Thursday, November 1, 2012

Bread

Rabbit rabbit!  I don't know how it is November already.

I began my November with baking some bread, which is a skill I've wanted to acquire over the past few years.  I'm not against kneading and have made some lovely challah in the past, but challah requires lots of eggs.  Sandwich breads never seem to come out as nice as I'd like them to--denser, not as tall. When I've wanted fresh bread in a hurry I've tried this but never been completely happy with it. Slow-rise no-knead breads have always seemed intriguing but lacking a dutch oven I had not attempted one until I came across Deb form Smitten Kitchen's Bread without a Timetable.

This is a baguette, not a boule or a sandwich loaf, but it is fresh homemade bread that doesn't involve too much work.  I wanted some bread by lunchtime today but needed the morning to do other things, so I decided to try it out.  Here is what I did, and also a link to the original recipe.  I'd be curious to see how other people's loaves turn out (if anyone is up for making some bread).  It's vegan until you top it with butter or cheese.


Overnight Whole Wheat Bread
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
1 ½ c. white flour + more for kneading
2 c. whole wheat flour
¼ c. cornmeal + more for sprinkling
1 t. salt
1 t. sugar
¼ t. yeast
1 ½ c. warm water

Mix yeast and warm water in a large measuring cup.  Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Pour wet over dry, mix to combine.  Knead 5 minutes.  Roll in flour, place in large bowl, cover with plastic wrap or towel.  Let rise slowly at room temperature (I did overnight, 9 hours).

Punch down, knead 5 minutes.  Roll in flour, return to bowl, cover.  Let rise (I did almost 2 hours).  Punch down, knead briefly, shape into a baguette.  Place on a cookie sheet lightly sprinkled with cornmeal.  Slash top four times, diagonally.  Let rise about 30 minutes, covered.

Bake for 30 minutes at 450 with a pan of hot water in the lower portion of the oven.  Lower the temperature to 425, bake another 5-20 minutes (I did 20).



The resulting baguette was very crusty with a dense interior.  The outside didn't brown as much as I expected.  It tasted like...whole wheat bread.  

5 comments:

Gordon said...

I love home made bread.

Innes said...

it looks very nice! when i bake without a bread pan, it usually ends up a lot flatter than this, so it looks like a good recipe to try (when my oven works again...)

Hallie Jo said...

Other bread adventures: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Chunky-Apple-Pumpkin-Bread

Lona said...

It looks great, plus you got the great smell of baking bread

Lynnis said...

Really surprised that takes 50 minutes of baking. I usually do more like 22 minutes at 350, but then again my bread never comes out looking that good.