A few years ago a friend showed me how to make the crusty artisan bread that is great to dip in olive oil and spices. It's very easy, and inexpensive. Your hands-on time is minimal, you just need to plan ahead as it takes a long while to develop.
3 c. all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
[I use some whole wheat]
¼ t. instant yeast
1¼ t. salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.
(Martha Stewart adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery, NY Times Nov. 2006)
My [former--haha] friend who taught me about this bread was helping prepare food for the youth pioneer trek. She let me know that another friend, she and I would be making all the bread for the first night on the trek. We each made 8 loaves, sending a total of 24. To make those 8 loaves, I used a simplified version of the recipe above. I doubled the new recipe (but put the salt down to the equivalent in the first recipe) and was able to mix 4 loaves at a time in my fake Bosch mixer.
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There is also a bread version that you keep in the fridge, allowing you to have a fresh loaf daily.
I've not tried it, but have included it below.
by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007).
Copyright 2007 by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.
Makes four 1 pound loaves.
Note: This recipe must be prepared in advance.
- 3 cups lukewarm water
- 1-1/2 T. granulated yeast (about 1-1/2 packets)
- 1-1/2 t. kosher salt (or 3 t. table salt)
- 6-1/2 c. unbleached flour, plus extra for dusting dough
- optional 200g of well-fed sourdough starter
- Cornmeal for the peel (or leave on baking paper)
In a large plastic resealable container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm (about 100 degrees) water. Using a large spoon, stir in flour, mixing until mixture is uniformly moist with no dry patches. Do not knead. Dough will be wet and loose enough to conform to shape of plastic container. Cover, but not with an airtight lid.
Let dough rise at room temperature, until dough begins to flatten on top or collapse, at least 2 hours and up to 5 hours. (At this point, dough can be refrigerated up to 2 weeks; refrigerated dough is easier to work with than room-temperature dough, so the authors recommend that first-time bakers refrigerate dough overnight or at least 3 hours.)
When ready to bake, sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza peel. Place a broiler pan on bottom rack of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and repeat oven to 450 degrees, preheating baking stone for at least 20 minutes.
Sprinkle a little flour on dough and on your hands. Pull dough up and, using a serrated knife, cut off a grapefruit-size piece (about 1 pound). Working for 30 to 60 seconds (and adding flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking to hands; most dusting flour will fall off, it’s not intended to be incorporated into dough), turn dough in hands, gently stretching surface of dough, rotating ball a quarter-turn as you go, creating a rounded top and a bunched bottom.
Place shaped dough on prepared pizza peel and let rest, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it in lidded container. (Even one day’s storage improves flavor and texture of bread. Dough can also be frozen in 1-pound portions in airtight containers and defrosted overnight in refrigerator prior to baking day.) Dust dough with flour.
Using a serrated knife, slash top of dough in three parallel, ¼-inch deep cuts (or in a tic-tac-toe pattern). Slide dough onto preheated baking stone. Pour 1 cup hot tap water into broiler pan and quickly close oven door to trap steam. Bake until crust is well-browned and firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack and cool completely.
I've also included a local newspaper story on the youth pioneer trek.
The teens (ages 14-18) in our stake (geographic area used to divide church congregations) re-enacted a company of handcart pioneers on part of the Oregon Trail near Mt. Hood this week. The local paper reporter/photographer team came as they were preparing to leave. The photo below is one of our cute young women.
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