Artisan Bread In 5 Minutes A Day

My dear mother in-law, Betty, visited Benjamin and I last weekend. It's always great when she visits (because of many things, but for the purpose of this blog) because she creates fun things in the kitchen I have never thought of. My favorite from this past trip was a homemade bread she shared with me. It's the easiest bread I've ever made, and extremely delicious! This recipe makes a lot of bread, but you can refrigerate (or freeze it, more directions to come) the dough for up to 2 weeks. There are a lot of directions, but it really is easy. The rising is the longest part, and everything else literally takes about 5 mins.

Ingredients:
-3 cups of lukewarm water
-1 1/2 tbsp. yeast (1 1/2 packets)
-6 1/2 cups all purpose white flour
-cornmeal to prevent sticking

Directions for dough:
-Warm your water. It should be slightly warmer than body temp. If it's too cold your bread will just have to rise for longer, no biggie.
-Add yeast and salt to water in a large bowl. If you have a bowl with a lid, that will be perfect for later.
-Mix in the flour. Do NOT knead, this recipe doesn't need it. (Isn't that great to hear??) Mix until everything is uniformly wet with no dry patches. You should have a loose, wet dough mixture.
-Cover the bowl with a lid that is not airtight. My Mother In-Law used a plate that covered the bowl and tilted it sideways, I copy her.
-Allow to rise for about two hours, or until top of dough is flat. Or, if you wish to refrigerate some dough do so now.


Baking:
-Sprinkle cornmeal onto pizza pan, or wherever you want the dough to rise. They suggest pizza pan, but I don't have one so I use a cookie sheet.
-Flour the top of the dough and cut off the piece you wish to use. They suggest a 1 lb. loaf, which is about the size of a grapefruit. The recipe makes 4 loaves this way. Put the rest in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. They suggest putting it in the fridge the first time you make the dough because it's easier to shape. I didn't, but my loaves aren't very attractive. (See pic. A.)
-With floured hands take the dough and shape it by gently stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. (I stink at this part, but am getting better.) What you want is a smooth rounded dough. Shaping should take 60-90 seconds. (See pic. B)
-Allow to rest and rise on the cornmeal-ed pan for about 40 minutes (no covering is necessary)
-20 minutes before baking preheat your oven to 450, with a baking stone on the middle rack (I also don't have one of these, but it's okay). Place an empty broiler tray (in my house we use a pie tin) for holding water on any other shelf.
-You can flour the top of your dough and slash in pretty designs. You ladies are creative, I'm sure you'll think of cooler stuff than I can write.(See pic. C)
-Slide the loaf off of the aforementioned cornmeal pan and onto the baking stone (or whatever else you use) (Also, see pic. C)
-Carefully, but quickly, pour 1 c. of water into broiling pan (this allows the bread to become crunchy on the outside while remaining moist on the inside). Close the oven door quickly to trap steam.
-The recipe says to bake for 30 minutes, I bake for 18 and it's fine, but my oven is extra hot. Just check on it until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch. It may be a lil' soft initially, but will harden more with cooling. (See pic. D)
-Cool completely before slicing and enjoy! It's perfect dipping bread for soup season =).
-Be sure to use your remaining dough in the next 2 weeks. Storing it improves the flavor and texture. It can also be frozen in 1 lb. portions and defrosted overnight in the fridge before baking day.

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By: Rachel 

The Greatest Banana Bread

I was debating for several days whether to post this recipe or not. I figure everyone has a banana bread recipe they like, so why post mine? However, after making it again my mind was made up. This recipe is the best (although not the healthiest) I've found. If you have another that you think can match it, I'd love to have a bake-off and prove its worth ;).

Banana Bread
-3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
-1/3 cup melted butter (I use unsalted)
-1 cup sugar (I reduce it to 3/4 and it's still delicious)
-1 egg, beaten
-1 tsp. vanilla
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-Pinch of salt
-1 1/2 cups flour (I use half whole wheat and once again, still delicious)


*Hint* I always use 4 bananas because it makes the bread tastier. My problem is, I always eat most of my bananas before they're ripe enough for banana bread. (Don't be afraid to really let your bananas turn brown.) Typically I only end up with one that is too ripe to eat. When that happens, freeze them one at a time. When you have four defrost them to a nice warm pile of mush. They still work fine in the recipe, you might just need to add a bit more flour. They add a little extra water when they've been frozen.

No need for a mixer in this recipe.
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease 4x8 inch loaf pan (or whatever else you want)
Using a wooden spoon (if you have one) mix melted butter into smashed bananas in large mixing bowl.
Stir in sugar, egg, and vanilla.
Sprinkle baking soda and salt over mixture and stir in.
Add flour and stir.
Bake till brown on top and a knife comes out fairly clean when stuck in the middle. The original recipe says 1 hr, I've never had to bake it for more than 45 mins. My oven is crazy though.


Normally I'm not a big fan of banana bread unless it has chocolate chips and some butter spread on top. However, I eat this one plain and am perfectly happy!

Posted by: Rachel