Thursday, March 22, 2012

Wanna Make Some Easy Dough?

All you have to do is send 3 easy installments of $19.99 and in 4-6 weeks your kit will arrive on your doorstep (shipping and handling not included).  Gotcha!  No, really, like I mentioned yesterday, I have a trick to make wonderful crusty bread, from scratch-and it's easy.  Easy dough.  As much as I would like to take all the credit for this great concept, in good conscience, I can't.  A few years ago I purchased this great little book "Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day."  It's a no knead method for busy mom's like me that love fresh bread.  The beginner recipes goes like this: 3 cups lukewarm water, 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast, 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt,  6 1/2 cups unsifted all purpose white flour.  Yeah, that's it.  Use a 5-6 quart bowl or bucket, add the water, yeast and salt-don't even worry about it dissolving all the way.  Add your flour and mix until it is all incorporated, it's going to look pretty wet-don't sweat it.  Let this rise loosely covered on the counter for 2 hours, cover and refrigerate.  This makes four 1 pound loaves and the dough keeps for 14 days.  Whenever you have a hankering for some fresh bread, just lightly flour the dough surface, reach in and pull a hunk up and cut it off.  Form it in a ball and dust with flour as you go, no need to knead.  Let it rise for approximately 40 minutes, slash the top (because it's fun to do and makes a pretty loaf) and bake for about 30 minutes at 450 degrees.  Scrumdillelicious in no time at all and you could do it every night if you wanted to.  I did practice for years, making bread from scratch, kneading and learning it's mainly about the "feel" of the dough.  Don't get me wrong, I love to make dough the hard way too-very rewarding, but hats off to the working mom and dad that just need to find that extra hour in the day.  By gosh, I think you just found it-for FREE. Score!

2 comments:

  1. I've been eye-balling that book forever. I know lots of moms who love it.
    Now do I still need it, or have you summed it up in one paragraph of a blog...? ;)

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  2. Ashlee, what I shared is just the tip of the iceberg. If you like to bake bread, you would like the book. It has lots of different variations. Pizza dough, too-one of my favorites! But, if you continue to follow the "Orange Pot", eventually you might have to book ;)

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