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Daddy Bread

June 4, 2012 by admin

Here’s our simple and popular bread, referred to around here as “Daddy Bread.”   It can be set up in the morning for evening bread, or cranked out in as little as two hours before dinner.  The longer rising time is better though.  Try to let it rise for as much time as you can spare.

It’s a basic recipe.  Play around with it.  Add more salt or more yeast.  Adjust your rising times and notice how it turns out differently each time.  Use this as a starting place to make it your own loaf.

Ingredients:

5 cups flour:  we use Unbleached All-Purpose Flour.  Why pay extra money for bleached flour?

2 cups water: If you filter your water to drink, then use filtered water in your recipes.  How the water tastes determines how the bread tastes.

2 Tablespoons dry yeast: You can buy a one pound package of Red Star yeast for less than $5 at your supermarket.  It will keep for a long time in a jar in your fridge, and is a WAY better value than all those little envelopes.

1 Teaspoon salt: Kosher or not?  It’s your choice.

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Method:

  1. Mix the flour and water together.  We do this by hand, why worry about a mixer?  You can use a mixer if you want.  Mix these together at least 25 strokes.
  2. Add yeast.  Mix another ten strokes.
  3. Add Salt.  Mix another ten Strokes.
  4. Form into a big ball. Drizzle with olive oil and flip the ball over in the bowl a few times to make sure the whole thing is oil covered.
  5. Cover with a clean towel and put in a warm part of your kitchen.   Most places are fine, but keep it away from open windows and such.  We frequently set it backed into a corner of the counter.
  6. Let this part sit for 1 to 8 hours.  Longer the better, but we’ve made great bread with a one hour rise.
  7. Sprinkle corn meal on a sheet pan.  Break the dough into two roughly even clumps, and shape into long loaves, (no longer than your pan!)  A good trick is to fold the dough over on itself a couple of times.  When you like your loaf, lay it in the pan, cover with the towel, and let sit for 30 to 45 minutes. Don’t let it go much longer than that though, or the loaves will collapse!
  8. When you feel it’s ready, put into a 425 degree oven.  Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven.
  9. Let it cool a bit before slicing.  Super hot bread tends to get crushed by the knife, a problem that goes away if you let it sit for ten minutes. (It will still be piping hot from the oven!)

 

Now it’s ready to eat!  Enjoy!  We love Daddy Bread with butter or hummus.  Or  slice it up and make bruschetta.  However you like to eat Daddy Bread, if your family is like ours, your bread will disappear fast!


4 Comments

  1. […] Bread : Easy and delicious, and nothing will make your home smell better than rising and baking bread! […]

  2. […] weather means it is easier to run the oven without melting everyone inside.  Cookies, pies, and fresh bread all beg to be created during this time of year.  Use this time to experiment with recipes you’re […]

  3. […] welcoming and warming in the winter, but we enjoy it all year round.  Serve it up with some Daddy Bread, or over a scoop of brown rice to complete the […]

  4. […] like to make hummus when we are making Daddy Bread.  But it also goes great with pitas, or tortilla chips—or anything else you like to […]

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