Turkish bread

I miss Turkish food. If I get to eat it, it's because I make it myself. Which means I don't have it often, because all true Turkish recipes are very time-consuming.
Over the weekend, I made "green beans in olive oil," chicken pilaf and bread. And spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen. None of it was terribly difficult, and it was a warm, healthy dinner, but it took forever!
To go along with the leftovers, I made another loaf of bread this morning.
Italian bread, french bread...they're all fine, but nothing like Turkish. I don't know how it's different. It's the same basic ingredients. But there's something about it that's just impossible to beat!

I promised my friend Cheryl that I'd share my recipe. It's from this cookbook, which is an awesome one for great Turkish recipes with incredible pictures. And since it was written by people who speak English instead of semi-translated like the ones I bought in Istanbul, you can actually follow the recipes! (always a plus)

Gunluk Ekmek (daily bread)
Makes one loaf
1/2 oz/15 g fresh yeast, or 1/4 oz/ 7g dried yeast (one packet)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
4 fl oz/125 ml lukewarm water
1 lb/450g strong white flour (2 or 2 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon salt
6-8fl oz/175-250ml cold water
scant teaspoon olive or sunflower oil

Preheat oven to 425F/Mark7/220C

Cream the yeast with the sugar in the lukewarm water until frothy.

Sift the flour with the salt into a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the yeast and the cold water. Draw in a little of the flour from the sides to make a smooth batter. Sprinkle a dusting of flour over the surface of the batter, cover the bowl with a damp cloth, and leave the batter to sponge for about 20 minutes. Remove the cloth, draw in the rest of the flour, and knead well. Continue to knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic.

Pour the oil in the bottom of a bowl, flip the bread dough over in it, cover the bowl with a damp towel, and leave the dough to prove for a few hours until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down, knead it again on a lightly floured surface and mold it into the shape you want. Place it on a floured baking tray and leave to prove again under a damp towel. Once it has doubled in size, you can score it with a sharp knife, glaze it, and sprinkle it with a variety of seeds. For a simple plain loaf just brush a little milk over the surface to harden the crust.

Bake it in the oven for 30-40 minutes, then turn it upside-down and return to the oven for 5 more minutes. It should sound hollow when the bottom is tapped. Leave to cool a little on a wire rack.