A Rustic Loaf of Bread

Today, I really, really wanted to write about a perfect loaf of rustic, crusty, farmhouse bread. Complete with pictures. And a recipe.

But, alas, today is not that day.

Lately, these beautiful pictures of rustic round loaves of bread have been popping up on my social media feeds. Gorgeous, delicious looking loaves of bread. I have bread envy. So, being me, I decided that I, too, shall bake and post pictures. And a recipe.

And therein was my downfall. See, along with those wonderful pictures of marvelous loaves, not one person, be it friend, relation, or celebrity, had included the recipe they used. Nope. Not one.

Not a problem. I have a lovely collection of cookbooks, and, if I have no success in my own collection, there is Pinterest. And I am more than a bit skilled in search engines. (Yeah, give me 20 seconds and a few choice words...)

Off I set on my quest for not the perfect round loaf, but for a recipe. It should have been easy. Like, 5 minute easy.

Right

Two hours later, I still had nothing. I mean, I had recipes. Recipes of varying amounts of flour, water, yeast, oven temperature, baking vessel... but not one that looked like it should have my desired results. The perfect, round loaf of rustic, flour dusted bread.

That's all bread is really. Flour. Water. Yeast.

I can do this. I've done this!

I have recipes for wonderful breads. Honey Wheat, Herbed Oatmeal, Artisan Cheese... But not Rustic Round Bread. Nothing. Ziltch. Zero. Zip.

So, being me, I set out to create my own by combining a favorite that was almost right; a method from this one, a temperature from that, an amount adjustment here, an added knead from there. And I thought I had it.

I didn't.

I'm not going to get into the process here as I don't want to contribute to the swear jar. Let's just say that I've been watching The Witcher and made good use of an oft uttered expression. Really good use.

And my lovely loaf of perfect rustic bread was a bit less than perfect. Quite a bit. It was round. And bread. And edible. Quite edible. There is one small bit left. But not perfect.

Thus, the quest continues. I'm not about to let this go. Even if I have to toss a coin to the Witcher myself and beg for his recipe. (As it was on his Insta that I was initially inspired. If he can make one, I can!)

And I'll be good enough to post the link to my recipe when I do get this right.