It’s been quite a month.

First, I quit my job.

Then, I started a food blog.

I didn’t quit my job to start this blog (I’m under no illusions I’m the next Deb Perelman, let alone the next Julia Child), but I realized that I’d outgrown it, wasn’t getting any younger, and that it was time to reprioritize, to focus on what I most want to do—like starting the blog I’ve been dreaming about for years. From those realizations, it was a series of terrifying steps to submitting my notice, buying a domain name, figuring out what web hosting/widgets/plugins, and hitting publish on this first post.

That’s an awful lot of risky moves for someone with a strong aversion to the F word—failure—which is why I’ve felt the need for a little extra boost these past few weeks, and why the first recipe on this blog is for bread. You see, making bread requires bravery. It’s no surprise to me that so many casual bakers are afraid to attempt it; there’s so much that can go wrong! To transform flour, salt, and yeast into a beautiful loaf, you have to face a lot of potential obstacles, from dough that doesn’t rise to over-proofing. Maybe your bread turns out perfectly—great, and congratulations! Maybe it never rises or you forget the salt or your oven goes on the fritz and burns it. That’s okay too. Hopefully you learned something, and hopefully it was more fun to have tried than not. The experience of trying is what baking and cooking are all about it. Heck, they’re what this site is all about: trying for the sake of trying. Trying for the sake of fun. Trying, just because.

Enough talk, more carbs. Bukhari bread is inspired by the intricate breads of Uzbekistan, and it is lovely: soft, a little sweet, tender from the egg-enriched dough, and with a bit of crunch thanks to a scattering of nigella (black cumin) and sesame seeds. The top is covered with endearing little peaks, a hedgehog of a bread, and it’s deeply satisfying to plop a still-warm loaf on the middle of your table and invite your friends to tear into it. Bukhari bread makes an excellent accompaniment to virtually any meal, but I think it’s best alongside a dish of layered tahini and date molasses, which swirls together and ends up a fabulous mix of savory and sweet—an excellent reward for bravery.

Bukhari Bread

Adapted from Epicurus and Honey & Co., The Cookbook

Makes 1 large or 2 small loaves, comfortably serving 6 people

Active time: 1 hour; total time: 4 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I prefer unbleached)
• 2 teaspoons table salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons neutral oil (olive, sunflower, canola—whatever you have on hand), plus enough extra to grease a large bowl
• 1 tablespoon nigella seeds, sesame seeds, or a mixture of both (my favorite)
• 1 egg beaten with a little water (for egg wash—optional but highly recommended)

Directions:

• Put yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Add the water, stir to mix, and set aside to proof. It’s ready to use when the mixture is bubbly and frothy, which should take about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, stir together the flour and salt in a large bowl. When the yeast is ready, add it to the flour/salt mixture along with the beaten egg and oil and stir to combine. Your dough likely won’t look very dough-like at this point and that’s fine; just work everything together a bit.
• Once the wet and dry ingredients are largely combined, tip everything out onto a clean countertop. Knead for 10–15 minutes until you have a ball of smooth, only slightly tacky dough. If you’ve been kneading for at least three minutes and the dough feels very firm and dry, consider adding a bit of additional water, one tablespoon at a time, as necessary, kneading after each addition until you reached the desired consistency. If you have the opposite problem and your dough is so wet it’s slopping about the counter, consider adding a bit of additional flour, tablespoon by tablespoon, kneading well after each addition.
• When your dough is ready, place in a large, well-oiled bowl. Cover and let it rise until doubled in size, 1–2 hours depending on how warm it is where your dough is living.
• After your dough has risen, knock it down to push out the air. At this point, you can opt to bake one large loaf or two small ones.
• To make one large loaf: Plop the knocked-down dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Use your fingers to press it out to a circle-like shape, about 1/2 inches tall and 11 inches in diameter. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a damp towel and leave to rise again, about 1 hour.
• To make two small loaves: Divide the knocked-down dough into two equal pieces (you can do this in the bowl your dough rose in). Working in turns, give each ball a few quick kneads before putting onto a parchment-lined baking sheet—you’ll need one for each loaf. The dough will likely resist being pressed out at this point, so cover it loosely and let it rest for 5–10 minutes. Come back and press each ball into a circle-like shape about 1/2 inch tall and 7 inches in diameter. Cover loosely and leave to rise again, about 1 hour.
• When your bread is about done with its second rise—it should be at least 1 inch tall—make sure you have a rack set in the middle of the oven, then start it preheating to 475F.
• Here’s the fun part: take a pair of kitchen shears (or exquisitely clean scissors) and snip into the bread, as little or as much as you like, as deep or as shallow as you want. You have full creative license!
• When you’re done with the scissors, use a pastry brush to coat the top of your bread with a beaten egg, then sprinkle on the nigella and/or sesame seeds. The egg wash is optional, but without it, the seeds won’t adhere to your bread.
• To bake one loaf: Pop your loaf into the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 475F. Reduce the oven temp to 400F, rotate the baking sheet, and bake your bread another 6 minutes or so, or until the loaf is golden.
• To bake two loaves: If your oven is big enough to hold two baking sheets at once, do that; otherwise, you’ll need to repeat these instructions for both loaves. Bake each loaf at 475F for 7 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 400F, rotate the baking sheet, and bake your bread for another about 3 minutes, or until golden.
• Bukhari bread is best eaten warm on the day it was baked. If you can’t finish it, eat it as soon as possible or pop part of your bread into the freezer for another time.