Sometimes it is best to go back to the beginning and find out where we started our love for things. With food, I know many things have changed over the course of my life, but certainly not that love of all types of bread. The most common food I know about is bread and certainly something that we all have experience with, no matter where we are from, or how we have lived. Bread is a part of every culture. I cannot think of any other food that is equal in commonality.
• • •
Up until possibly eight years ago, I would never eat
avocados, olives, or mushrooms. I suppose that list is a lot longer but those
three sticks out in my memory well. If I got a pizza with olives on it, you can
bet I was picking them off. Mushrooms the same in any form, and avocados, are
you kidding, I am not eating anything green that isn’t something I could have
grown in my own backyard garden. One day
when I ate an avocado for the first time, it was on toast. It was in that very
moment I realized I spend mostly all of my life depriving myself of one of the
most beautifully tasting fruits on the planet. When perfectly ripe, they have
that creaminess that melts in your mouth like ice cream. Spread like butter on
toast and topped with some finely chopped tomatoes and I am in heaven. This, a
typical Mallorcan breakfast I might add, commonly called a toastada, which I
can add is with or without the avocado. Also, the Mallorcan’s love olive oil so
they are always sure to add plenty to the toast before the spread and again on
the top.
Why stop there, I then moved on to eating olives, mostly
green as I just do not love black olives so much raw, but on pizza you can load
them up. I am a bit bias towards the olives from Seville I should add, they are
simply incredible. And, if you buy the giant ones pitted, you can stuff them
with all sorts of amazingness and share with your friends. Finally, I started
embracing mushrooms and wow, this is when I knew I was living the life of a
buffoon. I now will eat raw champion mushrooms all the time, anywhere. They
taste amazing, the texture is lovely, and they are quite filling.
Naturally then, when I think about bread, especially a basic
white bread, I think about all of these toppings on them. Can you imagine how a
slice of freshly baked rustic bread that has been toasted will taste when it is
drizzled with olive oil and topped with some fried mushrooms. The beautiful
pieces of mushroom strewn across the bread, and then you take that bite and answer
to yourself the question of what really is heaven. You now have the answer.
•
• •
Confession time: I actually have had to do a web search to
see if it is possible to be addicted to bread. I love it so much and want to
eat it with everything. And I can say with one hundred percent certainty, I am
still just as tickled with the taste of a freshly baked loaf today as I was
years ago. Nothing seems to take me to another place like bread does. Ok, that
may not be true since I love so many foods, but bread for sure is in the center
of my heart, right next to watermelon. But that is a discussion for another
day.
•
• •
When I was a child, we never baked our own bread. Well, that
may not be exactly true. My mother baked bread all of the time, but I never
once saw her making dough for bread. She always bought premade bread dough that
we bought frozen in the market. Then the day she wanted bread she would take it
out in the morning and get it into the pan. During the early part of the day it
would defrost naturally, warm up, and then start to rise. Then she baked it and
we ate it.
It never occurred to me, or at least I do not remember such
thoughts, to ask why we are not making it start to finish, especially since we
had done this very thing for most everything else we baked. Looking back on
that it makes me sad knowing that baking bread is really as easy as can be for
anyone. And yes, anyone can bake a good tasting loaf of bread. I say that with
one stipulation, you do have to follow the rules or your bread could turn into
bricks. We like bricks for door stops, but not with mashed potatoes, this I can
assure you even though I know you already agree with me.
I think about those frozen dough balls all the time and it
reminds me how it is engrained in the minds of most people that bread is a
mystery and it takes a special code to unravel in order to replicate what we
buy in the store.
A side note to this, leading up to the opening of my bakery
I believed my bread was the best bread in all the land. I envisioned that on
the first day of opening people would start lining up at the door waiting to
come inside and buy bread, like I have seen happen with some other bakers in
their shops. I thought we would need to close every day early because we ran
out of everything. I really believed it. To the point where we would start
giving out numbers to people to keep the crowds in some sort of order. I learned
a hard lesson that day, and those to follow. There are people who take or leave
bread, those who like bread, and those like me, who literally dream about
bread. What I learned is that those first two groups are the ones who make up
the majority of the human population. It did not always matter how great tasting
my bread was if the people were still going to the market buying it for half or
less than half of what I charged for something that could stay on their shelves
for weeks at a time, maybe even years. I laugh! Have you ever seen the
timelapse of a hamburger from the golden arches? Do a search on how long their
burgers have lasted in tests and you will be amazed to see that even the breads
help up for ages. We know why this happens, but what we do not know is why it
doesn’t change the patters of people who eat those foods. And THAT is my point.
So today we are going to make a basic white loaf of bread.
You can put it in a pan, or you can make it a round loaf, whichever you fancy
more. I only ask you follow the instruction I give to you and you remember my
mantra, which if you are following my blog, is something I repeat and will
continue to repeat: If you are using a recipe, use the recipe, do not add more
flour just because it felt sticky!! Enough said.
Not really! When I first started making breads on my own, I
made door stops because I didn’t like that sticky gooey stuff called dough all
over my fingers and not looking like they did on tv. I added more flour, and
more, and more and more, and in the end, I got exactly what I asked for, a door
stop that not even my dog wanted to eat. That hurts!
•
• •
If you want to use a cup to do your measuring, just stop.
Baking needs accuracy I am sorry to say so let’s be accurate. Get yourself a
scale. In any local store you can pick one up for ten dollars plus one or two
batteries, it will change your life, I promise. If you already use a scale then
give yourself a shiny star, you deserve it.
Secondly, when I am not making a sourdough-starter bread, I like to use fresh
yeast. I believe it gives a better taste to the bread than dry yeast. That does
not mean I have not used dry or will use dry, just what my preference is when I
have the choice.
•
• •
Time to get the bread party started!! This recipe will make two loaves of bread. I
like to do this for a couple of reasons. First, the larger quantities reduce
the margin of error, and second, I will often take one of the two loaves and do
something different with it, like seed it or add nuts, etc. Today, let us just make two loaves. Maybe you
want to put one in a pan and one as a round loaf, your choice.
Ingredients
1000g white bread flour (please note to not use all purpose flour)
650g room temperature water
25g fresh yeast, or
14g dry yeast
20g salt
In another post, The rolls I love for sandwiches (https://ayeastedjourney.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-rolls-i-love-for-sandwiches.html)
I provide two links of bread makers I know and how they work their dough. This
will give you easy to follow steps on how to knead bread if you are unsure.
Method
- Mix the dry ingredients together (flour, dry yeast if using, and salt). Do not worry about the salt bothering the yeast, I am sure it will be ok.
- Add the water and fresh yeast (if using fresh). Using a bowl scraper, start mixing the ingredients all together. If you do not have a scraper you can use a spoon and or a spatula of some sort. Continue with this mixing until you have all of the ingredients worked together and there is no leftover flour.
- Clean your worksurface and turn the dough out to that area so we can move to the kneading process. Do not leave any bits and bobs, as my friend Jack says, in the bowl. Now start kneading the dough in the manner that works best for you. The dough is going to be sticky at this point and you are going to want to add more flour. DO NOT! I promise you that stickiness is going away in a bit of time. Continue kneading the dough for eight to ten minutes. Once the dough is not sticking to your fingers without you squeezing it of course, your dough is probably ready to move on to the next step.
- Lightly dust the bowl you were using with some flour and then take the dough and place it inside the bowl, covering it with a tea towel. The first round of your bread making is now done. At room temperature, put that bowl to the side and let it rest for an hour. You can use this time to clean up your work station and relax a little bit.
- After one hour, turn your oven on to a very high temperature. I usually turn mine up all the way. I believe a good hot oven is a great way to introduce your bread. At this time, I also will put a small metal tray in the bottom of the oven. While baking we will introduce a little bit of water in to that tray to cause steam.
- Lightly dust you work surface with flour and take the dough out of the bowl so we can start working the dough. While the dough is sitting there, use your hands and knuckles to press the dough down to knock out the air bubbles and to spread the dough out. Now cut the dough in half for two separate loaves.
- Now you will decide if you are baking in a bread pan or a round loaf.- For a bread pan, lay your dough flat and stretch it out a little bit to form somewhat of a triangle. The wider part of that triangle, which is closest to you will also be the same width as your bread pan. Now starting at the top, fold toward you the dough until you can roll it. Then continue to roll it until it is at the bottom of the dough. Tuck in the edges as you make sure the longest part of the dough is on the top, lift the dough up and put it into your bread pan.- For a round loaf, if you have a banneton great, but if not, get a bowl which is big enough to hold the dough and have some room above for expansion. Cover it with a tea towel and push that towel into the bottom of the bowl with the sides of the towel overhanging the bowl. Now dust it heavily with flour and set aside.Take the edges of your dough and bring them in to the center one by one working your way around the dough until you form a ball that is upside down. Flip over the dough over and now you have formed your basic loaf. Now, using your bread scraper start sliding the dough around the work surface a little bit to create tension in the bread, mainly on the top. Once you have done this, gently lift the dough and flip it over putting the top side down into the bowl.
- Cover both of your breads with a tea towel and let them rest for another twenty to thirty minutes. The amount of time depends on the temperature and humidity in your home. A good way to know if your dough is ready for the oven is the finger press test. If you push your finger into the dough (top side) and the depression comes out fast, your dough needs more time. If you press it in and it doesn’t come out at all then it means you went too long. But, just like the bears porridge temperature that was just right, if you press your finger into the dough and it comes out slowly, you are ready to bake.
- Now that your dough is ready to bake, take one half of a cup of water and dump it into that hot pan that is in the bottom of your oven. This steam is going to help your bread rise by keeping the top soft and not forming a crust for the first 15 minutes or so.
- Take a baking tray and on one side put some parchment paper down. Then get your dough that is upside down in the bowl and gently flip it over on to that paper so that the top side is up. Now put the other dough that is in your baking tray on the other side of the baking tray so you have both breads on the same tray. Now, with a serrated knife or razor blade, score your bread a little bit in order to allow the gases to release while the bread is rising.
- Put your baking tray into the oven in the middle if possible and then close the door. Now turn the temperature down in your oven to 200c/392f and let your bread bake for forty minutes. If this is you first bread, I would recommend you look in the window of the oven starting around 25 minutes. If it looks like your bread is browning too much then turn the temperature down to 185c/365f and let bake at this temperature for the remaining 15 minutes to keep it from burning. You should not have a problem but it is good to check to be sure. Also, do this through the window if possible, instead of opening the door.
Once your bread is done, take it out and let it rest for one
hour before cutting and eating as difficult as that will be. Use this time to
take a photo to post on social media, and tag me of course so I can see how
beautiful they have come out. You can
also use this time to make some different toppings for your bread if you desire
and get yourself ready for that experience that will make you want to dance
naked until the neighbors call the police. Do not worry, it happens to me all
the time and now I just give the police bread when they come and they leave
quietly.
I am really proud of you for being able to bake this bread.
The first one is always the hardest. We will dig into different ingredients in
our breads in future posts do not worry. When you taste the sundried tomato,
olives, and rosemary rolls you will for sure sing out loud.
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