I have made a loaf of bread almost every other day for the last 3 months and I am FINALLY, finally making some real advances in baking.
The one thing about baking is that even if it’s a complete disaster by all baking requirements, it usually tastes pretty good (or at minimum better than store bought items) – good enough to be eaten satisfactorily.
But through extensive research I’m developing my own particular method of baking bread which is really, really good.
This loaf will last us almost three days. At the end of the second day, I will prepare the third day’s loaf using a Preferement, or a piece of dough cut out from the loaf before. I will carefully mix and knead the old with the new, allow it to bulge and then cut a third for the following loaf. Each loaf is completely in “the now,” containing elements of the past and potential for the future.
And like most things, only gets better with age.
This is a light wheat bread that I make using unbleached white flour and stone ground wheat. We will have it for breakfast with cream cheese & blueberry jam; for lunch it will host a variety of spreads, vegetables & garnishes and at dinner it will sop up our soup.
Soup is sop + u, all the elements needed & required by bread to create its holy performance.
I’m now following the Reinhardtian philosophy of the “slow rise,” sometimes even retarding my dough overnight in the fridge. Often times it’s simply for the sake of time; I usually prepare it the night before so I don’t get bogged down the next day when we need it. And now I’m spoiled; I only want home-baked bread, much everything else is bland and dry by comparison (save those special artisan loaves that don’t *even* need buttah!).