Gute Essen

Making Dough Like You're Warren Buffett

Monday, April 28, 2008 | 1 comment »

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They say that life is a shit sandwich, and every day is another bite. But you know what, if this was the bread for it, that would be a-ok.

Hey Erin. You asked, therefore you shall receive.

I've been feeling a little bit like a hobby-holly-homemaker since we moved. Why? Because I bake bread. Not occasionally. I bake bread every weekend and sometimes in the middle of the week if we run out. (also, on a side note I'm trying to figure out what to eat to get my farts to smell like baking bread. I want Julie to come home one day excited for fresh bread but just find out I've had like a quart of beans. but, I digress.)

But forget what you hear — baking bread is one of the most easy things I've ever done in my life, especially if you have the right tools.

Tool number 1: A food processor. Seriously. A stand mixer has it's place (and not just on the counter for display), but if you want to make good bread quickly, a high quality (read: good motor) food processor with the steel cutting blade is what you want.
Tool number 2: Instant yeast. You don't have to proof it. You don't have to keep it alive like some sort of compressed cake science fair experiment. It won't rise so fast that everything has big air bubbles in it. You can buy a massive bag of it and store it in the freezer indefinitely. You can add it to the work bowl with the rest of the dry ingredients (yes, even salt).
Tool number 3: nothing. That's it. Those two things together cut down the active part of making bread from 10-15 minutes to a mere 5 minutes if you're quick about it.

For once though, this recipe isn't stolen wholesale from Mark Bittman's book. I mean, it's close, but it's not 100%. But seriously. Do yourself a favor and make this bread sometime. Even if you don't have a food processor and have to do it by hand, it's worth it once or twice (and it's a great work out.)

The French were right about something — good bread is one of the essences of life itself.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Yes, I'm using volumetric measurements here. That's because even by weight liquids still involve eyeballing — a humid day may take less liquid, a dry day may take more. You gotta just feel it.

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
  • 3 tbls honey
  • 1 1/3 cups whole milk (really, use whole milk, please)
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 tsp butter

  1. But all the dry stuff in the work bowl of your food processor (iff'n you got one) and pulse a few times. If you're doing this by hand, stir the ingredients together well.
  2. Turn on the motor and drop in the 2 tbls butter cut into smaller chunks. It should be chilled, but not fridge cold. By hand you'll want it soft and massage it into the dry goods, sort of like making pastry>.
  3. With the motor running, stream in the honey, or mix it in well with the dry goods by hand.
  4. Then add the milk and mix well. The dough should come together to a slightly sticky ball. In the food processor, let this run for a good 1- 1 1/2 minutes. This will mostly knead the dough. When it's done, dump out on a lightly floured surface and hand knead another minute. By hand: dump this out on a very lightly floured surface and start kneading by hand — about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
  5. Put into a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel for at least two hours, up to three.
  6. Dump out and form into a loaf (press down into a rectangle and then fold up) and place into a greased loaf pan. Cover again and let rise another hour.
  7. With 20 minutes left to go in the last rise, but the oven at 350°F. Put the bread in the oven and cook for 45 minutes.
  8. Let cool at least 30 minutes before slicing.

categories: bread

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