Making Dough With What We Have: Two Truly Simple Bread Recipes

Well, this is quite a pickle we’re all in, isn’t it? 

I suppose this whole current situation is indirectly responsible for my son and I embarking on a bread recipe adventure. We’ve always made no-yeast breakfast breads and scones, but I’m talking regularish bread here.

(Listen: another time, I will write about the glory and sensory satisfaction of kneading bread dough. This very son loves it. I love it. But for today…)

 

Baking Our Way Through A String of Hungry Days

 

No, it didn’t take a pandemic for me to get my kids in the kitchen. Eating is essential. Cooking skills should be, too. But with schooling at home and working at home, this whole shebang has the family a little more at the internet’s heels. We’re learning, we’re watching. Somtimes, we’re mindlessly scrolling. We’re seeing more videos of bread. And there’s yeast to be used.

Kudos to this recipe (above) from King Arthur Flour, mostly for making me get out my mom’s old bread machine. It still works. 

Thank you, Mom. 🧡I miss you.

 

And Now, A Bread Recipe by Hand

 

And to our pleasant surprise, we found this: The New York Times classic No-Knead Bread Recipe. This bread turned out with the appearance of bread we see on display in local bakeries, so basically we’re superstars. The loaf was consumed in entirety 20 minutes after it’s birth from the oven.

Be sure to watch the video for the bread recipe demonstration. It’s mesmerizing. Also, a video really lights this kid’s fire of inspiration. (So, if your child isn’t excited about a cooking project, stick ’em in front of an electronic device and show a recipe video.) 

Make sure you heed the instruction to preheat your pan right along with your oven. Everything must be hot enough to just about set off the smoke alarm.

Thank you, Mark Bittman.