Hello…is there anybody out there?
Sorry, that was a longer Pink Floyd digression than I expected too. But, you know, sorry about the long hiatus here, and thanks for sticking around.
Okay guys. Back to the real reason you’re here, and that’s for Smug and Lazy, delicious, quick, satisfying bread. I wrote about it before! You’ve all been baking it, even now the shops are open and yeast is in abundant supply!
And, if you haven’t been baking The Bread, then I implore you to drag out your Dutch oven / cast iron pot and give it a go (also, I hate to break it to you, but you’ve been missing out on some pretty good melted butter + fresh bread action since May 30).
Anyway. I have been faithfully making a loaf a day but have recently had two discoveries that I felt honour bound to pass on to you.
The first discovery, and perhaps a little more niche – as this works exceptionally well for our bread loving crowd of five children, who can consume a breathtaking amount of food in a startlingly short period of time.
Two is Better Than One
The first discovery: make two loaves of this bread every time you find yourself in a position to make one.
I mean… you’ve got the flour out! You just need an extra bowl and the effort-to-loaves-of-bread ratio becomes weighted even more heavily in your favour. Make two batches of bread dough and your future self will thank you, as you serve thick slices of smug and lazy deliciousness to your children, fresh from the oven or toasted the following day. Make. Two. Loaves.
The second discovery has really ramped up my smug factor: substitute one cup of all-purpose flour for whole-wheat flour, for a loaf that looks just a little more saintly and tastes absolutely delicious (even tolerated by my children who would largely protest anything other than soft white bread). I mean this is not an aggressively whole-wheat healthful offer. But it’s a nod to it; a suggestion that perhaps one day my children will consider an artisanal seeded bread a thing of beauty and not torture.
I should probably mention, for transparency, that mr tMatM did inform me today that he prefers the white loaf, but he has a history of offering questionable contrary opinions, like the time he suggested to me, then-39-weeks-pregnant, that he preferred my previous hair cut.
Unrelated to that bombshell, we just celebrated our ten year anniversary. The children decorated our tiny camper and we had canapés on the driveway listening to a Spotify playlist that our 8 year old made for us.
So that was pretty nice, and also a very sophisticated celebration, with a little more Taylor Swift than I likely would have anticipated a decade ago.
I’m going to repost the bread recipe because it’s so delicious it’s worth publishing twice. Can you tell I like this bread recipe?
Ingredients
3 Cups / all-purpose (plain) flour OR 2 cups all purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour
1 heaped teaspoon sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp yeast
1 5/8 cups of luke warm water (I use one cup measure and then add 150mls)
Method
Mix flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Add water; combine. It will be a pretty scraggy looking dough.
Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for 12-24 hours.
30mins before you want to bake the bread, turn dough out onto a large piece of floured parchment paper; preheat oven to 230C, with a large (6- to 8-quart) heavy covered pot in the oven as it heats.
Place the parchment paper with dough inside the pot, and cook covered for 30minutes. Then remove the lid and continue cooking for a further 15 minutes for the perfect crust.
Okay. Back soon, with news unrelated to bread! xxtMatM
