When I was back home this summer my Dad was on a bread-making kick. After watching and learning, witnessing him perfect the process, I picked up a new trick and decided to try it in front of the camera. I’ve always wanted to learn how to make bread and for a long time, it frustrated and amazed me that there was such a common staple food that I didn’t know how to make. Bread making was a skill I’ve always wanted to demystify, and it’s even simpler than I thought. The key is just figuring out which style of bread you like. There are a million and one ways to make bread, but this basic recipe stemmed from Sally and her baking addiction. She was the base for learning but my Dad also used a mix of various YouTube resources from there to tweak, experiment, and perfect a dough everyone seemed to like. We liked a little bit of wheat, but too much wheat made it too dense and flat. Certain techniques like stretching and folding seemed to help get desired results and nice airy pockets in the bread too. I made the film but he really put in the effort and all the trial and error (and obsessive compulsion) to achieve the mastery of this recipe. So lots of props due to Pops here.
As for the video, I only used one camera. Hands full of dough don’t make it easy to handle cameras and equipment. It had been a while since I made one of these videos and I felt a bit rusty at first, there are some dirty shadows and my yeast scoops are out of focus and poorly composed, but overall it was fun practice and delivers some fine entertainment. As for the bread? It came out so great, I think I genuinely surprised myself! Lovely loaves indeed!
There are only 5 ingredients: bread flour, whole wheat flour, salt, yeast, and water.
Ingredients list (and brands I used):
3 cups King Arthur bread flour
1/4 cup Arrowhead Mills Organic whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons of Himalayan pink salt
2 teaspoons of Red Star active dry yeast
Couple cups of filtered water
Here’s the recipe.
Add the dry ingredients:
3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup wheat flour
2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons salt
Mix the dry stuff
Add water and work in with hands to get a sticky ball of dough:
about 2 cups of water (maybe more, dough should be sticky)
Rest the dough at room temp for around 3 hrs
During this time, every 30-45 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough.
After three hours, put in the fridge for at least 24 hours (up to three days)
The next day, on a floured surface — slice, flour the dough and shape it
Let it rest again on an oven pan for 45 minutes
Bake at 475 for 20 minutes
That’s it! Enjoy your bella bread!
Another creative challenge I’m working on is practicing storyboarding. It’s something I want to put into the routine of my little creative productions. (And also master to have as a valuable skill to communicate ideas during my day job) I’m no Hitchcock yet, it’s rough and in its current shape it’s all out of sorts and logical order to anyone but me. Plus, I also made some edits and improvised shots along the way, which is all good and necessary. At the very least, it’s a great way to think things through, create a plan, and it serves as a helpful guide to stay on track during the shoot.
Lastly, here’s a nice photo that was rejected by Shutterstock. Jerks.