Bonding Through Food: Artisan Bread

My dad called me a few weeks ago with this new bread recipe he had been making that everyone was going crazy over. I've made it several times now and it is always so good. It seems complicated just because there are very specific steps but it really is the simplest way to bake bread. I've had several people request the recipe from me so here it is...

You will need:

3-3 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 Tbsp. yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp. salt

6 1/2 cups flour

Large bowl with lid ( I bought a cheap plastic one at Wal-Mart for $1)

Corn meal

Mix flour, salt, and yeast in your large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the water. Mix with a spoon just until it is all mixed. It will be really wet and sticky and won't really look like bread dough.

Leave dough mixture in the bowl on the counter for 2-5 hours. It will rise and probably flatten out a bit.

Set the lid loosely on top of the bowl so that the bread can still breathe. Place dough in the fridge. It is best to at least leave it in the fridge a few hours or overnight because it is easier to handle, but I've left in in there for just a couple hours and it has still turned out great. You can leave it in the fridge for up to 14 days. It is supposed to taste more like sourdough the longer you leave it but I haven't left it that long yet.

Once dough has chilled, sprinkle some flour on top and pinch off a grapefruit-size piece. Use as much flour as needed to be able to handle the dough without it sticking to you (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup). Each batch makes 3 loaves of bread so just put the rest back in the fridge.

Shape your dough piece into a disc, making sure the top is smooth. It doesn't matter what the bottom looks like. Place dough on a flat surface covered with corn meal. It needs to be flat because you will be transferring it to the oven once it is done rising. Using a serrated knife, make 4 slices across the top of the dough about 1/4" deep.

Let dough rise for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes, start heating the oven to 450 with a pan inside also covered with corn meal. I usually use a pizza stone but I've also used a cookie sheet. The heat will scorch the pan a little just as a warning. Below the pizza stone you are also going to heat another pan (not glass). I use an old cake pan that I don't really care about.

After the oven has heated for 20 minutes (even though it won't quite be at 450 yet) you are going to transfer your bread from the sheet it is rising on to the pizza stone in the oven. You will also pour about a cup of water into the other heated pan to create steam. Close the oven door immediately.

The recipe says to cook the bread for 30-35 minutes, but here in Houston I only cook it for 20 so I don't quite know exactly what to put. I guess just until it turns golden brown.

Pull bread out of the oven onto a cooling rack. I will feel like a brick at first but continues to soften as it cools. You cool it to about room temperature and enjoy.