To my own and my guest's enjoyment, my husband makes one of the most delicious whole-grain wheat bread. My husband's name is Pascal, hence the name of this bread. There was a time when we used to have a bread machine. In hopes of freeing our burdened countertops and also for the simple pleasure of kneading your own bread, he has developped this recipe of a hearty bread with no sugar in its preparation. Surprisingly, it is very moist despite the use of whole-grain wheat flour wich we buy in  bags at the Moulin-de-la-Seigneurie-des-Aulnaies, near Montmagny. Curiously, a lot of bakers mix other flours to the whole-graim one to make bread. We think that it is to ultimately please people who are not used to the whole-grain taste i.e: people who buy your everyday white bread at the grocery store. As for us, if we use something else than white flour, it is because we want another taste and, nutritionally speaking, a lot more fibers. This bread is so good that we find ourselves wondering: why do we take off all the good stuff from the wheat grain anyways?

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups whole-grain wheat flour,

1 tsp. salt,

2 tsp. chemical yeast, 

400 ml. room temperature water,

Margarine, butter or olive oil for your the mold,

If desired: one egg yolk.

Instructions:

Mix the dry ingredients together. 

Pour the water in the middle of your bowl.

Mix until the dough becomes sticky.

Knead 10 minutes on a floured surface.

Form into a ball and put it in a bowl previously oiled.

To rise in the oven, put a hot water bowl at the bottom of the oven, then place dough, covered with a humid cloth, on the middle rack for approximately 1:15.

Take out of the oven, punch the dough to let the air out. Knead 5 minutes.

Form to your mold's shape ( a little smaller as it will rise ).

Oil your mold, put in the dough ( once again covered with humid cloth ) and let rise in the oven for 1 hour.

Take the hot water bowl and the dough out of the oven.

Preheat at 350 F.

If desired ( for crunchy crust ), brush the egg yolk on the top.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Once cooked, take out of the mold and let the bread cool before cutting.

The bread is good at room temperature 3 to 4 days, but longer than that, it is best to refrigerate.