When was the last time you made your own bread and served it with the proudest smile ever? If you don't know the feeling, I recommend to try. Making bread is very complex, both the action itself and the theory which comes with it. We are the only species, that makes bread, which was, is and will be the most basic food source all over the world. What happens to us, if we stop baking bread, and let others do it? Can we call bread what we get in the stores? What is "bread" afterall?

Making bread is not quick. It is something you have to learn, and cannot be completed after watching a 10 minutes video. It is something you have to practice, and do it again, and again. Eventually, you will get a sense of kneading, folding, baking the bread. After baking a couple of loafs, you will feel the difference between good, very good and poor flour, salt and water, and you will know which fit you best, and how to cooperate with the dough.

I learnt how to bake bread at home, I never went to a school or to a bakery for a practice. I just baked a lot. The more you practice, the more loafs you make, the better they will be. And the better you will be. And not only in baking. Baking bread is so essential to human, it is quasi in our genes. When you bake bread, you make to most basic food, which nourishes your body. Suddenly you realize, that you have power, knowledge and you are even aware of it. Kitchen duty suddenly sounds better, isn't it?

Find time to make bread. Watch, listen and feel how your body, mind and soul benefit from it. You will need at least half a day. It doesn't mean you cannot do anything else in these hours, but be aware that a good bread already has a soul, so it will huff if you don't pay full attention to it.

Recipe

Bread with walnuts and raisins

35 g walnuts

35 g raisins

200 g stoneground flour  (organic, local) plus extra for dusting

8 g salt

4 g yeast

180 ml warm water

Do not add more fruits, nuts or vegetables than the recipe says, but change them as you like.

Mix the yeast with the warm water, the flour with the salt. Chop the walnuts and the raisins. After 15 minutes of rest, add the flour mixture to the water, cover and let it sit for 10 minutes. Knead the walnuts and raisins into it.

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As time goes on, the dough is going to be more and more warm, you can feel it with your hands. You can work together with the dough, because you want the same: it wants to be an amazingly beautiful and good bread, and these are your goals too. Baking bread is similar to horseback riding. You work together with the horse, and you have to handle it firmly, but gently. The same goes for the bread. You might think this is the part of the text which you are going to skip, because it is stupid, and anyways...where is the recipe? The recipe is also important, but more important, that you believe what you just read. A bread without soul is NOT a bread, so treat it with care.

This is a "luxury" bread for lazy weekends. This amount is for one (small) loaf, but I recommend you to at least double the amounts above. If you already make a mess, and turn the kitchen into a bakery, do it properly and make a lots of bread, so you can fill up the freezer and have bread for more than a breakfast.

After kneading in the nuts and fruits, let it sit for an other 10 minutes, covered. Repeat this twice more. Knead it once more, and after that let it rest for an hour, covered. When it raised to double size, with your fist hit the dough in the middle, so the air can leave. On a dusted surface fold both sides to the middle and then place it into a floured proofing basket. Let it raise for an hour. Preheat the oven for 250 degrees, place water in a bowl to the bottom. Heat up the baking sheet, and place the bread on it upside down. Cut the top of it, so the air can leave while baking. Bake it on 250 degrees for 10 minutes (covered), then reduce the temperature to 200 degrees and bake for an other 20 minutes. In the end, spray the top with cold water, bake for an other 2 minutes. Check for hollow, percussive sound on the bottom of the bread. Do not forget to wait an hour before cutting!

If you want a more simple, sourdough bread, check this: https://womensart.blog/2019/02/07/sourdough-bread/