Two Breads Are Better Than One

This time I made enough dough for 2 loaves of bread, the night before we wanted it. I also made dough for bagels, but that's my next post. I used Mark Bitman's recipes for both doughs. Measure, mix, whir in the food processor, and presto-gorgeous, smooth, pliable dough! I have to say I love making bread dough. It's so simple and so satisfying.

I put the dough in bowls, went out for a board meeting, and punched it down when I returned. Then, I went to bed, letting it rise overnight in the bowls. This morning, I took it out, put ithe bread dough into loaf pans my little son had proudly greased for us, and had to let it rise AGAIN, because it has to go into the over risen. Otherwise, you end up with brick, not bread. (Trust me, this is the voice of experience). So, add another 45 minutes to the moring baking plan, over and above the 45-50 minutes I'd already planned for the baking. (We waited patiently though, and used the waiting time to form our bagels.) So, here's the lesson learned. If you make bread dough the night before and it goes through its first rise before you go to bed, punch it down and put it in a loaf pan. It will have its second rise overnight and be ready for the oven in the morning.

When the bread was ready, we slid it into the oven. Pretty quickly, the kitchen filled with the yeasty aroma of baking bread. It lured my older son down the stairs. He looked around the kitchen hopefully and then, not seeing any asked "Did I miss it?"

Well, no. Unlike the bakers at real bakeries, our baker has not gotten the knack of when to do what steps to put bread on the table for breakfast. When it was ready, at 10:50 am, here is what breakfast looked like.



What we make is delicious, but it sure takes a while.