Artisan Bread loaf

Ok, for all you out there that "Can't make bread", listen up! I can't make bread either. Atleast, not the kind that rises properly and actually LOOKS like a loaf of bread. (mine usually are more brick like) My woes are for another day. BUT, I was directed to a book that has been a life saver! Really. You know the days when you want a nice crusty piece of bread with that homemade soup or salad. Well, even if you can't make traditional bread, you can still satisfy that bread craving.

The book is : Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.

The recipe I used is : The Master Recipe: Boule What I like about this recipe is that you mix it up it like 5 min., toss it into a bowl and leave it for 2 hrs. It rises. Really. Then punch it down, and put it into a bowl with a lid, and into the fridge. Now, you hav

e ready made dough for the next 2 wks that you can pull pieces off of for what ever you want. Example: pizza dough, crusty rolls, pita pockets, cheesy/garlic bread.... It doesn't need a 2nd rise. It is ready to go straight from the fridge.

3 Cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast (2 packets)

1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt or other course salt ( I never use that much, maybe 1/2)

6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all purpose flour (I use the self rising flour)

1. Warm water to about 100 degrees. (pretty WARM to your hand)

2. Add yeast and salt to the water in your mixing bowl. Mix in the flour all at once. It says you don't need to knead it. You don't. But I give it a quick once over so it is all smooth and incorporated. Then place it in a greased bowl, cover and leave it be.

3. Once it has doubled, punch it down and use it, or store it in a container in the fridge for up to 2 wks.

**To use if for a loaf of bread, you cut off the desired size chunk of dough (remember that this will not rise again, so it will remain very close to the size you cut) give it a quick knead and shape it as desired. Set it on parchment paper, and when the oven is up to temp., just slide the parchment and bread onto the stone. If you don't have parchment, you can just place it directly on the stone. I cut the top of this loaf simply because I felt like it. Sometimes I shape in more long, and narrow. If you are making rolls, you follow the same process, just on a smaller scale.

4. You need a baking stone. Pre heat your oven too 450 degrees. ADD A METAL PAN TO THE BOTTOM RACK , LIKE A BREAD PAN, on the left side out of the way. Once you have reached temp, place your bread or rolls on the stone and shut the oven.

5. Get 1 cup of hot water from the tap, and pour it into the bread pan in the bottom of the oven and quickly close the door. This creates steam which helps with the "crusty" part of the bread.

6. Set your timer for 30 min. Don't worry about how brown the loaf gets. In order for the center of the loaf to cook, you need the 30 min.

7. When it comes out of the oven, I like to rub butter over the loaf.

**Tip 1** Quite often when I am mixing the dough, I will add a couple tbsp.'s of Garlic Garlic from Tastefully Simple. It adds a nice flavor to the dough for what ever purpose you are using it for.

**Tip 2** One of our favorite additions is: 1 container of Feta cheese, and 2 cups of cooked, drained spinach to the dough. This cooks up into a loaf beautifully.