***please be sure to adjust your bookmarks to reach the new blog address at http://foodwineartdesign.com

This blog will remain as a landing pad for old bookmarks, but I have imported the content to the new blog and will be posting there from now on. Thanks!***

***please be sure to adjust your bookmarks to reach the new blog address at http://foodwineartdesign.wordpress.com

This blog will remain but I have imported the content to the new blog and will be posting there from now on. Thanks!***

Today we do the really hard work. We dump, rest, bake and eat! YAY! Please excuse the images…I use my little Rebel XT with window light whenever possible when I work with flours…all that dust!

This was our bread yesterday:

and here it is today!
Our yeast, flour, salt and water has combined and bloomed into something similar to a poolish or wet starter for regular bread baking. It is a bit drier. This picture above illustrates a good reason for my use of the 8 cup mixing cup for this. You’ll want to be able to accurately measure the rise of bread doughs and starters and using a container that has units of measure will help you easily determine if your doughs and starters have risen properly. Ours has more than doubled in size.

Next we need to dump our dough out gently onto a floured surface and give it a couple of gentle turns with a wet spatula. I use silicone spatulas…they work great for this.

It doesn’t look a whole lot like bread but it will…have faith!

After a couple of turns it will look more like dough

See? I told you so!

Now, you’ll need a non-fuzzy, non-terry cloth kitchen towel dusted generously with sifted flour to turn your bread onto. I use several sizes of couche in my kitchen.

Now we want to cover our dough and let it rest and rise again for about two hours…nighty nighty night!

So we are now well rested…but we have a small problem. While I was proceeding with the next steps I tripped over a dog backing away from the oven and dropped my favorite small covered clay baker removing it from the hot oven. So I had to improvise….don’t laugh…Our bread ended up in a too large clay baking dish with the lid from my 12 quart pan. I don’t have a boatload of small pans. I cook big remember? I was in hurry and couldn’t find the pot and top I normally use for something like this. I ended up with a burn too so no pics…sorry! Let’s finish this bad boy shall we?

Your dough is now well rested and it is time to pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Now you’ll need a at least a six quart pot with a good lid. A well seasoned dutch oven works, so will enameled cast iron or even a Pyrex baking dish. Nice high sides will give you a taller loaf. Put your pot into the pre-heating oven (without the bread). When the oven is ready remove the pot and tumble your rested dough into it (the pot, not the oven directly), give it a gentle giggle to even it out and pop the lid on and place it in the oven for 25 minutes. Off to put Lavender on my burns…

Has the timer gone off yet? If it has your bread should be about double in size and have a rustic load look with the beginnings of a golden crust. Take the lid off and let it bake for another 10-15 minutes. When it is done it should have sound hollow when thumped and register about 220 degrees with a probe thermometer. My poor loaf is a little flat thanks to the huge pan I had to use but this is the color you are looking for:

See the texture? It will have a tiny bit of sourdough twang too as it is a slow rising loaf. Your crust should be crisp with a satisfying chew, the crumb should be soft but substantial…delicious! Enjoy!

Just a reminder that I am out of the studio until June 9th, purchases for the $49 designs will be processed normally with delivery within 72 hours.

Thanks!

Colleen

***please be sure to adjust your bookmarks to reach the new blog address at http://foodwineartdesign.wordpress.com

This blog will remain but I have imported the content to the new blog and will be posting there from now on. Thanks!***

Colleen is out of the Studio this week, but along with a new fresh look she has loaded some fun things for you to try while she is gone…this is one of her favorites for the novice baker!

Yeast, kneading, the rise…why is it these three words strike fear into even the accomplished cooks heart. Last fall, I did an email series called Real Bread 101 and we went through the bread making process step by step documenting our successes and our failures. Through the sharing of images and our own own experiences I was the happy guide for several women (and a man…hi Jeff!) to their first real delicious loaves.

The first lessons included the basics..what to buy, how to measure, the pans, the timing…all that jazz. Then we dove in with a fool proof, delightful homemade loaf that even the children can help with, it is based on the very popular recipe from the NY times by the Sullivan Street Bakery. The best part about it is the process, the observation and the confidence it builds. Our first loaf will be a two day, slow rise, no knead bread. Why a no knead bread? Because it is important to see how the loaf develops and the kneading is typically where most first time bakers give up. This loaf will help you understand how the dough should feel, look and smell. Plus it’s just delicious!

First things first…

Mis en place which is a French term meaning “in place”, in cooking and baking it means to have all of your ingredients prepared, measured and ready to be added to your recipe at the proper time. I sold Pampered Chef stuff a million years ago and I still use a ton of it in my kitchen. The stuff is simply indestructible lol! Many of the tools you’ll see me use can be ordered from Teresa Krause through her website. Onward!

Ingredients…

Simply put? Buy the best you can afford. I’m not saying to go out and pay $30 for 5 pounds of flour, but get yourself good quality ingredients. This is what I use for basic bread making throughout the series as they are the easiest to obtain by everyone:

Yeast: Fleishman’s Instant Yeast. Look at Costco or Sam’s for the two pack, It should be around $5 for two large packages. Refrigerate the yeast after opening.

Flour: King Arthur Organic or Unbleached Bread Flour.

Salt: King Arthur Baker’s Salt, or table or fine Kosher salt

Water: Spring water or our own well water. If you have city water with chlorine, use spring water.

Ready? Here we go!

First our Mis en place for our bread, we will need:

3 cups of Bread Flour (I am using King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour, I am out of Organic) ***please note***I am using the liquid measure as my mixing bowl. Always use dry measuring utensils for dry ingredients and liquid measuring utensils for liquids!

1/4 teaspoon Instant Yeast (I am using Fleishman’s)

1 Tablespoon salt (or 3/4 tablespoon if you are using Kosher or Bread Salt as I am)

1-1/2 cups of warm water…and we have our Mis en place!

You’ll also need a pot with a cover that can handle an oven temp of 450 degrees. Well seasoned cast iron, enameled cast iron, clay, pyrex…it will all work. You’ll need that for tomorrow though, right now we are just getting our bread going. We will wake up the yeasts, let them grow and then let them rest over night for a long slow rise that will give great flavor. Ready to mix?

Place your salt and yeast in the mixing bowl with your flour.

Now stir them all together to combine

Now add your water
And stir it together until it becomes a gloopy mess I use a silicone spatula but you can use your hands if you keep them wet. I don’t like to do that because it is easy to upset the water/flour ratio.

Now we need to let our “bread” rest and come to life. Let’s cover our bowl with plastic wrap and leave it is a nice place to spend the night. You can let it rest for up to 24 hours.
You’re done! Notice there is very little clean up too? Eventually you will find yourself skipping the prep bowls, but I felt it was important to illustrate the need for mis en place.

Tomorrow we bake! (and eat!)

Colleen