Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Bread

Non-dairy non-soy bread is nearly impossible to find in the store.  There's one brand of potato bread at ours but it's only occasionally in stock.  Usually I make my own.  Here's the short version and a link to the book.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

Ingredients:
6 1/2 c all purpose unbleached flour
1 1/2 T yeast
1 1/2 T kosher or sea salt
3 C warm water

Directions:
Mix it all in a big bowl and let it sit, loosely covered for two hours.
Coat a cookie sheet with cornmeal
Cut off 1/4 of the dough and quickly pull it into a ball trying not to squish it while you round it.  Rest it on the cookie sheet.
Turn the oven to 450 (yes, 450, not 350) with a baking stone on the middle rack, plenty of room to rise above it, and a broiler pan underneath.
Set the timer for 20 minutes (to re-rise the bread and heat the stone) and go relax.
Slash the top of the dough to allow room to rise and measure about 1 c of water in an easy pour container. 
Slide / jerk the dough onto the cookie sheet, pour the water into the broiler pan and quickly close the door to catch the steam.
Bake 30 minutes.

The leftover dough can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks loosely covered in a vented container.  The gas from the yeast will need to escape.

To bake it cut off a hunk, form into a ball, rest it 20 minutes then pick up the above recipe from "Turn the oven to 450".  This will give your dough a total of 40 minutes room temperature resting before baking.

To make a double loaf extend the cooking time to 35-45 minutes and make sure you cut enough slits to allow for oven rising.

Here's how to make it into flatbread in a hurry. 

1 comment:

  1. Its really yummy. I recommend it highly.
    -B's Husband

    ReplyDelete