Just a Quickie

I had one pound of Artisan Bread’s challah dough that needed used by today, leftover ham from Easter (still), and tons of fresh dill (Aerogarden must be on steroids).  So…this is what I made.

Photo by Susan Wenzel

I don’t know what to call them, so I’m open to suggestions.  "Ham rolls" is not sufficient for something this decadent.  For the time being, I will call them delicious!  They were intended for breakfast, but we had to sample a couple - just to make sure they were edible.

How I did it:

-Roll out 1lb of dough into 12x18” rectangle

-Brush with 1T melted butter

-Top entire surface with 1c finely diced ham (I used the food processor), then 1/2c shredded cheddar-jack (it’s what I had in the fridge, but I suppose most any cheese will do), and finally 2T fresh chopped dill.

-Starting on a long edge, roll dough into a log. 

-Cut into nine even segments with dental floss (not mint!) and arrange in well greased 9x9” ovensafe dish.

-Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. 

-Bake in 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes until golden brown

-Brush with an additional 1T of melted butter (if desired, but who doesn’t desire butter – in moderation, of course)

-Eat and enjoy!

A Good Cooker Will Rise Again

This bad baker has a brand new book. It was recommended to me by my cousin. I listened to her talk time after time about how easy it was to bake bread using the simple directions and drooled as she detailed delicious meals featuring loaf after loaf. I had to have a copy. I just had to!

I ordered my copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking (Francois, Hertzberg) and waited. I had my bread flour and yeast and was ready to go the minute it arrived.

The dogs alerted me to the UPS man and tried to break through the windows to tear out his throat while I was outside picking up my precious. Hands shaking, I opened the box and lifted out what I hoped to be the end of my bad bread baking.

I started reading, excited to get baking…then stopped. Unbleached flour. Not bread flour? Rats! I was determined to make the bread TODAY, so I ran to the store and bought a single five pound bag. Back home, I started over again. I added the right kind of flour, salt, water, and yeast to my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook attached, gave it a whirl, and put the whole unkneaded mess into my largest container to wait the requisite 2 hours. Yes, it really had only taken five minutes to make the dough. Simple enough!

The timer beeped, and I went out to the kitchen only to discover my largest container was not large enough. The yeast beast had popped its top and was making its way over to my AeroGarden. Since I was learning The Master Recipe and not the herb bread (in a later chapter), I scooped him back into the bowl and carried my creation to the fridge.

The next day, I formed a one-pound boule (French for ball) and got ready for baking. The book insists a pizza peel is best to transfer the dough to the hot pizza stone in the oven, but I had none and wasn’t making another emergency trip to the store. Resourceful Cooker that I am, I decided my lipless wooden cutting board would do the trick – and it did. My perfectly formed loaf slid off my makeshift peel and into the blistering hot 450 degree oven.

Then, I waited and worried and prayed. Alas, my fears were pointless. Much to my surprise, my first loaf looked exactly like the one on the cover of the book.

Three different recipes later, I am still as enamored and amazed with my five minute bread as I was on day one. The only thing that has changed is the size of my storage container. I now have a 2.5 gallon Rubbermaid tub to keep the beast at bay.

PS – Artisan Bread has a website! http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/