Apparently, I must think my life is not filled with enough activities.
Take, for instance, my newest adventure…bread baking.
It all started out when my friend, Christina, casually mentioned, during more than one conversation, that she was baking bread.
Finally, I asked her for the recipe.
She gave me this website.
I decided, upon first glance, that it was too complicated, but she assured me that it really wasn’t. So, I decided to hunt for a video.
I found this one…
Well, by that time, I was intrigued…enough to hunt for coupons and go out shopping. First, I bought the book…
Then, I bought the other stuff…
FYI, the authors of the book suggest using an oven thermometer to calibrate your oven. I discovered that although my oven temperature might read 400 degrees, it’s actually 350. So, my oven is off by fifty degrees. This is good knowledge to have and may be why some of my food doesn’t cook according to the time suggested in recipes.
The whole premise of the book is that you can have a loaf of bread with about five minutes of preparation.
This is sort-of true. First, though, you have to make the dough. The recipes, in general, require very few ingredients and no kneading at all. The first time I made a batch of dough, I put it in a small bucket type of bowl. The instructions clearly say to use something that will hold five quarts. I learned the hard way to follow instructions…especially when my bucket overflowed as the dough started rising. I moved that first batch of dough to a long, rectangular Rubbermaid container (a pain in the rear, let me tell you, and it took up a LOT of space in my refrigerator).
Because you use the same batch of dough to make several loaves, I had a few days to find a larger container. I wound up buying this (with a coupon, of course) from Bed Bath & Beyond…
FYI, I purchased the tallest container. Another FYI, I’d like to buy the whole set. That’s how much I like the one I purchased. BTW, you need something BIG because the dough GROWS…a lot! I like the fact that my container is TALL because I can put it in the door of my refrigerator, freeing up much-needed shelf space.
On the day you want to bake the bread, you do have to allow 45 minutes from start to finish. It’s a fairly easy process. My first loaf came out looking okay…
It had a lot more flour on the top than it should have. I’ve since quit sprinkling so much on the top.
Apparently, the flour did not affect the taste.
Oh. My. Word.
It was delicious! Everyone in the family agreed. The bread tasted as good as Panera’s, and I am not exaggerating. The texture was “normal,” something I worried about because I am not known to be a great cook. The crust was crunchy, thanks to my new pizza stone. I don’t know how I’ve lived my entire adult life without this gadget!
The book has a lot of delicious recipes. I recently tried the roasted garlic potato bread. The next time I make it, I’m going to add a lot more garlic. I couldn’t even taste it in the the bread.
My family loves this bread so much that I have found myself making a lot of it…almost a loaf a day. Each loaf does not last long, let me tell you. I have a feeling that if I ever got a loaf made in the morning, I’d be making a loaf again in the evening.
So, I seem to have found an easy way to indulge in my up-to-now-hidden-kitchen-alter-ego. I guess if I’m not going to make a lotta dough in my teacher paycheck, I might as well make it at home!
Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes, cooking | 1 Comment »
AuburnChick's Adventures 