Anyways, I take such joy in caring for my family in tangible ways, such as giving them hot, delicious, fresh-out-of-the-oven bread with lots of butter. My dear friend Diane told me about a book she has, called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and explained how it was so easy to make beautiful artisan bread like the kind you would find at Panera Bread or a fancy bakery, but with very little effort and a cost of just a mere 50 cents a loaf. As she explained the process I said to myself, "Self, uh-huh, sure. It won't be anything too special for that amount of effort." But my friend assured me that it was amazing. So I just had to try this recipe.
I have made lots of homemade bread in the past. I really enjoy breadmaking. I don't use a breadmaker anymore, first of all because mine almost set fire, but secondly, I just don't like the lack of crust a bread machine loaf produces.
For me it is all about the crust. So I use my KitchenAid to mix dough, and form and rise my loafs by hand. It's not rocket science, but it is very time consuming. Rise. Knead. Rise. Form loaf. Rise. Bake. Takes all day!!! Totally worth it if it's your laundry day and you are planning on being home all day. But what about real life. You know, the days where one child has a class at 1:00, another has one at 2:30, you won't be home until 4:30, and dinner has to be on the table by 5:00 so you can get the kids to youth group in the evening. Well, this is for you.
I honestly do NOT understand the science behind this recipe. It simply should not produce the beautiful artisan loaf that is makes, with this amazing crust and chewy and tender inside. It just shouldn't. It's wrong! For this amount of effort, it should just plain stink. But I really don't care about the science behind it. It doesn't matter...all that confusion washes away with the first bite. So let me give you the recipe and directions first, and we'll go from there.
Makes 4 1-lb loaves
3 cups lukewarm water (slightly warmer than your wrist)
1 1/2 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp yeast
1 cup whole wheat flour
5 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
Mix all the ingredients together in a large plastic bucket or bowl with a NON airtight lid. Do not knead, just mix ingredients until incorporated together. The dough will be wet, and that is the idea. Cover loosely and set on the counter for at least two hours and up to five hours. Then place in the refrigerator. It is best if you wait to make your first loaf until the next day, because the dough gets better with time in the refrigerator. Ok, that's it for the dough. It can stay in the refrigerator for up to 14 days, so you will always have dough on hand when you want to make a fresh loaf of bread. When you have used up all your dough, you simply make another batch without washing the bucket or bowl, because you want the remaining pieces of dough to mix in with your new ingredients. It sort of works like a sourdough starter.
When it's time to bake a loaf:
Pull off 1 lb of dough (about the size of a large grapefruit), and with floured hands, stretch the surface of the dough around the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go, until the bottom is a collection of four bunched ends. Place on a floured piece of parchment paper. Let it rest for about 40 minutes.
About 20 minutes before baking, preheat your oven to 450. Place a pizza stone in the oven to preheat. Also place an empty broiler pan on the shelf below.
When the oven is hot, sprinkle a liberal amount of flour onto your loaf. Score the dough three times with a sharp knife, about a quarter inch deep. Leave the flour on top of the loaf.
Heat up 1 cup of water (you will be pouring it into the broiler pan to create steam).
Quickly slide the parchment onto the hot baking stone, and then quickly pour the hot water into the broiler pan. Shut the oven immediately.
Bake for 35 minutes (the crust will be a dark golden brown). Because of the wet dough, there is really no fear of overcooking the inside, even though the outside looks dark.
Cool on wire rack.
Yep, that's it. I have not experimented with larger loaves, with incorporating spices, different shapes, etc. The loaf is rather small, so I would like to make a larger loaf and experiment with baking times. I recommend reading the book. I have just ordered it from the library myself, because it is loaded with recipes for other types of bread, sweet dough, etc. I am so ready to start experimenting. But now I have a bucket in my fridge at all times, and have been keeping a batch going so I can always have bread at my fingertips! I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. It really has changed my life!
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