You’ll need to have all your ingredients ready to go before you start. It is a quick and easy dish but requires a little multi-tasking. The basil aioli needs to be made in advance.

• Rinse your asparagus and gently snap off the ends. Go as close the the ends as possible until you find the snapping point. Discard these. Place the asparagus, tips up, in a steamer or colander that fits inside your pot (with about 3 inches of water in the bottom). If it sticks up too much for a lid, cover it with tinfoil so that it can steam.
• Slice your sourdough (you can follow this recipe, adding chopped olives when you take out some dough for the next day’s starter), or you can use a decent olive loaf or sourdough from a good bakery.
• Fill a small pan with water and bring it to the boil.
• Peel two small cloves of garlic but leave them whole.
• Get your eggs ready and crack the first one into a teacup. This is easier than cracking it straight into a the pan.
• Get a slotted, spoon, plate and kitchen towel ready.
• If you need a quick refresher on how to poach an egg, take a minute to read through this.
• Right, let’s get ready to rumble!
• Turn your grill on to heat up for your toast.
• Put the asparagus pot on the stove on high heat to steam.
• Put your sourdough slices under the grill.
• Put a spoonful of vinegar into your boiling water, turning the heat down slightly so it is not at a rolling boil.
• Swish the water around with a spoon and gently plop your egg into the middle of the mini whirlpool.
• Crack your second egg into the cup and set aside.
• Watch your poaching egg carefully, as soon as the egg is opaque take it out with a slotted spoon and let drain on the kitchen towel.
• Re-whirl the whirlpool, and plop your second egg into the pan.
• Check your toast and turn it over.
• Set out your plates.
• Drain the second egg and add the third (or fourth etc.)
• Take your toast out (if it is ready) and place a slice on each plate. Rub all over with the clove of garlic as for bruschetta.
• Check your asparagus. It should be bright green and tender with a slight bite to it.
• Drain and place several stalks on each piece of toast.
• Settle a poached egg on top of the asparagus and drizzle with the garlic aioli.
• sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper, maldon salt and some greek basil.
• Eat quickly so the softly poached yolk soaks into everything.

Thank you for trying a Vanielje Kitchen recipe.

I hope it fed you mind, body and soul.

Day 1:The Chef (Chief leavening agent)

• Make a fountain inside a handful (about 1/2 cup) of organic wholewheat flour
• add about 1/2 teaspoon of milk, a pinch of cumin and 3 tablespoons of warm water
• Mix together and knead with two fingers until your paste comes together as a firm dough, adding a little more water if needed.
• knead for several minutes then place in a ceramic bowl, cover with a cloth spritzed with water and leave in a warm place for 2 or 3 days. I use my airing cupboard as it is draft free.

Day 2 & 3:

• Make sure the cloth remains damp but leave the chef undisturbed.

Day 4: First refreshment

• The outside of your chef will have formed a hard crust but the inside should smell sweet and be nice and bubbly.
  
• Scoop this out (about 1 oz)
  
• Make a fountain of a large handful (3/4 cup) of wholewheat flour and break the chef up into little pieces.
• Add to the well.
• Pour in 1/3 of a cup of warm water and work the chef into the water.
• Once the chef is dissolved into the water start drawing in the flour from around it.
• Knead until the dough is firm (but not too dry) and springs back when touched.
• Return to the ceramic bowl and allow to rise for 18 – 24 hours. It shoudl have risen, and fallen a little and have tiny air bubbles inside it.
• Your chef is now a levain (leavener)

Day 5: Second refreshment

• Using the exact same method as the first refreshment make a fountain with 1/2 cup wholewheat and 1/2 cup white flour.
• Add four ounces of the levain and 1/2 cup of warm water.
• Once the dough has come together use 1/4 cup more of wholewheat flour to knead the dough.
• Let this levain rise for 10 – 12 hours. When it is ready it should have almost doubled in bulk and should not spring back when you press a finger into it.
• Your levain is now ready to be mixed into a dough.

This is a firm starter but can still be easily kept in a mason jar in the fridge. Just refresh every second day as for the second refreshment, discarding anything over 4 oz of the levain. Bring to room temperature before proceeding to the dough stage, and watch your rising times as they will be shortened considerably as the starter will be quite fresh.

Pain de Campagne is a French country loaf with fabulous staying power because of its sourdough origins. It is one of my favourites with it’s lovely sour smell and deeply crunchy crust. Once your sourdough starter is ready you can proceed with the recipe below. This is a rather firm starter, not the soupy kind of starter used in poolish breads. This means that your starter will be raring to go after a week, instead of waiting several weeks for it to develop some flavour.

• Make a fountain with 3 cups of organic strong white flour (bread flour)
• Pour 1 1/4 cups of hand hot water into the well
• break up 1 1/2 cups (12 oz) of the levain, into little pieces and dissolve into the water, working the gluten and pulling in little of the surrounding flour until you have a wet and sticky, but cohesive mixture.
• Add 2 – 3 teaspoons of maldon salt and work it into the dough.
• Slowly work in the surrounding flour, scraping down your hands and the counter top as you go.
• Once you have a firm dough, knead for about 5 minutes until it starts to spring back when touched.
• Roll it into a ball and let it rise for around 8 hours at room temp. Make sure it is covered with a damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out.
• By the time it has nearly doubled in size it will be ready to knock back and shape.
• If you wish to save some starter for your next loaf take out 2 oz now and keep in a mason jar in the fridge. Unless you wish to make another loaf the following day, in which case let it sit at room temp for 4 – 8 hours then use it as the chef for the first refreshment. Watch your rising times as they will be approximately halved.
  
• Flatten it out, then fold the edges in to the centre, pressing down with the heel of your hand to seal it.
• Repeat this several times until you have a tight loaf.
• Put it into a floured banneton (linen lined basket) for the final rise (8-10 hours)
• When your loaf is ready to bake, heat your oven to 220*C, making sure you have a baking stone in it.
• Turn your loaf gently out of the banneton onto a flat baking sheet dusted with semolina. The grains act as mini ball bearings in helping the loaf to slide off onto the baking stone.
• Slash the top of your loaf with a razor blade or sharp knife to allow the bread to rise evenly in the oven.
• Spritz the oven with water, and slide the loaf from the baking sheet to the baking stone.
• Turn the oven down to 200*C and bake for an hour.
• If the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the base, take it out and let it cool.
• If not, cook further in five minute increments until done.
• Allow to cool fully before slicing and enjoying with some fresh salted butter
  

Saturday mornings are my favourite ‘me-time’ . My husband normally sleeps in after a week of getting up at 5am, my daughter is usually playing with the kids next door, or listening to music and reading or drawing in her room, and I get to do my own thing. But it feels different to the rest of the week when Rory is away and Dakota is at school. It feels less alone.

Some weeks I get up early and visit the local farmer’s market. It is a small but satisfying treasure trove of fresh Cornish fish, organic fruit and veg, artisan olives and cheeses. Often I round this up with fresh baked almond croissants from the health food shop, or a quick Italian coffee and a flip through OK! magazine at the local coffee shop. Other Saturdays I stay in my jammies and settle down to trawl the blogosphere with a cup of hot coffee and a slice of toast with homemade marmalade, and some mornings I bake. I always do my best cooking when all is right with my world and for me that means:

All the people I love are close at hand, the house is full but peaceful and it is the perfect time for making bread. Today it was a quick process. I let my sourdough overnight in the fridge and all I had to do this morning was bring it to room temp while the oven heated, slash it, spritz the oven and bake. A quick refreshment for tomorrow’s loaf and I’m set.

An hour later and I am sitting at my kitchen counter with a hot cup of coffee, a pile of recipe books and the heavenly sweet sour smell of a warm loaf offering me inspiration for lunch. My mind wanders over the contents of my fridge and quickly settles on all Rory and Kody’s favourites.

Charcuterie, cheese, homemade piccalilli and fresh salad leaves. Shavings of Parmiggiano Reggiano, a sprinkling of Maldon salt, a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar on the Parma ham and a drizzle of grassy green extra virgin olive oil on the Bresaola. Easy peasy, now I can concentrate on important things like Jamie, Yotam and Hugh, booking flights to Cape Town, and what to make for dessert.

Sigh! I love Saturdays.

As I make bread so often I have decided to start a bread page. So please visit it for a recipes and inspiration on a selection of my favourite loaves. Starting with today’s French country sourdough. (coming soon)