Several years ago we were vacationing in the Luberon region of Provence, France, and stayed in hotel that had a very good restaurant, the Hostelerie Le Phebus, in the small town of Joucas. At dinner they served slices of not one, but two whole wheat rustic breads – one with olives and one with walnuts. That trip was definitely in my bread baking years and I could not wait to come home and duplicate them. Since the restaurant also has a cooking school, did I get the recipe from them? Perhaps. The point is, that if you are in the mood to bake a rustic whole wheat loaf with a little oomph, you can’t go wrong with this recipe, specially if you decide to use a locally milled whole wheat such as Rouge de Bordeaux.

The breads are, shall I say, “alike but different”. The point is that they can be treated the same with the olive loaf using olive oil and olives as an addition and the walnut loaf using honey, walnuts and walnut oil. This blog entry features the walnut rustic loaf.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 2 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour + more for kneading
• 1/4 walnut oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted & chopped

Directions:

1. Put the water in a large bowl, add the yeast, and leave it 10 minutes, until the mixture is frothy.
2. Add 1 cup of flour, oil, & salt.  Stir.  Continue to add the rest of the flour cup by cup.
3. Add the walnuts and honey.   Stir until mixed then transfer to floured surface.
4. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of additional flour on the kneading surface which will be incorporated as you knead the dough. Add enough additional flour as the dough will require – just enough to for the dough to spring back.
5. On the floured surface, knead the dough for about 12 minutes, until it is satiny and elastic.
6. Form the dough into a ball and leave it on the kneading surface.
7. Cover it and let it rest for 45 minutes.
8. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and a generous sprinkle of corn meal or polenta.
9. After the ball of dough has rested for 45 minutes, it should be about double in size.
10. Punch the dough down and form another ball.
11. Place on the ball on the baking sheet.
12. Allow to rise in a draft free place, covered with a kitchen towel, another 45 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat oven to 450 degrees and fill a shallow saucepan or skillet with water. The steam will make a hard crust.

• When bread has risen and oven is preheated, place pan with water on lower shelf and bread on middle shelf.
• Place the bread in the oven and immediately lower temperature to 400 degrees and cook until golden, about 40 minutes.
• Transfer to rack and allow to cool.  

Note:  This bread keeps well and makes delicious sandwiches.