Monday, June 28, 2010

Bread Diary – The First Loaf

While the newly mixed dough rested in the fridge over night, I then got to planning our meals for the week to decide when we should enjoy our first loaf. These past few weeks in June have been extremely busy, actually, so we found ourselves eating in less and less, and instead, tended to grab quick meals before we headed out for the night. With baseball games, music concerts, and all the birthday surprises Matt had planned, well, dinners in seemed to be on the very bottom of our list.
letting the dough rise, left, and after taking out of the oven, right

But, if you know me, I can sometimes be very impatient when I have something new to try out, so I decided that dinner one night when we needed a quick meal would be grilled cheese on a fresh loaf of bread. And so, I set out to work, following the directions of measuring off about a pound of dough, shaping it into a small loaf, letting it rise for 20 minutes, then baking it in a hot oven. It was lovely to watch the dough rise bigger and bigger, and then begin to brown, all the while the smell of fresh bread filled the condo. It wasn’t long (only 30 minutes) before the bread was ready to come out and we were ready to enjoy.


After slicing into thick slices, slathering on butter and layering with cheese, I popped them into a skillet, low and slow (I actually pick up a lot of really great cooking tips from watching the TV cooking shows…), until they were golden brown on both sides. Served up with a side salad (so we don’t feel terribly guilty about the fat we were about to ingest), and it made for a really great dinner, and the bread with delicious!

I’m guessing the trick with baking fresh bread is to make a loaf that’s small enough to be enjoyed in one sitting, and this first trial run seemed to be just right. No leftovers! I would call it a success.

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