Making Bread

Bread dough that needs, just a bit, more water

 I had been trying to find a good bread recipe for a while, and this one has proven to be very multitudinous. I use it to make a lunch roll for the fiancee, but it can be used for pizza, loaf bread, rolls....the sky's the limit.

• Things that go in the dough


• 1 packet of yeast
• 4 cups flour 
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup hot water

1. Plop the 4 cups of flour in a bowl along with the sugar. 

   

   Rolled out to about 1/2 inch thick

2. Add the yeast packet.
3.  Add the hot water.
4. Mix until it sticks together like taffy.
5. Take dough out and place it in an oiled bowl and cover with a warm moist cloth for 45 min.
6. Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees. Get your pans and toppings ready. This way you are not wandering around the kitchen with doughy hands getting flour on everything.
7. Once dough has doubled in size, kneed it until taffy consistency is back. 
8. At this point you can roll it out and add yummy things like what I did, or put the dough in bread pans to make bread loafs. 
9. Bake for 20 min, or until the brown and crispy.

Now for some information about ingredients.

Yeast

Covered in pesto and sun dried tomatoes

Rolled and cooked

Yeast is a very special ingredient, mostly because it is alive. What this mean to you, the cook, is that the things in its immediate vicinity will directly affect how the yeast works.
So first and foremost you want to use "fresh" yeast, not something that has been hanging out in the pantry for months. The quality/type of flour and sugar will also play into how your yeast acts.

As silly as it sounds, the weather outside will also affect how well the yeast rises. If it is dry outside the yeast will not rise as well, if it is humid the yeasty beasties will go to town and the wont stop growing.


Flour
I am using whole wheat flour, much to my fiancee dismay. This makes my dough more dense and harder to manipulate. I use
to buy the fancy bread flour, but it is expensive and due to some food allergies I don't get to enjoy my bread. 

Sugar

If your sink looks like this, then you are doing it right

I am using just regular old white sugar, nothing fancy.


HOT Water
The water needs to be hot enough to wake up the yeasty beasties, but not to kill them. A good gauge is once the water is too hot for you to comfortably put your hand under it then it is too hot for the yeast creatures. 

If bread making is your thing, another fun recipe to do is pita bread.

By Laura