Let's look at bread again

Way back when, when Annalena was somewhat younger, and somewhat less scarred than now, this blog started. The second essay was on baking bread and my adventures in learning how to do it, and why. And I never went back to yeast bread again. In over 300 entries, you've not seen anymore.

Well, people have been asking "why are you writing less?" Ah, children, doesn't life have a funny way of getting in the way of things. You see that item about being scarred? Oh yes. These months have not been easy for Annalena. I would like to say that she is somewhat phoenixlike and will arise, more resplendent than ever, from the ashes. Undoubtedly, she will arise. More resplendent, is of course, a question to be considered.

But we digress. Back to bread. I have hesitated to write about making it, because bread seems to be one of the "deal breakers" for people. They are willing to try to cook savories, or even to bak sweets. Bread possesses an inherent ability to provoke anxiety. That is not without good reason. Think of all the historical associations with bread. People rioted for bread. Think of all the sayings, the prayers, etc, that invoke this most sacred of foods. Indeed, I think there is a certain fear that somehow, by making bad bread, we have "sinned".

Well, there is no need to fear that you will make bad bread. There are rules, and some breads will turn out better than others. But ultimately, it is not hard. You need a few ingredients, and time and patience. The last is, of course, for yours truly, the hardest one. And as a form of mental discipline to develop patience, I bake bread.

Or, more to the point, I bake EUROPEAN style breads. See, there are in fact two unique approaches to bread making. You may recall when I wrote about American biscotti and Italian biscotti, and the approaches variances. Both are valid, but both are different. So, too, with bread. For "American style" bread, you use a lot more yeast, and a lot more "stuff." Cheese, vegetables, all kinds of things go into these breads. They are richer, sweeter, and really sometimes start to cross the line into cake type products. European breads CAN be rich - think "panettone," which means "big bread," but at their core, most European style breads are austere, designed to be eaten with more savory foods. Having said that, I will also tell you that a simple slice of a well made European style bread can do just fine on itself.

Perhaps the key ingredient in European breads is what we will call a "starter," and here is where patience is necessary. A "starter" is the equivalent of yeast, but it's different. You make it before you make your bread, and it's got a minimal amount of yeast in it. You add flour and water, and let it sit for at least a day, until you get this lively, bubbling mass. That is what you will use, ultimately, to make your bread.

Using a starter has a few advantages. Traditionally, because it used so little yeast, you didn't have to buy what was an expensive, taxed product. You also could always have it around, because "starter" was ultimately a bit of unbaked dough from a prior batch of bread. The fact that it had sat out overnight, or more than overnight, led to it being called "sourdough," because it was, literally, dough that had gone "sour."

See how Annalena educates you gently? Sourdoughs have different qualities, different flavors. It depends on the environment in which they're raised. When you have an exposed bowl of fermenting flour and water, the beasties in the air cannot help but settle in. Good beasties make a tasty sour. Bad beasties, well... Fortunately, just about all of the critters of a microbe nature in the air ultimately have a good flavor. In the US, we are of course familiar with San Francisco sourdough. The Lactobacillus bacteria that flourish in the Bay Area add a tangy note, with a somewhat sly undertone of dairy flavor to the breads. The large amount of acid also makes a bread with a distinct texture.

DON'T try to replicate this flavor . You can buy San Francisco sourdough powders. They simply don't have it. I think that you really need the environment: the air, the sense of place, that kind of thing to make it work.

European sourdoughs are much more subtle in their flavor, which is not really surprising. Again, it is a difference in European versus American tastes . We're going to make a classic European sourdough today, and I ask you to try it. I think you will really enjoy it, and if you can relax enough - or learn to relax enough - to make it, you will be well rewarded.

The day before you want to bake your bread, make your starter. Here it comes. It's very easy. This is an Italian style starter. You combine 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, and then a cup of cold water. Then add 2.25 cups of unbleached white flour and stir this together. Then cover the bowl and put it aside, overnight, or as long as 24 hours.

This is going to give you about two cups of starter- enough to make four loaves of bread.

The day that you want to bake, take half of that starter and put it in a bowl. Add 2 cups of cold water and a teaspoon more of dry yeast. You are going to need, as well, 2.5 teaspoons of salt, and about 5.5 to 6 cups of flour. This can vary. The one I made used a mix of five cups of unbleached white flour, half a cup of rye flour and half a cup of semolina. I'm told that the small amount of rye flour is required in baguettes in France. Only the French would legislate bread, but more power to them.

In any event, get your flour together, and stir half of it into the water mix, and then add the salt. Then, start adding the rest of the flour. If you're using a mixer, as I do, you start with the paddle, and switch to the dough hook at this point. If you do it by hand, it is at this point that you dump it out of the bowl, onto the rest of the flour and start folding to incorporate flour. Using the mixer will get more flour into the stuff, by hand, not so much. Still, you should shoot for at least five cups to get incorporated. The mixer will take about 8 minutes, by hand , 15-20.

Put the kneaded dough into a bowl, cover it, and go away for 3 hours. (Told you you'll learn patience). You will be amazed at how much it rises, from so little yeast. That's because it's not so little yeast. Overnight, that quarter teaspoon of yeast has been doing the nasty in the bowl, and you've got lots of leavening agent there. So after three hours, punch that dough down and then form two, round loaves, or one big one. I prefer to do small ones so that I can share, but if you have a large brood and you can use it, by all means, do a big one. Put it on a paper lined baking sheet, cover it, and let it sit for another hour and a half. (Still learning patience here). At some point in the first half of that hour and a half, turn on your oven to 400.

After the second rise, you are going to have a big, beautiful loaf, ready for the oven. Be gentle. Bread at this point is somewhat fragile. If you make one big loaf, plan on about 45-50 minutes of baking. Two loaves will be done in 35-40.

When they come out of the oven, you will be amazed at how hard and crispy the crust is. That will soften a little, but it will still be a workout for your teeth. Get it off of the baking sheet to a rack so that moisture can go off of the bread in all directions.

Let this sit for a few hours to fully cool. When you use this bread, as you slice it, put the cut side down, either on a counter, or a plate or something. Whatever you do, don't put it in the fridge.

In cold weather, this can keep for about a week. Warmer more humid weather will mold it up eventually, but the absence of fat keeps it fairly free of mold.

What the lack of fat DOES do it make this bread more prone to go stale. "Stale" is a relative term. I like using stale bread, if it's not so stiff that it breaks when I slice it. And if it does go that far, well, that's fine because that's when you make croutons, something that everyone likes.

Go make some European style bread. You'll feel sophisticated, you'll eat well, and you'll probably find yourself feeling "closer to the earth" than you were before you did.