I love cooking but I’m intimidated by baking (don’t know why). But we are desperate for some good, organic bread that doesn’t cost $5 and that is right at hand in the kitchen and pantry. So when I read this Master Recipe for a boule from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe François – available on Mother Earth News – I knew I couldn’t lose by trying.
It literally takes 5 minutes to make the dough (enough for 4 1 lb loaves). After letting it rise for a minimum of 2 hours you refrigerate it for a minimum of 3 hours and a maximum of 2 weeks. On baking day you pull it out of the fridge, cut off a chunk and take 5 minutes to prepare it for baking (about 30 minutes). No need for several rises and, best of all, no kneading.
And voila, le boule:
It was not the failure I was expecting—What is wrong with me! It’s great! I’m on my third slice, with just butter.
I will adjust the cooking time a bit, and I’ll put more salt into the next batch. The idea is to proceed to the heavier, more nutritious breads, like the thick and moist whole grain bread I used to devour as a kid. I remember the loaf came with a small white wafer stuck on top. But this was my first-ever bread, and I know better than to take each re-skilling effort beyond my nearest scaffold.
I now also keep a roll of basic sugar cookie dough in the fridge. When we feel like cookies, I preheat the oven, slice off as many as we want, and within 15 minutes we’re munching on them.
I might become a baker after all.
And after baking I keep the oven door open so we can benefit again from all that residual heat.
Oh….the Artisan Bread in 5 recipe makes wonderful bread. We’ve been hooked on it for a few months. The boule recipe makes nice baguettes and a nice sandwich loaf if you make it in a very well greased loaf pan.
Their blog also has some additional recipes.
We just tried the whole wheat sandwich recipe from the book and have been pleased with it. It makes a nice sandwich bread and a yummy if very inauthentic paratha.
That’s so awesome! Good for you!
I love making bread, but it can be so time-consuming, and I just don’t always make the time. My favorite bread recipe is the one-hour French bread I found online. It, literally, takes one hour from pouring the water into a bowl to piping hot bread on the table. It’s my favorite bread to make ;).