White Bread

I really love bread. I love kneading it, I love the smell of it while it's in the oven, and I love the feeling of accomplishment I get when it's completed. I always get an overwhelming feeling of loneliness when someone tells me that they are eliminating gluten from their diet for non-essential reasons--they are missing out on some of life's great joys. That's my little soapbox bit. Eat bread and be happy, or do something else.

So I was watching this BBC show on bread-making. The guy's ridiculous name, Paul Hollywood, and the fact that he looks like an ultra-handsome version of my ex-stepfather (I instantly distrust people who sing very well or who have bewitching crystal blue eyes) made me wary of trying this out but he seemed knowledgeable and the recipe looked good. Plus, men baking is adorable. The bread itself also has a stupid name, a bloooomer, but it's just a white bread with some olive oil mixed in. He has a series and I'll probably try a few more of his breads out this month.

The big take-away bits from this were: 1. Use cold water and regular yeast--you get better flavor when the yeast takes longer to develop and cold water slows things down (as opposed to warm water which speeds it up and pretty much every bread recipe will tell you to use). Throw away your rapid rise packets! 2. Kneading your bread in a little puddle of olive oil instead of flour prevents you from adding too much flour while you knead (too much flour will make a cute little brick that only smells like bread). 3. The method for spraying the loaf with water and dusting with flour just before baking makes a really nice crisp crust.

Fair warning: This will take almost 5 hours to complete. If you have a day when you just don't feel like leaving the house then that's your day.  I feel that my bread did not get as puffy as his but the amount of air he can knead into the dough in 10 minutes and the amount I can knead in with my jello arms in 10 minutes probably varies by a bit. It still had great texture and flavor.








Recipe:
4 and 1/4 c. white flour (plus extra for kneading)
1 tsp salt
1 7g sachet of yeast
1 and 1/2 c. cold water (the conversion came out as slightly less than 1.5 but just use enough to make your dough stick together)
4.5 tbsp of olive oil (plus extra for kneading)

Procedure:
1. Place the dry ingredients in a bowl (don't let the salt and yeast touch). Add the oil and a cup of water.
2. Mix the ingredients together with your paws. Gradually add the rest of the water or as much of it as you need to until the flour leaves the side of the bowl and you have a soft, rough dough.
3. Pour a little oil onto a clean work surface. Knead the dough in the oil for 10 minutes, or until the dough becomes smooth and silky. Place the dough in a clean, oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until tripled in size (about 2 hours).
4. Once risen, place the dough on a floured surface. Knock the dough back by folding it in on itself repeatedly. Do this until the air knocked out and the dough is smooth.
5. To shape, flatten the dough into a rectangle. With the long side facing you fold each end into the middle then roll like a Swiss roll so that you have a smooth top with a steam along the base. Gently roll with the heal of your hands.
6. Place on a tray lined with parchment, cover and leave to prove for 1-2 hours at room temp or until doubled in size When you feel you have about 10 minutes left to go preheat your oven to 425 so it's ready to go. Also you can put a little pan of water in the bottom to create a steam bath for the bread.
7. Lightly spray with water and dust with a little flour. Make four diagonal slashes using a sharp knife across the top.
8. Place the loaf on the middle shelf and bake for 25 minutes at 425. Lower to 400 and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack.