Hi Sarah, I started making this bread a couple weeks ago and you will love it.
I went through it so fast that I have a double batch in the fridge right now. Here are a couple things I have learned/figured out. Don't expect the dough to rise a lot on the second rising. I usually let mine rise for at least an hour.
I have been baking mine in a Le Creuset oval gratin pan. I preheat the pan in the oven when I turn the oven on (I learned the hard way that the bread won't stick to the pan if you do this). Be generous with your cornmeal when you let the bread rise.
I am still having trouble transferring the bread from the peel (I am using a cookie sheet that has no sides on it). I have tried sliding and lifting with spatulas and I am not very graceful at either method, but I have come to find out that it doesn't really make a difference in the finished loaf.
I have been making about 1 pound loaves (grapefruit-size dough ball as they recommend)and get about 4 loaves per recipe. It develops a wonderful crust and is the first bread that I have made that my husband didn't say the texture was dense. It is absolutely devoured after I make it.
Here are two of the recipes from their book. I am pretty sure I got at least one of them if not both off of someones blog, but I didn't credit them. I have also snagged a few more recipes from Amazon's "Look Inside" tool. I will try to get them entered into MasterCook and post them later.
* Exported from MasterCook *
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
Recipe By :by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
3 cups water
6 1/2 cups unbleached -- all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough (*you can replace about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of white flour with any whole grain flour with great results).
Cornmeal
1. In a large bowl, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups warm water. Add flour, and stir to combine completely. Let dough rise in a warm place for at least two hours, until it rises and collapses (up to 5 hours - or even overnight won’t hurt it). The dough may be baked at this point, or refrigerated for later use.
2. Cover dough, but make sure it is not airtight - gases need to escape - and place in fridge. When you are ready to use it, throw a small fistful of flour on the surface and use a serrated knife to cut off a piece of the size you desire. (The authors recommend a 1 pound loaf - which means cutting off grapefruit-sized piece of dough). Turning the dough in your hands, stretch the surface of the dough and tuck in under. The surface will be smooth, and the bottom with be bunched.
3. Dust a pizza peel (or any flat surface - I use a rimless cookie sheet) with cornmeal. (This prevents sticking, and adds a nice, rustic crunch. You can use flour instead, but you’ll need to use a very generous dusting). Allow dough to rest in a warm place for 40 minutes - longer (up to an hour and a half) if you use some whole wheat flour in place of the white, or if you make a larger loaf.
4. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees with baking stone (or overturned baking sheet) inside on the middle rack, plus a shallow pan on the top rack. Throw a small fistful of flour over the dough, slash it 2-4 times with a serrated knife (in a cross, a tic-tac-toe, or a fan), and slide it into the oven, onto the baking stone. Throw 1-2 cups of tap water into the shallow pan, and quickly shut the oven door to trap steam inside. Bake for 30 minutes, or until crust is well browned and bread sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom.
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* Exported from MasterCook *
Artisan Bread in 5 minutes ... Pizza Dough
Recipe By :adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a day
by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : bread pizza
Pizza Crusts
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method4 1/2 cups plain flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 head roasted garlic
1 1/2 tbsp active dried yeast
1 Handful fresh chopped herbs
3 cups luke warm water
Take a large container that will fit inside the fridge. Pour in the warm water, add salt, yeast, oil, garlic & freshly ground pepper & stir well.
Add the flours together in one go, & mix in well with a wooden spoon till well incorporated & no dry dough is visible.
Allow dough to rise in a warm place for2-5 hours, & then refrigerate until use. It's a good idea to keep it in the fridge overnight because the dough is easier to use the next day.
Take a small ball of dough, size of an apple, dust it well with lour, & then roll into a circle to line your pizza pan.
Dust the pizza pan generously with cornmeal before putting the dough on.
Give the dough a light brush of olive oil (or garlic flavoured olive oil), a slathering of pizza sauce, add toppings of your choice, top with mozzarella, and bake on top shelf at 300C for about 20 minutes till cheese light brown & bubbly & the crust is light brown too. Rest for 10 minutes before serving. (I made a couple of round pizzas & a rectangular one too...moreish I thought!)
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