Rachel & Tim

Rachel and I are blessed to be loved by two men who are a positive delight. While they are not terribly similar, Tim and Jonathan do share one thing in common: they LOVE bread. When this month’s Martha Stewart Living arrived, I thumbed through it quickly and saw a recipe for “bread four ways” and asked Jonathan if he’d like me to make one of the recipes. An emphatic yes was his response and a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients we did not already have. Since I know Tim would like this bread too, I thought I’d post it up here so those in the UK without access to MSL will also be able to bake some delicious bread.

 The beginning recipe:

Classic White Bread (yield two loaves)

1 Tablespoon plus 1.5 Teaspooons active dry yeast (two envelopes)
2.25 Cups water (110 degrees)
3 Tablespoons plus 2 Teaspoons honey
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the bowl, pans and brushing
7 Cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface and dusting
2 Tablespoons course salt

1. Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup of water. Add 2 teaspoons of honey. Whisk until yeast dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes. Transfer to bowl of a mixer fitted withe the paddle or dough0hook attachment. Add butter and remaining 1 3/4 cups water and 3 tablespoons honey. Whisk flour with salt; add 3 cups to yeast mixture. Mix on low speed until smooth. Add remaining 4 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing until dough comes away from sides of bowl and forms a ragged, slightly sticky ball. Butter a large bowl.
2. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, but still slightly tacky, about five minutes. Shape into a ball. Transfer to prepared bowl; cover with plastic wrap.
3. Let dough stand in a warm place until it doubles in volume (it should not spring back when pressed-go ahead! press it! It’s cool to see your finger leave a mark!), about 1 hour. Butter two 4.5″x8.5″ loaf pans. Punch down dough; divide in half.
4. Shape 1 dough half into an 8.5″ long rectangle (mine was more of a long snaky blob thing, this is fine). Fold long sides of dough in to middle, overlapping slightly. Press seam to seal. Transfer dough, seam side down, to pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Brush each loaf with butter, or dust with flour for a rustic look (we do not dust with flour in our house because when someone was a child he or she may have been a little mean to a younger sibling and advised said sibling that all bread with flour on the top is mouldy. The sibling has never gotten over it and somehow the one who originally came up with the idea began to believe it as well). Preheat the over to 450 degrees. Drape loaves with plastic. Let stand until dough rises about 1″ above tops of pans, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake, rotating pans after 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool slightly; turn out loaves. Let cool completely before slicing (yeah right-this was eaten almost immediately and we have no photos of our own for that very reason).

Okay, and for the variation I chose:

Mmmm bread

Multigrain:

In the ingredients, replace 5 cups of flour with 3 cups whole wheat flour and one cup rye flour

In Step 1: soak 1/2 cup bulgar in 1/2 cup water for 20 minutes; set aside. Add 1.5 cups water instead of 1.75 cups. Before the second addition of flour, mix in soaked bulgar, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/4 cup flaxseeds and 1/4 raw sunflower seeds.

In Step 4: brush tops of loaves with egg wash, not butter, and sprinkle with oats and sunflower seeds. Dab tops with egg wash to help adhere.

This makes a rather delicious bread for sandwiches and toast. Or you could just eat it on its own. Enjoy!