Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

  I have always wanted to make fresh bread, but have always been highly daunted by it.  The thought of having to knead, punch and let it rise just right always scared me enough to keep me at bay.   It was one of those things I always told myself I would get to- one day. 
 
Then my boss brought in some fantastic homemade bread for Homemade Bread Day (which is November 17th, by the way).  I had expressed to her my desire and she shared with me this unbelievably easy recipe, which was the one she had used.  It uses just 4 ingredients that I always have on hand.  I cannot believe I have never made bread before!  We just pulled it out of the oven about 10 minutes ago, and it is already gone!  Granted, I started off making a small loaf, but it was devoured!   I cannot see myself NOT making this bread every day now!   

Now, the name is a bit misleading, as it does take more than 5 minutes.  Well, I guess it only takes a few minutes to mix everything together.  But, on baking day give yourself about an hour. 

To give credit where credit is due, this came from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.   There is a YouTube video here.

This recipe makes about 4 1-pound loaves.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups lukewarm (room temperature) water
• 1&1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (1&1/2 packets)
• 1&1/2 tablespoons coarse kosher or sea salt
• 6&1/2 cups flour
• (cornmeal for the pizza peel)

Directions: 

1. In a large bowl mix water, salt and yeast.  Add flour. 
2. Stir until just mixed.  I used a KitchenAide mixer with the bread hook.  You can use just a wooden spoon.
3. Cover loosely and let sit for about 2 hours at room temperature.
4. You can use the dough at this point, or put in the fridge for up to two weeks. The longer you let it sit in the fridge, the more of a sourdough taste it takes on.

To Bake:

1. Prepare pizza peel (or the back of a cookie sheet, which is what I did, since I do not have a peel.  It has been added to my wish list, though!) by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking.
2. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour.  Cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit sized) piece.  Hold in your hands and sprinkle with more flour to keep from sticking to your hands.  Gently pull the sides down to the bottom.  You may want to view the video to see the way to do this, as it sounds much more complicated then it really is.
3. Place the ball on the pizza peel and let rest, uncovered, for about 40 minutes.
4. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450*F with a baking stone on the middle rack.  Place an empty broiler tray underneath to hold water.
5. Dust the top of the loaf with flour and slash with a serrated knife.
6. Slide loaf off the peel onto the baking stone.  Quickly pour about a cup of water into the broiler pan.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch.
7. Refrigerate remaining dough in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next two weeks.  Dough can be frozen, just pull out the day before baking and defrost in the fridge.