Gettin The Hang of This Bread Stuff

So it's been a while since I conquered the world and made bread, and after an awesome meal at Blue Dahlia Bistro, I decided breadmaking was in order. This time I have a proper (if extremely cheap) scale and used this very basic lean dough recipe:

1.5 lbs warm water
1 packet yeast
2.5 lbs flour (I used 1.5 of white and 1 of whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
(mix water and yeast till dissolved, then add flour and mix/knead till smooth and elastic, divide and allow to rise till doubled or more in size, then either pop onto a parchment-lined pan and bake at 375 for 30 min, or split into smaller loaves and do the same. Score the tops of loaves to allow air to escape)

For lack of anything better, I threw in a 1/2 cup of flaxseed. On reflection, this made two big round loaves and might have made 3-4 smaller loaves. I gave one as a gift to Taste Tester's father, who is stuck at home with a broken leg. Hopefully he has less discerning taste buds or loves spreads and toppings, because this is very plain bread. If I hadn't been rushing it, I'd have incorporated more herbs into one loaf for a focaccia version, then some molasses and fruits and nuts into another for a breakfast loaf. However, it's a great and easy starter bread that can make baguettes, ciabatta, focaccia...ricotta...frittata...sorry I got a little distracted there.

Next episode: mussels and linguine! and bland-bread-garlic-toast!