My hubby and me are trying to find the best, easy, and yummy of course, recipe for bread. Last week he bought a book “ Artisan bread in five minutes a day” That you didn’t have to do all the steps from traditional Artisan baking. You don’t need to mix a new batch every time you want to make a bread, no “proof” needed, knead the dough, rest and rise, punch down and re-rise, it was actually very easy. You mix everything and store it in the fridge for a week or two, and with that you can make Pizza, focaccia, bread, grissini (bread sticks), I thought it was too good to be true, but we tried anyway. Mixing the dough is a breeze; the not so easy part is the actually baking. First you have to use a Baking stone, broiler tray to hold boiling water for steam and a pizza peel. You must dust the baking stone with corn flour (so the dough doesn’t stick to the stone). I didn’t like that at all because the whole time the bread is baking the only smell in the house is of burned corn flour.
That’s not nice… without saying it was a bit of a mess. But the bread was good, not amazing but good, with that batch we had 2 breads, 1 pizza, and some bread sticks. The good thing is you have this container in the fridge and if you feel like baking something it’s there ready for you. But yesterday I was armchair traveling, reading this beautiful book about China, “In Beyond The Grate Wall” by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, who met and fell in love as young travelers in Tibet. The book is really beautiful with amazing pictures. So I found this bread that is baked in a Dutch oven pan (‘Le Creuset’ or ‘Mario Batali’ pan will do). The name of the loaf was “Kazakh Family Loaf”. It was a bit more work than the five minutes baking, but I loved the fact that it was baked in the pan (40 minutes with the lid and 20 without), and when I tried the bread it was so good that I heard kind of celestial music like OHHHHHH!!! This recipe is definetly a keeper. Next I’m going to try a recipe from “La Brea Bakery” (Nancy Silverston). She owned possibly the best bakery on the west cost (L.A, California). She recently sold her bakery for a rumored 80 million dollars. For my hubby she is God. She moved on to open the incredibly successful ‘pizzeria Mozza’ in L.A (together with Mario Batali), revolutionizing the gourmet pizza industry. So with her book in hand, I’ll cross my fingers to not disappoint my tough costumer (hubby). I’ll let you know.
Kazakh Family Loaf
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm water
- 1teaspoon active dry yeast
- 4 to 5 cups of all-purpose flour (plus extra for surface)
- ½ cup plain full fat yogurt
- 2 teaspoon salt
- Oil or butter for greasing the pan.
Place the water in a medium bowl and sprinkle the yeast. Add 1 cup of the flour and stir to make a batter. Add the yogurt and stir it in. Then add another cup of flour and stir to incorporate Sprinkle the salt and another cup of flour stir and turn the dough to incorporate the flour. Flour a work surface with about 1 cup of flour then turn the dough out and knead. Incorporating the flour as you fold and turn, fold and turn for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and still a little soft but no longer sticky, add more flour to your work surface if necessary.
Wash and dry the bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise for 3 hours or until more than doubled in volume. (When the dough is fully risen, you can poke with one finger and the indentation will stay, if it is not yet ready the dough will rebound when dented). Rinse an 8 or 9inch cast iron or other heavy straight-sided pot that is 6 inches or more deep and has a heavy ovenproof lid with hot water to warm it, and then wipe it dry. Place a circle of parchment paper in the bottom of the pot; lightly grease the sides of the pot. Turn the dough to a floured surface and shape it into a round. Gently place it into the pan, put on the lid and set aside for 1 hour in a warm spot. The loaf may not quite double. Meanwhile, place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 385F. Bake with the lid on for 40 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes. The sides should be golden brown. Let stand for 30 minutes to firm up before slice. Enjoy.