Bread Porn
So. I have to tell you about the book that is changing our culinary lives. I bought Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking from Amazon and started my first batch last week. The concept is that you use very wet dough and store it in a big bucket or bowl in your refrigerator, slicing off a hunk at a time when you want to bake a loaf. Most of the doughs will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks. There is no kneading. None.
And it works! All I do is mix up the dough, let it sit on the counter for 2 hours initially, then stick it in the fridge. When I want to bake a loaf, I slice off a hunk, shape it quickly, let it "rest" about 30-40 minutes, then bake it for 30. I'm using the baking stone my mother gave me, and the bread is so yummy. The longer the dough sits, the more it gets those sourdough notes, so the bread I made yesterday, after the dough had been in the fridge about a week, tasted like the kind of sourdough bread you get at a nice restaurant. I am so pleased!!
I've only made the basic boule recipe, but there are tons in this book, including dessert breads and dough for pizza and foccacia. It's so nice to have fresh bread with soup and a salad for dinner. Heck, we had it toasted for breakfast this morning.
I am so tickled. I'm pretty much a bread fiend, so this is a fantastic development since I've never felt up to the process of kneading and all that, since I'm not very good at the pre-planning thing.
Squee!
ETA: I just made up my second batch of dough. This time I've subbed a cup of whole wheat dough for one of the cups of unbleached regular flour. It's been sitting for 2 hours on the stove, and I'm about to pop it in the fridge. You can see I'm just using a cheap plastic bowl (but a big one, you need at least a 5 qt) and I cover it with a plate.
I could use it right now, but cold dough is easier to form so it's recommended you refrigerate it for at least a couple hours.
Like I said, I'm using a baking stone because my mother gifted me one she never used, but I've seen other people using dutch ovens to great success. Some doughs you can use a regular loaf pan and I'm thinking a cookie sheet would always work, if it doesn't quite give you the same crust.
~
And it works! All I do is mix up the dough, let it sit on the counter for 2 hours initially, then stick it in the fridge. When I want to bake a loaf, I slice off a hunk, shape it quickly, let it "rest" about 30-40 minutes, then bake it for 30. I'm using the baking stone my mother gave me, and the bread is so yummy. The longer the dough sits, the more it gets those sourdough notes, so the bread I made yesterday, after the dough had been in the fridge about a week, tasted like the kind of sourdough bread you get at a nice restaurant. I am so pleased!!
I've only made the basic boule recipe, but there are tons in this book, including dessert breads and dough for pizza and foccacia. It's so nice to have fresh bread with soup and a salad for dinner. Heck, we had it toasted for breakfast this morning.
I am so tickled. I'm pretty much a bread fiend, so this is a fantastic development since I've never felt up to the process of kneading and all that, since I'm not very good at the pre-planning thing.
Squee!
ETA: I just made up my second batch of dough. This time I've subbed a cup of whole wheat dough for one of the cups of unbleached regular flour. It's been sitting for 2 hours on the stove, and I'm about to pop it in the fridge. You can see I'm just using a cheap plastic bowl (but a big one, you need at least a 5 qt) and I cover it with a plate.
I could use it right now, but cold dough is easier to form so it's recommended you refrigerate it for at least a couple hours.
Like I said, I'm using a baking stone because my mother gifted me one she never used, but I've seen other people using dutch ovens to great success. Some doughs you can use a regular loaf pan and I'm thinking a cookie sheet would always work, if it doesn't quite give you the same crust.
~