Bread is without a doubt one of God’s most fab gifts to man.
Go anywhere in the world and there is some kind of bread.
The end result is always such a fab thing.
How to make the perfect bread roll.
The idea of making bread is daunting to most people. When, in fact it really shouldn’t be. Yes so maybe your first attempt will be a royal flop – that comes with the territory. All one really needs to do is follow the instructions to the ‘T’ and you are laughing. Obviously with time and experience, you will realise that it really is one of the easiest things in the world.
Here Is How:
Ingredients:
4 cups bread flour
2 teaspoon active quick rising dry yeast
2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
Method:
1. Put 1/4 cup of bread flour on your clean counter top and reserve. Place remaining 3 3/4 cups bread flour in a bowl. Spoon the yeast on one side of the bowl, and the salt on the other side. Pour in the warm water and bring all the components together until the dough comes together in a mass. Dough should clear the sides but stick to the bottom. If it is too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time. If too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water to dough to adjust.
Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
2. Take the dough out and place on the counter. Remember that 1/4 cup of flour that we reserved? We’ll use it now. As you knead the dough by hand, incorporate more flour as you need.
Knead by hand until the dough is very satiny, smooth, tight and formed into a nice, compact ball:
3. Place this dough in a large lightly oiled bowl. Turn dough over so that all sides have a thin coating of oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set in warm place for 1 1/2 hours to let rest and rise. Dough should almost double in size. While the dough is rising, about 1 hour into the rising stage, preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
4. After the dough has risen fully, punch dough down and form back into a ball. Poke your finger on the surface – the dough should give into the pressure and slowly creep back up.
5. Now for some fun. Cut the dough into half – you’ll shape one half at a time (keep the other piece under wraps). Pick up the dough – stretch it out until it forms a big rectangle. Dust your work surface with flour and fold over the ends of the dough.
Now do a little “karate chop” lengthwise down the middle of the bread and stretch out the long ends again. Fold over in half. The karate chop helps get the middle tucked inside. Pinch all sides shut. This is important – you want to make sure that all ends including the short ends are pinched tightly to create a seal. This allows the bread to rise & expand up and out evenly. If the bread looks a little lopsided, you can try to fix it by letting it rest 5 minutes and gently stretching it out again. Just don’t knead the dough again – you’ll pop all the beautiful gas that took 1.5 hours to create!
6. Turn the bread over so that it is seam side down. Cover the loaf with a damp kitchen towel. Repeat with the other dough ball. Leave the loaves to rest on your well-floured pizza peel or cutting board for 30 minutes. After resting, take a sharp paring knife and make 3-4 shallow, diagonal slashes on the surface of the loaf. This allows the steam in the bread to escape so that it expands evenly during the baking process. Using a brush, gently brush beaten egg on top of the bread, this will give it a lovely golden look when it’s ready.
7. Gently place your bread into the oven and let bake for about 25 minutes.
Woohoooo Yummy bread.
Thyme for Pots 