Fast Bread

The past couple of weeks have been a bit extra crazy. Hubby started his business, which is going quite well, btw, but it has thrown the normal routine off a bit. Not in a bad way, just a different way. A lot of this will settle down, though. Things like setting up a new bank account, getting a sales tax license, setting up QuickBooks, and having business cards printed don't land on the "to do" list regularly.

In the midst of the craziness, I discovered the coolest thing - Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Bread has already been a theme here with Bread Week and its subsequent posts. I've made sourdough for a few years now and it's a pretty low-key kind of deal. But it's still a two-day process.

Artisan bread in five minutes a day? This sounded like one of those things that's too good to be true. It almost is. But in reality, it's pretty amazing!

In a nutshell, you toss your FOUR ingredients into a container, mix them up, and let it sit on the counter. Then you bake bread or put it in the frig. For up to TWO weeks!! Yes, you have bread dough available to bake bread at ANY time for the next 14 days. Sounds crazy. But it totally works. I've made three really cute little boules in the past couple of days. Quite yummy!

I don't think it can entirely replace my sourdough, because it just doesn't have that sour taste (although that is supposed to happen more if you leave the dough in the frig longer). But the ability to have a fresh loaf of artisan bread with dinner? Or bake a couple rolls for lunch? Awesome!

I was able to find the recipe without buying the book - BUT I wanted all the other recipes. I didn't want to only make the plain bread. So I got the book with a very cool Border's coupon. Then I went to my local restaurant supply store and bought a Cambro container for my dough. I'm thinking I may have to get a second one, because I'd like to keep a couple of doughs going - one for pizza, focaccia, etc. and one for either regular bread or sweet bread. The cookbook has recipes for brioches, Indian flatbread, baguettes, and SO much more. I would definitely recommend that you get it.