Michelle’s Kitchen
I must highly endorse the cookbook “Small Batch Baking” by Debby Maugans Nakos. It has added so much value to our small household meals! This is perfect if you are Cooking For One or Two people ... or giving the bread as a gift!
We use our pressure cooker and slow cooker so much each week because it saves us money both on the per pound price of the meat - and also on our energy costs! And so often - just a small slice of homemade artisan bread would add such a nice touch to the meal. I love making homemade bread - it’s therapeutic. And now - having worked with this cookbook - I can successfully make a small loaf of fresh, homemade bread - nothing goes to waste and no trip to the grocery store!
Here’w how this came together:
Saturday, April 28, 2012
I’d like to share a little bit more of my history with “Cooking For One” ... When Eric and I started dating, he was traveling out-of-town 100% for work. We didn’t get to see each other as much as I would have liked. When Eric and I got married - we spent our first month of married life in two different cities - needless to say, we got really good at using technology to communicate! Once we got settled into married life .. he still traveled a significant portion of the time. I’ve had the privilege of traveling with him on occasion, but most of the time - I’ve been “Cooking For One” as the spouse left back at home. Back then, I didn’t equate what I was doing to actually “Cooking For One” ... because I didn’t really know how to cook - and so I warmed things up in between going out to eat ... and as time went on ... and other circumstances changed ... that’s when “Michelle’s Kitchen” really began to emerge ... I had to learn to cook. Looking back - I confidently believe God was at work all these years to give me an understanding of what “Cooking For One” entails. Today - I’ve earned how to cook a wide variety of staple meals ... and ... I am blessed that Eric travels very infrequently and we are able to enjoy most of our evening and weekend meals together. Yet still - the reality is that we are “Cooking For Two” every evening of the week ... and in addition --- I often cook work week lunches the day or night before ... which is another form of “Cooking For One”. WOW - this was all a lot more than I was going to share! So no matter your situation that has you cooking smaller meals or portions - I pray you are enjoying this season of life!
Ok ... moving along ...
This is an excellent recipe to make on a day when you are able to spend 5 minutes working with the dough about once every hour - for a total of 3 - 3 1/2 hours. It’s an incredibly simple recipe to work with - the dough is very wet and any kneading you have to do is done in the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula.
The bread is full of flavor, moist with a chewy crust and requires only a handful of ingredients ... It’s a small loaf - feeds 2 (or 3 people) perfectly!
Ingredients:
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- 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
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- 1/2 cup warm water (110 - 115 degrees)
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- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
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- 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons BREAD flour + extra for work surface
Directions:
Pour warm water into a medium size mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water. Let the mixture stand until it begins to bubble, 5 minutes. Then mix in the salt and 3/4 cup of flour. Using a flexible rubber spatula, knead the sticky mass in the bowl by lifting one side of the dough and folding it over the other, the pressing the dough down to the bottom of the bowl with the spatula. Work the remaining 2 Tablespoons of flour into the dough using the same technique, and continue kneading with the spatula until the dough is spongy, about 5 minutes. * It will be wet and sticky - why the rubber spatula is needed!
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and push the dough into a ball shape. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel, and let he dough rise in a draft-free place for 1 hour.
Using the spatula, stir down the dough. Cover the bowl with the towel and let it rise again until it is doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Sprinkle 3 to 4 Tablespoons of flour over a cutting board or work surface. Place the dough on the flour and turn it over and over in the flour to form a round loaf. Sprinkle the dough with additional flour, a Tablespoon at a time, if it is too sticky to shape.
Sprinkle flour on a baking sheet, covering an area double the size of the loaf. Place the dough on the flour, let it rise until it is doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. the dough will expand horizontally more than it will rise in height.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Gently pull the plastic wrap off the dough. Fill a clean spray bottle with water and spritz the inside of the oven with water just before you slide in the bread. Bake the bread for 5 minutes. Spray the oven (not the bread) generously with water again. Bake the bread until it is golden and crusty, about 20 - 25 minutes, spraying the oven once more with water halfway through the baking time.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven, transfer the bread to a wire rack, and let it cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. The bread is best eaten on the day it is baked - any leftovers, I have frozen to warm in the oven the next night - or to make homemade croutons or breadcrumbs! ENJOY this special treat!!!
