Abundance

Baking Today

At this moment my house smells of simmering tomato sauce and baking bread.  Tonight's dinner is spaghetti and meatballs, a fresh-from-the-garden green salad (well almost green ... gotta have my radishes from the garden), and some home-baked bread.  Since today is going to be quite warm, I got an early start on making the sauce and setting the dough to rise.  All should be complete and the kitchen tidied back up by about 1 PM.

Here's one of my favorite, easy bread recipes from Beard on Bread:

1.5 Tablespoons active dry yeast

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar (I use Sucanat)

2 cups warm water (110 - 115 degrees F.)

1 Tablespoon sea salt

5 cups all-purpose flour (or hard white wheat), plus 1 cup if necessary

3 Tablespoons yellow corn meal

1 Tablespoon egg white mixed with water

Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large mixing bowl and allow to proof.  Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, one cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough.  Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky (about 10 minutes), adding flour as necessary.  Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk; one and a half to two hours.

Punch down the dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface and divide dough into two equal portions.  Shape dough into two long, French bread style loaves.  Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the corn meal but not buttered.  You can also use a pan designed for making French bread.  Slash the tops of the loaves diagonally in two or three places with a single-edged razor blade or sharp knife.  Brush the loaves with the egg white wash.  At this point, I usually sprinkle some sesame seeds over the tops of the loaves. 

Place in a COLD oven, set the temperature for 400 degrees F., and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and hollow sounding when the tops are tapped.

Try to allow the bread to cool a bit before slathering it with butter and gobbling it all up! 

Okay, off to stir the sauce and check on the bread! 

E