Annie’s Bread

I have a good friend named Annie. Our dinners together usually involve making a big pot of soup  while eating crusty bread, sipping on wine, and catching up on our lives. I bring the bread and she provides the wine. It is really quite lovely.

Annie appreciates good bread, but is especially fond of those loaves that are grainy with a hearty crust. (I must admit I am partial to those myself…) The other day I made a recipe that I adapted from Nancy Silverton’s ‘Multigrain Bread’ in Breads from La Brea Bakery. Upon biting into the first slice, I thought to myself, ‘This is a bread for Annie.’ I liked the crunchiness of the millet and flax seeds in the pleasantly light crumb for a whole-grain bread. I also liked the tangy sourness that the wet rye starter gave the bread. It crust was crunchy, but not too thick or too chewy.

Annie hasn’t tried this bread yet, but I decided to name the recipe after her anyway because she will be the person I think of when I bake it. We do have a dinner date coming up though and I am planning on baking this recipe. I’m looking forward to breaking this bread with her. I hope that there will be many more loaves shared between us in the years to come.

Whole Wheat Boule

I enjoy fancy breads, replete with various grains, fruits, nuts, seeds, and spices. But, there’s something to be said for returning to the basics and getting rids of the frills. The other day I was wanting a loaf of a simple, but well-done sourdough. Something with good flavor, crumb, and crust, but no extra additions to hide the inherent quality of the loaf. Here is a recipe that I adapted from Nancy Silverton’s Breads from the La Brea Bakery for a whole wheat boule that does just that. It focuses on bringing out the wheaty flavor while keeping the crumb light. The ingredients are fairly basic. Its preparation takes time, as all good sourdoughs do, but it is certainly worth it in the end. I cannot think of much more to say about this loaf. It is good and simple and satisfying and that is enough.