The frightening thing about yeast is that usually you only cook with dead things. Yeast is alive. It goes into the bread, helps to make it delicious and then....then you kill it.
Ordinarily you have no problem dealing with death in the kitchen. You have a chicken, it's dead, you cook it. With dough, however, it fails to rise and you think "Oh, the yeast must have died. OH CRUEL FATE, IT NEVER HAD A CHANCE!" And then you wonder "Did I kill it? Was it too warm there by the heater?" As you tip the useless dough into the bin the guilt is almost overwhelming. How can you go on? You just have to take a deep breath and hope that the next batch of yeast is somehow made of stronger stuff.
Such were my fears as I prepared to make bread from scratch for the first time but the enticement of delicious carbs and the memories of Mum baking countless yeasty goodies during the cold winter holidays of my childhood finally allowed me to overcome my trepidation and embrace The Leaven.
This is the basic bread recipe I use, the great thing about it is that it doubles as pizza dough.
I only use instant yeast which costs slightly more than dry yeast but is heaps easier to use; you just chuck everything together. There's no proving the yeast beforehand.
Put 300ml lukewarm water in a bowl. Remember that if the water is too hot then you will kill the yeast stone dead and you don't want that on your conscience.
Over the water sprinkle 2 tsp. instant yeast, salt to taste and a drizzle of oil. Whisk everything into the water and then gradually start to add 500g bakers flour, whisking as you go. Once everything's starting to come together and you can't whisk it anymore you can turn it out onto the bench and start kneading. Here's a very informative video on how to knead dough. 8 minutes kneading is usually plenty of time. Put the dough in a clean bowl that's been rubbed with oil. Turn the dough a couple times to coat it in oil too so it doesn't stick to the bowl as it rises. Cover it with Gladwrap or a clean tea towel and put it in a warm spot. The ideal temperature is about 35oC. Let it rise for an hour to an hour and a half, until the dough's doubled in size.
Then comes Michael's favourite part: punching down the dough. And it's exactly what it sounds like, you just punch the dough to let the air escape. Knead it again breifly, then you can shape it into a free form loaf on a baking tray or stick it into a loaf pan. If you like a soft crust brush it with milk, if you prefer a crunchy crust brush it with water.
Most sources will advise you to let it rise a little before baking it but you can skip this step if you put the bread into a cold oven and then turn on the heat.
So bake the bread at 180oC for about an hour until it's golden (if you're after a really crisp crust, continue brushing it with water throughout the cooking). To test whether it's cooked, tap the bottom of the loaf. If it sounds hollow then it's cooked.
To use the dough for pizza, divide it into two after the punch down. Roll a portion out, put it on a pizza stone or tray. Cook with the pizza sauce for 6 minutes at 250oC, put the rest of the toppings on and cook for another 6 minutes.
Then you can make all manner of delicious pizzas and breads! And you can make the best bruschetta you ever had.
Ordinarily you have no problem dealing with death in the kitchen. You have a chicken, it's dead, you cook it. With dough, however, it fails to rise and you think "Oh, the yeast must have died. OH CRUEL FATE, IT NEVER HAD A CHANCE!" And then you wonder "Did I kill it? Was it too warm there by the heater?" As you tip the useless dough into the bin the guilt is almost overwhelming. How can you go on? You just have to take a deep breath and hope that the next batch of yeast is somehow made of stronger stuff.
Such were my fears as I prepared to make bread from scratch for the first time but the enticement of delicious carbs and the memories of Mum baking countless yeasty goodies during the cold winter holidays of my childhood finally allowed me to overcome my trepidation and embrace The Leaven.
This is the basic bread recipe I use, the great thing about it is that it doubles as pizza dough.
I only use instant yeast which costs slightly more than dry yeast but is heaps easier to use; you just chuck everything together. There's no proving the yeast beforehand.
Put 300ml lukewarm water in a bowl. Remember that if the water is too hot then you will kill the yeast stone dead and you don't want that on your conscience.
Over the water sprinkle 2 tsp. instant yeast, salt to taste and a drizzle of oil. Whisk everything into the water and then gradually start to add 500g bakers flour, whisking as you go. Once everything's starting to come together and you can't whisk it anymore you can turn it out onto the bench and start kneading. Here's a very informative video on how to knead dough. 8 minutes kneading is usually plenty of time. Put the dough in a clean bowl that's been rubbed with oil. Turn the dough a couple times to coat it in oil too so it doesn't stick to the bowl as it rises. Cover it with Gladwrap or a clean tea towel and put it in a warm spot. The ideal temperature is about 35oC. Let it rise for an hour to an hour and a half, until the dough's doubled in size.
Then comes Michael's favourite part: punching down the dough. And it's exactly what it sounds like, you just punch the dough to let the air escape. Knead it again breifly, then you can shape it into a free form loaf on a baking tray or stick it into a loaf pan. If you like a soft crust brush it with milk, if you prefer a crunchy crust brush it with water.
Most sources will advise you to let it rise a little before baking it but you can skip this step if you put the bread into a cold oven and then turn on the heat.
So bake the bread at 180oC for about an hour until it's golden (if you're after a really crisp crust, continue brushing it with water throughout the cooking). To test whether it's cooked, tap the bottom of the loaf. If it sounds hollow then it's cooked.
To use the dough for pizza, divide it into two after the punch down. Roll a portion out, put it on a pizza stone or tray. Cook with the pizza sauce for 6 minutes at 250oC, put the rest of the toppings on and cook for another 6 minutes.
Then you can make all manner of delicious pizzas and breads! And you can make the best bruschetta you ever had.
You rock!
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