Pain Complet Me

I have created.... BREAD.

Don't laugh; yeast is a fickle mistress, and I admit that it has reduced to me to tears more than once when things went... well, agley.

But this weekend (OK, so Monday isn't really a weekend - whatever - when the hubby has a three-day weekend, it's the weekend) I was determined to attempt a pain complet - basically, French bread.  I had looked for a recipe that utilized at least some whole wheat flour, and I am pretty happy with the way this turned out... next time, I'll use the filtered water and let the dough rise a little longer.  The tap water in AZ is perfectly fine, but it's laden with a lot of minerals, so the end result, while delicious, was a tad bit dense.

It's alive!!!!!!!

Ready to hit the heat
I glazed the top with a beaten egg; since we get our eggs from one of Scott's co-workers, the yolks are extremely yellow - hence the yellow hue here.

Just out!
Like any first time mother, I am so proud.

And... devoured

I am so pleased with the whole wheat flour; while the all purpose flour has that silky texture (I mixed and kneaded this bad boy by hand), the whole wheat flour had a lovely nuttiness that came through so nicely.   And yes, it was a touch dense, but I do like being able to bite into a bread that resists me oh so slightly, so I am looking forward to trying this again with the filtered water to see how it lightens things up - but not too much!

P.S. - The loaf is already half gone; we ate the rest for dinner.  Vive le pain!  Vive le vin!  Vive le repas!!!!