(Walnut-Rosemary-) Bread

I bought some kind of "treasure - book", I found it in amazon by chance.
It is called "Ratio" by Michael Ruhlman , and it explains, how you can learn to cook without sticking on recipes.


The first chapter is about bread dough, and it was so fascinating to read (I read it in bed before going to sleep), that the first thing after wake up was:
to try it out!
I bake this Rosemary-Walnut-Bread for breakfast.
And it was nearly perfect!...sure, there are always things you can make better.


But for my first try baking a bread without recipe, it was stunningly delicious.
Timo and me ate the first slices warm, freshly cutted from the loaf, enyoing the
morning sun - ummh! - just with butter. Nothing better!
The same day I gave it another try. With hazelnuts and cranberries.
It worked again. I am so glad I found this book and I am gonna bake a lot more
bread this year, I guess.

People always say, that baking bread is so complex...
But I didn`t make that experience at all.
The only thing is, that you have to be around for the time, the bread has to
rise and to be in the oven.
But seen from the work you have to invest: Not complex at all.


So, try it out!!!
And because you don`t need a recipe, I tell you how it works.

It is all about RATIOS (like the book says).


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A BREAD is always 5 parts flour, 3 parts water, some yeast and salt.
That means (in gramm) for example:

100 grams flour
60 grams water
3 grams (fresh) yeast
2 grams salt

You can extrapolate that. I took 300 grams flour, 180 grams water, 9 grams yeast and 6 grams salt
for a little loaf.

You mix the yeast and the water until the yeast completely dissolved.
Add it to the flour & salt and knead it, 10 to 15 minutes...it`s getting smoother and smoother.
The more kneading, the better.

Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise until double size.
Then add your "special ingredients", if you wish (like nuts or cinnamon or whatever)
Knead it again, then cover it with a dish towel and let it rise for another 15 minutes.
After that, bring the bread into the shape you want, cover it with the towel again and let it rise for around one more 90 minutes. Preheat the oven (450°F/230°C).

After slicing a big X into the bread and coating it with olive oil and salt, put the bread into the oven, reduce the heat to 375°F (190°C) after 10 minutes and pull it out after 30 to 50 minutes (depending on the size of the bread...when you tap the bottom, it should sound hollow)

TIP: if you put a bowl in the oven before preheating and fill it with water after
pushing the bread onto the baking tray, you can create steam, what leads to a
wonderfull crispy crust.
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Well, this seems like a recipe, too.
But when you wanna learn something you have first to follow the basic rules.
If you bake that bread  2 or 3 times, you always can go back to the 5:3-ratio, and the bread will always be fine!