Middle of the Week Bread

We tend to get really busy during the middle of the week. During the evenings, there are toys everywhere, bath time, the kids are running around the house having light saber battles and  I'm trying to get dinner ready. I found this book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois at the library. It took me about 5 minutes to mix the ingredients in the stand mixer. Then I left it on the counter for 2 hours while I did other stuff. I put it in the fridge overnight and then the dough was ready. It makes enough for 3-4 loaves. I baked one and the other two are still in the fridge. It says that they taste better the longer they are in there because the flavors develop. Here is my adapted version of the recipe.


Easy Boule Recipe

3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 Tbsp. active dry yeast (1 1/2 packets)

1 1/2 Tbsp. coarse salt

6 1/2 cups all purpose flour

cornmeal for pizza peel

1. Put warm water into large mixing bowl (I like to use the Kitchen Aid stand mixer bowl).

2. Add yeast and salt and stir.

3. Mix in the flour using stand mixer with dough hook, wooden spoon or hands until incorporated. Do not knead or overmix. The dough should be uniformly wet.

4. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth. Rise for 2-5 hours at room temperature until dough flattens on top. Now you can either bake it or put it in the refrigerator but it is easier to work with if you refrigerate for at least 3 hours. The dough will keep up to 14 days in the fridge or frozen in an airtight container and defrosted in fridge overnight.

5. To bake, take dough out of fridge. Sprinkle peel with cornmeal. Sprinkle flour on top of dough. Cut dough into 1 lb. pieces. I used a bench cutter. It should make 3-4 loaves. Shape into round loaf pulling the top of dough taut and securing it underneath to shape into a boule (dome shape). Stretch until the dough is smooth. This should only take a minute. Let it rest on peel or cookie sheet uncovered for 40 minutes at room temperature.

6. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place baking stone on middle rack. ( I don't have a baking stone so I just used a cookie sheet). Put an empty broiler tray or 9 x 13 pan on the bottom rack of oven.

7. Dust the top of the dough with flour and slash with serrated knife in an X about 1/4 in. deep.

8. Place dough into oven on cookie sheet or heated stone. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray or pan. The steam from the pan of water will keep the bread from becoming too dry. Close the door and bake for 30 minutes until crust is firm and brown. 

9. Cool on a wire rack before cutting and eating.

I thought this bread turned out o.k. It was crusty on the outside and soft in the middle. I want to see if the dough that has been resting in the fridge longer will yield tastier bread. The kids loved it with butter for dinner. Next time I will try to add some whole wheat flour in place of some of the white. It will be healthier but probably more dense.