Watching bread rise, Is not for the faint of heart

Well, to start out my morning I needed to combine all my ingredients for my Peasant bread.
Ingredients:
2 cup + 1 tbsp warm water
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup sponge , pulled into small pieces(made yesterday)
6 cup bread flour
1/2 cup light, or medium rye flour
1 Tbsp sea salt
Directions:
1) In bowl of stand mixer add 1/4 cup warm water, and yeast. Let stand 10 minutes until foamy.
2) Add 1/2 cup more water and sponge. Using paddle attachment mix on low for 2 minutes. Add the flours, salt, and the remaining 1 1/4 cup water, mix 1 minute more. Switch to
dough hook attachment and mix on med-low speed, pulling dough from hook 2-3 times, until dough is soft and stick to finger when squeezed, about 8 minutes (or knead by hand 15-20 minutes, ouch sore arms).
3) On a lightly floured surface, knead dough into a ball. Place smooth side up in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let dough rise in a warm place until it has tripled in size (approx 3 hours).

4) Turn dough out onto floured surface. Flour the top and cut in half. Roll up one piece of dough lengthwise, flatten slightly, and roll lengthwise again. Cup you hands around the sides of the dough and apply slight pressure while moving them in small circular motions, until the top of the dough is rounded and

the

bottom is smooth. Flour a piece of parchment and place dough on it; cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and then cover with towel. Repeat process with remaining dough. Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, approx 50 minutes. Thirty minutes before before this final rise is completed, place a baking stone or heavy baking sheet in the oven and an empty baking pan on the lowest shelf. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. In a saucepan on the stove , bring 2 cups water almost to a boil.

5) Sprinkle dough with flour; dimple the tops of your bread with you fingerprints, or the fingerprints of certain 3 and 6 years olds living under your roof ( pronounced 'ruff'). Let rise 10 minutes more. Using a baking peel pr baking sheet, slide the loaves and parchment into the over. Pour the hot water into the pan beneath the loaves. Bake until dark golden brown, and loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, 25-30 minutes, Transfer to a wire rack and cool 30 minutes before slicing. And the pour a glass of wine (regardless of the time) and watch the Olympics.

***Things I learned today:
1) my kitchen aid mixer does not like to mix dense things like dough (It began to smoke)
2) kneading is a form of exercise, and it is quite grueling ( like breaking a sweat)
3) shaping dough is not easy, and it take lots of practice
4) kids don't think waiting for dough to rise is fun


So now, I need to deliver my bread to the Nurse Practitioner and her family as payment for her medical services ( Why can't all docs accept fresh baked bread as payment? Maybe they do somewhere, Perhaps the south of France?? I wonder what housing costs are over there, haha hehe), and when I return we will enjoy our peasant bread with our pot roast delicioso.


Oh and before I go one more recipe I concocted today:



BLACKBERRY ALMOND MUFFINS
Ingredients:
3/4 cups ( 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 cups AP flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract ( I am out of almond extract or else I would have used that instead)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup blackberries, washed
3/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, Butter and flour 12 cup muffin tin, tap out extra, set aside. We don't use paper cups because they are a waste of paper.
2)In separate bowls mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients (reserving the blackberries and almonds for the last step. Create a well in the center of your dry ingredients, pour the wet in the well and stir to combine just until mixed. *DON'T OVER MIX* Lumpy batter = good, smooth batter = tunneling, looks like an ant farm ate through your muffies. Finally gently fold in you blackberries and almond.
3) spoon batter 3/4 full in muffin tins, you can sprinkle top tops with sugar to make them crunchy if you wish. Bake 15-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean from center. Cool on wire rack and enjoy!!!