Making Bread Out of Nothing at All

I suck at measuring.  I like to throw things together at the whim of my heart and my refrigerator.    I have a whole post about "repeatable experience" cooking drafted, but the gist is, I'm not good at it.  Mostly, I don't write things down, and I don't use measuring cups.   I get angry, like they are trying to tell me what to do.   Who are you to dictate to me, tablespoon?   Huh?  What if I don't want a tablespoon, what then? Huh?

And that is why I like to make bread.

I know, I know- stop looking at me crazy.   It does seem counter intuitive.   But the fact of the matter is that bread is about proportion.  It's about variables.  It's about getting the dough to feel right under your fingers, and on some days it may take 3 cups of flour; on others, 3 and a half.   And you'll drive yourself crazy if you care about anything but the following:

• You're using active yeast, and you don't kill it with hot water.
• How your dough feels in your hands.

I'm going to do several posts on this, because more than anything, I get questions about bread making, and it's just not scary.  I swear.  It's so easy to fix bread, because your dough tells you what it needs to be happy.

And all you need is flour, yeast and liquid to make bread.   It's the best kind of kitchen cupboard cooking I know.   There's so much 'scope for imagination' in bread making.   One cup of liquid, 2 tsp yeast, 3 cups of flour- that's the basic proportions for bread.   But notice that they are proportions- you can use anything at hand to measure, as long as the ratio remains roughly the same.  And "liquid" is a relative term, too.  You want moisture.  As you'll see below, I subbed cottage cheese.

Let's try it with a flavored oil:

As part of our gift for ushering at my nephew Tom and my new niece Jackie's wedding, we got an adorable bottle of sundried tomato and basil oil. Shockingly, I had a basil plant I haven't yet managed to kill. That seemed like a good start to something- why not bread?

Note that these are rough measurements.  The only thing I actually measured was the yeast and the liquids- you can totally get away with that.

• 1 cup warm milk (or water and milk powder, which is what I did)
• 2 tbl sugar
• 1 tbl yeast
• 1 tsp toasted onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 3/4 cup cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup flavored olive oil, plus more for coating
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 5-6 cups bread flour

In a large bowl, or Kitchen Aid mixer bowl, combine the first three ingredients. Allow five minutes for the yeast to bloom- you want the mixture to look bubbly.* Add all the other ingredients except flour, and mix thoroughly. Beat in flour in batches. When the mixture becomes too stiff to stir, turn it out and knead the last few cups.   If you're really new to this bread thing, don't use a stand mixer at first.  The hook will let you add more flour than your dough really needs, and it pummels it so much that it can get overworked really fast.

Because, really, the most important thing for you to know is how a good dough feels.  It should be sleek and slightly tacky.   It should be tactile, and sound hollow when hit.    

Fixes for unhappy dough:

If it feels heavy and dry, and does not move with ease, knead in some extra liquid.  

Too wet? The best thing you can do if you're not sure your dough has quite enough flour is to walk away for 10 minutes.   When you return, I bet you'll find it's better than you left it, because the flour has hydrated and relaxed.   Dust it with flour and knead it again.  If you are again unsure, walk away and repeat.   

Coat the dough in the oil and allow to rise for at least an hour, or until roughly doubled. It will depend on the yeast.

Punch down the risen dough and cut into two loaves or form buns. Knead and shape. I did two rounds and scored the top like a star. You could easily do loaves. Brush with oil, allow to rise another 40 minutes.

Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.


* I have learned the hard way to bloom the yeast first- there's no point in any of the other steps if you don't know how active your yeast is. If it's slow to get foamy, add a bit extra and allow more rising time. But if after 10 minutes, it still floats in sad beige clumps, don't use it.  And do NOT, whatever you do, put yeast in water that's warmer than skin temperature.


Questions?