It really does take just 5 minutes...
I'm not a carbohydrate person. I never crave them. I crave things like fruit and liquids. This is mostly because I abhore American breads. The crust sucks, and the bread itself shouldn't be used for anything other than glue. (Did you know that if you dissolve WonderBread in water it turns into glue? Yes, it DISSOLVES!) When I lived in Germany, American bread was called "Toast." That's all we ever used it for, toast.
Anyway, the newest food craze out there is Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, a new book that simplifies the art of making real bread so that any joe-schmoe can do it with ease. Here are my efforts:
1) the ingrediants needed to make the bread. Yep, that's right! Just 4 ingredients: yeast, kosher salt, water, and all-purpose flour
2) Mix all the ingrediants together in a bowl with a wooden spoon (this is the 5 minute part). Cover, and let rise for around 2 hours. I let mine rise for 5 hours because I had errands to run. Then you stick it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (I did overnight) to make it easier to shape the bread.
3) Pull off a 1 pound chunk and cloak it so that it has a nice tight top. Let it rest for 40-90 minutes on a pizza peel (or in my case a cookie sheet) on top of a bed of cornmeal (so it doesn't stick). Mine didn't really rise, just flattened out. In the meantime, pre-heat your oven with a pizza stone and empty pan inside.
4) Slash your bread to allow for steam escape (otherwise your bread will explode in visually unappealling, but tasty, ways). Then, in one fell swoop, open your oven door, slide your dough onto the pizza stone, and toss a cup of water into the pan underneath to create steam. Bake for 30 minutes.
TADA! A beautifully shaped Artisan Boule Bread.
Okay...mine didn't turn out perfect, but this was my first try! (I still have 3 pounds of dough in my refrigerator.) I had difficulties cloaking my bread. Because you don't do any kneading of this dough, you have to be careful not to handle it too much or you'll squeeze the air bubbles out and create a dense bread. I have a dense bread. I also didn't leave it in for the full 30 minutes for baking. My oven thermometer said 450, but I pulled this out at 23 minutes. It could be smaller than 1 pound as I don't have a kitchen scale because I don't do that much precision baking. Also, my oven doesn't contain steam AT ALL! I guess that's what I get when using appliances older than myself...
Still, it tastes pretty good, close to the bread I do like. The website even has instructions on how to make the German Brotchen. YAY!! mmmm...Brotchen and Nutella...weekend breakfasts! Check out the website. I believe in the video section, they even give the recipe for the basic boule bread. I had it passed on down to me!
Anyway, the newest food craze out there is Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, a new book that simplifies the art of making real bread so that any joe-schmoe can do it with ease. Here are my efforts:
1) the ingrediants needed to make the bread. Yep, that's right! Just 4 ingredients: yeast, kosher salt, water, and all-purpose flour
2) Mix all the ingrediants together in a bowl with a wooden spoon (this is the 5 minute part). Cover, and let rise for around 2 hours. I let mine rise for 5 hours because I had errands to run. Then you stick it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (I did overnight) to make it easier to shape the bread.
3) Pull off a 1 pound chunk and cloak it so that it has a nice tight top. Let it rest for 40-90 minutes on a pizza peel (or in my case a cookie sheet) on top of a bed of cornmeal (so it doesn't stick). Mine didn't really rise, just flattened out. In the meantime, pre-heat your oven with a pizza stone and empty pan inside.
4) Slash your bread to allow for steam escape (otherwise your bread will explode in visually unappealling, but tasty, ways). Then, in one fell swoop, open your oven door, slide your dough onto the pizza stone, and toss a cup of water into the pan underneath to create steam. Bake for 30 minutes.
TADA! A beautifully shaped Artisan Boule Bread.
Okay...mine didn't turn out perfect, but this was my first try! (I still have 3 pounds of dough in my refrigerator.) I had difficulties cloaking my bread. Because you don't do any kneading of this dough, you have to be careful not to handle it too much or you'll squeeze the air bubbles out and create a dense bread. I have a dense bread. I also didn't leave it in for the full 30 minutes for baking. My oven thermometer said 450, but I pulled this out at 23 minutes. It could be smaller than 1 pound as I don't have a kitchen scale because I don't do that much precision baking. Also, my oven doesn't contain steam AT ALL! I guess that's what I get when using appliances older than myself...
Still, it tastes pretty good, close to the bread I do like. The website even has instructions on how to make the German Brotchen. YAY!! mmmm...Brotchen and Nutella...weekend breakfasts! Check out the website. I believe in the video section, they even give the recipe for the basic boule bread. I had it passed on down to me!