Does not get much easier than this....5-Minute Artisan Bread
I made up the dough, and its in my laundry room till morning and I will bake it then. NO kneading, easy peasy. works wonderfully.....Ray
This 5-minute artisan bread recipe is a truly revolutionary approach
to bread baking. Take the needed amount of dough from the refrigerator,
shape it, leave it to rest, then pop it in the oven and let it bake
while you’re preparing the rest of the meal. By not kneading the dough
but instead mixing the dough in bulk, refrigerating it, and using it as
needed over time, you’ll truly be able to make this bread in five
minutes a day. Well, five minutes hands-on time (excluding resting and
oven time).
This dough is made with nothing but all-purpose flour, yeast, salt,
and water, and it’s the easiest thing to handle, shape, and bake. This
white dough can be used to make a boule, baguette, bâtard, ciabatta,
couronne, crusty white sandwich loaf, Pullman sandwich loaf, and soft
dinner rolls. We chose an artisan free-form loaf that the French call a
boule (pronounced “bool” and meaning “ball”) as the basic model for this
bread.
LC 5 Minutes?! NoteOkay,
so maybe the bread takes more than 5 minutes to make—that is, to bake.
But 5 minutes hands-on time is it. Truly. We know what you’re thinking.
Only 5 minutes?! But it’s true. And please, that’s nothing. Nothing
short of a miracle, that is. Ingredients3 cups (24 ounces) water, plus more for the broiler tray1 tablespoon (.35 ounce) granulated yeast (active dry, instant, quick rise, or bread machine is fine)1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons (.6 to .9 ounce) kosher or other coarse salt, to taste6 1/2 cups (2 pounds) unbleached all-purpose flour, measured by the scoop-and-sweep method Cornmeal, for dusting (optional)Directions1.
Warm the 3 cups water slightly. It should feel just slightly warmer
than body temperature, about 100°F (38°C). In the large bowl of a
standing mixer or a 6-quart container with a lid, mix the yeast, water,
and salt. Don’t worry about getting the yeast to dissolve. Add the flour
all at once, then use a spoon or stand mixer to mix until the flour is
completely incorporated into the blobby dough that forms. (If you’re
hand-mixing the dough and it becomes too difficult to incorporate all
the flour with the spoon, just use very wet hands to press the mixture
together.) Don’t knead the dough! It isn’t necessary. You’re finished
when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches. This is
achieved in a matter of minutes, and will yield a dough that’s wet and
loose enough to conform to the shape of its container. 2.
Loosely cover the container and allow the dough to rise at room
temperature until it begins to collapse or at least flattens on the top,
about 2 hours. (Relax. You don’t need to monitor the doubling or
tripling of its volume as you do with traditional recipes.)3.
After 2 hours, refrigerate the dough and use it within 14 days. If your
container isn’t vented, allow the gases to escape by leaving the lid or
cover open a crack for the first couple days in the fridge; after that
you can seal it. (You can use the dough anytime after the initial 2-hour
rise, although the refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and easier to
work with than dough at room temperature, so it’s best to refrigerate
the dough overnight before handling it. Once refrigerated, the dough
will seem to have shrunk back upon itself as though it will never rise
again—that’s normal. Whatever you do, do not punch down this dough.
You’re trying to retain as much gas in the dough as possible, and
punching it down knocks gas out and results in denser loaves.)4.
The day you wish to bake, dust a pizza peel or a baking sheet turned
upside down with cornmeal or line it with parchment paper. Cut off a
1-pound piece of dough with a serrated knife or kitchen shears. Hold the
dough in your hands and add more flour as needed so it doesn’t stick to
your hands. (What you’re trying to do is surround the surface of the
dough with flour so that it can be handled. Resist the temptation to get
rid of all the stickiness by incorporating the flour into the dough.)
Gently stretch the surface of the dough, tucking the ends underneath the
ball and rotating it a quarter turn as you go. Most of the dusting
flour will fall off, and that’s okay; it’s not intended to be
incorporated into the dough. The bottom of the ball of dough may appear
to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will flatten out and adhere
during resting and baking. The properly shaped loaf will be smooth and
cohesive and the entire shaping process should take no more than 20 to
40 seconds—don’t work the dough any longer or your loaves may be dense.
Place the shaped ball of dough on the prepared pizza peel and let it
rest for about 40 minutes. It doesn’t need to be covered. You may not
see much rise during this period, but don’t fret. It will rise much more
during baking.5. Preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 20 to
30 minutes. Preheat a baking stone on a middle rack for at least 20 to
30 minutes. Place an empty metal broiler tray on any rack that won’t
interfere with the rising bread. (Do not use a glass pan as it’s likely
to shatter.) 6. Dust the top of the raised loaf liberally with
flour and, using a serrated bread knife, slash a 1/2-inch-deep cross or
tic-tac-toe pattern in the top. There’s no need to dust the flour off
the loaf.7. Place the tip of the peel in the oven a few inches
beyond where you want the bread to land. Give the peel a few quick
forward-and-back jiggles and then sharply pull it out from under the
loaf. Quickly but carefully pour about 1 cup hot water into the broiler
tray and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for a total of 20
to 35 minutes, until the crust is richly browned and firm to the touch.
(Because the dough is so wet, there is little risk of drying out the
interior, despite the dark crust.) A perfectly baked loaf will audibly
crackle, or “sing,” when initially exposed to room temperature. Let the
loaf cool completely, preferably on a wire rack for the best flavor,
texture, and slicing. The crust may initially soften, but will firm when
cooled. Read more at
leitesculinaria.com/ 93789/recipes-5-minu te-artisan-bread.htm l#JH603Ib78Wwpt 4951