What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Elevated Edibles: Yeast Artisan Bread! There’s no doubt bread can be a family’s comfort food, even if you seldom bake it yourself. With more people setting up a home office or home schooling, suddenly bread-baking has turned into a thing. And if you own a bread machine, better yet. Dust it off and give it center stage on the quartz countertop in your gourmet kitchen. Baking bread is like therapy for the soul. We combine ingredients, knead dough, make decorative slits on top, and bake it to a rich golden color. From start to finish, it becomes a focused project. When the house begins to smell like the neighborhood corner bakery, everyone notices. It’s time to slice it up and slather on the butter.
YEAST ARTISAN BREAD
Ingredients:
1 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 packet active yeast
Instructions:
Using a bread machine, add ingredients in the order listed. Always add the yeast last, creating a small indentation on the top of the dry ingredients. Pour yeast into indentation. Select the “Dough” setting. At the end of the cycle, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for one minute. Grease a bowl with olive oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour. Cover bowl with a damp cloth. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Punch the dough down and knead for a few seconds. Form the dough into a ball and return to the bowl. Cover again and allow it to rise in a warm place 30 minutes longer. To bake in an iron skillet, preheat oven to 400°. Put the iron skillet in the oven while it is preheating. Place a roasting pan on the bottom shelf of the oven. Fill it with one inch of hot water. Using oven mitts, remove the hot skillet from the oven. Grease the inside of the skillet with olive oil. Sprinkle with one tablespoon cornmeal. Carefully transfer the puffed bread dough to the iron skillet. Dip a kitchen shears in hot water. Cut slits in the top of the dough. Sprinkle generously with water. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the loaf is a deep golden brown. When a cake tester is inserted in the center, it comes out clean. Remove the iron skillet from the oven. Immediately remove artisan bread to prevent over baking. Allow it to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before cutting.
There is NOTHING like the smell of freshly baked bread; heavenly! Unfortunately, it is something neither of us has ever tried although earlier this year I actually made enquiries about a bread making course! The pandemic put an end to that idea! A bread machine, umm! 🤔 As for the quartz countertop in the gourmet kitchen, that’s just not on the menu 🤣 🥰
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I guess I could say I “married into” the bread machine because my husband already owned one. 🤣
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So he makes the bread! 😂🤣 Good man!
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Not exactly. lol I found the bread machine stored in the basement. 🤣
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Looks great. I make all our bread (sourdough) but just might have to give this a try.
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I looove sourdough bread! 🌿💜
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Looking too good… Yummm😀❤️❤️
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It’s not something I bake every day, but when I do…I wonder why I don’t make it more often. 🤔🍃🍞
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Yeah… Cakes are so delicious to eat… Any kind of cakes i love… If you love baking, you should do often hehehe… 😃😃❤️❤️❤️❤️
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That’s a kind of bread to try at any cost! ahah
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The enticing aroma has me cutting into it as soon as possible. After all, I like the butter to melt. 😍🍂
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Great looking loaf of bread. Love the crust! 🙂
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The secret is water. 💦
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Yes, it is indeed a must. 🙂
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If I haven’t given it away, I’ll dust it off and try it.
Got any EASY good tender stew recipes?
Usually i don’t like it cuz it’s soooo dry. dinner tonight. thanks ❤️ Cindy
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Unfortunately when I make a stew, I use my slow cooker and start in the morning with at least 8 hours of baking. Now if you already have tenderized meat, that’s another story. Good luck.
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whoa ok maybe another night on that then. ❤️
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Looks beautiful! I’ve never used a bread machine, but I have several friends who swear by theirs. I think it might be said I already have enough large machines in my kitchen…
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Kitchen…basement…and now garage. lol 🤣
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I love my bread machine!
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I like it, especially for making dough. 🌾
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That’s what I use it for, mostly.
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