Trial #1 of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

The Bread Challenge ensues...

One of my first blog posts addressed my recent wonderment on the topic of homemade bread. The question at hand was whether or not the greatest thing since sliced bread was actually homemade bread (Sunday Therapy)?

The answer is YES! Since my initial Focaccia experiment in Sunday Therapy Part 1, Session 1, I have slowly expanded the types of breads attempted to include...

• Cheddar Jalapeno Bread
• Lavash Cracker Bread
• Seeded Challah
• Cheddar-Thyme Rolls

My groovy parents are the best Santas out there...among the overly generous bounty of gifts, were a few more cookbooks to fuel the blog and baking challenges:

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg MD and Zoe Francois

Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, The second book by Jeff & Zoe

Baking by James Peterson

At my husband's request I began with Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day.

In case you have not heard of these books, they are based on the notion that with only 5 minutes of active prep time a day you can make fresh bread. How does this work you ask? Well the authors provide a no-knead dough recipe that can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. The idea is you just grab some of your pre-mixed dough from the icebox, shape, rise briefly and bake.

Now think about this...fresh bread in 5 minutes a day! SUPER Homemaker would be more like it. How could I resist the temptation to not only conquer my bread quest, but also be that person who can whip up a fresh loaf for last minute dinner parties!?!

OK, now let's slow down here...it is part of my expressive nature to get a little carried away at the onset of a new challenge/idea. In order to get a feel for things, I wanted to first try some of the actual recipes out.

The risen dough for Cheddar Bread from the book. There is enough here to make 4 x 1lb loaves!

An interesting side note - Author Zoe at one point mentions she grew up in the NEK (Northeast Kingdom) of VT. For this cheddar bread recipe she mentions she grew up near Shelburne Farms...since the two are no where near one another I'll have to assume either 1) she moved around the state quite a bit or 2) she's full of you know what and wrote that to endorse her book/recipe.

OK, now back to our regularly scheduled program...

Since I was planning to give these to friends that very day as gifts, I shaped up half the dough into two loaves and allowed them to rise again. The remaining dough went into the fridge (and is still there...test #2 of the book!).


Once time has passed, the surface is floured in preparation for...

Cutting!

Yup, Ms. Fancy Pants here is learning to make bread that is visually appealing as well as tasty!!

Experienced bread folks might say at this point: jeez, those look awful! In my own defense, I also received a super nice (and sharp) bread knife from my in-laws this year. It was soooo smooth slicing the dough that I accidentally cut a little too deep, which you'll see in the finished product.

Ready for the oven (btw all this bread is cooked on the baking/pizza stone)!

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While making the Cheddar Bread dough, I also made the one for French Boule. The Boule is the holy grail for the book and termed The Master Recipe. As the basic model for all breads in the book, I assume learning to make this comfortably will enable me to pursue other types.

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Not the prettiest looking loaves.

First time for everything right?!?!

Now, are you ready to see the finished products???

Cheddar Bread, Loaf 1 - Full Frontal

Loaf 1 - Ariel View

Loaf 1 - Side Profile

Loaf 2 - It's good side.

Loaf 2 - It's other good side.

Ahhh, the happy couple...of Cheddar Bread Loaves.

The WHOLE FAMILY of bread from the day.

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While not the best looking, the baguettes tasted wonderful. A of B&A mentioned she really liked their crust (this was my New Year's Eve Bread). I also took a loaf of each to JCx2's party that night as well. They too seemed to enjoy them and put some of each out with their cheese selections (it is possible they could have just been making a friendly gesture).

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My only comments on the Cheddar Bread are 1) not enough cheese, 2) it was a little denser then I had expected and 3) easy with the knife!

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For the baguettes, I need to work on forming the loaves and a more even cooking in our oven.

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Overall I was happy with the outcome and will continue to pursue the idea that I can have fresh bread in 5 minutes a day.
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Onto the next one!

Bread, not forgotten

A brief side trip back to November 2009...

Never making it to the blog was my second attempt at our oh-so loved Cheddar Jalapeno Bread.
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Since making it through the initial trial rather successfully, my husband and I put out heads together to improve upon the decent first loaf (MORE on The Bread Project). This time we wanted to get even closer to the stone-fired original we crave so much from summers at our family's summer camp.

The ingredients were pretty much the same, except we cubed/diced the cheese (rather than shredded) and added canned corn.

We topped the loaves with cheddar to improve upon the crust.

Also, we incidentally tried 1 loaf in a pan and allowed the other to go free form on our baking stone.

They looked great!

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The free-form loaf was almost spot on compared to the original we were trying to recreate!

*The crust was thick, the inside was airy/holey...the taste sooo unbelievably scrumptious!!!

For the loaf version, the bread was more dense, and the side/bottom crusts left something to be desired, but the taste once again absolutely wonderful!!

To give credit where credit is due, my husband came up with the diced cheese and I was the one with the corn.

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We happily shared these with our family at our multi-dinner Thanksgiving!

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SOO psyched we found one to love...

cause we just gotta have our Cheddar Jalapeno Bread!

Lavash Treat

My first try at a homemade yeast cracker...or rather cracker bread!

Typically a thin soft bread, this Lavash recipe creates beautiful crunchy crackers.

They were a huge hit this holiday! I do recommend pairing with hummus or soft cheeses, as it is a very dry one.

WAKE UP!

White on white

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Mix it all up.

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Add olive oil & water.

Kind of looks like a strange planet's surface up close??

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Time to wait, but of course!

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This was the hardest part, roll the dough until super thin!

My dough was a bit elastic...I think this was because I did not knead/mix as long as I should have, or maybe I was just a little short on water.

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Decorate with poppy & kosher salt.

Toasted sesame seeds & salt.

Birdseye view.

The finished product!

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Just snap and serve.

I will definitely attempt this again!

A Christmas Eve Baking Challenge

1 Little Ms. Homemaker + 1 Day off from Work =

An Over Ambitious Christmas Eve

Call me crazy if you will, but here is how my Christmas Eve unfolded.

The 2009 Christmas Eve Challenge

Challah

Garlic Rosemary Rolls

Cheddar-Thyme Twists

Roasted Cauliflower with Capers

Creamed Spinach

Brown Butter Tart with Cranberries

Let's get started!

The day's menu items called for a good amount of yeast. Perhaps one of the most interesting was the Cheddar-Thyme Twist recipe, which called for it to be awaken in a cream-sugar mixture.

Initially combined...kind of looks like cream of wheat or something.

Then the magic happens and we end up with this!

Another strange happening of this recipe is that the dough was made in the food processor. Never have I heard of such a thing...but I gave it a whirl!

Butter & dry ingredients were combined to a crumb like texture (similar to when making pie dough!).

Egg yolks added.

Now we have our first ever bread dough from the food processor!

The dough is covered and allowed to rest in the fridge.


Onto the Brown Butter Tart!

I am a traditionalist when it comes to pie crust. Armed with my handy pastry cutter, I will cut the butter into the dry ingredients until I have reached the perfect vision of pea-like crumbs.

This time however, the Tart recipe calls for the crust to be made in a food processor.

My sister in law uses the food processor method for here crust and swears by it. We've just done bread dough in one, so I figured why not give this a whirl while we're at it!


Cream and egg mixture serve as the crust's wet ingredients. The use of cream was also something new to me, as the only crusts I have done use water. It's going to be a rich one!


I did not get a picture, but once combined the dough does not look like what I had expected...it was crumby, literally! I packed the dry dough into a disk shape and placed it in the fridge to set.


Now for the beautiful Challah!

A particularly tasty recipe that calls for Anise, Caraway & Sesame Seeds!


The Sesame Seeds on hand were already toasted, so we warm the Anise & Caraway.


The aromas are wonderful!


The Challah dough was mixed and allowed to rise.
In the meantime we go back to the risen roll dough.

Garlic and Rosemary Rolls!


Resting for the second rising!


A close up of the rising supple dough...smothered in garlic olive oil deliciousness!





A brief sidetrack to the roasted cauliflower dish.
The recipe called for salt packed capers.



I've never seen these before, so thought I'd include a picture.



Back to the Tart!

Cranberries washed and dried.

Little jewels were in need of a close up...a vibrant color splash for this day of cooking!

The process of making brown butter filling.

On Top Chef and other food shows I have seen and heard about browned butter. This is my first time at making it.

Included for this filling is a vanilla bean.

Combined with the egg/cream.

Added to our short bread tart crust.

Looks great. Perhaps the most refined looking dessert I've ever done!

Return of the challah!

The dough has risen and is punched down and shaped.

Once shaped the second rising occurs...

The toasted seeds are sprinkled quite liberally on.

Baked after an egg wash.

The final cheddar-thyme twists.

Back to the tart once again!

The cranberry topping is cooked up.

I ran out of time, so we raced off with a bread platter, sides and cheese ball in hand to my in-laws for Christmas Eve dinner.

The bread.

Cheeseball & Lavash crackers are on the right side in the stark light.

Ahhhhh, a professionally done roast beast (by my fabulous father in law)!

My nephew and mother in law help dress the tart.

One of the best Christmas Dinners I have ever consumed!!!!!!!!!