I wanted to do something special for my last baking project in Virginia. In the world of baking, few things are more magical to me than the art of bread baking. When you mix together flour, water, yeast and give them plenty of patience, a lovely loaf of bread can be had. So much of the quality depends on the baker's skills and experience. There's no hiding behind fancy expensive ingredients. Plus I really like the idea of something so simple yet nourishing.
After a bit of food blog browsing, I decided on smitten kitchen's Wheat Bread Without A Time Schedule. The title says it all. Instead of hovering and fussing over the dough all day, this recipe in fact encourages me to go about my own business while the yeast work its magic. I made mine using unbleached all-purpose flour, stone-ground whole wheat flour, and a bit of cornmeal in lieu of wheat germ. Of course I took advantage of the gallons of delicious raw milk at B's place and used half milk half water as the liquid component. The dough was a joy to play with. It transformed from a slightly shaggy mass to a smooth elastic ball with just a bit of vigorous kneading. It was tacky but not sticky. I barely needed any flour to dust my work surface.
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I took my time with both the first and second rise since the house was a bit on the cool side. The beauty of this bread lies in how flexible and forgiving it is. I did not experience my typical trepidation with bread baking. Is it ready yet? Should I wait a bit longer? Or did I leave it unattended for too long? I did not worry about any of those things while I worked out at the gym and went to the nearby plaza for some groceries. How liberating! In this age of instant gratification, it's sometimes hard to imagine waiting so long before finding out if this little project I started hours ago would turn out well. I must admit that I would be sorely disappointed if it didn't. Bread baking is definitely a test of my patience.
I shaped the dough into a batard and baked it to a deep mahogany just before I started on our dinner of country ham risotto. I filled the house with the irresistable aroma of fresh baked bread when B returned home. My loaf had thick crust and tight crumb. On its own or with softened salted butter, this whole wheat bread tasted quite substantial, along the lines of country bread. I love its sweet toasty wheaty taste. However, when I enjoyed it as a tartine the next morning, it really shone. It stood up to a smear of mustard apple butter and a huge piece of omelette filled with country ham, onion, mushroom, sharp cheddar, and thyme. I would be proud to serve this tartine at my next brunch party.
