Playing in the Kitchen: Bread, glorious bread!

I am making bread!  When I first posted that on facebook, lots of people were enthusiastic and wanted to know more.  I wanted to share but first I had to confess to my mom (she's on my facebook) that I wasn't using her recipe.  Breadmaking just seemed like something I should do with the family recipe, and my mom's bread is delicious. She has been baking it for 32 years.  I remember sitting on floor while she made our family loaves with my own piece of dough, shaping it into a big mess of dog hair and floor grit and sugar to bake up. 

Mom's recipe is here, at her blog.  Yes, she has a blog! How cool is she?  Read some more while you're there.  And you know what else?  She didn't really give a rat's ass whether I used her recipe or not, from her reaction.  So it's time to share.

Here's what happened.  I had decided I needed to try breadmaking.  We spend almost $4.00 a loaf at a bakery chain, and can eat 2 loaves a week. It's really good bread, but I always felt a bit guilty since I knew I could probably make it myself for a fraction of the price.  I'd always seen breadmaking as complicated and time consuming.  Getting the yeast to bubble, the water just right, and then kneading, kneading, kneading.  And then who knew if it would turn out as tasty as the bread we were used to? I have made my mother's recipe.  I remember loving the feel of kneading the dough. But right now in my life, 10 minutes of hands free time is a precious commodity.  We have a bread-maker, but I never liked any of the bread that came out of it.  Too dry and soft crusted.

Then a while back I read an article that came through my facebook feed, from Mother Earth News.  The writer was suggesting that bread-making is way easier than we think, and that kneading is not even required.  What? The article really boosted my confidence about bread-making, and I was ready to give it a try.  A while later, Mom posted her recipe, and I decided that I had bought my last loaf, I was jumping in.

When the day came, I started searching for that article again.  I couldn't find it, but in the search I found this one:  Artisan Breadmaking in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.  I highly recommend you read this whole article, digest it, and try it out.  I did, because the recipe required no kneading.  You just put the four ingredients into a bowl, stir, and you're basically done except for rising, resting, and baking time for the dough.

Water, yeast, salt, flour. Coffee is not an ingredient.

Stirring can take him a while. It doesn't seem to affect the dough.

After stirring

After rising for 2 hours

The writers provide a recipe for a "wet dough" that you can keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.  It's good for 4 loaves, and when you need one you just cut off a hunk and bake it up.  The longer it is refrigerated, the more "sourdoughy" it will taste.  It literally does take 5 minutes, tops, not counting the waiting time.  In my current lifestyle, it is not hard to put in the waiting time of 40 minutes rest, plus 30 minutes of baking. 

A nice little loaf

The bread was incredible. I stirred it up on Friday, then put it in the fridge and baked it on Saturday morning, and again on Sunday morning.  We burned through almost all it in those two days.  Dense, moist, with a crispy/chewy crust.  And warm out of the oven.  AWESOOOOOMMMMEEEEE!  My stomach is turning happy cartwheels just thinking about it. Do yourself a favor and make it for yourself.

He almost cried with joy

Boodge made his own little loaf in a small pan my mom brought him on one of her visits.  He just happened to be standing by the sugar bowl and before I noticed he had dumped a bunch of sugar onto his bread. I remembered that my grandmother used to make us a tarte of bread dough with sugar poked into it, so I poked the sugar in, dumped off the excess, and baked it with mine.   It was delicious, and brought me right back to childhood with my cousins around my grandmother's table. Boodge devoured half of it in no time flat.

I am never going back.  I have caught a breadmaking fever.  For three weeks now I've stirred up a bowl of dough once a week and made loaves when we need one.    And the other day, an unexpected visitor was due, so I called my mom and asked her about that tarte my grandmother used to make.  Here's how you make it:

Cut a lump off your bread dough.  Shape it to the size of a cake pan and put it in the cake pan to rest for 40 mins.  Then poke it all over with your fingers creating tons of little holes in the surface.  Spread lots of brown sugar all over the top, then cut lots of butter pieces onto it.  I can't say how much I used. My mom said be generous. Maybe 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4-1/3 cup butter? Then bake it for 20 mins at 450 C. 

Fudgy caramely goodness on bread.

As Sean said "This is almost too good."  And too easy.

If you have ever thought you want to make your own bread, make this dough.  Do it now.  You will not regret it.