Morning bread

When Ram had his major surgery in the fall of 2010, we visited a pastor's family in the area. Kathy was so nice to make this bread and homemade soup. It took me a while to ask her for the recipe, then some time to get the recipe, and although I had good intentions it never got made. I finally made it last week. Here's the recipe.

7-8 cups whole wheat flour (or a mix of whole grains/ 1/2 cup oat bran)
3 1/4 cups water
2 tsp dry yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp. sea salt
In a large bowl put 2 1/2 cups room temperature water and 1 tsp yeast. Let sit for a couple of minutes. Add 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour or the mix of grains and bran. Stir till combined and gluten activated. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a draft free spot overnight. (This seemed strange to me but was part of the reason why I liked the recipe, sits overnight!)
Next day-stir overnight mixture. Add 2/3 cup water and 1 tsp yeast. Let sit a couple of minutes. Add flour, salt, and oil. (Start with 3 1/2 cup of flour or grains.) Stir as long as possible. Add more flour if necessary. Turn out on to counter and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Divide into 2-3 loaves or make into rolls. (Kathy made 3-one with pesto filling, one with cheese filling, and one plain.) Put in pans or on cookie sheets. Cover and let rise 30 minutes in a draft free warm spot. Preheat oven to 425. After 30 minutes place bread in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes till lightly browned and done.

Lamb 1 especially liked this bread and requested that I make it daily! I bought pesto at Costco. I made one with pesto and one with mozzarella cheese. Ram thinks I should use a "stronger" cheese next time. It goes really good with soup. It just takes a few minutes the night before. The kneading does take awhile the next day. I would recommend setting aside a long time to make it the first time. Next time I will be more prepared with the right bowl and pans, I got a lot of dishes dirty when I was not sure what I was doing. Next time I will know better how long kneading and rising and baking takes. We are not giving up our breadmaker, but occasionally morning bread will be a nice change. We are not planning giving up bread in our diet, but having good bread like this, not store bought bread.

All the Lambs really liked pesto. We also made our Friday night pizza with it instead of tomato sauce. I think we'll have to grow lots of basil this summer even if we don't do any other gardening!