Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Tuesdays At The Table With Cole

Can you feel my excitement?  It's palpable, no?  This is my first time joining Cole for Tuesdays at the Table, although I read her recipe posts every week.




It just so happens that tonight I made this incredible homemade artisan bread and it was so damn easy that I'd be remiss in not sharing it.  You don't even have to knead this stuff.   Easy peasy and so delicious that it's all Mikayla ate for dinner tonight.  Sure, it was pure carb loading on her part but when you see your child (who generally turns up her nose at everything you make) tear into a loaf of bread like that, it kinda makes your heart sing.






5-Minute Artisan French Bread



Ingredients:

1-1/2 Tablespoons dry yeast
1-1/2 Tablespoons course ground kosher salt
3 Cups warm water
6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Cornmeal for baking pan


In large container with lid, mix yeast, salt and water.  Stir, then immediately add flour.  Mix until there are no large dry lumps of flour.

This dough will be VERY sticky.  Cover container but don't make completely airtight.  Let dough rise for 2 hours.

Uncover and sprinkle with flour, then, with more flour on your hands (still sticky!) pull off a grapefruit-size portion of dough and shape into a round ball, kind of pulling the top over the sides and to the bottom.

Sprinkle baking pan with a small amount of corn meal to keep bread from sticking.  Place dough on pan, sprinkle lightly with flour and let sit out to rise for 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, putting an empty baking pan on the lowest rack.  Using a serated knife, score bread in several places to prevent cracking while baking.

Place dough on middle oven rack and immediately add one cup of water to empty baking pan on lower rack to aid in steaming the bread.

Bake 30 minutes, cut, and gorge yourself.

Here's a short video that demonstrates the entire easy procedure. 





Make sure to visit Cole for more great recipes!


Pssst! If you love me, you might love my stupid sister more. Go visit her at Jill's Believe it or Not, and tell her I sent you!

25 "Sister" Lovin' Friends Said: