Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

This post is really more of a pitch for a new favorite cookbook than it is a recipe. But I'll include a recipe below.

A few months ago our friends Steve and Laura stopped by late one evening. They brought with them the most stunning loaf of bread. They related how some friends had taught them to make the bread using the book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Being the frugal and conservative soul that I am, I found the book at the library and tried it out. It was instant love. Our family loves homemade bread, and we have long dreamed of making the kind of bread you find in Italian bakeries. This book proved just the ticket.

I've settled into a couple of favorite recipes, although I'm sure I'll eventually try others. For the most part, this book lives up to its title: you can mix up the bread, let it raise for a couple of hours, and then either bake it immediately or store it in the fridge for use a few days later. Or, since the recipe makes a large quantity even by our family's standards, you can do both. I often make an initial batch on Sunday and then bake the rest later in the week. Here's what the pre-baked product looks like:

And yes, having a pizza peel and a pizza stone really helps.

To be clear, I ordered the book through Amazon not long after it was due at the library. The recipe below is for peasant bread. In the book it's listed as roasted garlic potato bread; I made it with roasted garlic the first time, but wasn't awed by the results. Now I make it without and (gasp!) use instant potatoes. 

 Roasted Garlic Potato Bread
From Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
By Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup mashed potato
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I confess that I usually use the pure white stuff)
Cornmeal for the pizza peel

1. Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and mashed potatoes with the water in a 5-quart bowl or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

2. Mix in the flour without kneading, using a spoon or a 14-cup capacity food processor with dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with dough hook). If you're not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

3. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses or flattens on top, approximately 2 hours.

4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 7 days.

5. On baking day, dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour adn quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Allow to rest and rise on a cornmeal-covered pizza peel for 1 hour (or just 40 minutes if you're using fresh, un-refrigerated dough).

6. Twenty minutes before baking time, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone placed on the middle rack of the oven. Place a broiler tray for water on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.

7. Sprinkle the loaf liberally with flour and slash a cross, "scallop," or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top, using a serrated bread knife. Leave the flour in place for baking; tap some of it off before eating.

8. Slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until deeply brown and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time.

Allow to cool before slicing or eating.

Chunky Blonde Brownies

We're big brownie fans. Not necessarily because we like our brownies large (although, truth be told, that's probably more right than wrong). But we like brownies of all kinds. When we want to mix things up a little bit we try these blonde brownies as an alternative to classic chocolate brownies.  Even Bob, who claims not to like blonde brownies, likes these.

I think the recipe is originally from Taste of Home. I found it on a now-unknown website and have modified it slightly based on the ingredients we tend to have on hand. I've found that this recipe is especially popular with kids, but everyone likes it with vanilla ice cream on top.

Chunky Blonde Brownies
Makes about 24 brownies, unless you cut them very large

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 - 1 cup chopped walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the butter and sugar mixture and blend well.

Stir in the white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chips and the nuts. Spoon into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan and spread evenly over the bottom. Sprinkle with any remaining nuts.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Veggie Lasagna

This recipe was a gift from my friend Jen. And I really mean that. I had heard her talk about her love for veggie lasagna for a few years and finally mustered the courage to ask her for the recipe. The result has been true love.

At least it has been for a little more than half of our family. We usually only make this during the summer because that's when all of the required vegetables are growing in our back yard (okay, at least many of them). Several of our children say they perfer this version of lasagna to its more traditional sister. The rest of the kids like it well enough to eat it without complaining.

I've found that you can mix up the combination of vegetables quite a bit. For example, you'll notice that the photo above shows off the spinach I included. If I don't have spinach, I leave it out (although including it is my preferance). It's also prettier with summer squash and zucchini because of the color differences (the same is true for multi-colored peppers). But I've also made it with whatever I happened to have on hand and it's delicious.

Vegetable Lasagna

2 medium bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 medium zucchini sliced (I have sliced them both lengthwise and cross wise. I am still undecided about which method I prefer).
1 medium onion sliced
½ pound mushrooms cleaned and sliced
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried parsley
Freshly ground pepper to taste
9 lasagna noodles
1-2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
1 jar spaghetti sauce ( Jen always uses Prego Italian sausage; I use whatever is stockpiled in my basement that was on sale for $1, usually Ragu traditional. It is sacreligious, I know, but I also sometimes sneak in about 1/2 pound of cooked sausage).

For the veggies: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put cut vegetables in a large bowl. Use olive oil, salt, seasonings, pepper and salt. Mix until the vegetables are lightly and evenly coated. Spray a jelly roll pan with cooking spray and spread veggies on it evenly. Bake for a total of 20 minutes (I usually take them out at the ten minute mark to toss them for more even roasting.

While veggies are in the oven, cook the noodles according to package directions. Reduce oven to 400 degrees. Spread a bit of the sauce on the bottom of pan then layer noodles, sauce, veggies, cheese. You will end up with three layers. Bake uncovered at 400 for 20-25 minutes. Let stand for 10 before cutting.