, cover it with cling film and set it on top of the oven to prove for about an hour.
After the hour has passed and the dough has about doubled in size I then thump it down - literally and knead it into a boule shape - this doesn't take long. I put it onto a baking tray - I use a pizza tray which has a sheet of greaseproof paper on it and place it back on top of the oven with the cling film loosely over it.
I leave it to rise again for another hour, at some point raising the oven temperature to gas mark 7 in readiness for the baking. I sprinkle a bit of flour on the top if I remember.
When it has doubled in size again, about an hour or longer if I can be patient, I place the loaf in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes. It is usually brown on the top and when tapped on the bottom sounds hollow.
Cool on a wire rack and try to leave to cool before cutting off a slice and buttering it.

If I make a larger batch I use loaf tins which I have oiled with vegetable oil on a piece of kitchen roll. This bread seems to freeze very well. I make plenty in advance of visitors and can bring out a fresh loaf at anytime - they defrost quite quickly. Excellent for afternoon teas and breakfast toast.

One of the hens has managed to escape - one of the Columbines who lay the prettiest pale blue eggs. She can easily be persuaded to return.