One of my goals for the New Year is to learn to make my own bread. In our small town, the local grocery store has the best bread but unfortunately it is brought in from San Francisco and it is quite pricey. We LOVE the sourdough bread in particular. However, I would like to learn to make all kinds of bread at home without a bread machine. I would also like to grow my own starter (which will continuously be fed) so that I have a constant supply in the refrigerator for sourdough bread! To begin... Mr. E's grandmother gave me the cookbook "My Bread" by Jim Lahey. This week I made my first batch and it was delicious!
Ingredients:
3 c. bread flour
1.25 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp instant or actie dry yeast
1 1/3 c. cool water (55 to 65 degrees F)
cornmeal or flour for dusting
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the four, salt, and yeast. Add the water and usin your hand, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Make sure its really sticky to the touch, if its not, add water 1 T at a time. Cover the bowl with a plate, tea towel or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours and dough is doubled in size.
2. When the first fermentation is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a spatula to scrape the dough onto the work surface in one piece. When you begin to pull the dough away from the bowl it will cling in long, thin strands and it will be quite loose and sticky-do not add more flour. Use lightly floured hands to lift the edges of the dough in towards the center. Nudge and tuck the edges of the dough to make it round.
3. Place a linen tea towel on your work surface and generously dust the cloth with wheat bran, cornmeal or flour. Fold the ends of the towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm draft free spot for 2 hours until the dough is almost doubled. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. It you gently poke it with your finger and make an indentation about 1/4 inch deep, it should hold the impression. If it doesn't, let it rise for 15 more minutes.
4. 30 minutes before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees with a rack in the lower third position and place a covered 4.5 t0 5.5 qaurt heavy pot (Le Creuset works great!) in the center of the rack.
5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the towel and lightly dust the dough with flour, lift up the dough and quickly but gently invert it into the pot, seam side up. Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep, chestnut brown but no burnt, around 15-30 minutes. Carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly. Don't slice or tear into it until it has cooled, which usually takes about an hour.
MMMM, enjoy! We savored this bread in the form of a cuban sandwich with homemade aioli, roasted pork, ham, and gruyere cheese!
Lahey, Jim & Flaste, Rick (2009). My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method.
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