Bread baking

It's not the prettiest or tastiest loaf I've ever made, but considering the materials I have to work with (flour of unknown gluten content, no mixer, a toaster oven) it's not bad. Pretty good, in fact. Much more to our taste than the spongey bread sold around here (bread, we finally realized, which tries to approximate traditional steamed buns, with an unfortunately high degree of success.) The only problem--Finn and I can polish off half a loaf just for lunch, and have to seriously restrain ourselves if Matt gets to try any by the time he gets home. Thankfully, due to that wonderful no-knead method popularized in the NYT a few years ago, it's not a big deal to make some every day.

And that's not the only bread baking around here ... yes, we've got a proverbial bun in the oven. (Forgive the awful transition. And no, I didn't bake the bread just for the purpose of this announcement.) Thus far, the pregnancy has pretty much knocked me down flat, but I'm starting to find my feet (and my appetite), for which both Matt and Finn are surely grateful. (And the grandparents, too, given that we've got quite a backlog of photos and videos to upload. I'll get right on it.)

Due in October; no, we don't know if it's a girl or a boy; and no, it's not affecting our travel plans for the summer. That's about all we know. Oh, and this--we are excited and humbled and a wee bit scared to be starting this journey all over again.

Recipe for bread below. For the bun, you're on your own. 

(This makes one toaster oven size loaf. For a larger loaf, just double the ingredients and lengthen the baking time. Sorry to say I don't know how that will fit in a standard loaf pan. My gut says it might be a little big, but I could be wrong. I don't use a pan at all, but the dough is a bit on the wet side and it always ends up a little flat. I think that a doubled loaf, without a pan, would look like focaccia, but would still taste great.)

1 1/2 cups white flour (bread or strong, if you can find it)

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour 

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

7/8- 1 1/4 cup cool water (this really depends on the kind of flour you have and how humid it is)

1/2 cup dried fruit -- raisins, dried cranberries, and apricots are all good 

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (or use all nuts or all fruit)  

Stir together the flour, salt, yeast and water. It should be on the tacky/wet side, but not goopy.  If you have bread flour it will take more water than all-purpose. Add the fruit and/or nuts, stir well, cover, and then let sit overnight, or for at least 8 hours.  That's right--no kneading! Time takes care of the gluten development. (This is why you want a wet dough rather than a stiff one, too ... it helps in the gluten molecule rearrangement.)

The next morning, the dough should be puffy and bubbly. Sprinkle some flour around the edges of the bowl, and use a spatula or dough scraper to scrape it down. Quickly shape it, with floured hands, into an oval, then place onto a baking pan or in a greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise again, until puffy, anywhere from 1-2 hours, depending on the humidity and heat. It won't double in size no matter how long you wait. Bake at 450 F until the crust is golden brown and sounds hollow (and the interior registers 205 F), around 40 minutes in my oven. Try to let it cool a bit before slicing into it--you'll get neater slices that way. But if you just can't wait, well, that's ok too.