The Preparation
Place a large bowl on some scales and then ‘zero’ scales so that account is taken re: the weight of the bowl.
Pour 250 gms, or there abouts, of strong white flour and pour into the bowl and notice how he flour flows and forms a pile with an apex. Pour another bag of strong wholemeal flour, circa 250 gms. and notice how the colour is different to the white flour, how it is flowing and how the flour flows over the white flour.
Add half a tea-spoon of table salt to one side of the pile, noticing how the crystals catch the light, and a sachet of dried yeast, about 7 gms, and empty on to the opposite side. Notice the colours of the yeast salt and flour.
Put half a handful of granulated sugar into your palm, notice how it feels, and add to the peak of the flour. Watch and notice how the sugar crystals flow down the peak of the flour, glistening as they go.
Run the hot tap and wait for the water to become lukewarm, put approximately 320 mls into a jug.
Remove about 3 fingers of butter or margarine in your hand noticing how cool and greasy it feels and its yellowish gooeyness and add to the mix.
Mix
Put your hand in the dry mixture and stir. Notice how soft the mixture feels, how greasy the butter is in comparison, how the two combine to form a fine, soft granulated texture.
When the whole is an even consistency start to add the lukewarm water. Feel the warmth in your hand and how sticky the whole becomes. Keep mixing and stretching the mixture so it clings together and becomes a dough. As the water and flour is mixed add the rest of the lukewarm water. Watch how the dry flour mix is incorporated with the dough as you continue to mix the ingredients.
Knead
The process of kneading is to crush the cells in the flour, release the gluten and mix with the salt, butter, sugar and yeast. This is achieved by stretching and folding the mixture, which starts off feeling very wet and very sticky. After a short while notice how the wetness and stickiness tends to change into a dryness and smoothness and any residual dry material in the bowl becomes incorporated and your hand becomes cleaner and cleaner with everything appearing in the smooth ball of dough.
Concentrate on the rhythmic stretching and folding of the dough, using your breath to provide a rhythm. Allow your thoughts to enter and leave your mind without interruption. The moment between a thought leaving and another entering is when your energy moves into the bread. The longer that moment, the lighter the bread.
Knead for a good 10 minutes, allowing your mind to watch the transformation, the bowl and your hand becoming clean, The dough taking on a shine and notice the goodness that is in it.
Form the whole into a ball of goodness,
Proving
Keep it covered in the bowl and allow to stand in a warm place for about an hour.
After an hour, or so, notice how the ball has doubled in sze as a result of the eyeast working with the sugar and gluten and protein in the flour. Marvel at how wonderful that is and how you have created growth.
Knock Back and Rise Again
Take a baking tin or tray and grease with butter, oil or margarine. Spread the oil, butter or margarine thinly over the internal surface and feel the texture in your fingers.
Remove the cover from the bowl containing the dough.
Knead for a further two minutes and reduce the volume by releasing all the gas from the fermentation. Feel how the dough is lighter and more malleable than before. Hold it between your hands. A ball of sunshine and goodness.
Form into a ball and place on the greased tray or in the greased tin. Cover loosely.
Allow the dough to rest for a further 30 – 45 minutes. While waiting, switch on the oven so that it comes to a temperature of circa 220C.
Baking
When 30 minutes has passed, marvel at how the dough has risen again and increased in size, flling the tin or spreading across the tray. Place the tray/tin with the dough in the oven and bake for 30 mins.
Remove from the Oven.
Remove the tray with the bread from the oven and marvel how it has grown further and the outside has turned to a golden colour.
Place on a cooling grid, having tapped the base of the baked bread and affirmed the sound of a drum. This is an indication that it has baked!
When cool enough, slice off a crust a savour the smooth texture of the bread and the firm crispiness of the crust. Allow it to just rest on your tongue and feel the texture.
Give thanks to all that is.