Fresh-baked bread is a big part of life at 963, and this is my new favorite go-to bread book. Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day sounds too good to be true, but it works for me so far. The trick is mixing up a big batch of dough (a "master recipe") that can be refrigerated for up to 14 days. Then, when you're ready to make bread, you cut off a pound or so of dough, and style it as you like according to one of the other recipes in the book.
For example, I made the master "boule" dough recipe, which is flour, yeast, salt and water. It took about 5 minutes to whip up, then had to rest for about 2 hours. After that, it was ready to use.
I wanted to make Sundried Tomato and Parmesan bread, so cut off a hunk of the Boule dough, rolled it out into a rectangle, sprinkled chopped tomatoes and grated cheese over it, rolled it up into a log, tucked the ends under, let it sit for 40 minutes, then let it bake for 35. And presto! Yummy artisan bread for dinner. (OK, maybe that took a bit longer than 5 minutes, but not much longer. Rest times don't count because you can go away and do something else.) We decided this bread in particular will be lovely when we're all sitting around on the deck on a hot summer night, sipping white wine and enjoying food and company. And if that's not inspiration for baking, I don't know what is.
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