Laurie Colwin's Bread

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 cups stone ground whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup coarse whole wheat flour (or regular whole wheat flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt, heaping
• 1 tablespoon wheat germ (or corn germ)
• 1/2 teaspoon yeast (1/4 teaspoon if you will leave it overnight)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup water

Recipe

• 1 in a large bread bowl mix the flours, salt, and germ.
• 2 mix the yeast with the liquids. you may use more water than milk to equal 1 1/2 cups, if desired.
• 3 pour the liquid into the flour and stir. the dough should not be dry or sticky, but tend to sticky. if too sticky, add a little more flour.
• 4 knead the dough well, roll in flour, and put in a warm bow. leave in a cool, draft-free place and go about your day.
• 5 when you get home, punch down the dough and knead it well. roll again in flour and forget it until convenient.
• 6 sometime later, punch dough down again. give it a final kneading. shape into a baguette, slash the top with four diagonal cuts, brush with water and let proof for a few minutes, if you have the time.
• 7 bake at 450 for 30 minutes. turn the oven to 425 and bake another 20 minutes.