Monthly Archives: September 2007

As sure as any other sign of the changes in season, my desire to bake bread is a signal that fall is coming. The feel of the dough and the smell of baking yeast fill some unknown void that the shortening days seem to create.
My standard loaf seems to be a hit around the house, especially with the baby, who likes nothing more than to carry around a warm crust of bread and munch on it.

1lb bread flour
.65 lb warm water
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp melted butter or olive oil

Bring all the ingredients together in a bowl till the dough comes together. Kneed for 3-5 minutes (by hand or in a stand mixer with dough hook). Lightly coat with additional butter or oil and let rise on a warm location for 2 hours till doubled in size.

Turn out the dough and gently flatten, fold and flatten 3 times in thirds, leaving the dough in the same spot so that the bottom is always on the bottom. After 3-4 folds, flip over and tuck the loose corners in the base and shape into a ball. Place the ball into a round pottery vessel 6 inch round and 10 inch tall and allow to rise till dough reaches the top of the container.

Once the dough has risen, slash the top of the bread with a sharp knife. Preheat the over to 400 with a glass container of water on the bottom rack.

Once the oven reached temperature, allow 10 more minutes before putting the bread in the oven. Watch out for the steam when you open the door and place the bread on the top rack with the top of the vessel 3-4 inches from the ceiling of the oven.

Cook for 25-35 minutes. Use an instant read thermometer to test for doneness, look for a reading of 195-205 (over 212 and you are burned because all the water has boiled out of the loaf as steam). Remove loaf from vessel and allow to cool.