UK viewers:  yesterday night's "River Cottage" looked at bread.  You can watch the programme online if you missed it, with "4 on Demand" at

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/river-cottage/4od/player/3133940

And they build an oven too - can it really be that easy?!  Maybe not, but given the aim is to encourage people who've never tried baking before to have a go, I don't think it's a bad effort.

R.

In the UK there is a fantastic TV show called "Raymond Blanc's Kitchen Secrets". It's a delightful program presented by the wonderfully enthusiastic Raymond Blanc. His passion with food is thoroughly addictive. In each of the series' eight episodes, Raymond Blanc concentrates on a topic and showcases several related recipes. Some are quite simple, some are exceedingly complex, and Raymond does them with such grace and ease it is a joy to watch. There's a genuine feeling of honesty throughout the series.

Last night's episode was about bread. Raymond began the episode by making a wonderful cream-filled brioche. He placed his ingredients in the mixer, then struggled trying to operate it, realizing that it wasn't plugged in (such is the joy of this show). Once that problem was solved, he mixed the dough, added the butter, and proved the dough. Then, he shaped it by hand to a perfect round, filled with a creme-fraiche custard, and baked this delicacy. The nice thing about this show, that they are not afraid of showing mistakes -- Raymond had shaped the dough too thinly, and there was a little hole in his round, so that some of the filling escaped. He shared the brioche with his two sons. 

Raymond moved on to make a versatile country bread dough, which he made into a plain loaf of bread, a fougasse topped with various tasty things, and beer-topped rolled that looked delicious. Watching Raymond talk about bread with such passion was a joy. 

Raymond then went to visit a miller in search of some flours to make a Gluten-free loaf. They made an attempt with some chestnut flour that wasn't a total success, but was quite tasty, according to them. 

Raymond's final project was an apple croustade, a yeast dough preparation I have never seen before. He made the strangest yeast dough, where the liquid was in the form of beaten egg white mixed with egg yolks, water, and some sugar. The dough is then stretched by two people to a paper-thin layer, not unlike a strudel, and brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with sugar. This is cut into squares, and place in neat little nest-like parcels in small tart tins to dry overnight. Then, Raymond thinly sliced apples, arranged them in a beautiful rosette, and baked them with butter and sugar. The next day, the dough parcels are baked and the caramelized apple rosettes are warmed up. The dessert is plated: place the apple rosettes onto a plate, and top with a dough parcel. Pour some vanilla-pear sauce around this, top with ginger-vanilla ice cream, and finely diced stem ginger. Wow! They finished the program with with Raymond and one of his apprentices sharing one of these. 

I'll probably never make the croustade, but the cream filled brioche is on my "to bake very soon" list. 

I whole-heartedly recommend that you watch this program. If you live in the UK, you can catch the program (and past episodes; I recommend the chocolate episode) on the BBC iPlayer, here. If you live outside the UK, as do I, you should make the effort to get a copy of this episode, because it is well worth watching. 

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE PART IN A NEW BBC BAKING SERIES?

Are you a keen amateur baker?   Are you passionate about your hobby?  Can you turn out a half decent cake, tart or loaf of bread?  Do you fancy putting your skills to the test? 

BBC2 is making an exciting new prime time series called 'The Great British Bake Off' and is looking for amateur bakers from across the country to take part.  During the series the bakers will be given a series of baking tasks and one will ultimately be crowned the UK's best amateur baker. 

However long you've been baking for, we'd love to hear from you.  If you're interested in applying to take part in the series and would like to find out more, please email eval(unescape('%64%6f%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d%22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%62%61%6b%69%6e%67%40%6c%6f%76%65%70%72%6f%64%75%63%74%69%6f%6e%73%2e%63%6f%2e%75%6b%22%3e%62%61%6b%69%6e%67%40%6c%6f%76%65%70%72%6f%64%75%63%74%69%6f%6e%73%2e%63%6f%2e%75%6b%3c%2f%61%3e%27%29%3b')) or call 0207 067 4855.

To apply you must be over 16 on 1^st May 2010.  As an "amateur baker" your main source of income cannot come from commercial baking and / or cooking in a professional environment and you cannot have ever worked full time as a baker. You cannot have any formal NVQ or other professional catering qualifications acquired in the last 10 years.

Look out for episode 3 of the new Gourmet TV series 'Adventures with Ruth', screening tomorrow 1 November on PSB in which Richard Bertinet shows Ruth and Oscar Winning actress Diane Weist how to bake bread.

Richard Bertinet is a baker, chef and owner of The Bertinet Kitchen cookery school in Bath, UK.  He has written two award winning books on bread-making Dough - Simple Contemporary Bread (2005 ) and Crust - Bread to get your teeth into (2007).  His third book - a cookery book is due to be published next year.  (All books published by Kyle Cathie in the UK / Kyle Books in the US)

For the trailer for this and other episodes see the Gourmet website at http://www.gourmet.com/adventureswithruth/season-1

For more information about Richard Bertinet and The Bertinet Kitchen visit http://www.thebertinetkitchen.com