My culinary students often ask me what is my favorite thing to bake. My answer is easy: bread! Baking a loaf of bread is one of the most rewarding things you can do in the kitchen. In my house, the aroma of warm bread is sure to bring everyone into the kitchen. Before I know it, half the bread is gone before we even sit down to dinner!
Growing up in Greece, stopping by my small neighborhood bakery was part of the daily morning routine. No matter what was planned for lunch, we had to have fresh bread. Everybody did. When I later lived in Italy, the same routine was part of everybody’s life. You have to have fresh bread; it was part of every meal. Until I moved to the U.S., I never thought that bread could possibly top a long (and always varying) list of foods that are “bad for you”. Perhaps the highly processed-enriched-stripped-of-any-natural-grain goodness- sliced supermarket breads, but surely not the one that we can make at home. Not the bread that only lists flour, yeast, water and salt as ingredients.
For those of you out there who are looking for an easy recipe for everyday bread, this is the one to try. It makes 5 loaves, enough to last you all week, if you bake a few at a time and store the rest in your refrigerator for later. If you want, you can half the recipe and make three thiner loaves. Give it a try; share a loaf with your friends or neighbors and most importantly, enjoy it without guilt because you know exactly what is in it!
Everyday Bread
- 2¼ cups lukewarm water
- 1 packet dry-active yeast
- 2 TBSP. sugar
- 7 cups bread flour (or AP flour) - about 1 Kg.
- 1 TBSP. salt
- 1 --- egg white, lightly beaten
- --- coarse sea salt for topping
- Stir the yeast and the sugar in the lukewarm water and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Measure the flour into the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer equipped with a dough hook. Stir in the salt and then pour in the liquid mixture. Mix the dough on low speed until it is nice and smooth. (If you do not have a stand mixer, use a large bowl and mix first with a wooden spatula and then with your hands.) Cover the bowl with plastic and top the plastic with a towel. Set on a wooden surface (marble or stone are too cold) and let rise away from drafts for at least an hour.
- Flour a prep area and turn out the dough. Divide the dough into five equal pieces. Using a pastry scraper, gently fold each piece of the dough over itself and roll while pushing the dough outwards until it becomes a long rope. Don't handle the dough more than you have to. Place a few of the dough “ropes” on a well-oiled, perforated bread pan. Leave it to rise again, this time for 30-40 minutes. (Store the rest of the dough in the refrigerator to use later in the week, or freeze, wrapped individually.)
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Use a very sharp knife to score the bread with evenly distributed, diagonal marks; about 5-6 scores per loaf. Brush the loaves lightly with egg white and sprinkle some coarse sea salt. Fill a small pan with water and place it on the bottom rack of your oven. (This helps keep a good amount of moisture in the oven while the bread bakes.) Place the bread loaf pan in the oven and bake for about 20-30 minutes or until the loaves are crusty and golden brown. When they are done, let them cool on a rack for 5 minutes or so before you slice them. Enjoy without guilt!
About the pan and the flour I like to use for bread making: This is the pan that I usually use for this kind of bread and this is my favorite bread flour. If I don’t have it in my pantry, the AP (All-purpose) variety of the same brand works well too. (Disclaimer: I do not receive any commission from either.)
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