Toast For Toad

Wind in the Willows is just one of those books I can read over and over again. I most likely pick it up when I'm feeling nostalgic. 

There is always one part that when I read it I instantly begin to drool. It's at the point in the book when our dear Mr. Toad has landed him self in jail. Feeling lost and alone, crying bitter tears he is greeted by the goaler's daughter. With her she brings "a tray, with a cup of fragrant tea steaming on it; and a plate piled up with very hot buttered toast, cut thick, very brown on both sides, with the butter running through the holes in it in great golden drops, like honey from the honeycomb. The smell of that buttered toast simply talked to Toad, and with no uncertain voice; talked of warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cosy parlour firesides on winter evenings, when one's ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender; of the purring of contented cats and the twitter of sleepy canaries. Toad sat up on end once more, dried his eyes, sipped his tea and munched his toast, and soon began talking freely about himself, and the house he lived in, and his doings there, and how important he was, and what a lot his friends thought of him." 

Toast. Warm bread with butter. It seems like such a simple thing. How comforting can it be?

I used Nigella Lawson's recipe from her book: How to Be a Domestic Goddess. (check it out). She's one of my favorite chef's and I've amassed quite a collection of her books. Really, baking your own bread sounds hard and crazy, but once you've done it and tasted how delicious and simple it can be, you may be hard pressed to go back.

The recipe goes as follows: the parenthesis indicate my insertions about how the recipe went for me. 

Ingredients:

3 1/2 Cups pf white bread flour (all purpose is just fine as well) You will also need more for kneading

1 package (1/4 ounce) rapid-rise yeast

1 tablespoon Salt

approximately 1 1/3 cups of warm tap water (make sure it is not hot otherwise you will over activate your yeast and you bread will never rise in the oven and will be dense)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Put flour yeast and salt in a bowl and pour 3/4 cup of water, mixing as you do with a wooden spoon. Be prepared to add more water, but bear in mind you want to end up with a shaggy mess, and this of course is a technical term.  

The Shaggy Mess

Add the butter, mix that in. Now start kneading. (I was a terrible cheat this week and used my stand mixed with a dough hook, its quick but also hands-off which takes the fun out of the process) Kneading is easy to do but hard to describe. basically what you do is press the heel of your hand into the rough, push the dough away, and bring it back and down against against the work surface, for at least 10 minutes. You may need to add more flour as you do so; if the dough seems stickily wet, it means you do want to add a little more, and often you may need a lot more. (I always have to add more flour so keep in on hand). When you've kneaded enough you will be able to tell the difference--it suddenly feels smoother and less sticky.

Dough when it's done kneading

Form the dough into a ball and put it into a large buttered bowl, turning once so the top of the dough is greased. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and leave to rise for about an hour or two. It will be ready when it's doubled in size. 

Doubled in size dough

Then you punch it dow, which is exactly that: punch the dough until it deflates. 

Preheat your oven to 425 F then, after kneading the dough for a scant minute, form it into a round loaf (or a longer loaf, in fact free form, it's totally up to your needs what shape the dough should take). Place it on a baking sheet and let sit for another 30 minutes while your over heats up. The dough will get puffy again and grow in size. 

I went for the "Wonky Baguette" shape 

Bake for 35 minutes or until cooked through. The way to check this is lift up the loaf or remove it from its pan and knock with your knuckles on the underside: if it makes a hallow noise, its cooked; if not put it back in for a few minutes. 

The finished loaf 

After letting it cool and then toasting a few pieces, slather some good butter on it, make yourself some tea and dig in!

Toad Tea Party!

I have to say, after biting into a slice I can imagine how Toad felt. Something about the butter and the warm crunchy bread feels like the ultimate comfort. No wonder for that quiet moment in that cold jail Toad felt just a little bit better about things, that maybe, because of this toast, things weren't so bad after all. I must remember this when I am having the worst day.

The Ultimate Comfort Food!