House Bread

Ingredients

• 7/8 cup water
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T honey or agave nectar
• 1tsp vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 cup unbleached flour
• 1 T whole wheat flour

Topping

• 1 T sesame seeds
• 1 egg

Preparation using a bread machine

Put all the ingredients except the topping in the machine, liquids first, flours last, and set the machine to 'dough' cycle.

When the beeper sounds, remove the dough and put it into a bowl in the fridge to cool and rest for 15 minutes.

Put the dough on a lightly floured surface to shape into a loaf.

Place the loaf on a baking tray that is sprinkled with cornmeal, to prevent sticking.

Sprinkle water on the loaf and let it rise until nearly doubled  in size, ca half an hour. (Choose a warm place, that helps the rising).

Preheat the oven sometime during this time of letting the loaf rise.

Make the egg wash: beat the egg with 2 T water and brush the loaf with the egg wash.

Sprinkle sesame seeds over the loaf.

Make 4 diagonal cuts on the loaf, about 1/4 inch (use a very sharp knife).

Bake in the oven at 400ºF (205ºC) for 25 – 30 minutes.

To get a nice crust, spray some water into the oven during the last 5 minutes.