basic boule bread

my aunt bought me this book for Christmas last year and i finally had the courage to try a recipe this week.

if you don't know anything about it - the basic idea is:

1. make wet dough recipe. let rise for 2 hours.
2. after first rise, you can put it in the fridge for up to 14 days or bake some bread!
3. when you're ready, pull off about a grapefruit size piece, pull it into the appropriate shape (based on what you're making), let rest for 40 min, then bake for 30.
4. the point being - you can have fresh baked bread every day, without needing the 2+ hours of rising time that is usually required.

the idea of a "wet" bread dough kind of scared me. what if i did it wrong? i'd have crappy bread for weeks, not just a few days.

so, i tried it. the process was way easy. i did the basic recipe which called for 6 1/2 cups of flour. only problem was when i reached 4 cups...i couldn't remember if i had just DONE 4 cups...or if i was on 4 cups. so, i ended up adding more flour in the end (bout 3/4 cup), and i think i was on the LESS flour side as my dough was SO WET i could barely pick it up.

anyway, i ended up making two loaves b/c my container where i mixed the dough was OVERFLOWING after less than 2 hours.

my bread came out so crispy crunchy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. probably the best bread i've ever baked. it was more like baguette-size, but it still was delicious!

also - best thing for bread is having cornmeal, a pizza peel and a pizza/baking stone. adding water (in a broiler pan, or in my case - a shallow baking dish) as well will all combine to give you crusty bread and soft insides. yum!

more on the book here: artisanbreadinfive.com