Basic Bread

Sometimes, I just want to eat some homemade bread.  My father bakes the most delicious bread, and it's always so perfect.  Naturally I wanted his recipe so I could recreate his masterpiece.  However, he lives on top of a mountain in NY, while I am at Sea Level.  This can cause some problems for baking.  I have tweaked the recipe a bit, adding less water, more flour, extra oil, etc until it came out like my father's bread.

This is a process that takes 2 hours with mixing, rising, punching, more rising, and baking.  I typically preheat my oven to 350 degrees F, so I have a warm spot for the dough to proof.

I combine 4 1/2 cups of flour with 2 Tbsp sugar and 2 tsp of salt in my standing mixer, using the dough hook.

While that mixes, I combine 1 1/4 cups hot water, 2 1/4 tsp of active dry yeast and 2 Tbsp of olive oil.

I add the wet to the dry, and see what happens.

Sometimes I need to add an extra 1/4 cup of water to the mix.

Once the dough forms a ball, I place it in an oiled metal bowl, cover it with a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm space for 1 hour.

After the first rise, I punch it down, and let it rise for another half hour.

After the second rise, I turn it out onto a floured surface, form it into a loaf, and place it in a loaf pan.  I then let it rise for another half hour.

Using a sharp knife, I slice into the raw dough, creating a seam down the center.

Brush with a little egg-wash, and coat with some sesame seeds (any seed you like will be ok).

I then let it bake for 25-30 minutes.

The smell is always so intoxicating, it's hard not to cut into it right away, but I let it sit for at least an hour before slicing it.

And there it is!  I hope you enjoyed this recipe, and it you find yourself with 2 hours to kill, perhaps you could bake a loaf of bread.  This recipe can be modified to used wheat flour, or the replace 1/4 cup of flour with gluten to make it more robust.  My father also enjoys adding flax and other grains into the dough.

Enjoy!