Let me start this blog entry with a prolonged reasoning why I think that making bread is a good idea. First of all, I am the queen of bread, cheese and wine. In a sense that I like to eat it. I could live on it. And homemade bread is always the best but it is soooo much work! See, I am a fan of McGregor's Theory X and Y that I learned in business school. (Who would've thought you use this stuff in real life, right?) A part of the theory, the X part, states, among other things, that people are lazy and in order to make them work you have to provide incentives. Well, duh. Let it be money, health insurance or delicious product to eat (they're all in same category, in my book). But another incentive is that it is very easy. No kneading, no messing around. You don't even have to touch the dough if you don't want to, I promise, just try.
Directions:
First of all, you need just 4 ingredients. Mix 3 cups of bread flour (not all purpose, but it's on the same shelf in the store) with 1 packet of instant yeast and 1.5 teaspoon salt. Add 1.5 cups of water and stir until somewhat blended. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 4 hours. Open the wrap and fold the dough couple of times, cover again and let rise a bit for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, heat oven to 450 degrees and heat an empty pan that you'll use to bake the bread in - in needs to have a cover. I used a Pyrex bowl. Once it's heated, take it out and place the dough in the pot. I just "poured" it out of my bowl into the dish. Cover with a lid and bake for 30 minutes. Then, take the lid off and bake for 15-30 more minutes.
And I have to tell you, it tastes as the European bread I grew up on does.
You can find the original recipe HERE.
And I have to tell you, it tastes as the European bread I grew up on does.
You can find the original recipe HERE.
