Two years ago, for Christmas, I was gifted a book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I baked out of it a few times over the month or two after Christmas, and then I set the book aside. I returned to my normal ways of baking bread, mostly because our whole family really likes plain old sandwich bread, freshly baked from the oven.
But the other day, I was thinking about baking bread and wishing it wasn’t such a time hog, when I remembered this book sitting on the shelf. And I remembered just how easy it was, and I decided I needed to get back to it. I needed to try again, and I also wanted to remember why, exactly, I set the book aside.
So I opened it up and found the recipe for European Peasant Bread. What attracted me to the recipe was that while it used mostly plain old white flour (unbleached, of course) it also called for a bit of whole wheat and a bit of rye flour. Both flours that I had on hand, and I thought that just a bit of those flours would result in a very flavorful bread. I refreshed my memory on how this bread was made and then chastised myself immediately for letting this book take up real estate on the shelf while not using it.
For myself, I took a large rubbermaid container and followed the directions. I added water, yeast and salt and mixed them together, and then literally dumped in all the flour. I mixed it up with a wooden spoon until everything was combined, and then I covered the container and popped it in the fridge. It took me less than five minutes to do this. (Why, oh why haven’t I been using this book!)
The next day, I cut off my first grapefruit sized ball of dough, shaped it, and set it aside to warm up and rise. A little later I turned on the oven to pre-heat and slid my flat baking stone in there as well as an aluminum pie plate on the shelf below that.
When I thought my little ball of dough was ready, I used a sharp knife to slash the top and then slid it into the oven, and then also poured 1 cup of hot water into my pie plate. 35 minutes later, I pulled a gorgeous looking loaf of bread out the oven.
Zander happened to be there with me when I pulled it out, and he remarked on how small that loaf of bread actually was. I agreed, and since it was early in the day yet, and we wanted this bread to accompany our soup later on, I went ahead and prepped and baked up a second loaf.
As we enjoyed this bread with our dinner, it came to me exactly why I stopped baking from this book. My kids don’t particularly care for the bread. They don’t like the hard outer crust with the chewy-moist interior. Crazy, I know, but it’s just not their favorite. I was also reminded that I wanted to try adjusting the salt in the dough, because it was a touch salty, and I know my kids would not be fans of that- especially with some jam slathered on top of the bread.
However, it’s been awesome having that dough in the fridge. Last night, while we ate dinner, I slid another loaf in the oven for Andy to have for sandwiches today. Later today, I’ll bake up another loaf, and then I think I’ll find another recipe in the book to give a whirl. It’s just too easy, and since one batch of dough is good for about 2 weeks, there’s no reason not to have some going all the time. I’ll still bake up our plain old Sandwich Bread to have for the kids and for plain old sandwich bread, but this artisan bread is so tasty and delicious, and so incredibly easy, how could I not keep it going?
Unlike the last time I talked about this book, this time, I’ll share the recipe as it is written in the book. If it intrigues you, do yourself a favor and borrow a copy from your local library to see if you like it. This is much easier than other forms of artisan no-knead bread I’ve seen, because you don’t need a dutch oven to bake the bread in, and I really like the simple method. I don’t use a pizza peel as the recipe suggests either- I don’t have one, and don’t see a need for one. Instead I use aluminum foil, and then just slide the foil onto the baking stone.
European Peasant Bread
Makes 4 1-pound loaves. This recipe is easily doubled or halved.
3 cups lukewarm water 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast ( 1 1/2 packets) 1 1/2 tablespoons salt 1/2 cup rye flour 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I used bread flour- it worked fine) Cornmeal for pizza peel1. Mixing and storing the dough: Mix the yeast and salt with the water in a 5-quart mixing bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.
2. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor(with dough attachment) or a heavy duty stand mixer with dough hook. If you’re not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.
3. Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 14 days.
5. On Baking Day: Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit sized) piece. Dust with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. Allow to rest and rise on a cornmeal-covered pizza peel for 40 minutes.
6. Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450ºF, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray (or aluminum pie plate) on ny other shelf that won’t interfere with the baking bread.
7. Sprinkle the loaf liberally with flour and slash a cross, scallop, or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top, using a serrated bread knife. Leave the flour in place for baking; tap some of it off before slicing.
8. Slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the top crust is deeply browned and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time.
9. Allow to cool before slicing and eating.