Bread is Life

Bread is something that is universal. It’s in every culture. If you asked a stranger walking down the street what they thought a universal food might be, one that every culture has some form of, I would bet that 95% of them would mention bread. There is just something about a warm loaf of bread or a round of focaccia or even a piece of naan straight from the oven to bring on feelings of comfort and security.

When I was younger I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and the kitchen was predominately my grandma’s domain and I have many, many fond memories of standing by her side “helping” cook or bake. As I got older though,  I realized that my grandpa liked to make bread. He got a bread machine when he was in his 70’s and he loved that machine. He made bread almost every day. Every kind of bread you could imagine. He made fruit breads, wheat breads, dark breads and even tried sourdough once but said the starter was to messy. He used to call me Joe Pete and one time I asked him why he liked his bread machine so much and he looked me in the eye and said, “Joe Pete, bread is the one thing that everyone will eat.”

That stuck with me. Even now in my 40’s bread is served at fancy meals, family get togethers, barbcues and just about every other gathering you can think of. There is always bread of some form. Even friends with gluten sensitivities have told me how they have tried multiple recipes until they find something to give them that same sense of comfort as a warm yeast loaf straight out of the oven.

Bread is life.

Below is a recipe that I have been making lately, it is a No-Knead yeast bread. Yes, no knead. It is actually better the longer it hangs out in the fridge.

• 42 ounces of flour or 7 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 packet of yeast ( I use Red Star active dry yeast)
• 2 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp of sugar
• 3 cups of lukewarm water

I mix the yeast in warm, not hot, warm water and add the sugar, then let them sit for a few minutes. I am a spooner when it comes to measuring flour. I have big spoon and I use that to spoon flour into a vessel and then weigh it on my digital scale. I have found that 42 to 43 ounces of flour is 7 cups. So if you don’t have a scale you can use a cup measure. I put the flour and the salt into my pretty, red Kitchen Aide mixer with the dough hook on it and turn it on to mix the flour and salt. While it is still running on low I slowly start adding the water/sugar/yeast mixture until it is all in. I run it on low for a few minutes and then turn it up to medium high until a nice, smooth dough comes together, about 5 minutes.

If I am going to bake a loaf right away, first I spray a little cooking spray on my hands and then I will pull about 8 ounces of dough out and put it on a sprayed piece of parchment, cover it and let it rest about an hour. But normally I like it to “flavor” itself and rest in the fridge. So I will spray a large bowl and plop the dough into it and cover tightly with plastic.

After a couple of days I will pull the bowl out, spray my hands and grab a hefty chunk. I roll it in a little flour and then shape it, place it in a warm spot on a piece of  sprayed parchment and let it rise a couple of hours. Don’t forget to spray the parchment because the dough is very sticky and will not go into your pan easily. After a couple of hours I turn my oven onto 450° and put my cast iron dutch oven and lid into the oven. After 30 minutes I will get the bread ready to go into the oven by slicing 3 diagonal gashes into the top of the dough with a very sharp knife. Use a sharp knife so it cuts and doesn’t drag. Then I pull the dutch oven and lid out, spray a bit of cooking spray and sprinkle a little cornmeal in the bottom, if you don’t have cornmeal don’t worry. I don’t want you to run out and buy a huge bag. Then I gently place the loaf in the bottom and cover it and everything goes into the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes. Make sure you have thick hot pads, the dutch oven holds its heat!

Now if you don’t have a dutch oven with a lid, you can use a cast iron casserole dish, a pizza stone or even just a hot pan. The heating time for each of those will be different.

When it gets close to the 25 to 30 minutes, check the bread  by thumping the bottom to see if you hear a “hollow” sound. That means it’s close. At this time I take the lid off for the last few minutes of baking to get a nice golden brown color.

Bring it out and put the bread on a cooling rack, like one you would use for cookies. And there you have it, the easiest  yeast bread you will make. I always feel so homey when I make it for my family. Hope you enjoy. And if you have questions please feel free to contact me or leave a comment.