Day 5: Feb. 23

A Day to BAKE

Mise en place

You can’t bake a good loaf of bread without it taking over everything. Your time, your body, your space.

When I bake bread, it completely takes over. First there is the mess of the kitchen, which even the tidiest of bakers are at pains to maintain.

Some bakers suggest a “mise en place” before starting bread (meaning everything in it’s place - measure every ingredient, preferably by weight down the gram, and set it out in its own individual bowl, ready to be tipped into the larger bowl when ready). Think television cooking-show style. Bakers who use this method insist it’s the only means to successful loaves. I don’t doubt them, but I have zero faith I’ll want to keep baking if my first step is to dirty every bowl I have. I take my chances. Inevitably the floor looks like a light fallen snow. The countertops and cutting board have a think sticky build up. Bits of dough get everywhere, crusting on cotton towels I use to cover resting loaves.

But bread baking also takes over my spirit. There is a spaciousness that comes when I “get out of my head” and move from thinking-only mode to one that includes my arms to push and pull dough across the counter can untangle the tight knots my mind likes to wind. Inhale the scent of yeast and I’m solving problems that have vexed me for days. The clouds start to clear. It’s a good kind of taking over this practice of baking bread. Same too this life of spacious faith. These are practiced in the feeding of a starter, in the kneading of a dough, and the slicing to share a fresh-baked loaf around the table. The spacious Table of Love. - Shelley Regan

“You have set my feet in a spacious place.” Psalm 31:8

Rosemary Olive Bread

½ cup whole wheat flour
¼ tsp yeast, instant or active dry
1 ½ cups room temperature water, divided
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 cup assorted olives, chopped
1 tsp salt

1. In a large bowl, mix together the whole wheat flour, yeast, and 1⁄2 cup water. Let sit for half an hour.

2. After the wheat mixture has finished its half-hour rest, add in the rest of the water, the flour, and the rosemary. Mix until it comes together in a shaggy dough. Let sit for half an hour.

3. After the dough has finished its second rest, sprinkle the salt over the dough followed by the olives. Stretch and fold the dough 12-16 times until the olives are dispersed and the dough is smooth.

4. Cover loosely with a damp tea towel or plastic and let rest at room temperature for 8-12 hours.

5. Half an hour before you are ready to bake, shape the dough into a tight round then preheat the oven to 425°F. If you are baking in a dutch oven, place it in the oven to preheat as well.

6. Once the oven is heated and the dough shows signs it is fully proofed, bake the loaf for 45 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy!