A couple of years ago I got into baking homemade bread. After stumbling across this book:
...I found myself trying all sorts of new and delicious types of artisan bread. Bread in 5 minutes a day? I'm sold! The process really is as quick and easy as the book title purports and while I tend to take a break during the warmer months, once winter hits we're back in the kitchen mixing together some dough.
This past weekend seemed like a great time to whip up a batch, so I enlisted my favorite sous-chef and we went to work. Okay, I'll be honest...he went to work. That's how easy the basic artisan bread is.
Yup, that's it. Four ingredients: flour, lukewarm water, salt & yeast. I halved the actual recipe, so I only ended up with enough dough to make 2 large loaves. The actual recipe can yield up to 4-5 loaves.
Start with 1.5 cups of lukewarm water. We dump it right into our Kitchen Aid. The best part of this recipe? No kneading!!
Add 3/4 of a tablespoon of yeast and 3/4 of a tablespoon of salt to the lukewarm water. I don't have a "3/4 tablespoon," so I always just eyeball it whenever I halve the recipe, and so far it hasn't steered me wrong.
We use a whisk to mix the 1st three ingredients together to make sure that the yeast fully dissolves. Then...it's flour time!
We pre-measure the flour into a bowl for easy pouring. Add 3.25 cups of white flour into the Kitchen Aid (make sure it's fitted with a dough hook!).
Work the dough until all the flour is mixed in. It will look wet and lumpy, but that's fine - promise!
Now you...wait. I just leave the dough in the Kitchen Aid bowl, cover it loosely (I have a large plastic top that fits well) and allow it to rise for 2-3 hours.
After the initial rise you have a few options. You can fridge it (it lasts about a week in the fridge) or work with it right away. I always fridge it, since it's easier to work with after it's been chilled.
When you're ready for some bread, take a grapefruit size chunk from the dough (I just tear it off with a floured hand) and place it on a floured pizza peel. Trying not to knead it too much, shape it a bit until it's round and somewhat smooth.
Then let it sit out for 40 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 450* with a pizza stone set inside. You should let the pizza stone get really hot, sitting in the oven for at least 20 minutes at 450*. When I put my pizza stone in to preheat, I also put in a broiling pan from my toaster.
Once the bread has rested for 40 minutes, cut a few lines into it to allow air to escape. We usually just do three straight lines, but you can get fancy and try to carve an initial or a smiley face. Then, slide the dough onto the prepared pizza stone. Before closing the oven, add a cup of water into the broiling pan. The steam helps with some part of the cooking, but I've never figured out exactly what.
Bake for 1/2 and hour and...
Fresh bread! Your kitchen will smell phenomenal, you'll be surprised at how little work you actually did (even less if you have a helper!) and you'll be able to sit down and enjoy a piece of hot, delicious bread. We go simple with our fresh bread, either using it to sop up soup or spread just a little bit of butter on it.
The actual book has a bunch of other fabulous bread recipes to tackle once you've mastered the "Master Recipe." We've tried a few and have been happy with all of them.
 |
| All the ingredients to the "Master Recipe" for the basic boule. |
Start with 1.5 cups of lukewarm water. We dump it right into our Kitchen Aid. The best part of this recipe? No kneading!!
 |
| In goes the yeast and then salt |
 |
| Mix the water, yeast & salt all together |
We pre-measure the flour into a bowl for easy pouring. Add 3.25 cups of white flour into the Kitchen Aid (make sure it's fitted with a dough hook!).
 |
| Bread dough |
 |
| Risen! |
When you're ready for some bread, take a grapefruit size chunk from the dough (I just tear it off with a floured hand) and place it on a floured pizza peel. Trying not to knead it too much, shape it a bit until it's round and somewhat smooth.
Then let it sit out for 40 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 450* with a pizza stone set inside. You should let the pizza stone get really hot, sitting in the oven for at least 20 minutes at 450*. When I put my pizza stone in to preheat, I also put in a broiling pan from my toaster.
Once the bread has rested for 40 minutes, cut a few lines into it to allow air to escape. We usually just do three straight lines, but you can get fancy and try to carve an initial or a smiley face. Then, slide the dough onto the prepared pizza stone. Before closing the oven, add a cup of water into the broiling pan. The steam helps with some part of the cooking, but I've never figured out exactly what.
Bake for 1/2 and hour and...
Fresh bread! Your kitchen will smell phenomenal, you'll be surprised at how little work you actually did (even less if you have a helper!) and you'll be able to sit down and enjoy a piece of hot, delicious bread. We go simple with our fresh bread, either using it to sop up soup or spread just a little bit of butter on it.
The actual book has a bunch of other fabulous bread recipes to tackle once you've mastered the "Master Recipe." We've tried a few and have been happy with all of them.
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