My mister is a huge fan of good coffee, good beer and good bread. And really, who isn't? It sounds so funny listed in such a way, but I must admitt that there is something really special about a well made cup of coffee, or what a delicious bread or beer can do to enhance a meal. This is why when a dear friend of mine lent me her copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by J. Hertzberg & Z. Francois, my ears immediately perked up. This was something I would have to try my hand at!Using the Boule recipe {found in the book}, consisting of flour, yeast, salt and water, we have been enjoying some amazing home baked bread!. There is no kneading necessary, just a bit of rising on the counter, then the dough is destined for the refrigerator where it can live for up to 2 weeks. The five minutes refers to the amount of time it takes for you to cut off a hunk of dough, shape it and leave it on the counter to rise {for 30 minutes}, before baking for 20 minutes! It is so simple and can be done easily while you are preparing the rest of your meal.
The trick seems to be in the baking. Your oven should be preheated with your baking stone inside and a metal pan of sorts {we use a metal muffin tin} on the rack just beneath. When the dough has sat and the oven is ready, the dough enters the oven and a cup of water is placed into the hot tin. You want to close the oven door fast to be sure to trap the steam that is created. And Viola! Beautiful delicious bread with very little effort at all!
Ofcourse, anytime you try something new there are sure to be some hurdles. The first batch we made, my mister put right in the fridge without letting it rise at room temperature...you can imagine. Later when we went to bake the bread {different dough, ofcourse}, he had put a glass baking pan in the oven, and even though the water was super hot, when he poured it in the dish to create steam, the glass shattered everywhere! It's embarrassing.... But after a bit of trial and error, we have it down! The book is filled with other great bread recipes that I'm really excited to try out...like the brioche filled with chocolate ganache, Mmmmm!Wishing you all happy baking!
~a.
Hi Alison, venturing over from Soulemama. If it makes you feel any better, I used a glass pan for the steam pan three times but on the fourth attempt: bits glass everywhere! I felt pretty silly until I got the new book and there was this biiiiig lecture about the dangers of using glass. So we were certainly not the only ones!
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