Fresh bread!

I decided to venture into the realm of bread, which is slightly foreboding to me, what with all the worry about water being the right temperature and dough rising. So with trepidation, I typed into Google "simple bread recipe," hoping for something relatively fool-proof. The seventh (or so) result caught my eye: "Simple Crusty Bread" from the New York Times. I tried this recipe, and although I managed to flub the proportions the first time, I still had a wonderfully satisfying, hearty bread with a crusty outside. Here is the NY Times recipe, with proportions modified to yield only 2 loaves, rather than four. However, since the dough can be refrigerated for up to two weeks, it pays to invest the three hours or so on a Sunday afternoon to make the dough, so fresh bread can be baked easily any time during the week. The 'loaves' that I baked turned out medium sized, around half the size of a loaf from the store.

Ingredients:
3/4 tablespoons yeast
3/4 tablespoons kosher salt
3 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, extra for dusting dough
cornmeal

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Bake at this point (or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks). When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on sheet pan sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough (or refrigerate it).

3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 20 minutes. Cool completely.

Yield: 2 loaves.

Enjoy your fresh bread!