Making Bread

I'll admit it, I'm obsessed with cookbooks. Without a doubt it's the one thing I'll be guaranteed to receive every Christmas. One of my prized possessions is the first edition of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". I love to have my cookbooks lined along my bookshelves, diverse, interesting, worn, covered with food bits, and well loved.

I can't help but feel a little guilty though to own a book or two that have simply gathered dust, beautiful in it's artwork and instruction, but nil in its use. Until a few weeks ago, this was the case with this book.

I'll admit, making bread seems a daunting task. Reasons against it are valid: time consuming, need of new kitchen appliances such as a bread maker, kneading, and the list goes on. My desire to begin bread making is simple. Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods, something that has sustained humans for generations and has so many variations throughout different cultures. It is warm and delicious and the term "breaking bread" has such a positive connotation. Like canning, bread making can potentially go by the wayside. Delicious bread is so easy to purchase, why would one be tempted to spend hours making it? However I feel part of this SlowFood movement to me is learning how to make things from scratch, not absolutely needing to buy food pre-made. And it is a way to hold on to our heritage, no matter what heritage it may be.

Platitudes aside, making bread can be a difficult process but like anything else, it just requires a little practice. It's not much different from baking things like cakes and cookies which to me is a precise science involving chemistry. What is really helpful is a good book, one that is thorough and can explain techniques adequately. Clayton's book was extremely helpful in it's hints and pointers. He explains ways to make bread either with a mixer, stand mixer, or by hand. He also includes brief history on each type of bread and chapters are broken out by bread type and a list of bread recipes that fall into that category.

Blue Ribbon French Bread

• 1 package yeast
• 2 tbspn nonfat dry milk
• 1 tbspn sugar
• 1 tbspn salt
• 4-5 cups all-purpose flour, approximately
• 2 cups hot water (120-130 fahrenheit )
• 1 tbspn butter, room temperature
• 1 tbspn cold water
• 1 tbspn coarse salt

1. By hand of stand/manual mixer, mix together the yeast, dry milk, sugar, salt, and 2 cups flour. If using a stand mixer, use the flat beater.

- We did not have dry milk so we substituted 2 cups of whole milk for the 2 cups of hot water and tbspn of dry milk.

2. Pour in hot water and add butter, blend for about 2 minutes but if blending by hand about 100 strokes.

3. Add remaining amount of flour until the dough is elastic, but not sticky. When mixing, it should come off the sides of the bowl easily.

- If you are unsure what the dough should look like, just think that the dough can't be too sticky because you need to take this dough and work with it in the kneading stage. Take a look at the youtube video below to see the right consistency.

4. Take the dough and put it on a slightly floured work surface. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

5. Knead the bread for 10 minutes. Now this can be the scary step. You can either knead by hand as shown here, or use the attachment that comes with the stand mixer that looks like a curvy hook.

6. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Keep it at room temperature. The dough will rise to be double it's original size. Leave it for and 1 hour and 15 minutes.

7. Punch the dough in the bowl, this will bring it down in size a bit. Take it out of the bowl and place on a floured work surface. Cut the dough in half. Form it to whatever size you prefer, either a round loaf or a rectangular loaf, about 10"x 16", on a greased baking sheet.

8. Place baking sheet in a warm place and cover with wax paper. This is the second rising of the bread. Leave the bread for about 50 minutes.

9. Prepare the oven. Turn the oven to 400 degrees and place a small roasting pan at the bottom of the oven. Fill it with 1 pint hot water. This will create a steam effect during the bread's baking process.

10. Before putting your bread in the oven, cut it with a razor blade of sharp knife to create slashes or a grid like design. Brush with cold water and sprinkle with salt.

11. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Flip the pan half-way through the baking time to ensure the bread is baking evenly. You can tell bread is ready if you turn it over and knock on the bread. If it has a hard hollow sound, it's ready!

Enjoy! Job well done!