Rustic Eggplant, Tomato and Chickpea Tart

Mmm, pie crust.  Tasty, tasty pie crust.  I loves me some pie crust!  I’ll eat that stuff raw, right off of the counter after I’ve rolled it out.  I’ve been known to snag the extra bits of crust that people …

Bread, Bread, Bread!

The one thing I decided I had to do when I became a stay-at-home-mom was to learn to bake bread.  The thought of warm, crusty bread coming out of my own oven, filling my house with the tangy smell of crispy crust and squishy insides, just makes me feel like I’m wrapped up in a blanket of homey-ness.  (It’s a word, I swear.)

I decided to give it a try on my own, no recipe, no nothin’.

It didn’t go so well.  It wasn’t a total disaster, but it wasn’t anything to brag about.  My husband was great about it: “Oh, this would make a good breadsticks recipe.  It would be much better as pizza dough.  It’s good but we could try it for rolls instead of bread…”  He’s a good guy, that’s for sure.

Well, I decided bread wasn’t really the best thing to just “do”, so I started to research.  Tutorials, and yeast, and kneading- oh my!

Then I stumbled upon a super-easy bread recipe at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe and I decided to try it.

I tucked Brian in for a nap and dug in!  The bread was set to rise before Brian even woke up from his short rest.  It doesn’t get much easier than that.  The best part is, I can refrigerate the dough after the rise (up to two weeks) and just throw it in the oven when I want some delicious, crusty bread to make me happy.

With this recipe under my belt, I’m ready to tackle something more difficult- like rolling up my sleeves and kneading the heck out of some dough.  Not that my infant-lifting muscles really need more of a workout!

Rustic Crusty Bread
from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

• 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting dough (I used 6 cups- I went by look and feel on this one)

In a large bowl mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover lightly with a kitchen towel but don’t seal the bowl airtight. Let the dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).
Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered in an airtight container, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife (I have only ever made two loaves out of the batch of dough so I just divide the dough in half to form my first loaf). Turn the dough in your hands to lightly stretch the surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put the dough on a piece of parchment paper set on a pizza peel or a rimmed baking sheet turned upside down. Let the dough rest for 40 minutes for room temperature dough; if you have used the dough out of the refrigerator, let it rest for 1 1/2 hours. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.
Place a broiler pan on the bottom rack of the oven. Place a baking stone on the middle rack and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat the stone at that temperature for 20 minutes before baking.
After the dough has rested and is ready to bake, dust the dough lightly with flour, slash the top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide the dough (with the parchment paper) onto the baking stone. Pour one cup of hot water into the broiler pan and shut the oven quickly to trap the steam. Bake the bread until well browned, about 24-28 minutes. Cool completely.
If you don’t have a baking stone, try turning a rimmed baking sheet upside down and heating it in the 450 degree oven for 10 minutes prior to baking. When ready to bake, slide the parchment paper with the dough on it directly onto the overturned baking sheet and bake according to the recipe. You can also stretch the rounded dough into an oval and place in a greased loaf pan. Let it rise for 40 minutes if fresh (add an extra hour if the dough has been refrigerated). Bake in the loaf pan in the 450 degree oven, watching the time carefully – check after 20-22 minutes.