Creative Freezer Cooking and Fun Play for Little Ones








Thursday, October 9, 2008

Artisan Bread


Ingredients:
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour, more for dusting dough (you can substitute 2 cups of King Arthur white whole wheat flour like I did in the demonstration, which makes it 4 1/2 c. all purpose and 2 cups ww )
1 1/2 tablespoons dough enhancer, optional

Dough Directions:
In a large bowl or plastic container (we used a 5 quart shoe box from the Dollar Tree, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups of lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour , mixing until there are no dry patches. You can mix this with a wooden spoon or in a large mixer, like a kitchen Aid. You do not need to knead this just mix well. Dough will be quite wet. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. (You can spray a piece of wax paper and lay on top) Let dough rise at room temperature for 2 hours.

Bake at this point or refrigerate, for as long as 2 weeks. If whole wheat flour is used, it is recommended to use it within a week.

Baking Directions:
Place broiler pan on bottom rack of oven. After the dough has risen for 20 minutes, place baking stone on middle rack and preheat to 450 degrees. When ready to bake,sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with a serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a round loaf. You do not knead the dough. Just form into a loaf. Place the dough on a pizza peel (we used a wooden chopping board) sprinkled with cornmeal. Let dough rest for 40 minutes. Dust dough with flour. Make a tic tac toe board with the knife. Slide dough onto baking stone. Bake until well browned, 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Original recipe from Artisan Bread In 5 minutes a Day, Thanks for the cookbook, Jeff.

Lynn places her loaf directly on a pizza stone to rise and then places it in the hot oven with a pan of hot water on lower oven rack. Recipe from http://lynnskitchenadventures.blogspot.com/

Serving Ideas:
Serve with soup, chili or stews
Use bread for grilled panani of your choice
Make garlic bread with day old bread slices

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Jackie - I made my first loaf of artisan bread and even though it had a wonderful taste - it was almost a pita bread. It rose in the the mixing bowl but after I took it out and seperated it, it did not rise very much in the 40 minute rest period. It did spread out though. What did I do wrong? My other question is about the yeast. There was quick yeast and not quick yeast. I used the not quick yeast. Is this right? What can I do with the rest of my dough that is in the frig to help it rise more next time? I also did the boiled chicken recipe and it turned out great. I now have home made chicken stock in my freezer. Wow. Thanks so much for your help. Karen Duncan