Weekend Review: One Man & His Loaf

We LOVE our bread - not the processed long-life stuff, but the real deal.  Baker David Belcham, aka One Man and His Loaf, is Becca's regular supplier - providing a weekly hit of his delicious sesame seed sourdough. So who is the man behind the loaf?

What do you do for work?

I work as an artisan baker under the name 'One Man and His Loaf'. I use traditional techniques and locally milled organic flour to create and sculpt rustic loaves including  sourdough and Scandinavian style rye breads. These are available at The Tiny Bakery in Clarendon Park, Leicester.

What's your proudest career moment so far?

It's not one distinct moment, more the culmination of a number of years of work. I feel a sense of achievement to have learnt a skill from scratch, taking something I was passionate about and turning it into a career. When I see customers return time after time to buy my loaves I feel a sense of pride. This makes the job worthwhile.

What did I want to be growing up?

Just content and fulfilled by my work. I didn't have a clue what that would entail and that worried me. I did however have a clear sense that Monday to Friday, 9-5 was not for me. So I tried a variety of jobs to find something that I was suited to. Once I found that niche, I was motivated to follow that path. I will follow it until that changes. 

What's your favourite way to relax and unwind after work?

Plants are another of my passions and I love gardening and being outside. Alongside baking I have studied horticulture and garden design at Brooksby College (in Melton Mowbray) which has provided me with a really good understanding of plants. I have been inspired by planting designers such as Piet Oudolf and Dan Pearson. 

I also value time to exercise. It renews me in many ways. I enjoy running and I have also just started attending a yoga class.

When is your weekend?

"Monday, Tuesday is my weekend..." 

Saturday is the busiest day at the bakery so luckily I have no problem working on Saturdays... I enjoy the buzz. 

However I also do private work at a handful of local gardens maintaining planting designs I have implemented over the last few years so I often work on those gardens during my days off from baking.

What's a typical weekend look like?

I enjoy looking for bargains in charity shops and catching up with friends for coffee. I enjoy trips to garden centres, country walks or meeting up with my family who all live in Leicester. 

Due to the early starts that baking involves I often crash out by 9pm. Not rock and roll but just reality. 

Ideal weekend break?

I enjoy breaks that are a combination of city and countryside. 

I enjoy trips to Bath, Cambridge, York, places with plenty to see and do without being overly hectic. Often trips away will involve a visit to a garden or two. 

Describe your ideal Sunday  menu...

Breakfast - In bed. Cereals, milk, very strong coffee. Simple. Boring even. That's what I like. 

Lunch - Sitting in the garden, sun shining, floriferous plants doing their thing. Avocado on seeded rye, a liberal sprinkle of sea salt and chilli flakes. Simple, again, but effective. 

Evening meal - Peter's Pizzeria with my whole family. My nieces and nephews love the place. Delicious and darn effective for all. I don't go enough now I come to think of it. The Strokes playing in the background would be a nice little bonus. One day... someday. 

What's your signature dish?

A green risotto. When I bother, I do it the laborious/ traditional way, stirring, ladling stock, all that. I include peas, griddled courgettes and asparagus. I enjoy it served with a big bowl of crispy salad leaves, little gem works a treat as you can use them as a spoon to scoop up the risotto. Crusty loaves of wheat sourdough also make an appearance. 

I also make a pretty tasty Panzanella. It's a great way to use up any stale bread. It's the fresh basil that does it, it's got to be loads. 

What's in your fridge?

Apples. Cold and crisp. Yogurts. A day without yogs isn't on my agenda. Avocado. I am late, very late, to the avo party but I'm hooked. 

Salad leaves. Cherry tomatoes. I like them cold, sorry. Humous. Milk.  Jam. Bonne mamam raspberry. Innocent juice- orange, carrot, ginger thing, darn zingy.

Chicken or salmon... or both!  Stewed Apple.  Dark chocolate. Maybe with hazelnuts. 

Quick fire questions - what is your favourite...

Book - Watership Down... Book and film merge for me, but I adore the visuals in both

Film - Lars and the Real Girl

TV series - Animals of Farthing Wood. Watched as a child, but has had a profound effect on me. Much like Watership Down, it tells us a great deal about humanity. 

Holiday destination - Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour

Museum - I don't really have one, but I enjoyed Cresswell Crags. If you asked me a favourite garden, then you would have a very long list. I have learnt more from gardens than museums so far in my life. 

Word - Contentment

What's your guilty pleasure?

I get carried way with eating cereals straight from the box and handful after handful or raisins. But I'm most guilty, most ashamed by my current ritual of snapping the dark, thin chocolate off the top of Choco Leibniz biscuits, eating that and then putting the biscuit back.

I shouldn't keep doing it but I am not ready to stop...

Where can we follow you?

Twitter:  @OneMan_HisLoaf
Facebook: One Man and His Loaf
Instagram: one_man_and_ his_loaf

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Recipe: Labneh

I'm never more excited about a weekend than when there is the prospect of a food festival, and this weekend sees the return of what is quite possibly my favourite of all local foodie events. The Melton Mowbray artisan cheese fair. With 61 artisan cheesemakers and over 300 varieties of cheese on sale Its the largest event of it's kind in the uk. Cheese is a bit of a passion in our household and there is some preparation undertaken in advance of this momentous occasion, a strict spending budget needs to be set (To then be ignored!) But most importantly the fridge needs to be cleared to make way for our cheese hoard. This year however we were a little over excited and found ourselves in the preceding week with no cheese. This doesn't happen very often in my house and does induce a certain amount of panic, but fortunately I have an emergency recipe up my sleeve. 

Labneh holds it's origins in the middle east and is created by straining the whey from greek yoghurt. This results in a creamy tangy cheese, texturally it's almost akin to cream cheese but has so much more flavour. Cheesemaking can seem a daunting and highly technical pursuit but this recipe is really very simple, all you need is 2 ingredients, one of which is in fact optional. You also need just a little patience, but the end result is well worth it.

You will need:

• 500g full fat greek yoghurt
• A good pinch of salt, around half a tsp (optional)
• a cheese cloth or jay cloth for straining
• a wooden spoon and a measuring jug 

Place the yoghurt and salt together in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Transfer the yoghurt mix into the cheese cloth. Tie up the four corners of the cloth knotting them tightly around the wooden spoon then place the cloth, with spoon attached into the measuring jug, using the wooden spoon to suspend the cloth so the bottom of the straining cheese is a few cm away from the base of the jug. Adjust the tightness of the knotted cheese cloth as necessary to achieve this.

Place the jug into the fridge and allow to strain for 18 to 24 hours, the longer the cheese is left the firmer it will become, go for less time for a creamier texture.

The strained liquid can be used instead of water in the making of a loaf of bread, it will add a creaminess to the finished loaf and create a firmer crust.

Labneh makes an amazing addition to a meze style platter, simply place it into a bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil. I like mine generously slathered over a nice slice of bread, preferably sourdough, and perhaps just a sprinkle of Dukkah just to keep with the middle Eastern theme.

If you are visiting the Melton Mowbray cheese fair this weekend have a great time and hope to see you there!

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