On multigrain sandwich loaves and my ridiculousness

Sometimes I'm kind of ridiculous.

I'll get so fixated on a dish - because I saw a recipe, a photo or read a description - that I will not sit still until said dish is in my stomach, regardless of what it takes.

Case in point: the other day I was reading one of Molly's earlier blog posts on Orangette, in which she wrote about her lovely summer lunch: thick slices of heirloom tomatoes on toasted, sprouted wheat bread with a slathering of mayo, salt and pepper - "so drippy, so delicious. I was almost reduced to slurping". Her description managed to paint such a mouth-watering picture in my mind that a tomato sandwich was all I could think about ever since. A drippy, juicy, slurpy, totally fresh and seasonal tomato sandwich. 

There was only a slight catch: I had no bread or tomatoes at home (but, at least, plenty of mayonnaise). 

Instead of running to the store across the street I decided it would make a much better sandwich, if I made the sandwich bread myself and that the only tomatoes worthy of this bread would be those from the Borough Market, a good 5 miles away. As I said, kind of ridiculous. 

Regarding the bread part, this craving was all the motivation I needed to once again dive into Peter Reinhart's artisan breads every day. This book had already provided me with the perfect bagels and I was sure I would be able to find just the whole wheat sandwich bread I was coveting.

And, in fact, the recipe didn't let me down. I loved that it encouraged me to make use of whichever grains I happened to have lying around. Apart from whole wheat flour, I added some corn flour, rye, barley, oatmeal and spelt flakes. And then of course some demerara sugar, a dash of cream, a splatter of milk, egg, water and yeast. I let it rise in the fridge overnight and the next morning I took it out, shaped it into a loaf and... contemplated the tomato issue.

I think I thought about where to purchase my tomatoes longer than I will ever admit. But in the end, I glanced at a map, tried my best to memorize the route, got on a Barclays Bike, said a little prayer, and biked my way from South Ken to London Bridge. Surprisingly, I got there unharmed and without getting lost or honked at. Oh, the things I do for a good tomato.

But it gets even more ridiculous. You see, once I got to the market, I chose two of the most lushest, juiciest looking tomatoes and cautiously went to the till. I asked the man behind the counter how much the tomatoes would cost - hypothetically. I had a bad feeling. "£9.46, miss". Ouch. That actually hurt my heart. I shook my head, stuttered a that's a lot and walked away. And then I circled the market three times, contemplating whether it was more ridiculous to bike and risk one's life for a tomato - just to buy it at the Borough Market - or to arrive there after all that and not buy the tomato because of its ridiculous price.  I eventually caved, bought one instead of two and never want to think about this tomato incident again.

Luckily for me, it's easily forgotten. You see, I took one bite of this juicy tomato on homemade sandwich bread with homemade mayo and drifted into another world.

Into an incredibly delicious world in which views are skewed and my ridiculousness seems rather... rational.

Whole wheat // Multigrain sandwich bread
adapted from Peter Reinhart's artisan breads every day

Makes 2 loaves

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795g // 6 1/4 cups of flour*
2 teaspoons of salt
5 tablespoons of granulated or brown sugar (I used demerara sugar)
1 egg (50g)
57g // 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
283 ml // 1 1/4 cups of lukewarm water (about 35°C // 95°F)
283 ml // 1 1/4 cups of lukewarm milk (about 35°C // 95°F)
1 1/2 tablespoons of instant yeast

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*You can replace 156g // 5.5oz of whole wheat flour with the same weight in different grains (from rye flour to oatmeal flakes to amaranth to uncooked ground quinoa to cooked barley and cooked brown rice...), in whichever combination you would like. I used 40g uncooked cornmeal as well as rye, barley, spelt and oatmeal flakes (30g each).

Do ahead
In a large bowl, whisk together flour/grains, salt and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and oil. In a third bowl, combine water and milk and whisk in the yeast, until dissolved.

Add the egg and water mixtures to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon for one minute. The dough should be wet and coarse. Then let the batter rest for 5 minutes to fully hydrate the flour.

Continue to mix for 2 minutes, the dough should become a little firmer and smoother. If it's still very wet you can add more flour, if it's too stiff more water, one tablespoon at a time. Continue to mix by hand for 4 minutes, stirring more vigorously during the last 20 seconds to develop and organize the gluten. The dough should be slightly sticky but also stronger and more elastic.

Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead by hand for a few seconds, adding more flour/water if necessary. (I found I needed quite a bit more flour). The dough should be very supple, pliable and slightly sticky. Form the dough into a ball. Now reach under the front end of the dough, stretching it out, then fold it back onto the dop of the dough. Do this from the back end and then from each side. Then flip the dough over and tuck into a ball. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then repeat the process. Repeat a third, and last time, after another 10 minutes.

Place dough in a clean, slightly oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator for the night or for up to 4 days. (If you are baking the loaves on two different days, you can divide the dough in half and place in two separate bowls.)

On the day of baking
About 3 hours before you plan to bake the bread remove the dough from the refrigerator. Transfer to a lightly floured counter and divide in half. Shape dough into sandwich loaves by flattening the dough into a 13cm // 5inch by 20 cm // 8 inch rectangle. Working from the 5-inch side of the dough, roll up the length of the dough. Pinch the final seam closed using your fingertips. Gently rock the loaf to even it out. Don't taper the ends; keep the top surface of the loaf even. Place the loaf in a greased 11cm // 4 1/2inch by 22cm // 8 1/2inch loaf pan, seam side down. Gently brush top with oil and then cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 3 hours, until it has increased by 1 1/2 times its original size.

About 15 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 177°C // 350°F.

Bake loaves for 20 minutes, then rotate. The total baking time should be about 40 to 55 minutes. The bread is done when the top and sides are a deep brown and the loaf sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom; the internal temperature should be above 85°C // 185°F in the center.

Remove from pans and let the loaves cool for at least 1 hour. (I had no such patience).

Enjoy!