Country Loaf

"Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts!"  - from legendary James Beard

I couldn’t agree more. There isn’t anything better than a big hunk of bread, fresh and warm right out of the oven with a slab of butter on top. I could literally eat it for every meal of the day, every day of my life, and not complain one bit. Low-carb diet, get a life. You are not for me.

I’ve only recently begun trying my hand at baking bread, which is almost a sin considering how much I love to eat it. For some reason it has always seemed so intimidating with all its insistent demands: Mixing, scraping, kneading, standing, sifting, rising, shaping, the list goes on and on! Not only does it require many steps, but the recipes always vaguely and mysteriously tell you to stop mixing/kneading/whatever when the dough reaches the “right” consistency. Like magic. How am I supposed to know when that is, exactly? I figured any attempt would be a disaster unless I meticulously followed the directions to the letter. Or something would probably explode. Disastrously.

But really, bread making is not as hard as it looks or sounds. Once you get into, get yourself covered in flour and dough and really get into it, bread making actually comes quite naturally. You start to feel it.

The Country Loaf is a nice bread to start with. It’s a process, but worth it. The recipe I used is right out of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. 

Country Loaf

Ingredients: 5 to 5 ½ cups bread flour

1 tsp. sugar

1 package regular or quick active dry yeast (2 ¼ tsp.)

2 cups very warm water (120 to 130 degrees)

2 TBSP olive oil

2 tsp. salt

1 TBSP cornmeal

plastic wrap

*Make sure you use bread flour. Bread flour has a higher amount of gluten that all-purpose flour, and in bread gluten acts as the glue that holds all those good grains together and traps the gas released by the yeast. To put it simply, it just makes the taste and texture of the bread extra good!

Directions:

1. Mix 2 cups of the flour, the sugar and yeast in large bowl. Add the warm water. Beat with mixer on low speed for 1 minute, scraping bowl often. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let stand for about an hour, until bubbly.
2. Stir in oil and salt. Stir in some of the remaining flour, ½ cups at a time, until a soft, smooth dough forms. You’ll know. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 10 minutes (Don’t skimp!). Add flour as you need it to keep the dough from sticking. You are done when the dough is smooth and springy.
3. Grease a large bowl and place the dough in it. Turn the dough to grease all side. Cover bowl loosely with the plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour or until it doubles in size. Dour is ready if you touch it and your finger mark remains.
4. Grease a cookie sheet. Place dough onto a floured surface and gently shape into a round ball. Try not to release all the bubbles in the dough. Stretch sides of dough downward to make a smooth top. Place on cookie sheet with smooth side up. Spray the loaf with cool water, cover again loosely, and let rise in a warm place 45 to 60 minutes, until almost double.
5. Place a square pan on the bottom rack of the oven. Fill with hot water until ½ from top. Heat oven to 425 degrees.
6. Spray loaf with cool water; Betty Crocker says to sprinkle lightly with flour, but I use a little corn meal to give this bread a nice crunch. Carefully cut three ¼ inch deep slashes on top of loaf with a sharp serrated knife.
7. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until loaf is a deep golden brown with crisp crust and sounds hollow when taped. Let cool on a rack.

 Best served warm and with real butter! Enjoy!