101 posts: like i said, a bread snob

fact: this makes 101 posts from cheese on rye. wahooo, huzzah, and smackity-yam! it's been 2.3 years since we got this blog rolling and i'm still at it. swell!

fact: you cannot buy an above-average (or by my standards, good) loaf of bread in Ephraim. this, on the other hand, truly saddens me. so i've been back in the bread-making business for the last few months. well, technically it's not really a business i since i'm not selling it or anything. but English, Ash and i have been enjoying it (i'm baking some right this very moment) and if you feel so inclined, you can too. it's actually quite easy and i've all but perfected this recipe - Great Harvest is still rated #1 and i don't have the facilities to make a 48-loaf batch.
-
2 1/3 cups warm water (about 110º)
1 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp. salt
3 3/4+ cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ

1. in a medium bowl mix the water, yeast, honey, salt, wheat germ and 1/4 cup of the flour with a wooden spoon.
2. place 3 3/4 cups flour in a large bowl. add the wet mixture and beat with wooden spoon for 5 minutes (i think it's easier to mix it with my hands once the wet is mostly incorporated). add another 1/3 - 2/3 cup flour* to make a moist, thick dough.
3. turn the dough onto a work surface that had been sprinkled with some flour. knead, adding only as much flour as necessary* to form a soft elastic (and still sticky) dough, about 5 minutes. *less flour is better.
4. form the dough into a ball and place in a very lightly oiled large bowl; cover with plastic wrap. let rise in a warm, draft-free area until the dough has doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
5. heat oven to 375º. turn dough out on a very lightly floured surface. gently knead and shape dough into a loaf shape and place in a large loaf pan. cover with plastic wrap or clean towel and let rise until almost doubled in volume, about 20-30 minutes.
6. bake for 35-45 minutes (for a softer crust place foil over bread after 25 minutes). transfer the bread immediately from the baking pans to a wire racks to cool.

you can add sunflower, flax and a variety of other seeds, raisins, cinnamon, dried fruit, nuts, etc. to make different kinds of bread. add these ingredients at the end of step three.