Fresh-baked bread - woohoo! | Arthritis Information

 

The boys and I decided to make some homemade French bread yesterday.  I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out.  We reviewed what yeast is and what it does, and read through a few different recipes to try to get an understanding of kneading the dough and forming the loaves.  The boys were amazed at the size increase after both of the rising periods... and then when we finally baked the loaves OMG it was amazing!  And delicious!  Now they want to make bread every day.   Bread is my Achilles heel!  I loooooooooove fresh bread!  You should make pizza dough with them so they can build their own pizza! Actually we love French bread pizzas so maybe next time we'll make extra bread for pizzas!!! And I think we'll try to make some homemade tortillas next.  I swear I could live on tortillas. The Pizza Idea is great. My kids used to love making their own. We would do the dough on  a friday night and then saturdays we'd go shopping for their toppings. Even now years later they still love it..

My husband was truly amazed when we pulled those loaves out of the oven!!!!  And older son is really starting to become useful in the kitchen.  He enjoys cooking, and it seems to be one of the few things he can concentrate on and not get bored quickly.*  And he also sees the importance of cleaning up during and after a cooking/baking session.  Both are also becoming more interested in nutrition, grocery shopping, and other "domestic engineering" feats.

* don't worry - he's not ADHD, but rather just a typical 9-year old boy.  The other thing that keeps his attention is his beloved snare drum, but I can only take so much drum practice in the house before I feel like I'm going to have an aneurysm. Way to go Jas, you will make their future wives happy women!  Jas.. what a blast of a day!!  I love thinking about the fun you had!!  and they learned too!! double plus! Always good to have kids help in the kitchen. Mmmm....warm homemade bread with butterI think fresh  baked bread  is one my all time favorite smells.  Smelling it is almost as good as eating it.jasmine rain, I never baked I would love to have some recepies for bread or cake but without egg.  If you have one, i will love to give it a try. [QUOTE=veenu]jasmine rain, I never baked I would love to have some recepies for bread or cake but without egg.  If you have one, i will love to give it a try.[/QUOTE]

Hi!  Here's the recipe we used.  It's a combination of a few different recipes we found online.  You don't have to brush the loaves with egg white before and during baking - some recipes said to just brush them with water in order to crisp up the crust.  You don't need to use the butter either - you can substitute olive oil or some other grease, or just omit it all together ("true" french bread does not use any).

Best of luck!

5 1/2 c flour
1 3/4 c warm water (110F)
1 tbsp butter
2 tsp salt
4.5 tsp dry active yeast (equiv of 2 packets)
1 egg white beaten with 1 tbsp water

Melt butter in glass bowl in microwave (about 20 sec).  Add warm water.  Sprinkle yeast over water.  Stir until dissolved.  Add salt and flour (1 cup at a time; may not use it all) until dough forms.  Knead for 10 minutes, adding in additional flour (remember - no more than 5 1/2 cups total).  Put dough in greased glass bowl (we used peanut oil); turn dough so whole surface is greased.  Place bowl on heating pad set on low.  Cover with warm damp towel; cover that towel with a dry towel.  Let sit 30-60 minutes until doubled in size.  Punch down dough and divide in 2.  Roll out each half into a rectangle 10"x15" and roll lengthwise into long skinny loaves (about 16" long).  Place on cookie sheet w/nonstick pad (cornmeal sprinkled on top of pad).  Make sure plenty of room between loaves - otherwise they will run together!!!  Cover with towel; place cookie sheet on heating pad set on low.  Allow to double in size, approximately 30 to 60 minutes.  While waiting, preheat oven to 450F.  Put one oven rack on lowest setting; place second rack 2 notches up from the first.  Place cookie sheet on lowest rack.  When dough is done rising (remember - doubled in size), brush loaves with egg white mixture; make 4 or 5 diagonal 1/4" deep slashes in each loaf.  Pour 1/2 cup warm water into cookie sheet on the bottom rack in the oven to make steam.  Quickly place baking pan with loaves on top rack, just above cookie sheet w/water.  Turn heat down to 400F after 5 minutes.  After 10 minutes, brush loaves with egg white mixture again.  Bake another 10-15 minutes, until brown and hollow-sounding when tapped.  Don't take them out too soon or they won't be done in the middle!!!
JasmineRain2009-05-03 18:38:22Now that I am a full-time domestic engineer, I think I'm going to get our upstairs kitchen set up as the "fun" kitchen where boys and I can work on baking and cooking.  I like the oven better up here anyway.  It's a gas range, and the oven has a window in the door so that we can see how our creations are doing.

I'm going to have to move the table saw and project bench out of the kitchen though.
Hi JasmineRain, I am rather late arriving at this bread baking party, however I just wanted to say making and baking bread is one of the kitchen chores I love. I also adore kitchen gadgets. One gadget that does all it is advertised to do and then some is this strange little contraption

It bakes a 12 inch focacci with a nicely crisped bottom and a well-browned top without having to head up your oven and pizza becomes a joy to behold.

To bread and breaking it with loved ones, Shug
http://us.macmillan.com/BookCustomPage.aspx?isbn=9780312362911&m_type=2&m_contentid=119255#video Above is a link to a video featuring Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg who have written the book ' Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day'. I make their master recipe (featured on the video) at home at least 3 times a week, with the dough that is mixed with a wooden spoon and can be left in the fridge for up to two weeks! No kneading involved, the bread is fantastic and the older it gets, the better it tastes. The dough produces a texture not unlike ciabatta bread as it ages. Makes wonderful pizza also.