My husband Stelios' father, Demetrios, was, at one time, the owner of the largest bakery in all of Greece. That legacy has not been lost on my husband who is now in the habit of making bread about every 10 days. He likes to eat most of that bread (when our guests don't devour it or we don't bring it to a pot luck). It's not that I don't love the bread myself, but if I ate it at every meal, like he pretty much does, I would be a million pounds(don't you love hyperbole!) heavier.
He doesn't make just any bread, nor is it the bread his father made. He has settled on a yeast, multigrain, nut bread that can raise the dead. I'm amazed how effortless he makes it seem when he's baking. No drama Stelios!
Make sure you'll be home for at least the next four hours before you start this. You won't be working on it all this time, but the bread needs time to rise twice and about an hour to bake.
Here's his recipe:
1 packet of yeast
3 glasses of warm water
1 spoonful of sugar
2 cups all purpose unbleached white flour + 1 cup or more for second rise
1 1/2 cups of white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/2 of flaxseed meal
1/2 cup of wheat bran
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup of almonds or walnuts
Preheat the oven to 170 F and shut off.
In a large bowl combine the yeast, warm water and sugar. Mix with a wooden spoon to dissolve.
Add all the flours except 1 cup for second rise, add grains, salt and work into a loose dough. Cover bowl loosely with a towel or parchment paper and place in the warmed over for 50 minutes to rise. Make sure the oven is off!
After it rises, put 1/2 cup of white flour on your counter, the nuts and empty the dough on top. Knead, adding more white flour until you have a firmer dough. This may take less than one cup or a bit more. Use your judgment.
Preheat the oven to 170 F. Turn oven off. Divide dough into two pieces and shape into loaves. Make sure oven is off! Place each in an oiled(olive oil works great for this) loaf pan, cover loosely with parchment paper and place in warm oven to rise for about 50 minutes.
Remove pans from oven and preheat oven to 375 F. Place both pans back in the oven and bake for 55 minutes.
Let breads cool in pans for a few minutes.
Remove breads from pans and, if you can resist let them, cool completely on a wire rack. Once cooled completely, we usually cut the second loaf into thirds and freeze. Remember, there are no preservatives so if you're not going to eat the breads in the next day or two, freeze them in sections.
It's so hard not to eat it when the bread comes out of the oven. We usually cut an edge each(the crust is amazingly crunchy), drizzle some of that good Greek Kalamata olive oil and some fresh ground pepper and sea salt and dig in with a glass of white wine!
Enjoy!
Maria
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